of the meeting was gone through, and if the Roman Catholic gentlemen then wished to state their objections, they would reply.

This course was adopted; when the business of the Society was concluded, Joseph Reyner, Esq. the Treasurer, left the chair, and Alderman Key was requested to act as chairman. The two Roman Catholic gentlemen who had been most prominent in obtruding themselves upon the meeting, a Mr. Fitzgerald, and a Mr. Rolph, were admitted to the platform, and allowed to address the meeting as long as they pleased, and to bring forward all the arguments and assertions they thought proper to advance, and were encouraged to state them with the utmost freedom, except on political points, which were carefully avoided. They were severally replied to by Mr. Pope and Mr. Urwick, who, in the spirit of Christian meekness, and in the most able manner, refuted the miserable sophistries and misrepresentations of their opponents, and fully exposed to the light of day the system of Popery, as opposed to the fundamental truths of the gospel. It is impos. sible to notice the particulars in these pages, and is the less necessary, as a sketch of the proceedings will be published in a few days, by the Religious Tract Society. The result was highly gratifying to the numerous assembly (about twelve hundred persona) who listened with the utmost interest and attention to this discusssion, which lasted for more than two hours after the meeting had closed, so that the whole proceedings were not terminated till after twelve o'clock, when Alderman Key shortly addressed the meeting, thanking them for their attention to both parties, and remarked the conviction which appeared to be brought home to all present, of the value and importance of the truths of the gospel, as set forth by

the advocates of the Reformation.

The result of this meeting, we trust, will satisfy Roman Catholies as to the impolicy of continuing to obtrude them. selves upon Protestant assemblies, to emto embarrass and interrupt the proceedings. It will also be a means of making the active proceeding of the Religious Tract Society more extensively known, and of producing increased assistance to its funds, which is the more necessary, as the total amount it received from the public the last year, did not exceed £2300; a sum utterly inadequate to the extensive operations of the Society in disseminating divine truth both at home and abroad, and especially in the sister kingdom.

The publications of the Religious Tract VOL. XVII.

Society, during the past year, exceeded one hundred, many of which were upor the important subjects just adverted to, and may be procured at the Depository, 56, Paternoster-row.

General Meeting of the Deputies from Dissenting Congregations.

At a special General Meeting of the Deputies from the several Congregations of Protestant Dissenters of the three Denominations, Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist, in and within twelve miles of London, appointed to protect their civil rights, held at the King's Head Tavern, in the Poultry, London, on Friday, the 29th Day of April, 1825,

Wm. Smith, Esq. M.P. in the Chair; Resolved,

That this Deputation is anxious to disthe petitions lately presented to Parlia avow any concurrence in, or approval of, Dissenters,) in reference to the claims of ment, (purporting to be from Protestant the Roman Catholics for relief from the operation of existing laws; and that it will continue, at all seasonable opportu it has hitherto done,) the impolicy and nities, to urge upon the Legislature, (as injustice of every sort of penalty or disability, civil or political, for conscience"

sake.

Twenty-first Anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

ON Wednesday, May 4, 1825, The Right Honourable Lord Bexley in the Chair.

His Lordship was supported by the following Vice-Presidents of the Society, viz.-The Earl of Harrowby, Lord President; the Earl of Rocksavage; the Earl of Gosford; Lord Calthorpe; Lord Gambier; the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry; the Dean of Salisbury; Sir T. D. Acland, Bart. M.P.; Sir R. H. Inglis, M.P.; the Honourable C. J. Shore,

2 E

Seventy one new Auxiliaries, Branch Societies, and Bible Associations, have been established since the last Anniversary.

The usual Resolutions were then severally proposed and adopted.

The speakers were:-The Earl of Harrowby, the Rev. William Dealtry, B. D. Rector of Clapham, the Earl of Rocksavage, the Hon. C. J. Shore, the Rev. Sereno Dwight, Lord Calthorpe, the Dean of Salisbury, the Rev. Mr. Monro, Mr. Robert Grant, Rev. G. Hamilton, Sir George Rose, Professor Tholuck, Lord Gambier, J. C. Esten, Esq. Chief Justice of Bermuda, Mr. J. Thornton, Sir Stamford Raffles, Rev. J. Dyer, Sir S. T. D. Acland, Rev. Robert Newton, and Sir R. H. Inglis.

Though it has not been the practice of the Society to make a collection at its Annual Meeting, the sum of £130 was presented at the door, including £50 promised by Mr. Newton in his speech.

"At a general Meeting of the Society, held at the Freemasons' Hall, on Saturday the 30th of April, 1825; His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, the Patron and President, in the Chair.

"The Report of the Committee was read and approved, and ordered to be printed for circulation; and the following, amongst other Resolutions, were adopted.

"Resolved, That this Meeting feel themselves called upon to express their deep regret and disappointment, that su little progress should hitherto have been made, in carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of his Majesty's Government, the unanimous resolutions of Parliament, and the wishes and prayers of the Nation at large, for the mitigation and eventual extinction of Colonial Slavery ;That the threats of determined resistance, on the part of the colonists, to the proposed measures of reform, appear to destroy all rational hope of relieving their bondsmen from the evils that press upon them, except by the direct interference of the supreme Legislature;-That, Parlia ment, therefore, they trust, may be induced, without further delay, to enact and enforce such measures as are requisite for effectually meliorating the condition of the slave population throughout the British dominions, and for raising

them to a participation in those civil rights and privileges which are enjoyed by other classes of his Majesty's subjects.'

"Resolved, That deely convinced of the moral guilt, as well as of the political inexpediency of Colonial Slavery, this Meeting further laments the continuance of those commercial regulations, which, by imposing a much higher duty on sugar, the produce of free labour, than on sugar grown by slaves, force the latter into consumption, in this country, almost to the exclusion of the former :-That in thus giving a large bonus to the holders of slaves in their competition with free labour, this country is pursuing a course, which, while it is at variance with all just maxims of commercial policy, power. fully and fatally tends to aggravate the miseries of the slave, and to perpetuate the evils of colonial bondage;—and that, therefore, they earnestly recommend to all the friends of their cause, to employ their best exertions to put an end to a state of things which makes the people of this country the real and efficient, though reluctant, upholders of that system of Slavery, which they unequivocally reprobate as immoral and unjust, as inconsist ent with the principles of British law, and highly injurious to the national in

terests.

"Resolved, That it be most earnestly recommended to the friends of this Society, in all parts of the United Kingdom, to employ their strenuous efforts in forming Anti-slavery Associations, for the purpose of diffusing information respecting the state of Slavery; of exciting and keeping alive a feeling of strong interest in the unhappy lot of our colonial bondsmen, and of producing a suitable impression among all classes, and especially among the young, of the paramount obligations attaching to us as men, as Britons, and as Christians, to leave no means unattempted for alleviating their condition, and for raising them from their present state of mental darkness and brutish sub. jection, to light, liberty, and the hope of the Gospel.'

We wish we had room for all the Report: we can give one extract only:

"In the mean time, however, the slaves are suffering and perishing. The depopu lation of our colonies is proceeding at a rate which can be explained on no principle but that of the severity of their treatment. They still labour under the whip without wages. They are still chattels, They are still not the subjects of law, but of individual caprice. They are still without any civil or political rights. Even their marriages are still unsanctioned and unprotected by any legal recognition. Their evidence is still generally inadmissible. Their manumission is still obstructed: and, even after being made free, they are still liable to be reduced again to slavery if unable to produce proof of freedom. The master may sell or transfer at his pleasure, without any regard to family ties. He alone still regulates the measure of their labour, their food, and their punishment. He may still brand them, whether men or women, in any part of their bodies, with a heated iron; confine them in the stocks; load them with chains; strip them naked, and cartwhip them at his pleasure. He may still deprive them of half their night's rest, and leave them, no alternative, with respect to the employment of Sunday, but that of toiling for their subsistence, or carrying their produce to market; and he may still shut them out from the means of religious instruction. He may thus, and in a variety of other ways, make their lives bitter with hard bondage.'

dination of the Rev. Ebenezer Swain, over the newly-formed church at Summer's Town, near Oxford, will be publicly recognized. Mr. T. Coles of Bourton on the Water, is engaged to deliver the charge; Mr. W. Gray to preach the sermon to the church; Mr. Pryce, of Coote, and other ministers, will take the other parts of the service.-Worship to begin at three o'clock in the afternoon, and at half past six in the evening.

Mr. W. Gray, of Chipping Norton, has accepted the very cordial invitation of the Baptist Church at College-street, Northampton; and, Providence permitting, intends to remove to Northampton, with his family, at Michaelmas next.

NOTICES.

Anniversary of the Baptist Chapel Homerton-row, near Hackney.

THE Third Anniversary of the Baptist Chapel, Homerton-row, near Hackney, will be on Tuesday, July 26, 1825. Mr. J. Smith, of Ilford, to preach in the morning at eleven; Mr. Stodhard, of Pell-street, in the afternoon at three; Mr. T. Powell, of Peckham, in the evening at half-past six.-Dinner and tea at a' moderate expense.

New Chapel to be opened at Crigglestone.

ON Wednesday, July 20, 1825, a new Chapel will be opened, for the use of the Particular Baptist Denomination, at Crigglestone, near Wakefield, Yorkshire. The Rev. J. Mann, M.A. of Shipley; J. Aston, of Lockwood; and Dr. Steadman, of Bradford, are engaged to preach on the occasion.

Mission Premises at Serampore.

THE

LITHOGRAPHIC PRINT, in this Number, from a sketch by the Rev. John Lawson, gives a representation of the first premises purchased at Serampore, as described in Periodical Accounts, Vol. II. page 44. Since that period many other premises have been added to the Missionproperty, and lately, a large college, within about three hundred yards of it, has been erected. These are the premises which have been so much injured by the

IRISH EDUCATION INQUIRY.

THE first Report of the Commissioners of the Inquiry into the State of Education in Ireland, has been printed: we merely extract that which refers to the Schools founded by the Hibernian and Baptist Societies:

"It forms no part of our duty to notice any of these Societies, but such as are connected with the establishment of Schools; and of that class we found that the London Hibernian and Baptist Societies were so conducted as to excite a greater degree of distrust on the part of the Roman Catholic clergy than any of the others.

"It is true, indeed, that general directions are given by these Societies, that no attempt shall be made in their Schools to instil Protestant doctrines into the minds of the Roman Catholic children. The chief object is to give them scriptural instruction. They are required not only to read the scriptures in the Schools, but to commit considerable parts of them to memory, for which purpose it becomes necessary that they should take the book to their respective homes. Scripture reading by the children of all ages is the predominant and almost the sole object of instruction; and it is the avowed wish of the Directors, that the children should thus obtain for themselves an acquaintance with the doctrines of Christianity, without reference to any particular form of creed or worship.

"The opinion which is formed by the Roman Catholics of the character and intentions of the London Hibernian and Baptist Societies, must naturally be the result of a consideration of the whole, and not of a part of their proceedings; and in this view it is important to observe, with respect to the London Hibernian Society, that the circulation of the Holy Scriptures generally in Ireland is one of the declared objects of the Society, and that it also employs a class of readers who are constantly engaged in travelling through those parts of the country which are inhabited by Roman Catholics, and in reading and expounding to them the scriptures. So likewise, with respect to the Baptist Society, its declared object is not only to establish Schools, but to promote the gospel in Ireland,' by the employment of itinerant preachers, and by the distribution of Bibles and Tracts, either gratuitously or at reduced prices.

“The anxiety and apprehension which we found to prevail among the Roman Catholic clergy, with respect to proselytism, induced us carefully to inquire. whether many children had in fact been. converted from the Roman Catholic faith through the immediate instrumentality, either of the Schools of the Kildare-place Society, or of the other Societies with which it is connected; and we have no reason whatever to believe that the conversion of any children has taken place in any case in which they cannot be sufficiently accounted for by the religion of one or other of the parents. The Roman Catholic clergy, however, do not rest their opposition to these Societies on the ground that proselytism has actually been affected by them, but on an allegation that such is their object; that such is the tendency of their Schools, and that such might be the effect of their system if it were allowed to prevail. Whatever may have been the nature of the opposition which the Roman Catholic clergy have given, we had abundant opportunities of seeing that it had been very generally exercised, and its effects were apparent at the time of our inspection, in the altered state of by much the greater part of the Schools. That their exertions to remove the children are not made with equal success, or with equal resolution in all cases, is naturally to be expected; but that they have been to a great degree successful, and will to the utmost be persisted in, we are led seriously to apprehend."

The result of this inquiry is thus expressed:

"On the fullest consideration which we have been able to give to the subject, we are of opinion, that it is desirable to unite children of the different religious persuasions in Ireland, for the purpose of instructing them in the general objects of literary knowledge, and to provide facilities for their instruction separately, where the difference of relief renders it impossible for them any longer to learn together.'

"According to the returns made by the ministers of the Established Church, the total number of Schools in Ireland (Sun. day Schools excepted) is 10,387, and they contain 498,641 pupils. According to the Roman Catholic returns, the number of Schools is 10,453, and the number of pupils 522,016."

The plan recommended is, to have