grave; and blessed the beloved disciples at Bethany-now sits at the right hand of the Father. Isaiah saw him in vision. John saw him, and fell at his feet as dead. Paul saw him when he was caught up to the third heavens; probably Stephen saw him when he saw the heavens open, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Is he an unconcerned spectator of the vast concerns of the Church and the world? Oh no! He beholds with scorn the terrific stride of the man of sin;-knowing that his time is coming. He beholds with compassionate tenderness the sufferings and sorrows of his hated and worlddespised followers; those who, faithful to the truth, suffer for his name. He beholds with ardent longing and holy expectations in the distant future-how distant we EARNEST WORDS FROM CANADA. Ir is something very solemn to be a These times in which we live demand more than common vigilance and faithfulness. It seems as if the world had got into the vortex, the circle of unprecedented events, and were now rushing to its end. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many is waxing cold. Superstition, formality, ritualism, are pressing hard (like wedges driven by some superhuman power) into the place of vital godliness. And woe to the man who, occupying the responsible and honourable place, of a watchman on Zion's walls, blows not the trumpet with a clear and distinctive sound. Brother Medhurst, the sword is coming! Give them warning. The Lord is coming! Blessed' is that servant whom he shall find giving his children their meat in due season, and waiting, with well-trimmed WILLIAM. lamp and girded loins, to bid him wel come! 66 Woe to the hypocrites in Zion; and deepest, darkest woe to those professional hypocrites who sing peace, peace," from the pulpit to unconverted men; who substitute sentimentalism, poetry, and the exquisite flimsiness of human politeness, for the unchangeable, unvarnished verities of God's word. isters' duty is plainly to teach ALL that Christ has said, and to teach that as plainly as he did. There are some few favourite, popular doctrines in our day, which men are pleased to distinguish and dignify as the essentials of religion. Min Now, is not this terrible presumption for a worm of the dust to pass judgment, in the capacity of umpire, on the relative value and importance of the things of God? The invitations of the gospel are no more essential than the proclamation of the lofty, superhuman, spirituality of the law, (Matt v. vi. vii.,) or the plain declaration of the Father's gracious ELECTION, and the inseparable ONENESS of believers with and in the Son, and the perseverance of saints, &c. These are profound mysteries, many object. And where is there a greater mystery than "God manifest in the flesh," or the doctrine so solemnly reiterated to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again?" The gospel is a making known (not an explaining) the mystery which had been kept secret for ages and generations previous. Multitudes of professed ministers, in our degenerate day, seem to have forgotten that this world of sinners is one vast lazarhouse-the Great King's infirmary, in which something else something more effective must be used than sweetened cordials and soothing lullabies. The Great King is himself the great physician. He has compounded the medicines; he has prescribed the treatment. Ministers are the mere counter-boys, whose business it is to act up to his orders, and vend his medicines. But modern ministers and people appear to have clean forgotten that the cross of Christ must of necessity prove an offence to human nature -that Christ crucified must be to the Jew a stumbling block, and to the Greek, foolishness. When your people come to church, they must expect to have their carnality disgusted and provoked. When you go into the pulpit, you should often go with a heavy burden which your carnality feels it irksome to carry, and which your natural selfishness knows it dangerous to deliver. Oh, my brother, be very jealous of your preaching if the people are in the habit of listening to you as to one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. Carnality must be offended and humbled-the sentimentality of religious taste must be offended-or what you preach cannot be the word of the Lord. J. DONOVAN. Smith's Falls, Ontario. Jottings from my I.-REGULARLY Note Book. ATTEND GOD'S HOUSE. I HAVE been much impressed with a statement made by one of the speakers at the "Conference of Open Air Preachers," held in London lately, to the effect that an over-zealous street-preacher, who had neglected to attend religious worship for himself, now blasphemes the Lord he once preached. And yet this sad fact ought not to surprise us. He who starves his own soul sins against God and himself, and the direst consequences must follow. We must continually receive, if we would communicate. We can only preach successfully to others as we ourselves abide in the one True Vine. Through diligent private prayer, daily scriptural study, personal communion with Jesus, and obedient fidelity in our lives and examples, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, we may hope to attain to success in the Lord's work, but in none other way. God accepts not of the performance of a duty stained with the blood of one neglected. Neglect of attendance at the house of God and on the ordinances appointed by God, can never be atoned for by other efforts, though they be performed with the utmost zeal. Our first duty is to assemble ourselves together in the house of the Lord on the Lord's-day, to worship him in his own appointed way. See the following passages of Scripure :-Ezek. xlvi. 3; Acts xvi. 13; Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 1-2; Heb. x. 23-25; Acts ii. 42. Neglect of the public assembly of God's people on "the first day of the week," is a symptom of begun apostacy. II.-HIGH THINGS WHEN severe gales of wind pass over our city I have observed chimney pots blown down, and that the highest things feel most the fury of the storm. So also is it with the proud when the wind of trouble blows strongly they find no refuge or shelter. The humble rejoice and are glad even in seasons of adversity; for they know that all things are working together for the best, being arranged by infinite goodness and unerring wisdom. Lord, let MUST COME DOWN. me never be high and lifted up by pride; but let me be ever clothed with humility, that I may lay low at thy feet, and gladly submit to thy will at all times. In John iii. 8, the Holy Spirit is compared to wind in his operations: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." As the wind levels all high things that are not very strong to resist its force, so the Holy Spirit sweeps away our pride and self-confidence. I saw, some time since, a chimney stalk that had been torn by the wind from the side of the house against which it was built lashed up by means of ropes; but soon afterwards, I saw that, because it was still unsafe, workmen were employed pulling it down, brick by brick, to the bottom, and then building it up anew. This is how the Spirit of God works with us in conversion. He takes from us all support and confidence. He shows us that the ropes of morality, reformation, and profession of religion, will not save us. He pulls us all to pieces, and re-creates us, so that we become new creatures in Christ Jesus, created unto-not for-but unto good works, which by God's fore-ordination we are enabled to perform. Holy Spirit, let me be wholly a new creature; let me not trust to anything pertaining to the flesh. T. W. MEDHURST. Glasgow, Spiritual Correspondence. LETTER L.-FROM MR. JOHN STEVENS, JUN. MY DEAR SISTERS IN CHRIST, Your repeated kindness to me and mine makes me almost ashamed of the load of obligation under which I am laid. Permit me and my dear companion to embrace this opportunity of expressing our cordial thanks; and be assured that the sound and signification of friendship will always suggest the names of our sisters. I had thought of honouring my wife with this little office; but she is compelled to decline, on account of a "great wash," which with you ladies is a very serious matter. Men can wear and soil, but they seldom like the sight of washing: this is an inconsistency that is as obvious as it is common. There once was a washing-day when blood was used instead of soap and water, because the latter cannot-could not-cleanse the peculiar filthiness of the objects to be purified. Nature had long been trying the blood of bulls and goats and rams, but could not succeed, because consciences were the things to be purified. But on the glorious washing-day when Jesus gave his life away, the fact was loudly proclaimed in heaven and echoed from earth-"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." We are "All sin"!-how short the words, and yet how expressive. He that is once cleansed can be defiled no more. justified from all things by his righteousness and blood, from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses. There is nothing, perhaps, in this lower world but what is intended, in some way or other, to illustrate the things of the higher. The Lord the Spirit brings light through various media to our under standing; and even a washing-day needs not be a barren day. And even if it is a wish-wash (as it often proves, through the raininess of the weather or the other hindrances that arise), yet the Christian looks through clouds and anxieties to Calvary's washing-day, and rejoices to see the fountain that purified the dying thief. Is God pure?-Am I? If impure, how to be washed? God will never admit defilement into his presence. How precious, then, the blood of Christ! showing the odiousness of iniquity, the justice of the Lawgiver, the freeness of pardon, the fulness of merit, the pleasantness of atonement or reconciliation, the way to glory, and the purity of the region where Jehovah Jesus dwells. Thus let Christian females think upon the magnitude of Calvary's washing-day whilst toiling anxiously in the discharge of their domestic duties to purify outward impurities; they will then find profit in their labours, and glorify Christ, by viewing the superiority of his robe of righteousness as a garment indestructible and undefilable, and his precious blood as a fountain that purges the souls of the elect once and for ever. Washerwomen defile the water they use; but while Jesus took all iniquity away by shedding his blood, his blood was undefiled thereby, and his person holy and harmless as ever. What wisdom -what love-what power-what security -what bliss depended on this wondrous washing-day! We hope we know something of it; but how much more shall we value it by-and-by, when we commemorate it in the song of the blessed above, singing, "To him that has loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. . . to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." May the dear Redeemer daily guide and guard you both, and present you pure in his purity and perfect in his perfection before the throne at last, and I and mine be with you there to celebrate his worth. BRIEF This is the petition of your brother in the My wife unites in thankful love to you both, and prays that we may pray for each other till we praise with each other. Farewell.-My dear father is the bearer of this: he leaves for London on Thursday-our loss your gain. Willingham, Cambs., Oct. 13, 1830. Biographical Sketch. MEMORIAL OF WALTER COOPER. Departed this life on Thursday, the 9th of July, aged 35 years, Walter Cooper, of Oxford, second son of John Cooper, of Wattisham. A lingering consumption extending over a period of nearly two years, terminated in a calm and peaceful dismission from the body, and in a sweetly realized hope of a joyous immortality. He was baptized by his father in 1854, aud united with the church at Wattisham. Recently he was dismissed to join an Infant Baptist Church, at Oxford, in the origin and progress of which he had taken a lively interest. But in consequence of his increasing weakness, during the last few months, his opportunities for personal fellowship with the little church were very limited, and at length, some time before he died, they entirely ceased. He continued, however, to evince an undiminished zeal for the promotion of the rising cause, and a sincere affection for the people with whom he had united; which was sincerely reciprocated by his brethren, who, while he was dying-in the last hour of his existence-held a special prayer-meeting to commend him to the Lord; when just at the close of the meeting he slept the sleep of death. Generally, throughout his affliction, he was calm and composed in the prospect of his approaching change. To his father, in a letter not many weeks since, alluding to his increasing weakness, he said, "I feel that I am going down to the grave, but I do not fear it, for it is all on my way home." An occasional interruption to this happy state of mind was permitted to be felt. One morning his father entered his room and found he had been weeping; inquiring why he wept, he replied "Oh! I awoke, early this morning suddenly, and perhaps my hope was all a delusion. What, if after all I should be deceiving myself! This greatly distressed me." The temptation lasted but a short time, and soon again he was enabled to express his hope in the love and blood of the Lord Jesus. This peaceful state of mind continued to the last. On Sabbath evening, the 5th inst., he desired those members of his family who were present to sing with him one of his favourite hymns, and as well as he was able he joined them in that sweet song,- "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness At length he could speak only in the faintest whispers, in which he occasionally uttered words which will be treasured by those who heard them. To his darling little girl he said, "My beauty! Pa is going to heaven to see little brother!" (a child whom he had last year buried). A short time before he expired he faintly said, "Sweet home, I am going to my home." His last utterance was, "Going!" and in a few minutes he was gone-we trust, as a sinner saved by grace, to be for ever with the Lord. 66 Home Intelligence. ORDINATION OF MR. RICHARD BAX, AT ST. NEOTS.' AFTER an honourable ministry of the most unusual length of fifty-eight years in one Church, our esteemed and beloved Brother Mr. George Murrell has retired from the pastorate at St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. At the good old age of eighty-four years his physical powers are quite too enfeebled for the holy services in which his own soul and the souls of so many of the people of God have long delighted. The St. Neots Chronicle bears this testimony to the respect he has won from his fellowtownsmen. "The one great characteristic of Mr. Murrell has been his thorough plain and unvarnished method of inculcating Divine truths, unalloyed with any egotistical or Pharisaical views. His doctrines were always preached with the utmost simplicity, and it is mainly attributable to this fact that he is beloved so much by the poorer members of his flock. He made no petty or invidious distinctions, "But in his duty prompt at every call, He watched and wept, he felt and prayed for all." As a private individual Mr. M. never allied himself to any party faction, and he now enjoys the esteem of his neighbours, no matter of what sect or class.' Tuesday, June 30th, was the day set apart for the public ordination of Mr. Richard Bax, late of Carlton Beds. and Meopham, Kent, as Mr. Murrell's successor in the pastorate. There was, as might be expected, a large gathering of friends from many parts to testify their interest in this wellknown church. The proceedings were commenced by an animating hymn, after which Brother Bland, of Beccles, read the Scriptures and implored the blessing of God on the solemnities of the day. Brother Foreman (now also "such an one as John the Aged," but still strong in mind and body) after an affectionate tribute to his venerable brother, proceeded to give a clear and forcible exposition of the constitution and order of a New Testament Church. Mr. Topham, a much respected deacon of the church, then read the following statement: This Baptized Church of Jesus Christ was formed in the year 1800, and then consisted of thirteen persons, united together in solemn covenant to maintain the doctrines of sovereign and distinguishing grace, and the primitive order of government in the Church of Christ. Mr. John Stevens, the eminently-gifted and gracious, and now glorified servant of the Lord Jesus, was the first pastor, who, after labouring among them for about five years with much acceptance, and the increase of the Church, resigned his pastorate, and settled at Boston, Lincolnshire. After his leaving, the Church obtained occasional supplies for about five years, but spent many of their Sabbaths in prayer, "clothed in sackcloth and ashes," with a sorrowful remembrance of Zion's happier days. In the year 1810, the Lord, in his infinite and tender mercy, sent them a second pastor, their highly esteemed and long honoured but now retiring pastor, Mr. Geo. Murrell. In consequence of the advanced age and increased infirmities of Mr. Murrell, on February 19th, 1865, Mr. J. S. Wyard was chosen co-pastor with Mr. Murrell, but he, having confessed to a change in his doctrinal sentiments, by his own act terminated his connection with the Church on the second Lord's-day in the month of July, 1866. But as a faithful, impartial, and unvarnished record of the whole matter is before the throne of the Holy and Righteous God, "who will one day judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ,' it is unnecessary any further to allude to that event here. It now became necessary for us to obtain supplies for the pulpit, with the view of obtaining a permanent under-shepherd for the flock; and we take this opportunity of publicly recording our grateful sense of the Lord's abounding mercy towards us during that period, and of returning thanks to all those ministers who so willingly and lovingly served us. Various were the ministers we heard during that interval, and as their ministerial gifts were so varied, it became an exceedingly anxious matter with the Church to be guided by Him who is "wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." On Lord's-day, August 25th, 1867, Mr. Richard Bax occupied the pulpit for the first time, discoursing from the words "The love of the Spirit," and being heard with much ac |