the chapel where I preached the same evening; he had two or three guineas for his lecture, and a carriage to take him to his lodging; also, I had been instrumental in collecting a little money towards that lecture. Oh! how glad should I have been of three pence! This, indeed, tested my submission to the sovereignty of God, and I found it rather hard to believe that He had no favourites among His own children. How true it is, that no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him, as regards temporal prosperity or adversity. The Divine favour or hatred is only known by the giving and withholding of spiritual and heavenly blessings. After some rest, I staggered home, and should have been accused of drunkenness had it been daylight. When I reached home, I found that my poor dear children had gone to bed supperless, with the exception of a few cold potatoes; of which I partook, with a glass of water, and went to bed without saying a word. The severity of my Father's chastening hand struck me dumb; "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it,” said David. Yea, I held my peace, even from good; there was no prayer, for I was troubled at His presence; when I considered Him, I was afraid of Him. But, bed is a sad place at such times; instead of refreshing sleep, there is a feverish tossing to and fro; with occasional prostration, severe pains at the chest and head, accompanied with great terror of mind. I have generally experienced these symptoms from want of food, and under the hidings of the Divine favour. In the morning, my little Eve said, "Father, we are so hungry, and this is my birth-day. Won't you give us a little treat? You know that you promised ?" This appeal gave the last blow to expiring patience, and I cried out, in the words of Luther, "O God! O God! dost thou not hear? My God, art thou dead?" And with the Psalmist, "Remove thy stroke from me; for I am consumed by the blow of thine hand." My darling Emily (who has since departed the miseries of this sinful life) said, “Father! Ŏ father! This seems so shocking, what shall we do?" Adding, "when poor Adam was alive, he let a penny fall through the crack of this floor." I immediately took up the board, and after some time found the penny; I went down to the Wick, where I was not known, and bought a pennyworth of bread. Thus you see, beloved reader, the mysterious way of the Lord with a son and servant, who was made faithful, and valiant for the truth. We should especially recommend this work to those who have been called to walk a chequered pathway. We would also advise those who are favoured with an easy passage through life, to purchase this book, that they may, under God, make an effort to render their poorer brethren timely help; "for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." The Second Part of Mr. Arthur Triggs's Memorial. London: Plymouth. N.; It is with no ordinary interest that we sit down to review the work now lying before us. It has been a matter of great question with many, whether this work would ever see the light. However, time has proved that this Memorial was not to be withholden from the Church; but to go forth as another testimony of the love and faithfulness of our covenant Jehovah. We well remember reading the first part of Mr. Triggs's Memoirs with great savour; and much regretted on closing it that we had not the other to open. The privilege of seeing the second part being now granted us, we hasten to give our readers as full an account as we possibly can in a review. We shall therefore, without further introduction, let our late brother speak for himself in his dedication: To the church of the everlasting God, chosen, sanctified, blessed, accepted, redeemed, regenerated, and made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who are delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of his dear Son. Beloved of the Lord, there is a truth unalterable, and it hath been manifested in the church of the living God in all ages, and the various dispensations, that have succeeded one another in the revolving of years, have not obliterated one grain of that truth relative to the church of God, and every individual member of that church, which are the members of the body of Christ, of His flesh, and of His bones; as it is written, "ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord" (Isa. xliii 10, xliv. 8); and the apostle gives a blessed description of those witnesses, saying "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life (1 John, i. 1). This is a plain statement of four particulars that the Lord's witnesses are in possession of, as the living children of the living God, and from hence arises the true knowledge of the true God, and eternal life (1 John, v. 20). I now proceed to say that during the few years I have been in London, I have often had a desire spring up in the mind to add a few particulars in continuation to my former Memorial of the Lord's loving-kindness and tender mercy towards me and having received many testimonies of the Lord's blessing the truth of the former, the desire is, that the Lord may be still honoured and glorified, Christ highly exalted, and that writer and reader may have joy in the Holy Ghost. One thing I feel certain of, that the Lord will bless nothing but His own truth, and that only to His own people, for their comfort; consequently, what I have in view is to state the gracious dealings of the Lord with me relative to His truths, and His giving me an experience of them, and making them growingly precious to my soul. * * * * * * Now I shall, with the good hand of the Lord upon me, commence with, and write the truth concerning, His dealings with me in various movements from my first coming to London and some of which gracious acts of the Lord many were angry at, and I had great reproach and calumny cast upon me ; but none of those things moved me; for I had a clear conscience that all was right and straight between the Lord and my soul concerning these matters; so I did not fear man nor his reproach nor revilings. This the reader will plainly see in my statement, concerning the Lord's gracious dealings with me relative to Trinity Chapel, the opposition I met with, and how the Lord supported, defended, and delivered me. The very thought of it even now warms my heart, and I say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"—and to His praise I speak it, that I have never been in trouble, trials, afflictions, and persecution, but the Lord hath upheld and delivered me; yet when certain movements are presented a fear will arise, whether they be right or wrong, and this will prompt a cry to the Lord on the account of such. Thus, reader, I have stated the loving-kindness of the Lord to and with me relative to His truth, and the blessedness of the same as known and believed, and the liberty arising therefrom, as demonstrated in the heart by the eternal Spirit; and not only so, but an assurance and perpetual happiness in the Lord; so live and walk by faith, with the full persuasion that "my beloved is mine, and I am His" (Song ii. 16). So writes your servant and brother in our precious Lord Jesus. Our brother having introduced himself to our readers, we will let him tell his own tale without molestation; though we cannot afford him so much space this month as we could wish: I have stated, in my former Memorial, how the Lord removed me from Kingston to Plymouth, and of His goodness and mercy towards me in inclining the hearts of several individuals to favour me; and whose kindness is fresh in the mind, and felt in the warmth of my heart, as I now write. Such mercies in time of need are not quickly erased, and every renewed remembrance of them opens fresh gratitude and thankfulness to the God of my mercies. I will now state the dealings of the Lord with me relative to my coming to London, and my final settling there. : In the year 1835 I had a pressing invitation to go to London to supply for a Mr. A―s. I objected; but he would not be put off, as he wished to come to Plymouth. This was a sore trial unto me, as I had never been out of Devonshire; and many sleepless nights I had in thinking of it, and the length of the journey, and Satan presented great difficulties and many dangers; and, as I was left to judge of these things by the rule of accidents, I concluded the coach would upset, and I might be killed. I may be laughed at for my folly, but what poor thing a child of God is when left to confer with flesh and blood, and to listen to the father of lies; but my nerves had been so shaken that little matters appeared mountains unto me. However, it was so arranged that go I must; but being in such a confused state of mind, and not finding any access to my God in prayer, nor feeling any word from the Lord to still the surges of the mind, I was kept in such agitation, that death and dying were presented, and appeared to terrify me; likewise fearing I should never more see those that were near and dear unto me; and I recollect, the morning I left, I was as a man distracted. I could not say a word to my wife on the subject, but I tried to commend her and the children to the Lord for care and keeping; and that He would preserve them and myself from all evil, and bring me back in safety, that we might see each other's faces again with joy yet in all this proceeding with words, I had nothing before my eyes but the dark picture Satan had drawn; and every part was filled with danger and death. I note down these things for the honour of my Lord, who heard the desires of my heart, though I seemed all confusion of mind; and I believe, as I have said many times, that the Lord hears more prayers of desire, and answereth them, than He doth of the verbal prayers of His children. I speak this from experience, and say, that a living desire, with holy longing from the new heart, given by God, is more acceptable to the Lord than all the wordy forms composed by men. But to return to the morning of my departure, August 12, 1835. I took a farewell of my wife and children, fearing I should never see them any more, but my gracious God was watching over me and guiding me; and I soon found "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven" (Eccl. iii. 1); for I had only rode about three miles, when the Lord spoke His dear word into my heart, and demonstrated it with power, saying, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isa. xli. 10). All fear, danger, death, and darkness fled in a moment; I wept before the Lord for the mercy; felt such love flow out of my heart toward the Lord, that I blessed Him with all my soul; I could trust the wife and children and myself in His dear hands, to do as seemed him good, and the poor mason went on his way rejoicing in the Lord. And here I remark, that I have never started from my home since, to run on the Lord's errands, but He hath spoken the same words to me and into my heart; and I always wait to hear His voice saying unto me "Fear not ;" and, blessed be His holy name, He doth not disappoint me. I arrived in safety, with joy and peace in believing, at Exeter, and put up for the night at my friends Mr. and Mrs. C-n's, No. 80, South Street, with whom I spent a pleasant evening, having known them for some years to be valiant for the truth, and greatly spoken evil of; but I had not much sleep; for the heart was so comforted and strengthened by the divine properties of the word of the Lord communicated, and in the dear abiding of the same, that I lay most of the night blessing and praising Him for His love and goodness toward me. The next morning, after committing myself to the care of my ever to be adored Lord, I started at 5 o'clock from the New London inn, on the coach called the Telegraph, and which ran from Exeter to London in one day; but it was a long one, as I did not arrive till 11 o'clock at night. But as every thing on the road was new unto me, the mind was taken up, that the time seemed to pass quickly; and many a sweet moment of communion I had with my ever blessed and gracious Lord. Six Sermons Preached by Mr. Bidder, Minister of the Gospel, Little Park Chapel, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. We never remember having read six sermons so pregnant with the Word of God. With such a retentive memory, Mr. B. can well afford to leave Cruden on the shelf. The sermons before us contain some of the most precious truths of the "glorious gospel of the blessed God," which we have no doubt will be highly appreciated by the living family. As a specimen, we quote the following: S Now God the Father constituted them "His people" from eternity by a display of His electing love; or, if you like, His electing purpose-separated them from all the people on the face of the earth, or ever should be upon it. Therefore Peter calls them (1 Peter i. 2) "Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." So Paul in Ephesians i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before Him in love." So you find in the first verse of Jude, "Sanctified by God the Father "-set apart from all other people—“ and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." So you find in Proverbs viii. 22, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." And when the Covenant Head was set up from everlasting, all the mystic members were set up and embodied in Him-blessed in Him-abiding in Him: contemplated by God the Father, one with Him, for ever and for ever. Thus you will find, Psalm cxxxix. 13," For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee "—that is, the mystic members of His body, "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all "-as you find in Ephesians i. 23," the Church, which is His body"-mystically, relatively so: "my substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." Yet, all in glorious union to, and oneness with, the dear covenant Head, from all eternity-viewed so by God the Father. * * * * I bless God I am tr not my own '-nor you either. I would not be my own for a thousand worlds. But I am "complete in Him," and shall be in Him to all eternity. How blessed is the gospel when faithfully preached, when fairly brought out! That the children may be able clearly to distinguish what is gospel from the law. THE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. THE Lord hath brought me three days' journey in the wilderness, that He may testify to my heart the emptiness and vanity of all things here below; and though He has graciously supplied all my need, yet it is all a void place without His presence. I do delight in Him as my Beloved, "the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely." My Lord gave me a sweet repast this morning from the 10th chapter of Daniel. What a glorious description the Holy Ghost there gives of His likeness, "who is the image (or impress) of the invisible God, and the first-born (from the dead) of every creature." "This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend." His face is as lightning; or, as the Holy Ghost has it in another place, "as the Sun shining in His strength." I wept such precious tears at the voice of Him that spoke-so overflowing with love-that I was as nothing, and Christ was the desire of my soul, and altogether lovely. "And the voice of His words like the voice of a multitude." Yes, a multitude which no man can number. So vast is His voice, that all heaven is silent: and that voice, once heard, unstops the ears of the deaf, never to be closed again. The soft whisper of His voice in the sinner's heart, will drown all the uproars within, and drive out the strong man, armed with all the weapons of hell. There is another sweet effect of the voice which I felt this morn ing, namely, my comliness was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength; my beauty was gone as a thing burned in the fire; so marred, that I am become a broken vessel in which there is no pleasure. But "thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ," and maketh manifest (in our hearts) the savour of His knowledge. My beauty is in Him the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley; my strength is in Him the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel; and my salvation is in no other God; for beside Him was there no other God formed; neither shall be after Him. Thus my Beloved leads me on from strength to strength, shows me the depths of His love, and the hidden riches laid up in store. There is yet another dear effect that I would notice: "He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not." How often have these dear words cheered and revived my drooping heart, parched with the drought of this howling, barren wilderness. But my Beloved waits to be gracious; He will come again; and His voice will be heard, saying, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." My heart leaps for His coming. I long for my Father's house, where there is music and dancing. May we soon meet Him in the clouds. CHARLES FARMER. |