deemer; the everlasting-unchanging-and sovereign love of the Father, and ministry of the Holy Ghost as experiencedin the soul. "I have endeavoured to set forth the true character of Jehovah Jesus, in some of the many titles he has in the sacred volume." Very well; the object is: "TO SET FORTH THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH JESUS." And this is done. But how is it done? Certainly not with that depth and spiritual power with which others now in glory have written on the sublime matters before us. But, let us remember, that, as in the education and training of children, books containing " Easy Lessons" are essentially necessary; even so, so long as there are grace, and therefore nothing doth hinder-and the matchless loveliness of the Reour going down into the water together.' They went down, and he immersed him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. My heart became too full, and I could hardly refrain from sobbing aloud. But I inwardly said, 'These truly are christians, they believe in, love, and obey the Great God our Saviour-they shall be my people. We are one through the blood of the cross. The blood of Christ I saw and felt, as I never did before, and so full was I of holy joy in the Lord, and so enlarged were my affections and fortitude, that, could it have been, I would gladly have been baptized too. I attended the Baptist chapel that day for the first time, and the more I heard, the more I admired. Then did the force and meaning of those passages which had so much troubled me, appear as a merciful deliverance from the bondage of self and all other intruders, and from popish, episcopal, and other carnal injunctions. I was saved as the Lord's free-man. I was now in principle a Baptist, and the progress of time and things have increased my conviction, as such ever since. The preaching of the 'glorious gospel, of the blessed God' was so blessed to me, that I became knitted in heart and in judgment, with that sect which is every where spoken against; and in a few months the church received my testimony respecting my change, faith, and hope, and deemed me qualified to become a member of the church of the living God; and so I was baptized and added to the church under the pastoral care of Mr. Truman. Thus have I given you a short account of how, and where, I learnt my heresy, as you term it. With humble confidence however, I use the language of the Apostle, in Acts xxiv. 14:-'I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets: and have hope toward God." " Chel "The Poor Christian's Companion: or, Christ, "This little work is designed in a simple way, to unfold the work-the hidden glories BABES IN GRACE;" and LITTLE CHIL DREN" in the gospel kingdom, so long will works of this kind be both acceptable and useful; and we trust that our brother may be encouraged in these his labours of love. His mind has evidently been very closely applied to the subject: his views are scriptural; some of his definitions of the names of Christ are interesting; and all are written with such simplicity as to be generally understood. While, on the one hand, many aged, useful, and faithful men of God are being called home; and on the other hand, much ignorance, foolishness, and prejudice abounds even among some called ministers of truth, we must esteem it a mercy to find that the Lord is here and there raising up men whose lives appear in good earnest to be devoted to their work; and whose minds are so formed and furnished as to qualify them not only for preaching the gospel, but also for perpetuating its glorious mysteries in the compilation of works that may live, and speak, and be useful for ages after they are laid in the silent tomb. Our author having been but very few years in the ministry, we consider that the compilation of this work bespeaks an industrious mind, that is zealously stirred up to do something for the exaltation of that Lord and master whom he loves and serves. And our fervent prayer for our brother is, that he may be experimentally led into a blessed acquaintance with those glorious characters of Christ for himself; and that for many years he may be preserved in the exercise of a fruitful and useful ministration of the word of life. "The Dying Pillow Made Easy for a Death-Bed. A Posthumous work of Robert Hawker, D.D., Vicar of Charles, Plymouth. Now first published, with Recommendatory Preface, by the Rev. Richard Shutte, M.A., Rector of the United Parishes of St. Augustine and St. Faith, London." London: Published for the Proprietors by H. G. Collins, 22, l'aternoster-Row.. This very precious little volume which Dr. Hawker bequeathed to the church of Christ, just as he entered the valley of the shadow of death, contains what we may call a full-length portrait of his spiritual mind, as it looked for the last time back upon this sin-deformed world; and, then, with burning desires pene. next, we are resolved (the Lord helping) to make trated the glories of the heavenly kingdom. In our some extracts from it. The Unity of the Spirit among the Saints. TO GEORGE KECK, MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. BELOVED in the Lord, grace and peace be with thee. I believe it is now just about twenty nine years ago that you first heard me preach, as you say, from the book of Jeremiah; and we soon after that became acquainted with each other, and we have been on terms of intimacy ever since, gospel intimacy, and in this very thing has the sweetness of our intimacy consisted; and never once in all that lapse of time has there been a cross or a jarring word between us; and yet you have all along been privy to my domestic and religious movements, and I with yours. At the commencement of our acquaintance I felt persuaded, and so I do now, that we were heirs together of the grace of life, and chosen in Christ before the world began and I am of opinion that a kindred spirit among the children of the kingdom of Christ is a sure token of spiritual heirship, though the affinity may never in this life be developed so clearly in some instances as it is in others, owing perhaps to circumstances which we have no sort of control over; but in such cases as where a full disclosure of it is made, the relationship is generally very strong, warm, and lasting. We read of the unity of the Spirit, and of christians striving to keep it in the bond of peace, for it is good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity, Eph. iv. 3; Psalm cxxxiii. 1. In this happy union I hope we shall ever abide, for it is my belief, I say, that we are heirs together of the grace of life; and I also believe that we are together in our views of all the great and most fundamental doctrines of the everlasting gospel of the Son of God. It likewise is my belief, that both of us have received a knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins, and that the result has been peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. It likewise is my belief, that as we are together by eternal election, and by effectual calling, so persevering strength will be given to us that we may endure to the end, and be saved in Christ with an everlasting salvation. All these things I believe, and verily believe; and hence, in my view, you and I are one in Christ-one in the coveVOL. IV.-PART. XLIII—Aug. 1848. | nant,-one in the gospel, and one in all good things. And in this way it is that your interest is my interest, and your God is my God; and in this God may we rejoice and be glad, for great is our reward in heaven. And as this is that God who remembered us in our low estate, and whose mercy endureth for ever, we surely may venture to speak good of his name, and spread his honors abroad, and talk of his power, and abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness, and praise him in the congregation of saints, and walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. All this, I say, we may venture to do; and especially since he hath done that for us which he doth but for a very few; and no goodness, worth, or worthiness on our part could have induced him to do it for us, and yet he hath done it; and we will now say, Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks; for that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare,' Psalm lxxv. 1. But it is not only true that your interest is my interest; but the spiritual interest of all the saints of God is one interest, for strictly speaking the saints themselves are one, and but one,-a unit; and we read of the unity of the Spirit among the saints, and this spirit of union certainly runs all through the household of faith, and the union of all the saints of the Lord is one of the sweet doctrines of the gospel. And of course the union of Christ the head, and the church the body, is another soul-comforting doc trine of the glorious gospel. It is affirmed by an author of long and high standing in the church of Christ, that he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit; and we all know that this union can never be dissolved; and well it is, and well it needs must be with all those who are in union with Christ the living and true vine. From this heavenly vine all the living branches receive sap and nourishment in order that they may grow and thrive in the courts of our God. Without union to this blessed vine we cannot look green, and flourishing, and bear the right kind of fruit. We know very well that there are such things in the world as mock oranges, peaches, X apples, and pears. We also know there | hath said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord are in the world such things as mock of heaven and earth, because thou hast preachers in pulpits, and mock christians hid these things from the wise and pruin pews. But all these are poor things, dent, and hast revealed them unto babes. and for the want of being in union with Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Christ, they with him can have no com- thy sight, Matt. xi. 25, 26. munion; for the latter is a fruit that grows out of the former. And indeed, all gospel fruit is from Christ the tree of life and so likewise, all our springs of peace, pleasure, joy, and comfort, are from the same happy source. And hence our union to Christ is a subject of great interest as well as being mysterious; and yet is it not a whit more mysterious than true, for the church was chosen in Christ the head before the foundation of the world, and our life is said to be hid with Christ in God; and Christ himself says that he is in his people. Christ and the gospel have always been under the reproach and scorn of infidel men; and thousands of people who would disdain to be identified with avowed infidels, are all in the dark about spiritual matters, and in heart equally as hostile to the true spirit of the gospel as avowed infidels are to the simple letter of it. Here the children of the bridegroom stand alone and are not reckoned among the nations, for Christ is the physician of their souls, and the gospel is to them as the balm in Gilead. I conceive, that in the coming of the gospel to the soul in the power and sweetness of it, the new man of grace is properly formed there, and that this thing formed is that which inwardly distinguishes the real christian from him who has only received the bare letter of it in the head, or theory; and St. Paul speaks of the formation of this divine nature in the soul, or the new man of grace, as a mystery, it being Christ in us the hope of glory. All religion short of this new creature formed in the soul is spurious and will end like an untimely birth. Here, then, is the union, and here too is the mystery, which mystery, Paul says is, Christ in you the hope of glory. In this precious and most glorious truth, we have a firm confidence; and when we are under its power and great glory, we can but rejoice with exceeding great joy. Although divine truth is wrapped in the deepest mystery, it thereby loses none of its validity and fragrance; and he that holds it in dis-esteem on the account of the mystery it is wrapped up in, betrays both his ignorance and prejudice. In the holy scriptures Christ is I wish the inner man formed in our held forth as a stone which the eternal souls may daily thrive and grow, and beFather hath laid in Zion for the poor and come quite renowned in the city of our needy to build their hopes of future hap- God. But indeed, owing to the deep piness on; and while this mystical stone depravity of our old nature, we may exhas proved a sure foundation for all poor pect that the new man of grace will meet needy sinners, it has at the same time with many sad checks, and violent enproved to be a stumbling stone, and a counters, and very alarming draw backs rock of offence to those who have sported while on the road to Jerusalem above. with divine things and stumbled at the You know, my brother, that thus far word, being disobedient, whereunto they through the divine life we have had much were appointed. And, indeed, it is said, to try us, much to contend with of a painand who shall gainsay it to his advan- ful nature. Heavy weights, deep distage? that many shall stumble, and fall, tresses, gloomy clouds, and violent asand be broken, and be snared, and be saults from satan; and these things are taken and yet the testimony, [the gos- calculated to bow the spirits of a believer, pel] with all its secrets and dark sayings, and so we have often found it to be; but is bound up among the true disciples of God hath been gracious to us, and he the Lord, Isa. viii. 15, 16, and they shall hath done great things for our souls, and understand the secret, for we are told hath promised never to leave nor forsake that the secret of the Lord is with them us. A few struggles more, and a few that fear him: yes, to them it is given to more sighs, groans, pains, and sorrows; know the mystery of the kingdom of and depraved nature, and the world, and God; but to them that are without it is satan, and sin will have done their worst not given: but why such a marked dis-with us, for I am getting old apace, and tinction should be made is quite unne- you are older still. cessary for me to say, since Christ himself I am now in the town of Rockingham, and at the residence of John C. Knight, | which he complied with. In the following Esq, and close by the noted Pee-Dee December, he was invited to reside at Hadriver. I wish you to acquaint my family of my intention, God willing, of being at home in the course of a few weeks, from now. I hope you and family are well. God bless you all, and my family too. Adieu. JAMES OSBOurn, low, in order to preach the word constantly, which he accepted; the Lord having blessed the word, to the conversion of some souls. formed into a regular church, and sometime In September, 1824, fourteen persons were after, more were added. In time some withdrew, and some were removed in the order of God's providence. (Of the fourteen that Ordination of Mr. John Bunyan M'Cure, were formed into a church, there are only at Hadlow, Kent. THE Public Recognition of Mr. John Bunyan M'Cure, as pastor of the Baptist Church, meeting at Hadlow, near Tunbridge, Kent, (late under the pastoral care of Mr. Crowhurst) took place on Monday, July 10, 1848. On the bills of the occasion, Mr. Robinson, of Boro' Green, was announced to take part in the Services of the morning; but in consequence of the very sudden decease of Mrs. Robinson, he was prevented. The morning Service was commenced by Mr. Powell, of Brenchley, giving out the 407th Hymn, Rippon's Selection : "Father of mercies in thy house," &c. the which being sung, Mr. Pope, of Meopham, read 1 Cor. iii., and prayed.' Another hymn was sung, and Mr. Pope rose to state the nature of a Gospel Church. He read as a foundation for his address.-1 Tim. iii. 15. 66 Which is the Church of the living God." Mr. Pope delivered an able discourse suitable to the occasion, after which, part of that well known hymn of Newton's was sung, "Glorious things of thee are spoken," &c. when Mr. Pope again rose to ask the usual questions. He first asked one of the church to give some account of the leading features which led to the call of Mr. M'Cure to become their pastor, when Mr. Crittle, one of the deacons, read the following statement: "Christian Friends, according to the preordination of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, it is rather more than twenty-five years since the gospel was introduced into Hadlow. In March, 1823, Mr. Harrison hired a house and fitted it up for preaching in connexion with the Particular Baptist denomination. It was opened for public worship, on the 22nd of April, 1823, by Mr. Shirley, of Seven Oaks, and Mr. Gladwish of Brenchley. There was a large and attentive congregation on the occasion. For some time after, the word of God was preached by Mr. Gladwish, and Mr. Crowhurst, of Seven Oaks, on Lord's day evenings, and occasionally on week day evenings, by Mr. Gladwish and other ministersthe attendance to hear the word being pleasing. In about five or six months, Mr. Crowhurst was requested to preach on the afternoon and evening of every Lord's day, three now remaining members.) It was now confidently predicted that the cause would fall; but to the praise of our covenant God, we proved the truth of those scriptures, "The Lord doth build up Zion, and gathereth together the outcasts of Iarael." "I will work, and who shall let it?" And "The Lord continued to bless his word so that others were added to our number. We gave Mr. Crowhurst an invitation to take the pastoral office over us, which he then declined. We remained worshipping in the house until 1830, when we had notice to quit. Here was a new trial for us, we being poor; it appeared we should not be able to get a place to worship in; but here again we experienced the wonder-working hand of our covenant God, in raising up friends to assist us in purchasing a piece of ground, and to erect the chapel thereon, in which we now worship. The ground, conveyance, building the chapel, and fitting up, and building a wall round the chapel yard, since which we have built a gallery; the cost altogether was nearly £400. We had previously raised £50 by penny a week subscriptions ourselves, and other friends subscribed something considerable more; the rest of the money we borrowed at 5 per cent. interest. The chapel was invested in trust for the use of Strict Communion Baptists maintaining the doctrines of free and sovereign grace. "Our chapel was opened on the 28th of October 1830. Mr. Shirley; of Seven Oaks, Mr. Rogers, of Eynsford, and Mr. Bolton, of Boro' Green, preached on the occasion. Soon after the opening of the new place, having made it a matter of solemn prayer, we again invited Mr. Crowhurst to take the pastoral office over us, which he accepted, and was ordained on the 28th of April, 1831. He continued preaching the word of life faithfully, the Lord giving him souls for his hire, and seals to his ministry, until May, 1846, when the Lord saw fit in his unerring wisdom to lay him by, by his afflicting hand. His soul longed to be at home with his beloved Lord. And on March the 24th, 1824, he sweetly fell asleep in Jesus. "During the affliction of our beloved pastor, we were obliged to get supplies; and we have cause to be thankful the Lord sent us men that were not ashamed to preach Christ the Alpha and Omega in a sinner's 174 ORDINATION OF MR. J. B. M'CURE, AT HADLOW, IN KENT. salvation. Mr. Harrison requested us to Mr. Pope then asked Mr. M'Cure to give have Mr. John Bunyan M'Cure, one Lord's day, kindly engaging to pay all the expences of his coming. To this we gladly assented, many of us having previously heard him preach twice at Dunk's Green, when he was residing at Birmingham. And we found it a truly refreshing season to our souls, and found our hearts greatly knit to him, often wishing to hear him again. Soon after this, the Lord in his providence removed him to London. He was residing there when he came to preach to us on the occasion referred to; and we experienced an especial blessing attend the word, for it came to us not in word only but in power; our souls were greatly revived; we felt now an increased love to our dear brother, and through the kindness of Mr. Harrison, we engaged him two Lord's days in the month. He continued preaching to us for some months. some account of the Lord's goodness to him, in calling him out of nature's darkness. The substance of Mr. M'Cure's answer will be found in the following: "When I was fourteen years of age, I left my father's house and home, and came to a situation in London. I here formed acquaintance with other youths like myself, who very easily drew me away into that which was wrong-more especially in going about with them on the Sabbath-day. I had at this time some slight convictions, but they soon wore off. I also had very great desires to become a public performer on the stage; and for this purpose devoted all my spare time and money in getting books, and practising. In all this my companions fed my pride, and told me I should at some time be a very bright actor on the stage. I well remember one Lord's day, I stood with a drawn sword in my hand, I put it to my breast, and fell on the floor pretending to be dead, when a heavy clap of thunder and lightning rent the air. This had a dreadful effect on my mind; and more so when I was told of its having struck two houses in an adjacent street. I had some strong convictions; and thought what a mercy that I had been preserved; but this was only momentary. So I went on again as before, till one night, in the theatre, I felt what I had never felt before. I sat there most dreadfully uncomfortable; and a voice sounded in my ears-'Is there any satisfaction in these things?' I would not listen; but still these words kept sounding in my ears. I had them by me home, and during the whole night. The next day I began to sing my songs, &c. as usual, but I could not do it with that satisfaction as before. Still the words kept sounding in my ears, till at last I was obliged to cry out-No: there is not!' Then the words came-In what is there satisfaction "When our brother came among us, the congregation was on the decrease, and we were in a declining state: but soon after he began to preach, the congregation increased, and the Lord was evidently reviving his work among us. Our place became too straight for us, so that we had not sufficient accommodation for those that attended. We now felt a great desire that he should come and reside among us and become our pastor, and we made it a matter of solemn prayer to the Lord that he would open the way. We mentioned it to our dear brother, as our love to each other abounded more and more. He said he had thought much on the subject, but would not take a step in it, unless he saw evidently the Lord's hand in making his way clear. There appeared two insurmountable obstacles in the way: one was an engagement he had with his employer, and the other was his family. We being poor, it was impossible for us to raise sufficient to support him and his family, so that unless he could-what can give satisfaction?' It was at that get a sum of money to enable him to set up in his business to bring in part of a living, it would be impossible for him to come, for our brother was determined not to be a burden to us. Here the Lord appeared again for us; for a friend in London promised to give £10 if we would raise what we could among ourselves, this we thankfully acknowledged, and raised what we could according to our ability. Another friend in London has since sent us £5. In December, 1847, we had a church meeting, when it was unanimously agreed to invite our brother to come and reside among us, and become our pastor, the Lord's hand appearing evident in it. In February, 1848, he came to reside among us. Our brother having accepted the invitation to become our pastor, this day was set apart for the public ordination of our dear pastor; and we do earnestly pray that the union may be a lasting one." time, and never before that I felt myself a |