commencement, in 1785, the Society has distributed 243,396 Spelling-books, 54,548 Testaments, and 7399 Bibles to 2852 schools, containing upwards of 241,000 children. RECENT DEATHS. Ar Ashbourn, Derbyshire, Mr. John Cooper, a most generous friend of the gospel; by whose munificence the chapel, the minister's house, and some alms houses in that town, have been built and endowed. He has also bequeathed a very con siderable sum for the support of religion in the connection of the late Countess of Huntingdon. Died on Friday, March 11, 1808, Mrs. E. Banfield, wife of the Rev. Joel Banfield, Minister of the ludependent Church of Bromyard, Herefordshire. November 24, 1807, died at Over Compton, near Sherborne, Dorsetshire, Mr. John Bicknell, aged 72. A truly pious Christian Father of Mr. Henry Bicknell, Missionary at Otaheite, List of Lectures, &c. in and near London, for April. 10. LORD'S DAY Ev. Broad Str. Mr. ; Devonshire Sq. Mr. Powell; Hare Crt. Mr. Greig ; Peter Str. Mr. Button; Orange Str Mr. Townsend; Crown Crt. Mr. Gore; Palace Str. Mr. J. Thomas. 12. Tu. M. Broad Str. Mr. Goode. 13. Wed. M. Crown Ct. Mr. Greig.Divine Providences a Motive to Holiness. Ev. Prayer-Meeting for the Nation at Mr. Burder's. 14. Th. Ev. Fetter Lane, Mr. Ford. The Satisfaction which the Lord's People derive from his Goodness. 15. Fr. Ev. Sermon to Young People, by Mr. Cloutt, at Mr. Wall's. 17. LORD'S DAY Ev. Broad Str. Mr. ;' Devonshire Sq. Dr. Jenkins; Hare Crt. Mr. Winter; Orange Str. Mr. Burder; Peter 24. LORD'S DAY Ev. Broad Str. Mr. ; Devonshire Sq. Mr. C. Hyatt; Hare Crt. Mr. T, Hill; Palace St. Mr. Greig; Crown Ct. Mr. J. Clayton, jun. Peter Str. Dr. Young. 26. Tu. M. Broad Str. Mr. Humphrys. 27. Wed. M. Crown Crt. Mr. Shenstone. - Flesh and Spirit. Ev. Prayer-Meeting for the Nation at Mr. J. Thomas's. 28. Th. Ev. Fetter Lane, Mr. Hughes. The Divine Discipline painful, but profitable. Lord's Day Morn. Lect. (7 o'clock) MINISTERS SUPPLYING AT Spa Fields, Mr. Glascott: Mr. Wilkins, REFLECTIONS ON RETIRING FROM LONDON, To take the Pastoral Charge of a small Christian Society, in a Country Village. Guided, I trust, by that Almighty Friend, To all His will my soul shall be resign'd, My God, my Father, Counsellor, and Guide. Than wealth can feld, or carnal heart desire. No joy like this can aught impart below, For this I'll strive while life and breath remain. For this the sacred volume I'll explore, Its awful truths with trembling hope imparts; And grace divine with daily zeal implore, By which alone those truths can reach the heart. When o'er the fields in solitude I rove, Where all is smiling, soothing, and serene, And all arouud is harmony and love. Thus from the books of nature and of grace, Instruction I can draw with pure delight; To know, and do, and bear thy will, my God, And when that great illustrious day shall come, There may I see my little flock around, In righteousness complete and glory bright; Printed by G. AULD, Greville Street, London. ABURIENSIS. EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE. MAY, 1808. MEMOIR THE LATE REV. SAMUEL ROBINSON, OF BAKEWELL, DERBYSHIRE. A MAN is great in the eyes of the Lord his God,' in proportion to the evangelical purity of his motives, the zeal of his exertions for the divine glory, and the patient fortitude with which he endures the allotted trials of life. If these particulars comprize the scriptural criterion of real elevation of character, how many, called great, must be cashiered from the records of Biography, as destitute of any just pretensions to the title,―as unable to furnish the stimulus of an example really great, be cause truly useful! The Rev. S. Robinson was born at Morten Fen, near Bourne, in the county of Lincoln, Feb. 17, 1776. His father, William Robinson, was a pious man, of the Independent denomination; and engaged in the occupations of husbandry. He was called from the scenes of time in the year 1782, leaving a widow and six children. Though Samuel enjoyed the care and instructions of maternal piety, and was naturally of a mild and peaceable disposition, it was not till the year 1793 that he appears to have received penetrating and abiding impressions of real religion. A letter from one of his brothers first roused his attention to the means of grace, which he had for some time treated with indifference and neglect. The ministry of the Rev. Mr. Dawson, of Kegworth, was the apparent instrument of his radical conversion to God. He was exercised for some time with painful conflicts and fears; but continuing in prayer and attendance in the house of God, he was brought, by discoveries of the Redeemer, from under the spirit of bondage into the possession of liberty and peace. The family having removed to Pinchbeck, a village about three miles distant from their former abode, Mr. Robinson joined in fellowship with the church there, under the ministry of the Rev. J. Woodward. Here he was frequently solicited to engage prayer, and address a word of exhortation to his friends at their social meetings; but the consciousness of insufficiency, in XVI. Сс |