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3j&*trg.
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itUratur* anti Bebi^bsf.
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iHE A SERMON
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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TH 8 LAMENT FOR THB LOST . ( From ii * Fe * NomMj ) Alow , bendun ; hnsbasi ' s gr » Ye , Here hath toe mWf'gfr t foand me ; Tke 5 e « p bine midnight , like » pall Ot adoooi bewtj roaui Bit . * Jot kei , to w * teb ibe morning light Brekk redlj t >» tbti ( Qrer » e » : Horn wear * n » t now thandJasee bright , it wore i * k * ppi « jean U me . 1 knr the ocean pealing , That hope is o'er ! And er ' rj ec&o thromgh the red T » ult » ite ^ ling , Breauci of " no more ! " It ii the aignt > iriad « ighlng . Sadly o ' er rale and rirer ? 1 » it not Death—a ( Sent -roice—rejil yiaf , Soon ahahthoa . text for ever .
Bow Wantiful' . WwteavtifQ }' . Sly vale , wksne rote * fill tbe air ; Whose cedar , yew , mad sycamore , Seem natural l / roplai made for f r » j'r . Bat e » ch roes wears a deeper dye , A hue prophetic of my doom \ And ercry Wit ? forest boagh Dr oop * heavy round my -widowed hoa * Vet ! let me weep , and let me pray , . See day ty weary day depart : Aa ! what aTail my watted years , And what a rails my breaking heart ! And k it modi tar life to uk A little rest bef < w « the U * t ? To my iaat bone of fame and Ion Case back again—tie angel past !
Glesgariff ! thon art « t 31 my'home , And thou ere long most be sty grare . I kaow it—y «? t 1 would not roam , No , mot this fleeting life to aare . And if there lie o ' er him and me This graaay bank , this flower-deek'd sod , So let it be so let it be , U bat the spirit rest with God . '
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FRASER'S MAGAZINE . March , 3839 . This is tie worst number of Frater -we hare eTer seen . The only bearable article in it is tke ' Selections from the Diary of a Traveller in the Alps . "
THE POLITICAL PREACHER ; in Appeal from the Polpit o » behalf of the Poor . Delivered at A ? hton-under-Lyne , January 6 th , 1839 , by Joseph Ratsbb Stephens . Manchester YTUiis . Asbton : Orme .
THE POLITICAL CHRISTIAN PULPIT ; Sermons by tb < R * t . J . R . Stephens . Reprinted from the Northern Star . Leeds : J . Hobsoo . The righteous-over-muck of this canting hypocri tical age hare not spared to heap loads of obloquy oa the head « f the bold , fearless , and honest asserter of the people's rights and of the laws of God , aad the obliganeas of mankind to each other , who is the author of the pamphlets whose titles stud * t the head of thb article . To onr redder * , however , the ciiaraeter of Mr . Stephens is so well known . that she
bare announcement ef their issuing from him is proof of their excellence . The latter wort hiring previously been printed in the Northern Star , it U ncEecessary for us to say anything about it , further than to give the information of it * existei ^ ee to those who wi * b to have it for priTate reading , in a more conTenient form . The former is an earnest , feeliDg , and impassioned address , clothedin ^ a Sue style of racy Saxon eloquence , and calcuLiteil to excite the highest and best feelings ef those to whim it was addressed . We give the following , opt « alr as a specimen of the style , bat also as the iStftOrV lnstlTif ^ Atinn ( jl mrwt crw *»«« fiil aha » a aathor '? justification ( a most successful ose
, we think ) of the unusual style of preaching he baa thought it hi * dnty to adop ' t : — ^ ¦ ' I have long been charged—indeed , have always ke * n chi-gri , w ' . tk a deration—a positive departure from the lice uf daty prescribed to tin profession , # f which 1 am aa ca ^ crthy member , though I trust an upright , » sincere and « droied one . It is ( aid thai 1 have ai&lmnonred ani desecnird thit hcAj office , \ -j neglecting the partly religioDS utd exdotirelr spintnaJ elatnu , which the church has made ¦ cjontlie tune , the talnits and the influence of her ministers —hj postponing the diaenssisn ol abstract doctrine * , ibe t-Tirt » of m met ^ pbyaicalty { vasosed system of tbeolujry—or li » admitted articles « f a se ; tUd anJ e * ubluhed orthiloiT —ini instead of this , or before thia , or along with thi / , lnsstin * oa the obligation the whole Chris dan world is under t o carry i * to actaal , risible , immediate practice the plain
prec-pti sf that reiipoa—whost firat and la . it and only law en ainh is that we shonld lore onr nrijthbonr as oarselfdoiag onto olbiTi as we voaid they » hotud do to as It >¦•»« b »» my practics—and been charged Ufioa m * as a ci inw—to appjr the rules sfGo 4 " seomEa * udineTits toTajiousiastitotions « theaoeial sy « tetn , in my own imaedUle t » -ijcb . bonrbood , as j is tbe conn Cry at large—to bring the principle * and optntioniof the maan&etnres , the commerce ana Uia layklaton of thJsyrofeaseil j Christian land to the staadard of Sod ' i Hair Word—the Law of the Creator—the witnessbarer of iiij mind and will to man . I hare asked wnethet merchants , senators , and statesmen are aiaenabl * to any anhority higher than themselves , or whether they are tree to do wsat their own thirst for pcid or hut of paver may lead ti ~ B to attempt to execut * ajoB the poor—the -weak—the unfriendly and defenceless portions ol { he coxanmnity . 1 hare asked , whfther ail rigbu are not reciprocal—ail duties
rKxure , all priTiieges mntoai , held together by all in the * aiy bonds of righteousness and lore , —whether there be not * xne giren , acknowledged aad asinna&y admitted standard n" trutii and ontroth—right and wrong—good and rrilw ' £ > thar that standard be sot the written Word of Godwhether the God , by whom that word was written , be sot the One Lawgiver , —the Ki * g of king )—the Lorp of Wd»—&e onl y Soler of princes ? If it be so—and that is so none * vl gainsay—1 hare goae oa to enboire , whether the practices of tha factory ixneta , Sot instance , are in accordance * ith the preeepla of onr most holy religion—whether Christon milioVner * are justified in panning a system of asanoiicnjre , which has done more to injure the health—impair &e coEstitntion—and dem ralise the character of a rast mass of oar population , than any oLher recorded is history—» iuci has made aoeh a fearful waste of the natural , the Kjcsi and the moral life of onr induntrioa * countrymen , that it
da Decome a qnestion—sot only whether the silken ties , that should bind society in lore , can any longer held her Tarou members within iu a » ft and peacerol circle ; bat ¦ r i * thf-r the race itself—the human breed be not so tar degeserat ? as to threaten imbecility , idiotcy or actual ex tinef . aa to a aost extensire and siarmiag degree ? - 1 hare asked ex P ^ ciaily , whether the principles ef our Bjodern polriicsJ eoootay can be made to quadrate wuh the atatemenu of crniiB nrrelatian—wiietherit be indeed true that the earth is too small for its inhabitants ^—whether tha brings bora into ™ world are indeed too many , or multiply too fast for its harresta—the production of its husbandry and the supplies , that ii- hidden in the mysterious storehouses of the great Creator or heaven and earth—whether to keep down the po ; clation of a Christian country be in accordance with the witmanimenu of that Father in hearen , who made nan at etk La Hb own iikeneai —» being of knowledge ani
righteoa-ness—who lored him from the beginning , and sent his & » a to seek the lost and raiae the fallen , u > whose eye all the spriari of action ia maa were open and uncorered—wh « had not t » learn from another what man was and what he was n : > t—what he knew an 4 -what he did aol know—what he » nld do and what he could not do—where aad how hs wonW se : ti » in ha tranderings—^ here and how he would hate to Ht * and more and hare his being here upon earth , during nis progress through the world ef toe-a and things seen to t £ s irorid of beings and of things as yet unseen . 1 hare asserted that the God and Kather of mankind hos in His wisdom and of Bis great good dob written out hu ~ will't * man in Jia Hol y B ok . That will makes fully known U > man all be ™ to k * rn—all he has to tnm in—all he has to do in the Einy ani rmried relations , in which he may be placed in r ^ erpne « t » his fellow men . His dnties , all rising from one t ?^ ttg , flstr into different ehannels as the case may be . As
i cidi ' d the bend of dnty is to Father and Mother—as one of ot » ier cbfldren to brethren as husband ot wife t » ireided mate —si hsoseholber or master to those who are around or unier tun—u a son of the soil—a child of his father-land the drift * f dtty is to the orerhead , the Father King , whose law of br « { he image , transcript and impression of the vrQl of Eearen , girei equal shelter and protection to all the members of the common «¦(• & ] tb—as monarch or magistrate the drift of datyii a * dn-ecta » d wistmngtowards thpguremedfor their tocida ^ d hsppines * a * is the homage of the subject teward * &e ' aecelard—the lawful , because the righteous sovereign of t braf asd abediest , because a happy and prosperous people . I have arjfned that to the holding of zn eren beam , the
vnshts of reoprocal oblijration zanst correspond is either ali . If ene , no matter -which of them , preponderate , the Kmilibrhmi is lost—the balance of s * ciety is destroyed . This 'Maaf tkt harmonr snbuirting between the TarioBs branches of the great national family I hare found in the Word of the Lord , the only book in the world , that has upon iu pages—* ad cesnmoBxatea to all men , every where alike , the iiajns-* abie princiales of troth and righteOB * ne * s and lor » . Seeing ttii to be thit truth taught us by Grf , I hare striven to t « ach it to ffirfcllow-aws—forof whatnae are the prmeipleg ol B » oral ccunec , atdew they beappfied to the actual etrcuottaaccs of the indiTiduals , before whom they are set forth—and be morally brought out into die practice of th ^ u tie . "
The KATUBALIST , No . 29 , Fbb . 1839- —Onr notice of this clever and well conducted « d « bti 6 c periodical is romewhat of the latest— -lMrt the faultij notonrs , as the present number w »» onlysent m us last week too late for Tintice in o » f last nnmber . There is a large smount of Talnable iaformarion contained ia «* erj" wnakcr Aat we have seen of this work ; and certainly the one » ow before us loses nothing in comparison with ia predecessors . The present Dumber-contaka an interesting . paper on the natural nistoryy climate , aod scenery of St . Peteraburgh . By Ch * rleg Drosier—from which , we give the following .: — - . u Of all fee montha of the fear ia Russia , January is the * ° st drearr and inhospitable , thsueh to a new eonwr if he
"" sldbeanativsof a mSiregion , it carries a- degree ofin-^ k , bytracticaliy aeqnaiHtmg » " » with the tn » -nature of - * * t » e ceU . He may have read and thought of it before , ** i « lurnriating in " the emerald light of leaf-entangled ***« si , " or otct a jorial oeaeoal nre ; bat of which h « could **• hem a just id * s till he had t / sted it by personal expert-*» . The mean temperatnre of this month , I Bhonld say , ^ iige *—18 degrees of Reamur ( the thrrmometer in genera ] ** fcronehotit Russia , ona dpgTee of which is e ^ nal ^ o 2-25 ' ^ "irenheit , } bat there are days when the nun-cory indicate * --Jf' * a - othss when his not lower than—10 ,. In 1835 it r ^ ftot ri » e higher than 26 * far a fortnight , and odd morn-*?? * M as low •«»—2 &- ; but this season was gaiu to be * e * ereT j ^ xnv ttathad interreued since 'Swaggering Bon ? y , " wt provincial ballad termed him , lost his " annr in the greet
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Autocrat s dominiMU . As the effect of low temperatnr * may ^ eithw mdiatinctfy wuMmbered ^ o * fwgouen ^ by mur , 1 ahaUaotcowaderit Jll-Umed to state the results of a few e ^ enaacnts that tar * been made to ascertain this point vtoiling water thrown up by an engine , so as to spread at—24 £ Ww , hay&flen down in parficle . of dry ice ? auhewie Maperatore Dr . Kmf fonnd a botde of common water frosen » to a s « Ud pioce of i « e in an-hwir and » quarter ; and on the morning that I roenrioned , when the thermometer stood a »—« -, I exposed to the air ttro Copper vessels of a cylindrical I fj » * * ulcl « a v ln 4 » n « ter , and four deep , one filled with edd , flu . other w » th boikne water ; the first was frown into # olin ice in 15 minutes , the latter in 23 , and the expansion of congealed water vm preltjly shown by half an inch of ice , which projected over the nmi of the vessel * thia « xpaa-» ion an » . er the iDflo'nce of cold is peculiar , I believe , to bnt one other body in Nature feast iron } : it ha * Wn attribntm }
t » a specific chemical arrangement or their crystals during the coohng process . Captain Franklin , during his first ererland Am * * ** 4 ltwn < fona ° * he trees aa hard as flint , at abont —IS , Reaumur , so that almost eveTy axe he had was broken in attempts to fell them . At-20 , if the hand , vhile it wa « mout , be lncaatiousi y applied te the metal handle of an outer o » or , it will adhere ; and , if not immediately removed , in all f > robaDlhtv would l : » ae a portion of its skin Vfore its librraaon conldp * procured , communicating a sensation « o lOBch like that caused by the tooeh of glovring iron , ttattke one might be" miiUken for the other . A piece of iron alao , g nch as th » barri ? l of a gun , brought from the cold into too heated atmosphere of a house , appears to smoke , of give off a vapour ; but this is a dreepuon , and proceed * from the rapid
condensation of water , held in suspension by the air upon the melal . I was desirous of experiencing the snsation of cold at 29 , RriumuT , without my doak , and for thu purpose felt a warm room , and walked out in a simple Englisb drew , abtnt a hundred yards from the house . The air atnrst affected my lungs , and made me congh ( which it will do at —15 or 16 desrrefj ) ; it next apppared to permeate my clothes , aad instantly to net on the" surface ol niv bodv ' , like the aaffusion of a cold fluid . A small dog tha . t * folluwedmeom , the soles of wbnie feet , acenstomed to a c ^ rp- ' t , were thin and nervous , commenced limping to relievo rkom , til ; fairly overcome wilh pain , he began to ging out lnsiilv ; when I took nun up in my arms and returned , to restore my stock of animal heat , which hid been almost dissi > ated even in a abort time .
The faces ol peopU engaged abroad in severe weather present a strange appearance , especially those of the bearded peasantry of Russia , frum the breath . congeaW the moment " v ? " ^ W " . and incrusting th « whiskers and bair o ! ' \ f ?* ¦*"'« delicate hoar frost , the sparkling Instre of wnich w lncnnous keeping with the natural complexion . " Besides this there is a variety of excellent papers en divers makers connected w ' ith Natural History , mpVudm ? ahrief and well written biographic notice of H . C . WatfsoD , Esq ., a hanrkome portrait of whom embellishes the number .
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IMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETING AT MORPETH , ON THE WORKINGS OF THE NEW POOR LaW . On Wednesday evening last , one of the most crowoed meetings ever held is this place , took place in the Town ' s Hall , for the purpose of rakine into consideration tbe cruelties on the inmate ? of the union Workhouse , at Morpeth . Mr . David Cairns was nnar-imouslr called to the chair . Mr . Batid Bxaket rose to propose a resolution to tbe meeting . He said , that the last time he had tbe honour to preside as chairman of & meeting against ibe erection of this Ba # rileit was redicted
, p that ifwonld become a place of great punishment and 8 B £ e ? ing to the people . This prophecr h . « i been anfonunately leriticd . He would confine what b * had to say at the present time to three points—ibe general system of diet and treatment to tbe workhouse , the individual cases of suffering and crutltv , and tbe remedy for these evils . The jreneral system of ditt was principally as follows : Thf-pooTgot for breakfast wnat ua ^ calleo porridge , hut-vrhichwai ! na thicker than ordinary gruel ; to tbis they had a little treacle and water . * Tbey bad eue fie-h dinner in the weeK . Two days they " had what was called soup , snade out of a h-ist ' a head ; the the wrtgbt of flesh of this head avtraced about four
ponnds ; this serred forty-eight persons for two days allowing to eacb about thr ^ e quarter ? of an ouuee of solid ft >« J . There was no bread allowed to this soap . In The afternoon they gut hat was considered and called a luxury , " coB ' , made with seven pints ef water to one ounce of coffee , at Is . 10 d . J > e : } b . To this they were allowed «» even ounces of . bread ; DQt many of the poor creatures bad wtighed it , and only lound it five ounces . Boiled Barley was also given for dinner ; and he had the testimony o medical men to prove that this article was so unwholesome to the people , that it , passed through the bowrlg qnite in an undigested state . The speaker then made some remarks in reference to the
medical officers of the onion . There was a standing order in the books of the Guardians , that none of the medical- gentlemen were to see patients in the workboase without the master or matron being present . This was a tyrannical rule towards ; he poor , and degrading to the meaical gentlemen themselves . Tbe sole object of it was , that the inmates should have no- opportcnity of making any complaints of their harsh , treatment to their medical attendants . Tneir mi * erie- « were to be stifled if possible . Mr . Blakey then shewed the meeting that the end and object of all these harsh and unjust measures were to reduce the amount of out-door relief . The Workhouse was to W made into a place of pinishment and suffering , in order that the )> xt might be deterred from applying for any relief ; or if application were made , they might be obliged
to take whatever was offered to them . This was " carrying out the principle" of this most odiou ^ nnjnst , and unmerciful bill . There was , however * an apprehension tiat the poor creatures in the house wnuld be getting too fat and indolent on tbe rich fare allowed them . To prevent this , that very ingenimig gentleman " , tbe Rector of Bothal , Mr . Parry , has kindly sent up a grinding machine for tbe poor " workbouse iDmates to toil at . And what , can it be conceived , is this machine to grind ? Why , beans for bis horses ! This is a beautifnl system—the poor man to be fed on gruel and wretched soup , without a partiele of bread , to toil all day , to grind food for this fat Rector ' s fat horses . ' The speaker then showed how beneficial the little notice of these cruelties last week bad been to tbe workhouse people . The Guardians had assembled eariv on
Monday morning ,- and rsade a change of tbeir diet , and allowed more bread , coffee at 2 * . instead of Is . 10 d ., but no pepper ts be allowed . This was a confession worth eometbin ? . The individual cases of hardship could not all be pointed oat , but two would be selected . " William Hunter , an elderly persen , became affected with a bowel complaint . Dr . Shute ordered Port Wine and Sago ; the Port was considered too dear , and Gooseberry Wine was given . The conseqnenee was that the pour man was carried off qnickly . The next case was that of Ann Thompson , aged 27 , who died on Fridaj last . She lived with her father , in tbe couBtry ; became afflicted with nervous debility : wa 3 taken from her father ' s
honse , eranirDed into the workhouse , and compelled to lire -upon the ordinary riop of the place . She was half starved ; and maay of the poer people in the honse had to give a share of their own miserable portion of bread to satisfy her hunger . The consequence was , that consumption was induced . Tkree or four days before her death , she was removed , by an express order from Mr . Parry , to another part of the hou * e , without the intimation given as to the propriety of this to her medical attendant ; she soon died . The remedy for these evils , in the speaker ' g opinion , was to have a coroner ' s inquest upon these two cases . There was no gettiBg at the truth without it . He would , therefore , move the following resolution : —
"That this meeting has good reason for believing that a very improper system of diet and general treatment has , for some time , prevailed in tbe Morpeth Union Workhouse : that William Hunter and Ann Thompsonj recent inmates of that house , were cruelly treated , and their deaths occasioned or accelerated by ill-usage ; and that a coroner's inquest npon rhtir bodies is indispensably necessary to further the ends of justice . " The resolution was seconded by Mr , Halden , and carried unanimously ; after which , thanks were voted to the chairman , and the meeting separated .
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THE CENTRALIZATION SYSTEM , TO THE EDITORS OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Gestzemex , —Allow me . through your columns , to 3 ay before the country an attempt now making by dor centralization Government to destroy one , —I may say almost the last , —of those ancient privileges of j tfce people- ? o intimatel y connected with the Constitution , and which , if persevered in and carried through- Parliament , will inflict a mortal stab at the Constinition , a . ud for ever annihilate those principles of good government which fluwed so copiously - throttgb . our Anglo-Saxon law « . Yon know , Genteaien , tkat tKe present Government hare successfully trrerSirown all law by establishing coramisiidns to make rnles and orders having the effect of law * mace by Parliament The most important for
Englishmen to consider is the imperium in imperio created 'by the Whig Malthnnaa boon , tbe Ne « Poor La *' . Tnis law destroys the republican right of the inhabitants of eren- parish in England and Wales to elect their officer . * , and contronl , in parish ves-try , thdr own parochial matters connected with , the relief of tbe poor . The next important matter for tKsir consideration is the Municipal Corporation Reform Bill , which , like all other of their reforms , tends"tD ciian ^ e from bad to wcrs = * , in » iead of from bad to good . What renders this of importance is , that it overthrow * local government . * , and creates an uniform system" of centralization , by establishing , in even town , a'depoc for gend ' armcrie to carry the New Poor Law int 0 effect , by iirst overawing the people , and tfcen thrusting it " down their throats . As a proof of this , no sooner had Mancke ^ te * the
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Char ' er thrust ripen them against their * & * and a Whig batch ' of magistrates created to obey the instroctions of tke Home Secrataity , than tbe Poor Law Commissioners sent down their mandate to carry the law into effect . But were was ' snfficie&t courage " and humanity in the local authorities to resist the innovation upon their common customs , and tbe churchwardens threatened to call a meeting of the inhabitant : ) if it was attempted . The Commissioners retreated , » nd Lord John Rngsell , afraid of the expression of public feeling , quietly withdrew his intention *» f forcing it upon die town tor the present . In the early part of Rework of tha Poor Law Commissioners , they expr ^ s ^ i theirTears that the New Law could not bu enforced without a
rural police , ^ nay , . Has scbetoe ¦ was . jone of the recommendation !! of the' Comj&issionerg . ' on , Poor Laws , prtrions to the new t £ t ^ eing ; framed . So c 6 n 8 ciou * were the Commissioners thai they were about to overthrow all established usages and coatoms , that they strongly recommended a Rural Police , ere the New Poor Law was attempted , the Government not daring ( and they dared much when they brought forward their previous boon , ) to go to such , a length openly ,. without incurring the displeasure of tbe people ; therefore , quite consistent with their principle ^ they uought JBHidiouKly , by a side thrust , to destroy the power of the sherifiM , their constabulary , and their posse commitalu , the whole county power , by erecting a host of stipendiary
Magistrates in corporate towns , having under them an armed body of police , to carry into effect the will of the minister of the day . Another important matter connected with the centralization system , is , namely , the passing of Railway Bills , destroying land-marks , and dissecting the land in all directions , and , above all , the plasing of numerous bodies ol police all along the railways , connecting the depots of armed police in corporate towns , and giving to the Government every facility for raising large bodies of armed mercenaries , to assist them in for ever extinguishing all our ancient ri ghts . Thus the Government have destroyed parishes and parish officers , the sheriffs and tbeir county power , the local constables
, and their local influence ; now they purpose to abridge , nay destroy , the right of the inhabitants in parish vestry to elect Surveyors of the Highways , ana , by a Bill now in Parliament , called the " Highway Act , " that power hitherto enjoyed by the people from time iinmesaorial of electing their Surveyors to the Boards of Guardians in New Pooh Law Uxions , and , of course , a veto upon upon their appointment in the power of the Poor Law Commissioners ' . !! Now , will the people of England suffer this to pass into a law ? I hope you , Sir , will take this matter up , and bring your powerful pen to bear againsUbis daring effort to extinguish the power of the people in pariah boards . I am . Sir , your obedient servant , JOHN RICHARDSON .
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ax KKV . J . R . STEPHENS , DELIVERED AT ASHTON-UN'DER-LYNE , ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON LAST , MARCH 3 d ., IN THE
MARKET-PLACE . ( By our own Reporter . ) On Sunday afternoon last , Mr . Stephens delivered a sermon in the Alarket-plac ? . Ashton , to an immense assembly . It wan intended that Mr . Stephens should preach in his owe chapel , at Charlestuwn ; bnt the anxiety on the part of the thousands who wishrd to hpar him rendered it necessary that an adjournment should be made to the Alnrket-pl a' " . The sermons were to commence abont two o ' clock . About one o'clock , the chapel was completely riiled , and thousands b < nng tinaWe to gain admission , the chapel was completely surrounded by an immens « body of men and women . Finding that it wan impossible for a fifth part of the people to bear
the Rev . Gentleman , it was at once deemed advisable to adjourn to the Market-place , whither the anxious multitude gladly directed their steps . There were great numbers " persons who had come from Liverpool , Manchester , Bury , Middleton , Uldhain , Delph , and © ther places . The day was exceedingly fine : the sun shone with all his brilliance npon the multitude , and the little breezes which now and then wafted across the square were like the gentle and reviving zephyrs of a summer ' s evening . The sight of the people in such circumstances , and assembled for such purposes , was exceeaiugly beautiful , as well as affecting , and forcibly reminded ns of tht ? primitive Christian days , when the apostles and followers of Christ conjrregat ? d ineir tiaren
Dr- together in the open air , for the purpose of teaching them in plain , though in enerj : ehc and convincing language , the great truths of ; he gospel of Jesus Christ . He do not remember having witnessed a scene of this kind so peculiarly iuteresting . There was Stephens—the persecuted and maligned Stephens—standing in a waggon , in the open Market-place , without the least appearance of that pride and ostentation which are too much the characteristics of modern preacbeTs—there he stood , in the open day , and under tbe blue canopy of heaven , to preach the glad tidings of salvation to a waiting , an anxious , and an enthusiastic throng . The services were commenced by singing tbe first of Wesley's hymns , which
begins' Oh for m thousand tongnej to sing , * e . " in which the whole assembly joined with the tno > t evident sincerity and feeling . The scene became more and more interest ing as the loud songs of the multitude ro # e like grateful incenoe to the * kies . Many appeared to be completely overwhelmed with their feelings , while tears of giadness stole down toe cheek alike of blooming youth and hoary beaded old age . When the hymn was finished , * plain-lookinf gentleman engaged in prayer in the most . solemn and fervent manner , after which , another hymn was sung with much enthusiasm .
Mr . STEPHENS then began to address , tbe as . sembly , and said—It is thus I love to meet you stpnding upon God ' s earth which he made for us to dwell upou , and looking upwards to Cod's . heaven , which he has made readv , and is keeping ready for all of us who now stand" together here , if so be we continue stedfast to the end . 1 know not how it if , ) ut it always seems to me that the mind of man is ' fresher , and ' the soal larger , and the heart more full of hope and joy when thus we come together , than when , as at otaer times , we are pent up iii a small , however commodious , however splendid—in the » till small , and contracted edifices in which we are com monly in the habit of worshipping God . Onr old forefathers were right in . this as well as in many
other good things which we have lost , but which they nave left tor our example . Our forefathers , when they did build for God , reared houses which seemed by their size as well as by their shape to be worthy of the worship of the Most High , by man , his creature here upon earth . Look , my brethren , at yonder stately and majestic edifice ( pointing to tbe old church ) , which the piety of your forefathers erected for the worship af God and the gathering together of the people . Yok perhaps have sometimes wondered when in the great towns—the county towns aud cities of England—yon have walked past the cathedrals of those cities—you"have wonderedjust coming out of your own little meeting-houses , and chapels , and miniature churches—you have
wondered—you have wondered why your forefathers erected such a majestic building as that . Do you aak me why it was r ( Hear , hear . ) In the answer I have to give , you will find much that is worthy of your consideration , and applicable to the present state of things , politically aud religiously , in England . Thoje cathedral churches were intended as meeting-honses for the people ; the manhood of the entire county , aud the county was to be gathered together from time to time—say twice in the year ; and twice in the year the Bisbep and tbe Sheriff , the clergy and the magistrates , were to meet together , as the right hand and the l » ft hand of God Almighty . The Bishop was to be there , the representative of the heavenly power ; the Sheriff
was to be tberp . the representative of the earthly power ; and tbe Bishop was to read out to the people the laws of God from this book ( the Bible ) , and the Sheriff was to read _ out to the people the laws of the laud from the King ' s book—fr » m the people ' s book—from the Parliament book , and the people were to make up their mind * , after having li * nt their ears and . their understanding , in order to decide upon the question ; the people wera to . determine whether tbe lawj of the land w « re in spirit , and in substance , and in operation , the same . as the laws of God . And if they fonnd them to be tbe same- —it they found them to be good , and right , and wholesome—to be such as they needed ,, end « och as they knew would be for their well-being , and for ihe
hnppiness of their children after them , then , all the people said Amen . " . And England was happy then . Englishmen were muph happier then uuia now ; and you will never have jour freedom back againyou will never hav « your homes happy ,- . until you come together as your ferefathera caiue—until you meet together as your forefathers met—until you bear every man for himself as your forefathers neard—until you talk together every man to hia neighbour as your forefathers talked—until you ieel in your souls , when the iron goes in ,, and when the soft southing balm is poured there—until you know whenyou are . hurt , and , finding out by whom you are Irurt , swear , as men whom God made , not to be put upon—([ bear , hear , )—npt to be- trodden under to Ged
loot , not tp te * cmehM : . powder . made yon not format . God . ntfde , you in big own likeness : and when . I have read in tbe books of the churchmen what . iiiey hase . tp say nbent man's being made iu the likexess of . God , i have thought they almost all leave opt one particular of n ^ emblasce to say no more . They telly * . tha ; . God is holy , aud that man ¦ was made bplylike bis Maker . It was so . They tell us that Gi > d is a being of knowledge , and that man wa * made < wise like his Maker . It was ho . They tell us that Ged is happy , and that man was maie bappy like iiisMaker ; arid it was so . But they forget that God is a being of power—power to make bis will law—power to make his law goodpower to see that that law , which he has made good ,
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is carried into ? effect ; thai tohimiajdlpower both in heaven and , oa eartb v And if maa ^ Were made like his Maker m knowledge , iahqUnffl *!* and in happiness , we am not , to forget th , e .. Mftnterf P ?!»«; . W : ¦» no * •«<* forget $ at ( whenever *( he knowledge which we nave tbrongh God , ' thi ? fcolisess we have through Cfod the' happinessfve have through God , are thwarted or crossed , are interfered with or interrupted , are set aside or attempted to be set aside , then , like God ooj father , we are to take up the power with which he ba » invested us , and by hjs spirit , and in his name , and resting upon his word , * e are to cry , as hW servants of old cried , — " Thesword of the Lord and of Gideon ; " and we are to make God ' s law good ; and we are to see
to it that God ' s good law is not frustrated , not perverted , not interfered with , and that the blessings vrhich come streaming from Heaven , are not turned aside into another channel , and carried away from us , instead of being poured down into our bosoms . I am very anxious to impress this upon your attention , the rather that I know—and I am proud to know—that my audience this afternoon consists of ministers , and of members of almost all the religious denominations in the neighbourhood i and in the few words I have to sajrupon this subject , introductory to the more wpecial subject of my discourse , I would call the attention ot the members and the ministers of those vari » us Christian churches to the remarks I have made , and am about to make I
huve nothing to , say against any of jpu , either minister or member . Yon have done much ; but you have left some things undone . You have built many houaea for God ; I ask you whether you have built anv house for God ' s people ;—( hear , hear , )—and the houses you call " houses for Ued , " are they His houses ? I answer , they are not . They have his name written upon them , but they are not God ' s houses . If they were God's houses , they would be free ; they would be free to all comers ; they would be free to the first who came to sit where he chose , and for the last man who came to stand where he could . (" That ' s it . " ) All alike ; all on one level ; without pews ; without a door in the pews ; without a lock , and without a key . ( Hear , hear , hear . ) There will never be religious freedomthere will
, never be God ' s truth ia England so long as lock and key , bolt and bar , pew and penn , are found to separate tbe rich from the poor , in the House of God . ( Hear , hear , hear . ) The rich and the poorif we are ever tqLhave happy days in England again—the rich ano the poor must meet together ; and by meeting together , and looking at one another , loviug each other , respecting , and consulting over each other ' s interests , and promoting each other ' s happiness , they must , by the interchnnge of mutual affection one for the other , lift up their hearts and say " God is the Maker of us all . " Things cannot be rightreligiously in tb'aland so long as yon find the people t » hut outof the churches —and I contend thoy are shut out of the churches . l ontend there is
c hardly a chnrch or a chapel in the whole empire which is free for the people , or , which amounts to the same thing , in which the people feel themselves free to Worship . I know that the people ot England are denounced or considered as Infidels , because they worship not God in the churches , and in the chapels of the land . But how is it ? Is it that the people hate this book ? Is it that the people have foresworn tbe worship of the God who wrote this bpok ? Is it that the peoplp lives less godly , less righteous , le > s lawful than those who make this charge of infidelity and atheism against them ? Is it that the people are worse husbands , and worse wives , and worse children , and worte servants , and worse masters—those of them that have others under them—than the mea who
bnng this charge of scepticism and infidelity against them ? ] answer boldly " No , " I am well aware that the people of England have mnny vices ; that there is much evil , much corruption , much vice , much sin of almost every kind to be found amobg « t the people . And no wunder ; the wonder for me is that for every godless Englishman we have not a thousand ( hvar , hnar ) : the wonder with me is that for every drunken Englishman we bave not a thousand ; that for every Englishman , ihat robs another or bikes away from another ' that which belongs to him , we have not a thousand ; the wonder with me is that instead of having the amount of vice and of crime , and their attendant miseries among the
peo ple—the wonder with me is that we have not ten thousand , fold more both vice , und misery , and crime , > Vhy wit that &e people have forsaken the houses , said to b $ dedicated to the worship of God ? I will give you , oaie or two of the , reasons ;—1 « the hnst placa , the good old godly way of mnking no distinction ' Between' the neb and the poor in the temples of thft Most-High has been abandoned now for many ages in this country . Wehave ' rallen upon the practice of separating the rich from the poor in the House of God as completely and effectually as we separate them in the building of our bouses , in the laying out of cur streets , and in the arrawgements of general society . Now the poor don ' t hkv this ; and is it any wonuer they don ' t likeit ? Is it
not enough for a man tp know that be is poor ? Must he be told of his poverty ? Must his poverty be thrown in his teeth ? Mum his rngs , and bin squalour , and his wretchedness be shaken in his face befoTe him even in the House of God ? , JVlnst ; he he stowed away under tfte stairvor in' sorhe cbraer where the wind How « i ^ here . t ! te afatigits' " come , where the doors are"bpeijing' stti'd sKt ( tting ? " Mujtt the very wat * ^ rovkled "for Jtbri -popr , -wnere there are » ny ~ pTovid «> d ,- * nti 8 t thos&te'fy' seatrbe in the most inoommodious ' and uncomfortable parts of the chapel—parts of the chApelwbioh : will not let to anybody , and , which , therefojey arh inade . into free seats ? The poor don ' t like , it , ' and W « r « -. i-a Poor man—that is . , oanrp- than . 1 am—¦«« I <•
handicraftsman , like som « of yon , I would not only say , asyou do to-day , that you do right , but IyrmU go ana do likewise ; 1 would never with nxy ibot iread the threshold of one of those houses called the " Housesof God , " in which the poor were penned aw » y like sheep * or like swine , and the rich ' set up , elevated and raised as Gods for the poor man to * fall down and worship . I would worship God under- the trees ; " 1 would worship God in the fields ; I would worabip . God on my ewn hearthstone . I would hove my wite beside me ; my children around me ; a few of my neighboors who werelikeminded withmyself , and we would read the Word of God together * and I think God would hear our prayers as patientWas
altentiveJy , as mercifully , nud would answer our prayer * as graciously and abundantly as he hears and answers the prayers of tk * rich . ( " Aye , aye , so he would . " ) There is another reason whv you seldom go to these buildings ; and ' thfttis , yon think you see quite enough of your tyrants and oppressors during the six days of the week without being stung to madness by the sight of their hypocritical counte nances in tbe House of God on tho seventh day . In the cut chamber to be , br « w-beaten , to be bated at the pay table , to bave drawbacks without end in the shape of bad work , and marred work , and spoiled work , and half work , and house money , and water money , and coal money , and flour , and cheese , and bread , land bacofl , Rhd beef money ;—to have
your wages , every farthing of which , has drawn out a thousand drops' of sweat , every * shilling of which has drawn out a drop of your hean's blood , —to havethesa . wageadwrindKngdown * running away before your * yesun til you'hardly know by the way , tbe maxier arth ? manageris goingon ^ -. whether he will have to pay you , or you will have to pay ? him in exchange for a fortnight . ora vthre ^ ree-ks * hard work ; after all ' that , you have not much inclination for a Sunday exhibition of that niaHagex , pr that masterputtinghishandbeforehisface , p ; &eringup a prayer as soon as he comes into the chapel , and then going and kneeling down , and taking tbe Sacrament , the emblems of the body and ot the blood of our Lord and Saviour , Jesus Christ—you cannot
bear it ; you cannot bide it ; you cannot stand it : it is more than flesh and blood can bear ; and the very Mght of those- men—the very sight , of those hypocrites that have robbed you of your wages—that have kept back your hire , and plundered you of the little pittance that your daily labour ought to have produced , has many a time and again soured your mind against all religion of every description , and you have been ready to believet—you have been ready , like the fool , to gay in your heart , " There is no God ; there is no God ; there is no God : if there were a God , ie would . net BuflfecthiB—if there were a God , he wonld never have allowed this—if there were a God , he would take vengeance , upon Such hypocrisy , auch injustice . 8 » cb tyrannr . and such
oppression as this . I don ' t wonder at it ; I think you do right to withdraw yourselves from these houses ; ( Hear , hear . ) Another reason is , that you cannot afford any farther taxation to support those places where you are allured with the promise of a ' tree salvat ion , and of the Gospel , " without" money and without price . " Tke price of a , pew—and an honest Englishman does not like to carry ; bis wife and children along with him to bo penned up like iheep—and h « will either have a peworhe wotft go , for there is a spirit in an Englishman , tq pay his way as well as , hia neighbpura ^^ he . -doesn't like to be under any obligation to " any one * and therefore you' find the rent of a pew almost as much as the rent of a hoase . ' And you cannotafford it . 11 is quite plenty to have to pay halj-a-crcwn pr tkree shillings and sixpence a-week for yc-tir KonSA rentwithout
, having to pay five , six , or seven shillings for the rent ; of a-Bttmll-pewin acbapei ; . rin ' therefor ** yon cannot afford to go , and consequently you stay away . Andthen there are theeverlasting collections—the Sunday schools , the missions , foreign arid home chapel building , chnpel enlarging , orgau building , organ opening , Tract Society » Bible Society , preachers' fpnd \ Kingswood and Woodhouse Grove fund , dissenting college * , Methodist colleges , in all kinds of imaginable shapes and forms , for the purpose of extracting money from the pockets of the people . Yon cannot afford to pay all this . I say nothing of the one penny a-week—of the one shilling a quarter—of the four quarterly collections in the course of tbe year ;—I say nothing of all these things . You cannot afford these everlasting draws upon u » few pence that , peradventure , are left to yo > i . after the exactions of the tyrannical master
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¦ Wl' ™? . ' W »' pron 4 fehwo tie |» ialways pofted Twaer yofcr nose , ari « f nerer feel » Me to . puVaiiy thong ^ iv and therefore ' . ' rni ^ iM'M « onbip ( Jed where beat yeu can , an < nw Beit yoW know now . Another reasom \* that you den'l ' nnderstand . what yaw ministers mj to yon . I " ( rifl'nhder-I take to affirm ihat there are not here—an ** don't , rrund j ^ 01 ^ waat ehqrch or cfeapel my hearew come this afternoon—r will make bold to affii « i thereare inot n | ty persons here that would hold up their , handsi were 1 to ask them'whether Sbey TOideratood what their ainisters were in the haiat of preaching to ( them . 1 would proceed to put one or two questions , and I should discover—F know I shouldfrom tbeir answers before you , that they knew little
or nothing at all about that which thpy have been taught to consider the perfect Christianity of this country . I know there are words and phrases ; I know there is conventional jargon enough ; but I am well persuaded , I am well connnced , at tbe same time , that there is not in the preachings of all creeds , of this country , that plain , straightforward , standard commoa sense that commend * itself to the consciences and to the judgments of the hewers . Every doctrine of the Scripture has been penerted into an nrti « le of the religion of the sect which has adopted that doctrine ; Were I to mention a word —*> r instaocev the word " Justification /*—there ore very few here but what have heard that word . There w hardly a man here that knows what' tb&t word
means as it stands in the blessed book of God . Methodist justification ia one thing ; ScriptnraHnatincation i » another thing . To be justified means , in a few p lain words , to be set right ; to be set right with God , to be « et right with man ; God setting ns right with himsetf , with onr own heart , and with one another . That is to be justified—to be made right ; to have all made right between us and God , and between God and us , between us and our neighbour , and between our neighbour and ourselves . I f that be the meaning of it—and your own ministers will not deny that it is the meaning of it—put it to & . , ner any millowner in their society is justified by faith ; put it to your ministers , whether Calvnnsts or Churchmen , or Socinian or Methodist
—put it to your ministers whether a millowner can be justified so long a « he is a millowner . He canuot be justified ; he cannot have thing * set right , between God and himself , between himself and God , between God and his working hands , and between his working bands and himself . All is wrong , all is crooked between him ? . nd God ; all is wrong between him and the people ; and so long as he continues a millowner in the present state , and under the present system of trade , he must be—however h « may fancy himself—justifted by faith , aHd sanctified , and adopted into the family of God , elect by the foreknowledge of God unto eternal salvation—he is , and he must be in the high road to everlasting , damnation . Do von ask
me why ? Becaiise he makesi free with that which does not belong to him . ( Hear ^ near . ) Your bodies and souls are God ' s , and not jour masters . Yoar masters hftve no right to ' yotir bpdfc » " and to your souls ; they are God ' s , and'Godfs command in reference to your soul and bddy '' wj ' that'that soul and body should bekept holy ; sind the rflesnin * of their being kept holy is that nolWng sihould be dobe oy you , and that nothing * ould W dtoife -W ^ oii thiit can hurt either the soulor , the ( JJo 4 y * aad * d « jg as the millowper / doe « to your bodies' aad to your souls that-which is likely tQ hurt them , ; aiid which wb know well doe * hurt them and , destroy Msm ; so long be is meddling with jhajt , and . taking . that which does not belong to him : it balonc * tn
dod . He tberefore is a robber from God- ; lie is guilty in the sight of God of bleod ; blodd is an his lands ; blood is on his brow ; blood besprinkles ' his wast ; there is condemnation inscribed up ' oW his ' forehead ; the mark of God's anger , tbe mark'of Gods vengeance ; and , as I said beforey VhoWe practices are leading him tho- downifard ^ road to destruction . ( Hear , bear , hear *) i I * U ever told that . Never , never , never- ; Tbe-ministet t 0 . v" i e SQClet ^ W ° W 4 Ation he . ^ elonfsmould rather htive one millowner » u hig « W ) gre «« ion . than b thousand spinners . He , had , ratEerThave , one t&an
mmowner a tbousand weavw-s ., or . . piecers . { " «» r ; f '^ P aye- ! ' ) .. ' Hence § x ^ M ^ stant tendency of the present sysfein 7 df reKgious society to dnw oat the poor . - You are all driven but by one shovel into onp * eive , and thus the sifting goes on ; yon are all drafted out bydegrtes . If they can make anything of a poor mau , they keep-bim . If le can geton in the world , if he , be . a cheating « hopkeeper , with short wpighta ,, an < i short measuw , aad every kind of contraband , evCTy . kind of deceit , of tnck . and of artifice in his businessr-ras one oJ them said to rne himself the other dajr , he thought he waa perfectly justified—they love that word—be . tbniiaht
16 was perfectly justified in mixing his flour with bone dust , aud plaster of Paris , and terra alba—he thought he was perfectly justified in grinding his sugar over again with Hour , or anything of that cind , that would make a greater bulk out of rubbish—he thought he was perfectly justified in mixin ? his coftee with cbickory , and gelling it for collee—he thought all this was lawful trading , and it the people had no more knowledge than to buy cbickory instead of coffee , and terra alba , or chalk , instead of flour , and if they knew no better—if they knew not the difference , they were right served . He said so to me ; and he persisted that he was / arti . Jitul as a man . and as a Christian , nnd that man was a Very hijfh methodisr . 1 know nnntW nna ^ t
the largest nnlJowners in Lancashire , One of the wealthiest men in Lancashire , ; one of the very first jpiltersuof the Wesleyaniesteblishment , one of the ; grB » t » 8 t , «« wr » to all theii ! funds va man who has at-; Jf Wrtf d , as auneU ^ dia ^ to ^ force M * war into Parliament ; , and t ^ atw * n 4 « 8 lared » in hisp ' wn count-, ? 1 f ? g . t »(« f 9 titi ]( jr ? is a Wiy great pitythat lying was ; ? BW ' - $ y a W'W'y nectary and so very useml ln ^ usiness . He said so ; and 1 beb ' eve there is hardly a single twirl of tape—or whatever else they caU . them ~ . that goes out of that man's warehouse J * aW 3 E *" ' ! " ™* if not more , under the mark tbatoughtto indicate tbe exact measurement on the putaide ; of it . So long as these things are what tbey ; are . and . us , they are , is it any wonder that
me PeoplejWiU not go to those houses of public worship ? TVha ^ then ia your duty ? I shall not 8 tay vo enumerate any other reason why you don't frequent the chDrcbes and chapels of this country . What is your duty in the present state of things ? It is to come , as yon have come this afternoon , to meet at the market cross of your town—to meet at the market crossesof your different citie « , and towns , and villages , nnd hamlets , to pick out the best man you can find amongst you- ^ -and by the best man I don ' t mean the best man who has the saoddest face , or tbe sleeked bair ; nor theman Wlth watery eyes always looking down ,-by the best man I don ' t mean that man that says he is so much better than he should be , and who profe 8 se _ s to be better and more riehteoiis th « n » n
ttie world beside—by the best man you can fiad for the time being , I mean the man who tells you he i » no better than he ahonld be , but who tries to be better to-morrow than he is to-day ; by the bescmaH I mean one who makes no boasting of himself , who is not picking : holes in his neighbour's coat , makine good mto bad , and bad into worse , and worse into the very worst ; bat I mean a man who is deinir his beat to mend himself , and to mend those who are about him , that in so doing he may thus assemble the little leaven that shall leaven the whole lumn •—a man that loves truth , a man that is upright and downright ; a man that is , in Lancashire , what you Understand very well by the word « jam * ck ; " a man that can look every body in the face without nride witnout
vain glory , without self-conceit , withont pharwaical hypeensy ; a man ] who can say " Lord thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I humbly strive to know the truth , and to tell it to thy people ; and I trust thou wilt give rae power to live as 1 wish to die : Lord thou knowest all things , thou knowest that I love thee : help me to love my brother also : Lord I believe , help thou mine unbelief . " Yet a man like this no matter what he is—no matter whether he is a Catholic or a Protestant-no matter whether a Dinsenter or a Churchman—no matter whether a Calvinist or a Wesleyan—no matter whether an infidel or an atheist , so said , so called , so cast out , and stigmatised , and branded , brine him an—«« t him twfan .
you—bid him open hi « mouth—bid him read onbid him speak on , and pray God Almighty to help him , and pray God Almighty to help you—to bless the man wbo speaks , and those to whom the Word is f poken . With a man like this in yonr villages , your towns , your hamlets and cities—let such men get up before yoa , full of truth , and full of the love and the power of God , and strive hard to save the souls of their perishing fellow-countrymen ; and then when it rains and blows too hard , and snows too heavy , ( and there are many before me who have stood here and elsewhere for years , under the winter's snow , as well as tbe summer ' s heat ; we have stood here together , in this Marketplace , on those hills , ana in those valleys—we have stood here together in the ^ sunshine , and in the storm—in the rammer and m the winter—in the rain ,. in the hail , inthe snow and in the tempest ; had it not been so , we had . not been here together in these thousands . ) and I h \ A
you , " go and do likewise . " And when you find that you cannot roeet for the worship of God in the open air , £ fetne Market Cross , or in tha fields * for the reading and the hearing of his most Holy Woid then go to yourown cottage fire-sides , and meet in acoreooFin dbzens . If yon can get a room , andpav your ^ way jvitbwt igoing to borrow money of the nchj thenhavearoom for yourselves , and meet toee therjatidif , «« eping thus before yon walked walking thwa before yoa run—if you can boildTa house , letitbeahonse for God , in the-way Ihave bsendescnbmg , to which every one , or any one , may come ; in which all stand upon one level , and 2 TPtS ? ^^ 8 haft ^ tound , either to preach the trpth , or to let some one else- come up " and preach , the truth for him . What right have 1 to stand , before you : this afternoon , unless I bespeaking the teuth ? ^ I have none . Could I have anypower to siaud before you , except oa these terms ? 1 would not have it . ( Hear , hear ^ I contend hat U l , or any other man , in speaking to tbe people as a minister of religion , says that
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whidv they do not beliere , or whicK ther ^ ito not undfeKtand , or which they know to be' tMe which they have found ontto . be unsound ordarhjer ooa doctrine ,- they bave a right to corse forwardfand confute him . I- call upon any one this afternooa t » come and do this by me . If , at any time , before J f B £ words 80 nv . > ? things which arenoHrte , ^ io which any one is prepared to refute and Orortbrow , forthegood ^ of the people , let him cone forward and take up . hi ? parable and speak to those iv ™ thousands . The end of the preaching of th * Word of God , my brethren , is to make that nght which we know to be wrong , in our breasts , in our own neighbourhood ,, and in the world around n * Sltei . H « nce you find- throughout the whole of «• * t ? .- r ' ^ ^ ProPhets wereonsparinr , unflinching , fearless and determined in ¦ the !? appeala to the Deor > le . in thai , iW ™ .: «* :
, against those wh « held the people in bondage , and who crushed the people bv their oppreanoB * . I have often shown you that the burden at ? T * *! 2 & * hebnrd , en of all they spoke , ofall ^ eV had to-tdl the people , wM GodVblessing 8 nponS h « a ^» of men-by . ones or by millions , no matter-God sbleisyupon the hea ' ds of men , so lo ^» men kepb his commandments ; and then < fod' « curses upon ^ the ^ heads of men , indmdaaHyor ia nations , rf they broke away from his authority , renounced their = allegiance from his GovermnentL wandered away tbrongh the mazes ot the wilderness of their own ignorance , their own lasts , their own . passions , their own evil desires . God ' s curses npon the heads of men if they broke hi * «
immandmenu and did wickedly one to another . I wish , t o make one point in the character of si » very plain , and very clear to your minds . When you hear ser mons against sin , or exhortations to repentance , you are told that repentance means fee knowledge of gin , a hatred of sin , a forsaking of am ; a turning from din to righteousness andtroe holiness . Now Ia 9 k you whether your minister * ever apply that subject to the particular circumstances of their congregations . When they have the miUowners before tbem , do your ministers ever tell them that repentance-means a knowledge of the on of working little children 15 hours a day : do ther ever tell them that it means sorrow for th * sin of working men , women , and children , 15 hoiir *
a-aay : jjoes he tell fee millowner that repentance means also the forsaking of urn by shutting uplnV mill after it hru ran eight hours ? ( No , n © . > Did y » u ever hear such a thing in your lives ? ( No , no . V Well then he has never preached repentance to that millowner . No millowner has ever yet repented , — no millowner ever can repent until ! he has locked up bis mill after he has worked eight hours a-day . Yonr ministers tell you that repentance leadsto faith , and faith to holiness . They tell you that a ma » cannot believe unless he repent , and that h * CBnnot be saved unless he believe . That is true . But does he ever tell the millowner that God wi ) l find him a good market for his manufactures , withootthe necessity of overworking his own work-neonfe : tfcafc
uod Almighty can open channels , as they call it . for trade and commerce , without tbe necessity for th * millowner , every now and then , to work bi » mills over-time , and every now and then to torn them into the street and say , " they shall not work at all r Does your minister ever tell the millowner tins ? ( No , no . ) No . Here we have at this moment an Act of Parliament , a bill read a second time ia the House of Commons , one claase of which goes as an act of mercy , as an act of indulgence , as an act of pitiful loving-kindness and love , which allows by law , if if become law , every Christian millowner ' i » England to work little children six hours a-day , wjihout letting them rest a moment for their meall ( wameO The bill says they must not run tha
children more than six hours without slopping them v butsix _ kours they may run them ; but n » more ; only SIX ! !! Is there a coach horse in England runs « ax hours without stopping ? Is there a dog ia a bak > r's cart that they make so much bother about that runs six hours without stopping ? Is there an ass , beaten by every hedgestake that every idle bovcan pict upthat works six hours withont stopping ? i will undertake to say that there is neitherdog , borse , nor ass that works the week through for mx hours a day withont stopping for meat . Butlittle children may ber worked for six hours without stopping ; and that too , in the name of the British Parliament , and in theof
name Christianity . Now , did your ministers ever preach thus to your millowners and masters so as t * lead them to live humbly , and walk humbly before Go !¦ } answer " No . " Now , so long as they remain silent upon the" most important subjects , a » we to wonder that the country is in its present awfully degraded , awfully demoralized situation ? Oh , my brethren , there w indeed a famine ot the word ol God amongst us . The bread that perisheth has , for seme time past , been very scarce , and very dear , but the bread of heaveu is still more scarce , still more dear ; the bread of heaven is still more hard to coma at then that bread which many of you have known the want of during the last winter . ( To be concluded in our next . )
Untitled Article
Steamer on Fibe . —On Saturday week , the Falcon steamer , which plies between Hull and New-Holland with the mail , while temporarily placed onthe Grimsby station , was . on her voyage from tbence to Hully and when within a few hundred yards from her lauding place , a fire broke out in her after cabin . The passenge ' rs were landed in a feir minutes , and an attempt made to subdue the tire , which was uneffectual , until , with a party of shipwrights , from Messrs . Humphrey and Co /« yard the Teasel was sunk after the cabin wit destroyed . Above one thousand sheep , vten ^ la ^ tweek » by the London steamer * from tjh ' ei pprj ! qf , 'JELul ) ready slaughtered . Farmers , waggons , ta ^ ar . wj . tft them came into the town ready packed . " ,., ' , "' " ' . ' ¦ ¦ '
VVhen the Grand Juby were called over at the Essex Sessions , one gentlenah begged to % eexeused because he was . too old . ; Mr . Knoxsaid'ke could not see well enough—he bad . only-one ej * ei Mr . Bowling : —He'll do , Sir , for a Grand Jaryttau , they only look at ooe side of the ca&e . The appli * cant was sworn on the jury . i - ¦ . A Faithful Dog . —A few days since , Mr . H » Roberts , butcher , of Trederwen , Montgomeryshire , on returning homewards from Llanfyllin . market * had to cross the Godderford , near bis residence , and the river being vastly ' swollen , he fell froto his horse ( when the animal plunged ) and was drowned . Hw dog had accompanied him all the day ; and . " it appears , had seen the accidentfor it followed th ' je
, body as it sank , and seizing the collar of tbe ' coaiia his teeth , had , with great labour , brought the body to the side of the stream , and , raising the head above water , held it firmly there during the whole of the night ; and when discovered in the morning the faithful animal was half immersed in the water , and sbiveriDg with cold , yet still engaged in his affec tionate office , holding the head of its old master above the stream , and quite upeonsciou ? that its ' exertions were useless , for tb « life had long departed from him to whom the poor animal was go mucK attached . So severe had been the dog ' s exertions to bring the body ashore , that the greater part of the collar of the coat , and much of the unfortunate man ' s sbirt , were torn to pieces in the attempt .
Robert JDibb , " Wharfdalb Poet . ——Oa Thursday week , this gentleman , af the request of * highly respectable party , delivered a series of his productions at the "Woodman Inn , Ley lands , Leeds , to the great gratification of a numerous and delighted , audience . From seeing his various productioas ia the London and provincial papers , his friends had been led to expect a treat , and in this hope they were not deeeived . 'Whether we traced him as the brave mountaineer , enthusiastic , noble , and daring , or as detailing the sufferings and death of Jane , the factory girl ; or whether we viewed his able delineation _ of Grace Darling , during the wreck of the Forfarshire , or his beautifully conceived poem Gilbert \ Veldon , the March of Crime , still in * li his productions we could recognise a mia ' d possessed of very superior abilities , and which must raise him
ere long , to a proud position m the literary World . Hia reception was flattering in the extreme , and be was frequently greeted with bursts of applause . - — Correspondent . . .,, ... . .. . . . JTJVENXLE Ofphndeb . —A boy , named John Hirst—an oyster boy—about fourteen years of aeei who resides ia the Pack / , gorse J ara , HudderepeJd was brought up before the magistrates , oa Toesiir week , charged with xinpniTokedl y ( rtabbinir ¦» vo 6 r Irishman » the eye with hkoyster knife , at tbeN « r Ian , oa FHday evening ' week . Mr . Larcedr . 8 oheitor pleaded -ttws youth ^ the boy , - and be « jr «* the magistrates to be as lenient t 6 him as possible , ' and the boy , promising to W'tf temperate lifeitt tature , aad never to dd aBy tfObWJactloii ' again , ' # te set at liberty by paying tbe wi $ . one' b !^ bund ten shillings . ¦ - . ¦ ¦"'^¦ ¦ ¦ . . ;; - ¦ ¦¦ ;•
Soyterby Bridge . —At ihis place , near Hidifax , on Friday week ., a curious circumstance occurred in the tunnel , tvhich is now forming for the railway . A boy who attends the horse , whieh work * the shaft in the interior of the . tunnel , had occasion to get up to replace some part of the ropes con ^ nected with the macbinery that had got displaced whea his foot slipped , and precipitated him to toe bottom of the shaft , a distance of about twea ^ - eigbt yards , down where there V about / three ^ jt of water . Assistance was immediately rendered him , and he was got out on reaebisg tbe top . and after breathing a little fresh air , he desired them jto let him walk home , wbioh he accomplished . The next momiog , he felt so much recovered that h «
wished to return to his work again , as he said he only felt a little pain in his body , though evidently he htd had but a very narrow escaped hia life .
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Ituratur* Anti Bebi^Bsf.
itUratur * anti Bebi ^ bsf .
Ihe A Sermon
iHE A SERMON
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 9, 1839, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1048/page/7/
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