Total, £17 5 0 Leaving a deficiency yet of nearly £10. It was hoped that other sums would be forthcoming. The committee appointed to provide a minister for Stamford reported, that imme. diately after the last conference they succeeded in securing the services of Mr. Pentney for three months, and were grati. fied to state that his labours had been both acceptable and useful; but that the sum voted by the conference to this station was totally inadequate for the support of the minister and his family. The desire for Mr. Pentney to remain was so unanimous, and the disposition to aid by extra private subscriptions so general, that the committee, brother R. Wherry, of Wisbech, being added to the number, engaged to raise what might be requisite. The question of a Branch Conference in Norfolk was considered, and deferred until some brother from that county can attend the conference, and state the case more fully. The next conference to be at Wisbech, Dec. 7th. Brother T. Burditt, of LongSutton to preach in the morning. J. C. PIKE, Secretary. ANNIVERSARIES. BEESTON, Nether Street.-The anniversary services were held at this chapel on Lord's day, August 20, 1843. Brother Fogg of Retford, preached two interesting sermons; the congregations were good and encouraging. On Monday August 21, we had a social tea-party; about 190 sat down. Tea was provided gratuitously by the friends; some beautiful pieces were sung, and suita. ble and interesting speeches were delivered by Messrs. Pole, Ruff, Fogg, and others. It was a happy season. The collection on Sabbath day and Monday evening amounted to £16. 12s. 9d CRICH.-The fourth anniversary of the opening of the chapel took place on Lord'sday Aug. 27th, Mr. Peggs of Ilkeston, addressed the teachers and scholars in the morning from, "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord," and in the afternoon the text was, Matt. xx. 7, and in the evening, Heb. vi. 18. It was very unfavourable that several public services occurred in the neighbourhood on the same day. Collections, £2 78. SMEETON.-On Lord's day Sep. 3rd, two excellent and appropriate sermons were delivered in the General Baptist chapel Smeeton, by Mr. J. Lewitt, student, in behalf of the Sabbath-school connected with that place of worship. On the following evening, Sep. 4th, a public tea meeting was held in the chapel, which was neatly and tastefully decorated for the occasion. The Rev. T. Stevenson presided, and addresses were delivered by brethren J. Riley, C. Springthorpe, T. Sutton, T. Stanion, and W. Deacon. The meeting was well attended, and all present seemed to be highly gratified with the animated and useful observations made by the different A. FRIEND. speakers. BAPTISMS. BOSTON.-On the last Lord's day in August, the ordinance of baptism was administered to three persons, one male and two females, by brother King, (one of the deacons) Brother Matthews preached on the occasion, to a large and attentive congregation. J. PHILLIPS. KIRTON, Notts.-On Lord's-day Sep. 10th, the ordinance of believers' baptism was administered to two persons. Our beloved minister, Mr. Stubbings, delivered two very appropriate and impressive sermons from John xiv. 15, and 1 Kings xx. 11. After the afternoon service, the candidates were received into fellowship, and the Lord's-supper administered. May these discourses, which were delivered with much plainness and affection, be as good seed cast into good ground, and be productive of much fruit to the glory of God. One of the candidates is eighty-eight years old, and is a tract distributor. The chapel was crowded to excess throughout the day. Several respectable Particular Baptists from a distance again showed their anxiety for the estab lishment of the General Baptist Church at Kirton, by their presence, and uniting with ing was held in the chapel, when Messrs. us at the Lord's-supper. Ingham and Shackleton, of Allerton; TaySTAMFORD. lor, of Clayton; Ingham, of Bradford; and Four very interesting Tunnicliffe, of Leeds, addressed the congreyoung persons were baptized at Morcott, Sep. 11th, and admitted into the Church at gation assembled; and an interesting prayer Stamford by W. Pentney, after an appro- Many shed tears of joy. meeting closed this delightful opportunity. priate address by Mr. Lee. W. P. BEESTON.-On Sunday Sep. 3rd, five candidates, two young men and three females, were baptized by brother Plowright; the services were solemn and interesting. Brother P. preached two pleasing and appropriate sermons; to more than a crowded congregation in the afternoon, and a good one in the evening. The newly-baptized candidates were received by the right hand of fellowship, accompanied by a suitable and solemn address; afterwards the Lord's. supper was administered to the Church. It was truly a day we long to remember; we pray the Great Head of the Church will continue to bless us. J. F. CLAYTON.-We have been favoured at Clayton with several visits of Mr. Tunnicliffe from Leeds. On the 20th and 21st of May he visited us, and baptized 10 persons, 3 males and 7 females. On the 14th, 15th, and 16th of August he visited us again.On the Monday he preached in the open air at 2 o'clock; and in the chapel at 6 o'clock; prayer meetings filled up the intervening spaces. On Tuesday, at 11 p. m. Mr. Ingham of Bradford addressed a numerous company on baptism; and Mr. Tunnicliffe baptized fourteen individuals, 5 males and 9 females; and at 6 a. m. received them into the Church. On Wednesday we had our annual teaparty, when a numerous company of scholars, teachers and friends, partook of the refreshments provided. Afterwards a meet H. HOLDSWORTH. MISCELLANEOUS. ILKESTON SCHOOL UNION.-The ninth report of the Ilkeston Sunday School Union is just published. The Union contains twenty nine schools-the exact number of scholars cannot be obtained, as all the schools did not send a report. Five schools in Ilkeston report 705 scholars. One of the schools states, "Many of the elder boys and girls have united themselves to the society, and give evident signs of a real change of heart and life." Another school speaks of "fifteen scholars having joined the society." The system of visiting the schools by a numerous and active committee appears highly adapted to do good, and worthy of general adoption. Recent Beaths. ninth year, Mr. James Collins, the beloved and Died, at Wolvey, April 26th 1843, in his sixtyrevered father of the late Mrs. Charlotte Sutton and sisters. He survived his honoured partner not quite six months; the loss of her valued so. ciety was too deeply felt; he never recovered his wonted cheerfulness, but without a repining word he sank into the grave, his final resting place from many sorrows. He was a man greatly beloved for his many amiable qualities; as a parent, friend, and neighbour, he had few equals. He exemplified many of the divine precepts of the Gospel in the most beautiful manner. All who knew him would testify to his loving kindness. He rests in peace. VARIETIES. S. E. S. A FRIEND. A USEFUL EFFORT.-At a late exe. Emperor of China sending a letter with the cution in Derby, it was suggested that address, "Dr. Boerheave, Physician, Eusomething should be done for the spiritual rope." It found its way to the proper welfare of the immense crowd. A tract of person. four pages was speedily prepared, and 3000 copies printed, the whole of which were put in circulation. "A wise man discerneth time and judgment." J. P. PRETTY WELL KNOWN.-A letter has been sent from Siam with the direction "For the General Baptist Missionary Society, London, Great Britain." Some hand put "Derby" upon it, and it found its destination. This reminds one of the million pounds sterling, if I had it, to see VALUE OF A BIBLE.-"I would give a a Bengalee Bible! O most merciful God, what an inestimable blessing will it be to those millions! The angels of heaven will look down upon it to fill their mouths with new praises and adorations. Methinks all heaven and hell will be moved at a Bible entering such a company as this. O Lord send forth thy light and thy truth." DR. THOMAS. MISSIONARY OBSERVER. tached to the temple, shall continue vested in the rajah of Khoorda for the time being: provided always, that the said rajah, and all persons connected with the said temple, shall on all occasions be guided by the recorded rules and institutions of the temple, or by ancient and established usage, so far as the same may be consistent with the provisions of this Act. IMPORTANT REGULATIONS IN REFERENCE TO INDIA. We have the pleasure, this month, at the over the priests, officers and servants, atrequest of a correspondent, to place upon record in the Observer, two very important regulations adopted by the legislative council of India, the influence of which upon the interests of humanity and of our com. mon christianity in the East, it is impossible fully to appreciate. We refer to the measures for the abolition of the Pilgrim Tax and of Slavery in India. Of the latter it has been remarked-" In the grandeur of its conception it rivals those great mea. sures of justice and benevolence-the Act for the Abolition of the African Slave Trade, and the Law for the extinction of Slavery in the British Colonies; so in the magni. tude of its blessed results will it eclipse them both. Its effects on all Asia will be immense! The States bordering on the British dominions in India must follow the example of emancipation, or their slaves will seek liberty in flight, and find it under the protection of our laws. The spirit of freedom is diffusive; like the light of hea. ven, it will find its way to the dark places of the earth, which are full of the habita. tions of cruelty." The first in the order of I. WHEREAS it is considered proper to abolish the exaction of all taxes or fees upon pilgrims resorting to Allahabad, Gya, and Juggernaut, and to transfer the charge of the affairs of the Juggernaut temple exclusively to a competent Hindoo superintend ent, under a full responsibility to the esta. blished courts of justice for the redress of any violence or wrong upon the application of any party interested; it is hereby enacted, That so much of Section 31, Regulation XII. of 1805, as provides for the continuance of the duties levied on pilgrims at Juggernaut; so much of Section 4, Regulation XXVII. of 1793, as provides for the continuance of the duties levied from pilgrims at Gya and other places of pilgrimage; Reg. IV. of 1806; Reg. V. of 1806; Sec. 9, Reg. VI. of 1808; Reg. IV. of 1809; Sec. 4, Reg. IV. of 1810; Reg. XI. of 1810; and Reg. XVIII. of 1810, are repealed. Il. And it is hereby enacted, That the superintendent of the temple of Juggernaut and its interior economy, the conduct and management of its affairs, and the control III. And it is hereby enacted, That the said rajah of Khoorda shall not receive or allow to be received, by any person connected with the said temple, any payment, other than such voluntary donations as may be freely offered, from any person resorting to the said temple for the perfor mance of religious ceremonies. IV. And it is hereby declared and enacted, That the said rajah, and all priests, officers and servants, attached to the said tempie, are and shall be liabled to be sued or prosecuted by any party interested, in any civil or criminal court of competent jurisdiction, for any breach of trust or official misfeasance committed in the conduct of their duties, or for any extortion or illegal violence exercised upon pilgrims or others, under colour of the authority conveyed by this Act. Act for the Abolition of Slavery. Act No. 5, of 1843, passed by the honourable the President of the Council, on April 7, 1843, with the assent of the Right Hon. the Governor General of India. An Act for Declaring and amending the Law regarding Slavery, within the territories of the East India Company. I. It is hereby enacted and declared, that no public officer shall, in execution of any decree or order of court, or for the enforcement of any demand of rent or revenue, sell, or cause to be sold, any person, or the right of the compulsory labour or services of any person, on the ground that such a person is in a state of slavery. II. And it is hereby declared and enacted, that no rights arising out of an alleged property, in the person and services of another as a slave, shall be enforced by any civil or criminal court, or magistrate, within the territories of the East India Company. III. And it is hereby declared and enacted, That no person who may have acquired property by his own industry, or by the exercise of any art, calling, or pro. fession, or by inheritance, assignment, gift, or bequest, shall be dispossessed of such property or prevented from taking posses sion thereof, on the ground that such person from whom the property may have been derived, was a slave. IV. And it is hereby enacted, That any act which would be a penal offence if done to a free man, shall be equally an offence if done to any person on the pretext of his being in a condition of slavery." EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM vigour, and happiness in the presence of their God and Saviour. Our other three children are weli; George goes to school, and Charlotte is learning to speak English. Brother Sutton was obliged to return to Cuttack, after a few weeks residence in Calcutta. He lost four of his party by cholera. I lost a native preacher and two servants all by cholera, and fully expected I should have lost my dear wife too, as she was brought to that state of prostration by it, that I was obliged to put my ear close to her lips to hear her speak. Cramp, the Calcutta, Feb. 7, 1843. most fatal symptom of cholera, seized her My much loved and honoured parents, night when I thought I should lose her.several times. Never shall I forget that On Lord's day evening, after communing at There was a dreadful tempest in the elethe Lord's table, with the Circular Road Baptist Brethren, I received a short letter but my mourning was turned into joy. ments, lightnings, thunder, torrents of rain; from brother William, in which was one enclosed from you. I fear from the account "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that of dear brother George, that he is no more. is within me bless his holy name, and forget Should that be the case, O that to him to connected with five month's almost incesnot all his benefits." These afflictions, die may have been gain. Hope whispers sant rain, with having to remove three times he still lives. Whether living or dying to other dwellings, have much interrupted may he be the Lord's; and may you, my my labours. (I refer you for particulars dear parents, rest, as upon an immovable to the Journal sent to Mr. Pike.) After all, rock, on the declaration, "All things work I consider my sphere of labour the most together for good to them that love God." I am now well; but have been laid aside encouraging one, connected with the Orissa for more than a month with fever, since our removal to Calcutta. I often feel the effects of this weakening climate-but have better health on the whole, than many missionaries in India enjoy. Brother William and sister Eliza are frequently writing us, and it is a great pleasure to correspond with one so dear as a brother in this country, and so near to us. I fear I shall not be able to visit them for some time, but believe they are very comfortable in their work. Brother and sister Sutton live near them, and are very kind to them. A short mission. The Ooriyas in Calcutta are pleased to find some one man who cares for them, and the attendance sometimes in the have been to two festivals since I came here, streets of the city is very encouraging. I the latter the celebrated place where infants once to Tribini, and once to Gunga Sunga; were wont to be sacrificed. On both occa sions the religious ceremony performed was bathing men and women, all splashing in the water together, and presenting an appearance of a frolic rather than a religious ceremony. There was more of decorum at Sunga than at Tribini. The former place, as you will see on a map of the Bay of Bengal, is the first land that is seen on ap. proaching Calcutta. It is intersected with many rivers, and is almost covered with jungles. It is celebrated for Tigers. The tide washes the shore, and the people who go to bathe stand in the surf, and allow it to wash over them. While bathing, they present offerings of flowers, and cocoa nuts, Since we came to Calcutta we have had our trials by affliction, and the death of another of our dear children, William Pearce Brooks, only a few months old. time before he died, there was a festival about twenty miles from Calcutta, and as I was very anxious to go to it, Selina almost promised that if I would go and leave her and dear Willy in the hands of a kind Pro. vidence, all would be well. I went, but on my return found him much worse, and in a few days he expired. But a few hours before he died, so strong was his love for ing as though they were frantic, clapping me, that although a perfect skeleton, and their hands, and shouting Gunga ma, manifested no concern for any one else, he (mother Gunga.) This is a good time for held up his little arms for me to take him religious beggars and dancers, and all kinds from his bed. We have now two dear chil dren whose dust is reposing in this land of death; but whose spirits are full of life and * He died January, 1842. VOL. 5.-N. S. their bodies and hands. Some I saw danc and make most ridiculous movements with of devotees. While going to distribute tracts, I saw strewed on the ground pieces of wards of a quarter of a mile long. Each calico about half a yard square, for upperson on returning from bathing, was ex2 R pected to give a little rice or a courie, a small shell of very small value. Some gave a pin or two, value about a farthing; and every five minutes the beggar to whom the pieces of cloth belonged gathered up what was presented, and spread the cloth for more. I remained there three days, and distri. buted a number of tracts. There were, however, very few Ooriya's present, and but few of any class compared with past years. A favourable sign this that the place is losing its sanctity in the estimation of the people. Infanticide is quite abolished-the Suttee is no more. The Pilgrim Tax the Government have nothing to do with-scriptures are being circulated, and light and know. ledge I trust are clearing away darkness and ignorance. In Calcutta and its neigh. bourhood I trust there are pleasing indica. tions of the truth of God having taken effect. I have service in our house in Ooriyah on the Lord's day afternoon. There are four persons who wish to be baptized, and who worship with us on the Lord's day. One of them I trust will be a useful man-he is a doctor. Some time ago, one of the native preachers with me was suffer. ing very greatly from an attack of rheumatic pains all over his system, from head to foot. This man whom I had never seen before was called in to see him, and prescribe for the dear young man. There was not, however, for many days, much sign of amendment, and the doctor proposed to the christian to make an offering to Maha Deva, a heathen Deity. Is it not pleasing to see that very man bending low before the throne of grace, to hear him sing (as he now docs) the praises of Jesus, and to see him accompany the native brethren in their labours to the ba zaar. There are several others who I trust are sincerely enquiring after truth. So that I hope soon there may be a Church formed here from among those people. I have a a school of twelve Ooriyah children, and I hope in a short time to report more. You would smile to see me attempting a little singing. A few days ago I was going to Bazar preaching, and met the native preachers bringing a poor Ooriyah (Palanquin bearer) to be cured. The poor fellow had a few minutes before been run over by a heavy carriage, the wheel having passed over his heel and nearly cut it off. I was alarmed at the wound, and proposed sending the man to the hospital. But he declared he would not go, for if he did he should be sure to die. (Natives have a great horror of hospitals.) Well, I bound up the poor man's leg as well as I could, and posted off to the dispensary for some sticking plaster. This I have used with effect, and the man is doing well. He comes every other day to be dressed. I may as well say that since I have been in Calcutta, I have frequently visited the General European Hospital, and have felt very great pleasure in that work of mercy. Within the last twelve months, four or five patients have given the most satisfactory proofs of a change of heart during their stay there.— I have given away many Bibles-obtained a supply of the London Tract Society's publications for the use of the hospital patients. I have prayed with many others I have seen die, whose friends would be glad to learn under what circumstance their children or friends left this world, did I know where to write to them. There is abundance of work here for those who are willing to do it. And I feel greatly privi leged in being able to take a share. I have frequently to preach at the Seaman's Chapel, as well as to supply occasionally both places of worship. I have scarcely been unemployed a single Lord's day since I came to Calcutta, and I am thinking of esta blishing another preaching place among the very poorest of the inhabitants, hundreds of whom professing Christianity never en ter a place of worship. The native preachers with me are Bicharree, and Damooda. With them I have read through the New Testament very carefully, and critically, taking one or two chapters a day. The time set apart for this exercise was from six a. m, to eight, or breakfast time.— Having three compositors correcting it, and forming a scripture harmony which will fill two or three hundred pages, both in the Bengallee and Ooriyah languages, have taken up a great deal of my time during the day and in the evening. These are some of my engagements. And now I must bid you adieu, sending my affectionate and christian regards to you all, and to all friends in England; and if we should not meet again on earth, may we have the happiness to meet in heaven at last, is the prayer of Your affectionate son, JOHN BROOKS P. S.-My dear wife unites with me in her kind love to all. EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM MR. W. BROOKS TO HIS PARENTS, Dated, Cuttack, March 18th, 1843. After referring to the illness and expected death of a brother in England he says:"My health is still continued, and I feel much the same as when in England, but not so strong. The hot season is coming |