venient, yet they much approve the application of the Committee to his Majesty's Government for the establishment of a public and authorised, though optional, Registration of Births, which, including Methodists and Dissenters of all denominations, would obviate many existing evils, and place them, in a matter obviously important, in a situation equal with the members of the Established Church; and they direct the Committee not to relax in their exertions till they obtain from Government and the Parliament much-needed and just relief.

5. That this Meeting applaud the cooperation of the Committee in the noble and benevolent attempt, by prudent and progressive means, to terminate the existence of Slavery in the British colonies; commend the assistance afforded to the persecuted in the Isle of Man, their interference in behalf of the Dissenters and Methodists in Canada, precluded from the rights which Catholics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians enjoy, and their efforts to obtain redress from the claims of the clergy to read only part of the service of the Church at their discretion, and to refuse it entirely to those who are unbaptized; and enjoin the Committee to persevere in all those efforts which, by diminishing the vexatious irritations of misapplied authority, will really promote truth and charity, and extend freedom, comfort, and Chirstian brotherhood among all mankind.

6. That as the continuance and progress of religious liberty in the British isles, and the removal of existing wrongs, and attainment of relief and right, may mainly depend on the future representatives of the people in the Commons' House of Parliament, this Meeting feel it due to their forefathers, who struggled and died in the cause of freedom--to themselves, who desire its triumphs--and to posterity, who shall be blest by its success, to entreat the Ministers and members of their Society and all friends to liberal principles through out the empire at the approaching general election, not to compromise those principles, and avowedly to bestow their influence and their votes, only on candidates of congenial spirit, who approve a general education, the circulation of the Scriptures, and the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and who will promote universal improvement, liberty, and peace.

7. That the Committee, composed of equal numbers of Ministers and laymen, are well entitled to continued confidence and esteem, for their active, but judicious zealous, but prudent attention to the numerous and important affairs that have required their exertions, and, that the following Gentlemen, with the Treasurer and Secretaries, be requested to act as the Committee for the ensuing year.

Rev. J. Fletcher, M. A., W. B. Collyer, D. D., G. Collison, F. A. Cox, D.D., T. Russell, A. M., A. Fletcher, A M., R. Hill, A. M., T. Jackson, W. Newman, D. D., W. F. Platt, J. Lewis, J. Styles, D. D., M. Wilks, D. Allan, W. Bateman, J. B. Brown, Esq. L. L. D., J. Emerson, J. Esdaile, T. Hayter, T. Wilson, J. Pritt, W. Townsend, M. Wood, M. P., T. Wontner, T. Walker, and J. Young, Esqrs.

8 That the Meeting again present their thanks to Robert Steven, Esq., their excellent Treasurer, and express their wish for the happy continuance of a life long and honourably devoted to useful and benevolent designs.

9. That to the Secretaries, Thomas Pellatt, Esq., and John Wilks, Esq., the meeting renew, with increasing cordiality, their often-reiterated acknowledgments for the disinterested, persevering, and intelligent efforts they have made to defend the defenceless-to resist oppression-and to maintain the great and good cause which the Society is formed to promote.

10. That this meeting greet with gladness the favour conferred on them by the spontaneous presence of their former Chairman, the Right Hon. Lord Dacre, on this occasion, and cordially renew their former expression of gratitude for his habitual support of the great cause they are met to protect, and of their confidence that he will live and die the friend and advocate of Civil and Religious Liberty throughout the world.

11. That this meeting rejoice in an opportunity publicly to express the profound and grateful respect to their noble Chairman, the Right Hon. Marquis Lansdowne, which has been inspired by his private character and public worth-and assure him that his dedication of high talents to the welfare of his country--to the maintenance of freedom-and to a general amelioration of the destinies of man, has obtained for him admiration and love-confidence, renown, and unpurchaseable praise.

At this meeting no collection was made, but donations are needed, and may be transmitted by post to the Treasurer, Robert Steven, Esq. Upper Thames Street; or to either of the Secretaries, T. Pellatt, Esq. Ironmongers' Hall, or J. Wilks, Esq. Finsbury-square; to the latter of whom applications should be addressed. From each congregation in England, the annual contribution expected is two pounds, and from each in Wales one pound. Country ministers or their friends will always be received with pleasure by the Committee, at their meetings, at Batson's Coffeehouse, Cornhill, at half-past six in the evening precisely, on the last Monday in every month.

ROBERT HALL, M.A., ON HIS REMOVAL
TO BRISTOL.

We are happy to insert the following testimonial of respect to the Rev. Robert Hall on his leaving Leicester; which was drawn up, we are informed, by an Independent minister, and which, we are requested to say, would have been signed by a much greater number of ministers in that part of the country, had opportunity allowed. Appended to the letter, which has appeared in several county papers, we have received Mr. Hall's reply, which we also insert for the gratification of our readers.

The Rev. Robert Hall, A.M., having accepted an invitation to succeed the late Rev. Dr. Ryland, of Bristol, he preached his farewell sermon to his late church and congregation at Leicester, on Sunday evening, March 26th, to a crowded congregation of persons of the first respectability; and on the Tuesday following preached before his brethren in the ministry, at Arnsby, near Leicester, when he delivered a most impressive discourse from John xv. 27. ; on which occasion the Independent and Baptist ministers presented him with the following address, signed by those ministers present at the meeting:

"Dear Sir-On the occasion of your removal from a situation which, for so many years, has afforded us opportunities of access to your friendship, and of advantage from your instructions, we are desirous of conveying to you the sentiments and feelings of our high respect and warm affection, and of offering for your acceptance the expression of our fervent wishes for your health, your comfort and happiness, and your usefulness. In the enjoyment of our invaluable liberties, we are too much accustomed to the cultivation of mental independence to allow us the use of language inconsistent with our convictions of truth; and we should not presume to offer to you this address, if we were not fully satisfied that, in presenting it, we are maintaining our integrity inviolate. • Render honour to whom honour is due,' is a Christian precept, and we fulfil its obligation, in part, in the united tribute which we present of our homage to your genius and talents, and our veneration for In this fulfilment of our your virtues. duty, it is gratifying to us that we cannot be subjecting ourselves to any suspicion of insincerity or flattery, the wise and good of every denomination being united in conceding the eminence of your reputation, and conferring upon your name the most honourable distinctions. Of the perversion of the faculties which distinguish man from the creatures around him, and the injuries which eloquence, apart from wisdom and goodness, has infflicted upon mankind, the proofs are but

Nor can

too numerous and calamitous in the history of the species. Our own times have exhibited examples of the most brilliant genius employed in the service of corruption. As committed to your trust, these high endowments are, by their alliance with piety, and sanctified by their relation to the noblest and highest ends to which divine gifts themselves can be subservient. Of the manner in which the principles and practice of evangelical religion have been illustrated and enforced by your ministry, our recollections supply us with the most grateful testimonies. we omit to record that, as often as we have been in danger of being seduced into the admiration of popular, but artificial, declaimers, reference to the character and examples of your eloquence--chaste, simple, and majestic--has preserved us from the influence of applauded, but unnatural and unedifying, models. Our high respect, however, is tendered to you on other accounts besides the deference which is due from us, in acknowledging of talents known to all and appreciated by all, The kindness which you have ever manifested towards us, and the courtesy with which we have been uniformly received and treated by you, are included in our motives for addressing you. We recollect, with pleasure, the freedom you kindly permitted us, and gratefully express our sense of obligation for your friendly and affectionate attentions.

"This address is not presented exclusively by ministers of the denomination to which your name attaches so much ho. nour; and this circumstance, we hope, will render it not less acceptable. With one class of professing Christians, rather than with another, the convictions of individuals will reasonably induce them to unite. If the integrity of your principles has given you external connections with a particular denomination of Christians, we have not now to learn that your affections have the most ample range, that your spirit is liberal and catholic, and that the prevalence of candour and forbearance among Christians, and the union of all Christ's disciples, are the objects of your devout aspirations and most cherished regards.

"We regret your departure from our neighbourhood, and we cannot but be sensible of the privations which we shall have to deplore in your removal. This, we acknowledge, is a selfish feeling. We, however, are not willing that it should be suppressed. But we should be reprehensible if we did not advert to circumstances connected with your removal, and our personal permit them to temper feelings in relation to it. You are not necessitated by incapacity to retire, from active scenes and useful labours, into solitude. You are not removed from us by

that visitation which, in respect to all temporal connections, is final to man. Nor is your removal from us a separation which precludes our hope of again seeing you occasionally amongst us. We unite in thankful acknowledgments to the Giver and Preserver of life, that his mercies are still attending you; that you enjoy so much health, and so much competency for the duties of your office; and that your departure from the station to which, for so long a time, you have been an ornament, is only for the purpose of entering into new Christian relations of greater importance and of larger promise. You are not unacquainted with the numerous practical evils which afflict our churches, by which the cause of truth is obstructed, and their prosperity checked and blighted, and which, but in too many instances, issue in the separation of ministers from charges long occupied by them. We refer to them for the purpose of expressing our hope, that you will enjoy a happy exemption from their influence; that no root of bitterness will spring up to trouble you; but that your mind will be permitted to repose in undisturbed tranquillity, and that you will behold the peace and barmony of the Society over which you are called to preside. May your ministrations be duly appreciated and improved, and be productive of great and lasting benefits. In all your relations may you be honoured and happy; and for these, and all other objects of our desires and prayers for you, may the effusions of divine grace, and the blessing of God, be richly imparted to you.

(Signed) J. Robertson, Creaton.
J. Mack, Clipstone.
J. James, Arnsby.
J. Clarke, Guilsborough.
D. Griffiths, Long Buckly.
E. Chater, Kibworth.
T. Miller, Gretton.

T. Williams, Lutterworth.
T. Mitchell, Leicester.
J. Brooks, Oadby.

R. Breeze, West Haddon.
J. Harris, Churchover.
B. Evans, Blaby.
W. Gray, Northampton.
B. Hobson, Welford.
J. Craps, Bosworth.
G. Hunter, Weystone.
J. Jones, Monks-Kerby.
W. Ayre, Ullesthrop.
J. K. Hall, Kettering.
F. Franklin, Coventry.
T. Wake, Kislingbury.

"April 10, 1826. "To the authors of the Address presented to me at Arnsby, through the hands of the Rev. John Mack, of Clipstone :

"My Dear and Honoured Brethren-I sincerely thank you for the very flattering testimony of your esteem contained in an

It is

Address recently presented to me. impossible for me to be insensible to the honour conferred upon me by this warm and cordial expression of your regard, of the sincerity of which your character affords the surest pledge; while I must be allowed to add, that it would have given me still more satisfaction, had it been couched in terms more proportioned to my qualifications and pretensions. Next to the approbation of the Searcher of hearts, the esteem of the wise and good is the richest reward a mortal can enjoy ; and, though conscious of not meriting the distinction you have conferred upon me, it will operate on me, I trust, as a stimulus prompting me to endeavour to render myself less undeserving of it. That you, my dear and honoured brethren, may long be continued in your present spheres of usefulness, and enjoy the sublime gratification and reward of turning many to righteousness, is the sincere prayer of, "Dear Brethren,

"Your obliged and affectionate Friend, and humble Servant,

"ROBERT HALL."

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.

The Council having published the following statement, we are anxious to give it increased publicity. In looking over the list of Proprietors, we regret to observe that but very few Dissenters in the country have patronized this most desirable undertaking. We entreat their attention to the business. The style and elevation of the proposed university-buildings will be worthy the spirit of the age in which it is projected.

"They will commence the building as soon as deposits shall have been paid upon a capital of £150,000. comprising 1,500 shares, of £100. each; and, as the contracts and working plans cannot be ready before the month of August, they are confident that such capital will be secured before that time, on the present situation of the Institution being made known.

"The state of the Subscription is as follows:--Deposits of £25. have been actually paid at the banker's upon 1,06% shares; in addition to which 263 shares have been subscribed for, upon which the deposits are secure, and in course of payment; thus making upwards of 1,320 shares already subscribed.

"The expense of the entire building, as designed by Mr. Wilkins, is estimated at £87,000.; but as it may probably be expedient to proceed gradually towards its completion, a portion, sufficient for the first purposes of the Institution, may be finished for £30,000.; or the centre, with a part of each wing, forming at once a perfect and symmetrical building, for £50,000.; and the Council will proceed on either of these plans, as the state of the funds will admit. With this, the payment for the land, the founding of a

Library and Museum, and other incidental expenses, the first cost of opening the University can scarcely be estimated at less than from £80,000. to £100,000. Thus 150 additional subscriptions, obtained before the month of August, will enable the Council to effect all that, in the first instance, they propose.

"The Council anxiously anticipate the period when they will have to consider, not the means, but only the manner, of accomplishing this important undertaking; they therefore confidently call for further assistance from the many who are inte rested in the success of the Institution; from those who think the system of collegiate education open to improvement; from those who are excluded from it by their religious sentiments, or by limited income; from the great mass of official, commercial, and professional residents in this town; from those who wish to endow their sons with legal, medical, or other science; in short, from all, of every class, who, for themselves or others, have appreciated the value, or lamented the want, of liberal instruction.

"By order of the Council,

"THOMAS COATES, Clerk. University Chambers, 7, Furnival's Inn, June 22d, 1826." "Subscriptions for shares of £100. (on which a deposit of £25. per cent. is payable) are received at the University Chambers, 7, Furnival's Inn; at Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith's, 1, George Street, Mansion House; and at Messrs. Coutts and Co.'s, Strand.

RECENT DEATHS.

Scotland, he considered it a still higher honour to be a follower of Christ, and a conscientious Dissenter from the ecclesiastical establishment of his country. The father of Dr. Stuart was Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and would much rather his son had chosen a civil than an ecclesiastical profession. He was, however, educated at the University of Edinburgh, for the MiniAfter stry of the Church of Scotland. completing his studies there, he went to London, and passed some time on his own foundation at the Mile End, now Homerton College, then under the tutorship of Dr. Walker. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of London; and, if we mistake not, was the last person on whom that body conferred authority. By his intimate friend, the late Lady Glenorchy, he was, soon after he had received license, appointed to the parish of Crammond, in the Presbytery of Edinburgh. This situation he did not retain more than two or three years. Whether his connexion with the Dissenting Academy, or his own investigation led to his entertaining doubts, in regard to the lawfulness of civil establishments of Christianity, we are unable to say; but we believe those doubts existed before he entered the church of Scotland. As he had great difficulty in baptising the children of the parishioners, not from scruples on the subject of infant baptism : but on account of the ignorance and ungodliness of the parents. He never, we believe, presided at the administration of the Lord's Supper in the parish. After struggling for some time with circumstances uncongenial to his sentiments and feelings, he finally sent in his resignation to the Presbytery, who after allowing it to lie on the table for some months, and appointing several of their number to converse with him, at last accepted his resignation with regret.

Dr. Stuart on leaving the Establishment, united himself with a small Independent Church in Edinburgh, in connexion with Mr. Dale, of Glasgow. To this society he ministered for a considerable time, and through his popularity as a preacher, greatly increased its number. In consequence of changing his sentiments on infant baptism, he left this society and joined the Baptist Church, of which the late Archibald Maclean was then one of the pastors. Having studied medicine, he now applied diligently to that profession, and rose to considerable eminence in it. He was repeatedly President and VicePresident of the Royal College of Physi cians in Edinburgh, and numbered among his friends some of the most eminent men in that profession. Disputes of various kinds in the Baptist Church led to his expulsion from it in a most unwarrantable manner ; in consequence of which the greater part of the future religious life of

this respectable man was spent without any defined connexion with a religious society. He had his peculiarities, but these were in a great measure lost in the substantial excellencies of the Christian character.

Few men perhaps have enjoyed so large a circle of enlightened Christian society as Dr. Stuart. Possessed of a good fortune, a well cultivated mind, most benevolent dispositions, and very polished manners, his acquaintance was courted by many; and if his opinions were often disputed, few were disposed to question the sincerity with which they were held, or to treat disrespectfully even the warmth with which they were occasionally maintained. He was little known as an author himself, though his mental and literary resources were vast, and many writers were indebted to him for suggesting subjects, or improving their works by his remarks. He has left one of the most valuable theological libraries in Great Britain possessed by a private individual, which we would venture to express a hope may not be dispersed, as we know not how such a library could be again collected.

Dr. Stuart was first married to the eldest daughter of Dr. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, by whom he had two sons and four daughters, all of whom, except the eldest daughter, survive him. His second wife, who died some time ago, was Miss Parlane, daughter of a respectable physician, by whom he had no family. The bealth of Dr. Stuart was declining for several years before his death; but we have been furnished with no particulars of his last illness. We think he was in his 75th year.

On Sabbath morning, June 18th, died the Rev. D. S. DAVIES, pastor of the Welsh Independent church, Guildford Street, Southwark, London. He had been confined to his room ever since November last; during which time he had many

delightful foretastes of the glory for which he was preparing; and several interesting conversations with ministers, and others who visited him during his illness. on the importance of an experimental enjoyment of those fundamental principles of the Gospel which had been the subject of his ministry. Sometimes he appeared anxious to depart, and to be with Christ, whom he loved, and whom he had served in the ministry of the Gospel. He frequently asked his medical attendant, with great composure of mind, when he thought he should be dismissed. On one occasion he said, "Had I all the world in my possession, I would give it up to see the secrets of eternity this night." He was sensible to the last, and was frequently engaged in prayer and delightful communion with his Lord. About five minutes before his departure, to those around his bed he said, with a heavenly smile, "I shall go home now!" and at four o'clock, on the morning of the Sabbath, his happy spirit ascended to the bosom of his Redeemer and God. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." On Monday, the 25th, his remains were removed first to the chapel, where for fifteen years he had preached the word faithfully and with success, and where, in the assembly of a numerous and deeplyaffected audience, a religious service was performed in Welsh. Rev. Mr. Lewis, of Fredustan, read the seventh chapter of Job, and prayed; and the Rev. G. Griffiths, of Lampeter, preached from Phil. iii. 20, 21. Afterwards the procession moved to Bunhill Fields, where the precious remains of this "holy man of God" were deposited, in the presence of a large concourse of mourners and spectators, who were suitably addressed at the grave by the Rev. John Humphreys, late Principal at the Mill Hill Grammar School.