vised Prayer Book. The one question formerly put by the Bishop to the candidates was now, according to the Revised Prayer Book, divided into three, bringing out with the greatest distinctness the candidate's profession of repentance, of Christian faith, of purpose of godly living. The Bishop's address was followed by the singing of Hymn 457, “Thine for ever," after which the Rev. J. Snosswell presented the candidates, thirteen in number; and as the Bishop laid hands on each and offered the appointed prayer, the whole congregation seemed impressed with the solemnity; a breathless stillness pervaded the church broken only by the Bishop's voice in prayer, and the singing of a bird in a tree outside. The Confirmation Service being concluded, Hymn 459, “O Jesus, I have promised," was sung, during which the offertory was taken; followed immediately by the Holy Communion, to which the congregation remained by special request, although only a comparatively small number besides those just confirmed approached the table. Married. April 25, George Thorogood and Rebecca Lawrence. April 26, Walter Snow and Rose Annie Digby. LISCARD.-(Christ Church.)-We are hoping ere long to receive a visit from our worthy Bishop, when a Confirmation class will be presented to him with a view of the candidates receiving that rite. We have reasons for much thankfulness, our congregations keep up well; and on the 6th inst. our communicants were double our usual number. Were we in a building of our own, however unpretentious, with something the appearance of a place of worship, our cause here would soon improve. Many have prejudices not easily eradicated, and they have a decided aversion to a simple room, which joins, as in our case, a public-house. Surely in England there are many noble Protestants to whom God has given trust money and means; a little help from them would enable us to purchase a suitable building, and so increase the Lord's work, besides bringing more together for the purpose of protesting and working against Romanizing Ritualism, which threatens to sap the foundations of our nation. Since our last issue a pleasing presentation to our minister took place at Egremont, in connection with our church, accompanied by the following address :--"Revd. and dear Sir, We, the under-mentioned members of the Reformed Church of England, Liscard, beg your acceptance of the enclosed purse, with study chair, as a small token of our personal esteem for yourself, and gratitude for your un wearying kindness in ministering to us, in the face of many difficulties and but scant encouragement. "We trust your labours may be appreciated by an increased congregation and a more substantial evidence of a progressive movement in Protestantism. "We are, revd. and dear Sir, "Yours faithfully," (Here follow the signatures.) ** ECCLES.-(Trinity Church,/-Our Iron Church is now nearing completion, though owing to continued rain we shall not be able to open it until a week later than the time stated in our last report. As at present arranged, we intend to open it on Thursday, June 24th, and the installation of the Rev. Wm. Mules will take place on the following day. Mr. James Hulme, a member of the congregation, has very kindly lent us an organ for use in the Church. Mr. James Barlow, one of our sidesmen, has kindly presented us with two oak chairs for the Communion; and a lady member of the congregation has presented us with a cushion for the front of the Communion. Our work is progressing steadily, and we feel confident that we shall still further increase in number and power when we get into our new Church. [Trinity Church, Eccles, was opened by Bishop Gregg on the 24th ult. (when the offertory was £73), and the Installation of the Rev. W. Mules, R.D., as Vicar, took place on the following evening. We hope to give particulars in our next issue.] WARRINGTON. (Emmanuel Church.) Through the kindness of a lady-member of our congregation the members of the choir had a picnic to Overton Hills, Cheshire, on the 22nd May. A very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon was spent in the drive to and from Frodsham, and climbing the hills prepared every one for an excellent tea. The annual school treat on "Walking Day" was decided to be held this year on the Friday in Whitsun week. Meeting at our new schools at 9 o'clock, the teachers and scholars, headed by Fletcher's brass band, proceeded to the park, where we joined the general procession, and went through the principal streets of the town. Returning to school each received a bun. After dinner we proceeded to a field in Arpley, kindly lent by Mr. R. Green, where various games, races, &c., were indulged in. Tea was provided in our own Schoolroom, and a very pleasant day was brought to a close about nine o'clock, all having enjoyed themselves to the utmost. Number of scholars on the books--male, 104; female, 126; total, 230. Number of teachers-male, 8; female, 10; total, 18. Superintendents-Messrs. John Hall and E. Jewkes. Baptised, May 30th, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and S. Gandy. Official Entelligence. PRACTICAL SYMPATHY FUND. Already acknowledged in R. C. Record, £62 5s. od. Further contributions towards the Practical Sympathy Fund will be gratefully received, and may be sent either to Bishop Gregg, D.D., Southend, Essex, or to the Rev. G. J. Lacell, Rector of Christ Church, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. LICENCES. Congregations or Ministers are not authorized in any way to represent themselves as in connection with or representing our Church unless they hold the Bishop's Licence as evidence thereof. The Bishop is not canonically empowered to issue his Licence until all rules necessary for the same have been duly complied with. OFFICIAL SOLICITORS. Messrs. Todd, Dennes and Lamb, solicitors, of 22, Chancery-lane, London, W.C., have by the General Stand All hired buildings, &c., to be officially recognised by our Church must be taken subject to the terms of the Deed of Covenant, which has been adopted and approved by the General Synod. [Copies of The Mode! Trust Deed and of the Deed of Covenant of the Reformed Church of England have been published together in pamphlet form, and may be had, price sixpence, from Messrs. E. Marlborough and Co., 51, Old Bailey, London, E.C.] SUSTENTATION FUND. The Treasurer begs to acknowledge the receipt of the following:- IN The Dynamite Party. N view of the crisis in which the country now finds itself, and the frequent references made on one side and the other to the proceedings of the dynamite party, it is advis able that the public should have accurate information with regard to the past and present activity of that party, and as we are in possession of such information we think it right to place it before our readers. The facts and details that we are about to narrate may, we are convinced, be absolutely relied upon. It will interest our readers in general, and the leaders of the dynamite party in particular, to learn (1) that a good deal more is ascertainable about the proceedings of the secret conspirators than they commonly believe; (2) that these desperate enterprises are at least as dangerous to those who undertake them as to those against whom they are directed. The story of the dynamitards is by no means of merely historical interest. The party is in existence at this moment, and its activity may break out again if events seem to demand or favour it. But there is something reassuring in the demonstration that the criminal; who actwhatever may be the case with those who merely plotdo not work with impunity; that some five-and-twenty are in penal servitude; and that two, literally hoist with their own petard, lie dead at the bottom of the Thames. It is to the case of these last two men that we will first refer. It will be remembered that at a quarter to six on the evening of December 13, 1884, an explosion took place The shock under one of the arches of London Bridge. was tremendous, but the bridge was scarcely injured. Investigations were nade, and many explanations were given ; one, which was generally believed at first, being that the dynamite had been let down by a string from the railing, and fired by a time fuse. In a few days, however, an inspection made at low tide revealed the fact that the explo sive had been placed against one of the holes with which the buttresses were originally pierced, far below the level a which the water had been at the time of the explosion, and consequently that it must have been brought there by men in a boat. Fortunately the police had been warned some time before that the bridge would be attacked, and they had covered all these holes with stout iron gratings, thus undoubtedly saving the bridge. Then it came out that a man named Carter, a keeper of boats at Queenhithe Stairs, had let one at the time in question to two men, and that neither they nor the boat had ever been seen again. Now, who were these two men? The answer is that one of them is unknown, but the other was Captain William Mackey Lomasney, Detroit, Michigan; and it is practically certain that he and his companion, with the boat, were blown to pieces by the explosion, that the mutilated bodies sank to the bottom, and that the fragments of the boat-it being a strong ebb tide at the time-floated here and there and were lost. In our comments on the London Bridge explosion, on the Monday morning following it, we wrote, "Not a life was lost and nobody was seriously injured. The miscreants who perpetrated the outrage are still at large." We were mistaken. Two lives were lost, but they were the lives of the miscreants themselves. are. The certainty that all the explosions perpetrated here have been the work of one or other of the American organisations makes it important to inquire what those organisations The first, which is now of little importance, and which talks much and acts little, is that of O'Donovan Rossa; the second is the much more serious association called the Clanna-Gael. This is a society whose name is doubtless familiar to our readers; its branches extend over the whole of the United states; it has resources, determination, and the . . It is power of acting with extraordinary secrecy. beyond all question that this society has been at the bottom of all the explosions that have been caused or attempted since the spring of 1883, the men concerned in which may be divided into three groups. The first consisted of Gallagher, Whitehead, Curtin, and Wilson, the heroes of the wellremembered Birmingham dynamite case, all of whom were convicted at the Central Criminal Court on May 28, 1883, The second and sentenced to penal servitude for life. group included John Daly and J. F. Egan, who were tried at Warwick in July, 1884, and who received, the one a lifesentence, and the other a sentence of 20 years. The third group commissioned by the Clan-na-Gael included Cunningham and Burton, sentenced for the double attempt upon the House of Commons and the Tower, but also known to have been concerned in the cloak-room explosions, as well as those on the Metropolitan Railway. In their case also the money and the explosives were sent from America, and slabs of "atlas" powder were found, which were traced to the Repauno Chemical Company, Philadelphia. . ́. . These then are a few of the most important facts connected with the desperate conspiracy against the peace and the welfare of Great Britain, which has of late years been proceeding among the American Irish. We have judged it well to bring them together and to publish them at the same time, partly because there is nothing that those gentlemen like so little as publicity at the wrong moment, and partly because the net results of the whole business are not discouraging to the friends of the order. Two of the dynamite criminals, as we have said, perished by their own. crime. Of the rest, 25 have received sentences of penal servitude, two-thirds of them life sentences, which all but two are now undergoing. The subjoined list of these men and their punishments will form a fitting conclusion to this short survey of the works of the Dynamite party : The "Dear Bishop Gregg,-The Guardian newspaper of March 31st has just been handed to me by a friend, and on p. 475 I notice a letter written by Rev. T. E. Usherwood, late Archdeacon of Maritzburg,' under Bishop Macrorie, and dated from 8, Verulam Place, Bournemouth. writer very artfully practices the trick of his party, which persistently but falsely designates us "the Colensoite Church Council of Natal,' and says, among other things, that our second appeal to the Primate and Prelates for the appointment of a Bishop in succession to Bishop Colenso introduces the red rag of Romanism, and endeavours to ally Church Associationists with the Colenso party by a false statement, that the Church of South Africa is a secession undisguisedly set up with Romanizing objects, under the guidance of the English Church Union.' I feel strongly tempted to throw back this charge, and to deny, in toto, that we are 'Colensoites' in the sense which the writer seems wishful to convey to the readers of the Guardian. I do not really know of a dozen persons, in this Diocese of Natal, who entertain the critical opinions of the late Bishop Colenso. But we do all of us deplore the fact that the so-called 'Church of South Africa' is an undisguised 'seces-ion' from the Church of England, and the setting up by the late Bishop Gray, of Capetown, whose ritualistic proclivities were equally undeniable. And if it be true that the de-Protestantizing of the Church of England, and the setting up of Ecclesiastical Canons to override the laws and tribunals of our Mother Church, are really and truly Romanizing objects' backed up by the English Church Union, I ask how we can be charged justly, by Mr Usherwood, with making a false statement' of the Church of South Africa in the matter. "He further says that our letter to the Prelates concludes with a threat' of making our own arrangements to secure Episcopal supervision, &c. In reply, it suffices to deny that there is any 'threat' We only say that in case the Prelates cannot act for us, we must then do our best to help ourselves, as indeed we are advised to do by the late Secretary of State for the Colonies. "It is much to be deplored that such misrepresentations as those I have now briefly referred to, tend sadly to perpetuate the continued hostility of the Church Council of this Diocese of Natal towards the so-called 'Diocese of Maritzburg.' And thus, corporate union is delayed,' not as Mr. Usherwood says, 'by the determined hostility of a few leaders,' but by the leaders and promoters of the party of the Church of South Africa, whose 'proviso' is set up in hostility to the laws and tribunals of our Protestant Mother Church, to which we are loyally devoted as English Churchmen in Natal.” SOUTH AFRICA. SIR,-At last, after years, of delay, we learn the Archbishop of Canterbury definitely declines to select a fitting person for us to nominate to the vacant See of Natal. Till this reply reached us our action was paralysed. I am glad to say since then the Committee appointed by the Church Council, has been able, by an unanimous vote, to decide on the name of one of England's celebrated divines, who, it has good reason to believe, will accept the office of Bishop of Natal if nominated. That he will be so formally nominated by the Church Council, and as unanimously ap THE Reformed Church Record, JULY, 1886. Compulsory Tithes. HE question is often asked, what is the origin of com proved of by Churchmen who adhere to the mother Church, Tpulsory tithes? In reply to this let us at once state and refuse to join Bishop Macrorie's schism, is confidently believed. In that case we trust Protestant sympathies at home will be ready and willing to extend to us that aid which will be needed in giving full effect to our action. I trust before long to be able to supply fuller particulars. Fingaut, Natal, April 28, 1886. JAMES R. SAUNDERS. Well might the Christian poet, Cowper, write in 1782 :-- The lie that knows no kindred, owns no friend, And thrusts the truth with scorn and anger by ! TO CORRESPONDENTS. All Letters, Books for Review, &c., to be sent to the Editor of The Reformed Church Record, 51, Old Bailey, London, E. C. All news should reach the Fditor not later than the 18th of the month preceding that in which it is desired to appear. All communications should be written on only one side of the paper and should be accompanied with the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. The Editor does not undertake to return rejected communications. Those sending newspapers should plainly mark the paragraphs which they desire to be noticed. THE REFORMED CHURCH RECORD can be had from any bookseller and newsvendor for one penny monthly, post free three-halfpence, by giving the name of the London publishers, Messrs. E. Marlborough, and Co, 51, Old Bailey, London, E.C.; or will be sent post free for one and sixpence per annum, by Mr. S. Page, 10, Aikin Street, Warrington. Intending Advertisers should communicate with the Secretary, Advertisement Department, Reformed Church Record, 10, Bewsey Street, Warrington. that compulsory tithes are not to be found in the Bible. Neither the Old nor the New Testament has one werd upon the subject. Hence they are not of God, neither have they the sanction of the head of the Christian Church. Again, they were neither commanded nor sanctioned by the Apostles; hence they are not apostolic. Again the early Christians knew nothing about them. In meeting their temporal need, they adopted a more scriptural plan than distraint by the Sheriff's officers. Whence then did compulsory tithes originate? About the year A. D. 764, Offa, King of Mercia, made a law whereby he gave unto the church the tithes of all his kingdom. What right had he to make such a law? None whatever. Why then did he make such a law? He had caused another king (Ethelbert, King of the East Angles) to be basely murdered; and to atone for this horrible murder, he made the law that other persons, i.e. all his subjects, should pay their money (tithes) to the Church. It was this law of Offa which first gave the Church in England a civil right to tithes by way of property, and enabled the priests and clergy to gather and recover them This law of Offa reached only by force as their legal due. to his own kingdom of Mercia until about 60 years afterwards, Ethelwulf extended it to the whole realm. You can read the particulars in a book on Ecclesiastical Law by Rev. R. Burns, LL. D., Chancellor of the Diocese of Carlisle, and by Sir R. Phillimore in his large work on the same subject. The wretched Offa invited Ethelbert to his court that he (Ethelbert) might marry his (Offa's) daughter; but instead. of this, he caused Ethelbert to be brutally murdered. The priests and prelates then worked upon his fears, and to ease his conscience he made the law that the payment of tithes should thenceforward be made compulsory. Dean Prideaux, a strong churchman, in his work on. "Tithes" (published in 1710) writes: "For the first ages of the church I confess we find no mention of tithes. Each Christian became a law unto himself and gave freely of their own accord, so that out of voluntary offerings there was not only a sufficiency for the ministers, but, over and above, a large portion for the poor also. And thus, till towards the fourth age of the church, all the necessities of it were fully answered by the voluntary offerings of the faithful, and what was given by them in this way, as it much exceeded a tenth of their income, so did it more than suffice, not only for the ministers, but for all other occasions also." We thus learn that Compulsory Tithes are not Scriptural; they are not Christian; they are not Apostolic; they are not in accord with primitive Christianity. On the contrary they are unscriptural, un-christian, un-apostolic, and had their origin in a base and cruel murder, and in an unrighteous, and tyrannical law. True eloquence doth teach, delight, and move, exhibits man's necessities, Jehovah's love. Young Women. THE "TRAVELLERS' AID" SOCIETY. THE HE "Travellers' Aid" Society was begun about a year ago, under the auspices of the Young Women's Christian Association? The object with which it originally started was to protect the numerous young women of different classes who come up to London to answer to attractive advertisements and in search of employment. It is not necessary to go into the details of the horrible dangers to which these girls are exposed on their arrival in London. Many pretended friends are at hand to tell them of "cheap lodgings," to take them to registry offices where they are certain to hear of "easy situations with high wages," or to "treat" them at the refreshment bar whilst they consider what is best to be done, and these ignorant country girls, not knowing a single person in London in whom to turn, naturally take the advice of those who appear to be so friendly disposed towards them, and disappear from sight, to re-appear later in the hospitals and workhouses, their life and health ruined. The case of many who have been engaged by means of false advertisements, or bad registry offices is no better. The unsuspecting crédulity of girls who agree to take situations of which they know nothing, beyond the particulars given in an advertisement, would be startling if it were met with less frequently. Many who realize these facts feel strongly that country girls and young women should be warned of the risks to which they expose themselves by coming into large towns where they know no one to go to in case of need; and that any temporal advantages to be gained by so doing may be infinitely outweighed by the terrible snares that await them. If ministers, schoolteachers, and others who have influence over these girls would give them this warning, many might be prevented from coming to London at all; and even if they still came, they would at least be forewarned, and therefore to some extent forearmed. It is their inexperience that makes them fall such an easy prey to the designing people who are on the watch for them. The "Travellers' Aid" is trying to remedy this evil in two ways--1. By preventing country girls as far as possible from coming to London. 2. By trying to give protection to those who do come. As regards the latter, the "Traveller's Aid" will, if applied to, send a lady to meet any girl at the station, and put her into the way of obtaining respectable employment. They will also make inquiries respecting any situation about which a country girl is in negotiation, before the final arrangement is made to take it. In addition to this, an agent is employed by the society who will visit the London stations regularly, and offer help to any young women appearing to be in need of it. Many officials also at the stations are much interested in the work, and are ready to give their aid in any way they can. Since the "Travellers' Aid" was formed the committee have found that the same protection is needed for girls travelling in the provinces and abroad, and they are now extending their operations to befriend them also. Most of the railway companies have generously given help by allowing us to exhibit at their stations placards on which are given the addresses of the Y.W.C.A. Homes in different towns, and also the addresses of a lady living in the place where each placard is hung; to whom any girl can at once go in need. These placards are now up in between two and three hundred stations, and hundreds more could be put up if the names of ladies were known who would be willing to undertake the duties of "local referees." The Committee are also trying to get notices put up in the dif ferent boats giving the names of ladies living at the ports where passengers are landed, with directions to travellers to apply to these ladies for lodging and any other help they need. All communications respecting the "Travellers' Aid" should be addressed to the Secretary at the office, 16A, Old Cavendish-street, London, W., who will gladly furnish any further information. Rome's Doings. (From The Christian Echo.) HE "revelations of Rome's secrets" by Dr. Goergen, at St. George's Hall, Stonehouse (Plymouth), appear to correspond with the generally prepared design and arrangements as revealed in the lengthy epistle which we have recently printed from the Union Review, entitled, "The Catholic Revival." Dr. Goergen stated that all kinds of benevolent institutions were established in England by the Catholics with Continental money, and his hearers must no: think that these institutions were being worked with benevolent objects-the whole aim was to bring fresh sheep to the Romish fold. During the past five years about 600 Romish priests had been appointed in England, there were 440 Romish chnrches and 64 convents, and in some of the churches in London there had been more than 600 converts to Romanism in the year. Nonconformists had been blind to the progress of Romanism, and would even now deny it if they could. The Church of Rome, the doctor said, allowed a Protestant who had joined its communion to live outwardly as though he were a Protestant. The doctor quod an illustration, the case of the Rev. Mr. Hawker, of Morwenstow, Cornwall, who (he said) continued in his office while he was in secret performing the functions of a Romish priest. What, he asked, was to be thought of the church that allowed its members to present themselves as Protesta.. in order to further its political aims? Why, it was a fact that Jesuits had become Buddhists in order to convert Buddhists, and Lutherans to convert the Protestants of Sweeden and Norway. The Church of Rome was still mediæval; it had not altered, and could not alter, and its influence in this country was so powerful that the abuses their ancestors fought against were growing stronger still. Dr. Goergen spoke very pointedly of the Established Church. He evidently did not consider it a bulwark against Popery. "Hearty co-operation," he said, "could hardly be expected from the Broad Church in its negative form, or from the High Church with its Romish tendencies, the great aim of which was to be recognised by the Romish Church, and to be considered a sister Church. The only hope was in those Christians who kept strongly to their Protestant faith. There were thousands upon thousands of these, but there was no unity; they resembled isolated stones which did not form a building, trained soldiers who were not Those banded together and who did not form an army. who were employed in the Romish propaganda were deeply and versed in Protestant history and trained in controversy; |