Deither doctrine nor experience, in other words, as it is national and not spiritual starvation that is treated on, a spiritually-hungry soul would in vain look therein for food.

Mercy and Judgment; or, a Display of the Divine Clemency, mingled with Fatherly Severity, and other weighty Matters respecting the Character of the True God. By Robert Creasey.-Simpkin and Co., and E. Fowler.

This work does not contain matter with which we can quarrel, and yet it does not come so deeply home to our hearts as to cause us to recommend it so heartily as we could wish. It is what is called "a funeral sermon," and was occasioned by the decease of the anthor's partner in life, and contains some really excellent things. Several remarkable providences of God which they have experienced are stated, and there is also a brief but sweet account of the spiritual experience of the deceased, a perusal of which may be made useful. The fault may have been in us, and not in the work; but if our readers will purchase it, they will not much err, and they can then judge for themselves.

The Glory of God's Grace; being the Substance of Four Sermons from Ephesians i. 6. By W. Gadsby.-J. Gadsby, Manchester; R. Groombridge, London.

There never, perhaps, was a day in which the religious world was so filled with sermons and religious books as the present; but out of the great mass which are published, how few bear the character of decided truth even in the letter, and even among these few, how scarce those are which are written under the dictation, inspiration, and unction of the Lord the Spirit, clothed with divine savour, golden unction, supernatural power, heavenly life, light, liberty, sweetness, sap and dew, and which enter a man's soul on reading them. Such works are indeed rarely to be met with, and should, therefore, be prized and recommended when they do appear. The sermon before us we consider one of the very few of this character. The author is an aged, and has long been made an able and honoured instrument by the Lord, in "proclaiming the name of the Lord, and ascribing greatness to our God," in comforting the church of God, and plaguing and tormenting rotten professors. He has published several works, some of them unanswerable and powerful displays of the glory of the grace of God; such as his "Perfect Law of Liberty," "Everlasting Task for Arminians," &c. &c.; but, taking the work before us in all points, we consider it decidedly the best he ever published. It is divided into three leading particulars, viz., first, what is grace, -God's rich and free grace? secondly, it points out some branches of the glory of God's grace; thirdly, it makes a few remarks on some things as connected with the text. In the first, our author explains the nature of grace, and proves the truth of it. In the second, he points out the operations of grace in the soul, under the following heads:-1. Grace quickens the dead, enlightens the blind, and makes the dumb cry out amain, and at last sing for joy. 2. It pardons the guilty. 3. It justifies the ungodly. 4. It brings prisoners out of their prison-houses, and sets the captive free. 5. It communicates divine holiness to the unholy. 6. It raises the poor man out of the dust, and the beggar from the dunghill, and sets him among princes,

even the princes of God's people; and thus stamps immortal dignity upon the degraded. 7. It strengthens the weak, confirms the feeble, and upholds the sickly. 8. It brings poor vile worms to have sweet and solemn intercourse with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. 9. It restores backsliders. 10. It brings millions of once poor wretched sinners to ineffable glory, and makes them more glorious than the holy angels; and all to the praise of the glory of God's grace. In this second particular, which is the substance of the sermon, he is most clear, able, and definite in the tracing of living experience in the soul. In the third particular, he briefly states a few things connected with the text, which God has done to the praise of the glory of his grace. It is a rich and glorious display of the riches of the grace of the "glorious gospel of the blessed God." In perusing it, we felt our souls encouraged, comforted, and blessed by it. He simplifies, defines, and particularizes the early and more advanced experience of God's children. He descends to the lowest stage of true experience in the soul, advances with it, and carries it out into the full blaze of gospel liberty and enjoyment. He traces out the workings, wrestlings, and strugglings of spiritual life in the soul, under sin, guilt, and bondage; and the deliverance, liberty, and blessing of the soul by the manifestation of the gospel of the grace of God revealed to it, which are agreeable to our views of the operations of grace in the soul, and to true experience. We do think the Lord will own and honour this work, by making it a blessing to his people. We wish it a wide circulation, and can heartily recommend it to our friends and readers. ⚫

Some may be inclined to think, from what we have said, that we are partial in our reviews; but the truth is, so few works come under our notice, which we can wholly and heartily recommend, that we think it a duty we owe to our conscience and to the cause of truth, and justice to the children of God, that when we meet with works which meet and get into our hearts, we should recommend them accordingly.

EDITORS' REMARKS.

We do not know who may have written the letter from Leicester, signed a "A Constant Reader," but we do know that he either does not understand the common English language, or else he wrote merely to find us a job. He says, "Your remarks in last July No.. upon the Obituary of the Rev. E. Vorley, we beg to inform you has very much hurt the minds of several of the Lord's own dear people in this part of his vineyard; and they wish to ask the Editors the question, 'Is there not as much reason to insinuate that the apostles died NATURAL MEN, as that dear, and faithful, much lamented servant of the Most High, E. Vorley ?"" To this we answer, Yes; but who told "A Constant Reader" that we insinuated Mr. Vorley had died a natural man? We never had such a thought, nor, on reperusing the remarks complained of, do we see how any one could so understand them. What we said was, there was "nothing very particular in the Obituary, as a natural man might die an easy, natural death." And then we asked our correspondent if he could furnish us with the expressions of Mr. V.'s heart in his dying moments. We did not ask for this to satisfy us of Mr. V.'s Christianity, as we

never had a doubt of that; but in order that, in the hands of the Spirit, they might be made useful to some of the Lord's family. Whoever will take the trouble to read the Obituary will, we think, agree with us that there is nothing very particular in it, as it merely says he "retired to rest well on Friday night, but was taken ill early on Saturday morning. He was perfectly sensible during the day, and frequently spoke to his family and friends around him." (Now we wanted to have his sayings.) "He suffered no pain either in body or mind, as he himself expressed, but, quite calm and composed, lay dozing till half-past six on Lord's Day morning, when his spirit left its clay tenement, and returned to God who gave it." May not all this be said of a natural man? Had our correspondent favoured us with his dying expressions, we venture to say they would have contained something better worth reading. This was what we meant.

In conclusion we say that this is not the first specimen we have had of Leicester logic.

We have read the letter by Mr. Baley, of Whittlesey, against the two sermons recently published by Mr. Philpot, which letter was sent for our perusal by our friend "A Weakling," and we assure him we are not at all surprised at its contents, nor are we in the least afraid that it will do any real harm to the cause of truth. It betrays in the author such gross and palpable ignorance, that the children of God who have any light at all may easily see that he knows nothing whatever of the subject he attempts to refute. If a man can call those characters unregenerated persons who fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servants, yet walk in darkness, &c., as mentioned in Isa. 1. 10, it is proof sufficient that he has never been taught that fear of the Lord, godly obedience, and experimental darkness in his soul, by the supernatural teachings of the blessed Spirit; for if he had, he could not so speak; and yet Mr. Baley, who presumptuously styles himself a "Minister of the Gospel," has so spoken. We do not think it necessary to enlarge on the absurdity of this letter, nor should we have noticed it at all, had not our correspondent sent it for the purpose; and doubtless Mr. Philpot is of the same mind, though if he had been disposed to reply to it, his remarks might have been made useful to the church of God.

LINES ON THE

POETRY.

DEATH OF MR. FOWLER.

Another servant of the Lord,
Has gone to enjoy the blest reward,
Which Jesus will bestow
On all the subjects of his grace,
Who long to see his smiling face,
While travelling here below.
Whilst here he did the truth proclaim,
He loved to speak of Jesus' name;
His word was own'd and bless'd;

Poor sinners heard the tidings sweet
Of Jesus' grace, and at his feet

Their grief and sins confess'd.
Long will the time remembered be,
When my poor soul was once set free
From gloomy black despair;
The welcome news my heart revived,
Of mercy free, of grace contrived
By the great sacred Three.

"There's mercy yet" (the dear man said) "In Christ, the only living head,

For sinners such as thee:"

I felt the power, I praised the Lord
Who by his servant sent his word
To such a wretch as me.
Oft has my doubtful path been shown,
And God's great work to me made known
Clear as the noon-day sun;

He's now released from every pain,
And gazes on the Lamb once slain,
With all the hosts above;

O happy state of bliss supreme,
And there as here his only theme,
Is grace, free grace, and love.
Sweet were the dying words he sung,
With joyful heart, and joyful tongue,
"Dear Jesus, quickly come!"

And softly sinking into rest,

Found his eternal home.

My inward conflicts, doubts, and fears, The love of Jesus fill'd his breast,
Temptations, groans, and anxious cares
Which proved the work begun.
Dear Lord, I would desire to raise
A grateful tribute to thy praise
For sending such a man;

For all that thou hast done by him,
Nor less that thou hast call'd him home,
Now that his work is done.
Gower-Street Chapel, London.

Blest soul, from every care set free;
Nor grief, nor sin, nor misery

Shall ever vex thee more:
But in immortal songs of joy,
"Twill be thy glorious, sweet employ
To love him and adore.

THE CAPTIVE EXILE.

W-.

"The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the

On Sinai's barren fruitless ground

A captive exile there is found,

pit."-Isa. li. 14.

With lifted eyes and hands.
I heard the captive exile mourn;
He could not speak, but only groan;
His soul in danger stands.
His guilt lay heavy on his soul,
While Sinai's thunders loudly roll,
The soul that sins shall die.
God's holiness appear'd in view,
Faithful and righteous, just and true,

A God that cannot lie.

I saw the captive in distress;
He found his creature-righteousness
At best was filthy rags.

"Woe unto me," the captive cried,
"Of mercy I shall be denied;

My weary spirit flags;

"My sins how great no tongue can tell;
I have deserv'd with fiends to dwell
In everlasting fire."

The captive thus his sins confess'd,
While hope sprung up within his breast,

And raised him from the mire.
With fervour now the captive prays,
"Lord, lead me in thy righteous ways,

And break my heavy chains;
Lord, keep me from the pow'r of sin,
From foes without and foes within,

And ease me of my pains.
"From Satan's service set me free,
That I may walk at liberty

In Zion's holy ways;
That I the will of God may know,
And love and honour him below
The remnant of my days.
March, Isle of Ely, 1838.

"Lord, may I in thy church below
In Jesus' image daily grow,

Just like a child at home;
And in the gardens of thy grace,
Be bless'd with both a name and place,
No more an exile roam.

"But still a captive I would be,
Bound in the chains of love to thee,

My Saviour, and my God!
Till I with all the church be found
On Zion's, not on Sinai's ground,

Redeem'd with precious blood."
The captive pray'd, but not in vain,
God loosed him from his heavy chain,
And took the exile home.

I saw the glitt'ring robes he wore
While he did worship and adore

The holy Three-in-One.

He once did mourn, but now he sings
All glory to the King of kings,

That him a captive freed
From sin and Satan's galling yoke;
From Sinai's curse and awful stroke;
For so it was decreed.

I heard him sing his Saviour's praise
In sweet, sublime, and heavenly lays;
I wish'd that I was there.
Through grace, ere long I hope to be
With him to all eternity,

That I my part may bear
In those divine, celestial songs
To him to whom the praise belongs,
The Lamb that once was slain;
'Twas he that wash'd me in his blood;
'Twas he that made my peace with God
And purged my every stain.

A TEACHER OF BABES.

THE

GOSPEL STANDARD,

OR,

FEEBLE CHRISTIAN'S SUPPORT.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."-Matt. v. 6.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."--2 Tim. i. 9.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7.

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.-And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.-In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."-Acts viii. 37, 38; Matt. xxviii. 19.

No. 41.

MAY, 1839.

WILDERNESS TRAVELS.

VOL. V.

It is

The path to heaven is not such a path as most professors take it to be. It is not a path of ease without trouble, of peace without war, of sweet without bitterness, of pleasantness without sorrow. not a broad, even, smooth, and flowery path, like that in which numbers are travelling, which seemeth right unto them, but which will surely end in death. Awful delusion indeed! I find the way to glory to be the same as the saints of old found it, and all Zion's travellers find it so now, and ever will find it to be, a narrow path, a tribulation path, a wilderness path, a path strewed with difficulties, perplexities, distresses, trials, sorrows, conflicts, darknesses, doubts, fears, jealousies, and suspicions; so that I am ofttimes discouraged because of the way; for I meet with so many stumbling-blocks in my path from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and so very few travellers whom I can walk comfortably with, that I am often ready to halt and give up. But, blessed be the Lord God of all our mercies, who has promised to bring the blind by a way they know not, he sometimes gives me to see, and feel too, that he is teaching me to profit, and that he is leading me in the path that I should go to a city of habitation.

When the Holy Ghost first directed me from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion, and revealed Jesus as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, so that I was brought to renounce all the filthy rags of nature's providing, and cast myself as a naked, filthy leper at his feet, and to cry from real necessity, "God be merciful to me a sinner," and felt that mercy was manifested to me,

E