could never think of accepting that honour till he received it from a college at Sierra Leone, where he had received his education. When Mr. Occam, the Indian preacher (whose portrait appeared lately in our Magazine) was in England, he, of course, visited Mr. N.; and they compared experiences. Mr. O. (says he) in describing to me the state of his heart when he was a blind idolater, gave me, in general, a striking picture of what my own was in the early part of my life; and his subsequent views corresponded with mine, as face answers to face in a glass, though, I dare say, when he received them, he had never heard of Calvin's name.' As his faculties visibly and rapidly declined in his last years, a friend urged him to desist from speaking in public before he was absolutely compelled. He replied, with unusual energy, 'I cannot stop. What! shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak?' Mr. N. was a very candid and friendly critic, and was often applied to by young authors for his opinion and remarks; which he would give very candidly, and sometimes under the name of Nibblings. On one of these occasions, a practical essay was put into his hand, which he approved; but a letter was appended, addressed to an obscure and contemptible writer, who had said very unwarrantable and absurd things on the subject, and whom therefore the writer attacked with little ceremony. The following is a specimen of some of Mr.Newton's Nibblings:-'Were the affair mine, I would take no notice of Mr. : but, if I did, it should be with the hope, at least with the desire, of doing good, even to him. This would make me avoid every harsh epithet. He is not likely to be benefitted by calling him a fool. The Evangelists simply relate what is said and done, and use no bitterness nor severity, even when speaking of Herod, Pilate, or Judas. I wish their manner was more adopted in controversy.' Speaking of the Fall, and of Adam being a federal head, he remarks, I think agency should be taken into the account. I suppose, Adam was created without spot or blemish, but still man; that he was the temple of the living God. When sin provoked the Lord to leave his temple, it became the habitation of devils. I apprehend we are always under influence, either good or bad; perhaps both.' "The epithet great is often given to the apostle Paul; but I question the propriety of it. He was not behind the chief; but Peter and John were great in the same sense, and were equally penmen of the holy Scriptures.' The following Remarks are gleaned from his familiar conversations : Mr. N. was a great observer of Providence, even in little things. It may seem of small consequence,' said he, one day to a friend, whether in returning from hence you go up Cat eaton Street, or down the Old Jewry; yet in going one way of the other, you may meet a person capable of serving you; and this circumstance may have an effect on all your future life.' He lamented the evils he saw around him; but he did not like to meddle where he saw he could do no good. 'I,' said he once, lifting up his fist, I have tried to make crooked things straight, till I have made these knuckles sore; and now must leave it to the Lord.' Speaking of the importance of motives, he would say, 'If I wanted a man to fly, I must contrive to find him wings; and thus if I would successfully enforce moral duties, I must advance evangelical motives.' If an angel were sent to find the most perfect man, he would probably not find him composing a body of divinity; but perhaps a cripple in a poor-house, whom the parish wish dead; but humbled before God, with far lower thoughts of himself than others think of him. If two angels came down from Heaven to execute a divine command, and one was appointed to conduct an empire, and the other to sweep a street in it, they would feel no inclination to choose employments. In divinity, as well as in the other professions, there are the little artists. A man may be able to execute the buttons of a statue very neatly; but I could not call him an able artist. There is an air, there is a taste, to which his narrow capacity cannot reach. Now, in the church, there are your dexterous button-makers. I would not give a straw for that assurance which sin will not damp. If David had come from his adultery, and had talked of his assurance at that time, I should have despised his speech. There is the analogy of faith: it is a master-key, which not only opens particular doors, but carries you through the whole house; but an attachment to a rigid system is dangerous. Luther once turned out the Epistle of St. James, because it disturbed his system. Dr. Owen will be ashamed of his wisdom and clearness five minutes after he has been in Heaven. I shall preach, perhaps, very usefully upon two opposite texts, while kept apart; but if I attempt nicely to reconcile them, it is ten to one if I don't begin to bungle. Contrivers of systems on the earth, are like contrivers of systems in the heavens; where the sun and moon keep the same course, in spite of the philosophers. When a man says he received a blessing under a sermon, I begin to enquire who this man is who speaks of the help he has received. The Roman people proved the effect they received under a sermon of Antony, when they flew to avenge the death of Cæsar. The Lord has reasons, far beyond onr ken, for opening a wide door, while he stops the mouth of a useful preacher. John Bun BIOGRAPHICAL GLEANINGS OF THE REV. J. NEWTON. 5 yan would not have done half the good he did, if he had remained preaching in Bedford, instead of being shut up in Bedford prison. Doctor Taylor, of Norwich, said to me, Sir, I have collated every word in the Hebrew Scriptures seventeen times; and it is very strange if the doctrine of atonement you hold, should not have been found by me.' I am not surprized at this: I once went to light my candle with the extinguisher on it. Now, prejudices from education, learning, &c. often form an extinguisher. It is not enough that you bring the candle; you must remove the extinguisher. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' A man may live in a deep mine in Hungary, never having seen the light of the sun: he may have received accounts of prospects, and, by the help of a candle, may have examined a few engravings of them; but let him be brought out of the mine, and set on the mountain, what a difference appears! I have many books that I cannot sit down to read; they are, indeed, good and sound; but, like halfpence, there goes a great quantity to a little amount. There are silver books, and a very few golden books; but I have one book worth more than them all, called the Bible; and that is a book of bank-notes. When some people talk of religion, they mean they have heard so many sermons, and performed so many devotions, and thus mistake the means for the end; but true religion is an habitual recollection of God, and intention to serve him; and this turns every thing to gold. We are apt to suppose that we need something splendid to evince our devotion; but true religion equals things; washing plates and cleaning shoes is a high office, if performed in a right spirit. If three angels were sent to earth, they would feel perfect indifference who should perform the part of prime-minister, parish-minister, or watchman, Ministers would over-rate their labours, if they did not think it worth while to be born, and spend ten thousand years in labour and contempt, to recover one soul. I feel like a man who has no money in his pocket, but is allowed to draw for all he wants upon one infinitely rich: I am, therefore, at once both a beggar and a rich man. A Copy of the Exordium of Mr. Newton's Will, In the name of God, Amen. I John Newton, of ColemanStreet Buildings in the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman Street, in the city of London, Clerk, being through mercy in good health, and of sound and disposing mind, memory, and understanding, although in the seventy-eighth year of my age, do, for the setC tlement of my temporal concerns, and for the disposal of all the worldly estate which it has pleased the Lord in his good providence to give me, make this my last Will and Testament as follows:- I commit my Soul to my gracious God and Saviour, who mercifully spared and prevented me, when I was an Apostate, a Blasphemer, and an Infidel, and delivered me from that state of misery, on the coast of Africa, into which my obstinate wickedness had plunged me; and who has pleased to admit me (though most unworthy) to preach his glorious Gospel. I rely with humble confidence upon the atonement and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, which I have often pro❤ posed to others as the only foundation whereon a sinner can build his hope, trusting that he will guard and guide me through the uncertain remainder of my life, and that he will then admit me into his presence in his heavenly Kingdom. I would have my Body deposited in the Vault under the Parish Church of Saint Mary Woolnoth, close to the coffins of my late dear Wife, and my dear Niece, Élizabeth Cunningham; and it is my desire that my Funeral may be performed with as little expence as possible, consistent with decency. Mr. Newton composed an Epitaph for himself, desiring that it might be put up near the vestry door. His executors have complied strictly with his injunctions. The following is a cor, rect copy: JOHN NEWTON, once an Infidel and Libertine, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour pear 16 Years as Curate and Vicar of Olney, in Berks; MARY, daughter of the late George Catlett, to the Lord who gave her, The above Epitaph was written by the Deceased, are deposited in the Vault beneath this Church, 7 THOUGHTS ON THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR. ETERNITY, Contemplated in itself, without boundaries or epocha, is a subject, the idea of which overwhelms us. It appears to our imagination like the great arch of Heaven, when light first dawned upon it, and before God had adorned it with sun, moon, or stars. It might be viewed with a melancholy ad-" miration, as a sort of blank universe; but the admirer must be lost in the contemplation, like a mariner on the great Atlantic without a compass, and with a sky perpetually clouded. Our great Creator saw this; and therefore not only created light, but concentrated it in the solar orb, filled up the system with planets, primary and secondary, and, placing us near the centre of it, he appointed them for signs and for seasons, for days and years.' The day is formed by a revolution of our planet on its own axis; the lunar revolutions form our weeks and months; and the revolution of our planet round the sun, a complete year. These, in our journey through life, are like mile-stones, which mark our progress, and enable us to calculate how far we have come, and admonish us of our approaching end. They may do more: by writing our Ebenezers on them, they become memorials of our mercies, and monuments of the Lord's goodness. The division of our time is also important to its improvement: it enables us, by comparing our duties with our time, to assign proper portions of it to business, devotion, or rest. It is wise, therefore, to mark these periods; and there is an observation of 'days and times,' not only free from superstition, but of a tendency morally important. The Commencement of the NEW YEAR in particular, has been observed by almost all nations with rites, religious as well as civil; and those are worse than heathen, in that respect, who let the day pass over without taking a lesson of improvement on it. The Jews had a twofold commencement of the year, civil and religious. The latter took place from their Exodus, which was to be to them as the Christian Era to us, a new beginning of time, the more strongly to mark the æra of redemption. This commenced about the vernal equinox; but the original year began at the autumnal, when every thing was created in its most perfect state. This commenced with the feast of trumpets. Their New Year's Day was consequently a sacred festival. The present month (January) was first introduced into the year by Numa; before whose time the Roman year was very defective, and they were obliged to have recourse to various awkward expedients to make it agree with the sun, and keep the |