the Lord comes Himself, and taketh them home to His kingdom, to His glory, to His throne; there to possess and enjoy the "inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that can never pass away." Very often during my twenty years acquaintance with Bermondsey, I have met Mr. WILLIAM WEST, who was for more than sixty years the superintendent of the Kent street schools; and I never met him, but he greeted me with a most beautiful smile; said a few words to me; made me feel I was in the presence of a man who "walked with God”— and lived to glorify His name; and then he went on. I do not know that this Mr. WILLIAM WEST was what some call me- 66 a hyper-Calvinist;" nor can I say whether his experience was of that deep kind which some pass through; but he was a lover of good old Romaine; he was a steady believer in the doctrine of a sinner's justification by faith only in the blood and righteousness of the LORD JESUS CHRIST; and he was a man the most devoted to that work of benevolence he gave himself up to I ever knew. Ah! he was surely-"an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." This good man was born at High Wycombe in 1783, and died in 1866; consequently he journeyed here between eighty and ninety years; and up to the very last, all his mental powers were good; and his enjoyment of the presence and smile of God rested upon him. "A brief memoir" by Newman Hall, has been issued; but I hope from some material friends may promise to give an interesting sketch of this happy saint of God; and thus hand down to future generations, a faithful memento of this "Enoch of Southwark." And if any of his friends will send me any incidents and facts in his life, I will be thankful. C. W. B. WHY USE HEATHENISH NAMES To obtain a correct acquaintance with the history of the three worthies in the flames, by command of the King of Babylon, as recorded in the 3rd chapter of Daniel, we must allow many years to have passed since the dream made known and interpreted by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar in the previous chapter, about fourteen years according to Hales' chronology, but nineteen years according to Dean Prideaux, so that the effect of that dream was effaced from the mind of the king, specially when we reflect on his wars in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and elsewhere. In the latter place he had seen the colossal Egyptian idols, of which some representations we now possess in the Crystal Palace, and he determined within himself to erect one in the province of Babylon, on the plains of Dura, by far more costly and magni ficent than any he had beheld,_in honour to the chief deity of the Babylonians called Bel, or Baal, or Jupiter Belus. This he accomplished in the erection of a golden image, ninety feet in height and nine feet in breadth; and at its inauguration, Nebuchadnezzar issued a truly Babylonish proclamation to all people, nations, and languages, of, bow or burn. Let us now examine the first chapter, and we shall find among others of the Jewish captives, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, chosen particularly for the king's service, of whom it may be considered, from the statement in the 3rd and 4th verses, in connection with their whole history, that they were noble, beautiful, wise, and good; to whom Ashpenaz, the Master of the Eunuchs, gave the heathen names of Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now it is to be observed that Daniel is always permitted to bear his proper Hebrew name, from the pulpit, press, and platform. But alas! alas! for the other three noble, beautiful, wise, and good brethren in the faith, their Christian names are seldom mentioned; but when we speak of them it is mostly by the anti-Christian names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which their odd father, Ashpenaz, and their odd mother, the Church of Babylon, gave them in the day that they made them the children of Bel, the heirs of delusions, and inheritors of the kingdom of Babylon. O, let us turn again to their old-fashioned names; they are better than a thousand new ones. We are professedly the children of these noble worthies. Do they not live in us now; and is not also Nebuchadnezzar alive yet, in his children of Rome, the mystic Babylon? Are not they chips of the old block, which don't fall far from the stump, do they not speak the same language, and profess the same religion—“ bow or burn?" Would they not like to form even now a few large furnaces in England, and put a few of the Lord's ministers to roast, especially the Editor of the Gospel Guide and EARTHEN VESSEL, who, by-the-bye, have, with brother Wells, lately smelt a little of Nebuchadnezzar's spirit and Popish incense? Yet the Lord liveth, the Lord reigneth; and should it be the will of our covenant God to suffer us again to be under papal persecution, we firmly believe the dear Lord would again exhibit a noble army of martyrs, with strength given equal to their day; yea, a goodly number of the spiritual Jewish seed, who would exclaim in reply to every Popish proclamation-O Pope, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter; if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O Pope; but if not, be it known unto thee, O Pope, that we will not serve thy (wafer) gods, nor worship the golden image (Mary) which thou hast set up. Suppose, then, any of the Nebuchadnezzar religionists, Pope, cardinals, bishops, or priests, should suspend for a few minutes their fiery zeal and fury, to ask us heretics three plain questions before thrusting us into the furnace. First question: "Where did you heretics gain your religion from?" Hananiah answers, by the signification of his name, "The grace, mercy, and gift of God." Second question: "What sort of a religion is yours?" Mishael then replies in the significance of his name, "I am what God is." If God is for goodness, mercy, and truth, so am I; if He is for free grace alone, so am I; if He is for election, predestination, effectual calling, final perseverance, and certain glorification of all that He has loved from before the foundation of the world, just so am I. If He is a Baptist Strict, so am I a Strict Baptist; if He hates the whore of Babylon, scarlet with blood, why, so do I. The third and last question we will suppose to be asked by the persecuting tyrants is, "Tell us what good can you ever expect to obtain by all those high doctrinal notions? You had better give them up or they will prove your destruction." Then comes forth Azariah, in his significant name: "Jehovah is my help." Know, therefore, O Pope, that, by the help of our God, we defy you this day. Thou hast said "bow;" but by the help of our God we will not; or "burn," say you is the alternative. But no, we shall not "burn" either, by the help of our God, neither bow nor burn. And you, O religious persecutors, shall see by the help of Jehovah towards us, His matchless mercy, to your own shame and everlasting confusion; whilst in the furnace we shall see our bonds and foes destroyed; but above all, one with us in the furnace like unto the Son of God. R. G. EDWARDS. Sutton, Isle of Ely. EXPOSITION OF AMOS V. VERSES 1-9. "HEAR ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. For thus saith the Lord God: The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel." SINCE the fall of man there is no safety anywhere but in Christ Jesus the Lord. We here see that the Lord placed Israel, the old Israel, upon a conditional footing, and no conditional footing since the fall of man has ever stood for long together; hence we find here the old covenant church fallen to rise no more. We cannot when we read such Scriptures, but bless the Lord for a better sacrifice, for a better covenant, established upon better promises, bringing unto us better things, and fitting us for higher destinies. This is one reason, one of the chief reasons, why we are to read these parts of the word of the Lord; because the old covenant is a part of the voice of the law, and by the law is the knowledge of sin, and the knowledge of sin brings us under a deep sight and sense of our need of the salvation of Christ. Yet there were exceptions of course unto such. "For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live." But then if they sought the Lord, they lived only in the temporal advantages of that covenant; but those who seek the Lord by faith in Christ, they have everlasting life, a life that can never, never die. "But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought." That is, they had set up, as you are aware, idols in all these places, and here they are exhorted not to seek to those idols, but to seek direct to the Lord Himself, which those who are taught of God are sure to do. "Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel." Now the Lord is pleased sometimes to bring home such a Scripture as this to the heart and mind of a presumptuous sinner, of one that is careless about his state; the Lord very often puts this kind of honour upon these parts of His Word. "Seek the Lord and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire." When the Lord fastens such words as these upon the conscience, there is no happiness, there is no peace, after that conviction, until such is led to seek and to find the Lord in Christ Jesus. "Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, seek Him that maketh the seven stars and Orion." and again repeat it, and Orion, which Those seven stars I have often said, are two constellations in the heaven, are intended mystically no doubt to point out the prophets and apostles, taking a definite for an indefinite number; at the same time conveying the idea of completeness. And who can bind the sweet influences of the bands of Orion? Just so the prophets seven stars, Pleiades, or loose the and apostles, what they have loosed cannot be bound, what they bound cannot be loosed. "He that believeth shall be saved;" that is that they have loosed the liberty of faith; and who can bind the sweet influences of the liberty of faith, or loose the bands of Orion? "He that believeth not shall be damned;" and that is what they have bound. So we can neither bind the influences of the one, nor loose the bands of the other; but precious faith in the Lord, when He is pleased to minister that, then brings us out from the bands of Orion, under the sweet influences of the truths of the Gospel. I should think something of this kind must be referred to, because the after part of the verse is so descriptive of the work of the Lord. "That turneth the shadow of death into the morning ;” that is by Jesus Christ. A sinner is brought to feel that he is in the shadow of death, and he says to himself, there is a substance somewhere, and I should have been subjected to that terrible death but for the mercy of the Lord. So then by Jesus Christ he turns the shadow of death into the morning light. "And maketh the day dark with night." How that is realized in the death of the man that knows not the Lord." "That calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: the Lord is His name: that strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress." NEW BOOKS. The Hidden Life.-A memoir of Mrs. This book contains the experience and hidden life of a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose aim was to glorify Him in body, soul, and spirit. Her husband was the faithful and successful minister of the Presbyterian church at St. Ninians. His mind was exercised respecting believers' baptism, and after a deliberate and prayerful investigation of the Word of God, he could not conscientiously practise the baptism of infants. On this account, as well as in consequence of a change in his views as to the nature and constitution of the church of Chrst, he sent in his resignation. This resignation was not immediately accepted, and in the meantime, his loving wife regarded with most painful apprehension the change of views which severed her from the Church of Scotland. The comfortable manse, the female prayer meeting, the sphere of Christian exertion, the full church, the cordial satisfaction expressed as to her husband's ministry, and the importance of his position and her own, combined, with the regrets and remonstrances which assailed her from almost every quarter, to render the departure from St. Ninians no ordinary trial. After a prayerful investigation of God's Word, Mrs. Sheriff expressed her convictions on the subject and mode of Christian baptism, by being baptized as a believer in Jesus, and in obedience to the laws of his kingdom. Mrs. Sheriff says on the occasion of leaving St. Ninians, "By the step we have taken, a kind of death is brought on all our worldly prospects, but to God as our covenant God, I look for all that is implied in those words "I am thy God." But space forbids further quotations; we Would advise our readers to procure and read this book for themselves. We especially recommend it to the wives and daughters of our churches, In being assured that they will find in this biography "a pattern worthy of imitation. In her youth Mrs. Sheriff sought the Lord and was found of Him. In the midst of activity and usefulness, she panted after conformity to her Saviour; when she was old and greyheaded he forsook her not, but was still the lover and beloved of her soul. the last year of her life, she makes the last entry in her diary in these words. "In age and feebleness extreme, Lord Jesus, I am thine, oh! come and take Thy blood-bought disappoint Satan in all his plans, property, I give myself to Thee, magnify Thy matchless grace, and bring me redemption, amen and amen." The book is well got up, in thick boards, large type, and good paper. It is illustrated by a view of the " Manse," St. Ninians, and of the Baptist chapel, Aidbig, Rothsay, (that lovely spot in the western highlands) which cause Mrs. Sheriff was instrumental in raising, and which is still largely supported by her only surviving daughter. No Escape for England.-This is the head-line of an article in The Armourer for April, which is enough to make the fearful ones more timid than ever. The editor of that work continues to sound the alarm; and we shall not take our place with those who laugh at these notes of terror. We do believe times of trial for true Protestants are coming; we are persuaded England as a nation has gradually cast away the grand old principles of Bible Protestantism. We do believe even the soundest of her ministers are all but paralyzed with a cold and lifeless creed; and most secretly errors and evils are filling the land, overflooding the professing Church, and working desolations deep and dangerous. There is one hope, there is one consolation, England has within her borders many thousands of genuine Christian, true believers, and earnest praying souls, for their sakes God may spare the nation. We have no hope in the Parliament, it seems bent on sanctioning Romanism. We have no hope in the public press, it is on the side of our foes. We have no hope in the executives and the externals of the professing Churches. They nearly all ignore God's New Covenant Gospel. Our hope is in this, that the Lord God can say of England"I have reserved unto myself seven thousand who have not bent the knee to Baal;" and if, still, in the hearts of these true spiritual Israelites the flame of love divine is continued burning, our nation may be spared. We beseech all who have faith in the Lord as the God of nations, as well as the Covenant Head of His people, that they "give Him no rest, until He arise and have mercy on Zion." We Life, Sermons, and Letters of William Burch: under the heading, "The Kentish Shoemaker." have given two notices of this volume, and we hope to proceed, dovetailing therewith, some notes from recollections of the late much beloved Isaac Beeman, of Cranbrook; but an affliction of the eye has this month prevented. We never cease from our work, except when compelled to retire for sleep; and yet we cannot accomplish one half we desire. But soon the end will come. God grant us all then, editor and readers too, the full benefits of the immense sacrifice made by Jesus His Son. The Man of Sin: is he the Pope? -London: Nisbets. This volume of 366 crown 8vo. pages, contains a long, we may say, a learned correspondence between the Rev. Edward Nangle, the editor of The Achill Herald, and R. Govett, of Norwich, on the much-debated question of who and what is intended by the Scriptural term the Man of Sin. These gentlemen are well-matched for controversy; they are learned, devoted, and earnest in their work; hence this volume goes fully into the character of Romanism, and almost every phase of the future fulfilment of prophecy is reviewed with much care and clearness. The Pestilence, &c., by James Biden. This pamphlet can now be had at Paul's, in Chapter House Court; and in it will be found a running exposition of many ancient prophecies as bearing, Mr. Biden believes, on our own times. Surely, encompassed as we are by threatening books, and warning writers, the happy saints of God may hide themselves in their chambers of faith and fellowship, until all these calamities are overpast; and even there they may have a song as in the night, for Jesus lives, and to His people will be Jesus still. Capital Punishment.-Dr. Carson, the son of the late Rev. Alexander Carson, has published (through Messrs. Houlston and Wright) a shilling work on that most awful of all questions-Capital Punishment. If our readers desire a fair, candid, shrewd, comprehensive, and Scriptural investigation of this subject, they can have it in Dr. Carson's shilling book. If this book does not greatly assist in making some alteration in our criminal arrangements, it certainly ought to. It is full of evidence and argument unanswerable. Old Jonathan, for April contains a heart-of-oak looking portrait of the Rev. Alfred Hewlett, D.D., of Astley, near Manchester; and is accompanied by a sketch of his life. We ever feel a Christian love to Dr. Hewlett, because he has most faithfully and successfully laboured in the Gospel, and has been a blessing to many thousands. This number of Old Jonathan is first-rate. The doctrine of a Particular Providence is well illustrated by the Rev. Charles Bullock, in his monthly for March, Our Own Fireside. There is, in this magazine, much moral, practical, and biblical reading, with articles on music, science, art, and his tory, of a higher class than can be literary museums now so numerous. obtained in scarcely any of the other Gustave Dore's Illustrated edition of the Holy Bible: now publishing by Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, is a most magnificent enterprise; the plates, the print, the paper, the every feature of the work, is of the highest order, and worthy of universal patronage. Destiny of the British Empire as Revealed in the Scriptures: is the strongest tract on prophecy and Providence we have yet seen. From the chapter on the Mission and Destiny |