Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

the vital spirit evaporates and the residuum is dead prose. Here are specimens, taken almost at random :

'No power to save my sword may claim,
I trust not in my bow,
Nay, Thou hast saved us, Thou to shame
Hast put the foe.'

'Thou madest men o'erride us;

We fire and water passed,
But to a wealthy country

Thou broughtest us at last.'

The version of Psalm lxii. 9-12, begins well :

'Surely men of low degree

Lighter are than vanity.'

But this breaking up of the Psalms is barbarous work. The best version is, perhaps, that of David's lament for Abner :

'As dies a fool, didst thou, O Abner, die?
Unshackled were thy hands;
Free were thy feet from bands;
As one by malice slain, so thou dost lie.'

Dr. Clermont. A Methodist Tale. By A. E. Bleby. London: F. E. Longley. -The object of this story is to contrast the peace and comfort of a home ruled by religion with the disorder and unhappiness of a house given over to unbelief. The authoress possesses skill in the art of narration, and no little power of pathos. She enforces, with evident earnestness, the lesson that true domestic peace can be obtained only by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but that with the peace of God in the heart the severest trials can be surmounted and the burden of daily difficulty borne. Mrs. Bleby might, perhaps, have given a Methodist tale' a more direct Methodist interest; but this, her first attempt as a writer of stories, gives promise of yet more successful efforts.

[ocr errors]

We

Methodist Temperance Magazine. Vol. XI. 1878. London: Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row. Maintains the general character of former years. Several of the articles are of unusual interest. have eloquence from the pen of the Rev. Charles Garrett; science culled from Drs. Gull and Richardson; statistics from Mr. Hoyle; plain common sense from John Ploughman; and tales by a variety of authors. It is a wonder how the editors can produce fresh matter, year after year, on the same subject. The engravings are more varied than usual and form an attractive feature in the volume, but they would show to more advantage on thicker paper.

Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. By T. S.

Arthur. London: John Kempster and Co., St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.C.-This is a marvel of cheap production. The book is well bound, has eight capital engravings, and is printed on good paper with clear type. To English readers the narrative seems exaggerated, but this is explained by the American character of the book. The descriptions remind us forcibly of scenes depicted by Mr. Taylor in his Seven Years' Street Preaching in San Francisco. The license of The Sickle and Sheaf would have been suspended by English magistrates long before the tenth night arrived. The author contrives to sustain the interest of his story to the end, and points out incidentally various remedies for the drinking evil.'

Knowing and Doing. Eight Stories founded on Bible Precepts. By Mrs. H. H. B. Paull. London: Hodder and Stoughton. The plots of these stories are somewhat lacking in freshness, and the characters occasionally slightly overdrawn. But the tales are well told and calculated to interest young people, especially girls; and to enforce the precepts they illustrate.

A Missionary Father's Tales. Second Series. By the Rev. Henry Bleby. London: Wesleyan Mission-House. We recommend this book to intelligent young people, and to older readers as well. It contains lessons for the more thoughtful. The writer possesses a quick eye, a retentive memory, and a facile descriptive power, which neither allows nor needs mere imagination to trick out the truth. He does himself scant justice in calling these tales; they are historiettes, as instructive as they are interesting.

The White Cross and Dove of Pearls. By Sarson. London: Hodder and Stoughton.-We are glad to see a new and very cheap, though tastefully got up edition of one of the purest and healthiest, as well as one of the most fascinatingly interesting stories we have ever read. Our authoress has a wonderful power of depicting human nature in a variety of forms; and the descriptions of North Yorkshire scenery and customs, with the bits of Northern dialect judiciously introduced, but not overdone, greatly add to the charm of the book. It will well repay the money spent in the purchase of it, and the time spent in its perusal.

Brownlow North, B.A., Oxon: Records and Recollections. By the Rev. Kenneth Moody Stuart, M. A. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1878.-For an

extended notice of this most interesting and edifying book we must refer our readers to this Magazine for February last.

Won at Last; or, Memoirs of Captain George and Mrs. Hannah Smith, of Bridlington Quay and York. By their Eldest Son, the Rev. Thornley Smith. London: Published for the Author at the Wesleyan Conference Office.-We

are glad to see a new edition of a biography of more than ordinary interest. The thrilling adventures of the Captain's early years, and the 'unfeigned faith' of himself and his wife through a long and troubled course, are well worthy of record, and are worthily recorded. The book will be specially useful to young people.

OBITUARIES.

MRS. LODGE, of Stow-on-the-Wold, widow of Mr. Charles Lodge, was the daughter of Mr. Alcock, of Hanley. When but a girl she was led to hear the Word of God amongst the Methodists, and the result was a deep conviction of sin, and of her need of salvation. Her alarm and anxiety became very great, and though she had to endure some opposition, not to say persecution, yet she persevered until she obtained the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. To her it seemed as if a voice said, 'Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.' She was then about seventeen years of age. From that time until her departure, at seventy-four years of age, she was enabled to hold on her even course. No wonder, therefore, that the chamber where she died was quite in the verge of heaven.'

In the late Mr. Lodge she met with a partner like-minded with herself. She was a helpmeet for him; and their one child, who was early in life led to the Saviour, is now following in the steps of her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Lodge were remarkable for the regularity and punctuality with which they attended the means of grace. To the support of the cause of God they contributed liberally, and from the time of Mr. Lodge's death till that of Mrs. Lodge, she continued, according to his wish, to pay regularly his quarterage and his subscription to the Foreign Mission Funds.

When they retired from business, they sought a dwelling as near to the sanctuary as possible, and were providentially successful. And good use did they make of the privilege thus afforded. It was not my pleasure to know Mr. Lodge; but Mrs. Lodge it was my privilege to meet, and I found her patiently and hopefully waiting to be called to the presence of the Lord.

As the winter of 1875 drew on, her health began to fail, and she became the subject of some natural depression, but still her heart and hope were fixed. 'I seem,' she said, not to be so joyous as I used to be, but I have no doubt all will be right.'

A few weeks before her death she resolved to move to Chipping-Norton, to be with her only child. On the 23rd of March, however, she was attacked with a

[blocks in formation]

His

MRS. AKERMAN, of Natal, died in London on December 13th, 1876, aged fifty-seven years. She was the daughter of Mr. Christopher Stantial, of Corsham, a very eminent Christian, connected with the Independent Church there, in which he was for years an office-bearer. daughter Jane, early the subject of religious impressions, was soundly converted to God under the ministry of a Baptist Pastor in Corsham, and became a member of a Baptist Church. In the year 1850 she was married to Mr. J. W. Akerman, the youngest son of the late Rev. James Akerman, Wesleyan Minister. Of their four children only one survives. Soon after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Akerman emigrated to Natal; and from that time Mrs. Akerman connected herself with the Wesleyan Church, of which she continued a member during the remaining twenty-seven years of her life. In 1876, the Earl of Carnarvon having convened a South African Conference, to be held in London, the Legislative Council of Natal elected Mr. Akerman M.L.C. as a delegate to proceed to England on its behalf. He brought his wife and daughter with him. official engagements having terminated, the family was making preparations for an early return to Natal, when a most mysterious visitation terminated in her death. She lived her religion from day to day, without ostentation, yet decidedly and persistently.

His

Many a one in Pietermaritzberg, Natal, will cherish the recollection of Mrs. Akerman as the Sabbath-school teacher, the visitor of the sick, the distributer of alms, the friend of the helpless; and will share in the grief of her relatives. How unsearchable are the ways of God!

J. W. AKERMAN.

HAZELL, WATSON, AND VINEY, PRINTERS, LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1879.

MEMOIR OF CHARLOTTE SOPHIA STEIGEN BERGER,

OF SAFFRON-WALDEN:

BY THE REV. J. HOLLAND BROWN.

(Continued from page 172.)

THE year 1823 found Miss Berger in conditions which proved very helpful to her faith. The rest of the family being at Saffron-Walden, it devolved upon her to conduct the Watchnight Service at Leytonstone. As, however, she was suffering from a violent shock to the nervous system, this undertaking seemed intolerably onerous, sending her in agony to seek for solace and strength from God, Who graciously answered her faith by applying to her mind words prophetic not only of the blessing to be realized on the particular occasion, but also of her life throughout the year: Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.'

[ocr errors]

The work at Saffron-Walden continued to prosper, and in January and February three small rooms were successively licensed for worship. Miss Berger quietly waited meanwhile for indications of the Divine will as to the future, yet not neglecting to do with her might in the present whatever her hand found to do. In evidence of her experience a letter, written April 25th, to the ladies at whose establishment she had received part of her early education, may be cited:

The Misses are requested to accept the enclosed books as an expression of grateful remembrance from one who was formerly under their tuition, and who recollects with gratitude to God and them their attention to her education and moral principles while under their roof. She has since learned in the school of Christ (Ephes. iv. 20-24) lessons of inestimable worth-of saving and renewing grace. So that her experience corresponds with the following verses of Newton's:

"Fierce passions discompose the mind,

As tempests vex the sea;

But calm content and peace we find
When, Lord, we turn to Thee.

In vain, by reason and by rule,
We try to bend the will;

For none, but in the Saviour's school

Can learn the heavenly skill.

Thus I, who once my wretched days

In vain repinings spent ;

Taught in my Saviour's school of grace,
Have learned to be content."

The following entry in her diary will cast further light on Miss Berger's experience at this time :

'I wished to know the full import of those words, "The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble"; and my desire was graciously granted. For, under a sermon preached by the Rev. P. M'Owan, I experienced power to commit everything to God; and then all that was before distressingly perplexing, seemed as nothing at all. I felt

R

« ForrigeFortsett »