much engaged in this service? As members of the body, is not this the office which particularly belongs to them, that the comfort of the rest of the members may be promoted? "But are there not among Christians, some who, though not employed in any public station in the church of Christ, are fitted, by their various endowments, for the most extensive and important fields of exertion? Let me here select an illustration of the very beneficial effects of the principle I am recommending, by supposing a well known and justly esteemed public character, Mr. Wilberforce, a member of a church, which acted upon it. Would his brethren rest satisfied, if, in all their social meetings, such a man should remain altogether silent? Would it be proper, merely because, from other avocations, he could not accept of the pastoral office, that the church should be entirely deprived of the use of those gifts, which would be so eminently calculated to edify? Who would not feel a peculiar interest in beholding that eloquence, which has so often burned in the senate, and described so feelingly the horrors of African slavery, and the blessed consequences resulting from its abolition, employed in de lincating the miseries of those who are the slaves of sin, and in illustrating the glories of that liberty, with which Christ makes his people free? "But not only might such talents be extensively beneficial to the church; they might also be employed, with singular advantage, in rousing the attention of a careless world. How plainly would expediency, and a regard to the greatest possible good, dictate the frequent application of them in such a service? It has often been justly remarked, that the valuable work with which Mr. W. has favoured the world, on the important subject of religion, has been far more extensively read, than a similar publication would have been, though written with equal ability, had it come from the pen of one who was statedly and professedly employed as a Minister of the gospel. Would he not enjoy a similar advantage, if, while known as a member of Parliament, and the persevering advocate of the rights of long-injured Africa, he were occasionally, at least, to address men on the still more important topic of the things that belong to their eternal peace? Many, who would hear no other preacher, might be induced, from curiosity, to listen to the word of life from his lips, and many who sit with listless indifference, under the address of those whom they consider as using merely the language of a profession, might have their attention aroused to the momentous subjects connected with immortality, by the situation and character of the speaker, while it would be arrested by that variety of illustration, which he could pour around whatever topic came under his review. "What is here expressed as an object so desirable, has, since the publication of the former edition of these sketches, been so far realized. I refer to those numerous effusions of eloquence that have of late years been poured forth in almost every part of the kingdom, and by persons in all the various situations of life, at the meetings of Bible societies. What is it that gives to these meetings so peculiar an interest? Not merely the variety of talent these discovered, but the great variety in the external circumstances of those by whom these meetings are addressed. When an audience has been instructed, charmed, and electrified, by those powerful representations of the value of the word of God, which on such occasions many a private Christian has laid before them, may it not be a fair subject of regret, that these talents for public usefulness can only be thus employed perhaps once or twice a year at such meetings; and that at no other period is the Christian community permitted to enjoy the benefit that might be derived from them? "Much enjoyment may the esteemed character I have selected, to illustrate this part of the subject, possess, in the final success that has crowned his unwearied labours, to promote the abolition of the African Slave Trade. The pleasure arising from this quarter, espe cially when these labours have been dictated by Christian principles, must be of a very pure and exalted kind. Exalted as it is, however, be himself will allow, it cannot equal that which is derived from being instrumental in making men acquainted with that truth, by which alone they can be delivered from the wrath to come. Who that knows the value of salvation to his own soul, does not burn with a sacred ardour to participate in the high honour, of leading some of his perishing fellow-mortals to the knowledge of eternal life? Who would not consider every sacrifice trifling, if a portion of this happiness may be attained? May a spirit of holy zeal be poured on all the disciples of Jesus, to be found, according to the different talents bestowed upon them, fellow-workers for God! Animated with this Divine ambition, may they unremittingly aspire after this highest of all honours which can be conferred on man, while in his cottage of clay ! "But I shall suppose another case that frequently occurs in churches; I mean that of members, who discover good radical talents for use. fulness, while, from want of cultivation in early life, such talents are less likely to be turned to a useful account, than if proper means of improvement were afforded to those who possess them. Here, it seems plainly the duty of churches, in as far as lies in their power, to afford to such brethren those opportunities of improvement, by which their usefulness might be promoted. In most situations, where churches are planted, it will be found that there are many fields for preaching the word in the surrounding neighbourhood, which either cannot be occupied at all, or must be occupied very partially by the pastors. If there be other brethren in a church then, qualified to be useful, why should their gifts not be called forth in such a service? "I am well aware, when I speak of doing any thing to improve the natural talents of the brethren, by human learning, as it is called, some will be disposed to listen to what is suggested with a jealous ear. They will ask, Where is any thing of this kind spoken of in Scrip. ture? Is there any mention made of colleges, or academies there? And is not resorting to these institutions too much like trusting in human means, for the diffusion of Divine truth, instead of depending entirely on the blessing of God? "I am not here to plead the cause of particular seminaries of cdu. cation. It matters not to me, where a man gets knowledge, if he has it. My short reply, however, to the objection just stated, is this. There is one great general rule laid down in Scripture, which is applicable in every age, and in every country: "Let all things be done to the use of edifying." I shall here select one kind of human learning, the utility of which, to those who would preach the gospel for general edification, in such a country as this, at least, must be apparent to every one who considers the subject. I allude to a man's being able to speak with tolerable grammatical accuracy, his own language. In consequence of the diffusion of literature, arising from the art of printing, there is now such a general acquaintance with language among the body of the people, that most of them can easily discover where a man, in public addresses, violates the common rules of language, that there is something wrong, though they cannot tell why it is so, and far less can they put it right. If this then is a fact, it is surely not doing things to the use of edifying, if we unnecessarily excite men's prejudices against what they hear, by such a deficiency in the manner in which we speak. Besides, it will be almost universally found, that some portion of education greatly contributes to the perspicuity with which, even those who have good radical gifts, state their sentiments to others. While we believe then, that God works by means, it is certainly no indication of our forgetting, that it is by his blessing alone his word becomes effectual, if we assert that it is more likely to be so, when prejudice is laid asleep, than when it is roused, and when truth is stated with perspicuity and accuracy, than with obscurity and confusion. "When we read in Scripture of the word of the Lord sounding out from the apostolic churches to all the surrounding neighbourhood, 1 Thess. i. there seems reason to think, that this was done by those united exertions of all the brethren, of which we have been speaking; by each occupying that field of usefulness, for which his particular talents best qualified him. In the short account given in Scripture of Apollos, we have one striking example of the immediate application of gifts of usefulness, wherever they were found. It is recorded, Acts xviii. 24. From this passage it is plain, that Apollos possessed eminent talents for public address. From the fervour of his spirit, he was disposed to turn these to the best account, even when his knowledge of Divine truth was very limited. Those amiable disciples, Aquila and Priscilla, observing this, were anxious to improve his knowledge, and imparted to him what additional information they possessed respecting the way of the Lord, that his eloquence might be employed in presenting it, with perspicuity and energy, to the minds of his brethren. Nothing is more manifest, than that he was no pastor of any church when he was at Ephesus, and as little was he clothed with this office when he first went into Achaia, and mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Whether he ever was placed in the pastoral office, is, I suppose, a matter of total uncertainty. But whether he ever was so or not, it is evident from the manner in which Paul speaks of him, 1 Cor. iii. 6, that he was extensively useful in edifying the churches of Christ. THOUGHTS ON ISAIAH LXIV. 64. To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine. Should you be of opinion that the following thoughts are worth a place in your excellent Magazine, their insertion in your next number will oblige your obedient servant, Dec. 4th, 1817. W. Y. We all do fade as the leaf. Isaiah lxiv. 6. The silent lapse of time has imperceptibly led us onwards, and another year is departed, to return no more. No prayers or entreaties can bring it back—it is irrecoverably gone, and with it all opportu nity to alter or undo whatever in this period we have done. Swift is the course of those hours which are leading us to the grave, and frail and precarious are the moments of our existence. The present scene is transient ;-passing away like a shadow from before our eyes, and day after day admonishes us, that we all do fade as the leaf. The comparison between human and vegetable life has been stated by authors of the earliest antiquity, as well as by divines and moralists of later times; but particularly we find it illustrated in Scripture, in all the varieties of metaphor. And certainly no comparison can be more apposite, no resemblance more affectingly obvious. When we hear of infancy consigned to an early grave, when we behold youth and beauty languishing under deadly sickness, the image is forced on our minds, of a fair and blooming flower suddenly cut down by the pitiless hand of the destroyer. If we look around us, we behold a wiatry prospect,-those leaves, which so lately flourished in all the perfection of their richest verdure, now lie scattered upon the ground, faded, lifeless, discoloured, and about to mingle with their parent earth-we, likewise, do fade as the leaf. But this parallel adapts itself not only to the natural decay of age, but to the termination of our existence at other periods. There are storms and tempests, which, even in the midst of summer, deprive the trees of their luxuriant foliage, and lay prostrate on the ground the glory of the once smiling year: there are the slow consuming canker and the devouring worm, that prematurely destroy while yet in the blossom, or even in the bud, the hope and the pride of spring. We are more than justified in the application of the fading leaf to death, come as it will, at any time, or in any form. At whatsoever season our life is brought to its conclusion, we do most assuredly fade as the leaf. All flesh is grass, saith the prophet Isaiah, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. Having noticed this to be the case in its physical sense, let us examine its moral application. We, like the plants and flowers, have our Spring, which ushers us into life, when we burst forth in all the luxuriance of early beauty. The Summer, the high meridian of our days, next advances, when we flourish in the full maturity of strength and comeliness. Before we are conscious of the alteration, but, probably, not before others have perceived it, the blooming tints of youth, the ripened graces of manhood, are gradually retiring from us, and we fall into our autumVOL. XLI, JANUARY, 1818. *[* nal wane. One more change awaits us, and completes the revolution of our days. Soon, very soon, we are led on by the withering hand of old age, to the winter of death. And, lo, when we are passed away, another generation cometh in our place, to whom life is imparted on conditions exactly similar to those ordained to us when we entered on our portion of earthly existence. In like manner, when the winter of nature is passed, a fresh succession of leaves will appear, and will flourish during their appointed season-God reneweth the face of the earth. Another and another progeny will follow, and as long as the world endureth, one event happeneth unto all. All flesh waxeth old as a garment, and the covenant from the beginning is, Thou shalt die the death. As of the green leaves on a thick tree, some fall and some grow; so is the generation of flesh and blood. One cometh to an end, and another is born. If life is so transient and uncertain, is it not our interest as well as our duty, to improve diligently that portion of time which is allotted to us? Ought we not with unremitting earnestness, to work out our own salvation while it is yet day,-while it pleases God to continue to us our present being? Let us not fail to remember, that there is a period, at which the parallel between the rational and vegetable world ceases, and holds good no longer. We fade, it is true, like the leaf, but we do not perish like it in utter annihilation. That solemn hour, in which we shall be called from the bosom of the earth, that solemn hour will bear witness to the great, the momentous difference; for then, though the dust return to the earth as it was, the spirit shall return to God who gave it; when blessed, and only blessed is he, who hath the God of Jacob for his help, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. THE NEW YEAR. To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine. I shall once again, with your kind permission, occupy a small portion of your Monthly Intelligencer and Admonitor, with a few observations on the New Year. In the event of your not receiving any thing upon a similar subject, from a superior hand, I shall be much obliged by seeing the subjoined piece (which I have selected and arranged from several authors) inserted in your number for January Your's, sincerely, next. Deal, September 20, 1817. HENRY BASDEN. WHERE is yesterday? It has passed by, and a fresh day has dawned in its stead. But will it not return? Never! Similar scenes may present themselves; the same routine of duties and pleasures may again offer themselves, and command your attention but the hours of yesterday, with their pleasures, their cares, and advantages, are gone for ever; they are lost in the chaos of past ages! Where is to-day? Its moments are on the wing! Where is to morrow? In another world! To numbers this is certain; |