1846.] Religious Intelligence. 463 INTELLIGENCE. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. Ecclesiastical Record. But few changes have taken place in the pastoral relation since the issue of our last number. Rev. Mr. Maynard of Needham has closed his connexion with the church in that place. Rev. Mr. Dall has resigned his charge of the ministry-at-large in Portsmouth, N. H.- Rev. Mr. Ware of Fall River has relinquished his ministry in that place. Rev. Mr. Eliot of St. Louis, Mo., has been compelled by the state of his health, which his incessant labors have seriously impaired, to seek the benefit of at least a year's suspension of professional service. - Rev. Mr. Furness of Philadelphia has declined an invitation to become the pastor of the church in New Bedford. Rev. Mr. Fisher of Ireland, who has been in this country a few months, has been engaged to preach for a time in a hall in the eastern part of this city, to such Irish Protestants as may be disposed to form themselves into a congregation. We hope the attempt to furnish this class of our citizens with suitable religious instruction may be successful. — We learn that among the German emigrants to the United States are many who have received the opinions which Ronge has disseminated through a portion of the Roman Catholic Church. It is important that they should be provided with the means of establishing themselves in a sound Scriptural faith. We may with propriety notice under this head the addition to the means of professional education furnished at the Meadville Theological School, by the appointment of Elder David Millard, of the Christian Connexion, to the Professorship of Biblical Antiquities and Sacred Geography. — The retirement of Rev. Dr. Woods from the Professorship of Christian Theology in the Andover Seminary is a circumstance, in which other bodies of Christians than that to which he belongs may feel an interest. Dr. Woods by his writings, and still more by the effect of his instruction on the hundreds of young men brought up at his feet, has exerted an important influence upon theological opinion in New England, and if other causes have notwithstanding given it a more liberal tone than he desired, we honor his fidelity as a Gamaliel of the straiter sect not the less because we rejoice in his disappointment. Ministry at Large. The ordination of Mr. Winkley, of which our readers will find some notice on a subsequent page, reminds us of the firmness and breadth of position which the ministry-at-large in Boston has acquired. Just twenty years ago Dr. Tuckerman began his labors here, in an inconvenient building hired for the purpose. Now three large and substantial chapels are devoted to the uses of this charity. Five ministers are employed in its service, two of whom, Dr. Bigelow and Mr. Burton, are engaged principally in visiting the poor and friendless, two, Mr. Cruft and Mr. Winkley, are more immediately connected with the Suffolk Street and Pitts Street Chapels, and one, Mr. Barnard, bestows his chief attention on the neglected children and exposed youth, of whom so many may be found in our city. At no time since the commencement of this ministry has it possessed such means, or presented such a promise of efficiency. In some of our other cities the work has been interrupted by causes which will produce, we believe, only a temporary effect. Mr. De Lange, who has been engaged for some months at St. Louis, has gone to Meadville, that by a year's connexion with the Theological School he may be still better qualified for the duties of a Christian minister. In Baltimore, Md. and Portsmouth, N. H. the places recently occupied are now vacant, but they only stand empty to invite those who are willing to enter so wide a field of usefulness. In Charlestown, Mass. a purpose long contemplated of establishing such a ministry is likely to result very soon in arrangements, which we may notice hereafter. In Portland, Me. a similar purpose will, we trust, be soon carried into effect. The notices which from time to time we see of the operation of the ministry-at-large in England are equally satisfactory with what we observe of its progress here. In London it has obtained within the last year increased facilities for the execution of its great design. In Birmingham, besides the Domestic Mission under the care of Mr. Bowring, another has been established under the title of the "New Meeting Ministry to the Poor," in whose service Mr. John G. Brooks has been employed for nearly a year. The Reports which the ministers-at-large, both in England and in this country, annually present to their friends, are most valuable documents, and ought to have a larger circulation than we fear they find. The Reports made to the Fraternity of Churches by those whom they have sent into this field, abound in facts and suggestions which the whole community should ponder. The inquiries which one of the ministers had made on the subject of licentiousness afforded materials for a paper prepared by him the last spring, from which extracts only could be given to the public, but these were sufficient to establish the importance of consideration and effort on the part of those who would not leave the morals of the city to a fearful deterioration. Mr. Barnard's last Report of the various agencies connected with the Warren Street Chapel, cannot be read without a feeling of deep and hopeful interest. Mr. Wood's Report from Lowell, contains much to awaken thought in others besides those to whom it is particularly addressed. Other denominations are not so negligent as to leave this great enterprise of Christian love and duty to us, but the Reports of their missionaries, so far as we have seen them, do not embody so much of the information or discussion which are needed to enlighten the public on this momentous subject. Evangelical Alliance. It is difficult to speak of the assembly which has lately been convened in London under this name, in terms that shall not seem to conflict with one another, so different are the aspects which it presents as we look at it from different directions. As an honest attempt to break down the prejudice and jealousy which place the various parts of the Christian Church in hostile relations, it is 1846.] Religious Intelligence. 465 worthy of all praise; but the moment we look at the history of its proceedings, it loses all title to respect, and we are tempted to speak of it as the great ecclesiastical farce of the age. If long preparation and diligent inquiry into the proper methods of action could inspire confidence, one might have thought a guarantee was provided for a wise and successful prosecution of the noble purpose entertained by the friends of the measure. Yet long before the meeting of the Alliance an error was committed, which involved a sure defeat of its professed design. An enterprise, the object of which was the promotion of Christian union in opposition to sectarian strife, became, as soon as it took a definite form, a conference of "Evangelical Protestants." At its commencement therefore, it assumed an antagonistic rather than a conciliatory attitude. And the more its character was exposed, the more plainly was it seen to be in fact an anti-Liberal and antiCatholic association. It was nothing more nor less than an attempt to combine the sympathies of Orthodox Protestantism against the errors of Rome and the heresies of free thought; and this was the great contribution of the present age to the cause of Christian union! We doubt not that there were many pleasant hours (as well as some anxious scenes, we suspect) which they who formed the Alliance will remember with satisfaction. But a union founded on a creed so narrow as that which was adopted as the basis of union, consist though it do of only nine articles, is nothing but a coalition of sects, or of members of different sects, against what they deem common enemies a compact of mutual amity for mutual defence an Achæan league, presenting a front of defiance to Macedonia on the one side and to Sparta on the other. From an Alliance constituted as was that which for many successive days held its meetings in London in August last, we anticipate no good result. The discussions upon admitting Universalists and slaveholders to the rights of membership, briefly as they have been communicated to the public, in consequence of a vote refusing seats to reporters, afford some curious glimpses into the state of feeling which prevailed. The former were excluded, the latter were let alone. Czerski, who seems to have visited London for the purpose, was not allowed to occupy a place among these Christian brethren, while not a word appears to prevent the reception of any one, whatever be his character, who accepts the 66 Evangelical views, in regard to matters of doctrine," which the Alliance have pronounced sound and sufficient. In a word, the whole structure of love and joy, which has been made the subject of so much congratulation, was raised upon a purely doctrinal basis, and there it rests, to be admired by those who believe that dogmatic faith is the life of religious sympathies. As to the number of those who have joined the Alliance, it certainly is not large enough to form a very impressive representation of the Christian world, nor is it small enough to create discouragement in those who are interested in the measure. More than a thousand members were present, clergymen and laymen, and the names of twenty-five hundred are said to have been obtained. Sixty came from America, and several from the continent of Europe. The Methodist Connexion, the Scotch Church, and the English Congregationalists or Independents, with the American ministers, seem to have taken most interest in the scheme. But a small portion of the clergy of Seven the Establishment in England gave it their countenance. Branches of the Alliance were constituted, one for Great Britain and Ireland, one for the United States, one for France, Belgium and French Switzerland, one for the North of Germany, one for the South of Germany and German Switzerland, one for British North America, and one for the West Indies; with whom is left the prosecution of the purposes contemplated by this organization. A General Conference is to be held at such time and place as shall be determined by unanimous concurrence,— when we shall probably hear more of the Evangelical Alliance. Ordinations and Installations. — Rev. WILLIAM HOBART Hadley, a former member of the Cambridge Divinity School, was ordained as an Evangelist (with a special view to his taking charge of the church in Montague, Mass.) in the Chapel of the Church of the Saviour in Boston, September 2, 1846. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Clarke of Boston, from John xviii. 37; the Ordaining Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Walker of Cambridge; the Charge was given by Rev. Dr. Francis of Cambridge; the Right Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. Mr. Waterston of Boston; and the other services, by Rev. Messrs. Muzzey and Hodges of Cambridge. Rev. EDWIN J. GERRY, formerly of Athol, was installed as pastor of the church in STANDISH, Me., September 23, 1846. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Miles of Lowell, from Matthew xv. 6; the Prayer of Installation was offered by Rev. Dr. Nichols of Portland, Me.; the Charge was given by Rev. Mr. Wheeler, of Topsham, Me.; the Right Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. Mr. Cutler of Portland, Me.; the Address to the Society, by Rev. Mr. Nichols of Saco, Me.; and the other services, by Rev. Messrs. Tenney of Kennebunk, Me., and Niles of Lowell, Mass. Rev. SAMUEL HOBART WINKLEY, of Providence, R. I., a recent graduate from the Cambridge Divinity School, was ordained as a Minister at large, "to take charge of the Pitts Street Chapel," in BOSTON, October 11, 1846, the services being conducted in the Bulfinch Street church. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Gannett of Boston, from Luke xiv. 21; the Ordaining Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Robbins of Boston; the Charge was given by Rev. Mr. Hall of Providence, R. I.; the Right Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. Mr. Waterston of Boston; and the other services, by Rev. Messrs. Cruft, Gray, and Bigelow, of Boston. MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. Monumental Inscriptions. The monument erected in Mount Auburn to the memory of Rev. Dr. Tuckerman was opened to the view of the public by brief religious services on one of the most delightful days of the present autumn, September 30, when all the influences of nature harmonized with the character of the occasion. The monument is of free-stone, and consists of "a square shaft or die, standing on a base and plinth, and crowned with a capital and curved spire terminating in a cross." On the four sides are " raised tablets," bearing the following inscriptions. 1846.] Miscellaneous Intelligence. 467 On the front, beneath a head of Dr. Tuckerman cut in bas relief, in which the success of the artist in obtaining a likeness will strike every one, is simply the name, On the right. For Twenty Five Years In the Village of Chelsea, This Monument is erected For the services He rendered, And the impulse he gave, To the cause of Christian Philanthropy. Having in a former number of the Examiner (for November, 1844) given the inscriptions on the monuments erected to the memory of those four men who did so much to illustrate the character and power of our faith- Channing, Buckminster, Kirkland, and Worcester, and having now added the epitaph over the grave of one of kindred spirit, we are prompted by the associations which connect their names in our grateful regard with those of two other honored and beloved ministers of the truth, to copy the inscriptions upon the tablets which the congregation worshipping in King's chapel in this city have placed in the chancel of their church. Each of them is surmounted by a finely chiselled bust, one executed by Clevenger, the other by King. REV. JAMES FREEMAN, D. D. Pastor of this Church, chosen April 21, 1783. Ordained Nov. 18, 1787. Died Nov. 14, 1835, aged 76 years. Dr. Freeman was the first Unitarian preacher in this city; and he adorned the doctrine he professed, by his Christian simplicity, purity and faithfulness, by the benevolence of his heart, and the benignity of his manners. Respect for his talents, and for the courageous honesty and firmness with which he maintained his opinions, was mingled with love for his mildness and affectionate sympathy. |