TABLET IN TITCHMARSH CHURCH, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

WORTHY OF SPECIAL NOTICE.

NEAR the north-east corner of the tower, and on the side of one of the western windows, is placed a tablet of stone, with the following remarkable inscription engraved upon it :

IN MEMORY OF

HUGH RICHARD,

A servant of Sir Gilbert Pickering, Bart. who,
among other acts of fidelity, distinguished him-
self by one which ought to be transmitted to after
ages :-for, seeing a villain behind his master,
ready to run him through, this brave young man,
not having time to save Sir Gilbert any other way,
threw himself between the sword's point and his
master, receiving the wound in his own body that
was designed for Sir Gilbert Pickering :—the
wound, though desperate, proved not mortal.

That so rare an example of fidelity and valour
may not soon be forgotten, this is placed near his
grave.

He was after unhappily drowned, as he was learning to swim, in a pit in the river since called by his name.

Never was servant more lamented.

Such a tribute of gratitude to a faithful servant is entitled to more general notice than it can obtain by means of accidental visitors to the Church. It has been thought desirable, therefore, to print the inscription in the present form, in order to render the example more extensively useful.

A still more important object, however, is at the same time proposed, which the event recorded seems obviously to suggest that of illustrating by means of it the example of Him, "who took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found in

fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross 1."

Some of the circumstances recorded respecting that faithful servant of Sir Gilbert Pickering, bear indeed a strong resemblance to the self-denying love and zealous devotedness of our blessed Saviour; though it must be confessed there are many points in which the resemblance entirely fails.

For, in the instance of Hugh Richard, it is very probable that there was something in the character of his master very estimable, and something in his conduct as a master, which peculiarly attached his servant to him, who was thus perhaps induced to make the noble resolution of sacrificing his own life to save that of his master.

No consideration, however, of this kind, is at all applicable to our divine Mediator. No similar motive can be ascribed to Him, when He graciously interposed between the wrath of God and our guilty souls; when He, as it were, received the sword of divine justice in His own sacred body, in order to save sinners from eternal death. For the only character which belongs to fallen man in the sight of God (in whatever relation he stands to his fellow-creature), is that of A GUILTY SINNER deserving God's wrath, and destitute altogether of any claim upon God's favour. Hence the sufferings and death of Christ for such creatures as we are, affords an example of devoted, disinterested, and unmerited benevolence, which infinitely transcends that recorded on this tablet, or any other which has been preserved amongst the annals of mankind.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we

1 Phil. ii. 7, 8.

shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement 1."

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May every MASTER, who reads this inscription, so conduct himself towards his servants as to excite in them similar devoted fidelity to his person and welfare.

May every SERVANT who reads it be disposed to imitate so remarkable and instructive an example as that of Hugh Richard; if not by an actual sacrifice of life, yet by a spirit oF DEVOTED FAITHFULNESS TO HIS MASTER'S

SERVICE.

But above all, may every one who is led by this memorial of a faithful servant, to contemplate the love of a dying Saviour, have a deep and enduring sense of that love engraven by the Spirit of the living God, "not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart." L. P.

AN EVENING MEDITATION.

LET me, by diligence, and watchfulness, and prayer, and by all the means which God has put in my power, seek for the help of His grace, that I may be enabled to please Him. My search, I know, will not be in vain, for I have a sure promise to cling to: "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." And when God's strength is with me, and when His Spirit is guiding me, I cannot fail of victory in the Christian warfare. But, O Lord, make me watchful; grant that I may never "quench" Thy Spirit! When that Spirit is calling my thoughts from their former evil course, when I trust that I can, with the eye of faith, see Thy grace leading me from the love of sin to the love of Thee, let me not refuse to hearken to the voice of truth; let me not be disobedient to the heavenly vision; let me not attempt to drive away, for the present, the saving influence, with a hope that I can call it back at a more convenient season! For how can I tell that the call will ever be repeated? Whilst I resist Thy grace, my sins are every day increasing, and my recovery is every day becoming more hazardous: I am daily ap

1 Rom. v. 6-11.

proaching nearer to my end; my burden grows heavier; my strength weaker; my work becomes greater; the time to do it in becomes less. Thou, O God, dost call me from sin to holiness. Thou dost, in mercy, say to me, "Turn from the evil of thy ways,"-" repent and be converted,"—" the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin,”"now is the accepted time,"-"now is the day of salvation." If I refuse to hear the voice which calls me now, I may never hear it again-but once! And its words may then be, "This night shall thy soul be required of thee!"

V.

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SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.

GIDEON.-Judges vi. 8.

AT the time of the commencement of the history of Gideon, the people of Israel were suffering under the oppressions of the Midianites, as a punishment for their sinfulness in conforming to the heathen practices of Canaan. As long as their prosperity lasted, the true God was forgotten, but in the time of trouble they were forced to confess that He alone could save them. Their cry of penitence was heard, and by a direct summons from the Lord, Gideon was chosen to be their deliverer. At first, with great humility, he expressed his fears, and pleaded his insufficiency for so great a work; but, when assured that it was in truth a divine call, he immediately undertook the charge. And is not this a lesson for us? How often, when about to enter upon any business, do we neglect to pray for God's blessing, or, on the other hand, when we know His will, how often do we hesitate and delay, as if the work was too great for us to perform, forgetting that the Lord will impart strength for the performance of what he commands. Look at Gideon; when he knew that it was the Lord's will, he without hesitation engaged in an enterprise, that would to another have appeared rash and useless. He, with but ten followers, cut down the grove and destroyed the altar of Baal, and thus at once aroused the vengeance of the whole Midianitish nation. Then, aided by the Spirit of God, he openly proclaimed war: yet still desiring to know more

certainly whether he was acting according to the will of God, Gideon begged a token of his acceptance, which the Lord mercifully granted him. He then set out at the head of a large army elated with hopes of success. But the Lord was willing to prove him. The army which he had probably laboured hard to collect, was now pronounced to be too numerous, and he was ordered to select a little band of three hundred men, and to engage with them the hosts of Midian. His faith was strong, and he murmured not, for he knew that God had power to save by small means as well as by the greatest: the Lord reassured him, and he conquered; the Midianites were discomfited, and Israel was saved.

May not all learn much from this story of Gideon? It is true that we cannot deliver a country, we cannot wage war with the Midianites, yet there is another kind of warfare that all should engage in; one, too, that requires courage and strength as great as Gideon's. I mean the war in our own hearts, continually carried on between the old nature and the new. Let us see how far our case resembles Gideon's. 1. The bondage of sin may be compared to the oppressions of the Midianites; it is no less burthensome, and far more dangerous. 2. Each and all of us have had repeated calls to shake off the yoke; God repeatedly commands it. It would have been madness in us, as in Gideon, to have attempted to overthrow our oppressors unless certain of the protection of the Almighty. If he had attempted singly to liberate his country, he would without doubt have perished in the attempt, but under the protection of the Lord he prospered. We have sure and glorious promises of victory, and in the strength of the Lord we may go forth conquering and to conquer. 3. However apparently small our means may be against the powers of darkness, we need not fear. Gideon had but three hundred men against the thousands of Midian, but by God's help he conquered. Reader, are you engaged in this conflict? if it be so, happy indeed you are; fight on valiantly, and under the blessing of the Lord, the God of Gideon, you will at last, through the merits of your Saviour Jesus, obtain the unfading crown of victory; a crown far more glorious, and far more valuable than any