racter, or of his creed; but we remember some little ministerial murmurings, because John Kershaw did not think so highly of some good men as he would have done, if he had known them personally; but these little jealousies and distance-keepings-these unkind suspicions and hard speeches-these are things which will be found among the best of men, while in this imperfect state they dwell. We are more than ever resolved-the Lord help. ing-to speak evil of no minister who stands in the truth; neither will we receive an evil report against any. We have most bitterly proved that Satan can forge and frame, propagate and publish, falsehoods the most foul. He can also magnify imperfections the most minute, and by these means he can divide and distress the Lord's family, hurt and hinder the visible Church, and give great occasion to the enemies to reproach. It shall be ours, as much as in us lies, to resist the adversary in this his most dreadful work; and while our few remaining days may run out, we will do all the good we can for them, and speak in the kindest terms, and hope the best of all those who truly and practically "favour the Lord's righteous cause."

We dearly love a good man, and the more a man breathes Christ's spirit, and is conformed to the Master's image, the more union of soul we feel toward him. We do not recollect that ever we saw John Kershaw out of the pulpit; we never exchanged one word with him, nor do we ever expect to; he is at the head of the Gospel Standard party, while we belong to no party at all, except it be to the regiment that went to David in the cave. Nevertheless, we sincerely esteem the good Rochdale pastor, and feel no small pleasure in noticing the sermon he preached for Mrs. Hodgson, and which is now published by John Gadsby for two-pence, which, with John Warburton's sermon at Biggleswade, and some preached in London this summer by Mr. J. C. Philpot, are now laid before us. In reading over Mr. Kershaw's sermon, we see how well the word of God doth wear in the hands of a living minister. Here are fourand-twenty pages of doctrinal and experimental statements which, we may fairly suppose, Mr. Kershaw has preached thousands of times; and yet there is a secret something that makes them always fresh, always good, always new. Ah, brother John, thine has been a happy lot in this low-land; and no doubt thou dost often feel ready to burst out like David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

Mrs. Hodgson, of Halifax, was one of Mr. Kershaw's old friends. Speaking of her in this sermon, he says:

"As near as I can remember, it is more than thirty years since we first met, and that meeting has often been referred to by her. In those days I preached once a month at Lilly Hall, Hepenstall, near Hebden Bridge. She had heard of the strange man that came from Lancashire to preach, and she came with some others to hear him. The place was crowded. The text taken was Isaiah xlii. 11, 'Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the moun

tains.' Christ was spoken of as the Rock o Salvation, whose work is perfect. The inhabitants of the rock were described as God's elect, called by grace, brought up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, having their feet set upon the rock, and a new song of praise and thanksgiving, with a shout of triumph over all their enemies, from the top of the mountains of God's eternal truth. After I had spoken an hour and a half, and said I must come to a close, though she had been standing all the while, she felt sorry, and was ready to say, Go on; for the word had reached her heart in the power and demonstration of the Spirit; so that, like Jeremiah, she could say, Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart.' From that period to the day of her death, she never forgot the comfort and consolation she felt at that time. The cords that bound her heart to those immortal truths were never broken. Time would fail me in going through the history of this dear woman. The Psalm that was read at the commencement of this service, the 71st, was very precious to her soul, especially the 20th and 21st verses: 'Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth; thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.' I have seen her in the midst of these great and sore troubles, and have admired the strength and support that God gave her to enable her to endure them. In Him she put her trust, and found Him a very pleasant help in time of trouble. She had many enemies who were looking for her halting, and would have rejoiced at her overthrow; but she lived to see many of them clothed with shame. In watching the dealings of the Lord towards her, I have seen the fulfilment of that precious promise in Isaiah liv. 17, 'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.'

"On all occasions when I have been with her, before we parted the word of God must be read, and prayer made to Him for his blessing to attend us; and on parting, how earnestly did she entreat me to remember her and her children at the throne of grace. We have reason to believe, that these prayers have been heard and answered."

The matter composing Mr. Kershaw's sermon, and his more general deportment, may be seen in the brief extracts which follow:

Brethren, let us offer up our petition to the Lord, that he would ever keep us very poor and needy, growingly sensible of our wants and of the fulness there is treasured up for us in Christ Jesus. Our late sister was kept very poor and needy in her soul, feeling and often repeating the following lines as being expressive of her state:

Beloved, I am a poor beggar myself, and have been for more than forty years; and hope to live and die begging, and knocking at mercy's door. They who want to have all their spiritual wants supplied, must go to Christ that they may obtain mercy, and find grace to help them in every time of need. Blessed be his name for the great encouragement He hath given us to come to Him at all times and in all circumstances, saying, Him that cometh I will in no wise cast out.'

Again, as expressive of his own insufficiency for so great a work, he says:

"Beloved, I have not the ability sufficiently to exalt the dear Redeemer, in the salvation of our immortal souls. The Lord knows that it is in my heart to exalt Him, in his precious name Jesus, which is above every name in heaven and on earth, because He saves his people from their sins; in his precious blood, that delivers us from guilt and condemnation, and that purifies us from all our iniquities; in the triumph of his cross, and the power of his resurrection, He having finished all our sins, made reconciliation for our iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness, swallowed up death in victory, led captivity captive, and entered Heaven in immortal triumph, being exalted at God's right hand as a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and the remission of sins;' where He ever lives as our Advocate to plead our cause, and to manage all our affairs; bless his dear and precious name. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. His ministers are commis. sioned to say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;' for it is written, Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.' His beauty, glory, and preciousness can never be fully told. A circumstance comes powerfully to my mind which took place more than thirty years ago; it may not be amiss, perhaps, to mention it now. I had been preaching at a certain place in this neighbourhood, and endeavouring to exalt the Lord Jesus upon the pole of the gospel, in his power, ability, and willingness to save to the uttermost, and encouraging poor, lost, helpless sinners, that feel their need of a finished salvation, to cast them selves at his blessed feet, and to commit their souls' eternal all into his hands. When I descended from the pulpit, an old man stepped up to me, and putting his staff under his arm, took hold of my hand with both his, and with great earnestness, looked me full in the face. I could not tell, from his manner, whether he was going to express his approbation or disapprobation of what he had been hearing, until he burst forth as follows:

"Join all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and power,
That ever mortals knew,
That angels ever bore;

All are too mean to speak his worth, Too mean to set my Saviour forth."" He added,' And so art thou, my lad, although thou do'st thy best.' My soul responded, and I added my hearty Amen. The repeating of the above lines left a sweet savour upon my spirit that I hope never to forget."

By the publication of these little memorials,

we little know how much good is effected. Thousands who never heard Mr. Kershaw, nor knew Mrs. Hodgson, can here read and learn the blessed effects of grace divine. We sincerely pray that good John Kershaw may live and labour many years yet, and preach and publish a multitude of sermons like this one for Susey Hodgson.

"Christ is All. The Gospel of the Old Testament." By the Venerable Henry Law, M.A., Archdeacon of Wells. London: Wertheim and Macintosh. Weston-super-Mare: J. Whereat.

For a long time two volumes of Archdeacon Law's Sermons on the Types have been lying on our table, and many a sweet morsel have we fetched from them; for, although the dishes which this good man serves up are hardly deep enough, or large enough, or hot enough, for us, still there is so much of CHRIST

such a soft and savoury unfolding of his person and work,-that we must rejoice in the fact that a man so devoted to the dear Saviour is found in such a position. To every heart that holds Jesus by love and faith, these volumes must be more valuable than any words of ours can declare. A few of the brightest pages from these books we purpose to give from time to time; and by way of introduction, we will first let the dear man open his heart a little with reference to the people of his charge. Addressing himself "to the inhabitants of Weston-super-Mare," he says:

"Dearly beloved in the Lord,--If there be a bond, holy, strong, and tender, it is that, which unites a pastor to his flock. It is the nearest feeling, which earth knows, to the immeasurable love of Jesus towards his church. The faithful minister lives, when the people, for whom he watches, live, through succouring mercy, in the full faith of the Gospel. It is, as it were, his death, when they lie dead in unbelief and vanity.

"Beloved, when I draw this picture, I am painfully conscious, that it casts me far into the shade of shame. But I desire to quicken myself by openly avowing, that your best interests should be mine, and that, in the service of your spiritual welfare, I should count all labours light, all prayers but few.

"My constraining motive is, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him. I know, and am deeply persuaded, that all peace, all joy, all salvation, are in Him. I see, as a very sunbeam, the grand truth, that you are blessed, and are blessings, just in proportion, as you abide in Him, and He in you.

"Woe, therefore, is unto me, if I leave any effort untried, to set Him before you. Let me rather use every voice of lip and pen, to beseech you to hear Him, to look to Him, to receive Him, to trust in Him, to love Him, to follow Him, to serve Him, to live in Him, and by Him, and for Him. I would thus strive, wrestling with the Holy Spirit, to work so mercifully and mightily in your hearts, that Christ may there be enthroned, an adored and rightful Lord.”

We could wish, indeed, that all our ministers thus felt towards their people; but more of this another day.

As a proof of Joshua's words, look at Job ii. 9. See what a carnal wife is good for in a time of heavy trials. Poor man, he had no wife who could take him by the hand, or fall on her knees in the closet, and pour her heart out there, for her dear old partner. She did not soothe his bitter path with some condoling conversation. No, alas! "Curse God and die," was all the consolation got from her. What a miserable comforter must such an one be, to a poor distressed child of God! She takes the devil's part. Yes, she would recommend his quick despatch into everlasting misery. Such was the ignorance of this foolish woman. Such foolish ignorance as this, every man or woman may justly expect, who makes choice of an unconverted partner (Prov. v. 3; Eccl. vii. 26). Look at the wife of Moses (Exod. iv. 25, 26). But some might say, how came such men as Job and Moses to marry such women? I would say, that they might be deceived by a false profession, put on, or otherwise, as many are, and when trials come on, their varnished hypocrisy comes off, and their true characters now appear; and if they took wives at the expense of truth and conscience, they were paid for their folly. Nor is there any footing here for any one, any more than from Noah's drunkenness, or David's adultery (Matth. v. 19).

"Thou shalt not suffer sin upon thy brother, much less follow his example" (Levit. xix. 17).

We have another warning set before us in the case of Samson: there was certainly a vast difference here-as it was of the Lord (Judges xiv. 1-4), but his father and mother were good people, and they did not approve of his choice, and felt grieved at it. Samson loved the woman, she pleased him well; but after all, she was his betrayer, even as Judas was the betrayer of Christ, and Delilah his second wife was the tool in Satan's hand to bring poor Samson to his end (Judges xvi. 4, 30). Whatever purposes Jehovah was fulfilling in this case, we know that those who seek shelter here for choosing carnal partners betray their own folly; and nothing is clearer by the conduct of his parents, than that this law was then in full force. Let us glance a step further: did not the

breaking and unlawful marriages with the people of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab? Had there been no sin in this, he would not have contended so with them; but the line of distinction was to be kept: it had been in practice upwards of two thousand years; the consequence was, their children spoke half Jew, and half Ashdod, showing the result to be confusion of speech (see chap. xiii. 23-27). It is not to be wondered at, if children now speak a mongrel profession or creed; there are endless disputes about what school the children shall be sent to, what place of worship is to be attended, and what ordinances are to be obeyed (Acts xv. 1). See how sweetly Solomon describes the Church, “My sister, my spouse" (Song v. 1). The Church is sister to her beloved, so ought every partaker of grace, if he take a wife, take one who is sister, being born of God; then the marriage would be according to the true type of Christ and his church (Ephes. v. 30, 32). In the gospel by Matthew (xxiv. 38), we read of those marriages so common before the Flood, and that there will be some such even to the end of the world. God is not angry at any but unlawful marriages; such as are at variance with his word.

Luke xiv. 20, describes marriage as one of the three excuses made for neglecting the Cross of Christ, or attending to his gospel. Now these may be unlawful marriages, for had the married been hungering and thirsting after Christ, they would gladly go to hear of Jesus: or else they were such as felt no desire for Him, therefore reject Him, to their condemnation. I believe there are many who would sooner reject this divine law than reject fellowship with the ungodly. I have witnessed these things, to the grief of my heart it is a sin, a reproach of constant occurrence, and I am persuaded that many who profess to be sent by God to preach Christ's gospel, have not only omitted this part of the gospel, but have set before the Church and the world their own example of disobedience. I never heard a sermon on the subject in my life; we need not wonder at the straying sheep when the shepherds are so sleepy (1 Pet. v. 3).

Let us now attend to the great apostle of the Gentiles (see 2 Cor. vi. 14). “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." Why not?-because unbelief is that that damns the soul, and whatever profession