THE BAPTIST MAGAZINE. MARCH, 1835.

MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. BOSWELL BEDDOME, OF WEYMOUTH.

The highly respected subject of this memoir was the youngest son of Mr. Boswell Brandon Beddome, who for many years filled the office of a deacon at Maze Pond; and grandson of the Rev. Benjamin Beddome, of Bourton-on-the-Water, whose sermons and hymns are still the admiration of the churches. The talents and amiability of Mr. Boswell Beddome began very early to develope themselves. He is described by his surviving relatives as having been a most interesting boy; his intelligence, generosity, vivacity, and principle, inducing them to conclude that he would prove no common character in after life. The testimony given to his spirit and deportment at this early period, by his maternal guardian, is worthy of record, as it points to a striking and lovely example of filial obedience: "He never gave me a moment's uneasiness; whatever perplexity was sometimes occasioned by the rest, I had no trouble with him; affection and a sense of duty invariably induced his cheerful obedience; and if childish disputes arose between any of the other juvenile members of the family, Boswell was sure to be the peace-maker." He was educated at a school under the superintendence of the Rev. S. Palmer, of Hackney, where he was distinguished for the readiness and accuracy with which he accomplished the exercises of his class, and for that general activity of mind which afterwards became one of his leading characteristics.

When he was about fourteen years of age, a situation which promised well for his secular interests offering itself at a highly respectable mercantile establishment at Dorchester, he was removed from school somewhat sooner than his friends had anticipated. His employers speedily became sensible of the worth of his talents and integrity, and as a reward for his services and a proof of their esteem, introduced him to a valuable business at Weymouth, which happened to be at their command, two years before the legal term of his connexion with them would have expired. This movement had the most important bearing on his spiritual interests; and had he not been generous almost to a fault, would, in a few years, have been the means of procuring him a retiring competency.

The family, to the full companionship of which he was thus early introduced at Dorchester, was distinguished by its very zealous profession of Unitarianism. There he saw the system under its most specious and delusive aspect: the sabbath was observed with the strictest decorum; family worship maintained with invariable regularity; habits of private devotion were strongly encouraged; and opportunities frequently occurred of association with some of the most intelligent and influential members of the party. Under these circumstances, although matter of regret to the more judicious of his friends, it was none of surprise, that he espoused and became the ardent advocate of sentiments at total variance with those in which he had been previously trained.

Under the preaching of Mr. Rowe, the first pastor of the Baptist church at Weymouth, and afterwards under that of Mr. Flint, its second minister, he was gradually restored to the presumed scriptural faith of his venerated ancestors. The exercises of his mind on this important subject were often deeply distressing and protracted. After his suspicions respecting the correctness of his opinions were awakened, he became a most diligent, anxious, and prayerful student of the word of God; determined, by divine assistance, to follow conviction wherever it might conduct him; and profess, at whatever cost, what should eventually appear to be the truth. Desirous of doing the will of God, after many painful mental conflicts he was permitted to know it; he made a public profession, by baptism, of his newly-adopted faith during the pastorship of Mr. Hawkins, now of Derby; and about four years afterwards was invested with the office of a deacon, during the ministry of Mr. Hoby, at present of Birmingham.

That the sentiments of Mr. Beddome in after life, on some abstruse points, were not slightly modified by his previous notions, is not pretended; but that he decidedly embraced all that is fundamental in the Calvinistic system, no doubt is entertained by those who had the most ample means of obtaining an accurate knowledge of his creed. He contemplated himself as a depraved, guilty, perishing, and helpless creature; the grand doctrine of justification by grace, through faith in the propitiation of Christ, was his refuge and his solace; in the sense in which we should employ the words, he was "looking for the mercy of God unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

[This article—as will be remembered by those who heard it—contains part of the funeral sermon preached for Mr. B. at the Baptist chapel, Weymouth, by the minister of the place. Hitherto the form of the discourse has not been adhered to; through the remainder of the article that form will be preserved.]

Psalm xxvi. 8, "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, &c." That our invaluable, but now, alas! departed, brother Beddome cherished for this house of God an attachment peculiarly strong, unwavering, and devoted, is a fact too generally and distinctly known by you to require announcement from me. Long before his religious sentiments underwent a decided alteration, he interested himself most seasonably in its welfare; and after his views of divine truth became, for the most part, consonant to those which are here professed, he was ever ready to engage in any practicable undertaking, and make any possible sacrifice, for its benefit. Simply to affirm that he manifested his attachment in an ordinary way, by the regularity of his attendance, by the spirituality of his worship, and by contributing the general amount of pecuniary aid, would be but a feeble statement of the truth: he threw his whole soul into every department to which his influence could extend; every thing connected with the cause engaged his attention, solicitude, and activity; the interest of the chapel was the first and the last object of his thoughts. His solicitude for the spiritual prosperity of the church and congregation was not that of a deacon only, but a pastor; on this behalf he constantly wrestled with God in private; and you know, brethren, how solemnly, how earnestly, how affectionately, he pleaded for it in your meetings for social prayer. You know also his readiness, as opportunity allowed, to prove himself a friend, a brother, a father to you all. He was ever disposed to hear, to sympathize, to advise, to aid; and even for those who, mistaking his motives, sometimes appeared to think of him unkindly, he was prepared, in the exercise of a truly Christian spirit, to perform any act of generosity by which their well-being might be advanced. Over the interests of your Sabbath-school he watched with a tender solicitude. For many years he was its superintendent. During this period he prepared, with great diligence and judgment, a series of Scripture questions for the use of the teachers, several volumes of which are still in existence; and after his official duties as a deacon, and the attention required by his family, compelled him to relinquish the direct superintendence of the school, he still contrived to make himself acquainted with all its movements, and promote, by his wise suggestions and decisions, the efficiency of its operations. The poor and the afflicted connected with this sanctuary feel that in losing him they have lost a tender benefactor, who was not only willing to relieve them in proportion to his means, but who knew how to render assistance doubly grateful by the considerate delicacy with which it was bestowed. Many and fervent were the blessings which the sons and daughters of distress poured upon his head; and many and deep are the lamentations of the widow and fatherless now. By his removal the minister of this place has lost a counsellor eminent for his knowledge and prudence; a friend, truly generous and devoted, who was accustomed to assist him in many of his labours, to sympathize with him under all his trials, to anticipate, in a thousand ways, his wishes and his wants, and on every occasion of difficulty to consult his feelings, in a manner which proved him to possess an extensive acquaintance with human nature, and an amiability of disposition still more commendable.

Although the cause of Christ in connexion with this sanctuary enjoyed the best affection and engaged the best energies of our departed brother, his walks of usefulness were not restricted to this circumscribed beat, but embraced a wider, a more ample range. He was, it is well known, the manager, the life, of almost every institution connected with the dissenting interest in this town and neighbourhood; and in various other societies, formed for civil, literary, and benevolent objects, he took an active part. Such were his knowledge, diligence, and prudence, that, in general, our committees had to do little more than hear his report of the past, and assent to his plans for the future. With the utmost modesty he made his suggestions; with the utmost courtesy he invited discussion; but his suggestions were, in general, too wise to be improved; and discussion, after he had evidently examined the subject in all its bearings, appeared completely useless. How far such careful anticipations may in general be really serviceable to those who are thus saved the trouble of thinking and acting, may be questionable; but, certainly, the mind which is sufficiently benevolent and energetic to perform the part of our late invaluable friend, is worthy of no ordinary share of admiration.

The pecuniary affairs of this place of worship were entirely committed to his management, which has been long and deservedly held as invaluable. He regularly attended the committees of the Branch Bible Society, the Dispensary, The Young Men's Improvement Society, and other local institutions of a general nature, where the weight of his talents and character were always felt. He was the President of one of the Benefit societies, and the most valuable honorary member of another. To all this it must be added, that hundreds in this town and neighbourhood were accustomed to make him acquainted with their trials, and seek his prompt and valuable advice in difficulty. In general he wished to forego a very prominent part in politics; but in cases of emergency his opponents soon became sensible that he was in the field. During the contest on the Reform question, he displayed powers, both of writing and speaking, of a superior order; nor have his most decided political enemies been backward in expressing their high respect for his commanding talents and unbending integrity.

But we have not yet reached the limits of Mr. Beddome's sphere of usefulness. You are aware that he engaged as an occasional preacher. For a considerable period he lectured on alternate Sabbath evenings at the neighbouring village of Wyke, where his labours were highly acceptable. I never had the gratification of hearing him on such occasions; but judging, as well from the testimony of some of his friends, as from his mental capabilities, his extensive acquaintance with the word of God, his clear conceptions and consequently lucid statements on other subjects, in connexion with his fervent piety and habitual solicitude for the salvation of souls, I should conjecture that his addresses were characterized by their perspicuity, their judiciousness, their deep seriousness, and their manifest tendency to usefulness. Respecting these and similar qualities, he was accustomed to express warm approbation whenever he witnessed their discovery by the stated ministers of truth; a class of men, for whom, on account of their sacred office, he cherished a deep respect. He magnified their office; obeying the apostolic injunction, he "esteemed them very highly, in love for their work's sake." In his conduct towards his own minister he was a model of excellence; the whole of that conduct being studiously regulated by the most Christian principle and benevolence.

His inclination, especially during the last few years of his life, to be wholly devoted to the work of the ministry, was sometimes exceedingly strong. Had he been permitted to select his own employment, doubtless he would have chosen that of an ambassador of peace. But while he possessed many qualifications suited to the preacher and the pastor, and which would have secured him great respectability in the sacred profession, Providence had richly endowed him also with certain other qualities, and had placed him in a sphere of action, which enabled him to be useful in a great variety of ways, not quite within the province of the stated minister. As it was, for some time he was contemplated by many as a kind of second pastor to this church and congregation; and his minister ever found in him a brother who, in many respects, could labour as well as sympathize with him, in conducting the oversight of this people in the Lord. If, with the exception of Wyke, and one or two similarly-situated places, he did not preach publicly, he most literally taught "from house to house." He appeared to seize every favourable opportunity of speaking for religion: the inquiring found in him a wise and kind director; he was a faithful reprover of sin; and when consolation was requisite, none knew better how it should be administered.

While home engaged the first, it did not engross all, the energies of our departed friend. Of the enviable power of producing charming epistles of friendship, with ease and rapidity, he possessed a remarkable share. This power he habitually made subservient to the interests of religion; considering a talent for epistolary correspondence as involving serious responsibility. Could his numerous letters of remonstrance, advice, and Christian sympathy be collected, I am persuaded they would constitute a volume of no ordinary interest and usefulness. As in common conversation he was accustomed to throw out useful hints to those around him; so in letters of business, he often took occasion to remind his friends that they were only probationers in a world "which passeth away," the inordinate love of which must ruin the soul inevitably and for ever.

To his friends it has always been a mystery how he could discharge, with his proverbial correctness, the numerous and onerous duties which he imposed on himself; the management of his private concerns being always sufficient to engross the attention of any ordinary mind. His habits of extreme regularity doubtless afforded him great assistance; but had he not possessed an incessantly active and a master mind, no such habits could have enabled him to attempt one half of what he accomplished. As a man of business his motto was "dispatch;" and whatever he undertook for the interests of benevolence, he attempted with all his might, exemplifying that beautiful and comprehensive injunction of Scripture: "Be diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."

That a life so valuable should have been suddenly terminated, in the midst of usefulness, at the vigorous age of forty, is a providence, in many respects, deeply painful, and mysterious; especially when, surveying society at large, we behold the useless and the injurious permitted to prolong their earthly existence. There are, however, in this case, various modifying circumstances which demand observation and gratitude. If the days of our departed brother on earth were short, they were singularly vigorous and useful. He had already acted his part both in civil and religious society: scarcely had the dew of his youth passed away when he performed many of the duties, and was invested with many of the honours, of age; and although the continuance of a judgment so mature, a disposition so benevolent, and habits of usefulness so self-denying and energetic, would have been an invaluable favour, comparing the amount of his speedily accomplished work, with what is ordinarily allotted to the servants of God, we ought not, perhaps, to be greatly surprised that he has been thus early admitted to his rest.

Yet who was prepared for the severe, the complicated trial which we are now summoned to sustain? Who could have anticipated that the comparatively young, the vigorous, the active Beddome, would have been so speedily and so suddenly called to go the way of all the earth? Notwithstanding his occasional physical infirmities, we seemed to forget that he was mortal; so completely was he identified with our interests, so necessary did he appear to our welfare, that we never calculated that he could die! Even after his medical attendants had repeatedly announced the impossibility of his recovery, many of you could not surrender the hope, that God would yet spare him, for the sake of his family and the church. But, alas! the stroke has come suddenly and irresistibly. We have buried our brother; we have heard the lamentations of all classes at his death; we are now paying our last public token of respect to his universally admitted worth; and yet, his removal appears like a dream.

This day three weeks he came for a few minutes in the morning to witness the ordinance of baptism, but was too much indisposed to render his usual assistance. We conjectured, during that and the three following days, that he was suffering from a severe cold; but on the Thursday it was manifest that a formidable disease had taken full possession of his frame. During the whole of Thursday night he was very delirious, and so continued, under the influence of the fever which preyed upon his vitals, with scarcely an intermission, until death released him from his sufferings on the following Thursday morning; when, at half-past one, his spirit departed to be with Christ. From the moment he was thought to be dangerously ill, he had no opportunity of making statements respecting his spiritual prospects. Such statements, however, were unnecessary to our sure and certain hope of his salvation. He had previously witnessed a good profession. His character had already been stamped for a happy immortality; and pleasing as might have been his dying testimony to the religion of the cross, it is not to be forgotten, that while he was called to forego the delight of giving, and we of receiving, such a testimony, he was spared the pang of separation from his beloved partner, and four interesting babes, for whose welfare he felt all the tender solicitude which the husband and the father could feel.

During the former part of his illness, before it had assumed a dangerous aspect, I conversed with him respecting the importance of not leaving the concerns of religion to a moment when disease unfits the mind for reflection, and congratulated him on the fact of his having been enabled, through grace, to prepare in health for the solemnities of eternity. He devoutly acknowledged the mercy which, in this respect, he had received; but neither then, nor on the following day, when our respected independent brother, with whom he had long been on terms of closest intimacy, prayed with him, did he appear to have the conviction that his "sickness was unto death." About a week before this period, having occasion to consult him respecting some important business connected with the church, our conversation assumed a more than commonly serious tone. I was led to ask him several questions respecting his own experience in religion, and the motives by which he had been actuated in his singular devotedness to this particular interest; and such were his replies, and in so affecting a manner were they given, that I left him with the deepest conviction that he was eminently a man of God: and since his departure, I have considered the statements which he then made as an anticipatory dying testimony to the genuineness and vigour of his personal piety.

There were public as well as private circumstances of a somewhat similar nature, which are now cherished in the memories of his friends. At the last monthly prayer-meeting at which he was permitted to attend, he manifested a most solemn and intense devotional spirit. When praying for the prosperity of the church, he was so greatly affected as to be scarcely able, for several minutes, to proceed, while sympathy made the exercise one of general weeping as well as of supplication. At the last Sunday-school Union prayer-meeting also, many of the teachers remarked at the time, how very earnestly he wrestled on their behalf; and since that period, they have very naturally dwelt much on the fact, that he concluded the engagement by giving out and setting the tune to the following expressive lines:—

Having laboured for us ardently and efficiently, instead of repining at his removal, let us, by divine assistance, be grateful that a still more speedy termination was not put to his probationary career; and rejoice in his blissful possession of the "recompence of reward;" our loss being his imperishable gain.

THE TRIUMPH OF PRINCIPLE OVER INTOLERANCE, ILLUSTRATED IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE MR. BERRIDGE, OF EVERTON

To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine.

The following letter was written by the late Mr. Sutcliff of Olney, and not having been extensively circulated, may perhaps be acceptable to some of the readers of the Baptist Magazine.

It was published under Mr. Sutcliff's signature in a small collection of Mr. Berridge's letters, which I have in my possession, under the title of "Cheerful Piety, or Religion without Gloom," in the year 1797. And if its insertion meets your approbation, I will give it in Mr. Sutcliff's own words.

A Constant Reader. Harley Place, Bow.

About two years ago a friend of mine, wishing to enjoy an hour or two of Mr. Berridge's company, rode over to Everton for that purpose. He was introduced by a dissenting minister in the neighbourhood, with whom Mr. B. lived upon terms of friendship. When seated, my friend requested Mr. B. if agreeable, to favour them with a few outlines of his life. The venerable old man began, and related several things as narrated in the first number of the Evangelical Magazine. But as some are there unnoticed, I have selected the following, which I think will not be uninteresting.

Soon after I began, said he, to preach the gospel of Christ at Everton, the church was filled from the villages around us, and the neighbouring clergy felt themselves hurt at their churches being deserted. The esquire of my parish, too, was much offended. He did not like to see so many strangers, and be so incommoded. Between them both, it was resolved, if possible, to turn me out of my living. For this purpose they complained of me to the bishop of the diocese, that I had preached out of my own parish. I was soon after sent for by the bishop. I did not much like my errand, but I went. When I arrived, the bishop accosted me in a very abrupt manner: "Well, Berridge, they tell me you go about preaching out of your own parish; did I institute you to the livings of A——y, or E——n, or P——n?" No, my lord, said I, neither do I claim any of these livings, the clergymen enjoy them undisturbed by me. "Well, but you go and preach there, which you have no right to do." It is true, my lord, I was one day at E——n, and there were a few poor people assembled together, and I admonished them to repent of their sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls; and I remember seeing five or six clergymen that day, my lord, all out of their own parishes, upon E——n bowling-green. "Poh!" said his lordship, "I tell you, you have no right to preach out of your own parish; and if you do not desist from it, you will very likely be sent to Huntingdon." As to that, my lord, said I, I have no greater liking to Huntingdon gaol than other people; but I had rather go there with a good conscience, than live at my liberty without one. Here his lordship looked very hard at me, and very gravely assured me that I was beside myself, and that in a few months I should either be better or worse. Then, said I, my lord, you may make yourself quite happy in this business; for if I should be better, you suppose that I shall desist from this practice of my own accord; and if worse, you need not send me to Huntingdon gaol, as I shall be provided with an accommodation in Bedlam.

His lordship now changed his mode of attack: instead of threatening, he began to entreat: "Berridge," said he, "you know I have been your friend, and I wish to be so still. I am continually teazed with the complaints of the clergymen around you; only assure me, that you will keep to your own parish; you may do as you please there. I have but little time to live; do not bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." At this instant two gentlemen were announced, who desired to speak with his lordship. "Berridge," said he, "go to your inn, and come again at such an hour, and dine with me." I went, and, on entering a private room, fell immediately upon my knees. I could bear threatening, but knew not how to withstand entreaty, especially the entreaty of a respectable old man. At the appointed time I returned. At dinner I was treated with great respect. The two gentlemen also dined with us. I found they had been informed who I was, as they sometimes cast their eyes towards me in some such manner as one would glance at a monster. After dinner, his lordship took me into the garden. "Well, Berridge," said he, "have you considered of my request?" I have, my lord, said I, and have been upon my knees concerning it. "Well, will you promise me that you will preach no more out of your own parish?" It would afford me great pleasure, said I, to comply with your lordship's request, if I could do it with a good conscience. I am satisfied the Lord has blessed my labours of this kind, and I dare not desist. "A good conscience!" said his lordship, "do you not know that it is contrary to the canons of the church?" There is one canon, my Lord, I replied, which saith, "Go, preach the gospel to every creature." "But why should you wish to interfere with the charge of other men? one man cannot preach the gospel to all men." If they would preach the gospel themselves, said I, there would be no need of my preaching it to their people; but as they do not, I cannot desist. His lordship then parted with me in some displeasure; and I returned home not knowing what would befall me, but thankful to God that I had preserved a conscience void of offence.

I took no measures for my own preservation; but Divine Providence wrought for me in a way that I never expected. When I was at Clare Hall, I was particularly acquainted with a fellow of that college, and we were both upon terms of intimacy with Mr. Pitt, the late Lord Chatham, who was at one time also at the university. This fellow of Clare Hall, when I began to preach the gospel, became my enemy, and did me some injury in some ecclesiastical privileges which beforetime I had enjoyed. At length, however, when he heard I was likely to come into trouble, and to be turned out of my living at Everton, his heart relented. He began to think, it seems, within himself, "We shall ruin this poor fellow among us." This was just about the time that I was sent for by the bishop. Of his own accord he writes a letter to Mr. Pitt, saying nothing about my Methodism, but to this effect: "Our old friend Berridge has got a living in Bedfordshire, and I am informed he has an esquire in his parish that gives him a deal of trouble; has accused him to the bishop of the diocese; and, it is said, will turn him out of his living; I wish you would contrive to put a stop to these proceedings." Mr. Pitt was at that time a young man, and not choosing to apply to the bishop himself, spoke to a certain nobleman to whom the bishop was indebted for his promotion. This nobleman, within a few days, made it his business to see the bishop, who was then in London. "My lord," said he, "I am informed you have a very honest fellow, one Berridge, in your diocese, and that he has been ill treated by a litigious esquire who lives in his parish; he has accused him, I am told, to your lordship, and wishes to turn him out of his living; you would oblige me, my lord, if you would take no notice of that esquire, and not suffer the honest man to be interrupted in his living." The bishop was astonished, and could not imagine in what manner things could have thus got round: it would not do, however, to object; he was obliged to bow compliance; and so I continued ever after in my sphere of action.

The squire, having waited on the bishop to know the result of the summons, had the mortification to learn that his purpose was defeated; on his return home, his partisans in this prosecution fled to know what was determined on, saying, "Well, have you got the old devil out?" He replied, "No, nor do I think the very devil himself can get him out." After this interesting narration was ended, which had alternately drawn smiles and tears from my friend and his companion, they requested him to pray with them one five minute's before they departed. "No," said the good old man to my friend, you shall pray with me. "Well, but if I begin, perhaps you will conclude." He consented: after my friend had ended, he, without rising from his knees, took up his petitions, and with such sweet solemnity, such holy familiarity with God, and such ardent love to Christ, poured out his soul, that the like was seldom seen. They parted, and my friend declares he thinks he shall never forget the savour of this interview to his dying day.

J. Sutcliff.

RELIGIOUS REVIVAL MEETINGS.

To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine.

I have been surprised and pained by the appearance of the paper, headed "On Revivals in America," in the number of your Magazine for the present month. Though the paper is headed "Revivals in America," Mr. Clarke has not confined his remarks to American revivals; he has animadverted with considerable freedom on revival meetings in England. As I, and several of my brethren in this part of the country, have sanctioned these meetings, I trust you will in justice allow me a little space in your next number, for a few remarks on his very singular production.

Mr. C. commences with some observations on revivals in America. On this subject, I think, he does not write very consistently. It is scarcely possible to give a more gloomy, disparaging description of the American revivals than that which he presents. He represents them as exerting a most pernicious influence on the churches, on the young, and on the enemies of religion, rendering "the character of Christians undignified and uninfluential," and reducing them to a state of "contempt and ridicule." He says, "The good that they are occasionally the means of effecting is secured at the expense of the dignity, influence, and subsequent enjoyment of the church; and at the expense, too, of much that is lovely and permanent in the character of pure religion." Now, if this account of American revival meetings be correct, they must be a very great evil, and ought to be entirely discountenanced by Christians. Yet Mr. C. says, "Revival meetings may do for America." "The system is their own, and is almost universally understood and recognized." He also says, "The correctness of the reports which have reached this country respecting their revivals, perhaps, ought not to be seriously questioned." But if the reports of American revivals which have reached this country be in general correct, I think the description of Mr. C. must be very defective in that important quality; for there is a very wide difference between his description and those reports. If we doubt the correctness of his description, he has himself supplied us with an apology; for he says, "Things are not always in reality what they appear to be to the persons who describe them. Besides, truth is seldom naked, and its dress frequently makes an erroneous impression."

Mr. C. says, "It is not my intention to degrade our American brethren; indeed, I cannot." True. But I suppose they will not consider that he passes a very high compliment on them, by first describing their meetings as he has done, and then saying, "The system is their own, and is there almost universally understood and recognized." His remarks on the American revivals "are, no doubt well intended," but I believe it would be difficult for any one to say what good end they are calculated to answer.

But I hasten to a consideration of the latter part of Mr. Clarke's paper, which contains some extraordinary strictures on "revival meetings in England." He admits that the revival meetings in England may be well intended, but says, "They appear to have originated in a wish to imitate the Americans." I trust they originated in a sincere desire to glorify God, and to promote the salvation of immortal souls. Mr. C. says, "Religion cannot be imported." Indeed! Was not religion imported into this country? Was it not imported into America? And has it not been imported into other countries by our Missionaries? "Revival meetings," says Mr. C., "may do for America, but they will not do for England." How does he know they will not do for England? Has he ever made the attempt? Has he ever attended a revival meeting in England? If not, I think he ought to have been less hasty in his conclusion. But they will not do for England, "because the people here do not understand them, neither do they heartily approve them." I am not much surprised that people do not heartily approve that which they do not understand. He says in America the meetings are "almost universally understood and recognized." Hence it appears where they are understood they are approved, and that they are not approved only where they are not understood. This surely cannot be a very powerful argument against such meetings. Another of Mr. C.'s reasons why these meetings will not do for England is, "Our country has long been inhabited, and distinguished for religious institutions." As to the length of time our country has been inhabited, that can have very little to do with the subject; and as to our being distinguished for religious institutions, I do not know that we have such a mighty advantage over the Americans. Some of our religious institutions, instead of diminishing, greatly increase our need of revival meetings. Mr. C. next attempts to draw from the Scriptures an argument against revival meetings. "Besides," says he, "it is said, 'Six days shalt thou labour,' and necessity makes many in England keep this commandment." And I should think necessity makes many in America keep it too. I suppose he does not mean to say that this commandment forbids persons from attending public worship on the "six days" if their circumstances will allow them to do so. And if he do not mean this, for what purpose can it be referred to? Once more. He says, "The unconverted inhabitants of this country are far more likely to raise bitter persecutions where revivals are attempted, than to feel willing to engage in them." And suppose the wicked were to raise bitter persecutions, are they to deter the Christian from doing that which he believes is for the glory of God? Has not the Saviour said, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you," &c.? But experience has proved to me that Mr. C.'s assertion is far from correct; several revival meetings have been held in Lincolnshire, each of which was attended by many unconverted persons, and at not one was there any persecution. "The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets." Prov. xxii. 13.

Mr. C.'s feelings warm as he advances; and, if I be not greatly mistaken, they carry him very far beyond the bounds of Christian charity in the following sentences: he says, "But, perhaps, the secret is this; these meetings in England look like a burlesque; they appear like a body without a soul, or like an orator without originality. We cannot, therefore, expect people to be charmed and benefited by them; for the mind cannot be wrought upon by what is felt to be a farce, nor will God bless what is not perfectly sincere." Revival meetings in England, "not perfectly sincere!" but are "a farce!!" and "a burlesque!!!" Really, Mr. Editor, I think this is "set forth with a little too much sharpness of invective," and I fancy all your readers, except Mr. Clarke, will think the same.

As we proceed we find Mr. C. attempting to describe "the views and feelings of our churches associated in the capacity of Revivalists." I will not do our churches the injustice to believe that they would talk such nonsense as that which he puts into their lips; the language is much more befitting infidels than Christians. I am quite sure the views and feelings of our churches in this country, respecting revival meetings, are as different as possible from what Mr. C. states, and I believe many of our members are in no small degree disgusted by what he is pleased to say on the subject. If there be no more truth in what he says of the American revivals, than there is in his descriptions of revival meetings in England, he had better never given his "opinion" on the subject.

Mr. C. says, "I would advise an adherence to ordinary services; for these being evidently scriptural and reasonable," &c. It is a pity he does not tell us what are the "ordinary services that are scriptural and reasonable." Our Lord "taught daily in the temple," Luke xix. 47. The first converts at Jerusalem "continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house," Acts ii. 46. Paul told the elders of the church at Ephesus, "that by the space of three years he ceased not to warn every one night and day." Acts xx. 31. These are scriptural services, and I suppose they are reasonable too. As to "ordinary services," they differ in different churches; some having one, and others having three or four, on the Sabbath; some having no service, and others having several, during the "six days." It is frequently mentioned to the honour of Whitefield and Wesley, that they preached almost every day in the week. The services that were "ordinary" to these good men would be extraordinary to most of our churches and ministers. Mr. C.'s advice to the churches is virtually, "Continue to go on as you do; quicken not your pace; devise no liberal scheme different from what you have already in operation; if you hear of other churches doing a great deal of good, by employing different means from those which you employ, regard it not; 'no plan can prove serviceable that is learned only from hearsay.' Above all things, carefully avoid whatever is extraordinary in the service of God." Mr. C. would make an admirable reformer!

A statement of a few facts will be the best reply to what Mr. C. says about revival meetings in England. In this part of the country, six revival meetings have been held within the last nine or ten months, at four of which I have been present. None of the evils of which he speaks occurred at any of these meetings; they were attended by ministers and members of different denominations of Christians, most of whom expressed, not merely their approbation of the services, but their gratitude to God for the great spiritual delight they experienced in attending them. I believe every church that has held one of these meetings feels anxious that it should be repeated. Since they were held, some have been added to our churches, who state that it was whilst attending them that they first felt the importance of religion. Last Sabbath, three were added to the church at Lincoln, to whom these meetings were greatly blessed; and I hope in a few weeks to baptize three others who can say the same. What are Mr. C.'s flippant remarks when weighed in the balance with these facts?

John Craps. Lincoln, February, 5th, 1835.

WIDOWS' FUND.

To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine.

Observing in your Magazine for last month a notice of the annual sermon to the Society for the Relief of the Widows of Protestant Dissenting Ministers, as intended to be preached at Salters' Hall meeting-house, Cannon-street, on Wednesday the 1st of April next, will you allow a well-wisher to that institution to occupy a small part of your pages to state a few particulars respecting that highly-valuable institution, as I apprehend many of your readers are but little acquainted with its origin and design. The proposed anniversary is the 102nd, it having been established in the year 1733. It was founded on a broad and liberal scale; no theological basis was intended; but the necessitous widows of ministers of the denominations of Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, were to be the recipients of its bounty. For these classes of Protestant Dissenters it was their aim to provide; and as our ancestors truly imagined that union was strength, their combined efforts were exerted to form this society. It is, however, but justice to say that, in the first instance, the interests of the society were greatly promoted by the exertions of our Presbyterian friends. To Dr. Chandler, a minister of that denomination, it was indebted for its rise. It has, however, since that period, been liberally supported by the other denominations of Dissenters, and diffused its blessings for more than a century "to the fatherless and the widow." The annual sermon has been preached alternately by a minister of each denomination; it was formerly at the meeting-house in the Old Jewry, where the writer of this has witnessed, with high satisfaction, a thronged assembly listening to the urgent and sympathizing strains of a Fuller, a Hall, a Toller, and various others of different denominations. In the present year it falls to the Baptists to provide a place and a preacher; and may it not be reasonably hoped that that denomination will give the meeting its countenance and support, when they are informed that they have near eighty widows in the English counties, who receive an annuity from its funds, from one to twelve pounds each; besides more than twenty widows in the principality of Wales, who receive from seven to nine pounds of annual allowance.

How creditable, Mr. Editor, would it be to the dissenters to revive this cause, which of late has been drooping! And the writer of this would fain entertain a hope that, whilst exertions are making amongst the friends of religion for so many important objects, ancient institutions will not be overlooked and forgotten; but that a spirit of revival will appear to the cause of the "widow and fatherless."

J. Guttridge. Denmark Hill.

⁂ We understand that the whole amount of subscriptions to this benevolent institution is under £120.

THE REV. L. S. E.'s PUBLICATION.

(COPY OF A LETTER ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND, A MEMBER OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.) To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine.

Dear Sir,

As you were so kind as to favour me with the loan of a publication, entitled "Letters to a Dissenting Minister, by L. S. E., containing Remarks on the Principles of the Sect," &c., and to request my opinion of its merits and tendency, I have put down what occurred to me on the perusal of some parts of its contents: to have toiled through the whole of it, was a task to which my patience was by no means equal.

The first impression produced on my mind was, the total absence of that charity and forbearance so often enjoined in the holy Scriptures. "Judge not, that ye BE NOT JUDGED," was one of the precepts delivered, in his first sermon, by our divine Lord and Master; and in accordance with this direction, when his disciples, instigated by a mistaken regard for his cause, came to him complaining that they had met with some who followed not with them, and inquiring whether they should forbid them, his reply was, "Forbid them not, for he that is not against us is with us." The apostle Paul recommended the same line of conduct towards weak and mistaken brethren, and in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, which abounds with directions as to the conduct of professing Christians one towards another, he sums up the whole by a glowing description of charity, as superior to all other graces: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; thinketh no evil; hopeth all things; endureth all things." To me it appears utterly impossible to reconcile these expressions with the arrogant pretensions and sweeping censures of this writer, not only with respect to the overt conduct, but the motives, of those who differ from him, charging them with a sin more heinous than drunkenness, and with being under the influence of the devil, because they cannot see alike with him respecting some of the circumstantials of Christianity, though they may agree as to the essentials.

But the censorious language of the writer is not exhausted in the use of the most opprobrious epithets, and such as have hitherto been only appropriate to the vilest of characters; but it is diffused through the pages of his publication, by raking together and detailing anecdotes, with a view to degrade and vilify individuals, and the body of dissenters at large. That there are imperfections and inconsistencies to be found among the professors of religion, must be acknowledged; and has in every age been a source of lamentation to truly pious and devoted Christians; but how different their feelings from those of this clergyman, who endeavours to expose to ridicule the failings of others; who dwells upon them with a kind of malignant pleasure, and thus affords a handle to the common enemies of Christianity!

As to many of the anecdotes contained in this publication, many are garbled and distorted, and some of them are, in many of their particulars, palpable falsehoods. The very quotations from the writings of his opponents—though it must be conceded that at this period of great excitement many unguarded expressions have been used by some individuals—are, some of them, so garbled and mangled as scarcely to bear any resemblance to the original, and calculated to convey a meaning very different from what was intended by the writer.

Not to dwell any longer on these statements, which occupy a considerable portion of the book, in the chapters on the Authority of the Church, and the Ordination of Christian Ministers, much will be found so extravagant in its assumptions, as to throw the pretensions of the church of Rome into the shades (within whose pale, if he had any regard for consistency, he ought certainly to have been), and calculated to undermine and overthrow the grounds of the Protestant succession. They are indeed so full of absurdity as to amuse rather than offend, and exhibit in the clearest light the inability of L. S. E. to form a correct judgment, either as to matters of faith or practice. With all the consequence and arrogance which assumed infallibility can induce, he maintains that none ought to be teachers of religion but those who are authorized, or otherwise specially inspired of God. According to his definition, an authorized minister is one who has passed through the ordeal of episcopal ordination, and what constitutes that authority is, the regular succession from the times of the apostles to the present period. In order to make this most important discovery of a regular succession, on which, in his estimation, so much depends, I have been employing myself for some time, in rummaging the different volumes of ecclesiastical history within my reach, and endeavouring to trace the succession, from the time of Peter downwards; and upwards from the time of the Reformation. In the former case, there is great confusion in the catalogue of bishops. Few of these are alike; some names of persons are given, who, there is reason to believe, never existed; there are many periods entirely without names; and it is well known, that for some time there were rival popes, each claiming exclusive authority. In tracing these tainted and impure currents, where shall we discover, either before or after the Saxon invasion, the perennial stream which will alone confer sanctity on the priestly office?

In attempting to make discoveries in a retrograde movement, from the time of the Reformation, we find the names of Bonner, Gardiner, &c.; those immaculate characters, who, of course, transmitted this divine authority, and afterwards committed those to whom they had given it to the flames. In this lack of information on so momentous a subject, L. S. E.—alias the Rev. Augustus Gathercole—will confer an invaluable benefit on the church to which he belongs, if he can produce, from his hidden stores, in the musty parchments which have been concealed for ages, the direct and unbroken line of succession, and append it to the next edition of his popular production. Of course the dissenters can have no pretensions to be authorized teachers on these grounds; and not more so, as having a special inspiration from God to become teachers, which is represented by this writer as the only other ground of a call to this office. It is true that some enthusiasts, with whom, as a body, they have no connexion, have laid claim to this high prerogative; but the avowed sentiment of the nonconformist body is, that the supernatural powers connected with a special inspiration from God ceased with the first ages of Christianity. The Holy Spirit, in his ordinary and gracious operations, is promised to all good men, and especially to the ministers of the gospel, who, whether professing to be authorized teachers in the way before described or not, are insufficient in themselves for any good work, their sufficiency being of God, who alone can make them able ministers of the New Testament. Destitute of this, the hands of the bishop cannot confer any of the necessary qualifications.

If none have any claim to the sacred office but those who have had episcopal ordination, or are specially inspired, not only the present race of teachers among different denominations, both Methodists and regular Dissenters, must be degraded to the rank of intruders, whatever success may have attended their labours; but the same will apply to the 2,000 ministers of whom the world was not worthy, the brightest ornaments of the church to which the reverend gentleman belongs, who were expelled from their situations by the act of uniformity. Also the ministers of the Presbyterian church in Scotland, of which, as well as of the church of England, the king, by his representative, is the head, with many of the most eminent men who have flourished in these and foreign lands. Whatever excellences the universal suffrage of the wisest and best of men, both Churchmen and Dissenters, have attributed to the writings and public labours of an Owen, a Howe, a Charnock, a Watts, a Doddridge (the intimate friend of Archbishop Secker), a Henry, with a long train of others that might be enumerated, they must now retire into the shades, and pass into oblivion, because this infallible judge has made it out that they were not authorized teachers. Like their successors, they were incompetent to administer the ordinances aright; like them, to use his own language, they could not lay claim to be considered as Christians. They were without the pale of the visible church of God. As schismatics, who forsook the church, they ought to have been the very first persons to whom the church should have refused her burial service; the principles of independency, which they in general maintained, being those of depraved human nature instilled into man, and fostered in him by his great enemy the devil, who was the first dissenter.

Whatever inconveniences or evils may attend the choice of their own teachers by each respective congregation, the imposition of teachers is far from being free from the most serious objections, and especially when the patronage is in the hands of persons, as it often is, regardless of the spiritual welfare of the flock, who are left in a starving condition, and too often feel no interest either in the preacher or his doctrine.

But I forbear, and shall leave it to a discerning public to determine whether the contents of this unique publication—a specimen of which is now given, can do any service to the church of which the Rev. A. Gathercole prides himself as being a member, or do any credit to the judgment of the reverend clergymen and the lordly bishop, who have condescended to give it their sanction.

For myself (and I can without hesitation say the same of those with whom I am connected), I have no wish to see the downfal of the venerable fabric of the church, though in its patronage, often improperly used, and in some of its formularies, particularly the baptismal service and others connected with it, I think I see much that calls for alteration. Many of its ministers and members I respect, and wish to consider them as fellow-Christians. To this however, in the estimation of the Rev. A. Gathercole, I have no right to lay a claim, and must not therefore presume to subscribe myself by any other name than that with which he designates every Dissenter,—

A Heathen Man and a Publican.

ON THE PROPRIETY OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN DISSENTING CHAPELS.

To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine.

I trust your candour will permit me, through the medium of your excellent publication, shortly to reply to some remarks that were made, and I think rather hastily, in your last number, relative to the introduction of instrumental music in dissenting places of worship. Your correspondent, Mr. Wilkin, I am fearful, was not in the most composed frame of mind when he sat down to pen the communication alluded to. The sounds of the instrument which he states to have "greeted" him with its "hideous tones," must have been vibrating in his ears at the time, or he could not have expressed sentiments bearing so close an affity to those discordant notes with which he professes to have been so much annoyed on his entering some Baptist chapel.

For my own part, I should deem no act inconsistent with the worship of God, in its simplest and purest form, which has a tendency to create a unison of voices which must tend so materially to produce a unity of feeling in the minds of those engaged in one of the most sublime parts of a religious service. I would only advocate the introduction of instrumental music into dissenting chapels to assist the singing, not when it merely offers an opportunity for the display of professional skill. With regard to the parts of Scripture bearing upon the subject, there are no direct commands in the New Testament, either for or against the practice. We read in the Revelations of "the harpers harping with their harps before the throne of God," while, in the Old Testament, we also read of praising God on the high-sounding organ. Surely, if praise was offered to God in this form with acceptance formerly, why shall it not be so in the present day? Some of the Psalms have titles signifying the author who was to set them to music, while others indicate the instrument it was to be played upon; clearly denoting that the accompaniment of music, when directed to God with pious feeling and sincerity of purpose, cannot be unacceptable, and consequently not inconsistent with the worship of the Divine Being; so that, so far from its being a departure from Scripture, it appears to me to be an adherence to it. Your correspondent states that, if he is wrong, he is open to correction. I trust, also, he is open to conviction, and sincerely hope he will not let early prejudices bias his mind to that extent as to pervert his judgment, or gain the ascendancy of his nobler and better feelings.

Musicus. London, Feb. 7, 1835.

POETRY.

PLEADING FOR MERCY.

REVIEWS.

Revealed Characteristics of God: in a Series of Essays. By G. Barrow Kidd, Minister of Roe Street, Macclesfield.—Westley and Davis.

Who Mr. Kidd is we know not, but we have read his eighteen essays with great satisfaction; and we shall be greatly surprised if they do not contribute to make him far more widely known than he has been. The subjects are as follow: "On the Divine nature—On the Eternity of God, in contrast with the Duration of Man—On the Act of Concealment, as containing the Divine Glory—On God, as the Dwelling-place of his People—On Ezekiel's Vision of the Divine Glory—On the Equality of all Periods in the Sight of God—On the Divinity [Deity] of Jesus Christ—On the Revealed Representation of Jesus Christ's two Natures—On the Incarnation of the Word of God—On the Design of the Death of Christ—On the Atonement of Jesus Christ—On God, as the Original of Man's Love to his Maker—On the Supremacy of Jesus Christ—On the Deity as in Jesus Christ, and in him alone—On the Deity as in Jesus Christ, and in all believers—On the Extent and Surrender of Jesus Christ's Administration—On the Blessedness of Jesus Christ—On the Worship of Heaven." All these subjects are, it is obvious, important, evangelical, and interesting, in a very high degree, to those who believe in a divine revelation.

The spirit of these essays is eminently devotional; every essay is full of Christ, and he is "all in all." The writer believes all the great articles of the gospel system, as they are commonly held by evangelical Christians. Nor does he make any affectation of novelty or paradox, though, probably while unconscious of it himself, he has given us many original and uncommon thoughts. There is no pompous announcement of something to be expected very new, and recondite, and far removed from the beaten track. A holy unction from above seems to have rested on the writer; and though he is very grave and serious throughout, the reader will find some lively and tender appeals to his conscience and to his heart, mixed with long trains of elevated sentiment, and chains of reasoning very close and compact.

The method is admirable for its simplicity. The lucidus ordo, which Horace prescribes, he has uniformly observed. Always anxious, first, to investigate the true sense of the scripture which he has selected for the foundation of his essay, some of his elucidations, without any display of critical apparatus, are singularly happy.

As to style, we think his forte is in strength and vigour. Some long sentences (with parenthesis after parenthesis) involving thought within thought, have reminded us of the essays of our celebrated friend John Foster. We have observed many passages of great sublimity and splendour; and there are many of great depth, in which he finds "fountains below fountains," to borrow his own words, when traversing the ocean of "the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ."

Where Mr. Kidd studied, or to what school he belongs, we have never heard; but he is evidently a profound, original, independent thinker, writing out of his own mind. He has taken the thoughts, he says, "out of the mine of revealed truth." At the same time, it is pleasant to observe that he every where discovers a deep reverence for scripture authority. He is penetrated too with a strong conviction of the limits of all created minds. With chastened feelings he delights to soar aloft. He spreads his wings, and pursues a well-sustained upward flight, gazing with a strong and steady eye on the Sun of righteousness, as the proper object of all human and all angelic contemplation.

A few words from the "advertisement" may be acceptable to our readers. The author mentions "the fact, that no two persons in any world entertain precisely the same intellectual views; and that, consequently, every sincere contemplator of revealed beauty, whatever may be his capacity, has it in his power to make broader the reflected light of God's word; and that the utmost efforts of human beings on earth, however diversified, and however harmonious in their diversity, will be no more than an approximation to the revealed mind of God."

The volume is neatly got up, and printed with remarkable care and accuracy. Our limits will permit only a few extracts.

"If nothing were forgotten, if a distinct impression were retained of all the words which he had ever spoken; of all the deeds which he had ever done; of all the thoughts which he had ever entertained; of all the places in which he had ever been; of all the persons whom he had at any time seen and conversed with; of all the words which he had ever heard; of all the pleasures which he had ever tasted and enjoyed; of every remonstrance from conscience; of every warning or invitation from God or man; and could he, moreover, have continually in his view these things in the precise order in which they all occurred; could he behold every cause and every effect; and every thing which he had been invisibly operating so as to prevent a manifest cause from producing the effect which might have been looked for as the usual one; and every thing, on the other hand, which had secretly assisted a cause apparently inadequate to produce a greater effect than could have been anticipated; how very different a thing from what it is would be human life! Now, although this accurate remembrance from vivid impressions of the past is not man's prerogative on earth, yet it is easily conceivable that he might attain to this in a purer and brighter world. It cannot, indeed, be imagined that the angels do not remember every thing which has occurred during the whole of their wakeful being." pp. 28, 29.

In another place, when referring to the Messiah, he says,—

"He has, in one word, adapted himself to your circumstances. It was in all the defective and sinful parts of your history that he was likely to be the least capable of affording to you succour or supply. It was in the pity that your misery demanded; in the forbearance that your propensity to crime required; in the minute example that your dulness called for; in the suffering which was necessary for your deliverance; that there was apparently the greatest occasion to the sinner for apprehension and fear. But all these parts of the condition of the human fallen, their Redeemer has met in a manner which bespeaks wisdom the most amazing, benevolence that defies adequate admiration. With the view that has been given of Jesus Christ, in this essay, we cannot reasonably allow ourselves to be subject to despondency; for finite, little, imperfect, diminutive, frail, occupying so small a portion of creation as we are, we cannot possibly despair of being complete in Him, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Oh, let us then unite ourselves to Him in the bond of a covenant which can never be dissolved." p. 321.

Towards the close of the 16th essay, he exclaims:

"Oh, what honour is accumulating in the world above! We inform them of a morning which is not to be succeeded by night; of a subjection which is more illustrious than all the victories that the universe will have ever before beheld; of a finite nature which is clothed with eternal and uncreated light; of the very last of all the complicated actions belonging to the redemption of the world; when Jesus Christ shall bring before his Father the millions that He has saved from every species and degree of crime and degradation, for the purpose of introducing them to everlasting fellowship with Jehovah; and when He shall become subject, to whom perpetual supremacy belongs, in order that He may show to saints and angels what has been the greatness of His humiliation, and how unutterable is the grandeur of God; since when He has risen from infancy in Bethlehem on earth, to a degree of strength, of lustre, of possession, and of renown, which all created capacity is inadequate to comprehend, the next degree of glory above this, is an act of voluntary subjection to his heavenly Father; which the honours of the supreme throne, and the laws of infinite existence, require." p. 365.

Dissent not Schism. A Discourse delivered in the Poultry Chapel, December 12th, 1834, at the Monthly Meeting, &c. By T. Binney.—Robinson, 25, Ludgate Hill.

Very elaborate, acute, argumentative, instructive, and convincing. The term schism, Mr. B. tells us, is literal, figurative, or ecclesiastical; but query, is not the ecclesiastical figurative? If so, the division is only twofold. Dr. Campbell's Dissertations (art, heresy and schism) deserve to be consulted.

Mr. B., when referring to the three great forms of church government—episcopacy, presbyterianism, and congregationalism, has surprised us a little, by saying:—

"There is something in the record in favour of all; but the book is not the exclusive property of any. There is more, perhaps, in support of each than the thorough-going advocates of the others will admit. There is more of episcopacy than is quite palatable to the presbyterian and the independent; there is more of presbyterianism than the independent and the episcopalian can easily digest; and there is more of congregationalism than either the priest or the presbyter can manage to get rid of." p. 69.

Is this to be understood cum grano salis, or are we left to infer that the worthy author himself is not quite settled in his own mind as to the interpretation of the record?

It might have been as well if Mr. B. had confined himself to Dissenters, as such; however, his animadversions on the Methodists and the strict-communion Baptists, pp. 81-83, will do them no harm.

His castigation of the present bishop of London, in the "notes," is not more severe than just. The bishop will remember it as long as he lives.

We must make room for the concluding paragraph:—

"Finally, let us all scrupulously attend to the nourishment and exercise of the catholic principle. Let us impress upon our minds the necessity of 'keeping the heart with all diligence, for out of it' arise 'schisms' and 'strifes.' Let us watch over ourselves, and guard against every circumstance that may diminish candour, pervert the judgment, or poison the affections. As Christians, let us war with what separates man from God; as dissenters, with what separates Christian from Christian. Let us seek the nearer approximation of church to church, and the ultimate recognition and union of all. Let each of us so enter into the spirit of our faith, and so feel the propriety and understand the reasons of our ecclesiastical position, as to be able to say with boldness and truth, 'I am a Dissenter, because I am a Catholic; I am a separatist, because I cannot be schismatical; I stand apart from some, because I love all; I oppose establishments, because I am not a sectarian; I think little of uniformity, because I long for union; I care not about subordinate differences with my brother, for Christ has received him, and so will I; thus, cultivating the spirit of universal love, I am hastening, I hope, that day when the world itself shall become the church, and preparing, I trust, for that world in which the church shall be ONE—one in faith, in feeling, and in worship; in a higher sense than can be witnessed here. While here, however, so far as the spirit and expression of affection is concerned, I am longing to witness and realize some approach to what I anticipate hereafter,—anticipate in that region where, amid the lustre and the loveliness of heaven, the jars and the jealousies of earth shall have passed away.' This, brethren, ought to be the feeling and the consciousness of 'all who profess and call themselves Christians.' It ought pre-eminently to be ours. May God make it to be so, and to be so universally, by pouring down upon his church the Spirit from on high; and by diffusing and sustaining in every part of it the strength of love, and the meekness of wisdom! Amen."

A Memoir of the Rev. James Upton, late of Church Street, Blackfriars; the Addresses delivered at the Interment, by the Rev. G. Pritchard and the Rev. W. B. Collyer, D.D., with the Funeral Sermons by the Rev. Dr. Newman and the Rev. J. Davis, the Present Pastor.

In the November number of our last volume—which contains a brief memorial of this revered and beloved servant of Christ—it is intimated as "probable, that some account of our departed friend will appear in another form." This account is contained in the small volume now before us. It has been prepared by the members of his family, by those who are engaged in proclaiming the truths of that blessed gospel which was the theme of his ministry, and the solace of his dying hour. Hence the sorrows of the mourning relatives are alleviated by the most joyful anticipations, even while "with tears they cast this wreath of filial duty and affection on his tomb."

We can, however, assure our readers that this tribute of natural esteem to the memory of a deceased parent—a feeling not always to be trusted in sketches of this description—has not produced in this instance an overcharged exhibition of his character. If filial affection has held the pencil, modesty and fidelity have guided its delineations. In a letter dated from St. Alban's, 1834, Mr. W. Upton thus writes:—

"I would just remark, that neither my dear brother nor myself, I am sure, pretend to eulogize our father as a faultless man, or a faultless minister. In him the effects of a depraved nature were seen as well as in others, but in him also were seen, to a far greater degree than in most, the counteracting and restoring influences of the gospel and the grace of God. We feel therefore bound to say—not indeed with any design to attribute unmerited honour to him, much less with a view to borrow splendour from his rays, but with a desire to glorify God, to encourage others, and to excite a holy emulation—that "he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith;" while by his instrumentality "much people was added to the Lord." p. 100.

In accordance with this sentiment, the elder brother, the principal writer of the memoir, observes:

"Now the Head of the church has called him to his rest, it would be improper not to make the attempt to 'glorify God in him,' by gathering such facts respecting his early history and subsequent course, as our slender materials for such a purpose will furnish."

The scantiness of the materials which the life of this excellent man has supplied to his biographer, though to his friends a matter of regret, will be none of surprise to those who knew him. Modesty and diffidence seem to have been the native elements of his character; and humility, inducing a deep sense of his own unworthiness, constituted a characteristic feature of his renewed nature. To our departed brother, SELF had no attractions. It was not the idol of his idolatry; it was not even an object of his complacency. It was therefore scarcely to be expected that he should contribute much to perpetuate the memory of one of whom he habitually entertained so lowly an estimate.

It appears, indeed, that Mr. Upton did at one time entertain the idea of preparing "a short narrative of his own life," urged so to do by the affectionate request of a friend; but the purpose was afterwards abandoned, probably, in part at least, from the cause to which we have adverted. Humility is a beautiful garment; it is a lovely and attractive grace; but its tendency is to conceal from view the excellencies with which it is associated. Hence men who are remarkably humble will be but imperfectly known. These plants of righteousness, not less than others, "have their fruit unto holiness;" but they are like those of the vegetable kingdom, whose richest products are often concealed beneath the broad foliage with which they are invested.

Mr. U. was, however, not only "a tree which the Lord had planted," but he was like those "planted by the rivers of waters," he was eminently fruitful. A brief history of his connexion with the church over which he so long and so honourably presided, is modestly given by himself, in a letter to his son, dated November 9th, 1826, to which we must refer our readers. It appears that from the date of 1791 to 1800, including a period of ten years, 293 persons were baptized and added to the church; and from 1800 to 1820, 350 more; and after all the changes produced by death and removals, the number of members at the time of his decease is stated to be probably above 400: on his first connexion with this pious people there were but 16 members, and from 50 to 60 hearers. He was pastor of the church more than forty-eight years, and entered into his rest in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

The contributions to the volume of the respected friends whose names are given in the title-page, cannot fail to add to its value. While they have attempted to magnify the grace of God in him, and to improve the event for the benefit of survivors, their concurrent testimony in relation to the deceased seems to have been, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile."

The Reciprocal Duties of Church Members. A Sermon before the London Baptist Association. By the Rev. Edward Steane. pp. 44.—London: Thomas Ward and Co. 27, Paternoster Row.

We have read this sermon with considerable satisfaction, both on its own account, and on that of the Association to which it is dedicated. An Association must do good which calls for such clear, faithful, and instructive expositions of Christian duty, as this sermon furnishes. Mr. S. founds his discourse on John xiii. 34; and, as we think, wisely selects as his chief topic of illustration, that mutual love which Jesus Christ enjoins upon all disciples, and out of which the reciprocal duties of Church members will naturally flow, as "so many practical demonstrations of their obedience to the law of love."

The nature of the love which our Lord inculcates, as a new commandment, is first explained in the sermon before us; though we doubt whether the preacher has put all, or even the principal, reasons for its being so denominated. New, in the text as well as in several other passages—for instance, new heavens and a new earth—has always appeared to us to indicate especial excellence or paramount importance. This commandment is not, as Mr. S. very properly observes, merely a revival, a vindication, or fresh enforcement of the spirit of the original law.

"It is new," he says, "in relation to the parties commended to its exercise, the peculiarity of its nature, and the motive by which it is enforced. Under the second of these particulars the remarks of the preacher are somewhat feeble. The discriminative differences of Christian love are not clearly and forcibly drawn. We are told that it is "a spiritual principle—a supernatural endowment,—a property acquired in the process of that change by which Christians are born from above." So is that love to our enemies which Christianity requires us to cherish.

We learn, further, that Christian love is "something more than good will; it is not simple humanity; it is brotherly love; an affection having its seat, not in the sympathy of the feelings, but in the sincerity of the heart." The distinction between "sympathy of the feelings" and "sincerity of the heart" is not very obvious; but, passing this, mere friendship, apart from Christianity, might be described in the same terms. Mr. S. adds: Christian love is "stronger than death; if needs be, it will lead a Christian to that last act of a devoted and divine friendship, to lay down his life for the brethren." True: so also is the love, not Christian, to which the apostle adverts, Rom. v. 7; and that of which, now and then, the idea and the precept is given; nay, and the example too, as Mr. S. must have known, by those to whom Christianity utterly unknown.

Mr. S. appears to us, at pp. 11, 12, to have somewhat too sweepingly intimated that an "exclusive principle in the constitution of our churches" is indicative of a deficiency of the principle inculcated in the text. He has gone out of his way for the observations introduced on this point; and, as nineteen twentieths of the Christian world have always been, and are now, thus exclusive, it is somewhat daring to insinuate such a charge. If we take a narrower view of this subject, and regard only what are called strict Baptists, whom Mr. S. appears to have had in his eye, we should be unwilling to pronounce judgment on the amount of the Christian love of such men as Kiffin, of olden time; Fuller, Kinghorn, and a host of others, of more modern date.

In the second division of the sermon before us, the occasions and modes of fulfilling the new commandment of our Lord are exhibited. If all that Mr. S. has remarked upon are not strictly modifications of that mutual complacency in which he appears to think Christian love consists, each is of such vast importance that it could be but ill spared. This commandment, we are told, will be obeyed by affording each other mutual (redundant) countenance, in supporting the public means of grace; by embracing opportunities for social devotion and spiritual intercourse; by mutual submission to one another, especially in cases where a difference of opinion exists; by treating offenders properly; by mutually sympathizing, interchanging kindly offices, and watching over one another in the spirit of meekness; and by a hearty co-operation with fellow-christians in whatever tends to promote the prosperity of the church, and the general interests of Christianity in the world. These topics are respectively remarked upon with considerable propriety; as are also the motives enforcing this new commandment. These are, Christ's love to us; our mutual love will afford one of the best evidences of personal piety; it will make known our character to the world; and it will exist for ever. We a little regret that Mr. S. has fallen into the common error of supposing faith and hope excluded from heaven. "Faith and hope," he says, "will expire; but love never dies." We need not say that Scripture furnishes no ground for such a representation; neither is such ground involved in the nature of faith and hope, or in the views the Bible opens to us of heaven. Under some of their present modifications faith and hope will indeed be unknown there; but as much may be said of love. Do not the spirits of the just made perfect now anticipate, with faith and hope, "the adoption; to wit, the redemption of the body?" And will not the glorified assembly around the throne of God be always anticipating large accessions to their knowledge, holiness, and joy?

On the whole, however, notwithstanding these free remarks, we cordially recommend this sermon to our readers; and shall be glad, at any time, to meet with the author in a department of Christian instruction for which his habits and experience have so well qualified him.

BRIEF NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

The Soul's Independence of Death, and God's Sovereignty in Man's Removal. A Sermon occasioned by the Decease of Mr. E. Bliss, aged 22, delivered on Sunday, February 1st, at Shortwood, by Thomas Fox Newman. London, Holdsworth and Ball, 1835.—This is a valuable sermon; containing many striking reflections, conceived with vigour, and expressed with much force. The circumstances under which it was preached evidently exerted a powerful and solemn influence on the mind of the preacher, and he speaks throughout under a deep impression of the infinite importance of eternal things. The unexpected death of so estimable a young man as Mr. Bliss appears to have been, was calculated to excite the liveliest emotions of grief, although there was every thing in his character to allay anxiety respecting himself, and to give the assurance of his having entered, thus early, upon the joys of the blessed. It will afford us sincere pleasure if our brief notice shall aid the circulation of the sermon, and thus contribute to its usefulness.

A Discourse occasioned by the Decease of William Maynard, Esq., preached at the Meeting-house, Union Street, Southwark, Nov. 23rd, 1834. By John Arundel. With the Address delivered at the Interment, Bunhill Fields. Westley and Davis; Jackson and Walford.—A very serious, suitable, evangelical discourse, which could not be heard without great interest, and will not be read, we trust, without profit.

The Parent's Book. A Series of Tales. By Rosa Edwena Gordon, Nos. 1 and 2. Baldwin and Cradock, Paternoster Row.—Very sensible, entertaining, elegant and pathetic; but where is the Saviour, whom every parent should place before the eyes of his children?

The Mother's Magazine. Reprinted from the American Edition, No. 18. J. Paul, Paternoster Row.

Illustrations of the Bible from Original Paintings, by Westall and Martin, with Descriptions by the Rev. Hobart Caunter, B. D. part 10. Churton, 26, Holles Street.—An admirable work for all our young readers.

Primitive Christianity, &c. By William Cave, D.D. Hatchard.—The introductory essay by Mr. Trollope is very respectable; but we lament to say, that in Dr. Cave's popular work, now reprinted under the especial patronage of her most gracious Majesty the Queen, there are many traditions, fables, and idle ceremonies of human invention, which "primitive Christianity," or the religion of the first Christians, was not encumbered with. But, alas! "in the first ages of the gospel," her fair form was corrupted and defiled.

The Devotional Psalter. "There is not a page of the book of Psalms in which the pious reader will not find his Saviour, if he reads with a view of finding him." Bishop Horsley.—Oliphant and Sons, Edinburgh.

Bible Lives. By B. H. Draper, 2 Vols. Westley and Davis.—Mr. Draper's entertaining pen could not be better employed than in such a work as this, from which, we trust, hundreds and thousands of young persons will derive both pleasure and profit.

Common Scenes Improved by the Rev. James Smith, late of Ilford—Christ Precious—The Temper of Jesus, by Dr. Grosvenor—Gilbert's Last Birth-Day—Christ the only Foundation. Ward and Co.—All fit instruments for much usefulness.

The Condensed Commentary, &c. Ward and Co.—The commencement is promising. We hope to be able to notice this cheap and valuable work more at large in its progress.

Bruce on Sympathy, 2nd Edition.—This respectable book we recommended several years ago, and we heartily do so again.

The British and Foreign Temperance Advocate and Herald. For January. Price Threepence.

On the Punishment of Death. By John Pell. Hamilton and Co.—This letter to the Marquis of Northampton, dated from Yardley, Hastings, in December last, is very powerfully written on Evangelical principles; and deserves the most profound consideration on the part of our legislators—and indeed of all our countrymen. The object is to prove that the punishment of death is unlawful.

Three Tracts on Public, Secret, and Social Prayer. Jackson and Walford.—When the reader has heard that these tracts were written by Mr. Sheppard, of Frome, he will not want any recommendation.

Educational Magazine, No 1. Simpkin and Marshall.—If this work proceeds as it has commenced, it will throw a flood of light upon the darkness of our own beloved country and of others.

The Scriptural Constitution of Christian Churches. A Discourse delivered November 13th, 1834, at the Ordination of the Rev. J. Penman, A.M., to the Pastorship of the Congregational Church, Tunbridge, Kent. By Thomas James, Woolwich. Westley and Davis.—A very sensible, clear, and candid discourse on a subject always interesting, and peculiarly so at the present time. The author, when referring to 1 Tim. iii. 17, "Let the elders that rule well," &c., remarks: "That the term elder comprehends the office of deacon, is manifest from this:" but we confess it is not manifest to us. We have great satisfaction, however, in copying the following sentence in reference to the deacons: "And they should be sufficient in number to render unnecessary the many expedients to which some churches have resorted, in the appointment of managers, stewards, and committees, which are as unscriptural as the high sounding titles which are given to the multiplied officers of the national church."

James's Anxious Inquirer—Morison's Morning Meditations—Anecdotes (The Young)—Stephen Morell's Family Memorial—Case's Mount Pisgah.—Of these it is sufficient recommendation to say that they are published or republished by 'The Religious Tract Society.'

OBITUARY.

MR. SAMUEL WARMINGTON.

Mr. Samuel Warmington was the youngest of a numerous family. He had enjoyed many religious advantages from early childhood, and had grown up in the society of persons many of whom were distinguished for their prudence and piety. His early youth was strictly moral, and gave promising indications of future worth. He had much simplicity of purpose, with a remarkable freedom from those moral taints which many youths imbibe as they rise into manhood. He enjoyed no particular endowments of mind that might serve to distinguish or raise him above his fellows; but he possessed those more useful characteristics which attracted the respect and love of the circle by whom he was best known. Naturally of a retiring disposition, he avoided many worldly dangers and temptations, and acquired a salutary acquaintance with his own heart in private. In due time, God, in infinite mercy, though by a very gradual process, created him anew in Christ Jesus. This change was seen and felt by himself and others, not so much in the outward conduct, as by the flow of feeling and affection towards subjects of the highest importance. He united himself to the church under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Newman, about three years since; and from that period has constantly maintained an exemplary Christian deportment, though circumstances over which he had no control prevented his fulfilling his duties as a church member as he could have wished.

He was soon subjected to the discipline of his heavenly Father, who correcteth every son whom he receiveth. A tender attachment he had formed for a very accomplished and pious young lady was reciprocated and mutually cherished, till it became interrupted by her illness and death. The excitement consequent on the commencement and ripening of this affection, under circumstances so mournful, gave the first development of incipient disease. His friends observed its effects with concern, but not with alarm. In the meantime his mind had been acquiring both fortitude and dignity. The warmest sympathies of his heart had been drawn forth on behalf of his fading, dying friend; but, at the same time, he had been brought so near to the realities of the eternal world as never to lose the impression afterwards. The beneficial effects this trial had upon his character was evident to all who observed him. He mingled again amidst the busy scenes of life with feelings of heartfelt gratitude for the grace and mercy which had been manifested towards his late friend, and with renewed devotion to the God who had mingled so large a share of parental love with the affliction he had appointed him to endure. He likewise mingled in scenes of family affliction with much sensibility and a matured judgment. He did his part, with other brothers, in solacing a mother's dying pillow by his prayers and by other filial attentions.

And thus it was that he became gradually prepared for the dissolution of the earthly house of his own tabernacle. Symptoms of disease were renewed and accumulated, so as to awaken apprehension as to their issue. He retired from the avocations of business with graceful submission to the divine will, and zealously applied himself to means for the recovery of health. Testimonials of respect from his late employers, and his companions, frequently followed him into retirement, either at his father's house, or at some distant part of the country. The last journey he undertook was to Dover, where his stay was short and distressing. He returned home much worse, and with slight alternations of disease, slowly sunk beneath its influence.

Under the paternal roof he enjoyed those soothing attentions his case required; and often mentioned, with touching emotion, his gratitude to God for giving him so kind a father, and such affectionate sisters, to alleviate his last affliction. One of these sisters, herself the subject of long affliction, was frequently detained with him from public worship, and on such seasons of sacred tranquillity, would read and converse with him. When too weak to bear either, he would lament his want of energy; but regarding it as a part of his affliction, desired to submit to it with acquiescence as the will of God. He would say, "I depend on the quiet, though powerful, teaching of the Holy Spirit; who will, himself, impress the truth on my mind." At other times he would say, "Read one of those sublime chapters at the conclusion of the Revelations, to draw my thoughts towards heaven." He was fond of the Pilgrim's Progress, and said of it, "In my weak state, it is the only book I can listen to with ease or profit, besides the Bible." When he spoke of the providence of God, it was always with evident satisfaction: he would say, "I am quite helpless, unable to do any thing for my own maintenance, or for the benefit of others; but I am so perfectly satisfied to cast all my care on the kindness and wisdom of God, that I do not desire to have a choice if I might. If my health be restored, I know he can direct my pursuits; and for the present, all is infinitely better than I could have arranged." On another occasion, he said to one of his sisters, "I should like to know Mr Beale's opinion (his medical attendant) of my disorder: if he thinks it will terminate fatally, I hope he will tell me: I am not alarmed at the thought of death." And shortly afterwards, added, "What a mercy it is that I have not now to seek the Saviour, nor go to him now for the first time: this is a season when I need the comfort and support of religion." On the evening of the same day, he enjoyed great composure of mind; and when referring to his departure, he said, "He trusted, as a family, we should all meet again: the separation would not be for long." He frequently requested to hear the 23rd Psalm read, saying, "Though I can repeat it, I like to hear it." A few days after confinement to his own room, he said to one of his sisters, "I shall never go down into the parlour again; I feel I am sinking; I can hardly describe my sensations of weakness." It was replied, that should it be so, it would be gain to him. He was asked if he felt any distress in the prospect, as to the actual pain of dying. He said, "No, my thoughts go beyond that; I endeavour to keep them fixed on the bright side—the glory that shall follow." On another occasion he was assisted to walk to the window of his apartment, and, looking out upon the garden, he said, "Ah! there is the garden I used to enjoy, it looks very winterly now, and I shall never walk there again; but I am quite satisfied." When alluding to his departure, he said, "He hoped it might be like falling asleep. Oh! to fall asleep, and wake in the likeness of Jesus!" His bodily sufferings were often very severe; especially as he drew near his end. On one occasion, when suffering extreme agony, he asked, "If it was proper to pray for an object seemingly desirable to ourselves!" The answer implied, there was no restriction; that we might call upon God in the day of trouble, asking for any mercy in submission to his will. He rejoined, "Oh! yes; in submission to the will of God, I do desire a little relief from pain; but," he added, "can you remind me of a scripture example, where this has been done; for my mind seems so weak, I cannot think?" The words of the apostle Paul were referred to: "For this thing I besought the Lord," &c. And also the words of Jesus himself: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." He seemed earnestly to adopt this language, and became more composed. The same evening he requested his father to pray with him; and being asked what he most desired, he said, "That I may have patience, and bear this affliction to the glory of God." He appeared to spend much of his time in mental aspirations after spiritual support, and the presence of Jesus. His oft-repeated request to his pious attendants was, "Oh! pray for complete acquiescence, and for the presence of Jesus." On one occasion, appearing to be greatly depressed, it was said to him, "Though flesh and heart fail, God will be your strength and portion for ever:" he replied, "Yes, he will; that is a mercy." After a pause, he said, "I am anxious to have the presence of Jesus to the last:" and added, "Does not Bunyan describe Christian as leaving his garments of mortality behind him, when he passed through the river? How delightful that will be!" At another time, when his hand had been lanced and dressed, he said, "I long to lay my poor hand in the dust; I long to be at rest." After a minute, he added, "There is a rest purchased and ready for me; and I shall be put in possession in God's own time." He was exceedingly grateful to those who attended him and administered to his necessities; telling them, he wished they might have the same support he felt, when they should be placed in circumstances similar to his. On an occasion of bodily infirmity, he very feelingly said, "The righteousness of Christ will soon cover all our shame." He continued in a state of extreme debility and suffering for many days, waiting his departure in a condition of child-like dependance on the mercy and faithfulness of his heavenly Father, reconciled to him, a guilty sinner, through the atonement of his blessed Saviour. He longed to depart, and be with Jesus; and would sometimes ask if it was wrong to pray for this blessing, hoping he might not be impatient or presumptuous.