characteristic of the simplicity and devotedness of those excellent and useful men, the early race of Methodist Preachers.

The intercourse which Mr. Robinson had with the pious woman we have already mentioned, and with John Nelson, seems to have made him recollect his "Theron and Aspasio," which he now began to read; and he was surprised to find that the spiritual views of religion held out in the pious conversation in which he had lately engaged, were similar to those in this book, which he now read with avidity. We cannot state from any memoranda Mr. Robinson has left behind, what particular progress was made in the illumination of his mind, and in its tendency to the path that leadeth to life, but the result was, that he went to hear the Methodists, to whom he united himself; and his house became a home for Mr. Wesley, when he visited Sheffield.*

Much as Mr. Robinson was indebted to those various means of spiritual benefit already mentioned, there were others which the divine goodness employed in the cultivation of the good seed which was sown in his heart. In the circle of a respectable acquaintance at Sheffield, there were two excellent ladies, the sisters of a pious Clergyman, who used considerable pains in communicating religious knowledge to Mr. and to Mrs. Robinson, (for Mr. Robinson was now married,) which indeed were continued after Mr. Robinson left Sheffield: for those excellent women kept up a correspondence with him till their death; giving him the most faithful and excellent advice, and reminding him of the necessity

Mr. Everett, in his "Historical Sketches of Wesleyan Methodism in Sheffield," page 178, states, that among the persons who became serious, several professed to have received the forgiveness of sins, and that this doctrine of the Methodists was opposed by the Rev. George Bayliffe, in a sermon preached in the parish church of Sheffield. The dispute was not confined to the pulpit; and Mr. Everett mentions, that Jeremiah Cocker, a Local Preacher, published a small pamphlet, said to have been written with ability, on this topic. Upon part of this subject Mr. Everett, it seems, has been misinformed; nor is that surprising, upon a minute fact at this distance of time, and with appearances much in its favour. This pamphlet was not, I believe, written by Mr. Cocker, but by Mr. Thomas Robinson, who employed Cocker to circulate it. At that time, (1763,) Mr. Thomas Robinson resided at Sheffield, and took, as he did in every thing which related to the Methodists, or their doctrines, a lively interest in this controversy; and he has often mentioned in his family, with some zest, the circumstances of this warfare; and that he wrote the pamphlet and sent Mr. Cocker with it to the Clergyman, who, taking it for the performance of the latter, would not receive it. Perhaps the Clergyman afterwards understood Mr. Thomas Robinson to be the writer, as he sent to his house for a copy. I am sorry none of these pamphlets were met with amongst his books, after his death, as his friends know that some of them were in his possession a few years ago. This little circumstance, in some measure, illustrates the zeal and intelligence with which he exerted himself through life, in vindicating and spreading the doctrines taught by Mr. Wesley.

of watching and guarding against those natural tempers which were most habitual to him and we should conclude that there was a gradual progress of religious knowledge and experience in Mr. Robinson's mind. After a long acquaintance with him, I heard him speak of having felt great terror arising from a conviction of the demerit of sin, and of the awful penalties to which, as a sinner, he was exposed; but his understanding appears to have been enlightened by the Divine Spirit, to discover the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus; and he was led to believe in the Saviour with his heart unto righteousness, and with his mouth to make confession unto salvation. Amongst his private papers there is one which shows the state of his mind under circumstances of great personal danger, which occurred on one of his voyages to Holland, where his business as a merchant sometimes called him; and although in some parts he may have adopted language supplied by Divines who have recommended solemn covenants of this kind, yet the principal part was doubtless the spontaneous effusion of his own heart on an event so interesting to himself. The whole is in his own handwriting, and marks strongly the feelings and views of his mind upon the solemn occasion to which it refers. The excellency and utility of the paper will be an excuse for inserting it at length; especially as it shows the humble fear of God, and the faith and devotion of the writer, better than any general description which we can give of his piety.

"Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah, thou great Creator of heaven and earth, and adorable Lord of angels and men! I desire, with the deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, to fall down in thine awful presence, and earnestly pray that thou wilt penetrate my heart with a due sense of thine unutterable and inconceivable glories.

Trembling may justly take hold upon me, when I, a sinful worm, presume to lift up my head to thee, and to appear in thy presence, on such an occasion as this. Who am I, O Lord God, or what is my father's house? what is my nature or descent, my character and desert, that I should desire to be one party in a covenant, where Thou, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, art the other? I blush, and am confounded even to mention it before thee. But O Lord, great as is thy majesty, so also is thy mercy. If thou wilt hold converse with any of thy creatures, thy exalted nature must stoop infinitely low: and I know that, in and through Jesus, the Son of thy love, thou condescendest to visit sinful mortals, and to allow their approach to thee, and their covenant intercourse with thee. Nay, I know that the scheme and plan is thine own, and that thou hast graciously sent to propose it to us; as none, untaught by thee, would have been able to form it, or inclined to embrace it even when actually proposed,

"To thee, therefore, do I now come, invited by the name of thy Son,

and trusting in his righteousness and grace, laying myself at thy feet, with shame and confusion of face, and smiting upon my breast, I say, with the humble publican, God be merciful to me a sinner.' I acknowledge, O Lord, that I have been a great transgressor. My sins have reached unto heaven, and mine iniquities are lifted up unto the skies. The propensities of my corrupted and degenerate nature have, in ten thousand aggravated instances, wrought to bring forth fruit unto death: and if thou shouldest be strict to mark mine offences, I must be silent under a load of guilt, and immediately sink into destruction. But thou hast graciously called me to return unto thee, though I have been a wandering sheep, a prodigal son, a backsliding child. Behold me therefore, O Lord! I come unto thee; I come, convinced not only of my sin, but of my folly; I come, from my very heart, ashamed of myself, and with an acknowledgment, in the sincerity and humility of my soul, that I have erred exceedingly. I am confounded at the remembrance of these things. But be thou merciful to my unrighteousness; and do not remember against me my sins and transgressions. Permit me, O Lord, to bring back unto thee those powers and faculties which I have ungratefully alienated from thy service; and receive, I beseech thee, thy poor revolted creature, who is now convinced of thy right to him, and desires nothing in the whole world so much as to be thine.

"Blessed God, it is with the utmost solemnity that I make this surrender of myself unto thee this day, this awful day, in which thou hast given me a small glimpse of thy almighty power, and a strong proof of thy unlimited mercy. O may I ever remember this Sunday, Oct. 4th, 1762, when on my passage from Holland to England, thou visitedst us with a most solemn and tremendous scene: when the winds blew, and the sea raged in most dreadful confusion, and the whole day was darkened by a thick fog; when our hearts failed within us, and yawning destruction appeared ready to devour us; and when numbers of poor souls were given up to the merciless ocean, friends and relations to behold no more! O my soul, wherefore wast not thou given up to perish with them? And for thy numberless transgressions hurried away to everlasting destruction? O merciful Jesus, I called upon thy name, and the Lord delivered me out of all my troubles. I lifted up my voice out of the deep; and, notwithstanding the rage and clamour of the wind and sea, my feeble voice reached thy throne, O Lord, and brought unlimited mercies to thy unworthy servant. O fill my soul with gratitude and adoration; and from this day and hour may I never forget thy goodness. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! I avouch the Lord this day to be my God; and I avouch and declare myself this day to be one of his covenant children. Hear, O thou God of heaven, and record it in the book of thy remembrance, that henceforth I am thine, entirely thine. I would not merely conse

crate to thee some of my powers, or some of my possessions, or give thee a proportion of my services, or all I am capable of, for a limited time only; but I would be wholly thine, and thine for ever. From this day do I solemnly renounce all the former lords which have had dominion over me; every sin and every lust; and bid, in thy name, an eternal defiance to the powers of hell, which have most unjustly usurped the empire over my soul, and to all the corruptions which their fatal temptations have introduced into it. The whole frame of my being, all the faculties of my mind, and all the members of my body, would I present before thee this day, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which I know to be my most reasonable service. To thee I consecrate all my worldly possessions. In thy service I desire to spend all the remainder of my time upon earth; and beg that thou would est instruct and influence me, so that whether my abode here be longer or shorter, every year and month, every day and hour, may be used in such a manner as shall most effectually promote thine honour, and subserve the schemes of thy wise and gracious providence. And I earnestly pray, that whatever influence thou givest me over others, in any of the relations of life in which I may stand, or in consequence of any peculiar regard which may be paid to me,...

"

This impressive document, which occupies one sheet of paper, is evidently unfinished; but we have not been able to meet with the remainder.

His attention to business, and the air of Sheffield, occasioning some injury to Mr. Thomas Robinson's health, he thought it proper, on the death of his father, which happened in 1764, to occupy the farm at Hilderthorp, within a mile of Bridlington-Quay. On the settlement of Mr. Thomas Robinson at his new residence, finding few, if any persons in the parish, of similar religious dispositions, he was anxious that his brother, Mr. William Robinson, should leave North-Shields, and fix his residence at Bridlington-Quay; with the double purpose of enjoying religious fellowship with each other, and of uniting in the benevolent work of doing good to their neighbours. Mr. William Robinson felt some reluctance to move, but the entreaties of his brother were aided by some discouragements in business, so that Mr. William Robinson left NorthShields, and took up his abode at the Quay. Here their united influence was exerted for the advancement of the work of God; and their pious endeavours were rendered greatly successful through a series of happy years; the particulars of which will be detailed in the next Number of this Magazine.

(To be continued.)

THE SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF ACHAN:
A SERMON :

BY THE REV. R. P. BUDDICOM, M.A. F.A.S.

(Concluded from page 233.)

THE history of iniquity, like the roll in Ezekiel's vision, is "written within, and without, with lamentation, and mourning, and woe." "Lust," as we have seen, "when it is conceived, bringeth forth sin :" but the sad process stops not here. "Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." Following, therefore, the course of this dark though instructive history, we reach

II. The Consequences of Achan's Guilt.

When Ahab met Elijah, he cried, in the consciousness of his own offences, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" "I have not troubled Israel," answered the indignant Prophet, "but thou and thy father's house; in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord." Similar to this reproof was the mournful address of Joshua to Achan, when sentence was about to pass upon him. "Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day." He was not merely his own enemy, but the enemy of the tribes among whom he dwelt. His offence had a double aspect of wrath,-upon others, and upon himself.

1. It brought shame, defeat, and death, into the camp of Israel. His iniquity was visited upon them. "Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them; for they have taken of the accursed thing: therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, because they were accursed." The divine presence and power manifested among them, and displayed in their behalf, could alone cover their heads, and give them victory in the day of battle. That presence was withdrawn, that omnipotence ceased to protect and prosper them, while the sin of Achan remained undiscovered and unpunished. "I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing from among you." The men of Israel and Joshua evidently considered their disgrace and defeat before Ai, as a mark of the divine displeasure. "The Lord's arm was not shortened, that it could not save, nor his ear heavy, that it could not hear; but their iniquities had separated between them and their God, and their sins had hid his face from them that he would not hear." Is it asked, amidst the fluctuation of public opinion, and the agitations of political conflict, "Who is the bitterest enemy of his country?" The answer is at hand: he who is the most daring violator of the law of his God. That man does his country more mischief than all the armed array of human foes. His guilt sharpens their swords, and nerves their arms, and invigorates their devices.