to been most directly and largely benefited by them; whilst the idea is also conveyed of the still further diffusion of the light of the same truth, of which he was so eminent and successful a dispenser, in other and, as yet, dark parts of the earth, by the agency of that religious system which he established. An emblem of the pastoral office, and a winged Trumpet denoting the activity and range of his personal ministry, are also introduced. The backs of two Volumes appear, on which are inscribed, "BIBLE," and "LITURGY," to intimate the conformity of his theological views to the Scriptures, and his affectionate attachment to the Church of England. The Tablet is likewise supported by twoVolumes, on one of which is inscribed "SERMONS," and on the other "MINUTES," in reference to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Body of which he was the Founder; MR. WESLEY'S Sermons being understood to contain the best account of the former, while the latter is described in the General Minutes of the Conferences over which he presided. On an open scroll is MR. WESLEY'S favourite motto, The best of all is, GoD is with us."

66

MR. CHARLES WESLEY was distinguished as an eminent and successful Preacher, and still more so as a Sacred Poet; and to the Methodist Societies he bequeathed a most invaluable gift in those Hymns, which are in constant use in their public and private worship, and which in taste, elegance, strength, and especially in large and deep views of christian experience, stand not only unrivalled, but unapproached. The sculpture on his Monument very properly refers to these circumstances. The emblems of the Christian Priesthood are intermingled

with those of Poetry and Music, the LYRE, &c. These are supported by "THE BIBLE," the source of his hallowed and lofty inspiration as a Poet, and the great subject of his ministry as a Preacher. Above this is an open Volume, on which is inscribed a sentiment which he frequently uttered upon the death of great and valuable characters, and which, indeed, is here happily calculated to call the heart from man to GOD, which otherwise might be discouraged when contemplating the loss of four men so eminent and useful, and whose fellows have not been left behind,-"GOD buries his workmen, and carries on his work." An expanded scroll bears the inscription, "In Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs;"-thus characterizing the species of poetry which the consecrated genius of the deceased produced. Volumes, marked "HYMN-BOOK," and "SACRED POEMS," support the Tablet.

The improvements in the Monuments of the MESSRS. WESLEY have been made at the joint expense of the Methodist Ministers and Missionaries, as a small expression and record of their filial gratitude and veneration towards men, to whose labours and writings they feel themselves so greatly indebted. As the Inscriptions on the Tablets of these Monuments have been frequently published, we do not think it necessary to insert them in this place.-The expense of MR. FLETCHER'S Monument has been defrayed by the Trustees of the Chapel, and that of DR. COKE'S by the Methodist Ministers and Missionaries, as stated in the Inscriptions.

The sculpture of the whole is excellently executed, and does great credit to the Artist. London, December, 1822.

EDITOR.
Millbrook, Nov. 18, 1822.

MY DEAR SIR,

EVERY thing that has a tendency to improve Agriculture, and to show

causing the grass to grow for cattle, and corn for the service of man," is in its place, when found in your Magazine. I am glad that what I sent you in September, relative to

the tillering of wheat, soon produced another Correspondent on the same subject, and now a third, in the enclosed letter from a Gentleman of Plymouth, who permits me to make what use of his very sensible communication I please; and I am sure I cannot dispose of it better than by sending it to your Magazine. Many thousands of those whose only business it is to cultivate the ground, to produce food for themselves and others, and who constantly read your work, are glad to see any thing that may induce them, through the medium of their own labour, to climb from earth to heaven, and see His hand, where before they were accustomed to see nothing but a sort of blind result of their own spades and plough-shares. Such experiments as those already detailed, show, according to the very instructive and elegant representation of the Prophet, (Hos.ii. 21, 22,) that it is JEHOVAH who causes the earth to bring forth and bud, so as to minister seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: for "He hears the heavens, the heavens hear the earth, the earth hears the corn, and the wine, and the oil;-and these hear JEZREEL." They are all furnished, through an amazing concatenation of cause and effect, by Him who is at the top of all causation, for the supply of the wants of his necessitous creatures.-I am, my dear Sir, yours, truly, ADAM CLARKE.

II. LETTER FROM MR. PADDON TO
DR. CLARKE.
Plymouth, Nov. 11, 1822.

REV. SIR,

Having been favoured by a friend with the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazines for September and October last, wherein are related the particulars of an Experiment made by you with two grains of wheat; and having myself taken some pains to ascertain the increase of Wheat in a natural way for several years past; I trust you will not deem it a trespass on your valuable time, if I detail the particulars and result of my labour.

In the spring of 1818, a single grain of wheat, casually sown in my garden, (supposed to be brought in with the manure,) produced eleven

very fine and large ears, two of which were prematurely broken off; but from the remaining nine the grain was saved, and sown, and produced a most extraordinary crop, the general length of the ears being from five to six inches. Before it could be gathered, the birds destroyed nearly all, leaving only a few ears, which I cut, and threw by, through disappointment; but from those beaten out by the birds, some grains fell into the ground, and again sprung up; producing, in 1819, ears of similar length to the former. These were carefully saved, and, with the few ears before named, yielded sufficient grain to sow a piece of ground about thirty feet by two feet six inches; but from the want of sufficient netting to cover the whole, about one-third was again destroyed by birds. The remainder being reaped in August, 1820, produced one gallon of fine large grain; and was sown in a field in the parish of Buckland Monachorum, about eight miles from this town. The produce of this sowing in September, 1821, was ten gallons, which, being again sown in November following, has this year produced three bags and one peck! With the contents of the three bags, a field of three acres, on the same estate, was sown on the 8th ult., and is now in a healthy, thriving state, the remaining peck being reserved for another piece of ground. Thus, with all the discouragements that have been experienced, I have the satisfaction of seeing that my exertions have not been in vain; and should I be spared to gather in the produce in the ensuing year, (although it will not be more than a tenth part of what would naturally have been produced, yet) I trust it will, in some measure, show what may be effected by perseverance, where the LORD is pleased to give his blessing.

Should you, Sir, deem the foregoing statement worth publication, you may rely on its being perfectly correct; and perhaps it may prove useful, in some way or other, which would afford me additional satisfaction.-I remain, Sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

JOHN PADDON.

8vo. pp. 450.

THE excellent Author of these Sermons is well known as holding a distinguished place among that class of Clergy called evangelical; and as filling a very important station in the National Church, being the Vicar of a parish which contains one of our largest Public Schools, the scholars of which, of course, are regular attendants of the Church, and so fall, for the time, under the pastoral care of the Minister. To sow the seeds of truth in the minds of so great a number of respectable youth, destined ultimately to spread themselves through different parts of the empire, and in every place to occupy such a rank in society, as will give them some degree of moral influence upon others, is a charge, devolved upon the Vicar of Harrow for the time being, of a very solemn kind; and we are happy to find that it is now in the hands of one who clearly appears to be impressed with its importance, and to have applied himself conscientiously to fulfil it. To this interesting part of his congregation, as well as to his regular parishioners, these Discourses constantly look; and, whilst they are sufficiently plain for the most uncultivated understanding, they could not fail, when delivered, to attract minds opening to the pleasures of taste, and the power of argument, by their general elegance of style, and lucidness of method. They have another attraction; that of an earnest and affectionate spirit, the spirit of one who would not only save himself, but his hearers, and who is "constrained" to it by "the love of CHRIST," operating upon a temper naturally bland and gentle. Above all, the subjects are important; and this is no inconsiderable praise. Their theology is not deep, nor is it contemplated under very ample views; but this is no dispraise, as they were delivered in the ordinary course of a parochial ministry. The object of the Preacher was to explain and enforce true and spiritual religion, the religion of the heart, the religion

which springs from conversion by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, and exhibits itself in fruits of inward and outward holiness; and in many respects he has succeeded. In some particulars, and those of great importance too, we think he has failed. For two reasons we shall examine these failures at some length: first, because the defects in these Sermons are not peculiar to the Author, but very greatly characterize much of what is called evangelical preaching, both in the Established Church, and out of it; and, secondly, because it may be useful both to Preachers and others, to be reminded, that Sermons may have serious defects, though they contain many of the peculiar truths of the Gospel, and though the Preacher may exhibit a high degree of piety, zeal, and faithfulness;all these may be found, and nevertheless it might be very pertinent in him to inquire, "What lack I yet?"

In the Discourses before us, it strikes us that too little use is made of the Law as the instrument of producing conviction for sin, and awakening from sleep the spiritually dead and careless. Great examples are often imitated too closely, and the imitation is carried into times and circumstances to which it does not well apply. MR. C. adverts to a celebrated Preacher in the Sister Establishment, several of whose powerful discourses have been published, as the model on which he has formed some of the sermons in this volume; and we think his exemplar, with all its excellence and might, has, in part, misled him. The forte, probably, of the Preacher alluded to, is to rouse the evangelic formalist, and doctrinal professor, by showing how nearly, in many cases, a state of vital and substantial Christianity may be approached, and in how many of its aspects and excellencies it may be admired, and even felt, whilst the heart is dead to GOD, and the moral condition of the man yet remains on

the wrong side of that line which divides the carnal and the spiritual, -the believer who is "CHRIST'S," and the professor who is disowned of him. The great means of conviction, in this case, is to show what Christianity in the heart and temper really is, and to contrast with its supernatural principle, and hallowed energetic working, the exterior reforms, and mere sentiments, and natural feelings, of those whose judgment only is won to the truth, or who, by education and society, havebeen brought at most under nothing more than its controlling influence. There are circumstances, and congregations, in which this method is necessary; and it will, when judiciously managed, be attended with much good. But we by no means think that it is adapted to the edification of the great body of unconverted hearers, at least where tried alone; and it appears to us, that the effect, if it were made use of generally, would be to produce, on the part of the hearer, an acknowledgment of a state of defective Christianity, rather than to create full conviction of a state of absolute sin, guilt, and danger. MR. CUNNINGHAM has two sermons on "The Necessity of Divine Influence," in the study and use of the Holy Scriptures, and in the Sanctification of the heart and conduct. In the first he inquires "what progress it is possible to make in the study and use of the Scriptures, without the special influence of the HOLY SPIRIT;" and in the second, "what useful or attractive qualities a man may possess by nature," or in other words, what appearances he may have of sanctification, without the special influence of the SPIRIT. Of course, as much moral power and excellence are allowed to mere nature as possible; with the laudable design of showing that Christianity is not at work, after all, in such minds, in its genuine principle, and much less in its deep and ample effects, that they are still far from the kingdom of GoD, and must undergo that specific change which, in Scripture, is attributed to the agency of the HOLY GHOST. We have said that we do not object to this mode of treating certain cases; and

we allow that it affords also a very appropriate mode of illustrating the distinctive nature and character of that state of mind which constitutes the Christianity of the Heart. But this mode of leading men to the knowledge of their condition before God, runs generally through the volume, as well as the discourses in which it is formally adopted; and we fear that, from the influence of the example under which MR. C. has fallen, it may become very common among Preachers. In preference to this, we think that the method of our old and best Divines is worthy to be ordinarily followed, because it is founded upon an obvious Scripture-principle; “By the Law is the knowledge of sin." It is not the office of the Gospel, properly speaking, to convince of sin. Its principles and privileges may be exhibited, and produce a conviction of defect; but this alone will not enforce that conviction of sin, in its proper sense, without which the Gospel can have no attractiveness, nor be regarded as the refuge of the perishing, and the only means of salvation for the lost. It is only by the exhibition of the extent and purity of the Divine Law, that men can be convinced of the fact of absolute, universal, and unpalliated transgression ; and by proclaiming the holiness, justice, and majesty of the Lawgiver, that the imminent, awful, and certain danger to which they are exposed can be effectually impressed upon the heart. This was the method of the Apostle PAUL, the great model of Preachers: he stopped every mouth "by the Law. This has characterized the manner of the most successful Ministers in subsequent ages. And we should be sorry that admiration for the peculiar talent with which the other mode of reaching the consciences of religious sleepers has been, in the instance of a few eminent Preachers, attempted, should lead to its universal, or even its general practice; because there is great danger lest it should leave even the awakened person with 'but a half view, and consequently an inefficient one, of his actual state and danger.

The Sermons before us also afford instances of earnest, affectionate,