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which had been powerfully revealed to him,
by the Holy Ghost, and blessedly realised
by him, in his soul's enjoyment thereof;
his heart was fixed on the finished work of
Immanuel; his hope was unshaken by winds
or waves; his faith was triumphant; and
his end was truly peace. He was baptized
by Mr. John Stenson, (his pastor,) at Car-
mel Chapel, Pimlico, together with his wife,
(now his widow,) and eight other persons,
on Lord's Day, March 30, 1834; of whom
three have been withdrawn from; three have
entered into their rest; and four are yet re-
maining, walking in the good ways of the
Lord. The deceased rejoiced in an ever-
lasting salvation, flowing from everlasting
love, and issuing in everlasting glory.
few days before his death, he was heard to
the spread of the gospel, his wife, and, she
be much in prayer for the church, his pastor,
being present, reminded him of the well-
known lines of Dr. Watts-

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we be preserved from all fleshly, fashionable | stood firm; his mind was happily stayed on religion so very general among professors; the ancient settlements of love and grace, and remember it is written, And grieve not the Holy Spirit, by the which ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' For the apostle Peter calls him, The God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, &c.,' this is to participate in being called from living in, and loving sin. Being led of the Spirit is a proof of sonship (Rom. viii. 14); in being made to groan after deliverance from deserved wrath; in feeling humbled and emptied of all self conceit, self seeking, and sufficiency; in relying alone upon his fullness of merit and mercy; 'who suffered the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.' To feel a groaning desire to love, serve, honour, and obey him, and not to live after the flesh, or fleshly religions of men; but as saved, to serve him; as beloved to love him; as redeemed to honour him; and to know and acknowledge that all our chastisements are not in wrath, but in love to us, and beneficial for us; All, all, are most needful, not one is in vain;" and made willing to step, stoop, and stay as led by the Lord, directed by his word, and actuated by his promise; for he hath said, 'O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Thus influenced, devils will tempt and accuse; mere professors will show contempt; and the world will hate. But cheer up; fear not; it will soon be all over with these things my friends; and should it be That ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.'

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Thus, dear Sir, in a leisure hour or two, I have tried to recollect the substance of what I delivered in Ipswich three weeks ago. My soul has had a second benefit from it. Grace and peace attend you always, Your's in Christ,

Oxford, Sep. 30th, 1847.

THOMAS POOCK.

Death of Mr. Peter Ashworth.

DEPARTED this life on Tuesday, August 31, Mr. Peter Ashworth, of Draycott Ter race, Chelsea, aged fifty-nine. His affliction had been of a very painful character, for some months prior to his decease; yet borne with christian patience and resignation. His heavenly Father favoured him with his manifest presence; his Captain cheered him with continual smiles; and caused his countenance to shine; yea, his Saviour supported and solaced him; so that his mountain

Long they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,

With sins, and doubts, and fears,

When he, in his usual sharp manner, asked, 'What do you mean? That does not apply to me.' She said, 'What does not, my dear?' He answered, Not with sins, and doubts, and fears.' His wife replied, 'What, then, were you wrestling so hard for?' To which, he answered, with a peculiar emphasis, ' For glory.' His last desire was expressed in the language of the poet :

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly.

He was interred in the Brompton Cemetery, on Monday, September 6; and on the Lord's Day following, his pastor preached a funeral sermon to a numerous and attentive congregation from 2 Cor. v. 4, which words had been previously chosen by the deceased for the occasion. In speaking from the text the preacher having first noticed the several figurative expressions contained therein, proceeded to enlarge on the three following particulars, as involved in the text, and embracing the whole subject, viz :

First, a state of suffering indicated-We, that are in this tabernacle do groan. being burdened.

Secondly, a state of submission intimated:- Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon.

Thirdly, a state of satisfaction anticipated, That mortality might be swallowed up of life. JOHN STENSON.

King's Road, Chelsea, Oct. 1, 1847.

Caution to the Religious Public.

DEAR SIR: -Seeing on the cover of your
Earthen Vessel for this month a notice
headed as above; I beg, through the same
channel, for the sake of public good, to add
a further testimony to the said statement;
and, truly, I may venture to say with Mr.
Coles that one of the vilest imposters, or re-
ligious blacklegs, under the name of England,
alias 'Webb,' alias Webster,' alias Leeson,
&c. &c. that ever infested society, or im-
posed upon the religious public, is at this
time stalking round and about the country;
levying his contributions especially on the
believers in christianity, and dexterously
swindling them out of their property, by a
deep laid scheme, backed with pretended, or
borrowed christian experience, ingeniously
played off by prating a prayer, and preach-
ing, (I should say) a borrowed sermon pretty
well got off by heart, to deceive his victim
and gain his base and sordid ends; for
which, if grace prevent not, he will, ere long,
meet the just reward of his labour in ini-
quity, meet for all such; (See Acts viii. 20,
xiii 10.) This vile hypocrite, lately, by
his preaching and praying, and the use of
other religious cant and cunning, obtained
from several liberal christians, &c., in this
town, to the amount of between eight and
ten pounds in goods and money, and then
decamped with his ill-gotten booty, under a
solemn, yet, (it should seem) false promise
that he would write to me in a few days; but
it is evident, this servant, (not to say son) of
satan, never intended to make good his
word. He was some two or three years
back imprisoned for three months in Barn-
staple jail, for swindling the people in north
Devon, out of their property; and, it seems
he has been carrying on his favourite game
ever since, at Worthing, in Sussex-at Yeo-
vil, in Somersetshire - at Boston, in Lincoln-
shire-at Reading, in Berkshire-at Hull,
in Yorkshire-and, perhaps nearly, if not
all, the shires in England! As to his per-
son, he stands about five feet eight inches
high; straight, dark, or nearly black hair,
a speck in his left eye; he is about thirty-
five, or thirty-six years of age; has a good
looking young wife, about twenty-five years
old, and two young children, (if not three.)
He, evidently possesses a pretty good know-
ledge of most gospel ministers, both in, and
out of the Establishment. He pretends to
much sanctity; calls himself a Particular
Baptist; though I shrewdly suspect he is
either a gipsey, or a strolling player; and
inwardly, I should say a decided infidel; at
all events, a profound hypocrite; so much
for this religious (or rather irreligious)
monster in human shape.

I am, your's, truly, and affectionately,
S. LANE.

Hull.

Prayer for Pardon.

SIGHS OF A FILGRIM: OR, PRACTICAL PRAYERS FOR THE WEAK.

Jesus, at thy footstool bending,
See a needy suppliant lie;
Conscience-stricken, wrath impending,
Lord, to thee I raise my cry.

Lord, thy wond'rous love transcending,
Matchless grace, so rich and free,
On this all my hopes depending,
I would raise my hopes to thee.
I have sinned 'gainst love abounding,
So the devils cannot sin;
With thy mercy all surrounding,

Canst thou Jesus take me in?
When by sin and guilt o'ertaken,
Vows I made, but these I broke;
Now at last, of all forsaken,

Wilt thou Jesus cast me out?

I have heard that thou canst pardon,
All who simply come to thee;
Lord! lest guilt and wrath should harden,
Let thy pardon come to me.

Lord, thy path was rough and thorny,
Oft thou wast cast down by fear;
Sorely smitten, tried and lonely,

Wilt thou not my breathings hear?
From sin's distance, dark and dreary,
Drawn by tidings of thy grace;

I have come with footsteps weary,
Hoping yet t see thy face.

I have heard the joyful tidings,

Pardon flowing through thy death,
O grant faith that here abiding,
Refuge I may find and rest.
Then thy kindness, Lord, proclaiming,
I would gladly live to tell;
How thy grace and mercy conquering,
Saved a wretched soul from hell.
JUVENIS NERFLAB.

Our Brother is gone.

[The following lines are from a handsome volume, sent to us by the Author, entitled "Spiritual Songs, for Heaven-bound Travellers." By S. Lane, Minister of the Gospel, Bethesda Chapel, Hull.]

He's gone to join the host above,
In songs of never ending praise ;
There to admire, adore, and love,
The Ancient of eternal days.
O may our last expir'ing breath,
Proclaim aloud our trust in God.
And in the arms of icy death,
Rejoice in Christ's atoning blood,
May we in Jesus find a friend,
When death shall seize our mortal frame;
O may our last our dying end,
Declare our trust in his dear name.
And is he gone? with Christ to dwell!
In realms of everlasting light;
Where saints and angels join to tell,
How God in Christ does all things right.
And is he gone? alas 'tis true!
No more shall we behold his face;
No more the pleasing interview,
To talk of free and sovereign grace.

And is he gone! and gone to glory too!
He's done his work below; still he has work to do,
In heav'n to admire the glory of the grace,
That brought him there to view the Saviour's face.

'Tis there he shouts with an immortal breath,
Eternal victory o'er the sting of death,
With glorious songs, with raptures all divine,
He's join'd the saints, and sings the Lord is mine.

THE EARLY DAYS OF MARTIN LUTHER.

THE Year One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-seven is fast drawing to a close. Everlasting praise be given to the God of all our mercies for his kindness in preserving, prospering, and bringing us safely to the present period of time. Perhaps no publication was ever commenced under more trying circumstances than was the Earthen Vessel. Perhaps no publication was ever more imperfectly managed; pressed almost out of measure, as the Editor is, by continued heavy labours, it has been found impossible to give that time and attention to the selection and insertion of articles, which is required. No man can be more deeply sensible of manifested imperfections, than is the Editor of this little work. Many valuable correspondents have been altogether neglected; and many papers have been inserted, that had much better been thrown into the fire. This confession may appear strange to some who know nothing of the solemn anxieties, the painful conflicts, the glorious breakings forth, and the blessed liftings up above all temporal things, which daily exercise the man who every day of his life is (more or less) called to consult and to converse with souls in trouble; and who nearly every evening has to go forth to the ministry of the Word. However, we may exclaim in the midst of all, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Perhaps no periodical was ever more powerfully opposed than this has been. Many ministers of truth-(we have witnesses in proof of what we write)-have made it their business to condemn, and to cast away both the Editor and his Vessel. We know instances where some of these men that pretend to have so much love for poor sinners, have gone into houses, and lo! and behold, the first thing they have seen has been The Earthen Vessel. Immediately they have gone to work upon us, as Balaam did upon his ass: and as Balaam said to the poor beast; so have they (in spirit) said of us-"I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee." But, the Angel that redeemed us from all evil, has gone on to bless us; and, our heart's desire and prayer to God is, that we may be more sensible of his goodness; more December.-PART XXXV.-Vol. III.

humbled under his mighty hand; more sanctified by his grace; and that, without either courting the smiles or fearing the frowns of men, we may have a single eye to the honour and glory of our most exalted Lord; that more than ever, we may labour to be really useful (in our humble way) to poor Zion in her present afflicted condition; and that we may at last finish our course with joy, and enter into rest.

But, says the reader, what has all this to do with Martin Luther-whose name stands at the head of this page? Well, I will tell you. From Mr. Cummings' "Lectures on the Book of Revelation," I have given you below, a very interesting sketch of the early days of Martin Luther. In writing a little introduction to the same, my mind was led to say a few words to you on the close of the year. But I now say, farewell for the present; the God of all grace, comfort and support you, prays your poor servant, THE EDITOR.

"In the year 1483 was born Martin Luther. He was the son of a poor miner of Mansfield; and so poor was Martin Luther, that when at school he had sometimes literally to beg his bread from door to door, and to ask a morsel, for the love of God,' to keep him from starving. And yet that schoolboy could not be starved. His bread and water were provided for him from everlasting ages. He had a work and mission which he alone was designed to do. The waves of the Nile could not bury Moses in his cradle of bulrushes, and so not all the spirits in hell, nor all the priests of Rome, Mansfield. The selection of such an instrucould crush the child of the poor miner of ment for achieving the Reformation shews us 'not many mighty men, not many noble men hath God chosen: but he has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.' Yet waited for Martin Luther, and Martin Luinsignificant as he appeared to man, Europe Luther! It is a name ploughed into the ther was preserved for Europe. hearts of millions. While we must not play the Fapist by canonising Luther, or any other saint, we must not prove ourselves ungrateful by erasing his name from the brightest place in the roll of the illustrious dead.

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Martin

"Luther entered the University of Erfurt | sudden movement in his mind? What originated these struggles? Luther was one day searching in the library of the university of Erfurt; and, in the course of his searches, he found a large volume, with strong clasps, covered with dust, evidently not opened for half a century, or it might be more. Struck with the strangeness of its appearance, and with the bulk of the volume, he opened it: it was called the Bible. He had never seen it before. He knew nothing more of the Bible than the lessons extracted from it in the Missal, or the incidental histories given from it, in the Breviary. He began to read that Bible. He found in it new and awakening facts-he read of the guilt of man so deep that no tears could wash it away, and of the holiness of God so awful that no sinner could meet it; and he felt, between his own conscience in its calm and sequestered hours, and the delineation of man's conscience contained in that Bible, such an identity as satisfied that lonely youth that the God who made his conscience, wrote that book called the Bible. And he looked at it again and again, and he found fresh proof that, while one page of it revealed a guilty world, the other page revealed a holy, a just, and a righteous God. Luther's great mind was, perhaps, touched by a celestial unction, he felt that if he was, what he knew he was, the chiefest of sinners, and if God was, what he read he was, a just and a righteous and a holy God, then there was no prospect of salvation for his soul beyond the grave. He trembled and he read; he read again and again: he trembled, and wept, and read. The Reformation depended on this-whether Luther should read on, or whether he should shut the book, and place it where it was before. The Reformation with all its issues, stretching into eternal ages, was contained in the dusty Bible Martin Luther discovered in the library of the University of Erfurt. But God said, Come forth; and nothing could repress it. God's providence seconded the leading of God's grace, for we read in the interesting history of Luther, in D'Aubigné's history, that Luther was one day walking in the fields with a fellow student; there overtook them suddenly a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning; they ran for shelter, but ere they reached a place of shelter, Luther's companion was struck by the lightning and dropped dead at Luther's feet. Luther was preserved. That companion the world could do without, but neither the world nor the Church could do without Luther. This great event impressed and awed the spirit of Luther. He felt again with increasing force, Life how short! Judgment how near! Eternity how terrible! And when he recollected again what his own conscience felt, and what God's

in the year 1501. It is recorded that he made remarkable progress in his various studies; he was distinguished for the strength of his intellect, the rapidity of his acquirements, and the facility with which he triumphed over the most difficult tasks prescribed to him. Luther excited the admiration, we are told by Merle D'Aubigné, of all his teachers. He shewed himself to be a student of real intellect and a labourer of indomitable perseverance. He shewed he would shrink from no toil, and would be conquered by no difficulty. Auguries of success, the most splendid, were given forth by his professors and teachers. He was destined by some for the law-he was set apart by others for the church. It was predicted by all that he would prove to be no ordinary man: and such he proved to be, though in a way unsuspected by his admirers. In the midst of his career, suddenly, and without giving notice to his teachers, or assigning one single reason to any of his companions, Luther determined to leave the University, and enter an Augustinian Convent: that is, a convent adopting the principles, and bearing the name of the celebrated Latin father, St. Augustine. What could be the reason of so sudden and unpromising a change? Why did Luther thus abandon the path that pointed to his realising bright promises, and cast a cloud upon brilliant prospects? Why did he leave a university career of unrivalled promise, and immure himself in a Augustinian convent, where his usefulness would be utterly destroyed, his name obliterated, his talents buried as in a napkin, and his prospects annihilated, as far as man could see, for ever? There was a reason: that great mind, as if struck with some supernatural impulse, was stirred in the midst of his university career, with solemn and awful forebodings of death, and judgment, and eternity to come. That great heart which quailed at no perils, and was conscious of no fear of man, began to hear sounding in its own depths the very voice of God; pre-intimating to the student another course than that which university professors had assigned him. His soul felt its contact with the ocean of eternity: and the waves and ripples of that sea began to overflow that spirit, and to reveal in its bosom, as in a brilliant mirror, that great tribunal, before which Luther felt that monks and monarchs, princes and peasants, must stand to receive judgment according to the deeds that they had done in the body. In the midst of university studies he suddenly felt the reality of judgment and of God, and after the manner of the times he thought a convent was the proper place for religious men.

"What was the instrumental cause of this

word declared, and thought that he also might be struck by the next flash, or overwhelmed by the next storm, and sent to stand shivering and naked and guilty at the judgment-seat of God, he endured an agony of spirit that was beyond all expression. What, he asked himself, what must I do to be saved? What can I do? He cried out, in the anguish of his soul, 'Oh my sin! my sin! what, who can forgive me my sin?' "Now let me beg of you to take a retrospective glance at the sequestered convent of the Augustinians. Do you see that pale spectre shivering amid the corridors ? Do you see that emaciated monk wandering with bowed head, and beating heart, and fevered eye amid the cloisters of the convent? There is plenty to eat, brother Martin, abundance of raiment, right merry companions, men that fear not God, and care not for man, why be sorrowful? This was no comfort to his soul: like the stricken deer, he preferred to wander alone, separated from the rest; there was a barbed shaft rankling in his spirit which no human hand could extract; and in that suffering, pained, emaciated, lonely monk, amid the corridors and the cloisters of the Augustinian convent, you have the living and the visible evidence of the reality of that solemn text, 'a wounded spirit who can bear?'

of every minister, and preacher, and father in the church :- By the deeds of the law no man living can be justified.' In this state then of conviction-in this state of alarm, that nothing could quell-in this state of perplexity that nothing could remove, Luther at last met with one who felt for him-one who was in the Church of Rome, but not of the Church of Rome. Staupitz was Vicar-general of the convent and strange to say, a Christian and a Protestant-though called a Papist: there are such, I believe, still: but these are not the product of Popery, but the product of the Christianity that penetrates its darkness. Even in the Church of Rome, though the sirocco of a blasting superstition has swept it, and the cloud of awful and overshadowing apostacy hangs over it, yet such are the brightness and the power of the beams of God's truth, that they penetrate the cloud, and pour into the depths of the hearts of many who pant and thirst in the midst of that Church for the light of life, and for the love of God. So was it here. Staupitz was a Christian, under a Papist in name-a Protestant, and yet a monk-a believer in the Bible, and yet a reader of the Breviary. This was inconsistent, no doubt, as far as we can see, but are there no inconsistencies with us? Luther found access to the Vicar"But look at him again, he is determined general: he explained his case to him, and, to to have peace if it can be had at any price. the amazement and delight of Luther, StauHe goes to the inmates of the convent; he pitz said, 'The righteousness of Christ is speaks to his brother monks; he tells them the only righteousness by which the sinner of man a sinner, and God all holy: some can be justified.' And the love of God in laugh at him; some try to amuse him with Christ,' said Staupitz, to the vexed, torn, other things; and the most serious among bleeding heart of Luther, the love of God them prescribe to him increase of fasting is the only fountain of genuine repentance.' and penances. Luther took the only pre-But,' said Luther, my sin, my sin: how scription that seemed an earnest one. He clothed himself with thorns, made long and weary pilgrimages, endured the most excruciating penances, went days without food, and fasted to an extent that the eremites of Tractarianism make but a very shabby imitation of, and endured a martyrdom while living that was not equalled or exceeded by the martyrdom once endured by saints that are dead. In all this he sought peace, by seeking to realise justification from sin. Did he find it? Far from it. No suffering of man reaches high enough to touch the offended heart of an offended God; and no penances or atonement of man descend deep enough to reach the conscience and communicate to it peace. When you behold him fasting, and doing penances, and making pilgrimages, and living without bread or water, and covering his couch with his tears, in order to have peace with God, and reaching none, you learn another lesson; so short and simple in words, but full of meaning; a text, that would God it were written by the Spirit of God upon the heart

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can I expect to have an interest in this? I am a great, a miserable sinner?' Staupitz said, Would you only be the semblance of a sinner? Then you must expect only the semblance of a Saviour: but if you be what you say you are, a real sinner, then there is for you a real Saviour-in his blood, forgiveness-in his righteousness, a title to heaven and everlasting happiness.' The clouds of night were successively swept from the mind of Luther, and the Sun of Righteousness, described in the chapter, shone forth upon his soul in meridian splendour-a new era dawned, a new career unfolded itself to his mind. Superstition and will-worship and voluntary humility departed, and in the light of that Sun he saw light. 'He beheld,' to use language of the Evangelist on another occasion, 'he beheld the glory of Christ as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' The bitterness of Luther was gradually removed-his wounded spirit was healed; and he was heard, in the joy and excitement of his soul, to exclaim, 'O happy sin that has introduced me to such a salvation!'”

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