commended to the joint committee to arrange for the visit of the deputation for sermons and public meetings, before harvest. "Brethren Jennings and Hale, Higgs and Burton, Elven and Ridley, were appointed a committee to take such steps as may seem most desirable for introducing the preaching of the gospel, in connexion with the baptist denomination at Melford-it being considered there is an extensive field of labour in that place and neighbourhood, without interfering with, or in any way reflecting upon, any other section of the christian church. "Brother Cowell then read the treasurer's account of the Home Missionary Society; and as ground is already purchased, and a substantial chapel about to be immediately erected at Botesdale, the centre of our Home Missionary station, it is hoped the churches will make the earliest possible arrangements for receiving Mr. Richardson, our home missionary, to collect for that very urgent and important object." SUFFOLK AND NORFOLK, The following churches are comprised in this association : Ipswich..................James Webb. Bury Otley The annual meeting was held at Sudbury on the 4th and 5th of June, Mr. Higgs presiding. Sermons were preached by Messrs. Collins and Peachey. The letter prepared by Mr. Webb, on the Qualifications and Claims of the Christian Ministry, was adopted. "It was resolved, That, deeming the state church to be flagrantly unjust and unchristian in its principles, and most pernicious in its influence upon the civil and spiritual interests of mankind, the ministers and messengers of the churches in this association hail with delight the assembly of the recent convention, in London, to promote the separation of the church from the state; and earnestly recommend the churches of the baptist denomination throughout the county to further the objects of the convention, by forming associations for that purpose. "The following brethren were appointed a committee for The Suffolk Auxiliary to the Baptist Foreign Mission,' viz., brethren Pollard, Lacy, Cowell, Neve, Alfred Catt, Joshua Catt, and Thomas Ridley. All the ministers of the association being members of the committee, ex officio; which committee is to co-operate with that which will be appointed by the New Association. And it is re The meeting in 1845 is to be at Otley, on the first Tuesday and Wednesday in June. NORTHERN ASSOCIATION. The annual meeting of this association took place at Walsingham, Durham, on the 27th and 28th of May. The pastors of the churches, with the exception of two, were all present and well. The principal resolutions adopted were, "1. That the pastors and members generally endeavour, in the course of the year, to disseminate as widely as possible, the reasons of dissent 2. That owing to a division in opinion among the churches on the subject as expressed in the association letters, the consideration of our approba tion of the steps of the anti-state church conference be deferred till the following year. "3. That the lately collected church at Sunderland, under the care of Mr. Kneebone, and the church at New Court, Newcastle, under the pastorate of Mr. Sample, be received into the association. 4. That the church in North Shields be en BISHAMPTON, NEAR PERSHORE. June the 12th, a small neat baptist chapel, capable of seating 150 persons, was opened at Bishampton for divine worship, on which occasion the Rev. B. Wheeler of Bampton, Oxon, preached in the afternoon, and the Rev. A. M. Stalker of Blockley in the evening. The congregations were numerous and very respectable. The ground on which the chapel is built was generously given by a respectable farmer and freeholder of the village, by whose exertions and example a liberal subscription was made, so that the remaining debt on the chapel is under £20. MINETY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. In this village about twenty years ago a couraged in the erection of their newly proposed little chapel was erected in the baptist deno chapel. 5. That the next association be held at Stockton at Whitsuntide, 1845." mination. A few persons were baptized when a small church was formed, but the members became corrupted by sentiments of a licen The whole of the services were spiritual, tious tendency, which soon destroyed all useanimating, and interesting. fulness, and rent the cause in pieces. The hearers forsook the chapel, consequently it was soon shut up; the members disgraced themselves, quarrelled, and dissolved. Mr. Brown, a pious farmer in the village, has taken this dilapidated chapel in hand and repaired it at his own expence, and it was reopened on Tuesday, July the 9th, 1844; Mr. Martin of Malmsbury preached in the morning, and Mr. Heath, independent minister of Lea, Wilts, in the evening. There were many to hear, and we hope not in vain. May the Lord prosper this second attempt to open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears at Minety, and turn poor thoughtless sinners from the power of sin and Satan to God. NEW CHAPELS. NEWPORT, MONMOUTHSHIRE. On the 25th and 26th of June, 1844, the "Baptist Temple," in Commercial Road, was opened for divine worship, and was literally crammed on each service. Eleven brethren in the ministry officiated on the interesting occasion. On the former evening a church was organized of eighty-four members, and Mr. T. Morris, late of Pontypool, was recognized as their pastor. On the Wednesday services were held at seven, ten, two, and six o'clock. The foundation stone had been laid on the 7th of August last. The chapel measures fifty-one feet by forty-one within the walls, with extensive galleries and a large Sunday school-room underneath, forty feet by fifteen; and the whole have been invested in trust, according to the rules of the London Baptist Building Board. The expence incurred by this undertaking amounts to £1000. VOL. VIL-FOURTH SERIES, NEW CHURCH. BLAKENEY, NORFOLK. On Tuesday, July the 16th, a church was formed at this place on open communion principles, deacons chosen, and Mr. J. Cragg unanimously elected as their pastor. Brethren Brock of Norwich, and Gouch of Fakenham, took the prominent parts of the service; the former delivering a discourse on the Constitution of a New Testament Church; the latter On the Scriptural Duties of Members, Deacons, and Bishops of Christian churches; both presiding at the formation of the church, and administration of the Lord's supper. The congregations were good, and the day, we sincerely hope and pray, will be long remembered by the inhabitants of this sea-port and its locality. The number of members associated in Christian fellowship in this infant church are twenty-two. May the Lord continue to bless and increase them a hundred fold, by the outpouring of his gracious Spirit according to promise! 3 E ORDINATIONS. HAY, BRECKNOCKSHIRE. On Wednesday, June 17th, Mr. Ethelidge was ordained pastor of the baptist church in this town. The morning service commenced with reading the scriptures and prayer by brother Griffith, late of Madagascar. Brother Owens of Langviangle explained the nature of a Christian church; brother Stanley of Peterchurch asked the usual questions, and received satisfactory answers; brother Thomas of Hereford offered the ordination prayer; and brother Denham of Cheltenham gave the young pastor an affectionate charge. In the afternoon brother Thomas of Hereford appropriately addressed the young people assembled. And in the evening brother Blackmore of Kington preached an evangelical discourse to the church and congregation. The attendance throughout the day was numerous, and the enjoyment of it will not be soon forgotten. CHESTERTON, NEAR CAMBRIDGE. church and congregation at White's Row, Portsea, entered upon his labours the 30th of June, 1844. NAUNTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. The Rev. Edward Neale of Headington, near Oxford, has accepted a unanimous invitation of the church at Naunton, Gloucestershire, to become their pastor, and purposes (D.v.) to enter upon his office in September. RECENT DEATHS. MR. PETER SWINTON. This excellent man was born Dec. 12, 1755, in the neighbourhood of Hill Cliff, near Warrington. His childhood and youth passed away without any remarkable occurrence. He was brought to the knowledge of himself as a sinner, and to the reception of Christ as his Saviour, when about thirty years of age, through the instrumentality of the late John Thompson, who was a remarkably zealous and useful preacher of the gospel. He had been in connexion with the Weslevan Methodists, but from reading the word of God, without an acquaintance with any baptists, he was led to doubt the truth of some sentiments he held, and following the convictions of his mind, he was immersed on a profession of his faith in Jesus Christ. As he gained his livelihood by teaching a day school at Latchford, a place in the immediate vicinity of the town of Warrington, his schoolroom was appropriated to the spread of the light of life. Here he preached the word with great success. Numbers were attracted to hear the word from his lips, and the power of the Spirit being manifested, he had the pleasure of administering the sacred ordinance to many individuals at different times. On Wednesday morning, June the 26th, after an introductory discourse by the Rev. Charles Stovel, a baptist church was formed in this place. It contains fourteen members, most of whom were dismissed from the church in Cambridge under the pastoral care of the Rev. R. Roff. The ordination of Mr. J. Roberts, late of Horton College, as pastor of the newly formed church, took place in the afternoon. The Rev. E. L. Forster of Stony Stratford proposed the usual questions, and received the confession of faith; the Rev. J. H. Brooks of Ridgmount offered the ordination prayer, and the Rev. J. Acworth, A.M., president of Horton College, Bradford, delivered the charge. In the evening the Rev. R. Roff addressed the members of the church in a discourse founded upon 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. The Rev. Messrs. Flood of Melbourne, Cantlow of Shelford, Thodey, indeAmongst some of the earliest was our pendent, of Cambridge, and other ministers in deceased friend. He was baptized in the the neighbourhood, took part in the interest-night; so great was the public feeling at that ing solemnities of the day. On the preceding evening the New British School Rooms and vestry, attached to the chapel, were opened: they are so arranged as to afford accommodation for the sabbath school children at public worship on the Lord's day, and it is hoped that the schools to be conducted in them by two of the members of the new church, who have been trained in the Borough Road Institution, will prove eminently conducive to the prosperity of this infant cause. WHITE'S ROW, PORTSEA. The Rev. Henry Williams, late pastor of the English baptist church, Brecon, having accepted the unanimous invitation of the time against the ordinance, that it was judged improper to attend to it at any other time. A trustee of the Hill Cliff Chapel, which had been closed for many years, but where there is reason to believe there had been a baptist church as early as the year 1600, hearing of what was going on at Latchford, came to hear the word in the school-room; and being satisfied with the minister and character of the people, gave up the premises into their hands for the payment of the small sum of £13 158. A church was formed, and our friend was chosen one of the deacons. This was in the year 1792. This office he sustained to the end of his life, a period of more than fifty years; and all who knew him can bear testimony that he used the office of a deacon well. He was stedfast in his adherence to the cause, regular in his attendance on the means of grace, and ever exhibited a peaceful and conciliatory disposition. The prosperity of the church lay near his heart. Through life this was exhibited in the whole of his conduct. The prayer meeting was seldom held without seeing his face, and hearing his voice; if ever absent the conviction was, that something serious had occurred. When eighty-eight years of age he regularly attended four services in the house of God on the sabbath day: the early prayer meeting, besides three times on the ministry of the word. In every church there are difficulties, and they who sustain office have to feel them most. But our friend never swerved; he stood by the church when the floods of opposition were most violent, and many deserted it. His prayers were heard, his labours blessed, and he saw Zion prosper ere he was called to his reward. His brother John, for some years before his death, was pastor of the church, and he has left a son who at present is one of the pastors of the baptist church at Little Leigh. His last affliction was short. In it he was greatly supported. Christ was his hope and confidence when sinking in the arms of death. His prospects rested on the blood and righteousness of Christ. He murmured not: the will of the Lord, he said, was best, and to that will he patiently bowed. A few hours before his death, whilst sitting up in bed, his breathing being difficult, and the tear rolling down his furrowed cheek, in answer to a question as to the state of his mind, in broken accents, he said, "I am quite comfortable. 'God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes."" Soon after he was called away in the possession of the cheering hope of the promised rest. REV. WILLIAM GRETREIX. Died at Hetton, January the 16th, 1844, Mr. W. Gretreix, aged 72, formerly pastor of the baptist church, Sans Street, Sunderland. He lived a life of faith, characterized with the fruits of holiness, and thus in a good old age died in peace, when he was removed from this scene of trial to those mansions Jesus hath prepared. liams prayed at Penlan, and Rev. T. Williams, Lanstephan, preached from Heb. xiii. 7. In Salem Chapel the Rev. Benjamin Thomas, Narberth, preached from 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8; and the Rev. H. W. Jones, Carmarthen, delivered an address at the grave, in which he delineated the most distinguishing features of his character, as pure in his deportment, affectionate as a parent and husband, unwearied as a pastor, and ready to administer relief to the sick and the afflicted, which failed not to gain for him great and universal esteem. MR. W. KNIGHT. Died at Bishampton, May the 27th, Mr. William Knight, in the nineteenth year of his age; a consistent member of the baptist church, Pershore. As a Christian his profession and conduct bore a pleasing testimony to the reality of his faith, and as his life had been calm and tranquil, so his death was serene and peaceful; he spoke of the event with all calmness imaginable, knowing in whom he had believed; and as he lived in the fear and service of God, so he died in the exercise of that faith which, realizing the divine presence, makes the chamber of death the gate of heaven. MRS. T. D. KNIGHT. On sabbath morning, the 30th day of June, at 26, Aldergate Street, London, at the age of sixty-seven years, Mary, the beloved wife of Mr. Thomas D. Knight, was suddenly removed by apoplexy from this world to that abode where the sabbath never ends. It was the privilege and happiness of Mrs. Knight, in very early life, to choose the better part which can never be taken away. About the year 1791 she openly professed her attachment to Christ, and became a member of the church in South Street, Exeter, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. William Clarke, formerly of Unicorn Yard, London; but in joined the church over which the late Rev. the year 1799, removing to Battersea, she Joseph Hughes was pastor, and of which she continued a consistent member until her decease. REV. THOMAS WILLIAMS. Died, June the 27th, 1844, at Penlan, near Mydrim, aged 74, the Rev. Thomas Williams, the minister of the baptist church assembling at Salem and Enon, in the county of Carmarthen. He was received a member at Salem above fifty years ago, and has been its faithful and indefatigable minister for fortythree years. On the Tuesday after his death a great number collected to attend his remains to his long home. The Rev. D. Wil GEORGE DEANE, ESQ. July the 25th, at his house, Clapton Square, Hackney, George Deane, Esq., in his seventy-second year. About fifty years ago he was baptized by the late Rev. Joseph Swain at Walworth; and was, for a considerable period, one of the deacons of the baptist church there, during the pastorate of the Rev. John Chin. His end was exceedingly tranquil, and his faith and hope in the precious gospel unwavering. REV. T. WATTS, The late pastor of the baptist church at Streatham, in the Isle of Ely, was born at Cottenham, September the 22nd, 1777. In early life he was gay and thoughtless. About the age of twenty-six, his mind became deeply impressed under a sermon preached by Mr. Stephen of London. From that period he became a man of prayer, a devout Christian. He was eminent for piety, had a singularly pleasing gift in prayer, and lived much under the influence of divine grace. He entered the ministry about 1820 at Waterbeach, where he laboured about three years. He then removed to Oakington, where he became the pastor of the church, and continued with them about twelve years. Not seeing his labours blessed as he desired, he complied with an invitation from the church at Streatham, where he continued till his last illness. He bore his affliction with great patience and resignation. He died at Cottenham, June the 5th, 1844, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a widow and five children to lament his loss. MR. WILLIAM BALLARD, SENIOR. A member of the church assembling in the Lower chapel, Ock Street, Abingdon, departed this life on Friday morning, July the 19th, 1844. He had been for upwards of forty years a member of the above church, and during a great part of that period he held the office of deacon. He was in his sixty-fourth year. During his last painful illness he enjoyed abundantly the consolations of religion, and his end was peace. A short time before his death he forwarded to his fellow Christians a kind message, exhorting them to continue in the grace of God, and to avoid worldly alliances. He died, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION SOCIETY. At a meeting of the committee of this society, held at the Mission House, July 11, 1844, it was resolved to commence operations by placing out three students as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made. by the pecuniary assistance already rendered The committee feel encouraged to proceed them, and still more by the numerous testimonies of approbation of their plan, and promises of support which they have received: they confidently hope, when once the work is begun, that the society will receive such support as shall enable them continually to increase the number of the students. Subscriptions and donations will be thankFletcher, Esq., Union Dock, Limehouse; or fully received by the treasurer, Joseph at Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, Tritton and Co. Bankers, Lombard Street. All other communications to be addressed to the secretaries, the Rev. J. Cox of Woolwich, or Rev. John Statham of Reading, Berks. The following are the regulations respecting candidates for admission: "That every candidate for the Christian ministry, who shall be desirous of enjoying the benefits of this society, shall be recommended by the church to which he belongs as having a good moral character, and as possessed of real piety; and also by two baptist ministers, one of them being the pastor of the church, if the church has a pastor at the time, 'as fitted by natural endowments and spiritual quali fications, to receive instruction with a view to the ministry of the gospel.' "That every candidate shall submit to such examinations, or trial of gifts, as the committee shall think proper. "That the candidate, when approved by the committee, shall be placed under the care of a bap tist minister (such minister not being the pastor of the church to which the candidate belongs) for three months on probation; and if, at the expiration of that term, the tutor report favourably, he shall be continued under his care as long as the committee shall direct; but that, except in special cases, the term of study shall not exceed two years. "That every candidate shall promise to submit to such regulations as may be made for the preserva |