CORRESPONDENCE. ON REPENTANCE. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. SIR, There is one aspect of repentance which, it appears to me, your correspondent W. B. M. has not sufficiently insisted upon. He says most truly, that a true penitent does not bring his repentance to Christ as a ground of peace; but he does not say, what is equally true, that his repentance does bring the sinner to Christ. For what is it which moves him to come to Christ but a conviction of sin? and what does he come to Christ for but to be delivered from that sin which he feels to be an intolerable burden—a hard master, from whose galling yoke he is taught Christ came into the world on purpose to redeem him? And what is this conviction of sin, and this longing to be disenthralled from its bondage, but that μeravoia-that change of mind with regard to sin which Christ Himself proclaimed, and His Apostles proclaimed as an indispensable prerequisite for entering into the kingdom of heaven? I quite agree with W. B. M. that repentance in a child of God is a progressive grace which becomes deeper and more intensified as he advances in the divine life; but everything has its beginning, and it is, I think, incontrovertible that repentance in its initial state is antecedent to that faith which accepts Christ as a Saviour, and is imputed to the believer for righteousness. The Outwoods, near Derby. Sir, yours, &c., EDMUND CARR, OBITUARY. THE REV. J. HAMPDEN GURNEY. It is with deep concern that we announce the death of this eminent minister of Christ, the rector of St. Mary's, Bryanstone-square. He has been taken suddenly from us, after a few days' illness, in the midst of a career which seemed to promise many years of usefulness and honour-honour such as waits upon the mature labours and ripened wisdom of the faithful servant of God. Mr. Hampden Gurney was in his sixtieth year, but his appearance gave no sign of failing strength. A robust frame seemed to foretell a long life; but a few days of typhoid fever, and the scene closed. He has left a large family to mourn his loss, a large and most important parish to whom the loss is scarcely less grievous, and a wide circle of christian friends. The London clergy, as a body, share in the general grief, sorrowfully deploring the absence of one whose wisdom in counsel they knew from long experience how to appreciate. Mr. Hampden Gurney was one of several children of the late Baron Gurney. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained the first English declamation prize. We notice this as a proof how in early life he had begun to direct his attention to a noble study, which the pedantry of that day affected to despise, the study of our own language, in the use of which, in its bold and manly forms, and yet with an accurate discernment of its nicer shades, he was afterwards an acknowledged master. When he took his degree in 1824 he was third in the classical tripos, and had a fair place in mathematical honours. His father destined him for the profession of the law, conscious, as he was, of his superior powers, and naturally anxious that he should distinguish himself in his own profession; and Mr. Hampden Gurney, after taking his degree, read two years with a view to the bar. But solemn thoughts of the christian ministry, and of his call thereto, were laying hold upon his conscience, while at the same time he was becoming more and more deeply impressed with the reality of true religion, and was brought more fully beneath its gracious influences. He gave up his prospects at the bar, and became a humble curate in a country village. He took orders as curate of Lutterworth, where he remained seventeen years. Offers of good preferment were repeatedly made to him, but he did not feel disposed to desert his post. His influence, for a curate and a young man, was remarkable, for his character won respect and confidence. He was bold without presumption, very faithful in his ministry, and not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; and there was something in his manner and bearing which marked him out as one of those who are made to govern without being suspected of doing so, and perhaps without the consciousness of doing it. He collected funds and got a handsome monument erected to the memory of Wickliffe, whose college cap and gown, we remember, were still preserved with pious care in a glass case in the vestry; and he led the way in a much more important work. When in 1834 the Municipal Reform Bill was before Parliament-one feature of which was the compulsory sale of the rights of patronage possessed by the old corporations-he saw at once the importance of the occasion, and wrote and privately circulated an energetic letter to Mr. Simeon, urging upon him the purchase of the advowsons of some of the largest and most populous parishes in our great towns, and having them vested in Mr. Simeon's trustees. Mr. Simeon had already set apart a large sum from his own private property-all that he could afford, indeed-for the same object. He was delighted with the ardour of his young friend, and resolved to proceed, trusting to the aid he might receive from others, in consequence of Mr. Gurney's appeal. We have a letter by us and we believe he wrote many others to the same purpose-in which he says, "If an angel from heaven had spoken, could I have been more certain than I now am that I ought to go forward?" and forward he went thus nobly seconded. About ten thousand pounds were raised; and many thousand souls since then have had reason to bless God for the wisdom and hearty zeal of Hampden Gurney, no less than for the holy disinterestedness of the venerable Simeon. He left Lutterworth to become Honorary Secretary to "the Scripture Readers Society," then in its infancy. Lay agency in the Church of England was at that time as much slighted, as it has now at last come to be esteemed. Mr. Gurney had the foresight to perceive its importance, if the Church of England must really do her work and maintain her position. In four anonymous letters addressed to the bishop of Exeter, he defended the soundness of the principle with great ability, and showed the futility of the objections with which it was assailed. He was also the author, at various times, of several interesting volumes of historical and biographical memoirs, which have found a place in our Christian literature. About fourteen years ago he was presented to the important living which he held till the time of his death. He was presented to it by the Crown, and Lord Aberdeen a few years afterwards, on the death of Dr. Spry, offered him the higher post of Rector of Marylebone. This, however, he declined. But he accepted an honorary prebend at St. Paul's, offered him by the bishop of London; gratified the more, since it was the first vacant one that fell to his lordship's gift. We have reason to know that on one point of serious importance, we refer to the divine obligation of the Lord's day-his views were very different from those which at one period he was thought by some to entertain. He held the same conclusion as to the sanctity of the Lord's day with the rest of his brethren, though he arrived at it by a different process. We naturally have pleasure in mentioning that he took great interest in the Christian Observer, and was occasionally a writer in our pages. He was a warm friend of the Bible and Church Missionary Societies, and when in the country often travelled about to assist their "deputations" on the platform. His spirit was catholic and his heart large. Maintaining firmly the great doctrines of the Gospel, as understood and taught by the Evangelical clergy, he was anxious to believe that all essential truths were held by many of those who disclaim the title of Evangelical clergymen in their dread of party. What his own ministry was his sermons tell; and we have directed attention to them in these pages more than once, as eminently practical, and as worthy of being made the study of our younger brethren. Mr. Thorold, whose former position as curate of a neighbouring church gave him many opportunities of knowing Mr. Gurney well, says of him : I "Mr. Gurney's vigour was apparent in a moment to all who came into contact with it. His athletic form, his masculine intellect, his warm affections, his determined will, all bore the stamp of power. Upright, liberal, unworldly as any village boy, fearless as a soldier of a hundred battles, to his sturdier qualities he could join a rare considerateness, for which the world did not give him credit: and for those whom he loved there was a fountain of exquisite tenderness in the manliest and truest of hearts. His preaching must be better known to you than to any one. conceive it to have been practical rather than dogmatic: expository rather than controversial; never sentimental, yet on special occasions flowing over with human love; winding its skilful way through all the relations of life, and considering the events of the hour in the light of eternity. If he never much discussed what may be called the niceties of theology; if his mind was of an objective rather than subjective cast; if his teaching as a whole rather elevated the moral life than edified the spiritual, he held manfully fast of Evangelical doctrine; no one could say of him that he preached a false Gospel. Justification by faith in a living Vol. 61.-No. 292, 2 T Saviour, the sufficiency of the Word of God for the instruction and regeneration of man-the Vicarious Atonement of the Lord Jesus-the Divine Obligation of the Lord's Day, were truths of which he was firmly persuaded-were topics which from time to time he clearly and unflinchingly enforced. Of the freshness, of the acuteness, of the masterly power of his sermons, you, I say, are the best judges. If sometimes he enlarged, even with severity, on the duty of liberal almsgiving, he was always the first himself to set the example; if the feeling occasionally escaped him, that his influence with you was not all that it ought to be, he was jealous over you with a godly jealousy you must make allowance for the sensitiveness of a pastor's conscience. I know how he desired your conversion and edification unto God. I know that it was a matter of deep regret with him, that he did not see more fruit of his labours. I know that, like all the rest of us, he was apt to say, 'Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?' I know that, so far from being complacent about his work, it was almost a temptation to him to murmur, 'I have spent my strength in vain.' "* A great man in Israel has fallen. And while we bow in submission to the divine will, we are not forbidden at the same time deeply to deplore our loss. Nor ought we to forget to pray the Lord of the harvest, that there never may be wanting a succession of faithful men, endowed as he was with calmness, courage, deep personal religion, and holy disinterestedness, and thus duly qualified to serve God in the sacred ministry of His Church. NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. Inspiration; a Dialogue between a Christian and his Pastor. By the Rev. James Kelly, M.A. Nisbet. 1862. Many readers will dissent from some of Mr. Kelly's conclusions; none, we think, will be disposed to deny that for all of them he brings forward powerful arguments. He takes the highest ground, and maintains the inspiration of the very words of Holy Scripture. So much has been written lately upon the subject in our own pages, and in a multitude of other works, to many of which we have directed the attention of our readers, that we are obliged to dismiss Mr. Kelly's shilling tract with this brief notice. The least we can say is, that it is deeply thoughtful, and that the reader will do well to consider the subject seriously; and not lightly to reject without examination even that high view of inspiration which Mr. Kelly adopts; and espe cially we would have him to consider what Mr. Kelly terms "the suicidal principles of some writers," who, giving up the doctrine of a plenary inspiration, have, in fact, opened the door to the conclusion that the inspiration of no one part of Scripture is perfectly secure. *The Memory of the Just. A Sermon, preached in St. Mary's, Marylebone, Sunday evening, March the 16th, 1862, on the occasion of the death of the Rev. John Hampden Gurney, M.A., Preben dary of St. Paul's, and Rector of St. Acton The Life of Arthur Vandeleur, Major, Royal Artillery. By the Author of "Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars," "English Hearts and English Hands," &c. London, James Nisbet and Co. 1862.We once heard the complaint, from a pious layman, that of religious biographies so large a proportion were those of ministers of religion. We believe the feeling is very common, though not frequently expressed. The clergy read these memoirs with avidity, and derive, no doubt, great advantage from them; by the congregations of the deceased, and their private friends, they are highly prized. But the layman, immersed in business, or struggling with the difficulties of a professional career, feels that a great part, perhaps by far the greater part, of such a biography has no special words of counsel, caution, or encouragement for him. Sensible laymen often feel this of the sermons to which they listen from week to week. They feel the want of sympathy; the preacher does not understand their case; he does not enter into their difficulties; and though what he breaks to them is truly the bread of life, he deals it out, if we may use the expression, in such lumps that, unless the spiritual appetite be good, they find it sometimes hard of digestion. We are, therefore, always glad of a well written religious biography, of which the subject was himself a layman, and we could scarcely wish for anything more to our purpose than the beautiful little volume with which Miss Marsh has favoured us. It is the story of one whose life, spent in the service of his country, was not the less devoted to the service of his Lord. A character not less noble, not less lovely, not less affectionate, not less soldierly than that of Hedley Vicars himself. Nor is the record drawn up with less skill or pathos, or spiritual wisdom. Already we perceive a second thousand has been called for, and it will be followed, we have no doubt, with many thousands more. Nor is there any want of interest such as the adventures a soldier's life impart. In his short life Vandeleur saw much service. In what spirit he entered the army, the first entry in his journal, after obtaining his commission, tells : "Monday, November 29th, 1847.- So here I am, through the mercy of my good God, comfortably settled in my quarters in the Royal Artillery Barracks. O my God, open Thou my lips, that my mouth may show forth Thy praise. Lord, I am Thy servant; let me rejoice that Thou hast taken me into Thy service. My humble prayer to Thee is, that Thou wouldst give me strength of mind and courage in an abundant measure, that Thy Holy Spirit may enable me to resist, without flinching, the laughing scoff of an ungodly world. Yea, Lord, why should I be ashamed to own that Thou hast chosen me; that I am the adopted son of that great and glorious God who inhabiteth eternity. Oh, teach me to rejoice and to bless Thee for having made me an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ.' What infinite love and condescension! Oh, for ever will I praise and magnify Thy holy name, which alone is worthy to be praised and had in honour! To Thee will I give glory, both here and throughout the endless ages hereafter." How nobly he fulfilled the promise of such a beginning, in the West Indies, in the Crimean campaign, and afterwards at Gibraltar, until he came home sickening, and soon to die, we have the recital here. It is the record of a truly happy and holy life, and of a death such as they only who believe in Him, who has the keys of death and of hell, can hope for. "The world," says Miss Marsh, "has seen," alluding no doubt to Captain Vicars, "with what calm courage the |