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put to pain by one who is not able to make good to us the profit of this, would add inconceivable bitterness to the trial. It is this that assures us that all shall yet be well; and it is in the strength of this assurance that we gird ourselves for the battle-field, knowing that we must be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. My sick bed may be most tenderly watched, most skilfully provided for, most faithfully tended, and I may be most sweetly soothed by this fond and unwearied care; yet, if there be no power to heal, no resistless energy, such as sweeps all hindrances before it, then I may still lie hopeless there; but if the power of Christ be present to heal, then I know, of a truth, that all is well.Ibid.

AFFLICTIONS THE BEST EXPOUNDERS OF SCRIPTURE.

"I never," said Luther, "knew the ] meaning of God's word until I came into afflictions. I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters." This teaching, as the fruit of affliction, marks the sanctified from the unsanctified cross; for it might most truly be said, that affliction, under this Divine teaching, explains many a hard text, and seals many a precious promise.-Bridges.

THE DIVINE ORDER, IN RELATION TO SOUL PROSPERITY.

The glory of God and my own happiness are the end of my being. As I wish to be happy, let me observe the order of God. The way to happiness is through love; the way to love is by faith; the way to faith is the Holy Scriptures; and the way to the Holy Scriptures is by the Divine unction. If I have this unction on my spirit, I shall understand the Scriptures spiritually; thus understanding the Scriptures, I shall believe with the heart; and thus believing, I shall love my God and Saviour supremely; and thus loving, I cannot fail of being happy. But, by the commission of sin, inward as well as outward; or the omission of duty,

which may be done in a thousand instances, and often unsuspectedly, through the wrong state of the heart, as well as when conscience remonstrates, the Holy Spirit is grieved. And if so, the Scriptures are neither understood nor relished in a truly spiritual and profitable manner; faith grows languid; the pulse of love gets low; and true happiness expires.— Dr. E. Williams.

UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

The author of David Nasmith's Me

moirs says, that he (D.N.) comes simply as a member of the body of Christ, attaching himself to no sect but that which in Christian fellowship receives all whom Christ has received, and refuses such as fail to give evidence that they are Christ's disciples. He believes that the divisions that exist in the church of God are of the devil; must be most displeasing to God, whose will is that his people should be one not only in spirit, but in visible union; and that they are the great barrier that exists to the spread of the gospel in the earth. Of this he has had the most How long ample and painful evidence. shall it be till the glorious era come, when Christians who expect to sit down at the same table in heaven shall be found sitting together at the Lord's table on earth, and not making that which they call the Lord's table their own, and not Jesus Christ's, by erecting fences which the Master never erected, or throwing it open to the world, and allowing all indiscriminately to come in and eat and drink judgment unto themselves? Happy day! then shall the world again say, "See how these Christians love one another!"-Dr. Campbell.

IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.

Were we to enter more into the feelings of God as a Father, and to think of his eye resting on this broad earth, where so many millions of his creatures are too busy to remember him, we should be better able to understand his complaint

of the restraining of prayer, and his delight in those who acknowledge him. Oh, how little is God accustomed to hear the voice of earnest, heartfelt, persevering prayer! How continually does the Lord witness our anxieties and exertions spent in vain attempts to extricate ourselves, and to effect that deliverance which he is able in a moment to grant in answer to prayer. Men may be brought to their wit's end, and never think of calling upon God; yet if, even then, they cry unto the Lord, he will bring them out of their distresses. In every circumstance and trial of life, whether in extremity of

homeless wandering, in poverty and hun-
ger, in prison and cruel bondage, in
disease, pining sickness, and when at the
point of death, on the stormy deep and
in the threatening tempest, or when
vegetation fails and famine feeds on once
fruitful fields; let men but then turn to
the Lord with strong crying and tears
in all these calamities, and they shall
find that he is very pitiful and of tender
mercy. Whoso is wise, and will observe
the various turnings of this changeful
life, shall learn from them all the loving-
kindness of the Lord.-Stevenson.
March 6th.

LEDNURA.

HOWELL HARRIS AND THE ARMINIAN CONTROVERSY.
To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

MY DEAR SIR,-Previous to the first interview that Mr. Harris had with the Rev. John Wesley, it appears that the religious principles of the former were Calvinistic, or at least agreeable to the seventeenth article of religion avowedly held by the Church of England. He believed in "Predestination and Election," but maintained what he considered to be true with caution and prudence, never forgetting the claims of duty, and the interests of practical piety. He also endeavoured to " keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." In doing this, his "moderation" was "known to all men," so that those who differed from him in judgment, bore witness of his charity before the church and the world. This was invariably done by Mr. Wesley in his journals, as may be shown by many passages, written during the controversy which he himself had awakened by his preaching and writings.

In giving an account of a journey to Wales, where he was to meet Mr. Harris in Monmouthshire, near the New Passage, he says, "We rode to St. Bride's in the Moors, where we were met by Mr. Humphreys and Thomas Bissicks, of Kingswood. A few of us retired, in order

VOL. XXV.

to provoke one another to love and good works. But T. Bissicks immediately introduced the dispute, and others seconded him.

This Howell Harris withstood. Going to a neighbouring house, on the following day, I found Mr. Humphreys and T. Bissicks tearing open the sore with all their might. On my coming in, all was hushed. But Mrs. James, of Abergavenney, (a woman of candour and humanity,) insisted that those things should be said to my face. Then followed a lame piece of work. But although the accusations brought were easily answered, yet I found they left a soreness on many spirits. When Howell Harris heard of what had passed, he hastened to stand in the gap once more, and with tears besought them all to follow after the things that made for peace. And God blessed the healing words which he spoke, so that we parted in much love, being all determined to let controversy alone, and to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified."

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But, in reference to this controversy, it may be well to hear Mr. Harris him

*Wesley's Works 8vo. 1809. Vol. ii. pp. 113, 114.

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self. In an unpublished letter, dated Trevecca, Oct. 4, 1740, he thus writes to Mr. John Lewis:-"Self is the idol that would keep us in opposition to Christ. When Christ offers us his righteousness, self cries, 'I am not naked and destitute.' When he offers us his power, we cry, 'What! can I do nothing? Have I not power of myself? Am I a stock, or a stone?' We are, indeed, as hard, dead, and senseless to his calling and love as a stone; but we are worse than this. The stone abides where you leave it, but we run from God. When he would be our light, we say, 'What! am I blind? Have I not light already? Where is my reason?' Thus are we rich in our own esteem; and who can take the veil from our understandings, and the rebellion from our wills, but he who spoke light from darkness, order from confusion, and life to dead Lazarus? And what can move him to this, but his own free, sovereign will and good pleasure? And what can his end be, but his own glory? For this let us contend, with all meekness, gentle-❘ ness, and love towards those who have the will to give him all the glory, though they are not yet taught of him to do it. They think they glorify him most by contending that he loves all his creatures with an equal love; but I am taught otherwise, not of men, but of God. O, my dear brother, the sight of God's distinguishing love to me quite overcomes me. When I might have been an Indian, I am a Christian! When I might have been lifting up mine eyes in torments, I am favoured with the tender mercies of the Lord! Why am I not a blasphemer, a persecutor, a total backslider? Is it because I was more careful and watchful, and made better use of the grace given me, than others did? No-no one has been more trifling and unfruitful. Is it not, then, because he who loved me changes not? O, my dear brother, this is food to those who have the law of God written in their hearts, that they are safe, not because they are faithful, but because God is unchangeable; and while

he remains faithful to his word, no one shall pluck them out of his hands. O glorious covenant, well ordered in all things and sure! This covenant, I think, is too little studied and known. O that I knew how to set forth the glory of God's distinguishing and unchangeable love!— I received a letter from brother Charles Wesley, and one from brother Seward, from which I find that some misunderstandings have arisen between them, so as to cause them to separate! I fear that our dear Master is not pleased with this, and that his kingdom will not be thus established. Labour for peace, my dear brother; for though our brother, John Wesley is not yet enlightened to see God's electing love, yet, as I firmly believe that he is one of the elect, God will, in his own time, show that to him which is now, for some wise end, hid from him. In the mean time, let him not oppose it, and we will agree in other things, until he sees with us. Last Thursday I had the honour of being apprehended by two justices, and next Tuesday I am going to take my trial, and expect to be imprisoned. My Lord not only bids, but enables me to 'rejoice and be glad.' O that the children of God did taste what sweetness there is in the cross! If they did, they would never be terrified at the thought of it, but would be almost tempted to long for it. When my trial is over, I shall send you a particular account of the whole, and from my new lodging. I hope to write to brother Seward and the Wesleys. shall labour to unite them in affection, till the Lord more fully unites them in judgment. Shall the servants of Jesus contend for anything but love? May the same mind that he has given you, be more abundantly bestowed upon your friend and brother in the Lord, Howell Harris!"

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And now, my dear Sir, on reading the above, I doubt not that you will unite with me in admiring the spirit and character of the noble-minded and pious writer, or rather in glorifying God on his

account. For my own part, I reflect with increased satisfaction on the trouble I took in writing the memoirs of so excellent a man, and am the more fully persuaded that I committed no error in holding up his character for the imitation of others. However we may hesitate to approve of his establishment at Trevecca, on account of which he was blamed by many, and suspected by others, as to the purity of his motives, we surely ought to recollect that our Moravian brethren erected their settlements in England about the same time, and that our seraphic Whitfield had his Orphan House in America. Was Mr. Harris more worthy of blame and suspicion than his friend, who collected public money for an object which failed to answer his too sanguine expectations? It is certain, however, that the establishment of Mr. Harris, (now happily converted into a college for the education of the rising ministry among the Calvinistic methodists in Wales) had the approbation of Mr. Wesley, and that his good opinion of its founder was never altered. In his Journal, under the date of March 19, 1756, when he visited Mr. Harris at Trevecca, in his way to Ireland, he says, "Before I talked with him myself, I wondered that he did not go out and preach as usual. But he now informed me that he had preached until he could preach no longer, his constitution being entirely broken. While he was thus confined, he was pressed in spirit to build a large house, though he knew not why, or for whom. But as soon as it was built, men, women, and children, without his seeking, came to him from all parts of Wales; and, except in the case of the Orphan House at Halle, I never heard of so many signal interpositions of Divine Providence." Be

ing again at Trevecca, in August, 1763, Mr. Wesley observes, that about six score persons were then in the family, "all diligent-all constantly employed-all fearing God and working righteousness." Could it, therefore, be proved that this was not the result of Calvinistic opinions, it will be admitted that, in connection with them, this family was in possession of that "godliness" which is "profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Hence Mr. Wesley adds, "Howell Harris's house is one of the most elegant places which I have seen in Wales. The little chapel, and all things round about it, are finished in uncommon taste; and the gardens, fish-ponds, and mount adjoining, make the place a little paradise." Being again at Trevecca, in 1755, (two years after Mr. Harris's death,) he exclaims, "What a lovely place! and what a lovely family! still consisting of about six score persons. So the good man is turned again to his dust! but his thoughts do not perish." Such was the love of Mr. Wesley for a Calvinistic brother, and such his admiration of those from whom he differed in judgment on points of religion, which should not alienate the affections of one Christian from another!

Hoping that the example of brotherly love, moderation, and forbearance thus supplied, will not be without use in promoting that union among Christians of various evangelical denominations which is now earnestly desired, and the effect of which cannot be otherwise than beneficial to the church and the world, I remain, with much esteem, and best wishes for the success of your efforts,

Sincerely yours,

J. B.

TAHITI.

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

DEAR SIR,-Ought not the interests of Tahiti to occupy a large share of our attention at the present moment? Allow

ing the longest time usually employed in the voyage from these regions to those of the South Sea Islands, the great armament

fitted out in France some months ago, and destined to complete the subjugation of Tahiti, cannot be far from its destination, supposing that the Lord has allowed it to pursue its course without interruption. Under such circumstances, ought not the Lord's people to be more than commonly earnest in the closet, in the family, and in the public assembly, in prayer for our suffering brethren in Tahiti? It appears to me that it should be so; and, under this impression, I have attempted to compose a hymn on the subject, which I beg leave to send you

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FERVENT PRAYER.

(From the German.)

Poetry.

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How precious is the word of peace,
That publishes our full release

From Satan's dreadful sway!
It tells of an atonement made,
And plenteous grace in him display'd,
Who takes our guilt away.

The gospel places heaven in sight,
Brings immortality to light,

And victory o'er the grave;
The fear of death it overthrows,
And help in one that's mighty shows,
Who came mankind to save.

Here robes of righteousness are shown, For those who now their Saviour own,

And will the gift receive;

In Him is life, and light, and grace,
For those who paths of wisdom trace,
And in their Lord believe.

While some the blessed hope despise,
And from the truth avert their eyes,
To perish in their sin;
May I the Saviour's mercy prove,
Until I shall, in realms above,

His endless praise begin!

J. B.

1, Windsor-terrace, St. Paul's, Bristol.

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