Though the fair tree of knowledge show'r That simple Faith whose fruit is Prayer! O pause-If 'mid those darker themes, The simple Faith which causeth Pray'r- That cheering faith whose glories steal, This simple Faith, whose fruit is Prayer! HYMN TO THE STARS. Aye, there ye shine, and there have shone Each rolling, burningly alone, Through boundless space and countless time: Aye, there ye shine-the golden dews That pave the realms by seraphs trod ; There through yon echoing vault diffuse The song of choral worlds to God. Ye visible spirits! bright as erst Young Eden's birthnight saw ye shine Yet sparkling from the hand divine; Gold frets to dust-yet there ye are ; Enshrin'd an everlasting soul!— Could man but see what ye have seen, Of empires, myriads, ages flown, how vast! Thrones, cities, tongues, arts, worships-all The things whose echoes are not gone. Ye saw rapt Zoroaster send His soul into your mystic reign: Ye saw the adoring Sabian bendThe living hills his mighty fane! Beneath his blue and beaming sky He worship'd at your lofty shrine, And deem'd he saw, with gifted eye, The Godhead in his works divine. And there ye shine, as if to mock The storm, the bolt, the earthquake's shock, Are nought to you-ye smile the same, Aye, there ye roll-emblems sublime That more divides the soul and sod, OBITUARY. SIR, Νου. 19, 1823. Believing the following Oration over the grave of my late excellent friend and correspondent, JOHN HANCOCK, of Lis burn, who died there Sept. 24th last, which was inserted in the "Irishman" of Oct. 3, a weekly paper published at Belfast, to be a just tribute to his memory, though delivered by a person of very different theological sentiments to those of the deceased, I send it for insertion in your valuable Journal. I subjoin a brief extract from a letter addressed by him to one of his sons, descriptive of the calm and consolatory state of his mind, in a reliance on the Divine goodness and mercy, when contemplating the near approach of his decease: an "I am not," says he to his son, noyed by persons who choose to envelop themselves in the thick mist of superstition, nor by those who please their fancies by the meteoric coruscations of ultrascepticism. I have settled my creed remote from both extremes, but according to Jeremy Taylor's apologue on toleration, as modernized by Dr. Franklin, that since the great Power of the universe bears with all varieties, why should not I bear with them for my short hour? It is a great comfort to me in the present season of sickness and debility, that I have carefully settled my creed in health. I am free from the gloom of superstition, and the equally gloomy notion of annihilation. I speculate not on the mode or manner of a future state, till death shall remove the veil, and I receive additional senses." May you and I, with all that are most dear to us, when that inevitable, but wisely-ordained hour approaches which is destined to precede the entrance into the unseen world of life and immortality, be favoured with equal serenity and soundness of mind, however differently cach may be situated as to the present reputed extremes of orthodoxy and scepticism, somewhere between which, I have no doubt, the happy medium of genuine and scriptural Christianity lies, in which" the wayfaring man, though a fool," we are assured, "shall not err," and which the honest, earnest and fearless inquirer, who values truth above all things, cannot fatally mistake, inasmuch as his errors, whatever they may be, will be decided on by an all-wise, merciful, benevolent and indulgent Judge and Father of all. THOMAS FOSTER. "This very valuable man was yesterday buried in the Quakers' burying-ground in Lisburn. His remains were followed to the tomb by a large concourse of people of all denominations. The most respectable inhabitants of Lisburn and its vicinity assembled to pay their last respect to a fellow-townsman, whose solid and substantial qualities they had long admired. The poor, with the sincerity which generally characterizes them, followed the remains of their friend and protector. They called to their recollection those sad and calamitous days when nobody almost was to be found at the bed-side of the dying victim to the typhus fever but the inestimable individual whose loss they had then to lament. Protestants, Presbyterians and Catholics, felt it a duty they owed to this inflexible advocate of public justice, to pay him the last sad honours of the grave. When the body had arrived at its destined abode, Dr. TENNENT, one of the most intimate and confidential friends of the deceased, addressed the surrounding multitude in the following pathetic terms—a true and honest wribute to the worth of the departed, and a record full of value to the survivor: "We are assembled here to perform the last solemn duty of affection and respect to our departed friend. Before committing his body for a season to its kindred dust, it may be profitable to take a short review of the tenor of his active and useful life, and observe some things which may be calculated to impress a desire on the living to go and do likewise. And here I must express regret that my acquaintance with John Hancock can only be considered recent, hardly yet extending to twenty years; but from the beginning, that acquaintance immediately ripened into friendship, which no accident ever disturbed, and which continued perfect and uninterrupted until the last moment of his life. Although belonging to a meritorious sect, and brought up in that strict discipline for which the members of it are distinguished, I understand that he early began to think for himself on that most important of all subjects— Religion: and when his views did not square with theirs, he conscientiously separated from their society. It may be observed on this part of his conduct, that if he did not believe some things which many good men consider essential, it may justly be ascribed to a fear lest so much reliance might be placed on believing as to weaken the attention to that purity of conduct and universal benevolence for which he himself was always so remarkable: and I think this construction is fairly borne out by the whole of his after-life. Who like him so constant in visiting the widows and fatherless in their affliction? Who so attentive to the wants of the sick and destitute, to relieve the poor, and plead the cause of the oppressed? And who so unwearied in following the example of him who went about doing good? If any such, I trust their hearts will be found right before God, and that any involuntary error of their heads will lie lightly on them. John Hancock had no formal creed, religious or political, but the fervent aspiration of his heart was, Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good-will towards men.' This he thought could never be attained without freedom-that freedom which becomes men possessing reason, and desirous of happiness; who should not only be free to secure that happiness, but encouraged and directed by freely-chosen collective wisdom in the pursuit of it. This made him the ardent and zealous advocate of liberty, the uncompromising enemy of corruption in the State or in the Church, and of all tyranny or assumed power in either, inconsistent with the perfect exercise of individual exertion to procure a man's own good, and that of the society of which he is a member. Our late friend was a Reformer indeed: after securing civil and religious liberty on sure foundations, he would have reform brought home to a man's own bosom, and considered liberty, however precious in itself, as little better than licentiousness, unless founded upon virtuous conduct; he considered the victory not to be yet won nor the prize gained, unless the heart, the temper and the affections were reformed also. This is what distinguished his principles; he went to the root of the matter, both as to the external system and the internal qualifications, by which alone that system can be advanced to perfection; he would have man stand erect in freedom, that he might successfully cultivate their dispositions, which confer upon freedom all its value. To this end all his efforts were directed, his writings breathed the same spirit, and his precepts were powerfully recommended by his example. Indeed, agreeable to his own doctrine, his life was a practical comment on moral and political science. He devoted himself to practical utility, and all his extraordinary powers were employed, with an energy rarely witnessed, to do good and to communicate good to all within the sphere of his activity, without regard to differ ences of opinion, or oppositions arising here, were centered the choice enjoyments of his life-here, he reaped the reward of his anxiety and toils for a more extended circle—and here, he found refreshment in the intervals of public exertion, and consolation for those disappointments to which the philanthropist is peculiarly liable. But I must pause, and not attempt, too rudely, perhaps, to penetrate the recesses of domestic life, or withdraw the veil from the sacredness and delicacy of filial regret and love. However, I may emphatically remark, that here the tree is known by its fruit; and, if I might offer one suggestion to his now sorrowing family, it would be-not to slacken in the race of virtue, to have a father's example ever present to their contemplation, and to be fully assured that the most grateful incense they can offer to his memory, will be to surpass him in the unostentatious and substantial usefulness of his life; like him, endeavouring, with all their strength, to render glory to God in the highest, to promote peace upon earth, and good-will towards men. "To conclude:-although the death of such a man as John Hancock must always be felt as a severe loss to society, and particularly to us who have known him and experienced his worth, yet let us be devoutly grateful to the Giver of every good gift, who has lent him to us so long as a shining light in the world, and that he was not prematurely cut off in the midst of his course, but, though not arrived at extreme old age, is come to the grave mature in years, and full of days and honour; and may God, of his bounty to mankind, grant many such men to arise, like him, to stem the tide of corruption, to advocate the cause of justice, to be the bulwarks of their country's independence, and the enlightened friends of the human race!" November 14, aged 54 years, the Rev. BENJAMIN MARTEN, pastor of the General Baptist Church, Dover, Kent. Having undergone an operation in the metropolis for one of the severest maladies to which the bodily frame is subject, he survived it only a few days, leaving behind him a mournful relict, with twelve sorrowing children. May they hear the gracious voice of revelation-" Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widow trust in me." It is altogether a most afflictive providence, exercising the faith and patience of frail mortality. He was interred at the General Baptist Chapel, Dover, on Sunday, November 23, by the Rev. James Gilchrist, who delivered a suitable and pathetic address on the occasion, from that very appropriate passage, Matt. xxvi. 39: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." The chapel was crowded to excess, and all classes of persons, both Churchmen and Dissenters, seemed anxious to pay this last tribute of respect to his memory. The writer of this article also, who held him in high estimation, paid a tribute of regard to his talents and virtues, on the subsequent Sabbath, at Worship Street, from Heb. vi. 12: "Be ye followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." His parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth Marten, were respectable, and resided at Canterbury. The son, born at Chilham, at an early age left his home, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, under the care of some relatives in the Weald of Kent. Of a serious and thoughtful disposition, he was fond of reading, especially the Bible, the only rule of faith, the alone regulator of practice. It is the fountain of all true theology. From a child he was partial to the exercises of social worship, according, as they do, with our best feelings, and being eminently calculated to promote the spirit of Christianity. It was soon discerned that he had talents for public instruction. Indeed, he was no ordinary man. Without the usual education for the pulpit, he excelled in the sacred profession. Study was his delight. From the few books he possessed, he derived constant improvement. The communication of religious knowledge yielded him an indescribable satisfaction. April the 7th, 1793, he preached his first sermon, at Headcorn, from John i. 46: And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Naza. reth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see." About this time he left the Weald of Kent, and lived with that excellent man, the late Rev. Sampson Kingsford, of Sturry, near Canterbury, who encouraged him in the work of the ministry. He, indeed, wished him to go to the Academy, and preparation was made for it. But the late pious and liberal William Kingsford, Esq., of Barton Mills, frustrated his intentions, by rendering him more immediately useful in the connexion. This circumstance the deceased always regretted, for he was a warm friend to an education for the Christian ministry. He preached at first occasionally, but soon settled at Dover, with an old and respectable General Baptist Congregation. Here he continued for near thirty years, conducting himself with the utmost propriety. His preaching, generally twice a-day, was most acceptable, and latterly he was assisted by the Rev. George Pound, who was trained for the ministry upon the General Baptist Education Society. Judicious in the choice, and happy in the elucidation of his subject, his discourses were subservient to improvement. His delivery, placid and deliberate, attracted attention. He had no charms for the multitude. His aim was, by enlightening the head, essentially to amend the heart. he knew the value of truth. Aware of Having seriously inquired after truth, the difficulties of every system of faith, |