"Abdiel, faithful found Among the faithless, faithful only he; Among innumerable false, unmov'd." But your soul will be exalted to the highest pitch of devotion as well as filled with lowly reverence, at the sight of the Son of God, who, after expressing his acquiescence to the will of His divine Father, rose "From the right hand of Glory where he sat, As the third sacred morn began to shine, And with what eagerness will you view him in pursuit of the "rebel crew," mounted upon while you "The chariot of Paternal Deity, Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn," see the rebellious hosts of heaven like "Goats or timorous flocks together throng'd," -"headlong themselves they throw Down from the verge of Heaven." Nor will you be less delighted at beholding the uncreated Son, "Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crown'd Of majesty divine." going forth to create new worlds, nor ceas'd until "Heaven in all her glory shone, and roll'd Her motions, as the great first Mover's hand First wheel'd their course." Milton's rebel Angels will shew you human nature in its worst form; for his prototypes were, it is presumed, all found among the turbulent spirits of the rough age in which the Poet lived. Young, in his poetical lucubrations, will teach you "To revere thyself-and yet thyself despise." While he mournfully complains of "The inextinguishable thirst in man To know" and to enjoy "The momentary breeze of vain renown." and endeavours to reclaim the Infidel from his delusive dreams of human greatness and happiness, by telling him that "The visible and present are for brutes," and but "A slender portion!" he also sings of God, of Creation, of Redemption, and closes his bold and sublime song with death and immortality. With him, therefore, you mount the skies, and look down upon the "Terrestrial citadel of man" with a mixture of sorrow and delight. After having shewn you the emptiness of all earthly grandeur, and the short-livedness of "earth-born joys," he leads you to the living fountain; "Redundant bliss! which fills that empty void The whole creation leaves in human hearts.". With what irresistible swiftness does he lift your soul to the throne of the Eternal, and make you long after immortality, when he says; "In ardent contemplation's rapid car, From earth as from a barrier I set out. How swift I mount!". "On nature's Alps I stand, And see a thousand firmaments beneath! A thousand systems as a thousand grains!" How much are we indebted to affliction for some of the finest sentiments, and some of the sublimest pieces of composition! The exquisite grief of the Poet pressed from him some of the most hallowed strains of his immortal Poem. In addition to the beauties and elegances of poesy, abounding in the two last mentioned authors, the pure strain of evangelical doctrine running through the whole, makes them an instructive companion for a minister of the Lord Jesus. Notwithstanding the comparative paucity of truly poetical compositions, yet, when viewed in a cluster, they form no contemptible number, emitting rays of various brightness: while some mount to heaven and soar among the stars, others spread before you as on a canvass, in animated and vivid colours, the variegated beauties of the earth, not forgetting its lordly inhabitant, man. Thom son may amuse you with and "woodlands warbling" -while you -"trace up the brooks" "Pursue their rocky channel'd maze Down to the river, in whose ample wave And from the opening blossoms of Spring, he will conduct you forwards to behold the ripening fruits of Summer and Autumn, and entertain you with a sight of "" gathering men their natural powers combin'd After soothing all your powers to sweet tranquility by his smooth flowing numbers, and fanning you to rest with the gentle breath of Autumnal zephyrs, he will awaken you to prepare for the stern blast of a dreary winter's night, when "the lowered tempest" "The mountain thunders; and its sturdy sons With him also you may sit "High on the beetling cliff," and VOL. VI. 25 Nor will Thomson neglect to inspire you with veneration for the great Author of those seasons which afforded such variety of matter for his trembling and soaring Muse. Who can read the following lines without feeling an awful sense of the majesty of the great Supreme ? "These, as they change, ALMIGHTY FATHER, these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Is full of THEE. Forth in the pleasing Spring Cowper unites the beauties of Poetry with the truths of Revelation, and while he teaches "Domestic happiness," as the only bliss he does not forget to -"Recommend, though at the risk Of popular disgust, yet boldly still, The canse of piety, and sacred truth, And virtue, and those scenes, which God ordain'd And among other interesting subjects upon which he sung, even the preacher of righteousness may find much that is suited to his high and holy office. Yes, he will tell you that "the pulpit Must stand acknowledg'd while the world shall stand, Support, and ornament of Virtue's cause." "In man or woman, but far most in man, And most of all in man that ministers And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe Goldsmith will tell you that "From labour is health, from health, contentment springs, And after toiling for the public good, and exposing yourself to public applause or censure, you can, from a consciousness of the purity and uprightness of your motive and conduct, retire within yourself, and with him exclaim, "O blest retirement! friend to life's decline, How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these, A youth of labour with an age of ease.' Beware of Pope. He enchants you with his flowing numbers, while he poisons you with his pernicious sentiments. He sings sweetly upon frothy subjects; and even in his "Essay on Man," the most admired of all, he confounds good and evil, and, in perfect imitation of his brother heathen, resolves all things into the decrees of immutable fate. Much of the delight which his "Messiah" and his "Vital Spark," and his "Universal Prayer" might afford, is lost by the necessary association of the work with the man. You may, however, cull some flowers from him, if you are careful in your selection. Beattie, Gray, and Campbell, will each in his turn afford you some moments of relaxation from severer duties and studies. We shall pass over other names, to introduce you to those, with whom, we trust, you have already formed some acquaintance. Watts you need not despise; but the Wesleys you will hold in the highest estimation; for, if they may not be ranked among the sublimest of poets, they are certainly among the most pious and spiritual. However, it may be questioned whether, in point of poetical excellence, you will find any thing superior to some of their compositions. You cannot read the piece of which the following is a part, without feeling your soul touched with the poet's fire, and your mind transported beyond the ken of earthly things: "Upborn aloft on venturous wing, While spurning earthly themes I soar, What God, what seraph shall I sing? Enshrin'd in Glory's radiant blaze! At whose prolific voice, whose potent word, Commanded nothing swift retir'd, and worlds began their race." "Lo! marching o'er the empty space The fluid stores in order rise With adamantine chains of liquid glass, To bind the new-born fabric of the skies. Downward the Almighty Builder rode, Old Chaos groan'd beneath the God, Proud to wear their Maker's chain, And told with hoarse-resounding voice his coming from afar.” But to feel the force and to taste the beauties of this hymn, which is poetically grand, you must read the whole of it. Nor is the following less grand and sublime; "Thou shin'st with everlasting rays; Before the insufferable blaze Angels with both wings veil their eyes; Yet free as air thy bounty streams On all thy works, thy mercy's beams Astonish'd at thy frowning brow, Earth, hell, and heaven's strong pillars bow Who then can that vast love express, Which bows thee down to me, who less Than nothing am, 'till thou art mine. High thron'd on heaven's eternal hill, Enthron'd, may reign in endless bliss." But the peculiar excellence of the Wesleys' poetry consists in the deep vein of piety which runs through the whole, and the pure stream of evangelical doctrine which flows so uniformly, and with which the mind is continually refreshed. Perhaps it may be proper to close what we have to say under this head, by observing that, though it may be lawful on some occasions to introduce poetry into sermons, yet a copious use of it is by no means allowable. But this must be done, if done to profit, with a sparing and judicious hand, or the effect designed will be lost. (To be continued.) THE evils complained of in the following Letter, are sensibly felt among ourselves; and it were to be wished that some plan, similar to the Chapel-Fund in England, might be devised to remedy the inconveniences arising from the method of indiscriminate begging. It is with a view to wake up the attention of our Preachers and people to the importance of the subject that we publish the Letter. LETTER FROM DR. CLARKE ON THE GENERAL CHAPEL-FUND, Lately instituted among the Methodists. REV. SIR, To the Editor of the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. AMONG the many improvements which have been made of late in the external economy of Methodism, I consider your new mode of providing for the building of Chapels, and helping those that are in impoverished circumstances, one of the best. The former method of begging for individual Chapels, by sending persons to make Public Collections in various Circuits, was replete with evils. The Preachers employed in it were taken away from their regular labour in the Church of God, and sent over the nation on begging excursions; by which their own minds were but little profited, and the spiritual improvement of the Societies in their Circuits was greatly neglected. Much time was spent to very little purpose; for little was raised in this way. I have myself known an instance of a Preacher of no mean talents and address, after having travelled through several Circuits for upwards of three months, return home with six shillings clear of his unavoidable itinerant expenses! And I have heard of others not less unproductive.It was then judged necessary, in addition to the Public Collections, to call at the houses of the most opulent and liberal members and friends of the Methodists' Society, and solicit their aid. This also consumed much time, though more productive than the former mode. But in process of time, it became very vexatious and oppressive; for those who were known to be liberal, were repeatedly called on for contributions; and not only Methodist Preachers, but various persons of our own and other denominations, soon found out the generous man, and the messengers of the Churches were seldom from before his door. It is possible, though very improper, to ride a free horse to death: a maxim of our forefathers says this should never be done.—At length, many were wearied out, and becoming bitter in spirit, through these almost constant and irritating applications, shut up their pockets, and refused to give to any but such as were in their own Circuits. All these exceptionable modes of raising money for Chapels were superseded by the General Chapel-Fund, instituted in 1818, and regulated by a sufficient number of wise and well-digested rules, which met at once with the approbation of all who knew them. By this prudent and enlightened ordinance, all itinerant |