Page images
PDF
EPUB

rous associations which have been formed for this noble purpose.

In addition to these subjects, it may be advisable to intercede, in an especial manner, for the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ by missions; to plead for all missionary societies, all ministers, catechists, and schoolmasters, who may have been respectively sent forth; for all colleges and places of religious education and instruction; that young men may be fitted and prepared for the work of ministers and missionaries, and may be sent forth by the great Lord of the harvest, abundantly 'furnished with gifts and graces for their great work; that the divine blessing may accompany them in their labours; that the Holy Spirit may be poured out on the schools they establish and the congregations they form, and may assist them in preaching and writing, and translating the sacred Scriptures, and instructing the rising generation; that all the committees of the several societies may be furnished with wisdom to direct and with grace to be faith

ful; may wisely determine in every difficulty, and prudently administer the funds intrusted to their charge, and manifest on all occasions enlarged liberality, and tender charity, and devoted piety; that all the contributors to, and all the collectors for such purposes may be watered abundantly in their own souls, and may themselves so manifest the power of religion as to live down all opposition, and constrain an ungodly world to say, We will go with you, for God is with you of a truth.

It may encourage some of your readers, Mr. Editor, to know, that petitions of this nature are offered up every Saturday evening at many of the missionary houses and stations throughout the world, and that multitudes of Christians, in their closets and in their families, are at the same hour endeavouring to obey the command, "Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."

SENEX.

LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A YOUNGER BROTHER DURING HIS APPRENTICESHIP.

MY DEAR G.

LETTER I.

As I have but few opportunities of seeing, and fewer still of conversing with you, I could wish, in order to exercise our minds in the most profitable way, to establish a mutual correspondence upon that subject which you know is nearest my heart, both as it respects my dear relatives and myself.

What I propose will cause no encroachment on your master's time, and, I hope, will be no unpleasant employment for some of your leisure hours. I do not request long letters (though I shall never consider length as a fault), but merely a reply in each to the leading inquiries and suggestions

of mine, as my chief object is to promote your establishment in Christian faith and obedience. I am pleased with the recollection of what has formerly passed between us on these subjects, and with that earnestness which you discovered in the pursuit of divine knowledge; but I am also aware of the many disadvantages and dangers which attend your present situation, even though (blessed be God) you are in a religious family and as I have been in a similar situation myself, I am the better able to represent those dangers, and to guard you against them.

I know that where the practice of daily prayer is the mere effect of

education, and has been performed from childhood with the cold reluctance of an irksome duty, it is generally the first thing that is neglected when the restraint of a parent's eye is removed. This was the case with me; and, therefore, although I have no reason to suspect you of similar remissness, yet I hope that my solicitude to warn you against so prevalent an evil will not be thought inexpedient. Prayer is justly said to be the breath of the soul; and as the body cannot exist but by incessant breathing, so religion can only be maintained by habitual I prayer. dare not, indeed, excite you to this essential duty by telling you, that the practice of it will in the smallest degree contribute, in a way of merit, to your salvation; but would urge it from an habitual consideration of your innumerable wants, and of the infinite obligations you are under to God; for, if you have a due sense of these, prayer will be your spontaneous duty and delightful privilege.

I rejoice that you have the inestimable advantage of a Gospel ministry; and am persuaded that you now see more of the beauty, and harmony, and importance of its doctrines, promises, and precepts, than you ever could by my weak attempts to display them: but beware of resting in a mere rational acquaintance with, or admiration of them; and be solicitous above all things that they may have a gracious and permanent influence on your heart and life. A host of

combined enemies are continually opposing the early work of divine grace in the soul. "The natural man, which is corrupt," in all its desires, affections, and enjoyments

"the carnal mind,” which "is enmity against God"-the "evil heart, which is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" and the unceasing efforts of our great adversary, who "goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour," unite their malignant efforts, and seem to threaten inevitable ruin: but I trust you have God on your side, and if so, you will assuredly " be more than conqueror" through him.

I know no circumstance which so eminently tends to confound the infidel, to shame the irreligious, and rejoice the real Christian, as a youth influenced in the whole tenour of his temper, conduct, and conversation, by real religion; and when I see the utter contempt which most young men cast upon it, you will not wonder that I am alarmed for you, and that I press this subject upon every occasion.

I must here leave you rather abruptly; but I write as I should speak, and have attended to no particular connexion in my remarks: so that it is only as though I had conversed with you from LStreet to farewell.

N

and there bid you

I remain Yours ever affectionately.

GJuly 1798.

THE LATE REV. PAYLER MATTHEW PROCTER.

DIED, on Wednesday, May 8, 1822, at Gloucester, the Rev. Payler Matthew Procter, A. M. aged 52 years, Vicar of Newland, and Incumbent of Christ Church, in His Majesty's Forest of Dean, county of Gloucester. The funeral took place at Newland, on Monday the

13th of May; at which the whole of the neighbourhood, including all ranks and classes, were present. All the families residing on that side the Forest of Dean thronged the church and churchyard. The children of the Forest School, which this good man had founded, were

ranged near the grave. Never did the death of a revered Minister excite more unfeigned sorrow: all were in tears, and the loud sobs of the assembled multitude were heard on every side. Their numbers have been stated as high as two thousand. The church was full, though very large and capacious, and the churchyard was also full of mourners. The scene was awfully impressive and affecting. There is no heart so hard, no bosom so cold, that could have contemplated the solemn spectacle, where such natural affection between the flock and their shepherd was evinced (at a period too when flattery can no longer be suspected), without indulging and participating in the general sorrow. The silent but painful testimony of their tears and sighs, bears record of his unwearied attention to their heavenly interests, and his compassionate sympathy in their worldly cares. He was wept and mourned as their father, brother, and spiritual guide. The parishioners have proposed to erect a monument to his memory in Newland church, as a tribute of esteem and respect; but Christ Church, in the Forest of Dean, will remain for ages a lasting monument of the pious worth and the religious zeal of its benevolent and truly Christian founder.

Many of our readers will doubtless recollect the circumstances which led to the erection of this place of worship. When Mr. Procter was instituted to the vicarage of Newland, he found that the poor miners, colliers, &c. who inhabited the Forest of Dean, a tract of land consisting of more than twenty-two thousand acres, having no claim on the services of any clergyman, were in consequence living in a state of the most deplorable ignorance. From time im

[ocr errors]

memorial, Newland church had been resorted to for their marriages, baptisms, and burials, and in consequence Mr. P. was frequently called upon to visit their sick. Moved by compassion for their ignorance, he appropriated one evening in the week for visiting and instructing those who were willing to attend at one of the cottages in the Forest. After continuing this labour about seven years, Mr. P. was solicited to establish a school among them; and in attempting to carry this solicitation into effect, was gradually led to aim at the still more important object of erecting a permanent place of worship, regularly endowed, consecrated, and vested in suitable trustees. This by great exertions he was enabled at length to effect, for the benefit, we doubt not, of numerous generations yet unborn, and affording an encouraging example to other pious and benevolent individuals to exert themselves in similar distressing situations. Mr. Procter's own statements, with lists of several of the subscribers, may be found in our volume for 1813.

It gives us great pleasure to find that the Rev. Mr. Crossman has been elected by the trustees to succeed the deceased in his ароstolic labours in the Forest, more particularly as such was his dying request.

Servant of Christ! thy work is o'er,

And thou hast enter'd into heav'nly rest; Art landed on that long'd-for shore, And shar'st th' eternal triumphs of the blest.

O that as erst Elisha found,

When Israel's chariot bare his lord away, On us who mourn thy tomb around, A double portion of that spirit pour'd, A double portion may descend this day; From great Elijah's God-the Church's

Head and Lord.

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.
PSALM CXLVII. 2.

SHALL Zion's daughter still, in sackcloth clad,
Sit among ashes, desolate and sad?

How is thy beauty to the earth cast down,
Wither'd thy strength, and dim thy golden crown!
No more thy palaces conspicuous shine,
Nor towers pre-eminent Jehovah's shrine;
But at thy ruins scoffing Moslems hiss,
And ask, "What land accurs'd of God is this?"
Thy flocks and herds obey a stranger's call;
Thy crops beneath an alien sickle fall:
O'er thy fair fields the spoiler's hand prevails,
Slaughters thy sons, and rends thy daughters' veils ;
And, sweeping o'er thee like the fell simoom,
Scathes with the brand of hell thy heavenly bloom.
And shalt thou still be trampled to the ground,
Of man dishonour'd, and of God disown'd?—
Of God's own house a mosque usurp the place,
And dogs unclean his holy hill disgrace?
No-peace be to thee, widow'd Palestine,
And happier suns upon thy borders shine!
Already see where, gleaming from afar,

Peers o'er thy heights "the bright and morning star."
From the great river to the western sea
Sounds the loud trump, the Gospel jubilee.
Lo! by the mighty blast arous'd, like rams
The mountains skip, the little hills like lambs;
And with strange rapture quivers every sod,
Stamp'd by the footsteps of th' incarnate God.
Jordan, that stole along his sandy bed,
As one abash'd, now joyous lifts his head,
To hear on timbrels Jewish damsels frame
Melodious anthems to the Saviour's name.

Ah! surely, on thy mountains, not in vain,
Descends in fragrant showers the latter rain:
Each cleft of rocky Carmel shall disclose,
This the green myrtle, that the crimson rose;
In Jezreel's plain luxuriant harvests spring,
And with blithe bleatings Gilead's pastures ring.
Arise, put on thy beautiful attire:

Awake to pleasant strains thy mournful lyre:
For the set time to favour thee is come;
The time for God to call his banish'd home;
The time to gather up thy scatter'd stones,

And rear the house of David's downcast thrones.

He, who of old thy servile fetters broke,
Eas'd thy gall'd shoulder of th' Egyptian yoke,
(When, dry-shod, through the sea thy bands defil'd,
Wave upon wave in massy columns pil'd,)
Descends to build a new Jerusalem,

And spread, by Japheth's hands, the tents of Shem.
I see, I see another temple rise,

All earth its base, its summit spans the skies.
Within its walls no blood-stain'd altar smokes;
No priest with carnal rites high heaven invokes ;
No proud partition Jew from Greek divides;

No mystic veil the sanctuary hides;
But Jew and Gentile tread the sacred floor,

Brethren in Christ, and Christ, their present God, adore.

J. N. P.

REVIEW OF BOOKS.

The Life of the Rev. Thomas Scott, Rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks; including a Narrative drawn up by himself, and copious Extracts of his Letters. By John Scott, A. M. Vicar of North Ferriby, and Minister of St. Mary's, Hull. Seeley, 1822. Pp. xvi. and 674.

BIOGRAPHERS have often been accused of exhibiting to public view individuals utterly unworthy of such a distinction; of exalting some far above their deserts by unwarranted praise; or of diminishing the well-earned reputation of others by their incorrect or injudicious statements. From all these charges the writer of the present volume is most decidedly free. The Commentary, and the other valuable publications of the late Rev. Mr. Scott, have been so extensively circulated and so eminently useful, that he already occupies a large share of the attention of the religious world; and many are induced to inquire, with far better motives than mere curiosity, into the means by which he attained his distinguished excellence; such persons will find their desires gratified in the volume before us: a work which we are convinced no one can read without the deepest interest-which no one can seriously contemplate with out magnifying the grace of God so strikingly displayed, and which is most eminently calculated to promote personal religion and ministerial usefulness.

It was well said by no mean judge of men and things, the late Dr. Buchanan, "I admire Mr. Scott as a writer; I admire him as a preacher; but most of all I admire him in the parlour, in his own family, in his general conversation." His religion was not merely that of the pulpit or of the study, it pervaded every part of his conduct. "When the ear heard him, then it

JULY 1822.

blessed him; when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him. The blessing of those that were ready to perish came upon him; he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy."

But here we must not enlarge; these are feelings of obligation and gratitude; strong personal ties of affection which prohibit any thing like criticism in the present instance. We might, indeed, quote the sentiments of others. We have before us testimonies of the most honourable character. One says, this work is what painters call a study, a subject which can never be too incessantly contemplated; another, that it is of incalculable value; a third, that after what he had read and known of Mr. Scott, he could not have conceived so original as well as interesting a life could have been produced : and we therefore feel that any omission of what we ourselves might be disposed to say, will be amply compensated by the exertions of others.

One idea indeed has been entertained by some, to which we shall advert, and shall then close this article by a series of extracts, taken very much at random from the work itself. It has been said, that since the great change which took place in Mr. Scott's views has been for many years before the public in the Force of Truth, the present volume can contain little that is comparatively interesting. We are perfectly convinced, that this idea is only entertained by those who have never examined the volume before us. That change occupies a very small part of the present work, and is illustrated by extracts from Mr. Scott's letters, which throw important light on the subject, and by the valuable remarks of a son worthy of such a father. That narrative only noticed a few of the events of a short period, this traces the whole his

M M

« PreviousContinue »