morning, of the church recently gathered in this important town, and a very hallowed meeting it was. The Music Hall was occupied afternoon and evening for the preaching of the gospel, but the weather being exceedingly wet, the attendance was not so great as it would otherwise have been. The same cause considerably affected an outdoor meeting for preaching on Monday evening, but the prayer meeting in Cherry-street Hall following was a very precious season to all the brethren present, so solemnly pervaded was it by a spirit of fervent longing prayer. On Tuesday evening, at five, the brethren, who hai now very fully mustered, spent a couple of hours in cordial persona intercourse over a cup of tea, and at seven business commenced, after prayer and praise, by the reading of letters from the churches, containing statistical and other interesting information and suggestions. There was much in the letters to call forth serious reflection, not unmixed, however, with gratitude to the God of all grace, who, notwithstanding the absence of such devoted zeal as ought to characteri those who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, has condescended to favor the churches with considerable increase. Deducting all loss of membership by removal, emigration, death and exclusion. there yet appeared among the churches reporting a clear increase of one hundred and sixty-nine members for the year. On Wednesday morning, at nine, business was resumed by the consideration of appeals from different parts for labourers in the gospel. Some of these were the most urgent and Macedonian character, and in view of the fact tha entreaty for preachers was made from ten or twelve places, in most of which the likelihood of success could scarcely be doubted, the br thren felt impressed with the duty of urging the churches to earneprayer to the Lord of the harvest to raise up labourers, and of inciting young brethren of piety and zeal to study and labour to shew themselves workmen that need not to be ashamed. The meeting recognis ing the freedom of the brethren engaged in evangelistic work to follow the indications of providence, untramelled by human control, desired those present to say where it seemed to them they should in dividually labour. Thereupon Brother King gave an interesting and cheering account of what God had wrought by him in Birmingham. and made it satisfactorily apparent to all the brethren that he ought to continue his present labours until the state of the work shall indicate otherwise, only he was desired to remember certain neighbouring fields, which also he was forward to do. Brother Rotherham nex intimated that he saw his way clear to leave Wales for Scotland, when he understood there is a wide field and few labourers, purposing in the first instance to follow up the effort to be made in Dundee b brother Milner. Brother Edward Evans, of Newtown, having bee requested to say whether he could respond to the earnest desire c brethren in Swansea and neighbourhood, informed the meeting that it was his heart's desire to be instrumental in leading his fellowcountrymen to the Saviour, and that, with the concurrence of the brethren, he should rejoice to proceed to South Wales. An appea from Ireland was met by the suggestion of brother Brown, of Whitehaven, that brother Sinclair, Whitehaven, should be requested to proceed thither, there to remain so long as the work prospers in his hands. These arrangements understood, various suggestions of a highly practical and useful tendency occupied the attention of the brethren during the afternoon of Wednesday and forenoon of Thurs

twas recommended to the churches to consider what might in obtaining more suitable places of meeting than those y occupied, in many cases much to the hindrance of the to avail themselves of the press in spreading the gospel, its aving already been sufficiently experienced to warrant its exemployment-to give themselves much to prayer with respect ivine blessing on the labours of the brethren already in the d of those who may be led to enter. A fraternal tea meeting don Wednesday evening in the schoolroom of Bond-street chapel, and a public meeting thereafter in the chapel itselfdly lent by the church for the occasion; about two hundred sat down to tea, and the public meeting was attended by ve hundred attentive listeners. The meetings closed on y evening with out-door preachings, followed by a gathering en in Cherry-street Hall for prayer and exhortation. It has en our lot to attend a happier meeting than this closing one; was it the occasion of devout, earnest, thankful, brotherly erful feeling. Though interspersed with prayer and praise, re no fewer than twelve brief, very brief fraternal addresses, ing altogether to our mind the very ideal of christian ex1. With great reluctance did the brethren part at last, and spirit of unanimity and brotherliness that prevailed throughelt it was good for them that they had been present, and that ld have good to communicate on returning to their various

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tres.

RUTH IN SWEDEN.--Our readers, for the most part, are aware ng the last three years an extensive religious awakening has more or less, the whole of Sweden. The nominal Christhe people was at first disturbed by Christians from Gernd now the work appears in such dimensions that the oner of the Wesleyan Conference returns to report that quarter of a million of persons have been brought out of the of sin and Satan into God's marvellous light, embracing all om the poorest even to the royal family. He instances some re distinguished persons brought to God and now labouring

There is a district judge near Gefle who has made extensive ents for out-of-door meetings, and a more interesting scene r witnessed. The seasons that were usually set apart by the r excursions are now turned to scenes of religious worship cation. On that hill by the side of a beech forest, at halfn in the morning, as many as five-hundred persons would and in the afternoon not fewer than three thousand, many oming five-and-twenty and thirty miles to be present. There man of the highest rank-Count Stackelberg-perhaps the t man in the country, who, desiring a visit from Mr. Scott, carriage fifty miles to meet him, whom he found to be a man six years, who had been converted ten years ago and is a oted preacher, going about in all directions proclaiming the able riches of Christ. He scarcely ever conducts a public ithout receiving souls for his hire. His whole household extraordinary one; every one of his servants is converted Though all in and about his house becomes his great rank, thing marks the Christian. His household is the fruit of

his own ministry, and he is at the head of his extensive establishment, the father of his spiritual children. The proof of the extension of the real work of God appears in this-that the converted in Sweden show a decided coming out of and separation from the world. A number of meeting-houses have been erected of the plainest structure. Above two hundred pious men are employed in carrying on the work of God. The revival has had a great influence, too, on the literature of the country, and happily the gracious work is also extending into Lapland.

CLERICAL BARBARITY.-The clergy of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh live upon an impost called the annuity tax ! This odious assessment, now more odious than ever on account of the advancing enlightenment of the people and their corresponding separation from the church established by the state, can, in a multitude of cases, be collected only by summors, confiscation of property and imprisonment of person. Last month these false apostles proceeded thus against several respectable dissenters. One whose bank account they had last year arrested to the amount of one hundred pounds, now found himself laid hold of by sheriff's officers in his own house, at eleven o'clock at night, to be carried in handcuffs to jail for the nonpayment of a further sum of eighty-five pounds! What a wretched counterfeit of Christianity must that be whose public ministers fatten on money extorted from the hard-earned gains of those who owe them nothing-who never hear their preachments-who conscientiously cannot accept their ministrations-who honestly regard them as false and damnatory? What arrant hypocrisy for men to whine their sanctimonious prayers for the forgiveness of their debts as they forgive their debtors, while they call those debtors who owe them nothing, and take them by the throat and cast them into prison, there to lie till they pay the uttermost farthing of an unrighteous demand! They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him.

MR. SPURGEON'S FUNNY THEOLOGY.-Mr. SPURGEON is reported to have said in a sermon which he delivered last month, at Norwich, that the stickling for sectarian distinctions is as absurd as if a hungry man about to eat some bread were told by a Churchman, "No bread like the tin loaf;" or by an Independent, "No bread like the cottage loaf;" or by a Methodist, "You must eat twists." The hungry man would say, "Give me some bread, and I will settle the shape afterwards." We understand Mr. S. is no great logician, and here he gives some proof of it, for it were difficult to say how the man could settle the shape after having eaten it. But supposing the preacher's meaning to be that by the after settlement of the shape was meant simply the subsequent determining of which was best, this destroys the point of the supposition, for it still leaves the man in the meshes of sectarianism. It leaves him, after all, to pronounce for one or other of the three theological bakeries. Manifestly, Mr. S. does not see that such bakers and bakeries are not at all needed-if he sees, he does not show that the bread of life is to be taken simply as God has given it. He will have the shape to be settled by man.

Printed by Samuel Owen, Newtown.

THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.

FAITH, it is well known, is the most prominent requirement of the gospel. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar. He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. Being justified by faith we have peace with God. The just shall live by faith. We walk by faith. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life. From these New Testament quotations it fully appears that the gospel begins its operations upon the human heart by and through the production of faith, and that faith is the instrument through which are accomplished its mightiest achievements.

Now, unfortunately as we conceive, some persons have imbibed a prejudice against the gospel on account of its having made faith its foremost requirement. They have said, “It is unreasonable to suspend a man's eternal destiny upon his belief. A man cannot believe what he likes. If the gospel were self-evidently true, every man would be compelled to believe it. But if it is not so certainly true, and some cannot bring their minds to regard it as true, they are more to be pitied than blamed-certainly, damnation for not believing it is a most unjust sentence."

As it is possible that this charge of unreasonableness made against the gospel demand for faith may appear to some readers of this paper to be at least plausible, we will endeavour to shew wherein its errors consist, and then proceed to exhibit the entire reasonableness of the New Testament requirement of faith in order to salvation.

A man cannot believe what he likes," says the objection, Granted; yet he can frequently succeed in disbelieving what he dislikes, just because he dislikes it. Let it be observed that if this part of the objection means anything, it means that man's will has nothing to do in determining what he shall believe. But this is false. For though no sane man can credit what does not appear to him to be truth, or disbelieve what does appear such; yet in many instances we can choose whether or no to examine into the evidence by which anything purports to No. 10, Vol. III., October, 1859.

be sustained; and we can cherish prejudice for or against what we are about to examine, or endeavour to consider it with impartiality. Here, then, man exercises choice, and herein bears responsibility. His ignorance may be voluntary his-inattention culpable-his prejudices, indulged-his conclusions, hasty and unwarrantable! The sceptic may indeed say that a man's will has nothing to do with his belief; but how does this dogma fare when brought to the test of common sense? what homage does it receive in the affairs of common life? Why it is absolutely scouted from those domains. When a neighbour runs off with some strange day-dreams, how common the remarkWhy the fellow will persuade himself to believe anything!" Or when, on the contrary, a man's interest is believed to make him very incredulous of what appears to us most plain, how often do we chide him with the proverb-"None are so blind as those who won't see;" or the couplet

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"Convince a man against his will,

He's of the same opinion still !”

And yet, forsooth, in direct contradiction to the common sense of plain people, embodied in our popular proverbs, we are to be told that a man's will has no control over his faith! We ask, what truth-speaking, trustworthy parent would excuse the habitual incredulity of his child by saying-" Poor thing, he cannot believe what he likes!" Or what court would dismiss a convicted murderer, not literally mad, with the sentence -"A. B., having taken the life of C. D. in the full belief he was doing God and his country service, and his will having no control over his belief, he was deemed irresponsible for the deed, and was accordingly dismissed"!

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"If the gospel were self-evidently true," continues the objection. Aye-but then how arbitrary to demand that the gospel should be self-evidently true, i.e., something not needing proof, but evincing its truth intuitively. Surely if the gospel be constituted of facts, it may suffice if those facts are sustained by satisfactory, historical evidence. Nothing can be more unreasonable and absurd than to expect historical truth to be either intuitively certain or mathematically demonstrable. No man's unbelief can be excused because the gospel is not, like a self-evident axiom, above proof, nor susceptible of the same kind of demonstration as a mathematical proposition. The gospel is well proved, by an abundant variety of evidences consonant with its nature, and that is enough to make faith in it a reasonable demand.