66 you with idolatry and blasphemy on your own shewing. Your Prayer Books, your Decrees of Councils, and many other writings of your Church, prove all that we say to be true. You may deny them because you do not know them; or if you know them, it may be proper to keep the poor and unlearned in ignorance of them; and this is often the case inasmuch that very many Roman Catholics do not know the abominations which their Church maintains. "I believe what holy Church believes," is none other than the faith of folly: for “ holy Church" believes that Mary, Joseph, and others, although in another world, can hear and answer prayer. Are you so foolish as to credit this? Though I might be but one mile from you, you might cry from morn to noon, and noon to night again, even like the worshippers of Baal, and I could not hear you. How then can the dead hear your supplications? and why therefore, should you believe all which the Church of Rome believes? "Believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee." (Jer. xii. 6.) "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they but they see not. They that make them are like unto them." Ps. cxv. 4, 5, 8. Dear readers: we do beseech you to pause and ponder, ere you give any countenance to popery. We are free to admit, that many Protestants do not value as they ought, their inestimable privileges; but charge not this to the fault of our religion. When Protestantism prevails with power, it does truly inform, exalt and bless mankind. Whereas, in every country under heaven, popery impoverishes and debases men. It cannot do otherwise: for it is, in its fulness, a system of tyranny and terror. Witness all history and all events. It is well suited to human nature in its blindness and its love of earthly things, and therefore it is that so many are taken by it. Some may be pious Romanists but they are so in spite of and not through their religion. Our great and noble forefathers died at the stake to rescue us from the snares of this dangerous system: will you allow yourselves to be entangled by them again, and once more suffer yourselves and your children to be drawn back into that fearful darkness into which all popish lands are yet sunk? Oh be it your solemn determination to hold fast the pure word of God, and aim, in a life according to it, to win your Roman Catholic neighbours to a better way. Beware how you give them your countenance or support. Give nothing towards their Chapels, or be induced by any consideration whatever, to attend them. It would be a sin in you to sanction their worship by your joining in it. See what your Almighty Father says unto you in Rev. xviii. 4., and Oh! remember, as surely as you partake of Rome's apostacy, so surely must you share her plague and punishment. (Rev. xiv. 9-11.) May our gracious and only Saviour enable you each to say, "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler: the snare is broken and we are escaped." Psalm cxxiv. 7. Derby. A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds Majesty of heaven, how truly blessed And drives away his fear." And why, I would ask, is the name of Jesus so precious, and his person so glorious in the view of every sinner made alive unto God by the power of the Holy Spirit; is it not on account of the freeness, the fulness, and the glory with which the salvation he has effected, by his sufferings and death, so amply abounds? Yes; verily, his name was to be called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins; completely, and for ever, deliver them from the bitter pains of eternal death, and to raise them to the full enjoyment of his presence in eternal glory. It should never be forgotten that the salvation of a sinner is the sole work of Jehovah-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so that not one single circumstance which transpired in the eventful life of the Redeemer, or any event in connection with our path to glory, however apparently insignificant, was to be suspended upon the will of creatures, for the full accomplishment of that glorious plan in which the vilest of the vile was to be washed and justified, and God in Christ eternally glorified. I am aware that salvation by elec. ting love and mercy is a doctrine opposed to the pride and self importance of the carnal mind; and never will its soul-humbling and Godglorifying principles be received in the love of them, until sovereign and almighty grace subdues the power of unbelief, implants precious faith in the heart, and carries out the soul of the sinner to Christ alone, who is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble; and, blessed be God, they that know his name will put their trust under the shadow of his wings. Seeing, then, that man is not only in a state of guilt and misery, but, also, all the powers of his mind are in open rebellion against the is the thought, that long before the dawning light of time, or the foundation of the earth was laid, Jehovah, in his Trinity of Persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit, did contrive and lay out a plan by which the sinner could be saved, and all his attributes glorified, through him, even Jesus, who bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and thus delivered us from the wrath to come. Christ is the mercy promised to the fathers, and through them to all the spiritual Israel: hence they searched what and what manner of time, the Spirit that was in them did signify when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. The death of the Lord Jesus was by divine appointment, there was nothing beyond this that could have laid the Son of God under necessity to be made under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law to make unto himself an everlasting name. Indeed it was the revelation of this truth to the hearts of the old testament saints that made them valiant in fight, turning to flight the armies of the aliens; others have trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover bonds and imprisonments; and having obtained good report through faith, they all died in full hope of a glorious immortality and eternal life. This was the foundation upon which the prophets, priests, and kings rested their eternal salvation. It was this that inspired the apostles not to count their lives dear to them, so that they could finish their course with joy, and the ministry they had received, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And, be it observed that it is upon the same foundation that every believer now rests his eternal hopes, and from which he draws the sweetest consolation and the purest joy. a If you, then, my dear sister, enquire how it is that the children of the King of saints go lean from day to day, I answer, they live too remote from the life-giving healing beams of the Sun of righteousness whose smile is heaven, and whose frown is hell. I do believe the more we have to do with the chief things of the ancient mountains, and with the precious things of the everlasting hills, the more apparent will be the fruits of righteousness, the more settled and confirmed will be our confidence in the Rock of salvation, and the more successfully shall we contend with the powers of darkness, through faith in the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony: hence runs the ancient invitation-" Look uuto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and besides me there is no Saviour." a And where, I would ask, can poor, guilty, ruined sinner look for comfort in the season of trial, for strength in the hour of temptation, for salvation in the article of death, and for acceptance before God in the world of spirits, but unto Him who is of God made over unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and eternal redemption. "On love like this reflect my soul, Here's heights and depths to view; 'Twas for the foulest of the foulFor sins of blackest hue. The sins of all the ransomed race, I am aware, my dear sister, of your unsettled state of feeling, and must confess with you that the influence of the spirit of the world, and the workings of a corrupt heart, united as it is sometimes with the suggestions of the prince of darkness, often obscure that light from our view which makes manifest these glorious truths; and as a painful consequence we grow weary in the midst of the way-fruitless and unsavoury in the knowledge of Christ! But, blessed be God even by these painful feelings we learn the value of the blood of atonement, and the blessedness of the man who is living in near and intimate communion with the Lord of life and glory; hence that most blessed promise—” He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; for he will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” In closing my remarks I cannot help reminding you that to-morrow is the Sabbath day, in which, through the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the Son of God will be glorified, sinners saved, and saints comforted and built up upon their most holy faith; whilst the angels in glory witnessing the power and the glory of Christ snatching brands from eternal burnings, will rejoice and triumph. The public ordinances of God's house are a most blessed appointment of eternal mercy, and should be regarded by every child of God with feelings of the deepest interest and gratitude. Indeed when I consider the natural aversion of the human mind to every thing of divine revelation, and its fixed determination to oppose every appeal that is made to promote the eternal interest of the never-dying soul, I cannot regard an assembly of sinners listening to the word of salvation, as proclaimed in the everlasting gospel, but with pleasure and delight. I am aware that no real, spiritual, and saving good can follow upon the use of any means of divine appointment, only as the Holy Spirit is pleased by his life-giving influence, to render them effectual to the pulling down of the strong-holds of sin and Satan; still it is a pleasing sight to behold the sanctuary of God filled with immortal souls, for surely we may expect according to divine promise, the power of the Lord to be present, turning men from the power of sin and Satan unto God. Doubtless on the coming day, these instances of redeeming love will be displayed in the sight of the nations in different parts of the habitable globe; for is it not written that he will make the place of his feet glorious, and that, by the melodious sound of a free grace salvation, the outcasts of Israel, and those which are ready to perish, shall be brought to his holy mountain and be made joyful in his house of prayer. Indeed when I consider the everlasting love of the Father of mercies as fixed upon them from before the foundation of the world, of the covenant engagements of the man Christ Jesus, who in his own Person bare our iniquities upon the tree, and of the promised energy of the Holy Spirit to make the word of God to run, to have free course, and to be abundantly glorified; I feel warranted to expect that by the preaching of the cross the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame be made to walk, the lepers cleansed, and the dead in trespasses and sins raised to newness of life. My dear sister, for the present farewell; I trust the remnant of our days will be spent in the contemplation of the glories of this mysterious subject: it is here the scenes of eternity past and eternity to come are opened to our admiring view, and by faith we can even now enter into that rest which remains for all those in whose hearts Christ is formed the hope of glory. "Come, saints, and sing in sweet accord, "No sinner, once within its bound, Here's pardon, love, and grace profound, J. M. SERIES OF LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE LATE REV. HENRY FOWLER. Addressed to a Deacon of Gower-st. Chapel. (Never before Published.) No. 7.-To be Continued. My dear Brother, I HOPE this will find you and the friends well generally. I am certainly much better, I have not my attacks so frequent nor so severe as I had. Our God, who is most gracious to the cries of his children, I know is able to lengthen out my share, and if He sees fit that it should be otherwise, his will be done: "the Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the God of the Rock of my salvation." Circumstances here are such that I have a wish to stop another week, both for my health and with a view to settle some matters for Mrs. Hardy. Cannot Mr. Warburton stop another Lord's-day? or, if not, can you obtain Mr. Parsons. I shall leave Leicester to-morrow morning and stop here and there in my way to Stamford, where I shall preach on Thursday night. I suppose Mr. Sloper is in Sussex? Drop me a line by post on Wednesday night if you can obtain a supply, if not I will return on Friday; direct I find Mrs. Hardy surprisingly supported: she is carried quite beyond the intrusions of the flesh, and can rejoice in the all-wise dispensations of her covenant God. Truly there are some spiritual souls here, I can feel it in my preaching, and their loss of dear Hardy, I fear, will not soon be made up. Give my love to the friends in Christ. THE visit on Clapham Common was often the meditation of my heart, and it caused the greater anxiety and longing to escape this Sodom which I felt myself to be in, and I panted for service in a religious family. I soon was granted this desire, and in a sudden and unexpected way: I was walking down stairs very coolly when I put out my ancle-bone, and another person was procured to do my work and I was ordered to lay up which I did a few days, and then became so restless, that all the entreaty of my master, his sons, and nephew could not prevail on me to remain. The afternoon, that I left this place, I called on a friend living on Balham Hill, who was a professor, and knew something of my inward conflict; from this friend I learned that a pious family near there was in want of a servant, it was a place that would suit my mind, and to secure me the situation, went directly to the house, stated particulars respecting me, and returned with an order that I might wait on the Gentleman, which accordingly I did, and was engaged to serve him, while fourteen days were granted me for the recovery of my ancle. I lived in his family seven months, then they left London for Hull, and nothing could prevail on me to go with them; the chief cause was because I found no more happiness in a religious family then I had found in an infidel family, no nor so much. I attended preaching at Lower Tooting and attended family prayers in the parlour, but all this yielded no comfort nor edification, I had no refreshing hope of mercy and forgiveness, nor any meltings of spirit; I seemed like our Lord, led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; this proved a place of temptation indeed : I had never before felt such horrid temptation, and I wondered at myself, and at what had possessed me, for they were sudden and violent, and when past I have wept bitterly to think such thoughts possessed me. I was astonished to see what a poor wretched miserable, sinner I was. It had this effect, however to stab righteous self; it wounded it, but did not altogether kill it, yet I could see there was an overruling power that kept me back from destruction. Here I must suppress particulars, and leave it with those whom Satan hath in the same way tempted, for them to conceive; in this place I expected rest, and to find those who feared the Lord, but I was sadly disappointed, for all the seven months I was with them I never remembered to have heard any godly conversation; all was as the world, of proffits and loss, trade and the news of the day, and I felt joy on leaving them. On coming to London, could get no employ in my business, so engaged with a person to learn the bootclosing: gave him five pounds and three months work, and then married the lady's maid with whom I lived on Clapham Common. In my master I found a sensual devilish spirit, one that was absorbed in every low vice; he was drunk or else ill from his drunkenness six weeks out of the thirteen that I was with him, and I left this violent passionate man without making any progress in the business, and engaged with another, to whom I gave two guineas to finish me, and he paid me a low price for all I did. In this man I found an infidel Christdespising spirit, an insinuating tool of Satan against all holiness; the |