AN ADDRESS TO SERVANTS.

THE Conductors of the "Church of England Magazine" expressed their hope, on commencing the work, that it would have readers in all classes of society. Their object, they said, was to produce a periodical, which, while not uninteresting to educated persons, might yet be intelligible to those of lower rank. I presume, then, that I am not mistaken in imagining that this Magazine is read by many servants; and therefore I shall address this paper especially to them. I hope they will peruse it carefully; and I also hope that masters and mistresses will take pains to place it in the hands of their domestics. My purpose in writing on this subject is for the benefit of servants. I can have no other reason and therefore I trust they will receive the admonitions I give as coming from a friend, who heartily desires their welfare. I cannot say now all that I could wish to say. And so I shall put down only such thoughts as appear to me of chief importance and perhaps I may have another opportunity at some future time of recurring to this topic.

The first thing that I would say to servants is, Remember that you have a duty to discharge to God. He made you, and has placed you in the condition in which you are: so that you must be contented with your station, and be thankful that you are surrounded by so many mercies. And God is not only your Creator and Preserver, but your Redeemer also. The Lord Jesus Christ became man, and died upon the cross, that "whosoever," high or low, rich or poor, "believeth in him should not perish, but

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have eternal life." Now, this is of the first importance for you, to lay hold on the hope set before you in the Gospel. God requires it. Your own happiness requires it. Every consideration that should have most weight with you requires it. you requires it. For you must be aware that it would be miserable ruin to you if you were to gain the world and lose your souls. A mere outward form of religion, I must add, is not enough. God is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth. You should, therefore, be most anxious to live in those families where you will enjoy religious privileges; that is, where you will have the benefit of family prayer, and be permitted to go regularly to church. And in every situation, be sure every day to read a portion of

the Bible there are few servants now who cannot read and to pray privately to God. Even when your work occupies the whole day, you can, if you choose, find time for this. You can rise a little earlier than you otherwise would; and you can certainly spare a few minutes at night when you retire to

rest.

A religious principle will make you most faithful to your employers. This is what St. Paul insists on in his address to servants; "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men: knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. iii. 23, 24). It is only such a principle as this which will at all times insure fidelity. Servants who desire to glorify God will be far more diligent and patient than those who seek only their own interest. They who feel God's eye perpetually on them will be as industrious and careful in the absence, as in the presence of their master or mistress.

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And this leads me to another admonition: Remember that you have a duty to discharge to your employers. You are bound to watch for the interest, and consult the welfare, of those whom you serve. You should consider yourselves a part of their family, and thus shew all willing and anxious fidelity. Here perhaps it may be well to descend a little to particulars. I say, therefore, be strictly honest. And this is a precept of very extensive application. There are some servants who, though they would not venture to take an article of considerable value, have yet no scruple in appropriating what they call trifles, things which they say their master or mistress could never miss. But to take any thing, however insignificant, which is not your own, or which is not given to you, is an act of dishonesty. Nay, even more than this if your master's property is wasted or injured by your carelessness, you are dishonest. And you ought to fear the first steps of this sin. No one becomes a very daring thief all at once: he commits some petty robbery at first, and thus gets familiarised with what is evil: he then advances with more boldness, till detection and punishment overtake him. Guard, then, against every tendency to this crime with scrupulous minuteness. Another point that I would here mention is, be very observant of truth. There is no character more despicable than that of a liar. We never can depend upon such a person, even when speaking the truth. Falsehood, too, may be practised in many different ways. If you pretend to conform to the rules of the family in which you live, and to fulfil the commands laid upon you, when in reality you are disobeying them, you add to the fault of disobedience that of falsehood. When you try to conceal any mischief you have done, or let another be suspected of it, you are guilty-even though with your lips you may not utter an untruth-you are guilty, I say, of the sin of lying. You ought to be willing to do any thing, and to suffer any thing, rather than deceive in any way. I would say further, never connive at any thing which is wrong. Some domestics, who are honest and trusty, so far as their own conduct is concerned, will yet regard with unconcern, and wink, at what others do to the injury of their masters or mistresses. Now, I am very far from desiring to have one servant act as a spy upon another, but, I must say, that those who witness what is wrong, without striving to check it, are partakers of the fault. No conscientious persons can quietly see their employers imposed on. I might dwell upon a great many other topics, and shew what evils result from a fondness for dress, from a propensity to re

peat what may be picked up from the conversation you hear in the parlour, from the forming of improper acquaintance; but time does not permit me to enlarge on these particulars. I would only here say, that you must shew to every command a willing and active obedience. It is not enough to do your work, you must do it readily and effectually. So only will you acquit yourselves of the obligations under which you are brought to your employers.

ment.

And this brings me to the last admonition I at present design to give: Remember that you have a duty to discharge to yourselves. You have a character to acquire or maintain ; and though some persons, perhaps, may act improperly, and not immediately feel any inconvenience, yet, in the long run, bad conduct will certainly meet with its deserved punishYou must not be of a roving disposition. Those who are marked for not staying long in a place, will not easily be engaged by respectable families, who do not like to be disturbed by frequent changes. And then you must recollect, that a few months out of place, will run away with all the savings of several years. It is, further, a duty to yourselves to cultivate a good temper. If you are passionate, or cannot bear to be reproved for a slight fault, you will forfeit that respect which all who act with propriety may, even in the lowest stations, secure. And you will find that a bad temper is infallibly a source of misery to yourselves. Indeed, you will only experience comfort in the path of duty. If you endeavour, seeking for Divine assistance, to act in the manner I have recommended, you will be most useful members of society, will be valued by the families in which you live, will be a credit to your relations, and may be enabled in time to arrive at an honest independence: whereas, if you neglect all these admonitions, you will live an unsettled kind of life, you will become a burden to your friends, and, it may be, will be seduced into the worst paths of vice and infamy. You see, therefore, that your own welfare is at stake. You will, of course, in no situation, find every thing exactly to your mind; but remember, if you are dissatisfied with any thing, that every other place has its inconveniences, and that it is quite as likely that a change will be for the worse as for the better.

I trust that these few remarks may, by God's blessing, be of service. Our domestics are a most useful class of persons; and every Christian master and mistress is bound to watch over them with kind attention, to bear with their failings, and to study that in our houses they may learn the lessons of the best wisdom. And let me say, that if we were

THE following narrative is extracted from "Walker's History of the Sufferings of the Clergy." The fate of those individuals, many thousands in number, who were ejected from their benefices, when the Church was overthrown in the civil wars, has been peculiarly hard. Their great crime was attachment to the monarchy and the Church of England; but their enemies chose to brand them with the opprobrious appellation of "scandalous" ministers, hoping thereby to cloak their persecution of them under the guise of retributive justice. In this they have succeeded but too well; for there are, I am persuaded, multitudes of devoted churchmen of the present day, who, through mere ignorance of ecclesiastical history, while they imagine that the ejection of two thousand after the restoration was a wanton and unmixed injury, which deprived the Church of the most excellent of her sons, believe that the ejection of eight thousand by the parliament was only a wise and needful purgation from the dregs of popery. I have no intention of discussing here the justice or injustice of the act of uniformity in 1662; and I may be allowed to express my wish that such men as Philip Henry, Howe, and others of the same stamp, could have been retained in our communion; but I do think it a duty to bring into more popular notice some of those Christian men who took patiently the spoiling of their goods for their conformity to the Church, and to remove the unmerited calumny which has, like a cloud, up to this time rested on their names.

I shall, therefore, venture to send occasionally to the "Church of England Magazine" such extracts, from the authentic histories of those lamentable times, as may serve to bring before the public, individuals whose record is on high. The contemplation of this will, I trust, be profitable. When we see that our fathers were persecuted for attachment to their and our form of sound words; when we know that they were forbidden to use, either in public or in private, the Book of Common Prayer; surely our grateful thanks should continually rise to Him who has blessed us with the freedom we enjoy.

I hope I shall not be thought to write in an unkind spirit towards any persons. I can feel no emotion but that of pity for the misguided men who so furiously attacked our Zion,-" Down with it, down with it, even to the ground!"-and who appeared for a season to prevail. When I mention them, it is not in anger, but in sorrow. My object is not to expose them, but to vindicate some of their victims.

I shall now proceed to lay before my readers, in the very words of Walker, some account of Dr. Peterson.

Where this excellent person was born, or in what university educated, I am wholly uninformed. He was installed prebendary of this church [Exeter] the 16th of August, 1619 (being then A.M.), on the promotion

of Dr. John Howson to the bishopric of Oxford; and the 2d of June, 1621 (being at that time B.D.), he was elected canon residentiary, on the advancement of Dr. John Bridgman to the see of Chester; and was at last advanced himself to this deanery, on the death of Dr. Matthew Sutcliffe, in the year 1629, being installed to it the 18th of July that year. When the rebellion broke out, he tasted as deep of the bitter cup as most of the loyal clergy then living: and his usage at his rectory of St. Breock was so peculiar, that I have chosen to relate it at large. . . . . in order to give the reader a just notion of the committees of those times.

During all the late troubles..... Dr. Peterson, rector of Breock.... kept the possession of his house there, and in the diligent execution of his ministerial function. Within a short time after, the standing committee for sequestrations settled themselves in the said county [of Cornwall], to receive informations against delinquents; but because (for the space of six months and more) none came voluntarily in to inform against the said doctor, the committee aforesaid do by special warrant appoint two loose and disorderly fellows to pick up matter against him. These promoters came into the parish; and putting themselves into the company of three or four of the most unworthy and looser sort of people, they are much inquisitive after his carriage; and to invite them the sooner to say somewhat against him, the sheaf of the parish is promised to be let them at a small value; and some others of the parish, that were better disposed, were threatened that if they will not give in some matter against him, they should not be left worth a groat, and yet be made at last to swear against him whether they would or no. Some of them are wrought at length to speak sore things concerning the doctor's affection to the king, and disaffection to the parliament: whereupon the promoters aforesaid deliver in some informations against him; and presently after, these loose and unworthy people are called before the committee to give in their evidence, and are privately examined, without acquainting the doctor therewith; to the end he might either by himself or some other have been present at their examinations, and have cross-examined them, as need required.

Shortly after, the doctor himself is summoned to appear; and those private examinations being read unto him, he desired that the witnesses might have been brought before him face to face, or that he might have some time to cross-examine them, but could not be heard; but he is put to make his present defence vivá voce; having thereby (as was verily thought by all the standers-by) cleared himself of those false allegations, he presented them with a certificate of his whole parish, together with a protestation under his own hand, setting forth his moderate and peaceable carriage during all the time of those unhappy differences; and then he is commanded to withdraw.

The committee . . . . . pronounced him suspended from the execution of his ministerial function within the county; but they did all agree and openly declare, that he should receive no molestation in his estate; and accordingly for that year he did enjoy it, and was made to believe that he should be presently restored.

But the next year, some other gentlemen of the committee, that never heard him make his defence, and were ignorant (as themselves confessed) of the least article against him. .. .. issue forth a sequestration against him, and placed it upon those very unworthy persons that were informers and witnesses against him.

These men behave themselves towards him in a most insolent manner, entering into his house, com

Signed by above 120 of his parishioners, who set forth in it, that to their great comfort and benefit, he had, ever since he had been their minister, been very diligent and frequent in preaching and opening the word of God to them, making use always of such matter as tended to edification. . . . that he was of a most exemplary life, hospitable, and charitable," &c.

manding him, his wife and family, instantly to depart, bringing with them at one time soldiers, with their pieces ready charged, requiring them to shoot, shoot, and they would bear them out in it; saying, all things in and about the house were theirs and at another time they came between eight and nine o'clock at night, with about thirty in their company, with clubs and staves, to draw him out of doors; but the importunity of his sick wife prevailed with some of the company to suffer him to continue possession that night.

The insolencies of these men's carriages being proved upon oath before the committee, and the doctor acquainting them how unduly the sequestration issued forth, contrary to the promise and agreement of those gentlemen that heard him, the sequestration is for that time taken out of the hands of these unworthy persons, and he again restored unto the living.

....

But shortly after.. .... some other gentlemen of the committee (who were likewise mere strangers to all the proceedings) issue forth a sequestration of his living, and place it again in the same unworthy hands as formerly, who behaved themselves in the like insolent manner, or worse; being so far forth countenanced by the committee, as they came assisted by a troop of horse, and had authority to cast all his goods out of doors; and some of those gentlemen who were of the committee did afterwards confess, that they were heartily sorry for what they had done.... And all this was to introduce into the living one Innis, a Scotchman, who, being a stranger to the place, got into the living by virtue of a forged petition (ready to be produced), which he said he had from the parish; whereas, in truth, those whose names were subscribed utterly denied that ever they had put their hands to the said petition; and not one of them did live in the parish. The truth whereof is certified by the committee of the county to whom it was referred; and by virtue thereof the said Innis took up the whole profits of the living for some years, without allowing even to the doctor or his wife any thing towards their subsistence; not so much as a fifth part, which is allowed by ordinance of parliament.

....

The whole of what he was deprived of was at least 1000l. per annum. From which he was reduced to a very low and mean condition. An ancient person, who very well remembered him, informed me, that he was plundered, turned out of doors, and forced to retire to a little house within the close at Exeter, where a gentleman of his acquaintance, who one day paid him a visit, took the freedom to ask him how he subsisted, seeing he had been so thoroughly stripped; to which the good old gentleman answered, he lived by selling those few goods which his servants had fortunately saved from the paws of the merciless ravagers; and withal added, that he was then reduced so low, that he had but two beds left, and must be obliged to sell one of them, or else he should want bread. Which his friend representing to the Honourable Sir William Courtney, of this county, that noble gentleman generously supported him during the remaining part of the usurpation. There goes of him, likewise, this remarkable story, that Cromwell, seeing him one day pass the streets of London. . . said, 'There goes a Church-ofEngland man, who, I warrant you, has courage enough to die for his religion.' And that very day, a gentleman, wholly unknown to him, traced him to his lodgings, invited him the next day to a dinner, and withal gave him a purse of money. He was also several times after supplied with money from an unknown hand, though he guessed it to be Cromwell's. He just lived to the restoration, and died in 1661....

I shall only remark upon this affecting story, that the barrel of meal, we see, did not waste, nor did the cruse of oil fail, till the Lord sent rain upon Israel.

S.

ASIATIC CHURCHES.—(V.)

Thyatira.

"And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the Churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers : even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches."-Rev. ii. 18-29.

IT has been supposed by some commentators that the Gospel was not improbably first carried to Thyatira by Lydia, a seller of purple, whom St. Paul met at Philippi, and "whose heart the Lord opened," that she attended unto the things which were spoken by the apostle. How far this supposition is correct, it is in vain to inquire, as we have no scriptural authority for it; but it is certain, that when the epistle was addressed to the angel of this Church, Christianity had here many consistent disciples.

The epistle opens with an address from "the Son of God," whose eyes are declared to be like to a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass. These expressions denote his omniscience, and his infinite power and strength. With his eyes he discovereth the secrets of all hearts; with his feet he hath power to tread down his enemies. Both expressions declare his divine character, and are calculated to inspire us with awe and reverence towards a Being so infinitely wise and powerful.

The first testimony borne to the Christians of Thyatira was highly honourable to them as professed disciples of the Son of God. Their charity, or love to their fellow-creatures, that great evidence of a passage from spiritual death to spiritual life; their service to the Church at large, and to every individual member thereof; their faith not only in God's word and promises, but their fidelity towards him as their heavenly Ruler and Master; their patience, or submission in all things to the Divine will; and the trials to which they were necessarily exposed on account of their stedfast adherence to the truth,-these were among the works which gained for them the merited commendation of the Saviour. And it is worthy of remark, also, that they are spoken of as having made advances in this state of dutiful obedience. Their last state was better than the first. Religion was a progressive principle in their souls. They were not only in a gracious state, but they were growing in grace; they did not only possess some knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord,

and count all things but loss when brought into comparison therewith, but they kept growing in that knowledge-continually adding some new attainment to that already possessed. And yet in this garden, so fair and so fruitful, noxious weeds were to be found. While the language of commendation is passed, the language of reproof is not withheld, on account of some of the professors of religion being led astray by the abominations of the "woman Jezebel."

"There has been no slight diversity of opinion," says Mr. Milner, "respecting the reference of this term, whether indicating a person or a sect.

Grotius

and Calmet understood it to signify a woman of rank and influence connected with the Church in Thyatira, who corrupted the faith, and seduced some of its members to the practice of heathen impurities, after the example of the idolatrous queen of Israel (1 Kings, xvi. 31). The term was common with the early Christian writers as one of reproach. Justina, a patroness of Arianism, had the epithet bestowed profusely upon her. Others, and especially the ancient commentators, supposed the woman Jezebel' to point out a sect of false teachers who infested the Church; because, in the language of Scripture metaphor, it is not uncommon to represent a people or party under the general designation of a woman. There is a third interpretation, which supposes the wife of the bishop to be intended.

"The errors," continues Mr. Milner, "taught by the person or party alluded to, were identically the same as those we have noticed in the Nicolaite heresy." And whether it was a person or a party that was referred to, there can be no question, that, as the impious queen of Israel had sought to profane the pure worship of Jehovah by the admixture of impious rites and observances, there was now a similar attempt to draw the followers of the Lord Jesus from that Gospel purity which was required of them. The punishment threatened against this woman and her children, testifies the indignation of the Almighty against her. It contains a solemn warning to professors of every age, not to have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but to seek in all things to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, who did no sin.

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There was for some time a doubt as to the precise spot on which Thyatira stood. From several inscriptions, however, which have been discovered at Akhissar, or Akissat, containing the ancient name, there can now be little question but that it stood in the same situation as the modern city, which is at present a place of considerable importance. "The Turks," says Mr. Parsons, in 1820, have destroyed all remnants of the ancient Church, and even the place where it stood is unknown. At present there are in the town one thousand houses for which taxes are paid to the government, besides two or three hundred small huts: there are about three hundred and fifty Greek houses, and twenty-five or thirty belonging to the Armenians; the others are all Turkish. There are nine mosques, one Greek church, four or five Greek priests, and one Armenian. The Greeks know something of the Romaic, and the Armenians of the Armenian; but the common language of all classes

is the Turkish: the Greeks write it in Greek letters, and the Armenians in Armenian letters."

"The appearance of Thyatira as we approached," says Mr. Arundel, "was that of a very long line of cypresses, poplars, and other trees, amidst which appeared the minarets of several mosques, and the roofs of a few houses to the right: on the left a view of distant hills, the line of which continued over the town; and at the right, adjoining the town, was a low hill, with two ruined windmills."

The air of Ak-hissar is peculiarly salubrious, and not less so its water. "These," Sir Paul Rycaut says, "in conjunction with its trade, have been one cause why Thyatira has so flourished, and been more happy than her other desolate and comfortless sisters." The waters still deserve the commendation this traveller has bestowed upon them when he represents them as 66 crystalline, cool, and sweet to the taste, and light on the stomach;" but the trade has greatly decreased during the last century.

Mr. Hartley thus describes the present state of the Church:-Ak-hissar "is about four hours distant from Mermere. On the way we observed many columns and antiquities, notifying an ancient town. Mr. Arundel discovered an inscription containing the words from Thyatira.' Ak-hissar is situated on a plain, and is embosomed in cypresses and poplars. The buildings are in general mean; but the khan in which we are at present residing is by far the best which I have yet seen. The Greeks are said to occupy three hundred houses, and the Armenians thirty. Each of them have a church.

"Here we witnessed a fine Turkish spectacle. The new mutselim of Aidin arrived from Constantinople, with a retinue of two hundred horse. They were all extremely well dressed and mounted; their turbans were white as snow, and the renowned scymitar of Turkey hung gracefully behind them. I was much struck with the lordly air which they displayed. It is well, I thought, for Europe, that such cavaliers have no discipline.

"We paid a visit to the church of the Greeks: it is a wretched structure: upon opening the door, we had to descend four or five steps into the body of the building. We found a priest, a native of Milo, who was engaged in hearing the confessions of the people. On returning to the khan, I conversed for a considerable time with four or five Greeks on the study of the Scriptures-the predicted apostacy from true Christianity, and the means which were furnished for detecting it-the inutility of alms for the salvation of man the necessity of forsaking sin, &c. Nicolas afterwards sat up with the same party till midnight, reasoning with them on the most important subjects. I presented the most interesting of these young men with the New Testament; and cannot but indulge the hope that a useful impression has been made on his mind.

"The sacred writer of the Acts of the Apostles informs us that Lydia was a 'seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira;' and the discovery of an inscription here which makes mention of 'the dyers' has been considered important, in connexion with this passage. I know not if other travellers have remarked, that, even at the present time, Thyatira is famous for dyeing. In an