tions. He never fails to present a scene as it might have taken place, and therefore he never fails to awaken true sympathy in his appeals. He is untainted by all the heterodoxies of the age, and seeks not to produce impression by novelties and startling theories, but by good oldfashioned Bible-truth, clearly stated, and logically and warmly enforced. The Lectures are six: I. THE BEGIN NING OF SORROWS. II. THE PRAYER. III. THE REMONSTRANCE, IV. THE BETRAYAL. V. THE SURRENDER. VI. THE DESERTION. A specimen of the author's forcible style may be selected from the first Lecture on "THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS:" "He cometh to Gethsemane! Yes, and full well did He know all that awaited Him there; open and naked were all things before Him; not a drop in the cup, not an ingredient in its mixture, but He knew it altogether-the power of darkness, and its terrible pressure; the agony and bloody sweat; the betrayal of Judas the desertion by his disciples; all, all was before Him, as though depicted in a map, yet He cometh,'-despite it all, He cometh!' nothing doubting, nothing hesitating, He cometh to Gethsemane! ; "And He knew the place, and He knew it well: oft had He resorted thither, oft for prayer and communion with God! For prayer; yes, it was a place of praya, and therefore, also a place of safety Mark this well-prayer and safety an inseparably linked together; make every | place a place of prayer, and you make every place a place of safety. Temptation may still come, as come it will, but fearlessly then may you meet it; Satan fall before God; temptation is powerles against prayer. Jesus knew this, and therefore the place of prayer was chosen by Him as the place where temptation, in its direst form, should be permitted to assail Him." In this striking manner is every page of these Lectures written. The effect is not more solemn and striking, than the impression is holy and devout. On the scenes in the Garden, we have seen nothing more striking than this volume. THE VIOLET'S CLOSE; or, Annie Dale. A Companion to "The Redeemed Rose; er, Willie's Rest." By ELIZA RUMSEY. 8vo. pp. 110. Thomas Hatchard. A LITTLE Volume of inimitable beauty, and of the best possible tendency, which we should rejoice to see in every youthful circle. We recommend it very earnestly. Obituary. JOHN WILKS, ESQ. Ir is our melancholy duty to record the death of John Wilks, Esq., of Finsbury-square. The event took place on Friday, August 25th, in the eightieth year of his age. Having had the honour of his acquaintance and friendship for nearly forty years, and having always found him a very generous and kindhearted man, we cannot but drop a tear of affectionate sympathy over his grave. We are old enough to have had an opportunity of watching what may be denominated the whole of his public career. We were glad to see him in the House of Commons, and fully estimated his public spirit and indefatigable services in that assembly. We sympathized in that appointment which placed him in the commission of the peace for the county of Middlesex, and believe that there was not, in his times, a more intelligent or upright magistrate on the bench. But we should be unfaithful to our convictions, were we not to express it strongly as our conviction, that he had done his great work to the interests of Protestant Dissent before these later honours fell to his lot. He made a noble contribution towards the cause of Religious Liberty, by teaching-we might almost say compelling-Nonconformists to fight their own battles. It is easy for us to talk now about our liberties, when liberty respected Widow Smale, of Torquay. This excellent woman, who was permitted to touch the limit which Moses traced as the boundary line to our present state of probation, found herself a widowed mother at the early age of twenty. Her husband, a healthy and powerful man-was a blanched and stiffening corpse, within the brief period of some forty-eight hours. has become a popular theme, and when | fatherless to hope, been displayed more its advocates are multiplying on the right | beautifully than in the case of the late hand and the left; but John Wilks, in his eloquent and burning addresses, which none can forget who ever listened to them, at the annual meetings of the Protestant Society, infused a spirit into the public mind of the country, especially among Nonconformists, which has never gone to sleep; which originated and nourished many fresh agencies on the side of liberty; and to which we are in no slight degree indebted for the commanding position which, as Dissenters from the National Establishment, we now оссиру. All honour to the memory of the man who taught us, more than any other man of his day, to rely upon our own resources, under God, for the triumph of great principles. DEATH OF THE REV. JOSEPH FRANCE, A.M., ON going to press with the last sheet of the Magazine, we have just heard the melancholy tidings of the decease of this dear old friend and College companion. He was taken ill of the prevailing epidemic, on Lord's-day, the 10th September, and expired on the morning of the 11th. Further particulars next month. DEATH OF WIDOW SMALE. "LEAVE thy fatherless children to me, and I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me," is a promise which, though ancient, is as to the humble disciple of Jesus just as fresh, as fragrant, as refreshing now as it was when first it fell from the eloquent lip of the inspired servant of the Lord. That this promise has lost none of its power to console the bereaved, even in sorrow's darkest hour, or to sustain in the moment of extreme weakness, is daily exemplified. Striking instances of the intervention of Divine Providence on behalf of the widow and the fatherless will not unfrequently present themselves to those who view the moral government of God in the light shed on it by Divine revelation. Seldom, perhaps never, has this fidelity of Jehovah to the promise in which he has caused the widow and He died of an attack of inflammation of the brain. Mrs. Smale thus became a widow, and her infant an orphan, almost before she had time to anticipate, much less perfectly realize, her irreparable loss. This event occurring in the north of Devon, to which place her late husband had removed her on their marriage, she now returned into Cornwall, and again took up her abode at Boyton. In this village she had been born. There her only surviving parent still resided. Here diligently using the means which a gracious Providence supplied, she realized a fulfilment of that sweet promise, "Leave thy fatherless children to me, I will keep them alive, and let thy widows trust in me.” Subsequently, this widowed mother, with her orphan daughter, now grown up and become a constant companion and friend, removed to the city of Bath. In this city they resided many years, enjoying the ministry of Mr. Owen, of Lady Huntingdon's connexion. In 1843, they were led by the providence of God to Torquay. After worshipping some time at the Independent Chapel, Union-street, they became members of the church assembling there under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Orange. Widow Smale continued to enjoy a happy state of health, both temporal and spiritual, till nearly the close of last year. Then it was that the outward frame began to yield beneath the pressure of a severe and protracted illness. Often when visited by the pastor, and other Christian friends, she was found calm, and even grateful, amid keen and protracted bodily pain. By Divine grace in her "patience she possessed her soul." It was then she found that Jesus whom she had so long known and loved espe- Ere those around her couch were aware cially "precious." of the glorious transition, she was "absent from the body and present with the Lord." On the faithfulness of God to his proImise to the widow and fatherless she delighted to dwell. With gratitude she reviewed all the way by which the Lord had led her through the wilderness-to do her good in her latter end. At a moment when not at all expected by her weeping daughter and other friends then in the room with this "mother in Israel," she imperceptibly breathed out her gentle spirit into the hand of him by whose precious blood it had been redeemed. Her funeral was attended by a large number of friends, many of them members of the church to which she had for many years belonged, preceded by the pastor and senior deacon. On the Sabbath following a sermon was preached by the Rev. John Orange to a large and deeply-affected audience, from the words of the prophet-" Her warfare is accomplished.” Home Chronicle. AUTUMNAL MEETINGS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF ENGLAND AND WALES. THE Sixteenth Autumnal Meeting of the Union will be held (D.V.) in Newcastle, Shields, and Sunderland, on Monday, the 16th October next, and three following days. The Rev. Dr. Brown, of Cheltenham, will preside at the Sessions of the Assembly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. Meetings for prayer will be held in the three towns on the Monday evening, when addresses will be delivered by the Rev. Dr. Stowell, the Rev. J. W. Richardson, and the Rev. S. McAll. On Tuesday evening, meetings will be held in favour of British Missions, of the English Chapel Building Society, and of the Board of Education. On Wednesday evening, public meetings will be held for the statement and enforcement of Congregational principles. Sermons will be preached on Thursday evening, by the Rev. W. S. Edwards, of London; the Rev. Professor Thomson, M.A., of Glasgow; and the Rev. Dr. Legge, of Leicester. Pastors and other brethren intending to be present, are requested to intimate the same, without delay, to the Rev. G. Smith, Congregational Library, Blomfield-street, London; or to the Rev. R. W. McAll, Sunderland. APPRENTICESHIP SOCIETY. DEAR SIR,-Will you permit me to say a few words respecting this Society in your valuable Magazine? I am persuaded that its claims need only to be made known to secure for it a far greater amount of support, thereby enabling the committee to confer a larger number of grants than the present income will justify. It is a serious fact that many of our ministers, through the straitness of their means, find the utmost difficulty in maintaining their families; while they cannot lay aside the smallest sum to meet extra demands. In a letter recently received, an excellent minister thus writes:-"My dear child, for whom I am anxious to make application to your Society, is in his sixteenth year, without a trade or employment, and so unhappily he must remain, unless you can kindly assist me, as my means quite prevent my doing anything to get him placed out apprentice." The appeal recently issued to the Independent and Baptist churches, through their deacons, has met with a very general response,upwards of two hundred and fifty subscribers being the result. In the name of the committee I would take this opportunity of thanking those churches, not only for their contributions, but also for the warm interest they have evinced in the Society's welfare. Many churches, who, through inability have not subscribed, express deep regret, and fervently bid God-speed to our labours. An excellent minister in Corn wall writes :-" There are many societies of greater magnitude and importance, but there is not one which, according to its character and extent, is more justly entitled to support than the Society for which you plead, and to which we would more readily contribute, were it in our power." Many of our largest and wealthiest churches have not yet responded to the appeal-I doubt not through oversight and from such the committee still hope to receive a favourable reply. The sum solicited is very small, yet five shillings a year from each church would give the Society such an income as would render it, in some measure, adequate to the requirements of our beloved but poorer brethren in the ministry. Thanking you for the kind aid you have ever been ready to afford the Society, Believe me, dear sir, yours truly, Warren Cottage, Dalston. your lists in the numbers for March and September, that you have liberally voted the noble sum of £186 to our Welsh Widows this year. Certainly you have laid our churches under lasting obligations. If an earnest appeal to the Welsh ministers and churches from you and Dr. Burder were inserted in our periodicals at the end of this year, I am confident that at least a thousand new subscribers might be found in the 700 Congregational and the 800 Calvinistic Methodist churches of the Principality. Should you approve of this suggestion, and forward me a copy of such an appeal, I should feel most happy to translate it, and secure its insertion in all the periodicals of the Independents and Calvinistic Methodists. My decided opinion is, that an appeal from you will be more effectual than any thing from the pen of a Welsh brother; and your appeal in a Welsh dress will be more likely to touch the hearts of Welshmen than if inserted in the periodicals in English. Praying that our gracious Master may CIRCULATION OF THE EVANGELICAL MAGA- prolong your singularly useful life for ZINE IN WALES. Beaufort, Newport, Mon. DEAR DOCTOR,-When I called upon you in January last, you expressed a wish that some means should be adopted to promote a more extensive circulation of the EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE in the Welsh churches. The language of Wales of course is a barrier against its circulation to the extent it deserves; but notwithstanding that, if the ministers and the leading members of our churches were to do their duty, a large number of new subscribers might be found in Wales. In December last, I stated the claims of the EVANGELICAL to my people for the first time; and although my congregation is made up exclusively of Welshmen, I succeeded in getting fourteen subscribers. If other ministers were to do the same, the result would undoubtedly be similar. No portion of the United Kingdom receives so much benefit from your funds, in proportion to the circulation of the work, as Wales. I find, by looking over many years, I am, dear Doctor, Yours, with Christian esteem, THOMAS REES. P.S. Will you kindly permit me to translate your invaluable Lecture on the Sunday School into Welsh. It is evidently adapted to do incalculable good. I trust that I am able to do justice to your sentiments in translating them. I have already translated five volumes of Barnes on the New Testament, and the reviewers have done me the honour of stating that the translation is in every respect equal to the original. N.B. The Editor need scarcely inform the zealous friends of the EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE, that he has complied with the Rev. Thos. Rees's two requests; and it is hoped that when Dr. Burder and he shall appear, for the first time, in good classical Welsh, our friends in the Principality will be stirred to do their duty in the circulation of a work which has relieved and comforted so many of their widows. A WARNING TO DEACONS. AMONG the duties devolving on deacons of Christian churches and managers of chapels, the careful preservation of the places of worship committed to their care is not the least important; and yet there is reason to believe that many of such buildings, in various parts of the kingdom, are not insured against fire. That this is a serious omission cannot be doubted, when we consider the risk to which all buildings are exposed, and the outlay required for the re-erection of a chapel. Few congregations are rich enough to rebuild their own chapels without help, and fewer still would justify the neglect of their deacons in the event of fire. The cost of insurance is so small, being in ordinary cases only 18. 6d. per £100 per annum for insurance, and 38. for the government duty, that there can be no reasonable excuse for neglect when once attention is called to the duty. To insure a chapel worth £1000 would cost only £2 5s. per annum; or if worth £3000, only £6 15s.; and yet what enormous risks are incurred through the non-payment of such small sums! The recent calamity which has occurred to the late Dr. Cox's chapel at Hackney speaks loudly to all who have hitherto neglected the duty of insurance; and the wisdom of the deacons in having provided against the loss entailed by such a calamity, by having insured to the amount of £3700, is highly to be commended. The deacons who, after such a warning, will allow their chapels to be uninsured, deserve to be considered either foolish or wicked. Let us hope that none such will be found among the readers of this Magazine. WOBURN INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, ON Thursday, July 20th, the MEMORIAL STONE in connection with the rebuilding of Woburn Independent chapel, was laid by the Rev. T. P. Bull, of Newport Pagnell, whose father, the Rev. W. Bull, used to visit this town more than eighty years ago, and preach the gospel once a fortnight, and who was also one of the ministers who, fifty years ago, preached at the opening of the old chapel, In the course of his highly interesting address previous to laying the stone, the Reverend Gentleman referred, in a most pleasing manner, to the services of the Rev. Samuel Greatheed and others, who were the first pastors of this Christian church, until the Rev. Michael Castleden came among them, in the year 1800, and by his fervent and most efficient services extending over nearly half a century— greatly improved the cause, and was the honoured instrument of building the old chapel, which was opened June 14th, 1804, and of adding many souls unto the Lord. Before Mr. Bull proceeded to lay the stone, Mr. Andrews presented him with a Silver Trowel, bearing the following inscription PRESENTED TO THE REV. T. P. BULL, ON LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF WOBURN INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, JULY 20TH, 1854. The reading of the Scriptures and other devotional services were conducted by the Revs. W. C. Robinson, of Ampthill; E. Adey, of Leighton Buzzard; Josiah Bull, A.M., of Newport Pagnell; J. Sleigh, of Hockliffe; Samuel Cowdy, of Leighton Buzzard; E. Muscut, of London; and J. Andrews, the present Pastor of the church. We are informed that their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, and the Right Hon. Lord and Lady Charles Russell, are among the number of kind contributors towards this undertaking. The sums promised or already paid, and which were read over by the Rev. J. Andrews before the ceremony of laying the stone, amounted, up to that time, to £345. After this service the Sabbath School children and their friends proceeded to White's Lodge, for the celebration of their annual Festival of cake and tea: and among the many interesting and happy seasons which these schools, through the distinguished kindness of both the late and the present Duke of Bedford, have been wont to enjoy on this spot, perhaps none have been more grateful than that |
