lity, his meekness, his gentleness, his patience, his self-denial, his pure, ardent, disinterested, universal love to God and man. Yes, my friends, we look upon those views, which the Orthodox brand as heresy, as more suitable to the nature and wants of man, as better calculated to enlighten and purify and ennoble the human character, as better adapted to unite in one common brotherhood all Christians, and thus fulfil the prayer of the Redeemer that they all may be one, and thus spread Christianity through the world.

To accomplish this end there wants an united, persevering, simultaneous effort, by those who are like minded, to spread fearlessly, faithfully, and affectionately, the truth as it is in Jesus, that those who have erred from the simplicity and purity of the Gospel may be induced to return to the worship of the One true God; and then shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ.

Mr. Brown, of Barnard Castle, moved the warmest thanks of the meeting to the Chairman, not alone for his services then, but for the various arrangements by which the friends had been brought together, and the whole proceedings so excellently organized. The Rev. J. McDowell, of Stockton-on-Tees, seconded, and the Rev. William Turner, supported the motion, and it was unanimously approved.

Mr. Harris, as Chairman, bowed acknowledgment, and gave out the Hymn by E. C. in Dr. Beard's collection,

"Holy, holy, great Creator,

Gracious God, our praises hear;

Through thine ample realms of Nature,

May the Nations learn thy fear!"

which the company joined in singing, and then closed the meeting with the Lord's Prayer.

The friends then dispersed to their several homes, the more numerous portion wending their way through pleasant fields to the Railway Station, and were thence conveyed in safety to the different Towns, which, in the morning of this delightful day, they had most of them left, to take part in the proceedings of the Commemoration Meeting. Long will the recollection of that day dwell vividly on the memory of those who were privileged to participate in its pleasures and duties. One universal feeling of thankfulness was expressed for the gratification enjoyed, all feeling it was good for them to have been there.

DIED.-At Alnwick, on the 15th September, aged 71 years, Mrs. Jane Charlton, widow of the late Mr. William Charlton, Acomb, near Hexham.

THE MEANS OF REFORMATION.

In a former article, on the present Age, considered as the Age of Reformation, pp. 385-393, I attempted to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, as to the kind of Reformation at which we shall do best to aim, not the political, not the social, not the merely outwardly religious, but the reformation of the heart, and character and habits of the people, by means of a pure, spiritual, religious Faith. I then barely hinted at the means by which this end is to be sought; and as a subject of immediate interest and great practical importance, this seems to demand a fuller consideration and a more detailed plan, than there was room for at the close of my former article.

Those who agree with the reasons which were adduced for concentrating our efforts upon one kind of Reform, which lies at the root of every other, rather than distributing and squandering our strength, by aiming at doing everything at once, will find no difficulty in stating concisely what is the object we have in view.

Our OBJECT is, to diffuse among all classes, especially among the largest and poorest class of the community, a pure, active, spiritual, Religious feeling, to be their governing principle; and by this means to regulate their conduct, and reform their habits, and confer on them substantial happiness.

The METHOD by which it is proposed to effect this great work is two-fold:-1. Preparative, by clearing away obstacles; 2. Positive, by giving and inforcing truth. The obstacles which would be principally felt are vices, prejudices, and indifference. Let us consider by what process each of these may be conquered.

The effect of vicious indulgence is well known to be, in many instances, most injurious, from its destroying all power of understanding and appreciating any instruction, which aims at leading the sufferer to better things. This is espe

cially the case with the habitual drunkard. Even in his intervals of comparative sobriety, he is scarcely possessed of the higher attributes of a human being; his reason has no vigour; his heart is incapable of responding warmly to the touch of love; he cannot discern the beauty of virtue, and is not influenced by the most affecting appeals of Religion. The same is true, to a less degree, of those whose intoxication is frequent but not habitual; and we have therefore here a double obstacle: not only is there a demon for religion to cast out, in the evil habit, but this very habit robs religion of its power over the man, and makes it impossible for him to receive it. If, therefore, you are to wait for religion to make the man sober, he must always remain sunk in the vice. If you say we will make him sober by giving him religion, while you acknowledge you cannot give him religion till he is a sober character, you are at a dead lock, and as long as you go on this principle, you cannot, by any possibility, make one step of progress Here, then, we must seek the assistance of the Total Abstinence principle; taking the man in one of his more sober moments, availing ourselves of some touch of remorse, or some selfinterested views, some lower motive, the only one, perhaps, by which his state is capable of being actuated, we must induce him to abstain, and when his abstinence has been prolonged so far as to restore to him the characteristics of a Man, we may hope to succeed in making him religious. It is the same with all other vices: they must be fought against without waiting for religion, in cases where they have, for the time, destroyed the capacity for religion, and thus the valleys will be exalted, and the hills brought low, to prepare the way for the Lord. Opposition to drunkenness, and to drink. ing habits and customs as leading to it, the example and advocacy of " total abstinence;" opposition to licentiousness in every form, and especially to the wicked system of unchastity; and direct antagonism to hurtful indulgences and sinful practices of every kind, such as gambling in all its thousand forms, dishonest practices in trade, gluttony, smoking, pride and ostentation, will therefore be the first work of the Religious Reformer.

Then he will encounter prejudices, how are these to be overcome? First, there is Sectarianism; one cannot cooperate with any but "the orthodox;" another does not wish to join in efforts with those who are out of the pale of " the Church;" another looks with suspicion on every one who

does not hold a certain favourite dogma of his own; a fourth shrinks from working together with those whose views are not as free as his are. The best way to conquer these feelings is to live and work them down, to go strait on, doing right, labouring hard, receiving help where we can get it, letting no sectarian spirit in others call up a similar spirit in us, and ere long it will of itself subside, and those who were once against us will be with us. Another prejudice very prevalent among the working classes of some parts of the kingdom is the tendency to regard all religion as cant and hypocrisy, and all its advocates as self-interested and deceitful. The best answer is to show that we feel our Christianity to be an important reality, and to manifest zeal, sincerity, and self-devotion in our efforts. Some have thought that the best reply to such notions is for ministers to labour without receiving salaries for doing so, subsisting by the work of their hands; but others are unwilling to lose the advantage arising from a man's whole time and thoughts being devoted to his Christian efforts; and it seems that this is not necessary, for where a Christian Minister is receiving an income for his ministry, but manifestly a smaller one than he could, with his talents and education, obtain in other employments, where there is no self-indulgence or luxury in his habits, and a persevering and self-sacrificing zeal in his exertions, these things will be enough to check the prejudice to which we are referring, and when all Christian ministers act thus, the prejudice will expire.

One other obstacle deserves to be mentioned: people are so busy with worldly cares, or so much occupied with earthly pleasures, or so little accustomed to listen to the voice of the soul, that they turn a deaf ear to the calls of Religion, and are indifferent to its exhortations. To remove this tendency, we must excite pure tastes, encourage intellectual pursuits, awaken mental powers, arouse attention by any means, make people perceive that there is something more to be done than eating and drinking, and money-getting; once awaken them to think, to inquire, to listen, to read, to reason, and we shall have a chance of making them feel, and of arousing their dormant souls to perceptions of God, and duty, and eternity.

I must not be misunderstood as meaning that all this preparatory work is to be done before any direct efforts are made. The two should be simultaneous, each kind for those who require it; we should all engage in both, give more

attention to one or the other according to the peculiarities of our several localities, but suffer neither of them to be neglected.

The positive method, in which the work is to be directly carried on, is very simple; as has been already remarked, it consists in teaching the pure Gospel, as it appears to each man's own mind, not as a form, not as a creed, not as an authoritative code of laws, but as a spirit, a living water, a divine influence, the bread of life. We must address men as reasonable beings, as moral beings, as children of God, not telling them merely what their fellow-inen think or have thought, not pointing out only mistakes in other people's creeds, or seeking any human sanction for our own, but addressing them with the Word of God, and seeking to draw out from them a response of heart and soul to its teaching. Our object must be, not so much to make others think as we think, as to make every man thoroughly persuaded in his own mind; our desire must be that all God's people were prophets; our constant prayer that His Holy Spirit may guide our labours, and give force to our teaching. Such teaching, which the soul, in some of its most favoured moments, can faintly conceive, but which neither pen nor tongue can fitly describe, if it could be adequately carried out, would awaken an echo and give birth to a revolution in the present day, such as the world has not seen since the time when Jesus Christ taught by the Lake of Galilee, and the "common people heard him gladly."

We have already agreed upon the object, we have sketched the method to be pursued; but some one may ask, who are to be the LABOURERS ? You first, and then whoever will help you. If you approve of the object, and think the method feasible, it only remains to set to work; I do not say you can be expected to devote all your time to it; but do something, give some time; make a beginning and others will come over and help you. We must not tarry to decide the question, who are to do the work. Every one that wishes to see it done, must set about it; wherever assistance can be gained it must be sought and gladly accepted. Some say it is only Unitarians who will work together and do the work; if so, let them do it; if others will not co-operate, let them labour alone; if others will join them in a Christian spirit, let all labour together; only let us not stand still settling any preliminary question, let us get in motion, and such questions will very soon settle themselves.