Robert Burnside. He was then about sixteen years of age; but though these impressions were lasting, they did not issue in his becoming connected with any church till his twentyfifth year, when he was baptized, in company with his friend the late Rev. Joseph Hughes, and several others, by the Rev. Dr. Stennett, and joined his church in Little Wild Street. He was much beloved and esteemed by the doctor, and continued one of his members till a change of residence and other circumstances led to his uniting with the church in Prescot Street, under the pastorate of the Rev. A. Booth, where he continued till his removal into the country, first to Upton-on-Severn, whereh is grandfather, the Rev. Philip Jones, had been for many years the laborious and disinterested pastor. Here he resided above three years, useful and respected; and ultimately settled at Tewkesbury, in the year 1796, where he remained till his death. He had not been here more than six years, when his piety and active usefulness in the church led to his being chosen a deacon, an office which he undertook with that purity of motive and steady devotedness to the Saviour's cause which ever proved that his whole heart and best powers were consecrated to his Master's service. He was more anxious to be useful than to shine, though humility shone conspicuously in every part of his conduct and deportment through life. No stain, no spot, ever rested for one moment on any part of that life, as can well be attested by the many who knew and loved, and will long and sincerely regret him. He was, in the fullest sense of the term, "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." As a father, his surviving family feel that they can hardly do justice to his character and their obligations to him. He taught them not less by example than by precept; and the whole of his conduct proved his affectionate solicitude for their welfare in time and eternity. While supremely anxious for their spiritual interests, he delighted to watch over all their pursuits and contribute to all their pleasures from earliest infancy; and nothing that could benefit or gratify them, or indeed any way related to them, ever escaped his prompt and watchful attention. He was all a father could be to them; and in return he possessed, as he well deserved, their warmest love and highest veneration, of which this feeble testimony is but a faint expression on the part of his surviving children, now deprived by death of both their valued parents. As a husband, he was devotedly kind and affectionate, and few couples have passed through life more happily than he and his endeared partner. It was only three years previous to his own removal that he was called to follow her remains to the tomb, at the close of a most distressing nervous malady which she had endured for many years, sup ported by that religion whose power she had proved during a profession of above thirty-five years, as a member of the same church. Her children lost in her a kind and indulgent mother, whose memory is dear to their hearts, while conscious that their loss is her infinite gain. The deceased was eminently and habitually a man of prayer, and the fervency and deep feeling which pervaded his devotional exercises in the family and those in the sanctuary, will not soon be forgotten. There the part he took in conducting the worship of God was often the means of impressing others with a more hallowed feeling and higher animation in those parts of the service. As long as strength permitted, it was his delight thus to lead the praises of God, and nothing short of insurmountable difficulties ever detained him from his place in the house of the Lord, where he considered it a duty and a pleasure to be among the earliest there. When at length compelled to resign his attendance in the courts he loved so well, he did not lose his interest in the prosperity of Zion. Often would the starting tear evince his warm devotion to her welfare, whenever he heard of accessions to the church, or an increase in zeal or attendance on the means of grace. These feelings extended to every part of the Redeemer's kingdom, and to every institu tion that could promote it, especially the Baptist Mission, the Tract Society, and the Bible Society, to the auxiliary of which last in this town he was the active and gratuitous depository, and among the most useful friends from its commencement in 1812, till 1840, when his years and infirmities compelled a resignation of office, which elicited from the society a most honourable and gratifying testimony to their sense of his worth and services. To every good cause within his sphere, he was to the last a cheerful contributor to the utmost of his ability; deeply regretting, when disabled from exertion, that he could now only show by pecuniary offerings and sacrifices, his attachment to the cause of God. He suffered much for some time previous to his death from nervous depression, partly arising from too long and close application to his arduous and numerous duties, and increased by a severe fall not long before those duties closed. The gloom occasionally cast upon his spirit by this mental affliction was often distressing to himself and those about him, and for a time obscured his views on the subject of his own religious state and prospects. This lasted for a considerable season with brief intervals, exciting deep sympathy in those who witnessed his sufferings, while assured from the evidence of all the past that it was but for a season he was in heaviness from manifold temptations, that the trial of his faith might ultimately be found to the praise and glory of him who, while thus test ing that faith, sustained and brought him safely through. where she resided, and the announcement of such an event, as might be expected, excited the curiosity of numbers to see and to hear this extraordinary man; and as her parents understood that he was an authorized clergyman, she obtained their permission to hear him preach. The text from which he preached, was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," and under this sermon her mind was first enlightened to discover the evil of sin, the degeneracy of her nature, and her danger as a sinner. These impressions produced an entire change in her conduct, and she, at this early age, became united with the methodist society. Still, however, she was bigotedly attached to the church of England, and would scarcely ever attend any other place of worship during its public services. After her marriage she was, through the importunity of her husband, occasionally prevailed upon to attend the evangelical ministry of Messrs. Gibbs and Isaiah Birt, who were then joint pastors of the baptist church meeting in Plymouth and Devonport. Under their ministry she learned "the way of God more perfectly," and became gradually enlightened in the knowledge of the doctrines of grace, which she most cordially received to the joy and establishment of her mind in the belief of" the truth as it is in Jesus." Her early prejudices in favour of infant baptism, however, still remained in full force, so that the baptism of her husband was for some time a source of pain to her mind. At length she determined to examine the subject for herself, and for this purpose read the prayer-book and the New Testament; and upon examining the former she found, "Water, wherein the person is baptized" (not wherewith), was enjoined; that the subjects of baptism were called upon to evince " repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ;" and that this view of baptism was the only one that was sanctioned in the New Testament, where she looked in vain for a single hint respecting infant baptism. Con That season of trial at length passed away, and the venerable sufferer was enabled again to look up with high and holy trust, and say, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." His trust was rather placid and confiding than triumphant. He evinced to the last all that meek humility and self-prostration before God, which had through life formed so beautiful a feature of his Christian character, and looked for all in Christ, while anxious to adorn the doctrine of his Saviour in all things. When unable to use words himself in prayer, he was ever eager to unite in the petitions offered for him by others; and he loved to hear and join in the language of scripture, a clear apprehension and recollection of which he retained to the last, when all impressions and perceptions of worldly things seemed to be obliterated by his growing infirmities. Many sweet and hallowed seasons of this kind are, and ever will be, sacredly remembered, when the saintly expression of his fading features told that, "while the outer man decayed, the inward man was becoming stronger," and that he was catching the spirit of that world whither his emancipated soul has at last found its longed-for rest. His dismission was most peaceful. Not long after he had, in answer to an inquiry from one of his daughters, expressed in his usual humble manner, the ground of his reliance simply on him "who came to save that which was lost," he gradually sunk into a deep sleep which lasted twenty hours, and then gently breathed his spirit into his Redeemer's hands without a struggle, leaving impressed on his venerable countenance the full character of the "peace of God which passeth all understanding." His remains were interred in the baptist burying ground, Tewkesbury, by his pastor, the Rev. John Berg, who on the following sabbath evening improved the event from 2 Tim. i. 12, to a large and attentive auditory.viction followed her sincere inquiry after truth, MRS. GILES. Died, July the 12th, 1844, Mrs. Giles, the beloved wife of the Rev. William Giles, baptist minister, late of Preston, but now of Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, in the eightieth year of her age. Our departed friend was seriously inclined in her early life, and her religious emotions were frequently called into exercise by hearing and reading Dr. Watts' Hymns for Children, and Janeway's "Token for Children." Her parents were strictly attached to the established church, and were much opposed to their children's attending any other place of worship. When she was about thirteen years of age, the celebrated John Wesley visited Tavistock, and being a spectator at the administration of the ordinance by Mr. Birt, the clear and scriptural manner in which the subject was discussed in his sermon, as well as the deep solemnity of its administration, removed every doubt from her mind respecting it as divinely instituted and obligatory on all believers. Carrying out this conviction she was baptized, and united to the baptist church at Dartmouth, Devonshire, over which her husband was then pastor; and throughout her long life she was enabled to maintain a conduct becoming her holy profession. As a minister's wife (a situation on many accounts delicate and trying), she was greatly beloved and esteemed by all who knew her; and most beloved by those who knew her most. As a mother, her maternal affection was strong, ardent, and most self-denying; 66 MR. W. H. WEBB. Died, January the 2nd, 1844, at his father's house, Great Rolesight, Oxon, Mr. W. H. Webb, aged twenty-four years, late student at Newport Pagnell College, Bucks. A young man of considerable promise, from whose piety, talent, and zeal, combined with an apparently vigorous constitution, much was alas but too confidently expected. Though it was in his heart to serve the Lord, the great Head of the church has seen fit to remove him from a sphere of labour on earth, to one of rest and reward in heaven. And while his bereaved parents and sorrowing friends deeply feel the loss they have sustained, they desire to bow with submission to the mysterious dispensation, and say, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." MR. B. LE FEVRE. Le Fevre of Folkstone, after an illness of Died, April the 17th, 1844, Mr. Benjamin more than two years continuance. From the commencement of his disorder, an affection of the head, he became deeply concerned for the salvation of his soul, and followed out the anxious inquiry, "What must I do to be saved?" A powerful conviction of his sinful and fallen state, wrought in his mind by the Spirit of God, led him to study the way of salvation as it is revealed in the scriptures. And this he did with diligent and prayerful attention. For a long time hope and fear the hope of the gospel gained the ascendency. alternately agitated his mind, but ultimately He greatly regretted his past neglect of spiritual things, and evinced the sincerity of that regret by an altered course of conduct. maintained the worship of God in his family, He spent much time in private devotion, and became remarkable for his steady attention to the public means of grace on the Lord's day, and on the week-evenings, whether at prayer-meetings or the ministry of the word. He was not a member of the church, but a few months before his death he expressed his desire to become so; but his disorder assumed a more alarming aspect immediately after he had come to this conclusion, and instead of uniting with the church on earth, he was removed, we trust, to the church triumphant in glory. Towards the close of his life, his mind was usually calm and serene. For a considerable period he had no sleep, night or day, and this restless state continued until the seventeenth of April, when he suddenly closed his eyes, and sweetly fell asleep in Jesus. MISS A. GERRIE Died at Aberdeen, on the morning of the 7th of June, Ann Gerrie, aged twenty-five. She was early called, by the grace of God, into the participation of the blessings of salvation; and was, for a number of years, a member of the baptist church meeting in John Street. Her whole heart within her burned with intense desire for the salvation of perishing sinners around; and her works of faith and labours of love were abundant. In health and in sickness, in life and in death, the most longings of her soul were for the prosperity of the Redeemer's cause. During the last eighteen months of her earthly pilgrimage, she was constantly confined to her bed, and was frequently racked by the most excruciating pain; but no murmur escaped her lips. She would often smile, and say, "It is all in love." Her end was peace. REV. HENRY SMITH, A.M. The esteemed pastor of the baptist church at Ashford was removed from this world on the 4th of September last, aged forty-five years. Mr. Smith had resided at Birmingham for some years previous to his acceptance of the charge at Ashford, which he sustained only thirteen months. MR. R. SWAIN. Died, September the 20th, aged eightynine, Mr. Richard Swain, senior brother of the Rev. Joseph Swain, formerly pastor of the church in East Lane, Walworth. Mr. Swain had long been an honourable member of the church in Henrietta Street. MISCELLANEA. NEW DISSENTING REVIEW. Many of our readers have doubtless seen advertisements in the public papers announcing a periodical work entitled the British Quarterly Review, as about to appear under the editorial superintendence of Dr. Vaughan. It is right that they should be informed also that baptists are to be systematically excluded from its management. It is solely in the hands of congregationalists, and is intended expressly to subserve the interests of the congregational body. Some of the most intelligent and far-seeing men of all denominations will agree with us in lamenting this fresh manifestation of the common infirmity of dissenters, in sacrificing to personal or party ambition that union which is essential to strength. During the thirty years that the Eclectic Review has received the combined support of evangelical dissenters as their chief literary 'periodical, it is well known among all conversant with such matters, that its circulation has scarcely ever been more than sufficient to pay its current expenses. A few years ago, it was reduced so low as to be unable to yield any remuneration either to contributors or to editor. During the last few years, indeed, itss ale has increased, and the writers in its pages have received some pecuniary recompense for their time and labour; the present editor having furnished this, at first at his own risk entirely, and subsequently to an extent which would have been impracticable had he been himself dependent upon it. In these circumstances, the introduction of a competitor for the support of the same classes, savours strongly, either of recklessness with regard to consequences, or of an overweening opinion of the superiority of that brotherhood from which the proposal emanates. As some of the first men of the congregational body, however, are connected with the project, we cannot refrain from expressing our grief at this new exhibition of sectarian spirit. Ten years ago, circumstances placed the editorship of the Eclectic in the hands of a baptist. No one could ever have discovered this from its pages; neutrality on all denominational questions has been rigidly observed; and one of the least defensible points in its management, in the judgment of some of its friends, has been that in its pages, congregational writers have been allowed to praise each other's works to a degree far transcending their merits. Still, the fact was undeniable, the editor was a baptist. Neutrality was not what was wanted. A new Dissenting Review is therefore announced, and proper measures are to be taken "to secure the work permanently to the interests of THE denomination." We adopt the phraseology of the projectors as exhibited in their resolutions at Manchester, placing only the definite article, which one section of dissenters is so fond of appropriating, in small capitals, that it may not be passed unnoticed: "Proper measures" are to be "taken to secure the work permanently to the interests of THE denomination." The right of our congregational brethren to establish a Review on exclusive principles, it would be folly to deny; but the disposition which inclines them to pursue the course, we must be permitted to lament. Much has been written and said of late in favour of union; many meetings have been held purposely to evince union; and in some circles a supposition has been entertained that the baptists were the great obstacle to the more intimate and perfect union between different branches of the Christian church for which other good men were sighing. In their recent meetings for the avowal of union, we have not taken part; not because we are indifferent to union; not because we are insensible of its advantages, or inexperienced in its pleasures, as pædobaptist ministers of various denominations with whom we have had intercourse in by-gone days would cheerfully testify; but because facts being as they were, we should, in doing so, have aided in producing a false impression we should have been assisting in a profession of union, while persuaded that union of heart was wanting. Among some prominent and influential independents a disposition to isolate us has been apparent for years; and in some cases it has been plainly indicated that if co-operation were continued it was not to be on equal terms. In the Bible Society a course was pursued which withdrew from our translators in the east that aid which they had been accustomed to receive, and allowed us only the alternative of permitting translations of the word of God made in accordance with our views of the true meaning of the text to fall, or forming a new society to maintain them; and without presuming to say that congregationalists were the instigators of the measure we may say, for it is mater of notoriety, that they were the most forward in its vindication. Again, last year, the high church movements in reference to education required that dissenting energies should be called out to promote education on just principles. A conference was called on the subject at Bloomfield Street, to which no baptists were invited; and the recommendation issued was in favour of denominational action on the part of the congregational body. The present year was then opened with a new call to union. The Lord's table was spread on the first of January, and baptists were invited to attend and show their fraternal oneness with their pædobaptist brethren. But, before the end of the year, a union of thirty years standing, for the promotion of religious literature and of great interests common both to baptists and pædobaptists, a union that brought into harmonious and effective cooperation the talents of Hall, and Foster, and Olinthus Gregory, with those of the best writers among the independents, is broken up and superseded by the establishment of a rival review, founded on a narrow, restricted, denominational basis. It is just to say that there are eminent men among the congregationalists who repudiate the transaction. A meeting has been held at which Mr. Burnet presided, and Dr. Pye Smith, Dr. Jenkyn, with others, collectively and individually pledged themselves to promote the more extended circulation of the Eclectic Review, "convinced that by its unsectarian character, no less than by the distinct prominence that it gives to the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, it is much better adapted to be useful, and to secure the continued confidence of evangelical nonconformists, than any journal of a more restricted order, or less definite in its avowals." Our baptist readers will, we trust, make the distinction which facts authorize, and not impute the proceedings on which we have animadverted to any pædobaptists who do not make themselves accessories, or evince the same spirit. Since the foregoing observations have been in type, and just as this sheet was in preparation for the press, the Patriot of October the 24th has come into our hands, containing a letter with Dr. Vaughan's signature. The conductors of that journal must be so well acquainted with his hand writing that we suppose the document is genuine; though we have sought in vain for those qualities of thought and language which we have repeatedly had the pleasure to commend when reviewing that gentleman's publications. In that part of the letter with which we are most immediately concerned-that in which he adverts to Dr. Pye Smith's "implied charge of sectarianism," he says, "The British Quarterly is not pledged against touching on the one point of difference between independents and baptists, but the parties with whom it has originated do not mean that it shall meddle with that controversy; and in all other respects with less profession of separateness from sectarianism, the new journal will probably be found to exhibit more of the reality of such separation, than the older one." In this sentence as in many other parts of the letter, there is great mystery. What is "the one point of difference between independents and baptists?" It is generally understood that there are at least two questions in debate: the first, What is it to baptize? the second, Who ought to be baptized? How is the new journal to exhibit more of the reality of separateness from sectarianism than the old one? If the meaning of this dark intimation be that the Eclectic has, in its partiality for baptists, dealt unfairly by congregationalists, neither Dr. Pye Smith, nor any one else, could doubt that in a work managed by congregationalists exclusively, this error would be avoided; but if it be that in its partiality for congregationalists, the Eclectic has dealt unfairly by baptists, we can assure the writer that the baptists do not feel this so severely as to wish him to interpose for their protection. But "the parties with whom it has originated do not mean that it should meddle with that controversy." Can Dr. Vaughan suppose that, by avoiding the discussion of what he calls "the one point at issue between pædobaptists and anti-pædobaptists," he shall preclude sectarianism? A few years ago, a shrewd prelate was understood to have counselled his clergy to this effect, “Say nothing about the dissenters." Was there no sectarianism in this policy? We can assure Dr. Vaughan that it is not the general belief of the baptists that the independent ministers |