could you have of a Father's loving interest, and a Father's tender care ? and what a motive this for that precious placid reposing in His wisdom, kindness, and unchangeable love. What an incentive to godly contentment! How sweet an illustration of the words, "shall satisfy thy soul in drought." A perfect blank around; nothing tangible to flesh and blood; an utter waste and void; what the world would call poverty and ruin, and yet an allgracious and bountiful Benefactor pouring into the heart of the honey, and oil, and wine of Divine consolation; the soul immensely rich in Him; rejoicing in the Lord, triumphing in tribulation; yea, so blessed, so contented, so well satisfied with its lot, as to ask where the tribulation is; to be at a loss to find it; in this very so-called "drought,” to “ have all and abound." be without care-without fear-without one gloomy thought or apprehension about the future; but, in the sweet simplicity of faith, and with the utmost child-like confidence, to leave all to the Lord, and with the Lord, feeling in very deed that "one's times are in His hands." To Beloved, do you know anything of this? and to feel, moreover, that whatever the world may say, or professors insinuate, that you are just where the Lord would have you, and as He would have you? Oh, how sweet this! To realize this thought, "I am a stranger with thee;" not a stranger to thee; oh, no, but with thee. A stranger here—an alien here-not known or understood here, but at the same time" with thee;" dwelling above; my record on high; my conversation [citizenship] in heaven; my affections set on things above, and not on things on earth; risen with Christ; "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Ah, beloved, if this be not happiness, we know not what is. If this be not satisfaction," we know not where it is to be found. This is heaven begun below. This is so to realize the Lord's presence on earth, together with such peculiar and special indications of a Father's eye and heart, as we shall not need, and consequently not have, in heaven, where, in this respect, it will only be the remembrance and review of what we have here experienced. Oh, then, to be more alive to it now whilst so experiencing it, as to be more vividly enjoying it. The Lord the Spirit write that word more deeply upon our hearts, "Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." 66 Blessed, blessed be His adorable and gracious name! Why, beloved, we know one that at times is constrained to tell Him, "Well, Lord, if sent to hell after all, I will speak well of Thee even there; for Thou art worthy of all praise. Thou art so tender, so gracious, so merciful, so long-suffering, so compassionate, so kind, that I am lost in wonder and amazement; and wherever I may be, or however, I will testify of Thy goodness, faithfulness, and love. "Oh, for such love, let rocks and hills Their lasting silence break; And all harmonious human tongues One word, reader, before we pass on. Did you ever yet meet the man whom you really envied or would exchange with? Notwithstanding four trials, and sorrows, and afflictions, has not the Lord hitherto, in that way and manner so peculiarly His own, so "satisfied you in drought," and so reconciled you to your lot, as to make you willing to be what you are, and where you are, until He shall say, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount." Oh, how prone are the dear children of God to overlook, and consequently to undervalue, this precious mercy. Beloved, we have spoken of the Lord satisfying His people in seasons of drought, more particularly with respect to their outward or time-circumstances; and yet there is such an intimate connexion between the dispensations of Providence and the Lord's dealings in grace, that there is scarcely any separating them. Body and soul are in this sense united; and the Lord blesses the one whilst He graciously meets the claims of the other. 66 But there is in the higher and more spiritual sense, a satisfying the soul in drought." The Lord's people, after feasting upon a full gospel fare, under some true spiritual messenger, know what it is to experience a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the word of the Lord." One full gospel minister seldom follows another. The Lord has seen a disposition upon the part of His people to lean upon the instrument, by or through whom they have been blessed; and, jealous of His honour, He deems it necessary now to withdraw that instrument, either by death or in the dispensations of His Providence. There is no power with the word now. No unction or dew with the pulpittestimony. It is dry-sapless-powerless; ability perhaps, but no application not the heart-spoken word of former days. It is a time of drought. Now the Lord's people must learn, in a new way, to cease from man;" and to look to the Lord alone; to feed upon the bread of life, even though the Gospel table be not spread as heretofore. Ordinances, for a time at least, have done their work. It must now, in a very special way, be JESUS ONLY. Barren Sundays-powerless sermons-a want of communion with the brethren-or, it may be, the solitude of the sick chamber-must sooner or later be overruled to bring the soul into sweetest contact with Christ, in which the cleansing property of His blood is afresh realized as sprinkled upon the conscience; His sin-subduing power experienced; the world eclipsed; Satan vanquished; the special power of Christ, as put forth in and upon the soul, felt the glory of His person more clearly seen; His marvellous all-sufficiency for all trials and temptations-seasons and circumstances, sweetly enjoyed. All this is, for the soul, in very deed" to be satisfied in drought.” Blessing, praising, and adoring the Lord, for every minute circumstance; acknowledging the Lord in all, and admiring Him for all; and already enjoying sweet and blessed foretastes of what shall be realized in full fruition, when the soul shall be called to bid all sin, suffering, and sorrow a final and everlasting adieu ! "Oh, glorious hour! oh, blest abode, I shall be near and like my God; College Green, Bristol, Jan. 20, 1859. THE EDITOR. find life, strength, and blessing within its walls, who shall be your crown of rejoicing in the day of His appearing. DEARLY BELOVED EDITOR,-I do not I enclose a Post Office order for £1 like to pass you over, without express-towards your church; may many Jacobs ing my fervent desire for renewed and multiplied blessings upon you during the year. Important and arduous is your charge, but in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, and He will uphold you in the work He has appointed. you. I am, dear Sir, yours affectionately in the love of Jesus, London, H. E. A. C. OUR PRESENT POST-BEDMINSTER AND ITS CLAIMS. WE have had numerous and kind inquiries as to where we are and what we are doing. It had been supposed that we were transferred into a sphere of labour all ready to our hand. In a sense, that was and is true. As far as souls are concerned, we have a multitude in waiting, to whom we hope ere long to preach the word of life. As stated in our Appeal, the number of souls allotted, instrumentally, to our care, amounts to nearly six thousand; a very different state of things to that we so long were familiar with in Ireland, where the Protestants-both adults and children-under our charge amounted only to one hundred! But there was to be our training for a sphere to which we have no more doubt about our having been called of God, than that we now hold a pen in our hand. things?" But, looking at what the Lord did for us and by us in Ireland, we cannot-we dare not despair. We have a church to build-schools to build -a house to build. Two thousand pounds more are wanting. But we have not a doubt about results. The parish is poor in the extreme. We have no reason, as one well acquainted with it said to us, to expect £50 more from it than has already been given by four gentlemen connected with it. Of necessity we are obliged to seek for help elsewhere; but we feel assured, that we shall see that foundation-stone laid; that church built; and that it will be our happy and distinguished privilege to preach Christ, and Him crucified" within those walls. are. "Immortal faith the promise sees, And trusts to Christ alone; Laughs at impossibilities, We have the most thorough conviction that the time had really come that And cries, It shall be done." we were to leave Ireland; that we were We rejoice that matters are as they to resign the less charge for the greater; We shrink from entering upon that all we there passed through was another man's line of things. We only to adapt and qualify us for the have no wish to reap the benefit scenes now in waiting. The assurance of another's labours. Under God, of this, and the satisfaction that attends we like to begin for ourselves. Before it, notwithstanding the weight and im- this sphere had come to our knowportance of the position to which we ledge, we had said, that "We should have been called, baffles any attempt at like to witness the laying of the first description. As we pass and repass stone of the building where we were through the streets of this crowded city, to labour." Moreover, our motto for or as we wend our way through the years has been, "Unto the poor the densely - populated BEDMINSTER (the scene of our future labours), we feel gospel is preached." We love the poor We delight to labour among that the cloud has moved; that our God them. We rejoice that BEDMINSTER is is with us of a truth; and continuously a poor place. We hope to live and die does the cry ascend from our inmost soul, there. We hope and venture to believe "THE LORD SEND PEACE;" "GOD that our God will raise a temple for His BLESS BEDMINSTER." service there; that the "unsearchable riches of Christ" shall be proclaimed there; that souls shall be gathered to Himself there; and that after a fewand a very few-years' hard but blessed toil in that parish, he that now pens these lines will be called home! Blessed, blessed prospect! Lord, keep thy servant at his post, heart and hand-with Amen. Amen. and tongue pen-until his work is done. Our God has appeared, with regard to our present position, in the most remarkable and gracious way. We can truly say, "Himself hath done it." He has been preparing the post for us, and preparing us for the post; and suddenly, and unexpectedly, and graciously opened it up. An immensity devolves upon us; and whilst we look at matters naturally, we exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these man. Bristol, Jan. 24. THE EDITOR. ADDRESS OF THE REV. S. A. WALKER, M.A., TO THE MEMBERS OF HIS CONGREGATION, ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1859. MY DEAR PEOPLE,-The close of one year, and the commencement of another, is calculated to suggest solemn thoughts -none perhaps more solemn than those which arise out of the relation of pastor and flock. In that relation you and I have stood to each other during the year that is gone, and nothing is more uncertain than the continuance of that relation to the end of the year that is coming. This point of itself is worthy of notice by both of us in our respective positions. The notice of it which my heart suggests to me is, a few simple observations, not addressed to you merely from the pulpit as in the course of my ordinary mínistrations, but in a somewhat more permanent shape; such as you and I may refer to again and again as the expression of a grateful remembrance of mercies past, and of prayerful hope for the time to come. It is with these feelings, therefore, I venture to address to you what may be called a Pastoral Letter. May God the Spirit suggest its sentiments, and commend them to your attention. I naturally begin with praise to that Triune Jehovah who is the only source of all the mercies which we have received during the past year, and who has given to His believing people great and precious promises for the time to come. Blessing, honour, and glory, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever." We have reason to praise God for, 1. His Preservation of our Life and Health through the various seasons, circumstances, and changes by which each has been endangered, and against which, but for His fatherly care, no human precaution could have defended us. Many now lie in the arms of death, or on the bed of pain and languishing, who were alive and well on New Year's day, 1858, and we are spared: all praise to the God of providence for this. 2. His gracious supply of our Temporal Wants. We have lacked nothing neces ́sary for the support of the body during the past year; some among us, it is true, are comparatively poor and needy, and their daily supply has been often, it is probable, a subject of concern; but on looking back to the year that is gone, the most indigent will acknowledge that He who feeds the fowls of the air has never turned away from their petition for daily bread, but, on the contrary, has provided for them when they felt too little faith to pray, and too little grace to avoid murmuring against His dispensations. Cases of utter destitution, no doubt, we all have witnessed, and it may be that even some among us have been brought to the verge of absolute want; but my general experience regarding such cases is, that they are either the effect of gross misconduct, by which all title to even human sympathy has been forfeited, or of such a contempt of God and His providence as has provoked Him to the employment of the severest discipline to express His displeasure, or perhaps by grace to recall some wandering child, like the prodigal, to His fatherly arms. I can honestly declare that I have never known a God-fearing man or woman actually reduced to beg their bread; I mean in the ordinary sense of turning out on the street or road side to sue for alms. The majority of us have been abundantly provided for without even the fear of want. we not praise the Bestower, and trust Him for the time to come? Shall 3. A Sense of Security. For this, which we enjoy as Englishmen, we cannot be sufficiently grateful to Him who has cast our lot in this country of law, order, and freedom. To appreciate this great blessing, we have but either to visit or to read of other lands, where either from the despotism of the government, religious intolerance, or the imperfection of the law, no protection can be relied on against violence, rapacity, or wrong. There are many such lands; and there life hangs often in doubt, and no one can call their property their own; while here, in free and peaceful Britain, every man's house, even the poorest, is his castle; and a well-regulated system of law and police is "to the terror of evil doers, and to the praise of them that do well." May He who rules over the kingdoms of the earth, make us more and more contented with, and grateful for, our national blessings. 4. Kind Friends and Relatives. Among the many blessings which gild our fallen lot in this world, and prove that a compassionate God has not made our cup, as He might have done, one of unmixed bitterness, the endearing ties of kindred and the tender reciprocities of earthly friendship must occupy the highest place. Of the endearments of human friendship our blessed Lord availed Himself amid His pilgrimage of sorrow, humiliation, and toil; and He seems to have sanctified the tie that binds genial hearts together. We have all, doubtless, tasted the sweetness of domestic and social affection during the past year; and some among us have thanked our compassionate Father for the tender hand that ministered to us as we lay upon the bed of pain and weakness, or the kind word that cheered us in the dark hour of sorrow or distress. We might have thought of the father, brother, or son, lying wounded and bleeding on the battle plain, with no dear relative or compassionate friend near to reach him the cup of cold water for which he cried out in his agony. We might have pictured to ourselves the tenant of some loathsome dungeon far from the home of his youth-the mother's eye that wept over his infant sorrow-the sister that played with him in childhood, and clung to him with all a sister's love in maturer age-the wife, it may be, of his bosom-the children of his love-not one near him now-a mother's, sister's, wife's, children's shame! And who has made us to differ? Why are we respected, loved, cherished? Oh! mercy, sovereign mercy has done it all. Had God in wrath thrown the reins on the neck of our passions, even our fellow-men would have shrunk from us, shocked, disgusted. Our fellow-sinners love us because happily they do not see us with the eyes of the Omniscient; and often think they discover in us qualities worthy of esteem, because they cannot penetrate to the hidden motives that rule our actions. How thankful should we be to Him who knows how "hateful" we are, and yet does not permit us to "hate one another." 5. The Bible. God's only revelation to a benighted world-the Word of truth, of life, of hope. Fancy the Scriptures, by some extraordinary act of retributive power, withdrawn from a world that never has prized or improved so inestimable a gift. What would be the result? We can imagine something of the desolation of earth were the sun suddenly withdrawn from the firmament, and midnight darkness, icy coldness, and universal sterility to succeed-who or what could live ? Life, if possible, would be intolerable, and chaos must soon return. The Bible is the sun of our spiritual firmament; the shining of the true light which alone relieves our moral darkness, breaks the icy fetters of our souls, and stays the spiritual desolation of a world that has apostatized from God. "All sorts and conditions of men," above the mere savage, owe their advantages to the Bible. The savage is a savage, because he has never heard of it, or known its regenerating communications; as soon as he learns something of the Bible, he ceases to be a savage. The civilized infidel, in repudiating the Bible, acts as absurdly as if he ignored the sun and rain, which brings forth the corn on which he feeds; and whenever man has succeeded in wresting the Scriptures from his fellow-man, he does all he can to elevate his animal above his moral nature. We have had, blessed be God, a free, unmutilated Bible in our hands during the past year. For that we cannot be too thankful. We have regarded it as our right, and no one has attempted to call that right in question. May God give us grace to guard it with jealous care. May the Holy Spirit render it daily more valuable to us, by revealing more and more of the incalculable riches it contains. 6. A preached Gospel.-The proclamation of God's mercy and grace through His beloved Son Jesus Christ. I trust, my dear friends, that all of you can testify that you have heard during the past year the message of redeeming love delivered to you "in simplicity and godly sincerity." I can honestly say that "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Some parts of that counsel may have appeared to you startling, and possibly offensive; but there is nothing new or strange in |