Lord ?"

and why it came; but in that soft gentle | forth, and even for evermore!" Oh, how way, just sufficient to arrest the mind-blessed! Since reading this precious and to exercise the thoughts-and to lead endearing word, I have been just in Daone anxiously to ask, "Is this from the vid's position, as described in 2 Samuel, But this I must tell you, the vii. 18, "Then went king David in, and experience of yesterday gave me a little sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am more confidence, and I seemed more I, O Lord God? and what is my house, promptly and readily disposed to seize that thou hast brought me hitherto ?" the dear promise-like a hungry child And, ere I was aware, my heart was would a slice of bread from its parent's caught up in sweet communings; I was hand-and to thank the dear Lord for melted into tears and most sacred felit. Emboldened by yesterday, I was for lowship at his dear feet. Wants pressed laying hold upon the word so graciously upon the mind; this, that, and the other given, without any parleying, or stopping thing presented themselves in a way of to ask whether it was for me or not. I need; but I felt that word, and could felt it was a most suitable word, and as hold it up before the Lord, for his own unlooked for as it was suitable. The gracious recognition and adoption, "Your application of it reminds me of that en- heavenly Father knoweth that ye have dearing assurance, "And behold, before need of all these things." I felt that they call I will answer, and while they I was going into a great conflict, but are yet speaking, I will hear." with it came the word, " The Lord is on By this time you will want to know my side, therefore I will not fear what what the word was. "The sun shall not man can do unto me. Thus you see how smite thee by day, nor the moon by the Lord clustered his own sweet, suitnight. THE LORD shall preserve thee able, and endearing words, making both from all evil: He shall preserve thy them and Himself unspeakably precisoul. THE LORD shall preserve the ous! going out, and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore." Oh, could I tell you my precise position (but, as I said to you last evening, I dare not do so it would be most unwise) you would say, no promise could be more to the purpose. I left my bed; and, as soon as I could, turned to the 91st Psalm, thinking it was there, but I was mistaken. I found one sweet portion there which the Lord once applied to my heart, between Dover and Ostend, "No evil shall befall thee, nor shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." I never forgot the sweetness and the appropriateness of that word, and have often since wished for the like assurance under similar circumstances. The present word, however, I found to be in the 121st Psalm; and oh how exactly to the How blessed its connexion. "I will lift up point. mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from THE LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold He that keepeth Israel will not slumber nor sleep. THE LORD is thy Keeper; THE LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. THE LORD shall PRESERVE THEE from all evil: HE shall PRESERVE thy soul. THE LORD shall PRESERVE thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time

Farewell, dear fellow-pilgrim! I had not the slightest thought of thus extending my letter; but as the Lord so graciously poured in, I could not do less than pour out, that you, who so well know experimentally what refreshing draughts from the Rock in the wilderness are, may (if the Lord fill) drink afresh, and that thus we may be refreshed together.

Cheer up! It will soon be over! At no very distant period "the Canaanite will cease to be in the land!" No more the cry, "The Philistines be upon thee!" Yea, " a little while-(a very little while)

and the wicked not! yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it not! The wicked pulleth [margin, practiseth] against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. THE LORD shall laugh at him, for HE seeth that his day is coming."

Yours in eternal oneness, F. G. P. [Free-Grace Pensioner.] P.S.-Since the foregoing was written, such has been the Lord's tenderness, that I feel it in my heart to tell you somewhat of his gracious dealings, but I must forbear; suffice it, however to say, I am sucking honey from that sweet portion, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee."-Aug. 25th.

THE WAR!

DISTRESSING, as in most respects the | this-written but a few hours before the present War is, we doubt not our God gallant Colonel fell?

DEARLY

whole trust in Him. Should I fall

is wondrously working. Many by it, we feel assured, have been taught Before Sebastopol, June 17, p.m. 66 so to number their days as to apply their hearts MY OWN BELOVED WIFE AND unto wisdom." They have had to bid an BELOVED CHILDREN,-At 1 o'clock to-moragonizing farewell to friends; to encounrow morning I head the 57th to storm the ter the dangers of the deep; to Redan. It is, as I feel, an awfully perilous engage upon the battle-field, and behold their moment to me, but I place myself in the companions cut down beside them. They hands of our gracious God, without whose have had to endure the hardships and will a sparrow cannot fall to the ground. I privations of a Crimean winter; to con- in the performance of my duty, I fully rely place my tend with pestilence and exhaustion from in the precious blood of our Saviour, shed for over-toil; and to take an active part in sinners, that I may be saved through Him. a prolonged and desperate siege. With Pardon and forgive me, my beloved ones, for death thus, in varied form, perpetually anything I may have said or done to cause before them, we doubt not multitudes you one moment's unhappiness. Unto God have been led to deep reflection, and en- I commend my body and soul, which are His; abled savingly to "lay hold upon the and, should it be His will that I fall in the hope set before them" in the Gospel. performance of my duty, in the defence of my Godly men, we know, are engaged at the Queen and country, I most humbly say, "Thy seat of war, and where they are there will be done." God bless you, and protect must be a blessing! Their example-you; and my last prayer will be, that He, of their conversation-their His infinite goodness, may preserve me to prayers, must have a salutary effect. Consequences you. God ever bless you, my beloved Eliza, must follow. To some they may be "the savour of death unto death," but to others assuredly of "life unto life.". We were thankful to hear, a few days since, that on board one of H. M. ships in the Baltic, to a sailor belonging to which this Magazine is forwarded, some thirty men used to meet together for reading and What must be the feelings of that prayer. And dear DAWES (to whose widow and those fatherless children when death we referred last month) told us, they read that calm-deliberate-Godwhen he was at home in the winter, that glorifying epistle? If one moment their a little company were in the habit of hearts are bursting with emotion whilst meeting on board the Duke of Welling- contemplating their own bereaved conditon, for the same purpose. Thus there tion, the instant their thoughts are diwas a Church" there! rected to the departed one, how changed And few can tell the sweetness atten- the scene! How great the contrast! dant upon any position where (humanly speaking) life is in daily peril and hazard, flowing from that comparative indifference to time-things and endearing communion with the Lord, which, under God, it produces.

66

and my dearest children; and, if we meet not again in this world, may we meet in the Jesus Christ. God bless and protect you; mansion of our Heavenly Father, through and ever believe me, your affectionate husband and loving father,

THOMAS SHADFORTH.

That moment the truthfulness, the reality, the power of vital godliness bursts upon the understanding; and dull, and gloomy, and despised as the so-called "Methodism" was before, it is now seen in a light in which it was never previously regarded

what it can do for its possessor when, as it were, in the very article of death, and eternity, with all its dread realities, is about to open.

Moreover, we doubt not that the War has been productive of good in reference to the relatives of those engaged in it. How many a widow and orphan and bereaved friend, with lacerated hearts, have been drawn to the footstool of mercy, and to the bosom of a precious Christ, there to realize what previously they were strangers to a sympathy, and a support, and a consolation, which the world clear. could neither give nor take away. What umes. blessings may not follow such a letter as conduct

That genuine godliness and vital religion does not involve, as we have elsewhere intimated, a monastic seclusion from the world, or withdrawal from the lawful duties and engagements in life, is Such facts as these speak volHow marked and how telling the and example of the gallant

Colonel. Listen to the testimony of eentre." This was said amidst a shower of

Camp before Sepastopol, June 18. MY DEAR MRS. SHADFORTH,-I trust the report from other sources will have prepared you to receive the painful intelligence it becomes my duty to convey to you.

When I look to the sincere regard all the officers and men of the 57th Regiment felt for our lamented Colonel, it is with unfeigned grief that I am obliged to inform you that he is no more. His gallant spirit fled while leading his men to the unfortunate and unsuccessful attack on the Redan this day.

As a soldier, his 30 years' service in the 57th Regiment has endeared him to officers and men, and the recollection of his devoted attachment to the regiment has spread a gloom through our camp, showing how beloved he was in life, and how respected in death. His remains were brought up by his attached men, and they will be interred to-morrow in the cemetry attached to the division, where our late Colonel Goldie and Lieutenant-General Cathcart already rest in a soldier's grave.

Pray accept my deepest sympathy and heart-felt condolence for your irreparable loss, and believe me your faithful servant,

HENRY J. WARRE,
Lieutenant-Colonel 57th Regiment.

The next letter is from George Cunning, the Colour-Sergeant and Acting Sergeant-Major of the regiment:

missiles of every kind, and he was then as cool and collected as if on parade. Poor Colouel! it was the last order I heard him

give, and the last time I saw him alive. He could not have suffered much pain from the nature of his wound.

Our last quotation is a letter from the Times newspaper, and who cannot but rejoice in such a wide-spread testimony for God and truth? Where the voice of the preacher could not reach, or, if heard, commonly unheeded-where the Bible is disregarded, this letter will be read; and in channels where the Gospel under ordinary circumstances is not received, God may make use of such means as a sort of pioneer of his own blessed and irresistible truth.

To the Editor of the "Times."

You

Sir,-Though the Times be not a theological journal, it may be a religious one. may not discuss difficult doctrines, but, as a reflector of the phenomena of the age, you cannot fail to notice a most brilliant exem

plification of the perfect compatibility of the noblest sense of loyalty to our Sovereign with deep, enlightened, and solemn feelings of love, responsibility, and devotion towards God. The letter of the brave Colonel Shadford in yesterday's Times is the but brief record of piety and heroism—of a instance 1 allude to. That precious, eloquent,

A

Christian's self-possession and a soldier's couMADAM,-I trust you will pardon me for rage-of faith and trust in what a Saviour presuming to address you while in the mids: has done-of devotedness to what duty of such distress, but I consider it my duty to might demand and of yearning sympathy convey to you the deep regret of the non- with the near and dear inmates of a home commissioned officers and men of the regi- he felt he might never see again-should be ment at the loss of our late Colonel. He presented to every soldier of our army. was our father and friend, and watched over soldier need not be profane to be brave. the regiment and its wants in a manner that He need not spend his spare moments in gained for him the adoration of his men ; and "practical joking," in order to escape the never did I see more genuine grief among a imputation of weakness. Deep and fervent body of men than what was seen in the 57th piety is not old womanishness.-The Bible Regiment for the poor Colonel; and the me-in one's knapsack is not evidence of supermory of his many acts of kindness, of his unflinching courage at the head of his own Die-hards," and of his glorious death, will long be a theme in the 57th Regiment.

Such are the feelings of the men of the regiment-they have lost their best friend, but I have lost, if possible, more than any of them, for I never experienced such kindness as he invariably showed to me and my welfare. He lost no opportunity in advancing me in my profession; and not only did he look after my temporal, but my spiritual welfare; and, if ever a man died a Christian,

he did.

I spoke to him a few minutes before he fell; the last words I heard him say, were, Now, Colonel Warre, you mind the right, I will take the left, and Major Inglis the

stition.-The grace of God in a soldier's heart not only enables him to do justly and live soberly, but to fight like a hero, and fall like a Christian, for Queen and country, and in the cause of civilization, against the ambitious assaults of a barbarous despotism.

There never was a war in the history of our country in which so many soldiers of simple hatred and unpretending piety took a part, or in which so many Christians have stood where heroes have fallen. There is a church in the army as pure and holy as has ever met under fretted roof of grand cathedral, or knelt on encaustic tiles or tesselated pavement. Colonel Shadforth is a proof, and not a solitary one, that military bravery is not that vulgar animal impulse which it is

pro

too often and too ignorantly thought to be, | larly striking as connected with the prebut a moral force fed from a divine spring sent War. His death (as our readers and nourished by what that wonderful book, are aware) led to the publication of his the Bible, inspires. I regard it as no mean sermons, lectures, and memoir. Some augury of our ultimate success that such ten or twelve thousand of these volumes officers command our regiments in the East. It must be the highest consolation to the be- are already before the public. Is there reaved at home that a soldier's prayers are these have, under the circumstances, been a question but what a goodly number of heard clear and distinct amid the roar of given as keepsakes, and distributed among the officers of both army and navy? Is it unreasonable to suppose, that the bability of their days being numberedthe recollection of devoted friends-and the fact of the works in question being the fruit of the labours of a retired brother officer, has prompted them to devote a portion of their leisure-hours to the perusal of the works in question? And can such a God-glorifying testimony as that of the immortal KRAUSE be in vain? Reader, is not our God in this War? THE EDITOR.

artillery, and that those mangled frames buried beneath the green sods of the Crimea have rendered up sonls to Heaven and to happiness, and that there is not an atom of their dust that will not hear the roll of the last trump, and in the words of Colonel Shadforth to his wife, meet those left behind in the mansions of the just.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

• August 10.

J. C.

We cannot close without expressing our conviction, that the removal of the late beloved Mr. KRAUSE-once himself an officer in the British army-is singu

FRAGMENTS FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATE MR. EDWARD PARSONS, OF CHICHESTER.

(Continued from page 358.)

ROSE Sunday morning, Oct. 8, 1826, | and needy seek water, and there is none, very weak in body, sharply tried in soul, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the close followed by a powerful and subtil Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel foe, the devil, to give all up, to preach will not forsake them." the name of Jesus no more, and to work carelessness of mind; to read, pray, nor speak any more; a plain proof he is an enemy to all. Went to my room at a later hour than usual, much cast down, with a heart feelingly barren and unfruitful as the desert heath, yet like the parched ground longing for the waters of eternal life, and the refreshing showers of the blessings of the Gospel of peace to come down into my heart, and the hearts of the people. Went into the pulpit as full of fears as I could hold, and with such weakness and trembling, that according to my feelings and my then present state, I could not stand five minutes to speak to the Lord's dear family. But faith, which is God's own gift, will lead the soul forth in the midst of perils and dangers, and through a huge host of enemies that oppose, looking to, and trusting in the Lord Jesus, the glorious Captain of our eternal salvation, and the Almighty, all-powerful, all-conquering King of all our enemies, within and without, as I, a poor nothingless creature, found it this morning, in speaking from Isa. xli. 17, "When the poor

Precious Jesus Jehovah, thou art the inexhaustible Fountain of love and grace, from whence our poor earthen vessels are filled, and by thee alone thy poor servants are enabled to draw out their souls to the hungry and thirsty sinner; and thou in thy mercy art pleased to satisfy them with the bread and water of eternal life, as it was this morning to the exalting of thy glorious name, and the refreshing of our barren hearts. Spoke from the same words in the evening. Before preaching felt myself very weak in body, soul, and mind, could get no rest nor peace; the work of the Lord lay heavy upon me with the greatness of its importance, at the same time feeling myself altogether unable for so great a work. Went to my room, and sought the Lord's face for strength to uphold, power to set at liberty, love to constrain, wisdom to direct, and faith to sail through the sweet waters, or promises, of the Gospel into Jesus the Haven of rest; and that the people might be refreshed, replenished, and comforted, all which, blessed be his name, He was pleased to freely grant; for the blessed Spirit was

kind and good to me, a poor worthless | bles and fears, and if all was right in his worm, and set the sweet seals of faith sight, that He would be pleased to visit and love in my soul, and enabled me to me with a sense of his love. Had not sail on the precious promises, and by long risen from my knees, before the Lord faith to throw out the anchor of a good told me He would do wonders in the hope into the unfathomable sea of God's course of the day. Fell again on my eternal grace, and some of his dear chil-knees before the Lord, and He was dren to partake of the same: so he that pleased to break into my soul with a sows and they that reap, may rejoice to- sweet sense of his love, and make all gether, and him that watereth shall be wa- things straight. Afterwards I was led tered himself. O Lord, thou art to thy to read the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of Joshua, poor family in Zion a Place of broad by which my kind God showed me that rivers and streams, wherein shall go no He was about to do wonders amongst us galley with oars; but poor and needy on the morrow. Went from the room sinners that long for a full sense of thy to a friend's house; whilst there, two love and pardoning mercy shall drink of gentlemen came in and told me that they that river of thy pleasure, the streams of were come from London to hear me which make glad their hearts. Oh how which caused great sinkings of heart. quiet, composed, undisturbed, and fear- Had some conversation with them, then less do thy poor children lie, when, by returned home to rest, but could get but faith, they enter into eternal love in Christ little through the night; but my ever Jesus. Here neither men nor devils can gracious God bid me be strong and coudisquiet; no storms nor temptations, rageous, for He would be with me. however boisterous, can remove our com- Went to my room very weak in body, posed state of mind; no fiery darts from confused in mind, and troubled in soul; hell, however hot, can disturb our peace; sought the Lord's face to take away my no winds from the bottomless pit; no fears, tremblings, and doubts: but I errors, however strong they blow; no carried them into the pulpit with me, to cross contrary winds of providence, how-speak from Isaiah, "When the poor and ever crooked they blow; no boisterous needy seek water, and there is none, and billows of time and sense, however high their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord they rise, for no storm shall hurl us out will hear them, I the God of Israel will of our place. Oh how sweet for the not forsake them." In prayer my precivessel of mercy to lie at anchor by faith ous Jesus was pleased to come to the in the bosom of Jehovah's love, grace, relief of his poor helpless worm, and reand favour, and to outride every storm move from him all his fears, doubts, and by faith and hope in Christ Jesus; and, misgivings of heart, and by his presence under the sweet and heavenly influence to strengthen my soul; and by his supof the blessed Spirit, to feel our ever-porting hand He brought me through, to lasting safety in Christ, the Ark of eter- the glory of his name, and the comfort nal security. This, O my soul, thou of his people. Went to dine with the hast found this night, to the everlasting two gentlemen, had some sweet converfame, eternal glory, and endless praise of sation with them, and one told me that an Almighty and unalterable Saviour. he had not heard so satisfactorily for Oh let us magnify Him together, for fifteen years. Praise the Lord, O my surely He was with us, of a truth, this soul, the power is thine! Returned to night. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and the room in the evening, to seek the lead thy people to the same sweet em- Lord for fresh strength, power, and wisployment, for his free, boundless, and dom. Went into the pulpit with my superabounding grace to us, poor hell-bonds; the Lord was pleased to let me deserving sinners; and to the Father, loose again, and brought me through Son, and Spirit, be everlasting honour. Amen.

with a high hand. Went the next day to meet my two friends, had a sweet time with them and some of the Lord's dear family, and before leaving, they generously gave me three pounds. O God, thou art a wonder-working God, and nothing shall stop the answering Providence which thou hast appointed from eternity, nor break the chain. Oh that men would see and praise the Lord for his wonderful works to the children of men.