make this communication; and they determined, as there was no order to prevent them leaving the prison, to meet the corpse at the grave.

They, therefore, left the jail at half-past three o'clock in the morning, dark as it was, accompanied only by a free black man, with a lantern--and proceeded to the burial-place, where they beheld the mournful spectacle: a beloved husband, and a dear friend, committed to the silent grave. The funeral service was read by the Rev. Mr. Austin. Two negroes, members of Mr. Smith's church, a carpenter and a bricklayer, wished to mark the spot of burial, and began to rail in and cover the grave, but by official orders the rails were broken down and the earth levelled that no trace of the place of burial might remain.

On the 12th of February, Mrs. Smith wrote to the Directors of the London Missionary Society:

"The information I have to impart, is no other than the death of my dear husband. His severe sufferings terminated about half-past one o'clock on the morning of February 6th,

He was perfectly sensible

Letter of

Mrs. Smith.

in the most happy manner. to the last moment, and manifested the same resignation to the will of his Divine Master, the same unshaken confidence of his acceptance with God, through the merits of a crucified Saviour, and the same ardent love for reading and prayer, for which he has been distinguished since I had the happiness of knowing him. I feel that, in being bereft of him, I have not only lost an affectionate husband, but one peculiarly qualified to be a helpmeet in the highest sense. But I trust that God, who has seen fit to take him from me, and who, I think I may say, in a wonderful manner supported me under the distressing circumstances in which I have, for some months past, been placed, will still be my friend, and lead me in that narrow path, no matter whether through floods of tribulation or not, till I have the happiness of finding myself on that peaceful shore,

where sorrow and sighing shall for ever cease, and where death shall not part us from those we love."

Effect of

On the 24th of February, the Demerara slave owners petitioned the Court of Policy to expel all missionaries from the colony, and to pass a the Martyr- law prohibiting their admission for the dom. future. But their accursed system was doomed. Their cruel malignity could no longer be concealed or denied. The cowardly opposition of His Excellency, General Murray, to the defenceless Christian women, and their brave resistance in the depths of their sorrow, touched the heart of Christian people in England. A powerful impetus was given to the Anti-Slavery Agitation. Mr. James Cropper, of Liverpool, and Mr. Joseph Sturge, of Birmingham, entered on their mission through the country with others, demanding immediate emancipation. In 1834 the Act of Abolition was passed, at the cost of twenty millions. The planters received the money, and cheated the negroes, after all, of their liberty. lash was more freely used than before, and the hard bondage of the apprentices was even worse than the slavery of the former time. Politicians of every grade were reluctant to move, even the old AntiSlavery Society became supine and inactive, but the people, and the Congregational Churches especially, were neither to be deceived nor turned aside. Stockport, to mention a case in illustration, the Rev. William Bevan was sent for by a Congregational minister and a member of the Society of Friends to give a lecture. The Anti-Slavery Committee met to discourage the movement and to adopt a resolution expressive of their disapproval. The people came in

The

In

troops to the largest place of assembly, filled every part of it, and, with enthusiasm never witnessed on any former occasion, adopted a petition for the town, and in every chapel the congregation demanded that a similiar petition should be prepared. The Rev. John Angell James rendered invaluable service; the churches throughout the country were aroused. Nothing could stand before the feelings evoked, and the slaves at length were really set free.

Meeting at

CHAPTER XI.

IN the month of August, 1824, "a body of gentlemen professing Unitarian Christianity, about one hundred and twenty in number," sat down the "Spread to a good substantial dinner at the " Spread Eagle." Eagle," Manchester. The cloth being removed, certain complimentary toasts were given, and a silver tea-service was presented to the Rev. John Grundy, for his eminent services in the Unitarian cause. Mr. Potter, in presenting "this handsome tribute," was "much affected." Mr. Grundy was also "deeply agitated with emotion " on receiving "the noble present." Mr. Naylor said, "The death of one of the Roman emperors presented an analogy to the loss about to be sustained by the lamentable departure of Mr. Grundy."

These touching expressions of sympathy, appropriate to the affecting occasion, might have passed away without notice on the part of the general public, and afforded no ground whatever for unfriendly animadversion; but the speech that followed led to a prolonged controversy, terminating in expensive and protracted litigation, which issued in the transfer of large estates known as "Lady Hewley's Charity" from Unitarian Trustees to a new

Congregational Trust. The toast given by the Rev. George Harris was drunk with so much applause as to cause the "alarm of fire." There was no conflagration, however, except that enkindled by his impassioned address.

"Orthodoxy," he says, "is bound up in creeds and confessions, and articles of faith with inky blots and rotten parchment bonds; but Unitarianism, like the word of the ever-living Jehovah, is not, and cannot be Mr. Harris. Speech of bound. Orthodoxy is gloom, and darkness, and desolation; Unitarianism is light, and liberty, and joy. The influence of this system on human civilization, human liberty, and human happiness, has already been tried it has been tried for ages-and its direful and demoralising effects may be read in the history of every nation under the sun. It has been weighed, and has it not been found miserably wanting? Let the statecraft and the priestcraft, the war and the slavery, by which mankind have been cursed for ages, answer the question. What, then, remains, but that every friend of the species should unite in trying the effect of the other system."

These sentiments, so forcibly expressed, were received with enthusiastic approval, and seemed to have dispelled the gloom thrown over the meeting by the departure of Mr. Grundy. But Controtrouble was in reserve. When the report of the speeches, published in the public journals, was read, Mr. George Hadfield, the Rev. James Turner, of Knutsford, and others, controverted the statements made at the dinner.

verted by Hadfield,

Mr. George

and others.

The Unitarians were reminded that "during the period of the greatest struggles for liberty, they were unknown."

Unitarianism had been "tried," and practical proofs were furnished of its "desolation."