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day. Her husband, who was dangerously ill at the period of her death, has been mercifully restored, and promises to be a faithful and successful servant of Christ among the degraded African slaves in Jamaica.

A

TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION

OCCASIONED BY THE

LAMENTED DEATH

OF MRS. M. A. COULTART.

"All flesh is grass," the voice proclaims aloud,
"All human strength and beauty must decay,
"The gay, the thoughtless, and the busy crowd,
"Must die forgotten, as the winter's day."
Blest saint of God! for ever freed from care,
No more a sufferer in this world of woe;

The heavy cross no longer call'd to bear,
Thy tears for ever now have ceas'd to flow.

Thy steps we've followed thro' the thorny way
Of tribulation, which thy feet have trod;
We now would trace thy flight to realms of day,
And view thee happy in thy Saviour God.
There while thy friends on earth their loss
bewail,

ary of Jesus, she zealously aided the work of missions by her exertions and her prayers. For some time prior to her departure from England, the salvation of the heathen engaged her warmest thoughts, and a world lying in wickedness drew forth the commisseration and sympathy of her benevolent mind. With calm deliberation and composure she viewed the difficulties and privations of a missionary life, and when God in his providence pointed out the way in which she was to walk, she entered upon it with firm reliance upon Him whe hath said, "Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world." This animating declaration she realized in the heart-rending separation with her friends in her departure from her native clime, while exposed to the dangers of the deep, while enThe friends of missions must their loss deplore, gaged in the work of the mission, While Ham's benighted progeny grieve o'er And western India mourn thy early doom; and in the solemn period while walk-Thy sad, thy quick removal to the tomb. ing through the valley of death. The state of her mind a little before her removal is best described by her own words in a letter to a friend in England, dated August 16: "I have lately anticipated with real delight that time when I shall see Him as he is when I shall no more grieve his Holy Spirit, but be transformed to his glorious image." She had long anticipated the period when she should enter into rest, and when seized with the disease that terminated in death, she assured her partner that she was confident of the favour of her God. Her husband observes, that during the intervals of returning reason, which were short, she seemed to have forgotten him and all that was mortal, and to be wholly absorbed in the joys of God's unfading kingdom. She was seized with a violent fever on Sept. 28, while attending public worship, which occasioned delirium, (except at intervals) in which state she remained until October 8, when her weary spirit left mortality, and entered into the joy of her Lord. Thus devotedly lived and gloriously died Mary Ann Coultart. Her sun has indeed gone down at noon, but it has set only to rise more brilliantly, and to shine unobscured by clouds in the regions of eternal

Jesus shall feed thee with immortal food:
Thy Lord Immanuel shall thy soul regale,
With joys which he has purchas'd with his blood.
Though in the silent dust unseen by those
Who star'd thy love, thy faded form was laid,
Yet there's a truth should dissipate their woes→
Jamaica's land shall render up her dead.

E'en now dear Mary's spirit reigns in bliss,
Yet, mighty God, her friends thine aid require;
Into their bosoms drop the balm of peace,
And may they join with her the heavenly choir.
With grace sustain the partner of her soul,
Bereav'd of her who was in mercy given;
O may thy Spirit his torn mind console,
And lead him torwards till he reaches heaven.
H. C.

REV. JOHN PENNY.

DIED, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 1818, at the house of his son, Mr. John Penny, of Scotland-yard, London, the Rev. John Penny, late pastor of the Baptist church in White's-row, Portsea. He had eaten his dinner on Wednesday in good health, but during the afternoon complained of a violent pain in his head, and after a few hours' pain died the next morning at seven o'clock. "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright; the end of that man is peace."

Review.

Pastoral Letters en Nonconformity; addressed to a young Member of a Society of Protestant Dissenters. By the

Rev. Dr. Winter. Black and Son.

We have not room in this review to shew how completely the history of the Establishment is against them; and how much more we owe to WE very much approve the de- statesmen than to churchmen for the sign of these Letters. Their worthy spread of liberal sentiments: but author says, "for many years he we will mention one observation of had observed, that the Dissenters our author which deserves their sewith whom he had been conversant, rious attention. He remarks, that had greatly lost sight of the genuine the Establishment "holds no comreasons of nonconformity;" and he munion with any other Protestant mentions various causes which have national church in Europe;"—and, contributed to produce this effect.it" allows the validity of Romish, For the purpose of exciting the but not of Presbyterian or Congreyounger members of Protestant gational ordination." Introd. p. xiv. congregations to attend to this sub- We are not surprised that the Esject, he has published these "Pas-tablishment should look with too toral Letters." In the course of his jealous an eye on any thing Congre work, he draws scenes, and refers gational: this is natural. But when to events, which, whether altogether Presbyterian ordination is denouncimaginary or not, keep the atten- ed, so that the ministers of the tion alive, and illustrate his reason- Scotch church, though it is estabing. The letters are in an easy, lished by our English legislation, familiar style; the remarks, in ge- are deemed laymen, while a Roman neral, we think important; and the Catholic priest who renouncesPopery author has our thanks for his ser- is acknowledged to be a clergyman, vices in a common cause. Many the sentiments of the English Es will read this little volume, who tablishment are clearly avowed. would not peruse works of a larger size; and we trust that they will read to good purpose. Though the expensive form in which these Letters are printed will prevent their circulation to any great extent, yet we doubt not they will be purchased and read, where a tract of equal value but of meaner appearance would never gain admittance,

Much pains is taken by churchmen to persuade us how tolerant and liberal the Establishment is. Far be it from us to say a single word against many worthy individuals who inculcate this sentiment. We are willing to hope, that they plead for the liberality of their church, because they feel liheral sentiments themselves. They are convinced of the injustice, the folly, and the irreligion of persecution; and therefore they believe, that the church of which they are members, and to which they are attached, cannot be less liberal than they are.

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The first of these "Letters" shews the "occasion of their being written; the second is on "the importanco of the subject;" the third and fourth are on "order and discipline;" and they all contain many observations which deserve attention. The fifth is on "the communion ;" in this Letter the objections to the mode of receiving the Lord's supper in the Established Church are slightly mentioned, but not so strongly pressed as they might have been, We are surprised that the worthy author did not say more on the admission of communicants of various characters without discrimination, which is a general objection to every establishment, and particu larly strong in the present instance, Indeed this is one of the turning points of the controversy.

Our author observes, that obs jections may be raised against the plans adopted by Dissenters as not

scriptural; for instance, against the | Yet they plead for infant baptism

mode of " admitting members to communion by means of a declara- | tion of faith and experience." He replies, we think very fairly, that the rules for discipline in the New Testament are chiefly outlines;-that a church has a right to expect some evidence of a person's faith; and that the method in which this is best obtained, is left as a matter of expedience. Farther, that whenever a church, consisting of a voJuntary society of professed believers, perceives that it has adopted an objectionable plan, it is at perfect liberty to alter it; but in an establishment every thing is fixed, no change can be admitted on any consideration whatever, but by the au- | thority which gives being and operation to the whole system.

The sixth letter is on "Baptism;" in which our author makes many pertinent observations on the expressions used-in the xxvii article of the church-in the Liturgy-and in the Catechism. Of course, the writer takes his own ground as a Pædobaptist; for so doing we do not blame him; but we see, or think | we see, that our sentiments give us a decided advantage over him in the controversy with churchmen. He says, "The doctrine of baptism, as it may fairly be collected from the Articles and Formularies of the church of England, forms in my mind so strong a reason for dissent, that if there were no other, I must enter a protest and say, We must obey God rather than man." p. 71. So say we. We go farther: we also say, that the baptism of infants, on any of the theories on which it is popularly defended, connects them with the church by some species of membership. In the Establishment this is clearly avowed; and hence the church of England exhibits an appearance, which is widely different from that of the church of Christ in its primitive condition. Our Pædobaptist brethren do, in part, recognize a different system; they admit to communion those only who declare their faith in Jesus Christ, and consider them, till they have professed their faith, as not, strictly speaking, church members.

on grounds which suppose that by baptism they are either introduced into some relation to the church, or that some covenant relation before existing is then openly recognized. In consequence, they baptize first, and then enquire, many years after, whether those who were baptized, and who have long had some relation to the church, are believers, and ought to be admitted as churchmembers. Now this state of things, which is the unavoidable consequence of infant baptism, is so different from any thing described in the New Testament, and puts such a new face on the Christian church, that we are surprised candid and thoughtful men should not see how greatly it differs from the original. We must, however, state, that we have no reason for being offended by anything which the worthy author has said in his letter on baptism: we only show our opinion.

Here we cannot help asking, What can be the reason that so few defences of Nonconformity begin with the inquiry, Who ought to be the_members of the church of Christ, and how ought they to be admitted? For if this single question is answered satisfactorily, every thing else can be arranged with ease. But we cannot now enter into the subject; nor ought we, in a review, to trouble our readers with our own speculations. "the

The seventh letter is on Liturgy," and contains a neat short view of the leading objections to an appointed form of prayer. Our author might have pressed the subject much farther, but probably he would say, this would have been inconsistent with his intended brevity.

The two succeeding letters are on "Edification;" and present the reader with many excellent remarks. When persons go from Dissenting congregations to the Establishment, for the professed purpose of edification, except they are impelled by imperious necessity, they either declare, that they think the constitution of the Christian church-its view of the ordinances of the gospel -its discipline-and the principles of its communion, are of no import

ance; or, at least, they cannot com- |
plain of being injured, if others con-
sider this inference fairly deducible
from their conduct. It may be said,
the temptation which draws them
away to the church is sometimes
great. So it may: and the tempta-
tion is doubtless great, that induces
Africans to go to their richer neigh-
bours, and ask leave to put on their
slave chain; (which travellers have
asserted is not unfrequently the
case.) In both instances the cause
is the same: neither party have a
just sense of the value of liberty.

and has led others to amuse themselves with imagining how churchmen would look, if a Dissenter were to parody their speeches, and, by changing a few words, turn them in praise of dissent. Whenever the two parties combine, may they each conscientiously keep in view the leading principles which brought them together; for nothing else can permanently keep them together.

A Sermon occasioned by the lamented Death of her late Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales; preached at Harvey-lane, Leicester, November 16, 1817, by Robert Hall, M. A. Seventh Edition. pp. 63. Button. 2s.

ELOQUENCE is a rare production. It requires so many, and such various intellectual endowments, that but few public speakers have been able to display this excellence. Some orators, however, have appear

The two concluding letters are called "Practical Results." We were much pleased with them. We earnestly wish that the attention of our congregations, and particularly of our younger friends, was more frequently turned to a wise and temperate view of the true state of the controversy between ourselves and the members of the Establishment. Our ancestors in the cause of Non-ed in the senate, at the bar, and in conformity laboured; we have entered into their labours; and we frequently do not sufficiently esteem their exertions. With all their faults, they were a race of men" of whom the world was not worthy." We do not say, that they never exceeded the just bounds of sound reasoning, and of proper feeling. A man who resists an attempt unjustly made to bind him with a shackle, is strongly induced to use a little unnecessary violence, both in his exertions and expressions. This is natural, and a powerful apology instantly arises in his favour, when we recollect the cause which aroused his ardour.

We perfectly agree with our author, on the propriety of co-operating with churchmen " in all plans of doing good, which require not the sacrifice of principle." p. 119. But we have often lamented, that members of the Establishment should have taken occasion, in meetings 'convened for common purposes, and of which a large proportion was composed of Dissenters, to launch forth in unnecessary praises of their excellent church! This eloquence has been observed to excite a smile among some whose opinions were different from those of the speakers:

the pulpit. Our own country has, perhaps, given birth to the most eminent. The names of Burke, of Sheridan, of Pitt, and Fox, stand on an eminence to which but few have attained. It is the opinion of some eminent judges, that the author of this sermon deserves to be classed with the" first three of these mighty men." We are much deceived if there are not many passages in the sermon before us, which will bear a competition with any of their most distinguished speeches; while it is a subject for congratulation, that the piety and evangelical sentiments of our author are not at all inferior to his powers of oratory. The fires of his eloquence, which have been enkindled at the Christian altar, are constantly burning upon it, declaring at once their supernatural origin, and conveying the sacrifices of a grateful heart to the Author of all, as the giver of every good and perfect gift.

We are highly gratified that Mr. Hall has availed himself of the circumstance of the death of her late lamented Royal Highness, for delivering some of the most important sentiments on the vanity of human distinctions and enjoyments, and on the nature and necessity of personal

religion. We trust, that many persons who read this discourse for the purpose of admiring its fine classical allusions, and energetic appeals, will be irresistibly led to act upon the advice it contains, and to seek for that heavenly wisdom who has "length of days in her right hand,

and in her left hand riches and honour."

Our limits will only permit us to make a few short extracts. No

thing can exceed the beauty of the following description, (page 12):

"The first particular which strikes the attention in this solemn visitation is, the rank of the illustrious personage, who appears to have been placed on the pinnacle of society for the purpose of rendering her fall the more conspicuous, and of convincing as many as are susceptible of conviction, that man at his best estate is altogether vanity.' The Deity himself adorned the victim with his own hands, accumulating upon her all the decorations and ornaments best adapted to render her the object of universal admiration. He permitted her to touch whatever this sublunary scene presents that is most attractive and alJuring, but to grasp nothing; and after conducting her to an eminence where she could survey all the glories of the empire as her destined possession, closed her eyes in death."

The sublimity of the description, (page 50,) of the loss of an immortal spirit, is of an high order:

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The nation has certainly not been wanting in the proper expression of its poignant regret at the sudden removal of this most lamented Princess, nor of their sympathy with the Royal Family, deprived by this visitation of its brightest ornament. Sorrow is painted in every countenance, the pursuits of business and of pleasure have been suspended, and the kingdom is covered with the signals of distress. But what, my brethren, if it be lawful to indulge such a thought, what would be the funeral obsequies of a lost soul? Where shall we find the tears fit to be wept at such a spectacle, or could we realize the calamity in all its extent, what tokens of commisseration and concern would be deemed equal to the occasion? Would it suffice for the sun to veil his light, and the moon her brightness; to cover the ocean with mourning, and the heavens with sackcloth; or were the whole fabric of nature to become animated and vocal, would it be possible for her to

utter a groan too deep, or a cry too piercing, to express the magnitude and extent of such a catastrophe ?”

To lead persons to make a due improvement of afflictive circumstances, the following impressive appeal is made to the conscience of the reader, (page 53):

"What may we suppose is the reason of this; why are so many impressed, and so few profited? It is unquestionably because they are not obedient to the first suggestion of conscience. What that suggestion is, it may not be easy precisely to determine; but it certainly is not to make haste to efface the impres sion by frivolous amusement, by gay society, by entertaining reading, or even by secular employment: it is, probably, to meditate and pray. Let the first whisper, be it what it may, of the internal monitor, be listened to as an oracle, as the still small voice which Elijah heard, when he wrapped his face in a mantle, recognising it to be the voice of God. Be assured it will not mislead you; it will conduct you one step at least towards happiness and truth, and by a prompt and punctual compliance with it, you will be prepared to receive ampler communications and superior light. If after a serious retrospect of your past lives, of the objects you have pursued, and the principles which have determined your conduct, they appear to be such as will ill sustain the scrutiny

of a dying hour, dare to be faithful to yourselves, and shun with horror that cruel treachery to your best interests, which would impel you to sacrifice the peace of eternity to the quiet of a mo ment. Let the light of truth, which is the light of heaven, however painful for the present, be admitted in its full force; and whatever secrets it may dis cover in the chambers of imagery,' while it unveils still greater and greater abominations,' shrink not from the view, but intreat rather the assistance of him whose prerogative it is to search the heart, and to try the reins, to render the investigation more profound and impar tial.

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The sight of a penitent on his knees, is a spectacle which moves hea ven; and the compassionate Redeemer, who, when he beheld Saul in that situation, exclaimed, Behold, he prayeth,' will not be slow or reluctant to strengthen you by his might, and console you by his Spirit. When a new and living way' is opened into the holiest of all, by the blood of Jesus, not to avail our selves of it, not to arise and go to our Father, but to prefer remaining at a

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