The teacher of the higher classes in a Sunday-school will find Mr. Patterson's work an invaluable hand-book. The study of natural history is a pursuit, in some of its branches, easily and cheaply followed. It forms a good discipline for the perceptive faculties. In our author's language, “It leads us to compare, to discriminate, to generalize, and to make the acquisition of one truth the means of ascending to another still more comprehensive. It supplies pleasant and profitable companions amid the solitude of the shore, the dell, or the mountain; brings us a rich heritage of cheerful thoughts and healthful occupations; and, above all, it teaches us to see the beneficence of the GREAT FIRST CAUSE even in the humblest creatures which He hath made." P. 450. The Book of Common Prayer, revised for Public Worship. London-Walton and Mitchell. Hymns for Public Worship, selected for the use of the Congregation in Little Portland-Street Chapel. London-Walton and Mitchell. THIS neat and cheap edition of the Revised Book of Common Prayer is published by Rev. Edward Tagart for the use of his congregation. From the Preface we make one short extract: "In the Litany, and in the Prayers for the Queen and Royal Family, all high titles and appellations are left out. Alterations of that kind were proposed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners appointed under Wm. III., in 1689, to prepare a scheme for union between the Church and the Dissenters. They began with reviewing the Liturgy, and suggested many amendments; each article, as soon as agreed upon, being signed by the Bishop of London, then Dr. Compton. The proposed amendments were resisted by the lower house of convocation, composed of the inferior clergy, at the head of whom was Dr. Jane, the Dean of Gloucester, who had great influence at Oxford; and the great improvements agreed upon by Tillotson, Burnet, Prideaux, Shillingfleet, and others, were never adopted.”—P. iv. The collection of Hymns is formed on the basis of that published by Mr. Madge. It is rich in the department of "the Gospel of Christ" and "the Christian Character." It includes many beautiful hymns, some new to us, by Keble, Edmeston and Milman. The Truth-Seeker and Christian Thinker; a Catholic Review of Literature, Philosophy and Religion. New Series, No. I. IN the Manifesto of Principles with which this Magazine opens, we find much that we cordially approve of. Dr. Lees thus discloses the purpose of his Magazine: "We afford to Truth-seekers fitting medium for tolerant exposition and unshackled inquiry, free from all sects and systems. The claim of infallibility, whether put forth by Pope or Protestant, we utterly despise. We stand or fall by these principles-that self-culture is the central axiom of all true ethics-that the duty of truth-seeking is paramount to all others—that it is a crime against God and against man to hold out favour or fear, gain or loss, with the view of deciding the judgments of men on any question of faith-that it is a vice of the worst kind, leading to spiritual death, to give up the use of our own talent, the exercise of our own intellect, to priest or polity of any sort-that truth is necessarily a subjective perception, whence we deduce the duty of each individual to put aside all who dare presumptuously to step in between the soul and God, and solemnly to settle for himself, according to the worth and weight of the evidence before him, what is Truth and what is Error." P. 11. The article on "Systematic History," by "Goodwyn Barmby," is better suited for the taste of the Communist Clubs of Paris than for the calm, rights-ofproperty-loving subjects of Queen Victoria. But we believe Dr. Lees to be a sincere and earnest inquirer, and we wish his New Series success. DOMESTIC. INTELLIGENCE. Education-the National School Society The yearly general meeting of the National Society for promoting the Education of the Poor on the principles of the Established Church, was held on Wednesday, in the Central Schoolrooms, Sanctuary, Westminster. The chair was taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was supported by the Bishops of Manchester, St. David's, Litchfield, Ripon, Hereford, Bangor, Worcester, Chichester, Norwich, Gloucester, Oxford, Salisbury, Lincoln, and Bath and Wells. A great number of clergymen also attended; and among the laymen present were Sir R. H. Inglis, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. After the annual report had been read, the Bishop of Ripon moved that it be printed and circulated, and this motion was seconded. The Rev. Mr. Sugden said, that the report did not give satisfaction to him and other members, because it did not say what part of the Manage. ment clauses the Government proposed to alter, and he should therefore move that the report be not printed until a clear statement could be given of the offer made by the Society and the answer of the Government. This amendmend was seconded, and was carried by a show of hands; for although few hands were held up in its favour, still fewer were held up against it. The Bishop of Salisbury observed that no substantial difference existed between the resolution and the report, as it was the intention of the Committee to furnish the subscribers with the information required. The Rev. Mr. Dennison then rose to propose a long resolution, the effect of which was to declare that the Society rejected compulsory clauses, and that any conditions whatever imposed on the Church ought not to be accepted. He contended that the Committee of the Privy Council had violated the understanding between the Governmentand the Church, and recommended that, if the Government were not prepared to concede any thing to the Church, the Society should resign all Government aid. This resolution was seconded by the Rev. Canon Wordsworth, who observed, however, that he did not participate in the apprehensions which some entertained respecting ima ginary difficulties in which the Society and Church were involved. The Bishop of Oxford then rose, and after urging the inexpediency of adopting the resolution at a time when negotiations were in progress between the Government and the Church, proposed an amendment which, without affirming the expediency of the Management clauses, left the subject in the hands of the Committee of the Society. After speeches from Mr. W. P. Wood, M.P. and the Bishop of Norwich, the latter of whom caused a "loud explosion of adverse opinions" by a remark that some persons were hostile to all systems of religious education, except one conducted on Tractarian principles,-the Rev. Mr. Dennison, at the request of many clergymen, withdrew his resolution, and the Bishop of Oxford likewise withdrew his amendment. A vote of thanks to the Archbishop of Canterbury was then passed, and the proceedings terminated. The above, from the Manchester Guardian of June 10, is a highly condensed but lucid report of a somewhat turbulent meeting. The Editor further describes the general character of the "Management clauses," which every speaker alluded to as if well understood by the hearers, but which no one described or quoted: "The main object of these clauses is to secure the co-operation of laymen in the superintendence of the schools; but they appear also to include a provision empowering the Committee, if they think fit, to dispense with the teaching of the Catechism, so that the children of Dissenters may participate in the instruction." The Bishop of Norwich and the "loud explosion" which he produced, sufficiently explain the case. We hope and trust the Government will fairly keep these State-Churchmen to the alternative of State-pay with State-control, or non-control and no-pay. Few of the Tractarians object to this latter, though they make "conscience" against its very natural accompaniment. We anticipate good from the position taken by this section of the Church in the name of the National School Society. We take for granted that the Management clauses will be persisted in by the Council of Education. The laity in the Church ought to insist upon them, and probably will. If so, in any case the result will be good. If the lay " management" be adopted, the secular aspect of the National Schools will soon be improved and improvement is greatly needed. If the clauses should be refused by the Society, and the Government grants be declined (of which we have very little expectation), the Government will in that case be justified, in their own most scrupulous sense of delicacy towards the Established Church, in pursuing an independent plan of truly national, unsectarian education, -whether the Irish scheme of separate doctrinal instruction at school, or (far better) the secular plan of leaving doctrinal instruction to other times and places. West-Riding Tract Society. The thirty-third annual meeting was held in St. Saviourgate chapel, York, on Wednesday, June 14. Service was conducted by the Rev. J. Shannon, of Hull; and the Rev. Chas. Wicksteed, of Leeds, preached a sermon (on 1 Cor. x. 11), the leading aim of which was to shew the inseparableness of the Christian Religion from the Christian Scriptures. After observing that, in the progress of truth and knowledge, each error yields to an opposing truth, which is apt in its turn to be exaggerated or distorted into another though minor error, which latter again may yield to another less than itself and in a still different direction, he brought in illustration the conflict of the Reformers with Popery, and the resulting and still prevailing disregard of Protestants to the most palpable literary and critical attributes of Scripture in its very varied contents, through their erroneous use of the maxim, that the "Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants." He took, as a further illustratration, the newer extravagance arising from this Bibliolatry in very natural course, that of proposing to accept Christianity and maintain it in its integrity, while resigning the Christian Scriptures to the regions of the myth, and even questioning the historical existence of Jesus Christ himself as there described,—and, in pointed opposition to the scheme of Strauss and his American expounder Parker, maintained that Christianity only exists as a history and a life,-and, with beauty of illustration and truthfulness of feeling, not inferior to his power of argument, the preacher brought home the Christianity of the life of Christ to the hearts and lives of Christians in the world. The sermon, we are glad to add, is about to be printed for cheap distribution; and a more suitable gift could hardly be offered to the active, but often random, theology (or rather philosophizing) of our times. The business of the day presented little or nothing beyond the usual routine; but a progressive increase of subscribers and of the amount of tracts distributed was a very satisfactory feature of the report. The meeting deeply felt and suitably testified their happiness in seeing the venerable minister of St. Saviourgate amongst them in comparative though not restored health. Mr. Wellbeloved took the chair for the business of the Society, and was present and spoke most feelingly at the social tea-meeting. The Rev. J. Kenrick ably filled the chair on the latter occasion, as well as at the two-o'clock collation. British and Foreign Unitarian Association. The twenty-third anniversary of this Association was held on Wednesday, June 14, at Essex-Street chapel, where a numerous and respectable congregation attended. In an impressive manner, the Rev. George Heap, of Huddersfield, conducted the devotional service; after which a very admirable discourse was delivered by the Rev. John Gordon, of Coventry. His text was Matt. xvii. 20, and the general subject of the sermon was the power of Faith. After some observations on the nature of that power as arising from the authority which Truth is fitted and destined to exercise in the world, the preacher proceeded to trace its influence upon the religious efforts to which men may be called; by comparing it with the mere sentiment of religion,-with the charity which is sometimes put in its place,-and with attempts to accomplish religious objects by outward organization alone. He shewed that a firm and earnest belief in truth was necessary to the proper cultivation of the religious sentiment; and that to encourage the sentiment to the neglect of the belief, was to produce the lowest form of religion-that which derives its main excitement from the gratifications administered to the senses. He pointed out that charity in all matters that concern the spread of truth should be exercised under the guidance of faith in that truth. He also strongly urged the importance of adopting only that kind of organization which faith itself would naturally suggest, and abstaining from an imitation of the organizations employed by others when there was a difference of principle in the cases with which we had to do.Having in this manner explained and vindicated the doctrine of his text in its bearing upon Religion, he applied it to the particular circumstances in which Unitarians were placed.-The nature of Christianity proves that, in connection with its system, Faith may be emphatically and beyond all calculation powerful. Christianity, however, does not present itself to us in one form alone. We have to do with different and contradictory representations of its teaching. It therefore becomes matter of important inquiry, to what the Faith which the gospel demands ought to attach itself? The right answer to that inquiry is, that it is Faith in our own conception of Christianity that we have to uphold and apply. If we are Unitarians, it is Unitarian Christianity that we have thus to treat. An indifference to Unitarianism would be, on our part, an indifference to Christianity itself. We should take this highest ground in the performance of the duty devolving upon us; nevertheless, it would be on lower grounds capable of proof, that Unitarian opinions themselves ought not to be regarded with indifference. Unitarianism gives an entirely different view from Trinitarianism of the most vital subjects of Christianity; and the moral principles upon which this difference is built are eminently important in their bearing upon the general interests of man.-After thus connecting Christian faith with the particular view of the Christian system entertained by his hearers, the preacher pointed out that Unitarianism had some tendencies to unbelief which required to be carefully watched, and yet that it was more entirely dependent upon the pure assistance of Faith than other representations of Christianity are. Under these circumstances he deprecated all measures which were calculated to confound Unitarianism with any thing like a rejection of Christianity, as especially ungenerous in their character and dangerous in their operation; and he exhorted those who were disposed to resist the unbelieving influences around them, to strenuous action in that direction. He insisted, for this purpose, upon the necessity of their fixing in their minds certain points of essential worth, upon which throughout their investigation and pursuit of Truth they might accus tom themselves to rely; and urged upon them the still more pressing necessity of making the faith they professed the habit of their lives. -This is but an imperfect outline of Mr. Gordon's discourse, which was characterized by great logical power and a warm-hearted energy in its delivery, and evidently, as it deserved, made a powerful impression on his deeply-attentive audi ence. The meeting for business immediately followed, the chair being occupied by Mr. Alderman LAWRENCE. Mr. HORNBY, the Treasurer, read his Report. He stated the expenditure during the year to have amounted to £835. 7s. 9d.; the receipts, to £831. 17s.; thus shewing an excess of expenditure of £3. 10s. 9d. He entered into various statistical details, shewing the past and present condition of the Society, which, on the whole, he pronounced to be in a healthy state. On the motion of J. B. ESTLIN, Esq., seconded by JOHN CHRISTIE, Esq., the Treasurer's Report was received and adopted. The Hon. Secretary, the Rev. E. TAGART, then read the Committee's Report, which was of considerable length and of more than usual interest. Having been favoured with a copy, we make a few extracts from it, in the hope of enlisting more warmly the sympathy of our readers towards an institution which has strong claims upon them. "Your Committee have the pleasure of congratulating the subscribers to this Institution on its increasing prosperity, and they hope its continued and growing efficiency for all the purposes which its friends and supporters contemplate. Notwithstanding the difference of opinion occasionally manifested at our public meetings on some of the topics which have fallen within the range of our notice on such occasions, we have reason to feel great satisfaction with the general approval and sympathy which the practical course taken by your Committee in their efforts to carry out the great and important objects entrusted to them, has for the most part met with. In reviewing the incidents of the past year, the first objects that strike their attention are the marks of increasing public confidence with which your Society has been favoured, both of a spontaneous and unexpected kind, from friends previously unknown, and others which have been the result of their own direct efforts to gain the wider sympathy and more decided support of the Unitarian public. "In a financial view, the condition of your Society is more prosperous than it has been for many years, in some respects more so than at any former period, although the annual subscriptions are not yet what they were a few years ago, nor by any means adequate to the claims of the Society upon the support of the Unitarian public.' The Committee announce, after many years' delay, a favourable termination in the case of Mr. Cooke's valuable bequest, "by which, after deduction of all expenses, a gross sum of £1152, arising from the arrears accumulated pending the suit, are placed in the hands of your Treasurer, besides the £300 per annum arising from the annuity during its continuance, which will be till 1851." Of this annuity, the testator directed £100 a-year to be given to the Unitarian chapel at Devonport, and £20 a-year each to ten other Unitarian societies. The arrears accumulating since the original bequest have enabled the Devonport congregation to pay off a debt of £400 with which they were burthened. "Ten societies having been mentioned by Mr. Cooke as the number who were to receive a sum of £20 ayear each, the choice of these became a subject of serious consideration, and it has appeared to your Committee, to the best of their judgment, that Cheltenham, under the pastoral care of the Rev. H. Solly-St. Helier, in Jersey, under that of the Rev. J. Taplin Aberdeen, under that of the Rev. C. F. Smith-Canterbury, under that of the Rev. R. B. Maclellan-Huddersfield, under that of the Rev. G. Heap-Southampton, under that of the Rev. J. Hall Torquay-Falmouth-Battle, where Mr. Parry has recently settled-Malton and Welburne, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Frankland-were, upon the whole, (considering the history and wants of these societies and the character of the ministers settled over them,) the best fitted to benefit immediately under the fund at their disposal. Its continuance for a series of years, during which we have the appropriation of the fund, is at the option of your Committee while they hold the fund; but they cannot be insensible to the advantage arising from the steady and continued support of those societies, which have within them, in the fidelity and zeal of their members, the element of vitality and prosperity, and which afford the best prospect of permanence from the importance of their locality; such, for instance, as Huddersfield, Cheltenham and Southampton." The Committee acknowledge the receipt during the year of a legacy of £50 from Mr. Rolfe, of Newbury; one of like amount from Mr. Patterson, of Aberdeen, to be applied specially to the support of the society in that town; a donation of £10 from Mr. Thomas Reid; and a legacy of £10. 10s. from Mr. Janson. Under the head of "Civil Right Department," the Committee refer to "the practical exclusion of Unitarians from the advantages of the British and Foreign School Society," and introduce the following important opinion of the Attorney-General and Mr. Rolt: "1st. We understand it to be admitted on all hands, that one of the original rules of the Institution (the 4th) provided that no catechism or peculiar religious tenets should be taught in the School, and that this proviso has always been, and still is, maintained as one of the rules of the Institution. The leading and material facts contained in the pamphlet of Mr. Dunn which accompanied the Case, appear to be the following:-That the doctrines of the Divinity of Christ and of the Atonement have always been and still are taught in the School, and that no change whatever has at any time taken place in this respect. That in the earlier stages of the Society's history no objection was raised by the Unitarians to this course. That Mr. Fox, the first Secretary of the Institution, in a pamphlet published within two or three years after the foundation of the Society, represented in substance and effect (we do not give the precise words, for which see the pamphlet), that doctrines of the nature above referred to were treated by the Society as leading and uncontroverted doctrines, and were not 'peculiar religious tenets' within the meaning of the 4th rule. We have adverted also to the other statements in Mr. Dunn's pamphlet, and for the purpose of this opinion we assume every fact asserted therein to be capable of proof. We think that the construction of the proviso in the rules, that no peculiar religious tenets shall be taught in the Schools, if considered apart from extraneous evidence, is free from doubt. It forbids the teaching of any religious tenets peculiar to, or entertained exclusively by, any class of Christians. And we are of |