"I want two ;" then four; then six ; and when he had them he said, "I think I want nothing else." "Yes," said his friend, "you will soon want another thing; that is, a hearse to carry you to the grave;" and that made him tremble. -Whitfield. PRECIOUS GEMS FROM THOMAS GOODWIN'S CASKET. WE sail to glory, not in the salt sea of our tears, but in the red sea of Christ's precious blood. A HEART full of grace is better than a head full of notions. NOTIONAL knowledge, it makes a man's head giddy, but it will never make a man's heart holy. THERE cannot be a better being for us, than for us to be with the best of beings. Он, sin is that mark at which all the arrows of vengeance are shot. HE can never truly relish the sweetness of God's mercy, who never tasted the bitterness of his own misery. A BELIEVER'S dying day is his A SANCTIFIED heart is better than a crowning day. silver tongue. LINES Poetry. Written on the cover of an old Bible, at the time when many banks stopped payment. THIS is my never-failing Bank, 'Tis when my stock is spent and gone, Sometimes my Banker, smiling, says, แ Why live so niggardly and poor? To what my bank contains for me, And draw again to-morrow. Base unbelief will lead the soul You're sure to get your cash. Nay, if you have but one small note, I'll go again, I need not fear Sometimes, with blushes in my face I know if Moses kept the bank But ah, my bank can never break, My bank can never fail; Should all the bankers close their doors, For whom the Saviour died. "Lord, if thou wilt, thou can;" The Banker paid his little note, And healed the dying man. Behold, and see the dying thief, Hung by his Banker's side; He cried, "Dear Lord, remember me;" He got his cash, and died. His blessed Banker took him home And there to shout his Banker's grace, With millions more, Jehovah's choice, By DANIEL HERBERT. Correspondence. To the Editor of the " Voice of Truth." DEAR SIR, -The subject of pastors and churches calls for some notice,-why it is that after the lapse of a few months a union which had been confirmed in the presence of several ministerial brethren, with a prospect of several years' happy union as pastor and people, is suddenly brought to a close. Is there not a cause? From what the writer has seen during nearly forty years he has been an itinerant, he is obliged to acknowledge that in five cases out of six it arises from the lordling spirit of those who sustain office in the church,-men who show more of the dictatorial than they do of the spirit of Christ; men who think the pulpit and the church entirely embodied in themselves. Many of them from their want of education and unlovely deportment cause a depressing influence to be felt by the minister, and retard the spiritual progress of the church. I will give you one instance. A brother in the ministry, on a Lord's-day in last month, supplied a neighbouring church; he was there before the time for service, and one of the deacons thought from his appearance he must be an Arminian, told him that they must have the truth to a certain standard, else it would not suit them. Alas, alas this is the spirit which breaks up churches, makes so many small sections, which are no credit to us as a Strict Baptist body. I would affectionately ask both deacons and members prayerfully to study 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. The text relates to three particulars,-knowledge, love, peace. For the present I will briefly notice the first, "knowledge." We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you." It would be well, we venture to think, if the churches generally would know those who are to labour among them before they become finally settled over them as their pastors. Not a few of the evils which are felt and deplored among our congregations have arisen through too hasty a decision in the choice of him who was to minister to them in holy things. A few showy or striking sermons, with very little opportunity of judging of a man's disposition, his general qualifications for the numerous duties of a pastor, as well as those of a preacher, his adaptation to the sphere he is to occupy, or the suitability of the people to his particular cast of character;—a few such engagements have been considered sufficient to justify a compact, and to seal a union, which is second in importance to none on earth. "Let them not sacrifice truth for talent." Let them be careful how they choose a man who, even in his probationary sermons, seems to have come from Athens rather than Jerusalem, and to have brought them enticing words of man's wisdom, instead of the doctrine of the cross; no brilliancy of genius, no fluency of speech, no power of oratory, should reconcile them to suspected error, or even a deficiency of evangelical truth. Would you have the church prosperous, peaceful, useful, happy? We beseech you to know them who are to labour among you, and to be over you in the Lord; know their temper, their character, their talents, their piety. We beseech you to know them after they are settled. Constancy and consistency are most valuable elements in the attachment of church members to their pastors. Some are ready to pluck out their eyes for them before they are settled over them, and a very brief period afterwards the gold has become dim. A spark is at once kindled, and for the want of some kind brother putting his foot upon it, it is fanned into a flame, and the union of pastor and people is prematurely brought to a close. The church in its individual members, and in its united capacity, ought to be conscientiously scrupulous in its attendance on the preaching of the gospel, Whatever place be vacant in the general congregation, that of the members (health and circumstances permitting) ought always to be filled, and filled in time. What an injurious example do many set in this respect! They come creeping into their seats during the reading of the scriptures, or during the prayer, as if they were ashamed of themselves, or what is still worse, they come stalking up the aisles, disturbing every body, as if they were not ashamed. Such should take the first seat in the pew, instead of making those who were comfortably seated turn out while some lady with her extensive dress finds her way to the top of the seat. Many are not regular in their attendance on the Sabbath; they suffer a small matter to detain them from the house of God, and seem to consider one service in the day sufficient to satisfy the wants of their souls. Such cannot truly "hunger and thirst after righteousness." And how disappointing is it to the pastor, when he has heard of the trials, or losses, or distress of some family, or the temptation or declension of some other, and has had them particularly in view in the preparation of his discourse, and made it a subject of earnest supplication, that he may have a word in season to him that is weary, or weak, to find the very persons, of all others, for whom he has been labouring, are absent. Attendance on services should not be confined to the Sabbath. Are the week-day services necessary? Are they beneficial? Are they spirit-stirring and refreshing? Does the pastor lay himself out to make them so? Is he constant and punctual in his attendance upon them, ill or well? Then surely the members of his church should rally round him on these occasions, and manifest by their constancy, their attention, and their desire to attract others, that they "very highly esteem him in love for his work's sake." A few do this, and are always in their places; but only a few. The church should manifest an earnest desire for the increase of the congregation; they should never be satisfied while there is a seat vacant in the house of God. But attendance is not all; there must be attention as well as attendance,-earnest, prayerful attention, if you would secure profit; and nothing less than this will satisfy a pastor after God's own heart. Not only take heed when ye hear, and be in time, and take what ye hear, that it be the simple earnest truth of the gospel; but take heed how ye hear, so that the seed sown may "bring forth fruit, in some thirty, in some sixty, in some a hundred-fold." Let every discourse be known, felt, and improved. We beseech you to know them who are over you in the Lord, and admonish you. Chelsea. KEALY. Your Glemsford, March 29th, 1858. MY DEAR BROTHER THOMAS, dear wife's acceptable letter came to hand this morning, and although not feeling so well to-day as sometimes, yet better than at others, I therefore attempt a line to you. I could not but hope and believe when I last saw you, that ere this my tossings on the stormy billows of mortal existence, and soul-felt tribulations would have been ended, and my endless repose in immediate communication with the unknown delights in the Saviour's bosom have eternally begun. But not so brother, not so. The most profound wisdom of the holy, holy, holy Trinity in the one adorable Jehovah had ordained it otherwise, and consequently your poor unworthy brother is still a sojourner in Baca's vale, but, blessed be God, not without some glimpses of the promised land of visions and wonders as just before him. The ordination above referred to, the virtue and power of which has at least effected an unexpected temporary change in my mortal frame, is unquestionably perfectly glorious in itself, although to me it is altogether incomprehensible; and notwithstanding the execution of the ordination in this particular thereof, did somewhat disappoint my too cherished desires for an unseasonable departure to be with Christ, yet I pray the blessed Trinity to make the same disappointment work my present and eternal good, and the good of others, by the perfection of glory which there is in the said ordination. Nor am I honours to sovereign love, streaming blood, prevailing intercession, and free grace triumphs,-without a good hope that such will be the desired, exulting, and blissful consummation. Hence my prayer is to have such measures of the Holy Ghost's quickening influence in the divine life that I may be practically willing to live God's pleasure, and also ascend the precious mount and die at his loving command. But, dear brother, hourly experience teaches me that I absolutely need perpetual renewings from the throne of the glorified God Jesus, to be in fellowship with the beings of a position of soul so rich in the unearthly complacencies of so heightened a resignation. And I have no doubt but it is for the present your praiseworking mercy to feel the same necessity, and also to be led in the same way as your brother is in his measure to seek to realize. You know as truly and as assuredly as I do, who it is that still says, "Ask, and ye shall receive." You know who is on the throne, making intercession; you know who has promised powerful and loving applications to the soul's spiritual necessities. You know who is able at any moment of his pleasure to drown the oppressive sense of our afflictions, miseries, temptations, and tribulations, in the pure fountain of his all-precious blood, and thereby make us both sing, "The Lord liveth, and blessed be our rock, and let the God of our salvation be exalted." Amen. Your afflicted brother, ever. R. BARNES. Glemsford, June 20th, 1854. MY DEAR FRIENDS IN HIM WHO IS ALPHA AND OMEGA, -I ought to have written to you a great while before this, and many times did purpose doing so; but alas! what poor uncertain things are creature resolves! You know, my friends, somewhat about what such things are, and can, therefore, sympathize with one who has to ascribe it to mercy alone that he is out of hell; and to infinitely glorious grace alone that he has any prospect of going finally to be a dweller in the heavens for But for grace abounding with a much more, my case would not only be a wretched, but also a desperate one. I am more than ever sensible of this, and do consequently see more than ever the necessity of the blessed Lord Christ being my and in all." Well, his adorable name be praised that he is better than all things to those who feel solemnly that they are in themselves worse than all things. Yes, he not only extends his great and marvellous mercies to such poor needy worms, but is himself the crown of all the precious mercies that he bestows upon them. And herein we see a most stupendous miracle of love, for in that the gift of a kingdom to poor sinners deserving hell, is truly won "All derful; but to have the King himself given with the kingdom, this certainly must be something more than wonderful. Salvation of this character, how remarkably precious! and Jesus himself the everlasting crown of that salvation, oh how inconceivably glorious! I want, my dear friends, to know more believingly, more experimentally, by way of fellowship blessedness, about this soul-feeding mystery of endless preciousness; but only the blessed Spirit can verify the glorious Jesus and his glorious things in the experience of my soul, and thereby make it sing joyfully the whole of the 23rd Psalm. Precious psalm! truly precious are the representations made of Jehovah Jesus therein! precious the fellowship of the soul with him when there is a powerful application thereof; and precious beyond all expression is the heavenly blessedness realized by the home-going heir when he is made to lie down in the green pastures of Christ's revealed charms, and led beside the still waters of an infinitely glorious and refreshing love. What a wonderful hymn is that! Isaiah xxvi. 1, 2, 3, 4. Do my friends often sing it amidst the bustling scenes of great London? Do they hear the trumpet that gives a certain sound, and where the name of Jesus is as ointment poured forth--the tastes of his sweet love are better than wine? Are you favoured to abide fast by the footsteps of the flock, and to see much of the lovely appearances of glorious Shepherd of Israel? Received a letter, a very short time since, from Mr. Baynes, Saffron Walden. Sorry to learn that the church there is divided. The seceders want me to go and preach to them, but have declined doing so at present. Received your very kind invitation by Mrs. J. Watts, for which I sincerely thank you. I know of no persons in all London that I should more like to visit than you, my dear friends; but have suffered much from internal weakness, from great nervous debility, insomuch that the magnitude of the ministry, together with other things therewith connected, press heavily upon me, that I have often to cry to my incar nate God, "I am oppressed; undertake for me. Indeed, I feel not unfrequently unfit for home, and still more so to leave home. Have you of late heard of poor Emily? Pray do not follow my example, but write to me very soon. To the glorious Christ I commend you and yours. Amen. Pray, my dear friends for unworthy ROBERT BARNES. Reviews. The End of all Things; or, the Coming and It is extremely gratifying to learn that the first volume of this series-for such we hope it will be-reached a third edition in less than six months; and that according to the testimony of a millenarian, alluded to in the preface to the second volume, it has "entirely changed the views of some millenarians," and "greatly unsettled the minds of others." Both these effects we expected it would produce; and both these effects we anticipate from the second volume, which in nowise comes short of the first in spirit, style, or argument. Mr. Grant has written well and ably, with ease and perspicuity, on a subject which is capable of being presented by gifted millenarians in a fascinating manner, and producing upon minds of a certain cast the influence of a charm. His two volumes form a counter-charm, and when rightly used will go a long way towards disenchanting the enchanted. The question is not whether the adopttion of pre-millenarian views, however complex or heterogeneous, be compatible with saving faith in the Lord Jesus, or with intellectual gifts, or with moral excellencies; for all these are admitted. Nor would we be slow to acknowledge that among pre-millenarians may be found Christians whose faith is undoubted, ministers whose talents we could envy, scholars at whose feet we could sit, friends whose society we value, and sires whose judgment in every other thing we appreciate, and to whose counsels we should defer. Nevertheless, we object to the pre-millennial theory on the ground of its heterogeniety, or its entire absence of unity and clearness. If ever the learned adage of "tot homines tot sententia -so many men, so many minds-had an accentuated application, it has in relation to the premillennarian hypothesis, as may be seen in "Plain Papers on the Millennium," by W. Palmer: Houlston & Wright. Perhaps we cannot do better than give that author's objection to the system, so skilfully handled by Mr. Grant. The absence of unity in its parts-the discordancy of its advocates-the absurdities it contains-its uncertainties and contradictions-the esta " blishment of the physical-force principle, with unparalleled carnage and distribution of plunder among the saints,-making the millennium a doctrine dripping with blood its secularization of the reign of Christ the obscurity it throws over the spiritual teachings of Christianity-the injurious manner in which it operates on the spiritual life of believers-the re-imposition of Judaism which it advocates, but which is neither possible nor desirable-its repugnancy to the priesthood of Christ—the general disturbance it causes to the economy of redemption-its alleged insufficiency of the means of worship, and of Divine grace under the present dispensation, and its near approach to the sin against the Holy Ghost: see pages 65— 112 of Plain Papers, &c. Pre-Millennialists profess to be more spiritually-minded than other professing Christians; but literalize the Scriptures, and you literalize those who imbibe them. And so far as our observations reach, we are bound to say that such spirituality is not within our knowledge. Viewed in the bulk, pre-millennialists appear to us greatly like other men. They eat, they drink, they marry and are given in marriage. They buy in the cheapest markets, sell in the dearest, and get gain without any compunction of spirit, or any new principles of commerce, that we know of. They rise up early and late take rest, to obtain the corruptible things of this perishing world. They ply their earthly callings, and speculate with feverish anxiety, not like men who are expecting an immediate conflagration, or the visible coming of the Son of Man; but like men whose inward thought is that they shall continue for ever, and who call their houses after their own names. We observe them get rich, purchase estates in perpetuity, obtain long leases, make wills, and transmit their property by testamentary instruments duly executed. We do not say they are men of the world," nor censure prudent care; but how can they reconcile their conduct to their creed? Do they believe what they believe? Or is faith a religious peg for hanging one's hat on? That millenarianism does not necessarily imply spirituality is evident from the fact, that the Mormonites "Latter Day Saints." We observe, too, millenarian clergymen who are pluralists, are |