says:

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I am sorry you have met with such poor encouragement, and especially with any ill treatment from the people in Northamptonshire. know them well; some of them are narrow and bigoted, but in general they are serious, exemplary Christians, and the bulk of them are not disposed to use a minister ill who is not imprudent, and does not directly oppose their favourite notions, which is the only way to make people hold them the faster. They are not disposed to censure a person who preaches in a serious experimental strain, though he does not use many of their favourite phrases, but will bear almost anything from the pulpit where the main thing is not wanting.”

The Rev. Thomas Sanders, to whom reference has been made, was a descendant from the martyred Sanders, who was burnt at Coventry, in Queen Mary's reign; of him Mr. Some remarked in his funeral sermon :-" "He was diligent in his work, and in labours more abundant. Besides the care of his own congregation, which was very large, he frequently visited his friends abroad, preached several lectures, and was ready to lay hold on every opportunity to do good, and God wonderfully owned and blessed his labours.

His course was short, but it was well run. He had not quite twenty years allowed him for public service in the Church of Christ, but there are few in these later times that have done so much in so short a time."

After the death of Mr. Some, of Harborough, Doddridge wrote:-"I am well satisfied that, considering how very generally he was known, he has left a most honourable testimony in the hearts of thousands, that he was one of the brightest ornaments to the gospel and the ministry which the age has produced; and that all who have had any intimacy with him must have esteemed his friendship amongst the

greatest blessings of life, and the loss of him amongst its greatest calamities." Mr. Norris, of Welford, during this period was very popular as a preacher, much beloved as a minister, and especially by his brethren in the ministry. Then followed Mr. Benjamin Boyce, at Kettering, whose successful ministry continued for thirty years; and Dr. Addington, of Market Harborough, who afterwards removed to Miles - lane, London, where he became tutor of an academy. From this brief statement we have given of the attainments, character, and ministry of some of the pastors of the principal churches in the county at this period, one great reason is apparent of their flourishing

state.

III. CAUSES OF DEPRESSION IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTY.

When Christian Churches have attained to a prosperous condition, changes will occur amidst the fluctuations of time, and the imperfections of human beings, that will have an unfavourable influence. When a very acceptable and useful pastor is removed by death, difficulties attend the choice of a successor, and where unanimity does not prevail, or where the one that is chosen fails to give general satisfaction when he has entered on his stated engagements, the prosperity of the Church is hindered. This was the case for a short period in the generally advancing Church at Kettering. The Rev. Benjamin Boyce, who had served them for thirty years, died in 1770; his immediate successor failing to give satisfaction to the people, saw it to be his duty to resign, but after his removal great discord and confusion prevailed. The friends of the late pastor, who were attached to his person and ministry, were greatly displeased with the conduct of those who had been the means of his removal, so that much ill feeling prevailed among them. But at length

the cause of truth and peace became amply vindicated. The late Rev. Thomas Northcote Toller commenced his ministry here in the year 1775, and he continued for forty-five years to be the very highly esteemed pastor of the Church. By the eminence of his talents as a preacher, and by the excellency of his spirit and character, the cause was maintained in full efficiency, and in uninterrupted harmony, during that lengthened period. His eldest son was unanimously invited to succeed him in the year 1821; and during forty-seven years he has presided over the Church and congregation, and now, in the seventy-second year of his age, is preaching with his accustomed ability, while members are still added to the Church, and the schools and congregation are in an encouraging state. Here is an instance scarcely to be equalled, we think, throughout the country, of father and son filling the office of pastor in the same place for ninetytwo years going beyond the course of three generations.

A younger son also of the late Mr. Toller became the pastor of the Church at Market Harborough in the year 1836, when it had been for some time in a divided state. He was the means of restoring it to peace and prosperity ; continuing his ministry for twentythree years, when, in the midst of his days and his usefulness he was moved by death. But the influence of his spirit and his ministry still remains among the people.

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In another town a separation from one of the congregations took place, which exerted an unfavourable influence for some time, but all the unhappy feelings it once excited have now passed away. The Church at

Rothwell was considered to be in a depressed state for some years under one of its pastors, but he was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Scott, under whose ministry, which continued here for twenty years, it was greatly improved.

Mr. Scott's services were highly valued, and his influence was considerable in the county. For a number of years he received students preparatory to their entrance into Highbury College. They supplied with occasional services the villages in the vicinity, and were useful in taking the place of stated ministers when from home. Mr. Scott removed to take the presidency of Airedale College, near Bradford, which proved a loss to his Church and to this county. But the Church, we are informed, is flourishing under its present pastor, and has received considerable additions to its number of members.

When any circumstances arise which give a speculative bias to the studies of the rising ministry, it will for a time act unfavourably as to the well-being of some of the Churches. The state of the

*

Academy, which, after the death of Doddridge, was removed to Daventry, and placed under the care of Dr. Caleb Ashworth, was at one time considered to be unfavourable to the interests of evangelical truth and piety. Though the Doctor maintained, what we consider to be, the great principles of the Gospel, as to the person and work of the Redeemer; and this would be the case with his immediate successor, Mr. Robins, who was remarkable for his fine taste and classical attainments, and not less so for his attachment to the truths of the Gospel, and for his devotional spirit; yet the assistants in the Academy were regarded as deficient in these points; and Mr. Belsham, who had been assistant tutor, was appointed to the presidency in the year 1781, until, having fully embraced Unitarian sentiments, he resigned his office. After this, the Institution returned again to Northampton; but the state of things proving unsatisfactory there,

* See the character of Mr. Robins as drawn by Mr. Toller in "The Memorials of the Northamptonshire Churches," p.201.

it was broken up, to be placed on a new foundation, at Wymondley, Herts, under Dr. Parry. It would be vain to say that this state of things had no unfavourable influence on any of the Churches in the county; but we believe that it did not extend widely; and there is reason to conclude that they have fully recovered from its influence. Their attachment to the doctrines relating to the divine nature and atoning sacrifice of the Redeemer, with the personality and agency of the Holy Spirit, is strong and decided; while these doctrines are maintained by the pastors in their truth and glory, and in their invaluable influence on the Christian life, and on the cause of God.

IV. SUMMARY OF THE STATE OF NONCONFORMITY IN THE COUNTY, WITH THE RECENT EFFORTS MADE TO EVANGELIZE THE VILLAGES.

The following statement was printed in the year 1862 :-"We reckon that there are now rather more than seventy Churches in the county formed on the Congregational model of Church government, including the Independent and the Baptist denominations; that there are near upon a hundred villages supplied by the ministers and members of these Churches. In addition to these, there are about a hundred and twenty places supplied by the Wesleyan body, all of whom took shelter under the 'Act of Toleration,' first passed for the relief of our Nonconformist forefathers, who had done and suffered so much to promote both civil and religious liberty in the land. As a comparatively small, and chiefly agricultural county, we cannot say much of increasing numbers, wealth, or influence, but under the blessing of the great Head of the Church, we are still doing something to promote His cause, both at home and abroad. But when we reflect on the spirit, the labours, the sacrifices, and sufferings, of those who have gone before us, we fear that we are scarcely

worthy to be called their successors. We think we might do more than we have yet done to advance the interests of vital, voluntary Christianity."

During some years past the meetings of the County Association, which were held half-yearly, excited but little interest in the Churches. Though different methods were tried to increase that interest, yet, for a time, they all failed. But now, having taken up more fully the cause of county evangelization, new interest is awakened, which we trust will continue and increase. There are four agents employed, whose labours extend over seventy villages. There is now an annual meeting, held in the month of April, when the agents present their statement before the assembly, the report is read by the Secretary, and the state of things in the county is considered; and a sermon, by a minister chosen for the occasion, is preached in the evening.

In their last report of the County Mission we have the following statement:-"We have the great satisfaction of knowing that there is not an accessible family within their wide range unvisited, or destitute of the Gospel. About seventy villages, with all their outlying homesteads, are inIcluded in these four districts. Summer and winter do the evangelists perambulate them, holding cottage and outdoor services, visiting the sick, distributing tracts, lending good books, reading, and dispensing the Holy Scriptures, thoroughly acquainting themselves with the people, entering into the peculiar trials of the poor, and in every way striving to be to them Christ's messengers of mercy and peace." 'The villages of the county are 380 in number, and allowing that fifty of these are cared for by the large towns which they surround, and fifty more are supplied with faithful ministers, more than 200 still remain to be provided for, that is, we want ten more evangelists at least to cover the

county. It is to be hoped that our Baptist brethren will see their way, either to the employment of such an agency as our own, or a village ministry, more missionary in its character than at present exists. We shall greatly rejoice to divide the work with them.

Of late years several of the oldest chapels in the county have been much improved-repewed-with the seats newly arranged for the further accommodation of the hearers, at a considerable cost; convenient school-rooms have been erected in connection with them, so that there are increased facilities for

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the instruction of the young. Peterborough, Oundle, and the village of Desborough, new chapels have been erected. In remembrance of the past, and with hopes of the highest character for the future, the pastors and their Churches would still plead-"The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; let Him not leave us, nor forsake us." "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children; and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it."

THE position of the Colonial Missionary Society as a minister to the colonies in spiritual things is being steadily maintained. There is not the strain upon the resources and energies of the Society to which it has been subjected in times when new colonies were being settled, and large emigration was taking place from the mother country, nor do the reports of its agents contain those racy and piquant descriptions for which only new enterprises can furnish the materials; but not the less is the work for which the Society was organized being earnestly carried forward. Weak positions are being strengthened, young causes are being carefully fostered, and churches, which passing changes have embarrassed, are being encouraged and helped.

MINISTERS WANTED.

The Society has recently had to contend with many discouragements in its work. Not the least among these is the difficulty they find in inducing ministers of approved character and ability to undertake colonial service.

It is not, perhaps, to be expected that men who find that they can serve Christ in the ministry of the gospel at home, with acceptance and success, will in large numbers volunteer for the ministry abroad. But the committee of the Colonial Society have regarded it as a reasonable expectation that a knowledge of the spiritual destitution which prevails in some of the colonies would move a sufficient number of wellequipped Christian teachers to go forth and meet it. And in this expectation they have been disappointed. The enthusiasm with which the work of foreign missions is often sought is rarely manifested in the proposals which are made for colonial service. They are far from grudging the Foreign Missionary Societies the supreme position they occupy in the regards of men who are moved by the missionary spirit, but they cannot regard their virtual monopoly of the service which such men offer as a sign of healthy Christian feeling. Why should not the colonies of Great Britain, in the proportion of their wants, occupy a prominent posi

tion in the thought of English Christians as fields of missionary labour?

For some time the Society has sought in vain to find a minister for the capital of Natal, where ecclesiastical controversy and religious revival have combined to make the people specially accessible to the influences of Christian teaching. Recently the Church of St. John's, Newfoundland, has appealed to the Society to send a minister who should preach the gospel to them, and preside over them in the spirit and according to the forms of Congregational order. In the Canadian dominion, while the College in Montreal, in part supported by the Society, provides a considerable number of efficiently trained ministers; there are three or four separate spheres now open for which ministers are wanted from home. There is a position of great importance in Melbourne, also, to which it is desirable that a minister of considerable power and experience should go forth. The committee avail themselves of this opportunity of advertising their wants to the ministers and the churches, and they earnestly pray the Lord of the harvest to thrust forth labourers into the harvest.

THE SOCIETY'S OPERATIONS.

In this brief paper no attempt can be made to review the wide and various fields which the Society occupies; but a glance at some of them will disclose the nature of the work in which the Society is engaged.

QUEENSLAND.

This colony has suffered very severely from the depression of trade, and the loss of confidence consequent upon the late monetary panic. The effects of that panic upon the well-consolidated institutions of this country have been serious enough; but they furnish no standard by which to judge of its effects upon the institutions of the colonies, where all is new and immature, and where there is little realised wealth.

The people value their Christian privileges, if possible, more highly than they ever did before, and make greater sacrifices than they ever made before to preserve them; but they are, for the time being, disabled from rendering the substantial pecuniary aid which they have rendered in years past. One of the pastors of that colony, whose fidelity and courage in very trying circumstances are beyond all praise, writes:-"We have just held our anniversary services, and they have been more successful than we anticipated; the contributions of the people were (for their circumstances) most liberal. The proceeds were enough to pay off all debts for incidental expenses, leaving only the minister's stipend to be made up. During the past year, at the end of each quarter, there has been a deficiency. owing to the reduced circumstances of the subscribers, some giving only half, while others have felt obliged to discontinue their subscriptions altogether. It is only by the kind forbearance and patience of my deacons, who supply me with provisions, waiting for payment until the money can be raised, that I am able to continue here." There, however, our brother continues, working with vigour and even with cheerfulness. “Our chief difficulty,” he says, “lies in making provision for the future, but we will not anticipate trial. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The glimpse which these words give of this one sphere of labour may be taken, with slight modifications of circumstance, as true of every church in Queensland. Some have been established for a greater length of time, and have greater breadth of organization and fulness of resource, but all have been seriously crippled. The committee have felt that they could make no better use of the funds placed at their disposal than to vote special sums in aid of our brethren, some of whose churches had been self-supporting, and some of which, in ordinary circum

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