"I was the most unworthy amongst the children of sin and the world; and when I think of my old life, so corrupt and impure under all sorts of iniquity, I wonder how God has deigned to make choice of my soul in order to turn it into a temple of the Holy Ghost. Formerly I had nothing but a wish for good, a lively feeling of my misery, with a vague indefinite desire to make my peace with God, and enjoy his favour. I remember that some days ago I expressed in prayer the desire that God would bestow on me the grace of the Holy Spirit. I have been answered a hundred-fold more than I should have dared to hope. Yes; God is great! He is the Lord of the visible and the invisible, and to his Almighty power nothing is impossible. Who are we that we should dare to set limits to his omnipotence, and to dispute with Him the power of working miracles within us or without? "A miracle! Is not my conversion a miracle! I fell asleep yesterday in an atmosphere of worldly thoughts, and I do not remember that during the whole day I ever lifted up my heart to God. In the night, perhaps about one in the morning, I had a dream. I thought that I was disputing with a Catholic lady. We talked of Protestantism, when she said to me, "Yours is no religion; you believe in nothing." "What!" replied I, still in my dream, "believe nothing! On the contrary, we have the same creed as the Catholics." To convince her of this, I repeated the Apostles' Creed-"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord," &c. I continued thus in my dream, making an effort sometimes to remember the words, and my conviction of their truth became stronger as I proceeded. I came to that part of the Creed From thence he will come to judge the quick and the dead," when it seemed as if the earth quaked, and a gulf opened, and the stars fell from heaven, as if the last day had come. The impression was instantaneous, and I expected to be swallowed up in the universal convulsion, when I remembered the part of the Creed which I had recited the moment before the catastrophe "I believe in the Holy Spirit." At this moment it seemed to me that I was set beyond the abyss, and that the Holy Spirit took possession of me. "Saved!" I thought to myself; and I repeated, with the tone of profound conviction, as if to assure myself of my salvation, and not lose it just as I received it, "I believe—yes, I believe in the Holy Ghost." "From that moment I had the assurance of being no longer in a dream, and that which followed might have appeared a hallucination, had I not tested it thoroughly, and found that it was the hallucination of a waking man, whose pulse was quite calm (as I found by counting it several times), and perfectly conscious of his personality, knowing himself to be in bed in his room, and perceiving, when he opened his eyes, the light of the dawn coming through the windows. "Then as I repeated, still under the influence of the dream and the vision which I had just had, “I believe—I believe in the Holy Spirit," I felt a soft emotion passing through my bones, and filling my whole being. I had from this moment the persuasion that the Holy Spirit had entered me. I had, at the same time, a most perfect feeling of happiness, and a most lively impression of the infinity of the divine love. I repeated the Apostles' Creed from the beginning, and a new meaning seemed to shine out from it, and to make all its assertions selfevidencing. I was full of warm and lively emotious. I was filled with a rushing current of divine love. It is impossible to express in words my experience and the happiness which it brought. "This baptism of fire lasted several hours. I had wakened my wife, and told her of my extraordinary experience. When she had become sure that I was not in a fever, she entered from the bottom of her heart into my joy and my prayers; for my heart could do nothing but pray, and words of prayer, adoration, and love poured themselves spontaneously and unceasingly from my lips. Some other persons who were in the house came to me likewise while I was in this state of divine ecstasy. I prayed earnestly to Heaven for their conversion, and if they were not all converted at first, they were at least greatly concerned and impressed by what they heard. "At five o'clock, I had a Bible brought to me and I read a passage from it. Oh, how full of force, of light, and of irresistible evidence the verses of the Holy Book appeared to me for the first time in my life. All my old objections had fallen to the ground, as I took in the doctrines of the divine Saviour, of gratuitous pardon, of salvation, of eternal blessedness promised to the elect. "I owe to you, my brethren, members with me of this Christian Church, the first expression of my new-born and living faith. I should doubtless have shrunk from this public declaration at this hour, and contrary to all ecclesiastical custom, and I did not come with any such intention-but when our beloved pastor spoke to us of Stephen, and the gift of the Holy Spirit which he enjoyed, and of the witness which he bore to the glory of God, it seemed to me that the same Spirit prompted me to speak and bear him this testimony; and heedless of other considerations and of the risk of appearing to you a madman I have obeyed. "And to you, my brethren, I say, "Glory to God in the highest heavens, and peace on earth to men of good will!" I tell you, Christ has come to redeem us, to save us, to bear the burden of our sins, to be our ransom before the Father; Christ reigns, and communicates himself to us by the Holy Spirit. Oh, love the Lord Jesus; love God, that God may perform his work in you as he has done in me, that you may be flooded with the grace of the Spirit, and that thus you may have peace and communion with the Holy Ghost, joy of heart, and assurance of eternal salvation. Amen!"" Naples. From a letter received by Mrs. Lowrey, from a lady friend labouring in the cause of Christ in Naples, we are permitted to take the following interesting extract:-" Many thanks for the book you so kindly sent me, and also for the pamphlet (DIVINE LIFE) I received previously. We have both wished to read "Out of Darkness; so your kind gift is quite acceptable. "It would have rejoiced your heart to have heard the sermon preached in one of our churches in Italian last evening, by one of our Italian Ministers, an ex-priest, Signor Taglialaleta. His text was, 'I am the true vine,' &c., and he testified so wonderfully to the union between Christ and His believers,-and illustrated his subject afterwards with Paul's testimony, For me to live is Christ,' 'Not 1, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.' "After centuries of darkness, and formalism, and materialism, to hear sermons like that preached to the people is indeed a source of rejoicing. "But the true Christians here are a mere handful, and still the Roman Catholic churches are crowded with worshippers. Pray for us." American Camp Meetings. DR. Lowrey sends us the following very interesting items of intelligence; and in doing this he speaks of himself in the third person : Dr. Lowrey has attended five Camp Meetings since his return from Europe, and is engaged to serve in one or two more. In all these tent and tabernacle assemblies he reports that the presence and power of God were manifested. In each the theme of holiness was the sweetest note, and soon became recognised as the element of power. The meetings visited were Ocean Grove, Old Orchard, Round Lake, Douglas Coun, and Sing Sing. The meeting at Ocean Grove was a union evangelistic meeting under the control of a committee who had invited the Rev. A. B. Earle to administer its programme. In addition to the regular preaching this convention had three distinctive features a temperance day, a children's day, and meetings each morning for grace abounding for the promotion of holiness. Mr. Hammond took the lead on children's day, the ladies on Temperance day, and Dr. and Mrs. Palmer gave direction to the morning services. The preaching was simple and scriptural-the temperance addresses by the ladies very superior-the morning meetings sweet and edifying. The convention at Old Orchard, under the presidency of Dr. Cullis, was a decided success. It was delightful to see ministers and members of different denominations seeking at the feet of Jesus the great blessing of entire sanctification. The teaching, with a single exception, was to the effect that the old man is crucified, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. The effect was a constant addition to the cloud of witnesses who realized that Jesus is competent to save to the uttermost. From verbal testimonies, and other modes of expression, it seemed at times that the sanctifying leaven permeated the whole congregation. At Round Lake the meeting was excellent, but not so productive or powerful, it was said, as in former years. It was much interfered with by heavy rains. This also was a union evangelistic occasion, under the charge of three ministers of different denominations, Rev. A.B. Earle, Rev. Mr. Hammond, and Rev. C. C. McCabe. The rich singing of the latter, and of those whom he collected around him, added much to the delight and profit of the services. Some of the more distinguished ministers present and officiating were Drs. Newman and Kynett. Brother Wiltman, a layman, was the animus of the whole occasion. Sing Sing is an old Camp-ground where the mighty and lamented dead preached forty years ago. It is a beautiful and hallowed spot charged with tender memories. The congregations were not large throughout, nor so profoundly interested as we sometimes see. Yet the spiritual tone gradually increased from the beginning. The social meetings for the inculcation of holiness became deeply interesting and fruitful. In one of these no less than eight souls entered by faith into the experience of full redemption. The preaching was appropriate and powerful. Dr. King was in charge. Among the more eminent ministers present and officiating were Drs. Fowler, Newman, Wheeler, and others. The meeting at Douglass Coun was also a union convention under the conduct of a Baptist layman, Mr. Morse, of Putnam. This meeting, in some respects, was the most remarkable of any we have attended. First it was gotten up and largely supported by a layman. Second, it was administered in the interest of personal holiness in no qualified or doubtful sense. The proposition was enthusiastically accepted that Christ came to save his people from their sins-from all their sins and to "destroy the works of the devil." They were as heartily responsive under the preaching of full redemption as any Methodists. And yet they were no "Come-outers," but loyal to their church and tenacious of their distinctive features. In the midst of the meeting three or four were baptized by immersion, and in that mode they saw a representation of the thorough cleansing proposed in the Gospel. One man after the administration of this holy rite upon him, told me he had made it an act of entire consecration to Christ, and now was trusting for that complete spiritual washing so beautifully symbolized by his baptism. Glory to God, and let all the people say Amen. In the accounts which we are receiving of similar meetings in the Middle and Western States, and the number of such meetings is very great, we notice invariably the same indications of the work and presence and power of the Spirit, as in those above described by Dr. Lowrey. The statements of some of the secular papers, statements made before these meetings commenced, that Camp meetings had lost their interest and power in the United States, have been utterly disproved by palpable facts in all parts of that country. The year 1878 will be a marked era in the history of such meetings. As long as God's people "will be with Him, He will be with them;" and as long as they will honour the Holy Ghost, by seeking with all their hearts and with all their souls" His enduements of power for their own sanctification and enlargement, and the salvation of souls, He will honour them by doing in them, and for them, and through them, "exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think." Instantaneous Sanctification. Bishop Peck, at the Clear Lake Camp meeting, in one of the Western States, preached, says the Western Advocate, a wonderful sermon on full salvation. The Bishop, in speaking of the instantaneousness of sanctification said: "Quick as a flash, when faith apprehends the fulness of Christ, the soul hunger is stayed, the heart is filled." "When this fulness of purity and righteousness comes into the heart," he added, "all doubt about there being no distinction between regeneration and sanctification is swept away." Fifteen thousand persons attended the temperance meeting at Round Lake, N. Y., on Sunday. These meetings, which began on August 6th, under the leadership of Francis Murphy, have been largely attended, and many thousands have signed the pledge. Gems from the Tuesday Meetings at Dr. Palmer's, New York. (Forwarded by Dr. Lowrey). After reading 1 Thess., 4th chapter, Mrs. Palmer put the following questions: Can we "rejoice evermore"? Can we 66 pray without ceasing," and "in EVERY thing give thanks"? That, she continued, "is just what a loving child of God wants to do. Our minds are such that we have to keep constantly looking unto Jesus, and praying is receiving. The Spirit that breathes the desires into our hearts makes us conscious of their acceptance."-"The Lord can keep us without blame before Him in love." "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.". "We need, and can have, the constant indwelling and strengthening of the Holy Ghost," and "all our need supplied according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” 66 It came to my heart like a flash of light," said Dr. Palmer, "that I may 'rejoice evermore,' pray without CEASING, and in EVERY thing give thanks." We should open our eyes to the wonderful privileges of the dispensation under which we live, "the dispensation of the Spirit in which 'He takes of the things of Christ, and shews them unto us.' It is the will of God that we should be holy, and He has taken us into His holy family, that He may show to the world through us what He can do for our degraded race, namely: that men may be saved from their sins'-may bear the image of the heavenly-have the mind that was in Christ-and 'be partakers of the divine nature.' In answer to the question, "Can we rejoice evermore?" one brother said: "I know two women who are manifestly 'kept in perfect peace,' and do rejoice evermore.' One of them is wealthy -the other a washerwoman. No one can tell which enjoys the greatest peace, or which has the greatestfulness of joy." The reason is, that not things seen,' but God is their common light, and common joy. Reverse their conditions, and this peace and joy would remain as before. 'The Lord is their keeper.' If anyone had told me about three years ago, that I could rejoice always,' I would not have believed him. I had not the experience, and did not then believe that anyone could have it. Now the joy of the Lord is my strength,' and that joy is an abiding one." "Many affirm," said Rev. Browning, "that we cannot rejoice evermore.' We can, or the injunction would not be laid upon us. When the imperative injunction comes in, God's faithfulness also comes in. We cannot, for example, sanctify ourselves; but the God of peace' cansanctify us wholly,' and 'will do it when we shall count Him faithful that hath promised.' We cannot, but God can keep us in perfect peace,' and He will thus keep us, if we stay ourselves on Him,' and that 'because we trust in Him.' There are two kinds of religious joy. The one is emotional, and arises almost exclusively from the expectation of getting to heaven at last, and is often dimmed by doubts and fears. The other arises from having 'Christ DWELL in our hearts by faith,' dwell there as our ever abiding peace and fulness of joy, as well as our assured hope of glory.' Such joy is ever abiding, being settled and fixed under all conditions and circumstances. We can, then, 'rejoice ever more. A brother who had led a terrible life of sin, and had associated with the vilest of the vile, said that four years ago he gave himself to Christ, and received the assurance that his sins, which were many, were forgiven." For two years he went stumbling along. Then he gave his will to God, and had since enjoyed a peace that passeth knowledge, and had been kept by the power of God. Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness at the late Wesleyan Conference at Bradford. "The For some years past, such a meeting has been held during the progress of each of the Annual Conferences of this denomination. This year the meeting was placed in the "Conference plan of Services." Few meetings of the kind have been held at any time or place which were attended with more manifest indications of the presence of the Holy Spirit in power, and of the increasing interest which is being everywhere felt in the subject, than in the meeting referred to. interest," says the account before us, "was sustained to the end, and the power of the Lord was present to heal." The intelligence which we are receiving from all directions indicates a special revival of interest in the subject, and especially in reference to an "enduement of power from on high," as indispensable to holy living, and doing effective work for the promotion of the kingdom of Christ. "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove." Tobacco. Rev. Dr. Fulton, says the New York Witness, in a free and easy way told his experience, June 20th, at the Sunday-School Temperance Conference, Y. M. C. A. Rooms, Brooklyn. He became a slave to tobacco. A five-dollar pipe and a thirty-six dollar meerschaum lay on his study table. He finally determined to forsake the abomination. Weeks of suffering followed. "Why are you so cross, Justin?" said his wife. "Don't you know I've had no tobacco for six weeks?" A kiss was the encouraging response. Sunday came. His tongue was thick, and his energy gone. He remembered as he sat in the pulpit, dreading the service, that he had a bit of the weed with him. He prayed inwardly in this fashion: "" Lord, thou knowest that some of this stuff will set me all right, but if it be Thy will give me help now to overcome." He did conquer, and for 16 years has not touched the polluting poison. The sermon that followed was said to be the best he ever preached. When he went to Tremont Temple he found that fine edifice defaced by the spittle of dirty disciples. When he left, only one out of 900 members used the weed. "Be ye clean who bear the vessels of the Lord." Book Notices. A PERSONAL CHRIST. By Rev. W. Haslam, M.A. Hodder & Stoughton. This pamphlet of 29 pages is the ninth of the series which is being published monthly by the publishers above named. While the author hardly takes as strong a grasp of his great theme as we anticipated, the reader will be interested and profited by not a few impressive utterances which he will meet with in these pages. The first paragraph presents a fact which, in the language of the writer, " contains a good twofold lesson in very simple words," a fact and lesson, we would add, worth many times the price of the pamphlet to obtain. "Strolling along and meditating in a churchyard in Somersetshire, near Bath, I read," says the writer, "many epitaphs on the tombstones which were there. They were chiefly of the ordinary kind with one exception, which attracted and has retained my attention. On an old-fashioned tomb, in quaint old-fashioned letters, was engraved the following verse, with the date 1647: "I dare not work my soul to save, F. E. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN B. GOUGH. 18171878. By the Rev. John Thomas. Longley, pp. 136. Price 1s. and 2s. 6d. No individual, after listening to a single utterance of Mr. Gough when speaking upon any subject, will be willing to leave until the address is through, and will then leave with but one regret, the regret that the discourse was not longer continued. So, in our judgment, few persons will read half-a-dozen pages of the little volume before us and lay it down until he has read it through, unless imperious circumstances compel him to do so, and will lay it down with but the one regret, it is so small. This century has produced but one Mr. Gough, and Mr. Thomas has evinced much good judgment in selecting and presenting the leading incidents of the wondrous life and times of this wonderful man. The incidents are so presented that the man himself seems to live and move before the reader's mind. DIVINE LIFE AND INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITOR OF SCRIPTURAL HOLINESS. As our readers are aware, this Monthly is now issued at the commencement of each month in London and New York, U. S. In the United States it is meeting with unexpected success. The following notice of this Monthly, a notice which appeared in the leading organ of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in that country, The (N.Y.) Christian Advocate of the 5th of the present month, will indicate the light in which our periodical is being received and regarded in the United States: "We learn from Dr. Lowrey that he has engaged Rev. Daniel Steele, D.D., to furnish his popular Bible Readings for Divine Life and International Expositor of Scriptural Holiness, one for each number for a year. The new Monthly seems to meet with general favor, and promises to minister to the higher aspirations of many Christians in all Churches. A magazine of decided ability, and devoted to the revival of spiritual religion and soul culture, conducted in harmony with the order of the Church, is the want of the times, and should receive the sanction of all good men who thirst for purity in themselves, or desire to see an efficient and aggressive Church perpetuated." POSSIBLE AND SIMPLE: Complete Health for the Complete Man. By Thomas Marshall. Haughton & Co. Price 1d. This small pamphlet of 24 pages is divided into two parts-the first treating of Physical Health, and the second of Spiritual Health. It is but seldom, very seldom, that one can find so much excellent reading on an exceedingly important subject, and condensed into so small a compass as he finds on these few pages. Mr. Marshall never wearies his readers with long essays, and few individuals have the very happy faculty which God has given him, of selecting the most important subjects, saying just the right things, and stopping when he has made his full meaning plain. We earnestly commend this pamphlet to all lovers of truth. THE organ of the English Ritualists says: "Our quarrel with the Roman Catholics is chiefly on matters of detail; but our quarrel with Protestantism is about first principles." WHO are these sceptics who revere the scientific method and are unwilling to try experiment even once concerning this upper realm of truth? I assert that it is a fixed natural law that when you yield utterly to God he streams into you, gives you a new sense of His presence, and imparts a strength unknown before.-Joseph Cook. IT T is impossible to answer this question infallibly. The reason of those things which lie back of man's constitution and the world's creation, is not made known. They are God's secrets, and there is a text which seems to imply that it may be somewhat impertinent to enquire into them; "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. xxix. 29). The sphere of enquiry, according to this passage, is limited to things revealed, while the only legitimate object of our questioning pertains to the acquisition of light and power "to do all the words of this law." The Bible is exceedingly practical. It is not devoted to ontology and speculation, but strictly confined, in its revelations of truth. and treatment of life and character, to the moral condition and duty of men. Many ideal things which do not concern practice or decide destiny, have a veil of obscuration thrown over them. was The permission of temptation belongs to this class of subjects. Why does God allow His children-His most faithful and pure children to be tempted? We cannot tell. We only know what is revealed, and that is the simple fact, that a different order of holy beings have been subjected to temptation. Adam in his primitive condition was tempted. Christ tempted; and we must presume that the angels who lost their first estate were also tempted. So far as we know, all free and responsible intelligences have been tried and tested by temptation. And this fact may involve the real motive in the Divine Mind in permitting such exposure. Virtue, to be virtue, must be proven. Necessitated goodness is no goodness; untried integrity is no integrity. A rewardable being must be capable of right and wrong-doing at the same time; and the complexion of his character must be determined by his resistance of the wrong, and his choice of the right. Moral excellence becomes more conspicuous, bright, and beautiful, when it has passed through a severe ordeal of solicitation and comes out untainted. The continence of Joseph, the fidelity of Job, the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua, are instances. Even the incorruptibility of Jesus under temptation is confirmatory of this position. Spiritual goodness, like gold, is refined by fire. And its value is increased when its genuineness and superior qualities are made to appear. A soldier whose heroism has never been demonstrated does not stand, in the estimation of his comrades and country, where the man does who has been under fire, and showed undaunted pluck and manly |