had she pored over this blessed book, her sole companion and counsellor, till she was brought to trust her all on Jesus Christ. Her case furnishes a remarkable instance of the power of the Divine Word, alone, and apart from all human instrumentality to enlighten the mind in saving truth. As some of the readers of the Chronicle may be glad to hear of such conversions in Ireland, and may be interested to know something of the way in which the change was wrought in her mind, I will give the account in her own untutored words, as noted down at the time from her own lips: When I read the New Testament, I gave up the prayers and the forms of the church. I saw that they could do me no good; the priest could do nothing for me; I could do nothing for myself. None but Christ; for He says, without me ye can do nothing.' It was by reading the Saviour's own words and promises that I was led to trust in Him and His blood alone. The first thing that brought me to know and love Him was reading all the merciful things and miracles that He did, and the promises he made to them that believe in Him. I loved to read the place where it tells about the raising of Lazarus and where Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live' That was a great promise! I liked the Gospel of St. John, because it has so much of the words of Christ in it. I had it nearly all by heart. When I began to get sorry for my sins, I sometimes thought I would die in them; I was so distressed, I could not sleep at night; I grew nervous, and would all shake, and I could scarcely walk at last. I spoke to a man about the trouble I was in, having lost my faith in the church. He told me to speak to the priest, but I knew he could not convince me, and that it would only cause trouble and anger, so I did not go to him. In all my struggling and striving in the world, it was still the uppermost thought with me, how I could be saved. After I saw that there was no other way but through Jesus, I had great doubts and fears. Sometimes I would think this way will not save me; it will take something else to do.' I was taught that if I did not live up to the rules of the church, and believe in it, I could not be saved. Then I would think some evil temptation had come over me to believe in Christ; but when I would go to the book, I saw then that it was right to trust in Jesus. I often wondered if anyone else had the same belief as I had. I sometimes thought there was no one in the world believed as I did, but, whether they did or not, I was determined that I would hold on by my faith. For about three years after this I did not join any church, nor did I intend to join any. I said to myself that I would stay at home and read my Bible, and trust in Christ to save me But I was not happy; I thought I could not live on in that way, and that I must let it be known to some one. A woman reported me among the neigh bours that I was turning Protestant, and a man who was a great Catholic came to see me. He asked me if I prayed much, and what I thought was the best prayer to pray. I asked him what he thought was the best. He said it was to pray to the blessed Virgin to intercede with her Son for me. I said I could not pray that prayer, for I did not believe that she knew anything at all about me. 666 "The way I came not to believe in praying to saints and angels was by reading how our Saviour taught His disciples to say,Our Father in Heaven,' and I could not see any place where we are allowed to pray to any but God. One day, coming home from chapel, I saw a woman beating her breast and saying, 'Holy Mary, have mercy on me!' and I thought what a great sin it was to take the power off the Lord and give it to the Virgin. The first thing that led me to doubt the rules of the church was the place where it tells of the Lord giving the cup as well as the bread to his disciples, but the priest gives us only the bread. At first I thought I had not taken the right meaning out of the words, or that I did not know enough of the Scriptures. I tried to persuade myself that I was wrong; but when I read the word over again, I saw it was so plain that I could not be mistaken. I went to chapel for some time after I knew the truth, but I was very unhappy; I felt it was like a hypocrite to go when I did not believe in their ways. The last time I went there, I did not go in; I stood at the door till all was over; but I could hardly reach home after it, I was in such a state, thinking how sinful it wasthe greatest sin—for me to pretend to be what I was not. I said to myself, 'I would never go again to please the people; better to stay at home, and let them condemn me.' They told me that I could not be saved out of the true church; they said if I would read the Bible it would be my ruin. They prayed prayers on me (ie., cursed me). One man said to me, 'Was it not an awful thing for anyone to sell their soul to hell for the world?'-as much as to say that I was turning for gain. At last I told my mind one night to the Sunday-school teacher of my master's children. She advised me to go and speak with a minister in town. I went to him, and he asked me, 'Do you believe that Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to die for sinners?' I said I did. Then he told me to lay my sins on Jesus, and to believe that He died for me and would pardon my sins. He told me to believe that very instant, and my sins would be forgiven; and so they were. I had doubts and fears before that time; but I had peace then. I felt sure then that I was right in trusting to Jesus. I felt that I was free then. I had no more trouble about my sins. I never saw my past sins after I believed. I was so happy on my way home that evening, as if I was in another world. I was so overjoyed that I could not sleep that night, knowing that all my sins were pardoned. about "At the first I did not think about the true baptism; I had never heard of it; but when I read about the people confessing their sins and being baptized in the Jordan, and about a devout man being sent to Paul to bid him rise and be baptized, and persons being baptized after they believed, I thought I ought to be baptized. I could not see anything in the Bible about infants being baptized. I never counted my baptism in infancy a baptism; so I was still unhappy in my mind because I was not baptized. When I read about our Saviour going down into the water, and coming up out of it again, I thought I would like to be baptized as he was.' "I will only add, that soon after my first interview with this convert, she followed the example of her Lord in the waters of baptism, and is now united in the fellowship of our church. Since her abandonment of the Romish faith she has been obliged twice to shift her residence in town. The Catholics have withdrawn their custom from her little shop, which she has been forced to abandon; and fearing, from their threats, that her life was in danger in their neighbourhood, she has been received as a servant in the household of a member of our church. "Yours truly, "R. M. HENRY. "The Rev. C. J. Middleditch." CARRICKFERGUS. The infant cause in this town is very encouraging. The services of Mr. Hamilton are well received, and he is much cheered by the hearty co-operation of the people. A new chapel, measuring 50 feet by 30 feet, is nearly completed. The total cost of the chapel, which is built of stone and slate, is but little more than £200; towards which £167 have been given and collected by Mr. Hamilton and his friends. DERRYNEIL, CLOSKELT. The new chapel at this interesting station has been built, and is now used for worship; but the people have prudently refrained from any outlay beyond what was needful for the walls and roof. No seats have yet been fixed, the congregation sitting on planks supported by stones; nor has the floor yet been laid, the people being content at present with mere shelter from the weather. The chapel is a plain substantial building, of stone and slate, capable of holding 350 persons. The whole cost of it in its present state is £200. The amount of money raised by the people is very small, for they have but very little of " the current coin of the realm;" but many of them have worked with their own hands in obtaining and carrying materials for the building. About £160 are required to meet the present liabilities. ATHLONE. MR. BERRY Writes: “August 9th, 1864. "On Sunday, the 7th, I had a happy time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Four of our young converts from the neighbourhood of Moate came here, a distance of ten miles, and were baptized. This to me is a token of God's blessing. These four make up twenty-seven young persons baptized since I came to Athlone. May God be praised! These four dear young friends are cousins, a brother and sister of each family. Others are likely soon to follow. "I should have informed you earlier that at the commencement of the summer I commenced a Bible-class in Athlone. This class, for Athlone, is numerously attended. We read a portion of Scripture, each explaining his own verse, and then submitting to the general impression. Along with reading we have a subject for each night. I will just give you our subjects up to this time:-PREDICTIONS of the Birth, Place, Suffering, &c., &c., of Christ. TYPES-Places, Persons, Things. DOCTRINES-New Birth, Repentance, Conversion, Faith, Justification, Imputed Righteousness, Adoption, God's Faithfulness to His Promises. I believe God is blessing this class to our young people. It will give you pleasure to know that the last Sunday in June I preached the Annual Sermon in the Methodist Chapel, Tullamore, on behalf of their aged ministers and widows. From Tullamore I proceeded to Rahue, and preached there in the afternoon, in our chapel, to a good and attentive congregation. In the evening I preached in the field of Mr. George Ryland to a congregation of at least 150. I was followed by the Primitive Methodist minister of Tullamore. The people were most orderly and attentive; they were entirely composed of Protestants; but I had great joy in seeing on the road, along the hedge, a great number of Roman Catholics, who certainly were within hearing distance. "Rev. C. J. Middleditch." Contributions received on behalf of the Baptist Irish Society, from July 21st, to THE BAPTIST MAGAZINE. OCTOBER, 1864. MUSIC IN THE CHURCHES. "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord: to sing praises to Thy name, O most High."-PSALM Xcii. 1. WE have heard of an eccentric minister, the scene of whose labours lay in one of the suburbs of London, who was wont, when preaching, to say, after quoting a text from one or other of the Pauline epistles-" Paul, I quite agree with you." If we might be allowed to apostrophise in a similar manner the author of the sentence which we have taken for our motto, we would say "We quite agree with you." It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord; to let the gratitude that is in us speak; to encourage the outflow of the thanksgiving spirit towards Him who is the author of all our spiritual life and the giver of all our spiritual blessings. And it is also a good thing to give forth our feelings of thankfulness in song; joining them to what seems to be the natural vehicle of their expression, music; "to sing praises to Thy name, O most High." It is good, for the reason that, like all the powers God has given us, gratitude grows by being uttered forth in speech; good, because it is pleasant, and because also VOL. LXV. it is comely. Still more is it good to join others in the ascription of praise to one common Lord for common mercies, and in the church to bless His name for all His lovingkindness towards us. There have been but very few occasions in the history of the Church of Christ, where the vital doctrines of the Gospel have been taught from the pulpits, that the propriety and usefulness of praising God in song by the voices of the congregation have not been recognised. An exception may perhaps be found in the conduct of some of our Puritan ancestors, who seemed to consider, because Popery was antichristian and its teachings heretical, that everything which was the very antipodes of Popish practice must of necessity be the only proper thing to do. So, because the Roman Catholics had introduced into their services the best music that was to be procured at the time, and caused it to be performed by choristers in the best style attainable, these opponents of the Papacy thought the 48 right course to adopt was either to go without music altogether, or else to take care that in their singing there should be nothing which could charm or captivate the ear, or have the least possible resemblance to the practices of their dreaded foes. It is almost enough to make one imagine now-a-days, when we listen to the vocal attempts of some of our congregations, that the spirit which dictated this last-mentioned resolution of our dissenting progenitors still survives in some of their descendants. Speaking generally, however, and leaving out of our consideration our brethren the Quakers, whose peculiarity on the subject of music is well known, we may say that the Church of Christ, wherever it has had its liberty, and been blessed with evangelical teaching, has always regarded the united vocal praise of its members as amongst its highest privileges and noblest duties. True, whenever the Papacy has been predominant, that power, true to its character as the robber both of God and man, has robbed God of His praises in His sanctuary, and man of his immediate access to God, by confining the service of song to choristers and priests; but we almost invariably find that when men have been able to throw off its yoke, and worship God after the dictates of their own consciences, the first use they have made of their emancipated voices has been to sing the Lord's praises in the Lord's house. While, therefore, it may be granted that the value and importance of singing in the services of the Church are very generally acknowledged, it is not so evident that the manner in which God's praises should be sung has hitherto received its proper share of attention. We do not be lieve that Christians have been sufficiently alive to the importance abroad now in our churches-that all strove together to make our worship in song as acceptable to our Father in heaven as we do in the rest of our religious exercises. There are two considerations involved in the topic which we have under consideration-one, the character of the music which should be employed in our religious services; the other, how we can best secure its being sung well. Respecting the sort of music to be used, we would say-first, that it ought to be of a solemn and devotional character. The meeting of Christians for worship is a solemn privilege. Singing the praises of God is a solemn act. Even a Christian's joy is a solemn joy; and nothing light or flippant should be introduced to mar the general effect of solemnity proper to the occasion, or suggest thoughts or feelings out of harmony with exercises of devotion. There is a time for all things; and tunes admirably fitted for a drawing-room or a festive day would be utterly out of place in the sanctuary. Music of any kind always |
