Mr. H. Houldsworth of Hull, moved, and Mr. Bedford of Lincoln, seconded the following:-"That persecution in every form, mode, and degree, is utterly inconsistent with the rights of nature and with the spirit of the Gospel, and decidedly hostile to the progress of truth; and it is therefore the earnest desire of this meeting to see every persecuting statute which still disgraces the laws of our country, speedily sharing the fate of the now extinct Corporation and Test Acts, and Catholic disqualifications."

Mr. Duffield and Mr. Higginson moved and seconded the concluding resolution:-" That the Unitarian faith springs out of the great Protestant principle of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture; that its professors have been distinguished by the maintenance and active assertion of that principle; and that we therefore rejoice, that the British & Foreign Bible Society resisted and repelled a recent attempt to impose a doctrinal test on the members of that Institution." The Chairman then made a few observations, and the meeting concluded about ten o'clock with singing and prayer. The audiences at the various services were deeply attentive, and numerous. Mr. Philp preached on the following Sunday afternoon, and Mr. Harris in the morning and evening. At the last service, numbers were unable to gain admittance to the Chapel.

ON Wednesday and Thursday, the 29th and 30th June, the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Unitarian Society was held at Ipswich. The Rev. H. Hawkes of Norwich conducted the devotions of Wednesday evening, and the Rev. J. Murch of Diss preached a truly excellent discourse from the words, "So run that ye may obtain," in which he pointed out the various means by which pure and undefiled Christianity might be advanced. On Thursday, the Rev. T. C. Holland of Loughborough and Mount Sorrell, prayed and read the Scriptures, and Mr. Harris preached. Afterwards, the business of the Society was transacted. Mr. Nottcut of Ipswich in the chair. The Report of the Committee, and a very interesting one it was, was read by the Rev. J. W. Bakewell of Norwich. The members and friends, male and female, dined together-Mr. Martineau of Norwich, President, and Mr. Bakewell, Vice-President. Sixty-four individuals sat down to dinner, and several came into the room afterwards. The meeting was kept up with great spirit and interest for

many hours. The company was addressed by the Chairman, Mr. Harris, Mr. Murch, Mr. Alexander of Yarmouth, Mr. Robinson of Bury, Rev. J. Esdaile of Framlingham, Rev. Mr. Clack of Soham, Mr. Silver of Woodbridge, Rev. W. Selby of Lynn, Messrs. Bakewell and Hawkes, Rev. A. Melville of Ipswich, and Mr. Holland, and Mr. Nottcut; and in addition to the places already named, individuals were present also from Yoxford and Bungay.

THE Nineteenth Anniversary of the Kent and Sussex Unitarian Association, was held at Maidstone on Wednesday, 6th July. The Rev. B. Mardon of London, gave out the hymns; the Revds. J. Ketley of Whitby, Yorkshire, and E. Talbot of Tenterden, conducted the devotions; and Mr. Harris preached from 2 John 7, and concluded the service. At its close, the business of the Association was entered into; Mr. Talbot in the chair. The Report of the Committee was read by the Secretary, Mr. John Green, and various resolutions were moved by several gentlemen. At two o'clock, the members and friends, male and female, sat down to dinner, to the number of one hundred and thirty; John Brent, Esq. of Canterbury, President, and Mr. Charles Ellis of Maidstone, Vice-president. Many persons joined the company after dinner. The meeting was a most animated one, and continued much longer than usual; and was addressed by the Chairman and Vice-chairman, the Revds. Harris of Glasgow, Ketley of Whitby, Yorkshire, Mardon of London, C. Wallace of Altrincham and Hale, Cheshire, F. Baker of Bolton, Lancashire, H. Green of Knutsford, Cheshire, Talbot and Holden of Tenterden, Chinnock of Headcorn, Austen of Smarden, Thomas of Chatham, and Stevens of Maidstone; and by Messrs. J. Green of Otham, T. Pine of Maidstone, S. Dobell of Cranbrook, and J. Hadaway of Chatham. In the course of the afternoon, it was moved by Mr. Thomas Pine, and seconded by Mr. John Green, and received with acclamation-that Mr. Harris should be earnestly requested to print his Discourse on Antichrist, and also the speech delivered by him at the dinner; and upwards of three hundred copies were immediately subscribed for. The meeting did not break up till nearly eight o'clock; and this meeting of friends from so many and so distant parts of the kingdom, will long be remembered and dwelt on with delight. In addition to the

places named, friends were likewise present from Bessells Green, Northiam, Brighton, Rolvenden, &c.

DIED on March 8th, William Henry Ridgeway of His Majesty's Customs, London, aged 50. He was, like many more who have embraced Unitarian Christianity, brought up in the strict rules of the Church of England both in form and doctrine; but being of a thinking and liberal turn of mind, he began to doubt some of what are designated the essential doctrines of Christianity. An intimate acquaintance induced him to go and hear the Free-thinking Christians discuss the doctrine of the Trinity; and from this period he attended their Sunday morning debates for upwards of two years, but could not be prevailed on to become a member, considering their church government too rigid, and their mode of public instruction not adapted to the moral and spiritual wants of man. Having expressed this conviction to the writer of this memorial, he was invited to attend the preaching of the Unitarians; and after a comparatively short lapse of time, his opinions became settled as to the propriety and utility of public social worship as conducted in Unitarian Chapels. Arriving at this conclusion, he became a member of the church assembling in Parliament-Court, Bishopgate-street, soon after the settlement of Mr. Fox with that people. It need not be concealed, that for some years past he was the subject of much domestic affliction; and on hearing a sermon preached at Finsbury Chapel some few months ago by the Rev. R. Aspland, on secret joys and sorrows, he was heard to say next day, that he felt much holy consolation. An inflammation on the

brain terminated his earthly career. Mr. Fox, at the request of his relations, preached on the Sunday after Mr. Ridgeway's decease, a most impressive funeral discourse, to a numerous audience.

R. Y.

DIED at Nottingham, on 17th June, Mr. D.D. Wright. This amiable and excellent young man, the pride and ornament of a happy family circle, will be remembered by many of our readers. After passing some time at the University of Glasgow in the study of medicine, he went through various preparatory studies in London, and settled at his native town as a surgeon, in which profession he was gradually rising to eminence. His death was occa

sioned by the bursting of a blood-vessel near the lungs, while at a distance of several miles from home on a professional visit. Hopes, sanguine and earnest, were entertertained that he would recover, but a fresh effusion of blood took place, under which his exhausted frame gave way in less than two hours. He was ever active in doing good. At Glasgow he kindly and zealously assisted in the Sunday and week-night schools, then connected with. the Unitarian Chapel, and at Nottingham the schools also received his anxious attention. The Editor of this work had anticipated much pleasure in again meeting Mr.Wright from whom he had received a letter only a few days before his departure for England. At Hull, the melancholy intelligence reached him by the Rev. B. Carpenter, that his friend was no more. His sympathies are with the sorrowing parents. May every Christian consolation be

theirs.

DIED at Liverpool, on the 1st of July, William Roscoe. This venerable man, whose name is associated with genius and philosophy and freedom-whose heart the storms of eighty winters had not chilled-whose thoughts and feelings were, late and early, devoted to human improvement -whose soul of harmony kindled into inspiration, when a nation determined to be free, and millions burst the chains of bygone ages-whose Christian philanthropy at their later revolution, prompted the divine lesson of saving the lives even of traitors to their country's weal-who poured forth that song of eloquence to the deserted child of Caledonia, which honoured the memory of Burns in strains worthy of his genius-who, when there was danger and obloquy in the advocacy, vindicated the rights of the African, and denounced the iniquity of his enslaverswho sympathised with the poor prisoner, and deemed it more rational and more Christian to reform than destroy the victim of criminality-the friend of Lafayette, and Charles James Fox, and Clarkson, and Romilly-the Christian philosopher, the lover of peace, of liberty, and of man, -William Roscoe, is removed to another and a better world. His memory will be hallowed by thousands whom his writings have instructed and delighted. May they prove their reverence of exalted worth, by emulating his labours for the mental and moral emancipation of mankind.

THE General Baptist Annual Assembly was held at the meeting-house in Worship-street, on Whit-Tuesday, the 24th of May. Mr. Smallfield was called to the chair at half-past nine in the morning, when a short prayer having been offered up by the Rev. George Buckland of Benenden, the business commenced by reading letters from various churches in connexion with the Assembly. At eleven o'clock, the Rev. T. F. Thomas of Chatham, began the public religious service by reading a portion of Scripture. The Rev. Jerom Murch of Diss, offered the prayer, and the Rev. B. Mardon of Worship-street, London, preached an admirable and impressive sermon in favour of spiritual liberty, from the words of Paul to the Galatians, "Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

At the conclusion of the service, the business was resumed by reading the Committee's Report. The various motions which arose out of the Report, and otherwise, gave occasion to some animated discussion. There was a dinner afterwards at the White-Hart Tavern, Bishopsgate-Street, at which Mr. Smallfield presided, and added very much to the pleasure of the evening by the manner in which he filled the office of Chairman.

A lively interest appeared to be felt in the proceedings of the whole day; and the spirit which was manifested gave token of increased zeal in the cause of a rational theology, appealing to the plain declarations of Scripture; a theology advocated by a few in all ages of the Gospel, as the only safeguard amid the metaphysical niceties on the one hand, and the imaginative pietism on the other, into into which men manifest a proneness to diverge, endangering the simplicity of Gospel truth, and the clear foundation of Christian obligation.

ON Wednesday, 22d June, the deputation from the Protestant Board, consisting of Rev. Dr. Rees, Revds. Mr. Aspland and Davidson, arrived at Carmarthen, for the purpose of the usual triennial examination of the students belonging to the dissenting college of that town. On Wednesday evening, Mr. Davidson preached; also, Rev. T. Evans of Breckon, in Welsh. On Thursday morning, Dr. Rees preached. In the afternoon, Mr. Aspland preached; also, Mr. Evans of Merthyr, and Mr.