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Comparing the whole net receipts and expenditure, up to the close of the year ending March 31, 1814, there appears to be a balance in favour of the Society, of £31.716: 96.: 114d.; but it is necessary, to keep a large stock of Bibles and Testaments. together with several sets of stereotype plates, in various languages; and, considering the importance of its object, the Committee, anticipating the continued liberal support of Christian benevolence, have entered into engagements, Domestic and Foreign, to an amount exceeding the above balance.

JOSEPH TARN, Accountant.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

Memoirs of the late Major General Andrew Burn, author of the Christian Officer's Complete Armour and other Works, are preparing for publication, in two small octavo volumes.

An Abridgement of Scott's Christian Life, is in the press.

A new edition of the Christian Parent, by the late Ambrose Serle, will be ready early in January.

A fourth volume of Lectures by the Rev. Dr. Collyer.

LITERARY NOTICES.

Mr. Fuller has in the press, 'Expository Discourses on the ApocaJypse.

The 7th and last volume of Dr. Owen on the Hebrews is nearly ready for publication.

Preparing for the Press, a historical sketch of the translation and circulation of the Scriptures, from the earliest period to the present time, including an account of the origin, and operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society; intended as an illustration of the principles and importance of Bible Institutions. By W. A. Thomson, and William Orme, Secretaries to the Perthshire Bible Society.

SELECT LIST OF RELIGIOUS PUBLI
CATIONS..

Discourses on Practical Subjects. By Job Orton, 1 vol. 8vo. 9s.

An Inquiry into the Antiquity of the Sabbath. By William Cowper, B. D. 1s. 6d.

Christ the Light of the World. By the Rev. Daniel Dewar, Aberdeen. 8vo. 28.

late Mr. S. Pearce and Mr. J. Missionary Correspondence of the Thomas, 2s. 6d.

Part 1. of Dr. Hawker on the New Testament, demy and royal. Alsó, the Gospel of Matthew, without the

Text.

Scripture Testimony examined, &c. two Discourses, by Dr. Jennings, recommended by Dr. Cracknell, 18.

Incitement to Early Piety; or, a Manual of Devotions for Young Persons, 8d.

Bennett's Religion of the Closet, new edit. 12mo. 6d.

The Silent Preacher, or Tracts and Extracts, by the Rev. H. Budd, 12mo. 3s. 6d.

Eight Sermons before the University of Oxford, by E. G. Marsh. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

The conclusion of the Review of Mr. Wardlaw's Discourses is unavoidably postponed till next month.

ERRATUM-In page 26 line 1. for he read we.

THE

CHRISTIAN HERALD.

February 20, 1815.

MEMOIRS OF THE LATE REV. DAVID SIMPSON, M.

(Continued from page 5.)

By the invitation of Charles Roe, Esq. on leaving Bucking

ham, he accepted a residence with that gentleman at Macclesfield; and soon after his arrival there, became curate of the Old Church, at that time the only church in the town. He had not been long in this situation before he married Miss Waldy, of Yarm, a young lady of distinguished excellence and piety; but who was spared to him only for the short pe riod of fifteen months. She died on the 14th of September, 1774, leaving a daughter, who afterwards became the wife of Mr. Lee, a respectable attorney, at Wem, in Shropshire, and who is still living. This bereavement was a heavy affliction; but, amidst all the ardour of the affection he cherished for the. memory of Mrs. Simpson, he humbly submitted to the will of unerring wisdom and immutable love, and was supremely concerned, that the melancholy event might be sanctified to his own spiritual improvement and usefulness in the church of

God.

Mr. Simpson had not been long in his curacy, before that plainness and faithfulness in preaching, which had excited such inveterate hostility against him in Buckinghamshire, produced the same spirit, and a repetition of the same trials, at Macclesfield. His enemies there, were the enemies of the gospel, and enemies to him only on that account. Had his preaching accorded with their corrupt views of religion; had his preaching and practice proved congenial to their worldly character, a man of such talents, so amiable a man in temper VOL. II. No. 2.

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and manners, must have been hailed by them as their favou rite preacher and excellent friend. But despising and rejecting that way of salvation, which so illustriously displays the sovereignty and holiness of God, how could they receive and honour him, whose every sermon bore testimony against the pride of Pharisaism, and the licentiousness of the unregenerate heart? His adversaries were active, determined, united, and, as they thought, successful. They made application to the bishop of the diocese, (Chester) for his removal, and he was immediately silenced; his Lordship being as determined as the applicants, to exert himself, as far as his jurisdiction extended, in crushing the Hydra of Methodism in the national church.

How long he remained under suspension, we are not informed. However, we know he was not idle; that such was his zeal for the glory of God, and compassion for the souls of men, that he could find no rest but in his wonted ministerial Jabours. During that period, he made frequent excursions into the unenlightened parts of the neighbouring country; preaching in private houses, and wherever he saw the door of usefulness thrown open. This practice he continued occasionally afterwards as long as he was able, and it was attended with such evident effects, in the conversion of sinners from the error of their ways, that, to the end of his ministry, he considered these itinerant labours as the most successful of his whole life. When remarking upon this subject to a friend, that his health would no longer permit him to follow the same plan, the methodist preachers, he said, are now generally_received, and societies are formed in those villages; so that I do not see the same necessity now as before.

The prime curacy of the church, at this critical juncture, became vacant, the nomination to which resides with the mayor, pro tempore. The mayor, Mr. Gould, at that time was Mr. Simpson's friend, and immediately made him the of fer of it, and his offer was readily accepted; but, to prevent his induction, every effort was exerted which could be devised. A petition was preferred against him to the bishop, in which the malicious ingenuity of his adversaries magnified his offence into seventeen distinct heads; though the candour of the then Bishop of Chester, who was happily of a different character to his immediate predecessor, by whom Mr. Simpson was removed, reduced them all into one ;-this was, that he was a Methodist, or that his preaching greatly tended to increase the number of Methodists. Under this charge he acted with Christian heroism. In a letter he wrote to the bishop, in his own vindication, he thus expressed himself. "This" (alluding to the latter part of the charge of Methodism), " is true. My method is to preach the great truths, and doctrines, and pre

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cepts of the gospel, in as plain, and earnest, and affectionate a manner as I am able. Persons of different ranks, persuasions, and characters, come to hear. Some hereby have been convinced of the error of their ways, sce their guilt, and the danger they are in, and become seriously concerned about their salvation. The change is soon discovered; they meet with one or another who invites them to attend the preachings and meetings among the Methodists, and hence their number is increased to a considerable degree. This is the truth. I own the fact; I have often thought of it; but I confess myself unequal to the difficulty. What would your Lordship advise?" Nothing could exceed the dignified firmness and propriety of his conduct during this trying conflict. On the part of his opponents, all was slander and reproach; treachery, violence, and rage; on his part all was forbearance, ingenuousness, kindness, and meekness. Before this contest came to an issue, his kind friend, Mr. Roe, voluntarily offered to build him a church in another part of the town; to this he was induced, in compliance with a vow he had made in his youth, that if he should be successful in business (which he had then been to a considerable degree) he would build a church, as a token of his gratitude to God. Mr. Simpson accepted the offer, not wishing, as he himself expressed it, to preach to a people who hated him, and immediately made a proposal, which his oppoments themselves admitted to be generous; namely, that if terms agreeable to the respective parties, could be adjusted in regard to the consecration of the new church, and he could be legally secured in it as Incumbent, he would resign the prime curacy of the old church. The proposal was agreed to, the new church, an elegant and beautiful structure, was erected and consecrated; Mr. Simpson was inducted to it, he resigned the curacy, and was afterwards permitted to continue his ministrations without interruption.

Here his labours were crowned with distinguished success. A great congregation was collected, numbers were brought to the knowledge of salvation, and christians were united and established in the faith and hope of the gospel. This was the brightest period of his life; and he improved and enjoyed it as such. Every day he became more zealous and laborious, and was honoured with a proportionate increase of usefulness. Preaching, and writing, and visiting his people, kept him incessantly employed, and were pursued as his most delightful

recreations.

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Nor did he covet, what an inspired apostle denominates filthy lucre," for with a small income he enjoyed abundance of happiness. His income from the church, indeed, never amounted to a hundred and twenty pounds a year. Notwithstanding this, I have been, said he, thank God, not only con

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tent, but happy. I have laboured hard, studied hard, and, probably, have been as useful, and well satisfied with my condition, as the richest rector in all the diocese of Chester. If any person, in the mean time, had bestowed upon me a living of five hundred or a thousand pounds a year, to be sure I should have been under great obligation to such a person, but very much question whether I should have been made either a more happy man, or a more useful minister of the Gospel." After his church was opened for public worship, he estab lished a weekly lecture, which was continued for some time, and was afterwards succeeded by a course of lectures in his school-room, on the Pilgrim's Progress. On the fourteenth of September, 1777, as is related by one of his friends, who was a witness of the scene, a smart shock of an earthquake was felt at Macclesfield, which extended itself through a circuit of more than three hundred miles. This was during the time of divine service, about eleven o'clock. The steeple of the church, an uncommonly high tower, had been recently finished, and the alarm excited in the congregation was universally connected with a notion that the tower was falling; in consequence of which, the people all fled to the doors opposite to that end of the building where they supposed the greatest danger. The effect was awfully alarming; the entrances became instantly blocked up with persons thrown down, one upon another, so as to prevent any from getting out this, added to the confused cries and panic fears of so great a number of persons, produced, for a time, a scene, which, for confusion and distress, may be more easily conceived than described. Mr. Simpson, alone, seemed to stand the shock with fortitude; he remained at the communion table, where he was when it first began, in calm possession of himself, and continued there until it was nearly subsided.On this occasion no life was lost, but considerable injury was sustained from fractures and contusions: the event was, however, attended with some good effects; many were so alarmed with the awful circumstances of their situation, and so im. pressed by their deliverance from such imminent danger, that from that time a serious concern was produced for the salva. tion of their souls.

In the year 1778, he instituted a female friendly society, a thing without precedent at that time; this was a favourite object of his care ever after, and in its first establishment he engaged some respectable ladies to qualify themselves as honorary members.

The establishment of charity schools was one of his most early efforts. The children were collected for instruction on the week-day evenings; and on the sabbath were accompanied to church by their teachers.

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