God has been pleased, in the exercise of his undoubted sovereignty, to assign to his creatures a mixed state of existence in this world. Health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, pleasure and pain, alternate in their experience.

"Tis God that lifts our comforts high,
Or sinks them to the grave;"

and in all the arrangements of his providence, our real, our eternal welfare is consulted. Many of the children of God have felt the benefit of afflictions. They have been chosen in the furnace. Upheld by an unseen, but an Almighty arm, they have endured the heaviest tribulations without repining. Cheered by the great and precious promises of God, they have been enabled to look from this scene of weeping and woe, to that world where there shall be eternal joy and bliss. Oh, what a delightful change will they undergo, when, absent from the body, which has long been racked with pain, or deformed with suffering, they shall be for ever present with the Lord! There are some whom we are accustomed, in all our recollections, to associate with a sick chamber, with bodily distress, with protracted and severe trials; but who, by the meek submission of their spirits, the fervent piety of their hearts, their manifest superiority to this world, and their evident meetness for the world to come, often constrained us to exclaim, as we enjoyed the painful yet pleasing gratification of visiting them, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting."

E. was a remarkable exemplification of a child of God, who had been thus happily taught, amid extraordinary sufferings, neither to despise the chastening of the Lord nor to faint under his rebuke. She was, from her infancy, of a delicate constitution, and, like many in such circumstances, she was remarkable in her youth for sobriety and

seriousness of disposition. At the early age of four she could read the Bible, and even then she was in the habit of attend

ing to secret prayer. Her mother, fearful that her health might be injured by the close application to books for which she was distinguished, at first advised her to leave off her beloved employment, and afterwards considered it necessary to enforce this advice by locking up her books -a step which it may easily be conceived caused E. much grief. At twelve years of age she heard a sermon on the important words of our Lord, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," which so impressed her mind, that fifty years after she declared she could remember the greater part of the preacher's arguments and illustrations.

When about fourteen, to use her own words, "I was reading one evening in the Mother's Catechism, and I came to the question- What are the ordinary means the Spirit makes use of to begin the good work in the souls of men?'-the answer, 'God's word and rod,' very deeply impressed my mind. I could read no longer, but immedi ately sought a place where I might in secret pour out my soul to God. In a retired lane, by the side of a hedge, I was enabled in good earnest to pray to my Heavenly Father, and to implore him to bring me to himself, if he saw fit even by the sharpest scourges of his rod." Little did she imagine, when presenting this petition, that it was to be so soon and so fully answered. A few years afterwards, while living in the humble capacity of a servant, she was in rather a remarkable way visited with an illness from which she never recovered, though she lingered in great bodily weakness and pain for forty two years! The nature of her disease will be best described in her own simple language:-"We were troubled with vermin, and I was ordered to prepare something to destroy them. I did not know the nature of the stuff, and wrought it into a paste with my hands. It was poison, and I was immediately affected by it; and, though every effort was used to counteract its effects, I have never recovered." The extent of her suffering may be conceived, when it is stated, that, during the greater part of illness, she was confined to her bed-her limbs were paralysed, and her whole frame was attenuated. Yet it was no ordinary privilege to visit her chamber. It was a humble abode. It was a place where there was constant bodily distress. It was evidently the habitation of one who was poor in this world ;" but it was sanctified by the spirit of religion. There it was manifest that God dwelt, of whom it is said, "The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked; but he blesseth the habitation of the just." E. felt now the benefit of her

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early attachment to the Scriptures. The Bible was her constant companion. She read it by day, and meditated upon it by night. Her acquaintance with it was at once so extensive and so accurate, as to be often a source of wonder to those who visited her. Its precious truths were applied by the Divine Spirit to her heart in so remarkable a degree, that many took knowledge of her that she had been with Jesus. She was not an active but passive servant of God; but she as really served him as those glorious beings of whom it is said—

"They also serve, who only stand and wait."

To a friend who often visited her, and who declares that in her lowly cottage he received many a salutary lesson which he never can forget, she thus expressed herself a short time before her death :-" During the whole of my long illness, a crucified Saviour has been my comfort and my hope. For about eighteen years I enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace of mind. For the last nine years my prospects have sometimes been bright, and sometimes cloudy. I daily see more of my own unworthiness. I have often grieved the Holy Spirit by my un belief and my backslidings. But the promises of the blessed Gospel have sustained me. They have appeared as stars shining in the midst of my darkness. I cannot, as I wish, keep hold of them; but I have given them to Christ, that he may keep them for me, and I know he is able to keep what I have committed to his hands. I am now near to the end of my journey through this waste howling wilderness. I bless God for all my troubles and trials. I would not exchange my situation, or quit my hopes, for ten thousand worlds. Guilty and worthless as I have been, I firmly believe that, through the perfect righteousness of my dear Redeemer, I shall ere long arrive at yonder happy world, where there shall be no more pain nor death, and where the first prospect of my Saviour will more than make amends for all that I have suffered here below." Not long after thus giving utterance to her feelings, she fell asleep in Jesus.

What but religion could have sustained the mind under such protracted agonies as E. endured?-what but religion could have imparted that serenity and joy to her heart which she so illustriously displayed in the prospect of eternity? Would that the people of God, especially those who occupy the higher ranks in society, were more conversant with such scenes as the sick bed of a humble Christian usually presents. May not God, if we are unwilling to learn the salutary lessons which his afflictive dispensa. tions are calculated to teach, by observing his dealings with others, and seeking to derive spiritual benefit from their experience,

see it to be necessary to apply the rod to ourselves? May we seek, in some humble measure, to imitate the illustrious example of the man of Uz, who could say, "I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not I searched out. I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." May we partake of the pure and holy joy which solaced the heart of Job, not only amid his labours of love, but his heaviest sufferings. "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me."

CONDENSED COMMENTARY.

R.

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine. DEAR SIR,-In the NOTES of the CONDENSED COMMENTARY on 1 Cor. iii. 12, after wood, hay, and stubble, there are the words damnable heresies,' the reading should be, not damnable heresies.' I do not wish to open your pages for a general errata, but as many may be misled by the inaccuracy, and as it misrepresents the opinions of two valuable authors, as well as affects the editor's credit for fidelity in the execution of the work, I hope it will not be deemed improper, in so important a case, to allow the opportunity of embracing the best means of correcting the fault, your Magazine being widely dispersed, and very many of your readers being in all probability among the purchasers of the abovenamed work. In another edition, the above, with some other errors chiefly of a minor kind, will disappear, as there will not be the same reason for hurrying the pages through the press.

I am, dear Sir, very truly yours,
I. COBBIN.

PROVINCIAL.

NEW EVANGELICAL FRIENDS.

It may probably be interesting to some of your readers to know, that the New Chapel erected by the Society of Evangelical Friends of this town, situated in Grosvenorstreet, Chorlton, was opened for Divine worship on Sunday, the 17th of Dec. It is a neat and commodious building, with galleries on three sides, and a spacious schoolroom underneath, and is calculated to accommodate about 700 persons.

The services in the morning commenced at half-past ten, and in the afternoon at three o'clock.

After a silence of about half an hour, prayer was offered up by Mr. Isaac Crewdson, who subsequently read the 55th chapter of Isaiah, and the 2nd chapter of Ephesians, and afterwards addressed the meeting on the freeness and fulness of the invitations of the Gospel, from Rev. xxii. 17: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

The meeting was concluded with an appropriate prayer by Mr. William Boulton.

In the afternoon, the 51st Psalm and the 6th chapter of Luke, were read by Mr. Crewdson, and an impressive sermon was preached by Mr. William Boulton, from 2 Cor. iv. 5: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

The meeting was opened and concluded with prayer by Mr. Crewdson.

The attendance both morning and afternoon was considerable.

It is gratifying to perceive that the necessity of the use of means is becoming so fully appreciated by those who have heretofore been connected with the Society of Friends.

A POOR AND DISTRESSED MINISTER.

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

DEAR SIR,-The Evangelical Magazine from its first appearance to the present day, has been read by a large and an exceedingly interesting portion of the Christian public; persons who know much of the Divine Redeemer, and who are concerned for his glory, and for the usefulness and comfort of his servants. To those persons, especially to the wealthy among them, will you, Mr. Editor, allow me to state the trying circumstances of a useful preacher of the Gospel?

The

The individual in question has supported himself principally by the labour of his hands, earning on an average ten shillings a week. He has never received more than ten pounds a year for preaching, and at present does not receive so much. poor man has a wife and three children; and it will create no surprise that he should find it difficult, with his limited income, to support them. To the tradesman who supplies him with the materials he works upon, he owes about twenty pounds. This sum he knows not how to pay without selling his furniture and the implements of his bu siness. The creditor is urgent. The poor servant of Christ, in a letter to the writer of this, says, If you can do any thing to afford me any assistance, I shall be very thankful; and it may be the means of pre

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venting the temporal ruin of a poor man, who, I hope, wishes to do good." Such, Sir, is his affecting appeal. May God direct it to the eye and to the heart of those who can afford relief.

I have no doubt some will cheerfully contribute to this case, though the name of the poor minister is not given to the public. But his name is known by the following gentlemen, and they will gladly receive for him any sums which the merciful may intrust to their care. The Rev. W. Jay, Bath; Rev. T. Haines, and the Rev. H. J. Roper, Bristol; Rev. T. Binney, London.

Praying that the Magazine, the profits of which are given to the widows of departed labourers, may by this appeal produce something that may sustain, in a trying hour, one who is yet in the vineyard, I remain, dear Sir,

Grosvenor Chapel has been vested in trust, with a view to the union of Independents and Baptists in congregational communion. It was opened for public worship on the 13th of September last. Dr. Reed, of London, preached in the morning; and the Rev. Joseph Baynes, of Wellington, (Baptist,) in the evening. United prayer-meetings were held at halfpast six in the morning, and at two in the afternoon of the same day, when several ministers, of both denominations, earnestly implored the Divine blessing on this effort to extend the knowledge of the Gospel and the benefits of Christian fellowship.

The Revs. Dr. Payne, of the Western