1778 or 9, the particulars of which are not now distinctly known. It was, how ever, soon made evident that it was a change from "darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Shortly after it had taken place he was admitted a member of the church then under the pastoral care of the Rev. George Burder, whose apostolic spirit he imbibed. The village evangelist and the author of the "Village Sermons," whose itinerant labours, while sustaining the onerous duties of an extensive pastorate, diffused the light of salvation through all the regions roundabout, found in Jonathan Evans a man after his own heart. His own son in the faith entered into all his plans of usefulness, and was always ready for every good word and work. Though eminently qualified for the Christian ministry as to natural gifts and ardent piety, he could not relinquish his secular employment. He found it necessary to be "diligent in business," while it was his privilege to be "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Deeply affected with his obligations to Divine mercy and with the condition of sinners around him, constrained by the love of Christ, he went forth, on the right hand and on the left, and sometimes to the distance of ten miles, preaching in the open air wherever a congregation could be gathered. Regular in his irregularity, he was "instant in season and out of season," so that in addressing many he might win some.

In the year 1782 he turned his attention more particularly to the extensive and populous parish of Foleshill, near Coventry, which stood greatly in need of efforts such as he was disposed to make. He preached out of doors and in houses where he could obtain them in different parts of the parish; in connection with which he commenced a number of little Sunday-schools, for which he sought and found persons willing to assist in teaching. While in these benevolent and laborious exertions he was favoured with all the zealous co-operation he required. was no stranger to the coarse and brutal hostility of the ignorant and besotted

VOL. XXV.

He

members of a hierarchy, that cared not for their souls, and had left them to perish in their sins. The pious clergyman was then but little known; and on the despised sectary devolved the work of evangelizing those whom baptism had failed to regenerate, and whom he did not dare to abandon to a "sure and certain hope❞—the mere figment of ritual delusion, neither imparted nor sanctioned by the spirit of truth. Offensive and dangerous missiles flew around the intrepid field preacher as he stood, without any other protection than that afforded him by Heaven, calming the tumult of the people and beseeching them with tears to be reconciled to God. Names of reproach in all such cases have been invented by witless malice and applied by thoughtless folly. In Suffolk these were the pograms; in Ireland, the swadlers; and in Foleshill, the crab-grinders-these were often the watchwords of violence. Had we not read the annals of Methodism we could have scarcely deemed such things possible in a Protestant country and in the eighteenth century. Rightly interpreted, perhaps, their true meaning is, "Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou come to torment us before the time." Demons of modern as well as of ancient days, rend the air with their yells and cries at the approach of the Power which comes to dislodge them from their strongholds, and will no longer suffer them to retain their goods in peace. So great was the success of Mr. Evans's disinterested efforts, that about the year 1784, he purchased a building by the side of the canal which had been used as a boat house, and fitted it up very commodiously as a place of worship. The congregation was so numerous that it soon became necessary to enlarge it so as to accommodate from three hundred to four hundred persons. This enlargement proving insufficient, in the year 1795 the present chapel was built, and in a short time freed from debt by the liberality of his many friends in Coventry, London, and elsewhere. To this erection it is believed Mr. Wilson was a munificent contributor.

L

In 1796 a church was formed chiefly of those who were the fruits of the Divine blessing on his ministry. Previous to this Mr. Evans and his pious friends were in the habit of communing with the church at West Orchard, Coventry, where indeed he remained a member till his pastoral relation at Foleshill commenced. No man ever quitted one honourable connection and entered upon the duties and responsibilities of another under more auspicious circumstances. The testimony in the church books recording these interesting events, and the letter of dismission which Mr. Evans obtained from his pastor and his deacons are worthy of the occasion, and are in perfect accordance with the discipline of primitive Congregationalism, that is, of embodied vital Christianity-Christianity alive in its forms and institutes.

April 4th, 1797, Mr. Evans was ordained. The very interesting ordination service was published. Most persons who were present were struck with the ample and scriptural confession of faith, which, without any assistance from notes, he delivered on the occasion. The following passage from the introductory discourse by the Rev. Jehoida Brewer, of Birmingham, may interest your readers: "It is truly a consideration calculated to warm and animate the most sluggish soul, that the very spot which we now occupy was a few years ago a pasture for the beasts of the field, and to-day it is a field for the flock of God. To-day it is a place which the Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, deigns to consecrate with his indisputable sanction, and to acknowledge as the place of his abode. When I consider that a very few years ago, ye were all as sheep going astray, every one of you turning to his own way; and consider the sovereign goodness of God, who put it into the heart of our good brother and your present pastor, to come among you, and in imitation of his Divine Master to seek and to save that which was lost, I must conclude you will all of you think very gratefully of him for the benevolence of

his intention. But when I consider the consequence of his ardent and honest efforts; when I see, as I do this day, many immortal souls, who a little while ago were dead in trespasses and sins really alive to God, boldly appearing on his side, and making their public avowal before many witnesses that they are not ashamed to acknowledge the Lord Jesus, I feel confident that you will esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake."

On the 1st of January, 1800, Mr. Evans circulated a tract entitled "A New Year's Gift," presented with Christian affection and earnest prayer for its success to the inhabitants of Foleshill, designed to teach them how to be useful in this world and happy in the next. The introduction to this plain, faithful, and affectionate epistle runs thus: "This short address is principally intended for those persons who are not in the habit of reading the Bible, or of attending the public worship of God; but that none of the inhabitants may be excluded from having an opportunity of knowing their duty, and the earnest desire I feel to serve them in the best sense, a copy will be delivered gratis at every house in the parish." A note is appended to this address, stating: "It is truly lamentable that many persons grown to years of maturity cannot read the Scriptures; for the instruction of such a Sunday-school is established at the chapel, where they are taught to read every Lord's day for an hour and a half between the afternoon and evening service, and books found them gratis. A considerable number of both sexes now attend, and no persons will be rejected who apply for admission." This school for adults Mr. Evans usually attended as a teacher, whilst he took great pains with the elder children in the Sunday-school, some of whom bore living and dying testimony to the success of his endeavours for the salvation of their souls. A controversial pamphlet upon the subject and mode of baptism appeared during the latter part of his ministry, of which Mr. Thomas

Wilson entertained so high an opinion that he published several editions of it, somewhat altered in form, and adapted for general and gratuitous circulation. His defence of this pamphlet against a certain Philologos who ventured to attack it, is very amusing. In order to prove that the term "household" does not include children, Philologos observed, "for instance, I am the first-born in my house, and I am not young." "This argument," says Mr. Evans, "is quite a childish one and what many children would be ashamed of." Similar to this is an argument brought by a Papist champion, recorded by Dr. Mayo, in his reply to Dr. Gill: "It may very much be questioned, whether the jailor had any children, seeing it hath been observed, that for many years together, not one child was born to all the jailkeepers in all the county of Essex."

The subject of this brief notice was less a controversialist than a preacher. The best productions of his pen were the hymns he composed to be sung after preaching on particular subjects and on special occasions. In Burder's Selection, the three fine hymns beginning, "Come, thou soul-transforming Spirit," "Hark! the voice of Love and Mercy," "Let saints on earth their anthems raise," were written by him. One of the members of our church, the fruit of Mr. Evans's ministry, very recently departed in the faith and hope of the gospel, and a hymn of his, with which she had been familiar in her youth, she referred to, as best expressing her living and dying experience. It is as follows:

"Jesus I sought and found at last; I love my Saviour so,

I am resolved to hold him fast,
Nor will I let him go.

Once, this vain world my heart possest,
I lived on things below;

But now I am with Jesus blest,
Nor will I let him go.

My Lord above all things I love-His matchless worth I know. My former choice I still approve, Nor will I let him go.

Nothing with Jesus can compare;
From him such blessings flow!
'Tis heaven his precious love to share-
I cannot let him go.

I'll praise him with my latest breath,
Nor fear the ghastly foe;

He will not leave my soul in death,
Nor will I let him go.

And when in heaven I see his face,
The rest I will outdo
In praising Jesus for that grace
That would not let me go."

Mr. Evans laboured in his Master's vineyard about twenty-seven years. He died August the 31st, 1809, in the sixtieth year of his age, after an illness of a few days. As it regarded his worldly affairs, his death was so awfully sudden that he was not prepared for it; and those who had to administer after him, it is to be feared, were deficient in the delicacy and justice which were due to his character. His disinterested integrity rose above suspicion while he lived, and if a temporary cloud passed over it at his death it has long rested far away from him. As a Christian minister, he was engaged in his Master's work to the last; and at His bidding without a murmur or a feeling of regret entered into the blessedness of those who die in the Lord and whose works do follow them.

He sent for a young friend* who at that time was engaged as an occasional preacher, and who had often supplied his pulpit, very early in the morning of the day on which he died, and thus addressed him, "I am going; I have no time to make any provision for my poor people; do all you can to assist them; farewell; we shall meet again, and speak of one subject and sing one song for ever."

Mr. Evans continued in business at Coventry to the end of life, receiving but. a small pecuniary return for his labours

*The Rev. Nathaniel Rowton, who became Mr. Evans's successor in the pastorate, the duties of which he discharged for about 16 years. Mr. Rowton is now the pastor of the church in Well-street, Coventry. The chapel was built by him; and the congregation and church are the result of the blessing of God upon his labours.

at Foleshill, as most of his flock were of the humbler class of society, and it is probable that in medicine (of which he had some knowledge) and in other modes of benevolence he gave them quite as much as he received. Mr. Rowton, to whom I am indebted for most of the particulars I have here stated, says: "He was a plain, faithful, earnest preacher of the great leading truths of the gospel; generally dwelling on the subjects of repentance, faith, and conversion, their nature and evidences. His ministry was much blessed in the conversion of souls; and during its continuance a manifest and most pleasing improvement was visible in the parish to those who were familiar with it."

This field which the Lord once so signally blest, it is my privilege to cultivate. We celebrated the jubilee of opening the

HYMN TO THE TRINITY.

ALL glory to the Trinity-
Thrice holy Lord, we bow to thee,
Enthron'd in light above;
With cherubim and seraphim,
Thee we adore, the "Elohim,"
The triune God of love.

The name ineffable we own,
The Father, the co-equal Son,

And Spirit, all Divine.

All power, and grace, and majesty,
The blended glories of the three,
In one Jehovah shine.

Hail to the sacred Trinity!
And the incarnate Mystery,

That makes the Godhead known;
Where beaming in the Saviour's face,
Father! we see thy matchless grace,

And call that grace our own.
Come, thou inspiring Spirit come,
Make our rejoicing hearts thy home;
And thou Incarnate One,
Thine and thy Father's love bestow;
Still dwell a man with men below,
And lead us to thy throne.

Foleshill, Feb. 9, 1847.

THE SNOWDROP.

chapel the last week in August 1845. Appearances are encouraging; "the poor have the gospel preached to them;" their children are receiving a scriptural education; a day-school on the British system has been established within the last year; great numbers of young people regularly attend the chapel, and many have placed themselves under the instruction of the master of the British School. We are working and waiting, trusting and praying, and we know who has said, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."

I am, my dear doctor,
Yours very sincerely,

J. STYLES.

Foleshill, January 20, 1847.

J. S.

LOVELY flower, of purest white, Emblem of some child of light,

Newly risen from the tomb
At the solemn day of doom.
Where wert thou in autumn's reign,
That we view thy form again?
Could'st thou non-existence know,
And now peep above the snow?

Harbinger of beauteous spring,
Thy Creator's praise I sing,
Who inspires, by sight of thee,
Thoughts of immortality.

Like thy race, we droop and die,
Yet again must view the sky;
Being we in death retain,
And shall rise to life again.

All things change, but perish not;
Such the meanest creature's lot;
Death to life has given place;
Hence we see the snowdrop's face.
Not less privileged than flowers,
Life renew'd is surely ours.
He who died our souls to save
Will redeem us from the grave.

When from dust and darkness born,
Beauty shall our home adorn;
We shall then his likeness wear,
Who is fairest of the fair.

Welcome, then, the glorious day,
When the curse shall pass away;
When, in paradise restor❜d,
God's free grace shall be adored.
J. B.

FAMILY RELIGION, especially_as_exemplified in Family Prayer. By W. DAVIS, of the Croft Chapel, Hastings.

Snow, Paternoster-row, London.

How many tractates on this subject have we read! All of them worthy of perusal, and especially adapted to the times and circumstances in which they were written. Each has been useful in its own circle, and still answers its specific end. This little work by Mr. Davis was no doubt suggested by the too general neglect of family religion which he must have observed and deplored in common with his brethren, and by the spirit of the hierarchy, whose Puseyism is transferring the practice of piety from the family to the isolated individual, and from the domestic altar to the church and the crucifix. After noticing those who, though professing godliness, do not practise family prayer, some deeming it wrong to join in devotional exercises with the unconverted, and others because it is not expressly enjoined in the New Testament, the author observes: "Well-taught Christians; men, we mean, who have passed the mere noviciate of their Christianity; do not expect minutely specific directions on all the duties and circumstances of life, in a volume which is the charter of our deliverance from the burdensome rites and minute ceremonial observances of the Levitical dispensation. We are not called unto bondage, but unto liberty. If we rigidly demand a positive precept for every action which as Christians we perform, our range of duty must necessarily be very limited. We have only," he adds, "to look at the spirit of the New Testament to learn what is our duty with respect to family prayer." He then proceeds to show that family prayer ought to be characterised by a devotional spirit, by the inculcation of short and suitable precepts, and by the exhibition of a holy and consistent example. In the illustration of these particulars there is not anything very new or very striking. It is, however, plain, pithy, and pointed.

The author deplores in the Anglo-AntiProtestant Church, as its modern priests love to designate the Church of England, symptoms of a return to the superstitious usages of the darker ages, from which the Reformation have effected much in delivering our people. "The daily services in some of the churches of the Establishment," Mr. Davis remarks, "the exhortations from

not a few pulpits, and from clergymen from whom better things might well have been expected, who assemble for family worship in the parochial edifice, evidently tend to restore a superstitious reverence for places supposed to be sacred, and for persons imagined to be peculiarly holy. All this, we believe, strikes at the root of intelligent piety, of personal consecration to God, and of that household religion, which is one of the best nurseries of the holy and lovely graces of the Christian character. It is more than probable that the advocates of the obsolete rites and pompous ceremonies of an encumbered Christianity are well aware how much would be gained to their party could they but divert the thoughts of men from the substance of religion to its outward forms; and especially from devotion itself to its spurious and specious representations, in formal repetitions and imposing observances.' To this little unobtrusive messenger of mercy to the dwellings of the rich and poor we cordialy wish "God speed."

HISTORY of the REFORMATION in GERTransMANY. By LEOPOLD RANKE. lated by Sarah Austin. Vol. III. 8vo. pp. 672.

Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.

At the time of their publication, we took occasion to introduce to the favourable notice of our readers the two first volumes of Miss Austin's translation of Ranke's great work. In these volumes, which constitute the first part of the author's comprehensive plan, the reader is made acquainted, by a very laborious scholarly process, with the early struggles and partial and doubtful triumphs of the Reformation Church, as headed by Luther and others, who were his fellow-workers in his great and glorious undertaking. In the volume now under consideration, which treats of the second epoch of the Reformation, according to the plan pursued we have placed before us the steady progress of the Protestant cause, as it gradually emerged from the early difficulties which threatened its success, until, at last, we behold it in the zenith of its strength, a regularly organized form of Christian worship and discipline, placed under the protection of the civil power, and contributing its full share of influence to the support of the state.

We cannot examine with care the in