VOL. XXX.-NEW SERIES.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY WARD AND CO.,

PATERNOSTER ROW.

LONDON:

REED AND PARDON, PRINTERS,

PATERNOSTER ROW.

PREFACE.

On the 1st of September, 1853, the EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE will be sixty years old. Only one other Religious Periodical lays claim to an equal antiquity. By a somewhat remarkable Providence, only three Editors have had responsible charge of the work from its commencement; though at every stage of its history, it has greatly profited by the wise counsels and valuable literary contributions, of an able and enlightened body of Trustees, who have always helped, and never hindered, their Editors in the faithful discharge of their arduous duties.

The fraternal fellowships connected with the Trusteeship of this Periodical, as they have ever been associated with the exercise of generous deliberations for the relief of the widows of deceased Brethren, have always been of the most delightful and refreshing character; and never, perhaps, did they partake more of this element than at the present moment. United in the bonds of truth and charity, the Trustees increasingly desire that the pages of a Magazine, which appears under their sanction, may be an appropriate expression of those sentiments and brotherly affections by which they are held together, from year to year, in unbroken and edifying ministerial communion.

The times upon which we have fallen are full of change and conflict; but the EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE has neither changed nor become antagonistic to its original principles or spirit. It is still decidedly Evangelical; and with soundness in the faith combines that charity which "hopeth all things," and "thinketh no evil." Determined only to wage war where peace would be treason to the Son of God, and where even compromise would be unfaithfulness to the interests of truth and godliness, it pursues the even tenor of its way, only striving to be in unmistakeable harmony with the revealed will of God.

Superstition and will-worship, whether indicated by Rome, or by other kindred systems, have been exposed in their naked hostility to the word of God, and to the precious liberties of this great and free country, which has shaken off the Antichristian yoke.

Infidelity and Atheism, whether sculking behind German myths, and false criticisms; or glorying in their shame, as the avowed antagonists of

God and man, have had no quarter in our pages :-nor have we spared the necessary pains in seeking to understand the new phases which scepticism has assumed in the age in which we live. We feel convinced that we have contributed our fair share to the defence of Bible truth; and in proving that the rationalism of the day is the real opponent of enlightened reason, of which it only makes its mendacious boast.

Mammon-worship, too, in this money-getting country, by which we are at this moment threatened with the awful curse of a continental Sabbath, under the pretended guise of providing recreation for the overtaxed operatives and shopmen of the Metropolis, has been held up to the scorn and opposition it deserves. We should blush for ourselves, as Nonconformists, if we could hesitate to employ all constitutional methods to prevent her Majesty's Government from conferring a Royal Charter upon the Sydenham Palace, until it shall have abandoned its Sabbath-desecrating scheme, by which hundreds of thousands of immortal and accountable beings will be injured for time and for eternity.

We think we have an increasingly strong claim upon the vigorous support of the churches. We have honestly and faithfully, to the best of our ability, endeavoured to serve them. We claim to uphold Congregational principles. We chronicle, from month to month, their actual history and progress. And from our funds we expend annually, in relief of one hundred and forty widows of their deceased pastors—a sum exceeding eleven hundred pounds. This is our claim: let it be fairly weighed.

We call upon Pastors, Deacons, and Members of Churches to aid us in increasing the sale of the Magazine. There is nothing to supply the place of its widow's fund were the work to decline materially in its sale. Without the zealous co-operation of those interested in its success, its wide circulation cannot be maintained, and its annual distributions could not be continued. We plead, on common-sense grounds, for the benefit of a Pulpit notice, early in the present month. Let "The Christian Witness," so usefully conducted, be warmly commended to the churches for the help it affords to Ministers with slender incomes, and for its deferred annuities; and let the "Evangelical" have its due meed of friendly recognition for the seasonable support and comfort it ministers to more than one hundred and fifty widows of godly ministers.