their sacrifices in a way of compounding with their obligations. Little do they conceive, meantime, how honest a man must be to pray, how heartily, simply, totally he must mean what he prays for. Perhaps he prays much, prays in public, and has it for a continual wonder that he gets on so poorly, and that God, for some mysterious reason, does not answer his prayers. Sometimes he will even be a little heart-broken by his failures, and will moisten his face with tears of complaint. He has made great struggles,

it

may be, at times, to freshen the fire that was burning in him, and yet, for

some reason, he is all the while losing ground. His faith becomes a hand, as it were, without fingers, laying hold of nothing. The more he pumps at the well of his joys, the dryer he grows. It is as if there were some dread fatality against him, and he wonders where it is, Commonly it is here— that he wants rectitude. He is trying to be piously exercised in his feelings when he is slack in his integrity. He has been so much afraid of being selfrighteous, it may be, that he is not righteous at all. When he is loose in the conscience, how can he be clear in his feeling?-Dr. Bushnell.

JAMAICA: HER PEOPLE AND

HER DISTRESS.

Ir is a little over a quarter of a century since the slaves of Jamaica were emancipated. For a long time the relations of the people to the planters were in an unsettled state— the people striving to obtain as a reward for their labour the wages they were said to be worth when the planter enjoyed the use of it in a state of slavery, and the planter on his side endeavouring to reduce the hire of the labourer to the lowest point. Either unwilling to take the pittance offered them, or in despair of ever obtaining a fair settlement of the question, large numbers of the people purchased small patches of land, or rented a quantity sufficient to produce the necessaries of life. On these lands they settled. New villages were formed, in

many cases remote from the sugar estates, and a considerable portion of the labourers were withdrawn altogether from the cultivation of the principal products of the island. For seven or eight years the prospects of the planters and the people were good,

and Jamaica bade fair to continue the largest producer of sugar in our western colonies.

At this juncture the British Parliament removed from the sugar of the West Indies the protection it had so long enjoyed. The Antilles were obliged to compete on equal terms with sugar from India and the Mauritius, and also with the slave-grown produce of Cuba and Porto Rico. The coffee of Ceylon also entered into competition with that of Jamaica. Several very unprofitable years followed. Estates were thrown out of cultivation; properties were left to go to decay; mortgages were called in, to the utter ruin of the owners of the mortgaged estates; the capital of the island diminished, and means were wanting to renew broken machinery, or to provide modern improvements.

During this time, the governing party in the island, consisting chiefly of planters and their dependents, made no efforts to conciliate the emancipated people. On the contrary, the tendency of their legislation was to infringe on the rights of the peasantry, and to reduce the labourers to the state of

serfs. Failing in this, through the watchful care of the British Government, the people were more and more driven from the estates. The increase of their numbers not only stopped the rise of wages, but diminished the earnings of the labourer; and these were still further interfered with by the introduction of coolies from the East Indies and other foreign countries. Another result of this immigration was the accumulation of debt on the finances of the island, and the necessary increase of taxation to meet the interest of loans. The imposition of taxes for the purposes of immigra. tion is peculiarly unjust to the nativeborn population. It is hard enough that foreigners should be brought into the island to compete with them for the wages to be earned on the estates. That competition also lowers wages. But to have to pay taxes as well, to bring in these competitors, is unjust in the extreme. So far as the British Government could be got to allow their measures, the powerful interests in the Legislature made the taxes to bear with heaviest weight on the peasantry, giving to themselves various exemptions, by which their special cultivation might be encouraged. Nor must it be forgotten that, in addition to the ordinary taxes for the purposes of government, the people of Jamaica have to pay the rectors and curates of the Church Establishment, from which four-fifths of them at least are dissenters, a sum equal to one-eighth part of the entire revenue of the island, that is, about £30,000 a year.

The general result is this: that although the island now contains about four hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, probably not more than one-seventh is dependent on sugar cultivation. The rest have been compelled to resort to other sources of subsistence. Many cultivate sugar, coffee, ginger, or pimento; but the great bulk of the people live on the provisions they are able to grow. Excluded by unjust laws from that influence in the government they ought to possess, the people have no

representatives in the House of Assembly to make their wants known, or to operate as a check on the partial legislation by which the planting interest strives to sustain itself. There are none in that Assembly to propose measures for their benefit, or to secure for them protection against fraud, or to see that magistrates are appointed in whose justice and impartiality the labouring classes may confide. Even when beneficial measures emanate from the Council of the Governor, or are suggested by the Colonial Office, the House of Assembly rejects them all. As an illustration of the one-sidedness of the legislation, we may take the session of 1861-2. In that session some forty Acts were passed. These Acts imposed an increase of taxation, facilitated the introduction of immigrants, and added to the salaries of officials. But not one had aught to do with the improvement of the labouring classes; not one contemplated the slightest measure of relief from the burdens they have to bear.

Dependent as the mass of the population is upon the land, many of the smaller occupants endeavour to better their condition by cultivating the staples. But the discouragements they meet with are of the most disheartening kind. They are often defrauded by the merchants who purchase their produce, or they obtain for it prices that scarcely make it worth their while to cultivate it. If some of them venture to consign their produce direct to this country, the freights are raised upon them, and the agents employed often impose the most ruinous charges on their shipments.

It is easy to see that the temporal condition of the emancipated peasantry of Jamaica is a very precarious one; that their improvement, their education, their religious institutions, may be often jeopardised by the incoming of some tropical epidemic, or the occurrence of a drought to which the West Indies are not unfrequently exposed. This has been the case during the last three years. Drought, more or less severe, in various parts of the

island, has destroyed the crops of provisions, while the sugar estates have been less productive. Thus the whole population suffers, and, as our readers know, appeals have to be made to this country to render aid in their distress.

The help that the Baptist churches in this country have rendered to their brethren has been most useful, and has called forth the warm thanks of the ministers and people. As an illustration of the extent of the distress, we will quote the following from a letter from the Rev. T. Lea, of Falmouth:

"I hardly know what to say in reply to your very kind letter, and in acknowledgment of the opportune and generous grant of the Committee. You say well when you refer to the 'distress which seems to be crushing the energies of our brethren, and putting a stop to the improvement of the people.' How some with their large families have lived I know not, and how they have worked, oppressed with such fearful cares, is a still greater mystery to me.

"The thousands of poor half-starved old people who have been altogether dependent on relations or friends, or who receive the miserable pittance, grudgingly given, of parochial relief, are wretchedly cared for during these hard times.

"I was visiting through Granville on Tuesday, and from some of the old and sick, as well as from the leaders, I got a tale of suffering which made my heart bleed, and it was with no ordinary joy that I felt I could, through the liberality of British Christians, to some extent minister to their necessities.

"It is all true what the Kingston papers say as to the increase of crime; but he knows little of men or of history who denies that national poverty and crime go hand in hand, and the one, amongst ignorant and irreligious classes, is the occasion, if not the cause, of the other.

"But facts will explain the cry of poverty: the number of estates thrown up, the continuous droughts, the small amounts proprietors are willing to

66

They will, whether sent to me or others, be applied as the generous donors desire, and may draw on them blessings in answer to the prayers of the recipients of their bounty.

"The care thus manifested by the Committee and friends at home has cheered us greatly. It has taken a heavy burden off us, so that we shall be better enabled to press onward in the path of duty. Although this is a gloomy day-not only in temporal but in spiritual things-I believe the light of God's countenance will again shine upon us, and fill our hearts with joy and gladness. Those who have so generously helped us will pray for us. Their prayers will bring down on us the blessings of our common Father."

Recent letters speak of welcome rains having fallen; and the following sentences from a letter from the Rev. W. Claydon, will give some idea of the joy such an event occasions :

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'I am thankful to say God has at length remembered us in mercy; we have had a few fruitful showers, enough to commence planting, and to cause the landscape to smile again with beauty;

all nature seems vocal with grateful praise for the seasonable showers; the small stock about the yard leap for very joy. I never saw nature so glad. As for the coffee shrubs, they put on their robe of lily-white blossom as if by magic. On Friday I passed by the coffee-field; all appeared seared, brown, drooping leaves. On Monday following, on my return, the fields were almost as if covered with immense white sheets; the following showers have fixed the blossom, and the promise of a crop is more abundant than for many years."

But if we may hope that the present distress is passing away, there is much in the condition of the people to awaken anxiety. Unless some measures be taken for the protection of the poor, for the encouragement of the small

GENERAL.

cultivators, and for the organization of labour, there can be little expectation that Jamaica will recover the losses she has sustained, or that our hopes of the elevation of the emancipated peasantry will be fulfilled. England yet owes a debt of long-standing to the negroes of Jamaica, and unless we care not to see the fruits of the costly Act of Emancipation utterly wasted and lost, the people of this country must step forward and insist that the Legislature of Jamaica shall no longer travesty the art of government, or continue grossly to neglect the duties of its constitution. If the planters will not be generous to the labouring classes, on whom the prosperity of the island so largely depends, they must at least be com pelled to be just.

THE country has been occupied, during the past month, with the turmoil of a General Election. On the 6th of July the old Parliament was prorogued, and the same day it was dissolved; and within four days the first members of the new Parliament were returned for a metropolitan constituency. We are glad to say that the new Parliament will include a large number of the friends of civil and religious liberty. Besides those who occupied seats in the defunct Parliament-and to many of whom we are under such real obligations-we find in the new House Mr. Mill, of Westminster, Mr. Torrens, of Finsbury, Mr. Maclaren, of Edinburgh, Mr. Hughes, of Lambeth, Mr. Morley, of Nottingham, and last, though not least, Mr. Fawcett, of Brighton. these are able men, and upon all of them we believe we may depend for the most hearty support of the principles of civil and religious equality: so that henceforth Mr. Bright, Mr. Forster, Mr. Baines, and Mr. Hadfield, will not stand alone. The defeat of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the University of Oxford is, we believe, a triumph to our cause. The "foremost man in England" will be henceforth freed from the traminels which Churchmen had thrown around him, and he will be able to follow his own manly and noble instincts. Before the close of the new Parliament, he will, no doubt, be

All

Premier. We look forward with hope to the "increase" of a Gladstone, even though it be accompanied by the "decrease" of a Palmerston.

The American question has almost ceased to be a question in England. Of course the war is over, and slavery is doomed-what more have Englishmen to do with the matter? Some items of intelligence continue, however, to excite interest. Four of the persons convicted of the assassination conspiracy have been hanged, and others have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Few doubt the justice of the sentences. Nothing has been decided about the trial of Jefferson Davis. The belief grows, both in America and in England, that no severe measures in regard to him are contemplated by the President. It is all but certain that the last blood in this conflict has been shed.

It is needless to say that, with the Ameri can war, the Lancashire distress has ceased. During the pressure of the famine the Baptists of Lancashire, aided by friends in different parts of the country, raised a special fund for the relief of the more necessitous cases of distress occurring in connection with their congregations. It appears from a report just published, that the receipts amounted to £6,917 9s. 8d., and the payments to £6,820 12s. 4d. The committee, in closing their operations, have decided to hand over the balance, nearly a hundred

pounds, to the Freedmen's Aid Society of the United States.

Many of our readers will be glad to hear news of the Rev. J. P. Chown, who has gone on a visit to America. The following is from the New York Independent :-"Last Sabbath, in the absence of Mr. Beecher, his pulpit was filled by this distinguished and eloquent minister of Christ [Mr. Chown]. The sermon in the morning was founded on Rev. xxii. 8-'I John saw these things,' &c., and consisted of an earnest and clear exposition, first of the character of the man to whom the vision was granted, and then of some characteristics of the glory he was permitted to gaze upon. The congregation was large, and was deeply moved by the warmth and Gospel fervour of the preacher's spirit. It was a sermon, as one man expressed it, of the 'Baxter order,' many brethren heartily welcoming Mr. Chown among them. We take great pleasure in introducing this able gentleman to our readers. He is a Baptist pastor, located at Bradford, England, and is a most successful man, both in the pulpit and on the platform. The United States had no truer friend among the operatives of Yorkshire and Lancashire than he has been, and we hope that his visit to our country will only enhance his good opinion of our people and institutions."

All the Baptist Colleges have held their meetings during the month. The Reports were eminently satisfactory.

DOMESTIC.

SOUTHAMPTON.-The memorial stone of the new Baptist (Carlton) chapel, for the use of the church and congregation now meeting in the Carlton Rooms, Southampton, was laid by the pastor, the Rev. J. Collins, on Wednesday, July 5th, in the presence of a numerous company of friends of the cause. A hymn having been sung, the Rev. R. Caven offered prayer, after which the pastor proceeded to lay the stone in the usual manner. A bottle was placed in a cavity in the stone, containing a bill of the day, with some current numbers of periodicals, besides which were a copy of a local paper and a brief statement of the church's belief and present position, which was read before being enclosed. After the Rev. Mr. Sissons (Independent) had given a most suitable address, the proceedings were brought to a close with the doxology and benediction. In the evening a meeting was held in the Carlton Rooms, when the pastor_took the chair in the place of A. Lamb, Esq., who was to have laid the stone, but did not, from certain local causes. Addresses were given by the Revs. H. Carlisle (Independent), G. Sargent (Wesleyan), R. Caven (Baptist), and the pastor. Collections were made in aid of the chapel, amounting, with donations, to

£27 10s., besides which £56 were paid in of moneys before promised, making the total receipts of the day over £84. The amount now in hand for the chapel is about £1,050, towards £2,500, the estimated outlay. The chapel is to seat 700. It is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

MINCHINHAMPTON.-Numerously attended and deeply interesting services, in connection with the recognition of the Rev. H. A. James, as pastor of the Baptist Church, Minchinhampton, were held on Friday, June 23rd. In the absence of the Rev. W. Yates, of Stroud, the Rev. J. E. Cracknell, of Cheltenham, took the chair at the afternoon meeting. The Rev. R. Ayres, of Chalford, read the Scriptures and prayed. The Rev. W. Jackson, of Bilston, put the usual questions to the church and the pastor, and received very satisfactory and touching replies. The Rev. J. Webley, of Avening, offered the ordination prayer. The Rev. G. Rogers, theological tutor at Mr. Spurgeon's College, delivered a faithful and affectionate charge to the minister. The Rev. W. C. Taylor, of Uley, concluded the service with prayer. A public tea was provided, at which about 350 sat down at half-past five. The meeting in the evening was conducted under the presidency of the Rev. G. Rogers, who spoke of the universal esteem in which Mr. James was held at the College. The devotions were led by the Rev. W. C. Tayler and Rev. H. Jones, Independent, of Uley. The Rev. J. E. Cracknell, W. Jackson, J. Burrell, H. Whitlock, J. B. Brasted, and J. Webley, delivered kind__ congratulatory addresses. The pastor, the Rev. H. A. James, feelingly responded in words of fraternal love. It is gratifying to know that the labours of the new minister have been attended with a pleasing measure of success.

SPENCER PLACE, LONDON.-Special services in connection with the jubilee of the above place of worship were held as follows:- On Lord's day, June 18th, sermons were preached morning and evening by the Rev. J. H. Cooke, of Southsea, formerly pastor of the church, and in the afternoon by the Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel, M.A. On the following day a tea-meeting and a public meeting were held, the chapel being crowded in every part. The Rev. Philip Gast, pastor of the church, presided. The meeting was addressed by the chairman, the Revs. J. H. Cooke, C. Bailhache, W. T. Henderson, W. Miall, J. Russell, C. B. Sawday, J. Hobson, J. T. Hall (Falcon Square Chapel), and Alex. Hannay (City Road Chapel). All the speakers congratulated the pastor and church upon their present advancement and hopeful prospects. The pastor stated that during the first two years and a quarter of his ministry at Spencer Place no less than fifty-three persons had been added to the church. It was also