"Put thou thy trust in God, In duty's path go on; Fix on His Word thy stedfast eye, So shall thy work be done." The example of our Lord and Master not only gives to the scriptural rite of baptism by immersion its highest and most solemn sanction; but His sacred experience exemplifies the wonderful privileges often conferred upon Christians who loyally and lovingly follow His holy example. As He went straightway up out of the water the heavens opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Him; and there came a voice from heaven saying, "Thou art My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." In like manner it not unfrequently happens that as one of His faithful followers rises from the…

"I desire to follow providence, not to force it.”—Dr. Doddridge "Happy the man who sees a God employed In all the good and ill that chequer life! Resolving all events, with their effects And manifold results, into the will And arbitration wise of the Supreme." Cowper. The county of Suffolk will ever he regarded with interest by those to whom the Gospel is precious and important. Here pure and undefiled religion has long found illustrious exemplifications. In thousands of its cottage homes God has been honoured and His precepts obeyed. Its places of worship have often been associated with deeds of truest heroism, and with patient and prolonged efforts for the salvation of men, that were grand in their tenderness and enthusiasm. Here the truth…

"Along my earthly way How many clouds are spread! Darkness, with scarce one cheerful ray, Seems gathering o'er my head. Yet, Saviour, Thou art love; Oh, hide not from my view! But when I look in prayer above, Appear in mercy through. And, O! from that bright throne, I shall look back and see— The path I went, and that alone Was the right path for me.” “Our lives through various scenes are drawn.” So writes the great poet of the sanctuary; and his words find exemplification in the narrative we are relating; the next scene of which is laid in the heart of the Fens of the Eastern Counties. This district was originally one of those immense forests which abounded in our land, broken…

"He that believeth shall not make haste.” (Isa. 28:19) "Thy way, not mine, O Lord, However dark it be; O lead me by Thine own right hand Choose Thou the path for me. Smooth let it be, or rough It will be still the best; Winding or straight it matters not, It leads me to Thy rest. I dare not choose my lot, I would not if I might: But choose Thou for me, O my God. So shall I walk aright." Our narrative brings us to the year 1852. A curious lull followed the closing of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which some had considered as the pioneer of the reign of anti-christ, and others as the harbinger of the millennium, but dreams of…

"'Tis not a cause of small import The Pastor's care demands."—Doddridge. "Preaching administ'ring in every work Of his sublime vocation, in the walks Of worldly intercourse 'twixt man, and man, And in his humble dwelling, he appears A labourer with moral virtue girt, With spiritual graces like a glory crowned." Wordsworth's “Excursion." The settlement of a pastor over a Church is an important event in the history of religion. It is intimately connected with the glory of God, and the welfare of souls, and is to the individual himself, and to the people of his charge, the commencement of an era of prosperity and success, or an epoch of declension and decay. In the choice of John Hazelton his people discovered a wise sense of…

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee."—Proverbs 4:28 "There stands the messenger of truth! there stands The legate of the skies! His theme divine, His office sacred, his credentials clear. By him the violated law speaks out Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet As angels use, the gospel whispers peace."—Cowper Chadwell-Street is in the heart of a densely populated district in the north of London, and was in 1858 one of the most advantageous positions for a dissenting chapel that could have been found in the whole of the metropolis. Many changes have occurred in recent years. Old Smithfield, which was then an institution, has disappeared. Clerkenwell was the home of numbers of prosperous watch-makers…