ISLEHAM.-Rev. Thos. Lee.-At a special meeting of the members, which was numerously attended, it was unanimously resolved to request Mr. Lee to become our minister and pastor. We are happy to state, that our attendance upon the Lord's day and week-night services is generally good. Our meetings for prayer are well attended. We have a goodly number of inquirers, and as the result of the combined efforts of minister and people, in connection with the blessing of God, there are indications of an approaching revival.

B. CORNWELL.

LEEDS.-We have received a journal of Mr. Tunnicliffe respecting his labours and prospects in this place. It is too long for

insertion in our pages. We learn from it, in addition to the intelligence given last month as to Leeds and Halifax, that our friend is cheered by several instances of conversion to God; that a Sabbath school has been formed with pleasing prospects; that tracts are being distributed; and that with time and perseverance a respectable · interest may be raised in this populous town.

MOUNT SORRELL.-The old and spacious

Presbyterian chapel in this place has been presented to the General Baptists, by the trustees, and it was opened on Lord's day, Feb. 27, by Rev. A. Smith, of Quorndon. when a respectable congregation assembled.

VARIETIES.

THE BIBLE A PLAIN BOOK.-Let men unintelligible? If so, we must receive in a say what they will, they will find it hard to new and monstrous sense the assurance, discover any volume which, in all its great that he spake as never man spake;' that outlines, is plainer than the book of God. he spake not so much to reveal, as to disIt has its obscurities and its mysteries, it is guise! But this record remains-that while true-wisely left there, as already attempted learned ignorance cavilled and derided, PEOPLE HEARD HIM to be shown; but they trouble not the hum. THE COMMON ble and the docile-myriads of whom, with- GLADLY!'-Edinburgh Review. out any teacher but itself, have learned from it enough to teach them how to live well, and how to die happy. Its light has illumined the whole pathway of their present pilgrimage, and penetrated the depths of the sepulchre with the radiance of that hope which is full of immortality.' So far from its being true, that the indiscriminate exercise of the right of private judgment amongst the humbler classes leads to interminable diversities of interpretation and of doctrine, it is notorious, that the most profitless controversies which have obscured the Bible, and cursed the world, have originated with those who have assumed to be the religious instructors of mankind. They have not sprung up amongst the poor, nor by them have they been cherished. It is, therefore, with feelings of just indignation, that we hear professed Christians and professed Protestants-at all events those who are not professed Romanists-giving utterance to the sentiment, that the private student of Scripture could not ordinarily gain a knowledge of the Gospel from it.' Such a doctrine is not merly an insult to common sense-it is a libel on the Divine Author of the Bible. Are we to believe that, Knowing perfectly what was in man,' he has yet so constructed the volume of Revelation, that even its fundamental doctrines remain an inscrutable mystery or did the great Teacher he sent, teach in so peculiar a manner, that even the more important truths he taught remained

A BIBLE CHRISTIAN STEADFAST.-'I will not scruple to assert,' says Bishop Horsely, that the most illiterate Christian, if he can but read his English Bible, and will take the pains to read it in this manner, (comparing parallel passages,) will not only attain all that practical knowledge which is necessary to his salvation; but, by God's blessing, he will become learned in everything relating to his religion in such a degree, that he will not be liable to be misled, either by the refined arguments or by the false assertions of those who endeavour to engraft their own opinion upon the oracles of God. He may be safely ignorant of all philosophy except what is to be learned from the sacred book; which, indeed, contains the highest philosophy adapted to the lowest apprehensions. He may safely remain ignorant of all history, except so much of the history of the first ages of the Jewish and of the Christian Church, as is to be gathered from the canonical books of the Old and New Testament. Let him study there in the manner I recommend, and let him never cease to pray for the illumination of that Spirit by which these books were dictated; and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy and recondite history, shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will of man shall be able to shake this learned christian's faith. The Bible, thus studied, will indeed prove to be what we Protestants esteem it-a certain and sufficient rule of faith and practice."

MISSIONARY OBSERVER.

THE GATES OF SOMNAUTH.

"This idolatrous, most obscene, and malignant religion, which it was our duty to tolerate, but which we could not encourage without committing an act of treason against civilization and humanity.”—MACAULEY.

My dear Sir, I have just read the account of the discussions in both houses of parliament, on Thursday, March 9th, upon lord Ellenborough's proclamation respecting the removal of the gates from Mahmoud's tomb near Ghuznee, in Cabul, to " the restored temple of Somnauth." I have never been more interested in any parliamentary discussion, and I trust it will greatly serve the interests of christianity in India. How forcibly are we reminded of the Scripture, Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment."-Job. xxxii. 9. How painful to an intelligent, pious mind, to see in the house of lords one hundred and eight noblemen, and in the commons five hundred and fifteen gentlemen, assembled to deliberate upon the propriety or impropriety of the governor-general of India sending back the gates of a temple of Seeb, with a most pompous proclamation "To all the princes, and chiefs, and people of India,” and coming to such a decision about it-" A proclamation," said Lord Clarendon, which, as had not been inaptly observed, had had no parallel since the days of Nebuchadnezzer." Only four of the bishops attended a discussion so deeply interesting to the feelings of the whole religious community. Would it not do service to one great object of our Mission in India, the severance of a christian government from idolatry, to place on record in the pages of the Missionary Observer, the sentiments of some of the leading men in the British senate? This is the more important, as the support, the unquestionable support of Juggernaut's temple, is a subject which our Society is about to bring before the sovereign, the Indian and British authorities, and the nation generally.

The Marquis of Clanricarde.-He ridiculed the terms in which the Somnauth proclamation was conceived, and especially the sending of such a present to a temple which had long ceased to exist. If the gates had merely been intended as a military trophy, they should either have been set up in Calcutta, or transmitted to this country; but bestowed as they had been, their application appeared to be a direct encouragement to a gross and detestable idolatry. It appeared as if the soldiers named in the general order had been sent out by the governor-general to find a proper temple of Siva wherein to hang the gates. The first impression this proceeding was calculated to raise in the mind, was most melancholy and serious; it was neither more nor less than this, that a christian governor, appointed by a christian people, had gone quite out of his way to make this gratuitous experiment of doing homage to a Hindoo temple! Lord Ellenborough had taken a step which necessarily awakened the fervour and the zeal of every Missionary Society in England, as well as of every individual missionary in India; and which gave a preference to the Hindoos over the Mahometans; exciting the jealousy of every Mahometan province, and every Mahometan soldier, and every Mahometan priest in that country. The Duke of Wellington.-With reference to the Somnauth proclamation, "a song of triumph," as he described it, he called attention to the unsatisfactory spirit then prevailing in the army, which the issuing of this document, and the distribution of honours and rewards for forming the detachment to take the charge of the gates, and which excepted neither Moslem, Christian, nor Hindoo, was to improve; that their removal had nothing in it to excite the religious feelings of any class. If the noble lord had looked into history, he would have seen that this temple is not a heathen temple at all, and never was a heathen temple (mark of surprise!) at all events, it is not a heathen temple at this time. Nobody knows exactly what it is. (Should the rulers of India be thus ignorant of the territories they have to govern?)

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The Bishop of Landaff-From the first moment when he heard of the proclamation, he was convinced that the motives which were attributed to the governor general respecting it were erroneous. He was convinced he had no intention to cast any slight on christianity, or to afford encouragement to idolatry.

The Bishop of Chichester concurred in these views.

The Bishop of Norwich, says the Patriot, maintained an honourable consistency; but the rest of the bench flinched from the uncourtly duty of rebuking the noble offender. Bishop Coppleston was not ashamed to put himself forward as his apologist.

The Earl of Clarendon. -If the government intended to act upon the proclamation; if the gates were to be applied as had been proposed; of course the temple must be rebuilt, a body of brahmins must be established therein, a corps of priestesses must be forthwith engaged, and an idol must with all due diligence be manufactured! (laughter.) There lordships knew of course what would be the character of the idol! What he, as an economist, should like to be informed of was, whether the government intended to advertize for designs and estimates, (renewed laughter) for in that case, he thought he might promise the house that there would soon be speedily laid on the table one of the most curious documents that had ever been presented to parliament by a government.

The Marquis of Landsdowne closed the discussion with a calm speech, in which, says a London paper, he remarked, that the people of England certainly did not approve of the proclamation; and he defied any one to deny, that the whole of the proceedings with regard to the gates of Somnauth, was generally regarded as an instance of indiscretion. For the motion of censure, 25; against it, 83; majority, 58.

In the House of Commons, the discussion was preceded by the presentation of sixteen petitions from Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield, Warwick, Baptist Missionary Society, Bodwin, Ilkeston, Southampton and Cornwall.

Vernon Smith, Esq., proposed the motion, but the inattention of the house during the first half hour of his speech, kept up by an incessant hum of conversation, made it difficult to catch his meaning.

E. Tenant, Esq.-Lord Ellenborough had acted without the slightest view to any religious object, and with reference only to civil and military considerations. It would not have been fitting to ship these gates, like a bale of goods, with a drily worded mercantile order, to deliver them "with care!"

J. B. Macauley, Esq.-In India, one of the greatest problems which the governing power had to solve, was how to deal with the people so as to bring them to a sense of their error. In Feb. 1833, Lord Glenelg wrote that most important and valuable des. patch to which frequent reference had been made. In paragraph 62, would be found a complete system of legislation; a regular code for the conduct of the English authorities in India on this subject. In 1841 orders were sent out, which he must say were so framed that he could almost believe lord Ellenborough had carefully read them through for the purpose of disobeying every one of them! There were distinct orders to have nothing to do with the native temples (hear); to send no presents to the temples (hear, hear); to have nothing to do with putting up of decorations in the temples (hear, hear); and positive and explicit orders to employ no troops in doing honour to native temples (cheers.) Was it possible to deny, that the noble lord had sent decorations to an idol temple! that he interfered with the concerns of an idol temple? and that he had made a gift to an idol temple? The temple was in ruins: was it possible for the house to doubt, that before lord Ellenborough determined upon such an important proceeding, he had taken the trouble to ascertain the state of the temple of Semnauth? If not, then would he pronounce upon his lordship one of the severest censures.

Sir G. Grey.-It appeared from a letter of his lordship, not only that the question of religion had been present to the noble governor's mind, but that he had written the docu. ment three times over, and had complacently persuaded himself, that his final draught was one to which Sir Robert Inglis himself would not object.

Lord John Russell -Those who first extended our conquests in the East were guilty of ambition and cruel oppression, and in some instances had committed crimes for which they suffered impeachment; and yet he believed it was through the blessing of this nation, that millions of subjects under our rule in India, enjoyed a better administration of justice, greater freedom from oppression, greater prospects of civilization, and of advanc. ing in knowledge, and finally in religion, than they ever could have had if these conquests had not been made. If the consequence of the motion being carried should be the retirement of the governor-general, I should think the country would be relieved from great difficulty, and India from great peril.

For the motion, 157; against it, 242; majority, 85, 116 paired off.

The Patriot justly remarks, "Lord Ellenborough's colleagues have done their best to extenuate his indiscretion, and to throw the mantle of official charity over his multitude of sins;' but the majority of eighty-five will not reverse the definitive and unanimous sentence of public opinion upon his conduct."

The Nonconformist, with equal truth and terseness of language declared, "The fact is, that encouragement of idolatry, in its most hideous phases, has constituted, and continues to constitute, a main feature of that policy by which our government seeks to retain its influence over the natives of Hindostan. Lord Ellenborough has committed the mistake of putting the thing down on paper, of translating the thing into words-that is all!"

It is presumed that these sentiments may direct us in reference to launching our expiditon against Juggernaut's temple. What will Lord Auckland say in his defence? Must Britain give 30,000 rupees per annum for the support of that horrid shrine, and 30,000 more from its endowed lands? Let us tell our tale of truthful woe to our sovereign, to our rulers, to our country, and as has been observed in reference to the abettors of slavery, "The fame of it shall go abroad into the earth, and from England and the isles of the sea, shall there come back a cry of indignation against the oppressors, and of sympathy for the oppressed.

Ilkeston, March 16th, 1843.

I am,

Your helper in Christ,
JAMES PEGGS.

MISSION TO CHINA.

A VERY important Meeting of the Missionary Committee was held at Leicester, on Wednesday, March 22nd, at which, after the most mature consideration, it was determined to extend the sphere of the Mission to China, and ultimately, as Providence opened the door, to Japan. Brother Hudson, of Sheffield, whose heart has long been impressed with the state of the teeming millions of China, was present, and offered himself as a missionary to that country. His offer was most cordially accepted; and it is hoped that he and another Brother, whose name was mentioned, may proceed on this mission in the course of a short time. Who now "will fill their hands" to the Lord? "Who hath despised the day of small things?"

LETTER FROM MR. STUBBINS.

Midnapore, Dec. 16th, 1842.

My very dear Father,-We had been looking with anxiety for some days for a letter, which I felt confident, if all were well, we should receive this mail, either from you or our dear mother; and when about giving up in despair, concluding that, from the unsettled and uncertain state in which we had for some time been placed, you had not written: just then your letters arrived. How eagerly did we open the seals, to see if all were well; and when we found you were, and that special prayer meetings had been held on our account, we could not but mingle our tears of joy and gratitude, and return our devoutest thanks to that gracious

Being who had, with innumerable other pri. vileges and mercies, given us sympathizing and loving friends. Nothing can more delight our hearts than to feel that we are remembered with tender interest at a throne of grace; and I wish you would kindly present our warmest expressions of gratitude to those dear friends in Christ (not forgetting my beloved brother Buckley) who thus remembered us, still requesting a further interest in their prayers, both for the restoration of my health, and the prosperity of our labours. Our situation now is a peculiar one, and one which frequently causes us a good deal of anxiety. We are here, on a fresh trial, for my health, and this seems the only place, at least in this part of India, that is at all likely to benefit me; so that, should