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common gaol, and upon conviction before three magistrates, may be 4 committed to the warkhouse, there to be kept to hard labour; *for the first offence one month, and for every subsequent offence, six months each."If a slave, the penalty for the first offence is the same, and for each succeeding one a public flogging; if a white, to suffer such punishment as the "court shall see fit to inflict, not extending to life."— -Pained as we are by this informa. tion, we feel confident in the guar. dian care of Providence; and are persuaded that no Prince of the House of Brunswick will sanction any laws which tend to rekindle the flames of religious persecution.

APRIL 29th, the Bishop of London held a visitation of the clergy at St. Martin's Church, where a Sermon was preached by the Rev. Gerrard Andrews, rector of St. James's, Westminster, from Rom.

xi. 13. "I magnify mine office:" after which his Lordship delivered a charge to the clergy.

ON Sunday afternoon, May 15, Mr. Frey, a converted Jew, now under the tuition of Mr. Bogue, for missionary labours, preached a sermon to the Jews at Sion Chapel, from Gen. xiii. 8: And Abraham said unto Lot, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,&c. for we be brethren." The texts referred to in the discourse, were first recited in Hebrew, and then in English. A prodigious congregation was collected, among whom were observed about two hundred of the children of Abraham. After the sermon, several of them came into the vestry, and spoke in a friendly manner to the preacher.

Tuesday morning, May 31st, the Rev. Richard Cecil, A. M.preached before the Society for Missions to Africa and the East, at Black. friar's Church, from Isaiah xi. 3. Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The moral state of the heathen, the means, which it is our duty as Christians to use for their salvation, and the motives to stimulate us to the use of such means with energy and fervour, formed the leading branches of his discourse. In delincating the character of a Mis.

sionary called and sent of God, Mr. Cecil paid an honourable tribute to the memory of the late venerable Mr. Swartz, the Danish Missionary, who died in India, Feb. 13, 1798.

The church was well filled, and many evangelical clergymen and dissenting ministers were present.

The Rev. W. B. Williams, late Curate of High Wycomb, succeeds Mr. Eyre, as Minister of Homerton chapel.

The Rev. Watts Wilkinson, chaplain to the Haberdashers' Almshouses at Hoxton, is appointed, by the Haberdashers' company, to the Lectureship of St. Bartholomew be hind the Royal Exchange, vacant by the death of the late Dr. Finch.

It is a circumstance worthy of general notice, and peculiarly encouraging to the ministers of the gospel, that, of late years, a generous attention has been shewn by the British churches to the widows and families of deceased pastors. In addition to former instances of

this kind, it is with pleasure we re cord, that the sum of 16211. has been raised by the congregation and friends of the late Mr. Maurice, of Fetter Lane, London, for the use of his family.

The death of the Rev. Mr. Newell (mentioned in our Obituary) who has left a widow and three children, totally unprovided for, will give another opportunity to the religious public, who, we trust, "are not weary in well-doing," to testify their regard to the Lord Je sus, by their kindness to the be reaved and distressed family, of one of his most humble and faithful ministers. Benefactions, we under stand, will be received by O. Oldham, Esq. of Brook-House, Hol born; and by the Rev. Mr. Wilks, of Old-street Road.

The Rev. George Burder, late of Coventry, is removed to London, having been recently chosen Secretary to the Missionary Society, and final Editor of this Magazine, instead of the late Rev. Mr. Eyre. He has also accepted an unanimous call from the church, late under the pastoral care of Mr. Maurice, above mentioned.

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THE LORD'S PRAYER. OUR Father, God! who art in Heav'n, To thy great name, be rev'rence giv'n! Thy peaceful kingdom wide extend; And reign, O Lord, till time shall end! Thy sacred will on earth be done, As 'tis by angels round thy throne; And let us ev'ry day be fed

With earthly, and with heav'nly, bread..

Our sins forgive, and teach us thus
To pardon those who injure us.
Our Shield in all temptations prove,
And ev'ry evil far remove.

Thine is the kingdom to controul,
And thine the pow'r to save the soul:
Great be the glory of thy reign;
Let ev'ry creature say, Amen!

NEMO.

ON THE PROSPECT OF DYING.

AT thy command I meekly yield
My body to the dost:

Jesus! I trust in thee alone,

And know in hotn I trust.

Ah! Lord, methinks 'tis strange
That favour should be shewn

To the base Jews!- and yet their deeds.
I too have often done!

They pierc'd (with cruel hate)

Thy hands, and feet, and side: And so have I, and could, with them, Thy dying groans deride! Then wond'rous Jesus! why Did I thy mercy know? For this sole reason,

Sov'reign Grace

Decreed it should be so.

Fix thou the time (the time is fix'd
In the divine decree) :

Call when the time is fully come,

And I will answer thee.

My flesh and soul to thee I've giv'a
In their united state:

And is it more to trust thee, Lord,
With each when separate ?

I claim thy promise here below,
To dwell on earth with me:
Shall I not trust the word that says,
"Where I am thou shalt be "

Thy glorious angels stood prepar'd,
Soon as the beggar dy'd,
His parting spirit to convey

To faithful Abr'am's side.

Those morning stars thro' all my way
Have been my daily ward:

And will they not, when loos'd from clay,
Convey me to my Lord?

O glorious faith! that bears the soul

Above desponding fear;

Lab'ring to reach the heav'nly goal,
And panting to be there.

J. W

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EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE.

AUGUST, 1803.

MEMOIR

OF

THE LATE REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D.

Ir honourable birth and personal endowments,-if amiable manners and extensive benevolence, if early and exemplary piety and unremitted zeal, during a long and laborious life; if any, or all these qualities combined, can give weight and interest to character, Dr. John Erskine must be ranked among the most eminent persons of the age in which he lived.

This excellent man was descended from two of the most ancient houses in the peerage of Scotland; and his nearest relations belong to some of the most distinguished and respectable families of that country. His father, Mr Erskine of Carnock, who will always be mentioned as a man of superior worth and eminent talents, was an advocate at the Scotch bar; and, for some time, Professor of Scotch Law in the University of Edinburgh. His "Institutes of the Law of Scotland," in five folio volumes, as a book of authority and of profound information, is well known to have placed his name among lawyers of the first rank.

Dr. Erskine was the eldest son of this respectable man; and will be allowed to have added, in no small degree, to the honour of his family. His noble soul animated a feebie and slender body; and yet, through the goodness of Providence to the church, and to the world, he was enabled to sustain many severe shocks of adversity; and was preserved, with his faculties unimpaired, till he had outlived almost all his contemporaries. His original talents were far beyond the ordinary standard. He was distinguished by the unusual extent and comprehension of his understanding; by the acuteness, the accuracy, and the perspicuity of his reasonings, and by the general clearness and solidity of his judgment.

Dr. Erskine feared God from his earliest youth. Even when at school, though he excelled as a scholar, he had a settled

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