happiness was her own, and their griefs lay close upon her mind. She was never weary of rendering them every assistance that she could, although the doing of it was injurious to herself.

As a member of the church to which she belonged, she was uniformly consistent. She never omitted an opportunity of being in the house of God, unless prevented by sickness. The welfare of Zion was her constant solicitude; her daily prayer was, that it might prosper, and that large accessions might be made

to it.

No one rejoiced more when there was any prospect of its being enlarged; her very existence was identified in its welfare.

As a Christian she was humble, devoted, sincere. No one who knew her doubted that she was one of the excellent of the earth. Her piety shone with unwavering lustre through the space of nearly forty-two years, with one exception only. She knew nothing of those sudden bursts of feeling which are the lot of some, but who sink into despondency again as soon as the excitement is over. Hers was the " path of the just, which shines more and more unto the perfect day." It was remarked by one, who has known her from her childhood, that we could not trace back to any period in her life where we

could find cause for regret." There were no dark spots to be perceived that tarnished the lustre of her piety. Every thing connected with it was interesting, unblameable, unreproveable. In all

things she was a pattern of what Christians should be; that one point excepted. We will not conceal it; we are sure that there is not a heart but will respond to hers in such circumstances, although it might be criminal. At the death of her husband she indulged in an excess of grief. The dark cloud of despondency came over her troubled spirit, and she could say: "my foot had well nigh slipped," but, "I remembered God, and was comforted." It seems as if Providence intended, by that circumstance, to fortify her mind for the endurance of all future hardships. It led her to the examination of the foundation of her hope. From that moment to the present, now twentynine years since, there has never been a time when her hope seemed to flicker or die, being always confident, knowing that "these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, serve to work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Mr. Larom improved the solemn event of her death from these remarkable words: "A mother in Israel."

In remembrance of the favours which I have received from you touching my religious position, by which my heart is humbled and obliged; particularly when by your hands I was invested with the solemn character of a minister of the gospel, I feel it my duty to give you some account of my labours, and of the blessings the Lord has given me; and I trust I shall not be without your prayers and even your active assistance. When I remember that I require your aid for the glory of God and the propagation of his reign, I am the more emboldened to come before you, knowing by so many testimonies your holy and devoted zeal.

I have already informed you of my

present situation in a little dissenting church at Berne. You know that about four years ago I was banished from my country, with about 30 other Christians, on account of our dissent. Now by the kind direction of the Lord I am not only tolerated as a dissenter, but formally acknowledged by the new government as a minister of the dissenters; and I am entirely undisturbed in my position in the church and in the world.

The church is, indeed, a very little flock, it consists of about thirty members, yet its existence is of great importance in our land; it bears witness to truths that are quite new here, and important for the edification of the body of Christ, and for his glory in the world. It testifies of the duty of the union of the people of God and of their separation from a wicked world. It exhibits the true character of the new covenant, and protests against the abomination of administering holy things to the world; and although we are very few in number, almost every eye is fixed upon us. I am the first dissenting minister that

has appeared in Berne, and am in the midst of a sharp opposition from a large number of brethren who belong to the national church. The Lord has lately given me a precious companion in the person of a Prussian of an eminently scientific character. This brother has been brought to right views of baptism, and has joined our little flock. But I might expect more success if I had the means of publishing, through the press, tracts on baptism, on the nature of the new covenant, and on the evangelical church. There are no good tracts on these subjects amongst the Germans.

The oral publication of the truth, also, would have more effect if we were not confined, by our small means, in a little room. Several brethren and many sisters in the flock, in the Canton, and at Bâle, have asked for baptism, but have till now been afraid of the scandal and offence attaching to its performance. But now we find it needful to have some arrangements made for the practice of the ordinance.

At Bâle there is also a little church in the same situation as the flock at Berne; both are already, in majority, baptists; and since the return of Mr. Vivien to the principles of the National church, I have been requested to direct the flock in that place.

Under these circumstances I address to you my earnest request for help, and I should be very thankful if you would take charge of a collection in any of the Baptist churches for the above mentioned design, viz., for the printing of German tracts on baptism, for a better room, and for the arrangement of a baptistry. I find no help in Switzerland; the dissenters are generally poor, and for the greatest part are Pædobaptists.

We have already undertaken the translation of an excellent tract called "Personal Religion Vindicated," by Isaiah Birt; but we have not enough money to execute this publication.

As it is not for our own glory and worldly satisfaction that we wish to do these things, but for the glory of our great God, may He be pleased to help us! [Mr. de Rodt next mentions the names of several Independent ministers and private individuals, with whom he had become acquainted while he resided at Hackney, and to whom he desires to be very kindly remembered, and then concludes thus:]

Forget not before the throne of our Lord your young companion in the solemn ministry,

CHARLES DE RODT.

DOMESTIC.

CLAIMS OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN SAILORS' SOCIETY.

Britain's greatness is acknowledged to depend essentially on her maritime population. British mariners have been the defenders of our shores from the threatened invasions of ambitious tyrants; and their perilous labours have united us in profitable intercourse with all the nations of the earth. Obligations, therefore, of the most powerful kind, claim the gracious sympathy of every individual among all classes of the community, especially in seeking the spiritual welfare of sailors.

Seamen cannot regularly enjoy Christian ordinances, which are the glory of our peaceful country, even in their most favoured circumstances; while their dangers, and temptations, both by sea and on shore, at home and in foreign climes, are peculiar and fearful.

Christian benevolence and zeal have in our times done much to elevate and improve the characters of sailors; and not a few are now known to be, not only scientific in nautical affairs, but intelligent and exemplary in scriptural piety. Still it is notorious that intemperance, profaneness, and impurity, awfully prevail among seafaring men; but while we reflect upon the influence of their principles and habits in our colonies generally, with the various momentous interests involved in them, and our numerous missionary stations, with the infant churches of Christ, gathered from the heathen, we, with every serious mind, must feel concerned to secure for them the sanctifying means of grace by the gospel.

Solitary individuals, however endowed and zealous, are insufficient to accomplish the great work of evangelizing the hundreds of thousands of British seamen, and of promulgating the doctrine of salvation to the seamen of all nations. Societies have hitherto but partially succeeded; owing to causes which would paralyze and ruin the most noble designs. The great work yet remains to be accomplished. Worthy efforts have been made at Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, and some other ports; but a united association seems imperatively demanded.

The British and Foreign Sailors' Society contemplates the glorious work; and in this the Port of London Society and Bethel Union have merged their common interests; and now they appeal to every minister, and to every member of

LADY HEWLEY'S CHARITY.

The decision in the Vice-Chancellor's Courr, which has just been given in the case of the Attorney General v. Shore, relative to the above charity, proceeds on a principle so equitable, and involaes consequences so important, thar we lose no time, even at this advanced period of the month, in laying it before our readers.

Dec. 27, 1833.

His Honour, after having heard Counsel in this interesting ease, addressed the Court as follows:

Before I deliver my opinion on this trust deed, I must say I should be extremely sorry if it should be supposed that I thought hardly of Unitarians (personally considered); on the contrary, there are individuals among them whom I have known in years past, toward whom I felt the greatest cordiality and friendship. The question is not, whether they are entitled to be called Christians or not, but merely from what appears in the trust deeds of Lady Hewley, after having received such evidence as has now been produced of what her sentiments were, can Unitarians be allowed to participate in the benefit of her charities? In the first deed she thus describes the objects of her bounty: "Poor and godly preachers of Christ's holy gospel;" a description which was evidently meant to apply also to persons receiving exhibitions. The will of her husband, Sir John Hewley, dated June 24, 1682, contains these words:-" I commend my spirit to God that gave it, hoping to find mercy to me a sinner, and to be saved by the only merits and redemption of Jesus Christ, my alone Saviour and Redeemer."—Lady Hewley's will, dated July 9, 1707, contains these expressions:-"I commit my immortal soul into the hands of my dear Redeemer, to be washed in his blood, and made meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints." From these wills it appears that the parties not only believed in the divinity of the Redeemer, but looked for salvation through his merits, in the sense in which the Church of England understands that he is the Redeemer that he has paid the price, in consideration of which God has been pleased to remit the sins of all that turn to him. His Honour then read similar phrases from the will of Dr. Colton, her ladyship's chaplain, and the first minister of St. Saviour Gate chapel in York, where Lady Hewley attended till her death.

The second deed (of 1707) directed |

certain rules and orders to be observed, which, though they were no part of the deed, are allowed to be coeval and of equal force. These rules lead us to the consideration of Bowles's Catechism. That catechism I must consider for the purpose of this discussion, as including not only the questions and answers themselves, but also the texts referred to in the margin, in proof and support of the answers. I quote the following:

What was the sin of our first parents?-Eating the forbidden fruit.

What was the fruit of that eating ?It filled the world with sin and sorrow.

In what condition is the posterity of our first parents born?-In a sinful and miserable condition.

Wast thou born in that condition ?Yes; I was conceived in sin, and am by nature a child of wrath as well as others.

Hath thy life been better than thy birth-No; I have added sin to sin, and made myself above measure sinful.

What if thou shouldst die in the condition thou wast born and bred in ?—I should perish everlastingly.

Is there no way to get out of this condition ?—Yes.

Is it to be done by any power or righteousness of thy own?-No; but God in his rich mercy hath appointed a

way.

What way hath God appointed ?--Only by Jesus Christ.

What is Jesus Christ?-The Son of God manifest in the flesh.

In the margin there is seen a reference to that very singular passage, 1 Tim. iii. 16, which, according to the reading in use at that time, could not by possibility leave a doubt on the mind of any person of the divinity of our Redeemer :

"Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, &c."

No human being can doubt that text conveys not merely that the office of our Saviour is divine-not merely that his mission was divine, as stated in these answers, but that his person was divine. Another question is

In what order doth God work faith by the word?-First he shows men their sins, and then their Saviour.

Why doth he observe this order?That Christ may be more precious to

since none but a Divine being can manifest infinite love.

His Honour here referred to the evidence given before the Committees of the Houses of Lords and Commons, on the State of Education in Ireland, in 1824— 25, by a Presbyterian minister from Belfast, for the purpose of showing that those commonly called Presbyterians held, with members of the Church of England, that the only effectual means of softening the hearts of men, and inducing them to turn to God, was a view of his love in permitting his Son to appear on earth as a man, and suffer for their sins.

I cannot, therefore, but suppose, knowing that this lady was not a Conformist, that she meant by Godly preachers of Christ's holy gospel," those persons not being members of the Church of England who entertained the firmest belief in the divinity of our Redeemer's person, and also the firmest belief in the necessity of the sacrifice he made because of the universality of sin, or what is commonly called original sin; and that she would, as Sir Edward Sugden stated, with the greatest propriety, have shrunk with horror at the thought of her charity being given to the sustentation of persons who do not believe these doctrines, but have actually preached against them.

I must say that I do not recollect a case ever argued with greater ingenuity and talent by all the members of the bar concerned in it than that has been. It has been argued that the principal object of this lady was to assist a class of ministers who would themselves be supporters of what has been called the great principle of Presbyterianism-an uncontrolled method of disseminating their faith without being bound to any terms except those contained in Scripture. It does appear to me that the book to which allusion has been made (the improved version of the New Testament) affords a strong inferential proof that persons who assist in promoting the circulation of that book could not themselves be Godly preachers of Christ's holy gospel," even within the meaning of the words which has been given by the counsel for the defendants. I think it is utterly immaterial whether a creed is to be expressed in a form of words, or whether a thing called a translation is to be propounded, in which, for the plain and literal sense of the original words, other terms are substituted, evidently for the purpose of conveying a doctrine. 1 can easily understand that, where the literal meaning is doubt

ful, a different translation might be suggested, as our translators have done in the margin of the authorised version. I can also conceive of many cases where the idiom of the English language will not admit of a literal rendering word for word from the Greek or Hebrew original; but I should think that where parties have obviously and systematically gone out of their way, for the purpose not of giving or intending to give a literal translation, but for the purpose, I should say, of misleading the ignorant reader, those persons must be considered in effect as intending to impose a creed on the unlearned reader, and not giving him the benefit of judging for himself according to the pure word of God contained in the original Scripture.

I make these observations in consequence of the translation given in this book of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which shows most clearly that the persons who composed the translation—if it may be called a translation-did not intend to render a true and faithful version of the original text. His Honour, after observing that it was quite evident the authors of this work affected extreme accuracy, proceeded to specify several instances of gross mistranslation. "I have taken these," he proceeded, "as a specimen of the whole, and after examining various other passages, am constrained to say, that I do not remember ever to have seen a translation which can be considered more arbitrary, fanciful, dishonest, and, I am sorry to say, more false, than this work. I am perfectly sure my Lady Hewley would have thought it the worst calamity that could have happened to her, that persons should be entitled to participate in her charity, who, while they professed to call themselves godly preachers of Christ's holy gospel, could give their sanction to the publication of such a work as this, which even on the principle stated by the defendant's counsel, as that of the Presbyterians— free discussion and mere appeal to the Scriptures as a standard, would disqualify them. But we find that Mr. Wellbeloved, Mr. Kenrick, and another gentleman, are subscribers to the Unitarian Association, which, as the report states, circulates their Improved Version, as it is called. It is sufficiently made out to my satisfaction, that no person who believes as Mr. Wellbeloved states that he does believe, and acts as he does act, in supporting this association, can be entitled to share in the charity of Lady Hewley; and that the administration of her charity ought not longer to remain in