Newark.

O Land of the Heathen! where now are the sages,
Who taught thee in happier eras to shine?
Desolation has cover'd thy valleys for ages;

And "darkness along thee has stretch'd out his line."
O Land of the Heathen! thy Widows are wailing,
And start from the fire with the wildest dismay :
Thy rites are all cruel, absurd, unavailing;

Thy Priests, pagan bigots, who lead thee astray.
O Land of the Heathen! thy creed is a libel

On reason and truth ;-'tis immoral as hell!
Thy worship's obscene, and the Shaster, thy Bible,
A fiction, where truth's but a drop in the well.
O Land of the Heathen! thy sorrows I pity;
Thy temples are brothels, impurity's school:
There's craft in the village, and crime in the city;
The will of thy despots is licence and rule.
Yet, Land of the Heathen! Prophetical Story
Foretells, that bright day o'er thy darkness shall rise;
When "beauty for ashes,"-for infamy, glory,-
Shall gladden thy bosom, and lighten thine eyes.
Yes, Land of the Heathen! though deeply benighted,
For thee there are thousands who lift up their hands;
Thou art not, O outcast! by British hearts slighted,
They weep o'er thy sorrows, and pity thy bands.
Rise, Land of the Heathen!-though dark-frowning billows
Have sever'd thy lot from this light-beaming isle;
Rise! rise from the dust! take thy harp from the willows!
The light of the Cross o'er thy deserts shall smile.
We'll give thee, O Land of the Heathen! our treasure,
Our Gospel, our Bible, our SAVIOUR, our Creed,
And Pastors of truth, who in pathways of pleasure,
By streams of salvation, thy children shall lead.
O Land of the Heathen! we'll make thee a Goshen,
Where beauty, and verdure, and fruitfulness shine:
We'll send thee our Missions across the wide ocean;
And plant on thy deserts JUDEA'S "True Vine."
O Land of the Heathen! we'll set thee a lustre,
-A Star,-in the Coronet JESUS shall wear;
And when He his militant army shall muster,
Like dew-drops in number, thy tribes shall be there.
JOSHUA MARSDEN.

LINES,

Inscribed on the Monumental Pile erected to the Memory of the REV. DR. ROWLAND TAYLOR, who suffered Martyrdom, Feb. 9th, 1555, on Aldham Common, near Hadleigh, Suffolk.

MARK this rude stone, where TAYLOR dauntless stood;
Where zeal infuriate drank the Martyr's blood.
Hadleigh! that day how many a tearful eye
Saw thy lov'd Pastor dragg'd a victim by!
Still scattering gifts and blessings as he past,
To the blest pair his farewell alms were cast.
His clinging flock even here around him pray'd,
"As thou hast aided us, be GOD thine aid."
Nor taunts, nor bribes of mitred rank, nor stake,
Nor blows, nor flames, his heart of firmness shake.
Serene, his folded hands, his uprais'd eyes,
Like holy STEPHEN, seek the opening skies.
There fix'd in rapture, his prophetic sight

Views truth dawn clear on England's bigot-night.
Triumphant Saint! he bow'd, and kiss'd the rod,
And soar'd on seraph-wing to meet his GOD.

Printed by T. CORDEUX, 14, City-Road, London.

Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine,

FOR JUNE, 1824.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF MR. WILLIAM WEBSTER, OF OLDBURY, NEAR DUDLEY.

BY THE REV. SAMUEL WOOLMER.

MR. WEBSTER was born in the year 1765, at Coal-Aston, in the parish of Dronfield and county of Derby. When he was about seventeen years of age, he was convinced of sin. The anguish of his soul was then intolerable. Hoping to relieve his wounded conscience, he had recourse to amusements and convivial parties: but' these, instead of alleviating, as he had hoped, increased the distress of his spirit; so that he was constrained to cry, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" In this state he frequently retired into the adjoining woods, in order to make prayer to God. At length, his affliction was noticed by a pious friend, who invited him to a Methodist Class-meeting at a place about three miles distant from his home. He gladly accepted' the invitation; and while returning from one of those meetings, on a fine moonlight night, with his mind greatly burthened, and overwhelmed with grief, on account of his guilt and danger as a transgressor of God's most holy law, he was led to kneel down under a tree, and to pray for mercy. At that time, the LORD "spoke peace" to his soul; and he arose from his knees blessing and praising the God of his salvation. The love of God; thus shed abroad in his heart by the HOLY GHOST given unto him, became thenceforth the governing principle of his soul; and his life exhibited the fruits of righteousness, to the praise and glory of that REDEEMER, whom it was now his chief desire and business to serve with all his powers.

After his conversion to God, his concern for the salvation of others became exceedingly ardent. He prevailed upon his mother to allow the Methodist Preachers the use of her house. He then earnestly solicited his neighbours to come and hear them; and the LORD blessed their word, so that many, in that and the adjoining villages, VOL. III. Third Series, JUNE, 1824.

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were called out of darkness into marvellous light. The gracious change which had been wrought in his heart, naturally influenced the selection of those whom he chose for his companions. They were quite of another character from those with whom he formerly associated. Those who excelled in virtue were now his delight; and with them he united in going about to do good. No night was too dark, or too cold; no road too dirty or too dreary. They visited the neighbouring villages, in order to hold prayer-meetings, and to exhort the inhabitants to flee from the wrath to come. His zeal for GOD, and love to the souls of men, exposed him to much persecution, especially from some who, before he was serious, had highly esteemed him. But this had no other effect than that of inducing him to apply to the throne of Grace for power to stand fast in the liberty wherewith CHRIST had made him free.

In a few years afterwards, he removed to Whitely Wood, near Sheffield. There it pleased the Great Head of the Church to call him into a more extensive sphere of action as a Local Preacher. Christian zeal and love were the prominent features in his character; and of these he gave full proof in his new office. He thought no exertions too great in the cause of his Divine Master; and it was no unusual thing for him to ride, and sometimes to walk, ten, twelve, or even fifteen miles on a LORD's-day in the morning, preach twice or three times in the course of the day, and then return home on the same night.

"not slothful

When he was about twenty-eight years of age, he was solicited to go to the Brades, near Birmingham, as a principal workman in the manufactory about to be established there. After much prayer to God for his gracious guidance, he complied. There he happily exemplified the injunction of the Apostle to be in business, fervent in spirit, serving the LORD." His employers soon discovered that in him they had found a treasure; and showed that they knew how to appreciate his worth. His strict integrity, and uniformly conscientious deportment, proved the genuine influence of that religion which he professed. His leisure hours and Sabbaths were faithfully devoted to Gon. The Birmingham and Dudley Circuits were then very extensive; including Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Walsall, and several other large towns and villages, which he was in the habit of visiting on the LORD'S-day with unwearied diligence; and great has been the fruit of his preaching, as many can testify at this day, in the conversion of sinners to righteousness. At Oldbury, the place of his residence, his labours were peculiarly blessed of GOD. On his first coming thither, the Society consisted of only twelve persons, and there was in that place a sad tendency to antinomian delusions. But it pleased the LORD to render him exceedingly useful to the little flock; which had increased, at the time of his death, to one hundred