seeking for a minister, we have been encouraged that we should not wait in vain; but, at present, the vision tarries; outward appearances are gloomy, and faith sharply tried. Do plead for us. Truly, to hear a clear sound, and the true preaching of Christ, would do good like a medicine; though I must confess this is a cold region for any warm-hearted minister to come to, and a place where liberty is little known. But the blessed Sun of Righteousness can both warm and set us free. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Through rich mercy we are in tolerable health, and, though surrounded by distress, have not lacked anything needful, and, having Christ, we never shall, for he is the needful; and, if all outward resources dry up, we have, in him, eternal richness and fulness which can never fail. He is our inheritance, as well as we his; and as we are favoured to live upon him, we shall not see when heat cometh, nor be careful in the year of drought, nor cease from yielding fruit, though all around be barrenness and desolation. Trust your Zion still flourishes, and that the blessing of the Lord still rests there. May you be satisfied with favour, full with the blessing of the Lord, and possess the west and the south. Think I am like Caleb's daughter-the Lord has given me à south land, and I am asking for springs of water. Will you entreat it for me, that there may be a continual bubbling up into Christ, who is everlasting life. May our precious Immanuel breathe his fragrance into your soul, ravish you with his beauty, and give you a rich banquet under the banner of love. Adieu.

Nottingham.

MY DEAR SIR,

Yours, affectionately, in Jesus,

To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

RUTH.

To venture another letter, when you politely tell me, in the wrapper of last month's Magazine, my last "has not been read," may appear rather rash: but I cannot refrain from letting you know, the observations you made on a letter of mine, telling you of the effects of a ministry lately opened here, have been realized literally, and in a quicker space of time than I could have believed; so that the congregation is already changed, and the minds of many still remaining 66 not knowing what to do," far from comfortable; for God is a jealous God, and he will not prosper those who, from secondary causes, give others, in a measure, the honour due unto him. How can "the peace of God which passeth all understanding" dwell in the minds of those who, having once enjoyed it and tasted that he is gracious, yet, by choice and not of necessity, use their influence, by persuasion and personal attendance, to fill a church the ministry of which, when constrained to speak the truth, they confess is not only unprofitable, but dishonourable to Christ, our glorious Head? God grant the latter part of your observations may yet be realized, and that the shaking and sifting now going on amongst the members of that church, may be overruled for good; that the dear minister may see the real cause of the dividing of the people; may be led to see, by the Spirit's teaching, the covenant of the Triune Jehovah, and, instead of being an instrument of scattering Christ's flock, may be the means of "winning souls to Jesus;" instead of scaring them away by awful denunciations of the wrath to come, &c. To the glory and praise of a God hearing and answering prayer, a branch of our family were determined to attend this ministry from the advice of others, and preconceived views of it, for whom my heart grieved; as they had no spiritual discernment, I dreaded their resting in a mere outward reformation, taught of man and not of God; shall I say it? the Lord has dealt mercifully with me, and done exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask or think; and, by a striking providence, over which they had no control, from which they received no bodily hurt, yet were their nerves so shaken, against their will they determined, for fear of a repetition of the accident, to withdraw from the church, which when they made known to me, I could only exclaim, in the language of one of old, "This is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in my eyes;" and to him be all the praise. He can indeed

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make a way of escape, when all doors seem to us bolted and barred. leading article, dear sir, of the August Number, embracing, as it does, so many ways of temptation, has given me much comfort, as well as that sweet meditation from Psalm lxxxviii. 5; and for one, I trust "Josiah," as God inclines his heart, may be among your constant correspondents; as, dear sir, allow me to say, I shall be, from time to time, whether read or unread.

Yours in the Lord,

W. A. M.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS.

The Saints' Melody; a New Selection of upwards of Eleven Hundred Hymns, founded upon the doctrines of Distinguishing Grace, and adapted to every part of the Christian's Experience and Devotion in the Ordinances of Christ. Third Edition. By DAVID DENHAM. London published by Ward and Co., 27, Paternoster Row; and by the Author, 18, Gainsford Street, Horsleydown, Tooley Street. We were formerly accustomed to regard Rippon's selection as the best extant; our opinion now is, that none are equal to Mr. Denham's. Like the bee, he has sucked the honey from numerous flowers, and now, as the fruit of his labours, furnishes us, at a very moderate price, with a hive (if we may so term it) which, under the ministration of the Holy Ghost, is continually sending forth the richest repast to the Lord's poor and weary ones. Ofttimes when cast down, with apparently no life in our souls, and no inclination to read the word of God, a sight of the "Saints' Melody" has proved an invitation to read; and being enabled, in consequence of its very excellent arrangement, readily to turn to hymns most congenial to one's present state of mind, we can truly say, in honour to God, and without any desire to boast of what only serves to make us greater debtors to free-grace, that seldom have we read without being refreshed.

We rejoice to hear that the "Saints' Melody" has already been introduced to upwards of twenty churches; our desire is that the number may "multiply and still increase ;" and that the Holy Ghost may so graciously outpour his blessing that, in their public assemblies with this book in their hands, and his warm, benign influence in their souls, they may sweetly "sing and make melody in their hearts unto the Lord." Ay, and we hope that the poor old men and women on the back seats and in the aisles, will chime in too, notwithstanding their faltering voices. We love to see the dear old creatures uniting in the song of praise; and though, through age and infirmity, their voices may have lost their natural harmony, yet to us their broken notes sound additionally sweet when we contemplate their near approach to home. Well indeed may they sing, and cause indeed have we to bear with the little discordancy of sound; for it will soon die away in the silence of the grave, and they will be far outstripping the younger ones in melody then.-Lord, hasten the happy period when thy whole church, gathered out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, shall sing around the throne in glory everlasting!

The Songs of Summer and Wailings of Winter; or, a Brief Account of the Lord's Goodness in preserving in, and bringing through, Affliction. Parts I. and II. By SEPTIMUS SEARS, Woodhurst, Huntingdonshire. London: Groombridge.

In these letters are clearly to be traced the footsteps of the flock. The Lord coming forth in sweet manifestative power and glory in the comforting of his servant prior to visiting him with a severe bodily affliction, and leaving him to combat with Satan, sin, and unbelief. With these, it appears the author had to be made familiar after the Lord's manifestations in the earlier stages of his spiritual career. Dear Hart says,

"Their pardon some receive at first,

But after, called to fight,

They find their latter stages worst,
And travel much by night;"

and this we conceive to have been the case with Septimus Sears.

Alfred; or, Memorials of a Beloved Child. London: Houlston and Stoneman. Pp. 31.

A SKETCH of a little boy who died at ten years of age, leaving many a pleasing testimony of the adopting grace of Him who said, "I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me."

"ENDEAVOURING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE." "JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER. WHOM TO KNOW IS LIFE ETERNAL."

VOL. II.]

OCTOBER, 1842.

[No. 22.

MATTHEW xv. 23.

NOT a word? no, not one. The Lord appeared on this occasion, as he often does with his dear children now, to give no heed, pay no attention, be utterly regardless both of them and their position. They have long time-perhaps for days, months, and even years-been importuning, ardently wrestling with him about some temporal or spiritual matters, or, it may be, both combined; still he " answers not a word." And yet, as in the case of this poor-this rich, infinitely rich woman-there was the grace of pleading bestowed, which was as much of and from the Lord, as the precious boon he was about to

communicate.

Beloved, we lose sight of this by far too much. We undervalue the grace of prayer for it is a grace; and there is a great deal more faith mixed up with this pleading, wrestling, contending, than we at first imagine. For a poor, buffetted, tempest-tossed soul to continue pleading in the face of opposition, when there is nothing apparently to encourage its importunities, pre-supposes the influence, the inward constraining operation, of a something more than human. It were less difficult to conceive of a soul waiting on the Lord while he graciously waits on it with the rich bedewings of his love and mercy; No. 22, VOL. II.-New Series.

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but it were difficult to any, but a soul instructed of the Lord, to conceive of one continuing its pleas, its sighs, its groans, its tears, when not one ray of light has been thrown across its dark way.

In the case before us, it is very blessed to run back, in the eye of the mind, to the position in which this "woman of Canaan," this dear daughter of the Lord God of Hosts, was found; we read in the twentyfirst verse, "Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold a woman of Canaan came out of the seacoast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."

The Lord had been engaged with and on her behalf previously to this, though she knew it not; so also has he interested himself in the case of every poor trembling sinner who, under a sense of his sin and guilt, is crying to him for mercy. Such a soul is safe, though not comfortable; he is eternally secure, though, in his own apprehension, upon the brink of destruction. Blessed be his name, the same almighty Spirit that opened his eyes, unstopped his deaf ears, breathed into him the breath of life, and moved him to a sense of his lost and undone condition, will never leave his work unfinished. Here is a crying, a sighing, a panting, which are so many sure evidences of life ; a life that can never, no never, cease to exist; it is a light that cannot be extinguished, a desire kindled in the soul by God after himself, and which he alone can satisfy.

This dear woman had an inward conviction of the ability of Jesus to help; mean as doubtless was her condition in the eyes of her fellowmortals, she possessed what thousands of them had never received— namely, a blessed testimony of the Godhead of the Saviour. Hear her language, "O Lord, thou Son of David ;" and since " none can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost," this was a sweet precursor of future good.

However dark the condition of a man's mind as to his own inward spiritual evidences; however doubtful his way in his own or in others' estimation; whatever doubts may seem to suggest themselves from certain points in his character, as to the vitality of his religion, we must be bold to confess that we entertain considerable hope, and are very cautious in giving an unfavourable opinion, of that man who seems to hold in unfeigned esteem the character, dignity, and power of the Lord Jesus Christ; who regards him, with the Father and the Spirit, as the coequal and coeternal God. This is so contrary to nature, so opposite to the reception of a fleshly mind, that while a poor soul has been preserved from the scorner's seat, and held with a degree of reverence and esteem those on whom he sees the image of the Saviour, we cannot but hope well of that man, whether he be among those that have been left to backslide, or those who have never given any other evidence of the secret operations of the Holy Ghost. We have, during our short life, seen and heard so much of the language of men derogatory to the person and name of the dear Immanuel, that while on the one hand we tremble for them, on the other we cannot but cherish hope on behalf of those who have been mercifully kept from this awful