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LETTER FROM B. FRANKLIN TO MR. WHITEFIELD.

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things? What says he who was less than the least in his own eyes? "O! I can do all things through Christ's strengthening me!"-The humblest man leans most on Christ's strength; and therefore, through that strength, which is almighty, he can do most; he is helped best; fights most courageously; conquers most triumphantly. Shew me a seemingly humble man who does not love duty, and I will shew you his pride; but let me see a truly humble man, and I am sure to find him walking humbly with his God; he walks with God, and God walks with him. Hear how he declares who are his favourites! not the rich, not the learned, not the Pharisee, not the great and noble, -no;" but to this man will I look, who is of an humble and contrite spirit, and who trembleth at my word." These he honours; they are in his sight of great price; how exalted in his esteem, who is the Fountain of all true honour! and he will ex alt them very high. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted to the throne above, where all God's children are perfectly humble, crying with one voice, "Not worthy we, but worthy is the Lamb." If there be so great grace, O pray to God to make me more and more humble. I will do the same for you, and re main yours, W. ROMAINE.

LETTER FROM DR. FRANKLIN

TO THE REV. MR. GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

DEAR SIR,

To the Editor.

I AM indebted to the friendship of the late Robert Keen and Daniel West, Esqrs. (the Rev. Mr. Whitefield's executors) for near a thousand letters, from various correspondents, to that eminent man. None of these letters have yet seen the light; and as many of them will, no doubt, highly gratify the public, I shall occasionally send you one for publication, through the medium of the Evangelical Magazine. The inclosed, from the celebrated Dr. Franklin, will serve as a specimen of the entertainment with which you will furnish our readers, particularly those who personally knew Mr. Whitefield, and all who still revere his memory. Yours affectionately,

Leeds, Dec. 7, 1802.

Dear Sir,

E. PARSONS.

Philadelphia, July 6, 1749. SINCE your being in England, I have received two of your favours, and a box of books to be disposed of. It gives me great pleasure to hear of your welfare, and that you purpose soon to return to America.

We have no kind of news here worth writing to you. The affair of the building remains in statu quo, there having been no new application to the Assembly about it, nor any thing done in consequence of the former.

I have received no money on your account from Mr. Thanklin, or from Boston. Mrs. Read, and your other friends here in general are well, and will rejoice to see you again.

I am glad to hear that you have frequent opportunities of preaching among the great. If you can gain them to a good and exemplary life, wonderful changes will follow in the manners of the lower ranks; for, ad Exemplum Regis, &c. On this principle Confucius, the famous eastern reformer, proceeded. When he saw his country sunk in vice, and wickedness of all kinds triumphant, he applied himself first to the grandees; and having by his doctrine won them to the cause of virtue, the commons followed in multitudes. The mode has a wonderful influence on mankind; and there are numbers that perhaps fear less the being in Hell, than out of the fashion! Our more western reformations began with the ignorant mob; and when numbers of them were gained, interest and party-views drew in the wise and great. Where both methods can be used, reformations are like to be more speedy. O that some method could be found to make them lasting! He that shall discover that, will, in my opinion, deserve more, ten thousand times, than the inventor of the longitude.

My wife and family join in the most cordial salutations to you and good Mrs. Whitefield. 1 am, dear Sir, your very affectionate friend, and most obliged humble servant,

SIR,

B. FRANKLIN,

CRITICAL ENQUIRY,

To the Editor.

IT has been often remarked, that the Hebrews had a peculiar way of using the participle with the verb, to denote, according to some, the certainty; and, according to others, the importance of the event. It occurred to me, in reading, the other day, Whether the true import of the phrase, were not the commencement and continuance of an action till its completion? Thus, when it was said to Adam *, "In dying thou shalt die;" which our translators render," Thou shalt surely die," and the Seventy," Thou shalt die the death;" I conceive the meaning to be, That he should then begin to experience that death which terminates only in eternal ruin. Watts says,

"Soon as we draw our infant breath,

"The seeds of sin grow up for death."

So Adam, the moment that he fell, became mortal; and besides that, being condemned already, he became also dead in law,

When it was said to Abraham," Blessing, I will bless thee!" the phrase implied, that God would continue and increase his blessings, till, in the end, he should be a blessing to all nations. -There are many similar expressions, I believe, in the Old Testament; and I should be obliged to any of your critical and Biblical readers to point them out, and to examine whether they will bear the interpretation here proposed. Yours, Jov.

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ANECDOTES.

A LAY-COMMENTATOR.

Ar the time when the late Mr. Lacy was pastor of the Baptist church at Portsea, some of the brethren (chiefly those of the dock-yard) constantly ushered in the morning of the Lord's Day, at six o'clock, by meeting in the vestry for social prayer, exhortation, and conference on some portion of Scripture, alternately. At one of these conference-mornings, the text led to charity: all spoke in their turn, if they chose, when it rested with Charles Benjamin, who was a waterman, and lived between Portsmouth and Gosport. His comment on the text was as follows: "I shall say nothing more than this,-We have been talking of charity; it would be good to put it in exercise: here is our brother, Ephraim Forth, goes to Dock every morning this cold weather without a great coat; and here is my shilling towards buying him one." The good men took the hint; and Ephraim was enabled to purchase the necessary next day, and went to Dock+," warmed, if not quite filled."-Query, Can the laity expound Scripture?

* This laudable custom, I find, is still continued there, and has been, without intermission, for more than half a century. James ii, 16.

LAMENTABLE IGNORANCE.

MR. A. B. after his conversion, owned, that when in his carnal state, he used to say his prayers seven times over every Monday morning, that he might not have the trouble of them all the rest of the week.

A FEW years ago, a lady, visiting her brother at C, observed, he had not many cherries in his garden that season; and said, That, as it was a very fruitful year, she could attribute it to nothing but the amazing increase of Sunday-schools lately. Formerly, the boys used to go a bird-nesting on Sundays; but since folks had undertaken to make them so wise, the birds were suffered to multiply in such quantities, that she supposed we should soon have no fruit at all!!!

QUERIES.

1. How may we ascertain, Whether our thoughts are the result of a gracious influence, the suggestions of Satan, or of our corrupt depraved nature?

2. WHEN we receive comfortable impressions under the hearing of God's word, how may we know whether they are true or false? or, in other words, Whether they come from God, or are only the joys of the stony ground hearer ?

M. O.

REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS.

The Life of Moses; designed for the Bmusement and Instruction of Youth. By a Lady. 12mo, 80 Pages, 15. 6d. THERE is a peculiar difficulty in works of imagination, founded upon Scripture - history. The style of the sacred writers possess such a dignified simplicity, and speaks so directly to the heart, that it is hardly possible to render their narratives more interesting, either by poetical diction or invention. Some writers, however, have thought atherwise; and, after the example of Klopstock and Gesner, have attempted to recommend these subjects to us by the splendor of language and the charms of the drama. This fair writer is by no means with out merit in her line; and tho' we

prefer the chaste and dignified style of the venerable legislator, we are by no means confident that our young readers may uniformly do the same; nor would we discourage the first attempt of a young female pen, to recommend the Scriptures. She has availed herself very properly, not only of Scripture materials, but of the traditions detailed by Josephus and the Rabbins. Had we read the work, however, with more severity than we have, we could not have refused the apology, modestly offered in the following paragraphs of the preface, which may also give our readers a short specimen of her style; we cannot say, however, it is preserved equally good thoughout.

"The writer of the following pages has two indisputable claims on the candour of the public, claims which they will not disallow. She is young, and in adversity. Scarcely yet entered her twenty-second year, she has drank deep of the fountain of human affliction; nor has hitherto been permitted to refuse the bitter draught of keen disappointment.

The history of Moses has beguiled many a tedious hour, which, perhaps, would otherwise have been

devoted to a melancholy lassitude and the public appearance of this little volume, is intended for the amusement of young persons of ei. ther sex. For them it was written, to them it is dedicated,-and from them may it meet with a favourable reception!

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“And ye, judicious critics! before whose maturer judgment the juve. nile Will ye be more cruel than Phapen trembles to appear, say, raoh? Oh! rather imitate the gen. fant Moses. It is a first attempt. tle Thermuthis, and protect the inDestroy not the bud, though tender. It may, when improving time shall have expanded the opening blossoms, prove a valuable flower."

The Life of Joseph. In Eight Books. By J. Macgowan. Third Edition. 18mo, 250 pages. 25. boards.

THIS work stands on higher ground than the preceding: it is the Third Edition, and has received repeated sanctions from the public. It was also the production of a pen well exercised in writing:-for this reason, however, it is entitled to less indulgence. It is certainly not free from the general fault of works of this nature; and it seems to discover a want of acquaintance with the eastern writers, and their forms of expression, which are necessary to give it the colouring of nature. On the other hand, we confess it abounds with just and useful observation; it discovers a deep acquaintance with the human heart, an extensive knowledge of the world, and, above all, a spirit of picty and benevolence. Such are the genuine characteristics of this little work; on which account, we can safely recommend it to the perusal of our young readers, for whose instruction it was particu larly designed; -and we are happy to find such works to recommend, when the public are daily pestered with writings of imagination of the most dangerous tendency.

Elegy on the Death of the Rev. H.
Hunter, D.D. &c. By T. Beck,
Svo. (elegant) price 6d.
By the notes appended to this
little Elegy, we learn that the Doc-
tor was born at Culross, in Perth-
shire, and educated at the univer.
sity of Edinburgh. In 1771 he ac.
cepted the pastoral charge at the
Scots church, Loudon Wall; and
continued with the same congrega-
tion till his death. But a few weeks
since, the Doctor went to Bristol
Hot-wells, for his health, where he
died on the 27th of last October, in
the sixty-second year of his age.
He was buried at Bunhill-fields, No-
vember 6, when Mr. Steven deli-
vered an oration at his grave; and,
on the following Sabbath morning,
a sermon was preached on the occa-
sion by Mr. Nicol; and another in
the afternoon by Mr. Steven. As
the Doctor was a man of no com-
mon talents, so he has met with an
eulogist of no mean ability.

In this Elegy, Mr. Beck very properly enumerates, and justly discriminates, the Doctor's several publications; and concludes his literary character with the following lines, which are no less honourable to the poet than to the Doctor, and to his country:

"Oh Scotia! from thy cold unge

nial north,

What nervous minds and brilliant spirits rise!

And from thy fostering colleges

come forth,

To shed new rays beneath some

milder skies!

The titled meed, the proud scho-
lastic name,
Mistaken Kindness may confer
amiss ;

But HUNTER, back on thee re-
flected fame;

adapted as well for the amusement as instruction of the rising genera tion. The author is an humble

imitator of Dr. Watts; and we think he has been particularly successful in his moral songs. Many of his hymns will be acceptable in schools; and the whole forms a pleasing present to young people.

The Unrivalled Felicity of the Bri-
tish Empire. A Sermon preached at
Salters' Hall, Nov. 7, 1802. by the
Rev. James Steven, Minister of the
Scots Church, Crown Court, Sc.
Published at request. 8vo. is.

FROM the closing words of the pronounced on the nation of Isparting benediction which Moses rael (Deut. xxxiii. 29.) Mr. Steven in this well-written sermon, demands of his audience the obla tion of their gratitude to God, for his singular goodness to these isles of the sea. He dwells on our nation, fertility of soil, and salubrity tural advantages of insular situaof climate; on our civil liberties, and the inherent provisions of the constitution to correct accidental disorders, and supply deficiencies; on our religious privileges, which, after many a struggle by our devout ancestors, were, at length, by the glorious Revolution, as the preacher nervously expresses it, "asserted by the subject, conceded to by the sovereign, and sanctioned by the law;" and on providential interpositions, particularly the defeat of the Spanish armada, the preservation of the king and parliament from the gun-powder plot; and, above all, the recovery and establishment of our liberties by the arrival of the Prince of Orange, and by the protestant succession to the crown, in the illustrious family

Distinguish'd merit's just ap- of Hanover. While we muse on

plause was his."

The Youth's Monitor, in Verse. In a series of little Tales, Emblems, Poems, and Songs, Moral and Divine. By John Burton. 18mo. 15. MR. BURTON informs us, that many of these little poems were written for Sunday scholars :-and we agree with him, that they are

these most important benefits, may the fire burn, and the flame of our gratitude ascend to Heaven! Let the close of the sermon, wisely disus, as the preacher recommends in cern and gratefully acknowledge the agency of God in all these blessings,-guard against the abuse of them, and study to feel their constraining power to acts of piety, and to works of righteousness.

Select List of Religious Publications deferred to our next.

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