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EXTRACTS FROM UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF THE LATE REV. JOHN NEWTON.

(Concluded from p. 764.) "MAY I write to you again after so long a silence? I hope I may, for I feel I must. I have seriously purposed writing for some time past; and I believe I should have addressed a letter to you at P in the course of this month, had not Mr. L called last week, and told me that I might write by your brother, who expected to meet you soon in Silesia. Your husband, and my friend, it seems, is removed from this poor world: I call him my friend, for though the interval of our personal acquaintance was short, I recollect pleasing tokens of his friendship, both at that time and since: the Lord grant that we may all meet at last in that land where friendship and happiness will be complete. And may God himself be a husband to you, and a father to your children.

"What a changing world do we live in! But the unseen state to which we are hasting is unchangeable. Then we shall be at home: we shall pass from waking dreams and shadows to realities. Your removal into Germany will bring you considerably nearer to us: but if CHRIST. OBSERV. App.

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we cannot meet face to face, the different distances of Russia, or Silesia, or even Bedford, are little more than ideal. Whether any future turns in Providence may lead you again to England, especially in my time, I know not. hope, however, to meet with you at last before the throne of God. In the mean while, wherever you live, I shall think of you with affection, and shall find a pleasure in the persuasion that I am not forgotten by you. The earth is the Lord's; and in our widest separations we are but as in different rooms of the same great house, and equally under the eye of the same Great Shepherd, who affords the same proofs of his power and care to all who put their trust in him.

"Dear Miss P-— B, my dear E-, Mr. L——, and many others with whom we have had sweet fellowship, are gone before

us.

The longer we live, the more we shall resemble the trees which drop their leaves in swift succession as the winter approaches. May we be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises, and all shall be well at last. Our sweet E-, at the age of fourteen years and eight months, met her summons with the faith and comfort of a martyr. The

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Lord was very gracious to her and to us, in the circumstances of her dismission; and though to this day I can seldom write or speak of her without dropping a tear, I never seriously regretted her departure for a single moment.

"As a minister, I am happy in an affectionate people: many of them are eminently religious, and we walk in peace. The Lord does not withhold his presence from our ordinances. My service is my pleasure, and I am bound to say, the lines are fallen to me in a pleasant place.' But I still am a poor, weak, inconsistent creature in myself, and have cause for wonder and praise, that God has not as yet taken bis word of truth out of my mouth, and forbidden me to make mention of his name any more.

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not.

I shall hope in some good day to receive a letter from you. We long to hear of your welfare. You have a right to delay writing as long as I have done; but I hope you will When my friends are called away, I frequently regret that I did not visit them, or write to them oftener while they were within my reach: but my connexions and engagements are so multiplied and diversified, that I know not which way to turn, nor how or when to secure a day, or indeed an hour with certainty, to do what my inclination would prompt me to perform. I have not behaved worse to you than to many others whom I truly love; and if you will encourage me again, I will try to behave better to you in future.

"A part of your last is on the subject of friendship. I believe, yea, I am sure, there is such thing; but true friendship can only subsist between those who are united to God by true religion. Worldly friendships, though they may endure a while, are always brittle as glass, liable to be broken by a slight blow; and, like glass, when broken they are irreparable. Nor is Christian friendship absolutely secure. It is a beautiful plant, but

liable to wither and decay, unless watered by a Divine blessing, which can only be expected so far and so long as it is maintained in a due subordination to what we owe to our Supreme Friend; for he will not endure a rival in our hearts. Mutability is essential to a creature; and fickleness and inconstancy enter deeply into the nature of fallen creatures. I have lived with my nearest earthly friend more than thirty-seven years, and still our affection is preserved. Of all my temporal mercies, none ought to affect me more sensibly than this; for my ingratitude to God, my best Friend, has often deserved to be punished in this way. I have a few other friends who are not weary of me yet. But though I could make out a long list of persons whom I love, and who are kind to me, the peculiar intimacy and peculiar circumstances which are required to constitute friendship, in my sense of the word, can hardly be found in many persons. To have a few select friends, the good will of a large acquaintance, and benevolence to all, even to strangers and enemies for the Lord's sake, is, I believe, the happy privilege of some persons, and more cannot be expected here. Hereafter our love will expand, and take in all (perhaps equally) who are capable of receiving it."

"After so long a suspension of our correspondence, a letter from you was doubly welcome to us; especially as it gave me the great pleasure of finding your heart still alive in the love and the ways of our Lord. He is the Sun of the soul, whether we live in London, P. or Hernhuth. But how many things do we meet with, from within and from without, which have a tendency to blind the eyes of our mind! I congratulate you that, in all the changes you have passed through since you left us at Olney, His unchangeable mercy has preserved you. Ab, Madam! were it

not for his power and grace, which have supported us, we should bave sunk, and made shipwreck of faith long before now. But He has delivered, he does deliver, and he gives us good encouragement to hope, that he will deliver us even unto the end. We are still travelling through a wilderness, and we know not what we may yet meet with before our pilgrimage is finished: but every step lessens our distance from our heavenly home.

"Mrs. Newton has had very indifferent health this winter, and is still but poorly. The close of the last year, and the beginning of this, was a time of great trial with us. But our gracious Saviour has promised, that all things shall work together for good to them that love him. Not only their comforts, but their crosses, are mercies; they are sent by the same hand; they are designed to promote the same end; and I doubt not but hereafter we shall clearly see, that we have no less cause to praise him for the bitter than for the sweet. Blessed be his Name for a good hope, that the hour is coming when the bitter will be no longer needful.

"O what humility, dependence, gratitude, and devotedness of heart become a redeemed sinner! There is little worth thinking, talking, or writing about, but what has a near connexion with Jesus Christ crucified; who he is, what he has done and suffered, where he is, what he is now doing, and what we may be able to do while we are here to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light! Other subjects,in comparison of this, however important in the view of the men of this world, are trivial as the sports of children. Blessed be God for his unspeakable Gift!

"I often recall to mind the conversations we had, at different times, in my study at Olney. I suppose it is now about fourteen years since we first received you

there as a guest, and about twelve since we last parted with you.-. What different scenes (at that time unthought of) have we known since! What blessings receivedwhat trials-what multiplied proofs of the Lord's goodness, and of our own unworthiness! We have suffered many things, I hope not altogether in vain.

"For myself, I am still healthy, and am not disabled from performing my public service as a minister; and I bless the Lord that I am not weary of it. Still it is my pleasing employment. I can so far, from my heart, magnify my office, that I think I would not exchange it for any rank or wealth this world could afford. To be a minister of the Gospel, appears to me more honourable, more desirable, than to be prime minister of an empire. I am likewise well pleased with my situation. I was so at Olney; but this affords a larger sphere of probable usefulness, and more extensive pleasing connexions. Were it not for the law of the flesh, which warreth against the law of my mind, and for what I suffer, by sympathy, with my dear Mrs. Newton in her illness, I should have hardly any thing worthy to be called a trial.

"Should the Lord in his providence lead you to England, while I am living, I promise myself much pleasure in seeing you again. Distance and absence have not abated our regard for you. Our times and ways are in good hands. If we are permitted to meet upon earth, I trust it will be to mutual comfort and benefit. If not, it will be still better to meet in heaven. In the mean time, we may often meet in spirit at the Throne of Grace, to which in all places we are equally near. May the Lord bless you more and more, you and your children! I should be glad to see them all. I hope you and they will not be forgotten by me; and I request your remembrance in prayer for me and mine.

"I am now far advanced in my sixty-fourth year, yet feel at present but few of the infirmities of old age. It is time, however, for me to consider that I grow old apace. O for grace to fill up the uncertain remnant of life, as becometh a saint, and then to die as becometh the sinner,-looking to Jesus, and to him alone, for acceptance and salvation. May I find mercy of the Lord in that day, when flesh and heart shall fail!

"Though my acknowledgment of your favour has been so long deJayed, I hope you will believe that it gave me great pleasure to hear that you are in health, that your are so near, and that you encourage me to expect I may yet see you before you return to Ger

many.

"When your letter came, my dear Mrs. Newton was so low that I believe I could not mention you to her. She had a complication of maladies, and was a great sufferer; though it pleased the Lord, for the most part, to exempt her from much very violent pain. She was released from this state of sin and sorrow, on the evening of the 15th instant. The Lord favoured her with admirable patience: and her natural good spirits held out to the last ;-only that three days before she went home, she gave no signs of life but by breathing. Now, I trust she is where the wicked cease from troubling and where the weary are at

rest.

"As you well knew her, and knew my very strong endeared attachment to her, you will ascribe it to the goodness and power of the Lord, that I was so wonderfully supported during her illness, and have been still supported under her departure. O magnify Him with me, and let us exalt his name. together! He is, indeed, All-sufficient, and can manifest his strength in the weakness of his poor creatures, to whom he has given a warrant for calling on him

most my only remaining earthly tie to this world. I see nothing of a temporal nature worth living for; yet I hope to be willing and thankful to live, while the Lord has any service for me to do; or rather, till his wisdom and goodness shall see fit to remove me. If be should see fit to lay me aside from public service, I should still promote his glory, and exhibit a proof of his faithfulness, if he will enable me to suffer, with patience, whatever be may appoint me. I wish to put myself absolutely, and without reserve, into his bands; and to believe that he will choose for me better than I could choose for myself. Only may He grant, that while I do live, I may live to him, and for him; and that when I die, I may die in him; then all shall be well. As to particulars, I ain to say, Not my will, but thine.

"Many changes, as you observe, have indeed taken place, in the course of eleven years, since you last visited at the vicarage of Olney. My lot, during this space, has been, in the main, a highly favoured one. I have not been without trials; but comforts have more abounded. My feelings have been most painfully exercised by the removal of dear friends, several of our own family; and of others none more dear, or more sensibly missed, than Mr. and Mrs. BThey were friends indeed; with them I had a union of heart. Nor have I lost them. They are gone but a little before. I hope to meet them again to unspeakable advantage. I have no reason to think it will be very long first, as I am advancing apace in my sixty-sixth year. The Lord's time is the best.

May I wait patiently and watchfully all my days, till my appointed change shall come, and then be found with my loins girded up and my lamp burning.

"You likewise, my dear madam, have had your trials; but you are alive to say, under them all, The Lord upheld me, and out of them all He delivered me. It is good scriptural logic to infer what he will do, from what he has actually done. So the Apostle did before

us. He has delivered, he doth deliver, and therefore we trust in Him that he will yet deliver us. No great matter where, or what, we are in this transient state, so that we are in the path of duty, and in the exercise of holy submission to his will. The same sun shines at London, Bedford, and Hernhuth. And the way to heaven is equally open and near from every place."

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE

SOCIETY.

THE Thirteenth Report of this Society, lately published, with the extracts of correspondence, are fully equal in interest to the preceding ones; and we therefore regret that from their length we can give only a general abstract of the former, referring our readers for the latter to the volume itself. We shall, of course, omit, as far as possible, such parts as have already appeared in our own pages.

Of the Continental Societies in existence at the period of the last anniversary, it may be generally observed, that their attention to promote the object of their establishment demonstrates their increasing sense of its utility and importance; that the beneficial effects resulting from the circulation of the Scriptures have proved powerful inducements to continue and enlarge this benevolent work; and that, if its operation has in any degree been circumscribed by the general distress which has been more or less felt on the continent, the zeal for carrying it on has not, on that account, abated.

The Netherlands Society greatly flourishes: branches and associations are multiplying in the northern provinces of the kingdom, and the

number of societies is already stated to be sixty. To increase the interest which has been excited in the Netherlands, in favour of the principles of the institution, the Reverend Doctor MacIntosh, at Amsterdam, has recently published a Dutch translation of the Twelfth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The Hanoverian Bible Society, under the patronage of his royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, has completed the printing of an edition of 10,000 copies of Luther's German Bible, most of which have already been put into circulation; and another auxiliary has been added to that institution, by the establishment of an East-Frisia Bible Society, for the encouragement of which, 100l. have been voted to the Hanoverian Society. letter from a correspondent at Osnaburgh contains the pleasing intelligence, that "their Catholic fellow citizens labour with them hand in hand, and many of that communion show a readiness to obtain and peruse the Scriptures."

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The exertions of the Prussian Bible Society continue to be diligently and most usefully pursued. To the eight auxiliaries united to the central society in the course of its first year, twelve more were added