from church to church, fired the guns at St. Angelo, and struck off infamous medals to perpetuate the horrors of black Bartholomew, that their deeds of blood, far from annihilating the doctrines they feared and hated most, were only disseminating them. Whatever may be doubtful, one thing is clear, that the terrible blast of persecution which swept over France, scattered the precious seed-corn of ten thousand glorious harvests in many lands, but especially in America. There the spiritual offspring of the martyred Huguenots have grown up into an exceeding great army, confronting Popery face to face, and winning legions from her ranks. Conscious of consolidated and yet of growing strength, they hurl the anathemas of the Pope to the winds, and paralyse the arm of his secular power. I do not wish to be misunderstood. Undoubtedly, in some parts of America, Popery is a great power; but her numerical strength is not from conversions, nor perversions (as in England), but from the perpetual flow of emigrants from Europe. I hate Popery with a perfect hatred; for she is, as she always has been, the fountain of deceit, tyranny, and blood, and the receptacle of all that is bad; for she never learned how to be good or to do good. Such were my thoughts and reflections while seated in the pulpit of the first Methodist Church built by Huguenot hands, on the continent of America. W. B. Literary Notices. SURE OF HEAVEN: A Book for the SELDOM have we read a book with so and_solid_meaning to the mind. Greek and Latin derivatives have not been discarded; but Anglo-Saxon speech predominates almost, if not altogether, as much as in our authorised version of the Bible. The distribution of the treatise, also, into three parts, besides that which is introductory, and into thirty-six chapters or sections, makes the reading of it more convenient and enjoyable to those who cannot give much time at once to a book. The great peculiarity of the book is, that from first to last it is written in the first person singular, and consequently reads like a detail of personal experience, such as Methodists are accustomed to hear in their religious meetings for the relation of such experience. Its grand excellence is its close and accurate tracking of self, and self-righteousness, in whatever disguise exhibited, through all the intricacies and hiding places of the soul, at every stage of religious development, thus showing up the great hindrance to the soul's salvation-and so clearing the way to Jesus, as the sinner's Friend and only Saviour. The clear type and strong paper used are a recommendation to the work, and the binding, with its gilt letters and appropriate ornaments at the back, beautifully attractive. A radiated cross appears below the title, SURE OF HEAVEN, and a starry crown above it. Small matters these, no doubt, yet tasteful accessories to the author's great idea. In speaking of the divine illumination upon which the experience of religion depends, our author says, 66 Light is the emblem of knowledge. 'Whatsoever doth make manifest is light.' The light of life is the clear and true knowledge of life eternal in Christ. It is a divine evidence, and is of divine origin. The divine light reveals all things,-not dubiously, but clearly. It is not communicated to our understanding, or to our emotions, but to our consciousness; and it is succeeded by emotions of gratitude, joy, and love. It thus becomes an inward light which is self-evident, or an intuitive knowledge from the Spirit. Consciousness is light to the soul. It is too simple to admit of an analysis. Its knowledge is like that acquired from light. It takes cognisance of some of the highest truths, and it knows them, not by induction or by demonstration, but by intuition. Its evidence transcends that of sense and of reason, and is the highest of all evidence; for self-evidence is incontrovertible by sense and reason. It is by consciousness that I know that I exist, and that I know what I am, what I think and feel, and what I do; and by consciousness I know that I am happy or unhappy, that I love or hate, and that I hope or fear. 66 The forgiving and adopting love of God is to be revealed to my consciousness by the Holy Spirit. That revelation is described in the Bible as God's face shining on us, and as 'shining in our hearts,' as 'His light in which we see light,' as "The light of his countenance being upon us,' &c.; all which words describe the revelation of the light of his love in us, or they can have no meaning." Pp. 49-51. We give another extract on the divine life in the soul. "Christianity is in the true Christian's heart. It is a new life, a divine power, and a joy unspeakable. It fills him with marvellous light, with a trembling dread of sin, with adoring loyalty to God, with charity to men, and with divine peace and blessedness. Spiritually he is a new man in Jesus Christ. His union with him is that of an engrafted branch, loving, growing, and yielding fruit. His heart is purified by faith. Sin has no more dominion over him. He rejoices in hope of the glory of God, so that all fear is vanquished by faith, and his spirit is serene and triumphant while his mortal frame is breaking up in death. His consciousness of all that he is, and of all that he has, in Christ, is a 'Divine witness in himself,' which no other evidence can equal in force."-Page 250. There are some assertions and phrases in the book which the author, upon consideration, would no doubt expunge or modify: as, when speaking of Christ's death, in page 93, he says, "He dies, not from human malice, but as a self-offered sacrifice." Peter's indictment against the Jews is, "Him with wicked hands ye have crucified and slain." There are also some repetitions, which, though avoidable, are not blemishes; but which are favourable to the work of abridgment in a cheap edition for the million and we hope the sale of the work will be' so rapid and extensive as to encourage the author to prepare and issue such an edition, whether abridged or entire. A BOOK FOR THE SORROWFUL; OR DIVINE TRUTH IN ITS RELATION TO HUMAN SUFFERING.-By the Rev. Edmund Heywood. Third edition. Pp. 192, Cloth boards. London : William Freeman, 102, Fleet Street. "DIVINE truth in its relation to human suffering;" that is the proper title of this little work; and it is "A Book for the Sorrowful." No doubt this description of the book will catch the eyes of those for whose benefit it has been written, and will make its impression much more than would the scientific title: and the description is not simply attractive; it is also true. We never before read a book so thoroughly suitable far the sorrowful." It has in it the soul of sympathy, and is written in a soothing style and tone; and it brings revealed truth and divine history to bear upon every variety of sorrow that penetrates the human heart. The author now rests from his labours, and from the griefs that qualified him to treat his subject in so effectual a manner. The present edition has been published in compliance with the requests of friends, and the author's "widow and children will share in the profits." Two chapters of the book are on Spiritual Depression. In reference to "the most common sources" of this malady, the author presents us with the following preliminary remarks. "There are seasons when there is a 'needs be' that we are ' in heaviness,' when there has not been moral delinquency on our part; when 'Cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall;' when disappointment succeeds disappointment, loss follows loss, and temptation rapidly treads on the heels of temptation; these things may occasion spiritual depression. 'No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.' Our trials would not be such if we did not feel them. Religion does not make us stoical. Christians are men, not machines, or stones. God intends us to feel. The loss of our property, the failure of our confidants, the death of our friends, the darkness of our prospects, and the assaults of the 'enemy,' will make us feel our weakness and dependence; and no wonder if at times these trials produce spiritual despondence. Affliction may, and often does, so influence the frame 'so fearfully and wonderfully made,' as to shake and lay prostrate the nervous system; and by the mysterious, but active influence of the nerves on our spiritual nature, despondency is produced. We sincerely believe that there are upright and conscientious Christians, who hang down their heads like bulrushes,' who 'write bitter things against themselves,' when they might and ought to encourage themselves in the Lord. To these we would speak comfortably.' Jesus sympathises with them; for He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.' If we only better understood the mechanism of our frames, the connection and sympathy between the body and the mind, we should no doubt be often able to account, on natural principles, for the heaviness felt by the pious." Pp. 53-4. We accept the following, as a profoundly truthful dictum : "Many a simple-minded, illiterate, suffering Christian, has a more correct understanding of, and a more hearty sympathy with, many portions of the Bible, than many a profoundly Biblical scholar, who has never sat in the school of Adversity. And many an able minister of the New Covenant, and many a profound divine, can say, that for the more complete understanding of the sacred Scriptures, 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted.' P. 142. The following is akin to the foregoing, and in harmony with it. 66 There are minds who (that) need the peculiar kind of light that beams from the bed of suffering. The power which sterling piety has of calming the turbulent mind, soothing the soul in sorrow, and developing the magnanimous and sublime in our nature, is a noble and glorious power. It was a true, heroic, and an electric sentence which Hugh Latimer addressed to his fellow martyr as they were together marching to the stake - Cheer up, brother Ridley, we shall this day light such a candle in England as, by the grace of God, shall never be put out.' Thank God, it has not yet been put out. This light has long had a home in England; hence our sea-girt isle has ever been the asylum of freedom. But let us remember that we owe, under God, these blessings to the Christian heroism of our forefathers, and let us prove ourselves worthy sons of those who so manfully and earnestly contended for the faith once delivered to the saints." Pp. 173-4. We have only to say, in conclusion, that, although the reader may not regale his taste with all the graces of English composition in this work, he will find many passages of exceeding beauty, and the infinitely more im portant graces of a hallowed spirit. It is, moreover, studded with gems of poetry, borrowed from our classical and religious poets, brilliant with religious truth, and beautiful with the hues of purity and wisdom in senti ment. THE GARDENER'S MAGAZINE. Conducted by Shirley Hibberd, Esq., F.R. H.S. London E. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane. WE have repeatedly expressed, during the past two years, our high opinion of this publication. We still deem it worthy of all the confidence its talented and spirited editor has won for it. It professes to be a work For amateur cultivators, and exhibitors of plants, flowers, and fruits: for gentlemen's gardeners, florists, nursery men, and seedsmen: for naturalists, botanists, beekeepers, and lovers of the country." It is all this, and more. Lovers of science, of topographical descriptiveness, of incident, of nature in every formwhether regular or irregular, and of genuine humour-all may find something to interest, amuse, and instruct them in the pages of the Gardener's Magazine. There are not many, if any, investments of tenpence a month in literature that are better worth the money. OLD JONATHAN. THIS admirable broad sheet is to be exchanged for a more portable size, of eight pages instead of four. This will be a decided improvement. We rejoice in the continuance of the work, because of its thorough adaptation to cottage life, and its invariable aim to render cottage life religious, virtuous, and happy. The illustrations are worth the money charged for the sheet, and the letter-press, with rare exceptions, is all that can be desired. There is one article in the December issue that has neither introduction nor application, and that seems only adapted to raise a little nervous excitement-nothing more. We refer to "A midnight ride on a cow-catcher." There are many other articles and precious fragments, however, that more than atone for the aimlessness of that piece; and the large illustration of a mechanic's comfort and joy in a pious and sensible wife, is most excellent. 66 OLD JONATHAN'S ALMANACK FOR 1869. WHAT a beautifully illustrated sheet of multifarious, interesting, and valuable information this is for a penny! The paper itself is good, and its dimensions little less than three feet by two. In the centre is a capital engraving, representing one of the pleasing scenes of domestic life-a mother with her little boy upon her lap, saying his prayers-entitled, "Bed-Time. It is copied from a painting by Frith. The head, foot, and sides of the sheet are adorned with four small pictures. We really wish that every cottage in the land had such an almanack as this hung up either behind the door, or upon some conspicuous place, on one of its walls. It is full of scripture, morality, and useful information. 66 Second, Methodist Hymn Book, page 673. "Third, Wesleyan Times, copied from Leifchild's Collection. "The first two versions appear to me verbatim. I also saw the same hymn in an American collection. "The hymn as it stands in the Methodist Hymn Book was ever a favourite of mine. I don't see a feeble line in it. Perhaps strongly vowed' is not quite correct, but give me that to fearless vowed,' as altered in Leifchild's version. Can anything be more touching than the prayer? And to thine arms my spirit take, 'And thou wilt deign to call me thine, The antithesis here is as striking as it is beautiful. The last verse in the original is not mended in the new version. The words, after singing them with the congregated church on Covenant Sunday, have followed me for days 'And gladden me with answers mild, And commune, Father, with thy child!' "I have assumed that you are the author of this hymn in its original form, and that the alterations in Leifchild are by you. If I am mistaken, I shall consider it a favour to be put right. "He who has lived to write and bequeath to the church a hymn like this has not lived in vain.—I am, my dear Sir, yours most respectfully, PHILIP PARKER." To this communication I received the following reply. "Highgate Rise, Nov. 22nd. "Dear Sir,-I am sorry that various engagements have prevented me from returning an earlier answer to your very kind and encouraging letter. The interest which you are pleased to express in the hymn referred to would have surprised me beyond measure, but that, first, others have happened to express the same sympathy with the spirit of it-among them my late sainted mother—and, secondly, I have thus been forced to the pleasant but in no degree elating conclusion, that God had in this, as in ten thousand instances, chosen a very weak effort of the heart as a fit means of strengthening and blessing one's fallen kind without exciting any possible vanity in one's self. I wrote the hymn, out of the fulness of personal feeling, while yet a youth at school; and I was so ashamed of it, as a literary production, that I could not yield it up to my father for publication in the magazine under my then recognised soubriquet, but disguised the authorship under (if my memory serves me) the apologetic signature of‘Juvenis.' When Mr. Watson, with whom I lived, did me the honour to consult me about the selection of hymns for the supplement, and decided to introduce this hymn, it was entirely on his own responsibility, and against my strong sense of its unworthiness. And when dear Dr. Leifchild asked me for a hymn on Dedication to God, I took this to save time and trouble, and, from sheer dissatisfaction with what I thought feebleness in one place, obscurity in another, and so on, reconstructed it as you see. I cheerfully submit to your criticism, which I dare say is very just; though, speaking most earnestly, I can better agree with your objections than with your commendation. In all the good, however, which (indeed by the peculiar solemSunday) my juvenile verses may nities and emotions of 'Covenant have been the means of doing, and for all the comfort and gladness which that thought bas brought to my own mind, I give thanks and praise to God. Yet I cannot but thank you, dear sir, as one of my mediate comforters, by your spontaneous and kind declarations, and I beg to subscribe myself sincerely and very respectfully, yours, "W. M. BUNTING." The hand that penned the above is now motionless in the grave. Little, however, did the writer think this would be the case when he made the inquiry which brought out what probably is the only history of this beautiful and affecting Covenant hymn. |