REVIEW. Old Things and New Things, in Scraps and Fragments, or Things New and Old, in Prose and Verse. By John Carter, Minister of the Gospel of Zion Chapels, Peterborough and Uppingham; in which is included an Account of the Lord's gracious Dealings with Mr. George Head, of Peterborough; with a short sketch of a Funeral Sermon preached on the occasion of his Death. 12mo. pp. 168. Sleaford, J. Creasy; London, E. Palmer. JOHN CARTER is certainly not one who mid the recesses of a college, has devoted years in the attainment of a style, which though it may be pure as a mountain stream, is equally also as cold and unremitting. His language, though devoid altogether of the graces which attracts, and of the imagery which charms, comes so evidently warm from the heart, and is so clearly the result of a real experimental knowledge of his subject, that we do not hesitate to say, a perusal of this unassuming volume has been to us a source of much pleasure, and, we trust, of profit also. We regret that John Carter should entertain the idea that he is a poet. With the most friendly feeling we would urge him to abandon poetry; he can better convey his counsels, his cautions, and his reproofs to the Israel of God in plain prose. The work, as the title intimates, consists of sundry short pieces in prose, to each of which are attached a few verses in poetry; there are two or three which we had marked for insertion, but we will take the following, though it be rather longer than our limits will properly afford. Our readers from this piece may estimate their opinion of the rest; and we seem rather to think, that the conclusion drawn from this piece will not be unfavourable to the rest. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." "When the Lord's judgments are abroad in the earth, his saints at least shall learn righteousness; but "let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord: while the way of the just is uprightness; thou Most Upright doth weigh the path of the just." "In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; and the desire of our souls is to the remembrance of thy name. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early;" early in the morning, early in trouble, early in affliction, early in temptation. "O Lord, thou art my God, early will I seek thee," in necessity and want; early in deprivation or famine, whether that famine be national and general, or whether it be local and confined to the neighbourhood where I reside, or whether it be personal, and I alone seem deprived of every thing, while others around me are full and abound, I know that all is right; it is in accordance with the will of my heavenly Father, or none, yea nothing could touch a hair of my head, no, nor the pig in my sty. "As for me, I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me." The words of the text are couched in strong language, uttered in strong faith, and in strong confidence, in the mercy and salvation of God. However adverse the things of this life may appear, it is the appointed lot of God's children, that" through much tribulation they must enter the kingdom of heaven;" and every blasted crop, every cross, every loss, every trial, every bereavement, says to them, "Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your rest; it is polluted." There are some of the family of God that have experienced the loss of all their earthly goods and chattels; their hopes overturned, their projects crossed, their designs all baffled, their efforts blasted, their plans and schemes all thwarted, and poverty rushing upon them like an armed man; the hand of God is upon them, the hand of man is against them; their crops are blighted, their fruit is perished, their cattle are cut off by murrain, their barns empty, their cupboards bare, their goods are distrained for rent, their house is taken from them, and they are turned into the street, or into the wide world; without an earthly friend to soothe their sorrows, to lend an ear to their complaints, or to assist them in their distress. But, O the mercy of living above creature-dependence, of living by faith in God, of receiving out of Christ's fulness, of watching the hand of a covenant God, having no store in hand, but living from hand to mouth, is the state for the exercise of faith, and trust, and dependence upon God. Ah, "trust in the Lord, and verily thou shalt be fed." My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus!" I envy not the rich worldling his gold, I envy not the saints of God their earthly store; there is a time coming when the riches of this world will not avail to the worldling, nor the good things of this world support the dying saint; when nothing short of living faith in Christ can sustain the soul. This faith, the gift of God, is of more value than thriving crops, than laden trees, than barns full, than sheep in the fold, or herd in the stall; for those that have these things, are often led or left to rejoice in them; while the tried saint exclaims, "I will joy in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." "My reader, art thou in trouble? Then to you is the word of God directed; "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Never would the Lord thy God have been half so much glorified by his saints on earth, but for trouble, and sorrow, and distress into which they are brought, that God might have the glory of their deliverance. Could I, could you, could any of the tried sons and daughters of the Lord, have known, have tasted, felt, and proved the love of God, and the fulfilment of his word, so much as we or they have done, but for the Lord's bringing us into straits and difficulties, and then manifesting his power, grace, and love, in supporting in trouble, and in due time bringing out of it to praise him, not only for the deliverance, but for the trial, the affliction itself; "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, for before I was afflicted I went astray?" Could I have written, have preached and conversed about these things, or could you and others underderstand them in experience, if we had not been thus exercised? The school of adversity and affliction is the Almighty's academy, where his ministers and people receive, not only the first rudiments, but the whole routine of their education, under the Spirit's teaching, in opening the word, illustrating it in and by example and personal experience. Yes, beloved, think it not strange, yours is no new path; it is an old and trodden path: here are to be seen the footsteps of that flock that is cut off by death and taken to glory. And ye who are not so much tried in providence, yet are tried in spirituals, take the words up spiritually, and they are applicable to the situation, feeling, and circumstances of many. No blossoming fruit tree, but all seems barren; no fruit in the vine the church; the labour of the olive fails, your pain, your toils, your prayers, your labour seems in vain; no increase in the flock, but a cutting off and falling away of the fold. Yea, no herd in the stall, no minister to go in and out before you; "where no oxen are, the crib is clean;" there is no food placed before the poor hungry soul in the ordinances of God's house. But what of this? Although you seem alone, you are not alone. Elijah was here-" Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thy altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life." But what saith the answer of God unto him ?—“ Í have reserved unto myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so, then, at this present time also, there is a remnant, according to the election of grace." ." Rejoice in the Lord, ye saints; for," the foundation standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord." Here is matter enough for joy, when all other matter ceaseth. Yes, we read when there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured the people, the Lord spake, saying, "I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace." It is a mercy to be still and know that he is God. Hence Eli, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." And Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Also David, when he was greatly distressed, for the people spake of stoning him, "but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God." Again, "I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." See how the apostles rejoiced in tribulations; "and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us." "And they departed from the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake." "For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly whilst ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods." My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." Here is the triumph of faith. The God of my salvation, and joy in him? Yes! "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God: God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early." Ye saints deprived of all your earthly goods, ye have still your God in Christ remaining, the God of salvation. Amen." While we recommend this production to the humble follower of the Lord Jesus, as one from which he will assuredly obtain some consolation and instruction during his sojourning in this wilderness, it is necessary we should inform the proud and self-sufficient professor of the same faith, it is in vain for him to peruse it; the refreshing fruit which the one may gather, will be entirely beyond his reach and his observation, An Authentic Account of the last Illness and Death of the late Rev. Robert Hall, A. M. in a Letter to the Rev. Joseph Hughes, A. M. By J. M. Chandler. London, Wightman. WE notice this well-written pamphlet only to express our gratification and delight in learning that happy, though arrayed in extreme suffering, more than usually happy was the death of the highly gifted Robert Hall. So seldom is it that we can find conjoined the character of one, who hath been almost the master spirit of the age, with the humble and sincere follower of the lowly Jesus, that when we have heard sounded in our ears the well-merited praise of Hall, we feared that the world's praise was to be his only reward, and that his Saviour's smile would be withheld. It is indeed pleasant to know that our fears were uncalled for; and to gather conviction from this pamphlet, written by one of his medical attendants, and on which we do not hesitate to place full reliance, that Robert Hall died the death of the righteous, and that he hath passed from the gloom and the turmoil of the world to dwell for ever with his Lord. Reasons for Dissent: a Farewell Sermon, delivered in Plumpton Chapel, Cumberland, upon resigning the Perpetual Curacy of that place, Aug. 1. 1779. By the Rev. Isaac Slee: with a Recommendatory Preface, by R. M. Beverly, Esq.; to which is added, a Memoir of the Author. Hull, J. Hutchinson. FOR a republication of this very valuable discourse, the public is indebted to Mr. Reynolds, who but lately removed from Wattisham, in Suffolk, to take the pastoral charge of the Baptist Church at Hull, over which Mr. Isaac Watts was formerly minister. Mr. R. has appended to the close, such a glowing and energetic vindication of the author and his sermon, and has so correctly pourtrayed, and cautioned his readers against the corruptions in the present church establishment, that we were disposed, could space have allowed it, to insert the whole here. Instead of doing so, we shall, however, refer our readers to the pamphlet, which we can confidently assure them, will be productive of much pleasure in its perusal ; and is also well calculated, in the hands of the Divine Awakener, to arouse many a careless college-made preacher from his fearful lethargy, to enquire, am I indeed moved by the Holy Ghost? and was it an earnest love for souls alone, which at first, and which still induces me to my high office? POETRY. ON THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. My days, my weeks, my months, my years, Time, like a tide, its motion keeps, The grave is near the cradle scene; "Must groan, and gasp, and die!" My soul, attend the solemn call, Eternal bliss-eternal woe, The God of nature only knows, Ere I expire in death! A. H. W. "THE MASTER IS COME, AND CALLETH FOR THEE."-John xi. 28. HARK! I hear a glad sound. Oh! 'tis music divine, And a soft gentle voice speaks a message to me; Attend, O my soul, to the whisper benign, Lay aside all thy cares, and thy earthly employ, Thy fiery temptations, thy conflicts shall cease, Soon safe from the gunshot of Satan thou❜lt be; Adieu, changing world, my soul takes her flight, CHARLOTTE. |