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IN a PREFACE to the NINETEENTH Volume of a Periodical Work, conducted on a uniform Plan, the candid Reader will not look for Novelty. The Editors of this Miscellany have only to renew their grateful Acknowledgments to HIM, whose Cause and Glory it has always been their Aim to promote, -to their respected Correspondents, whose pious labours enrich their Monthly Numbers, and to their very numerous Readers, whose continued Approbation is evinced by a most extensive Sale of the Work, notwithstanding the great increase of similar Publications.

The Circumstances of our TIMES Concur to render the Evangelical Magazine more interesting than ever. The présent Volume records, at large, a strong attempt made, in the course of the year, to restrain that Religious Freedom which, by a fair and candid construction of the ever-memorable Act of Toleration, the Ministers of the Gospel have long enjoyed, and which they have so diligently improved for the happy purpose of widely disseminating the Truth as it is in Jesus.' It records also (thanks be to God!) the speedy Defeat of that Attempt, by the Divine Blessing on the prompt and energetic Efforts of the Friends of Religion, and particularly those of a New Society, created by the emergency of the case; and which, we trust, will long continue (together with other bodies of Christians, having the same object in view) the vigilant and active Defenders of the Rights of Conscience.

The Cause of God and of Truth has also been recently assailed from another quarter :- a quarter from whence it ought to receive the firmest support. The Peculiarities of the Gospel, -the great Doctrines of Grace, as maintained by our Reformers, of blessed memory, and

A &

interwoven with all the Formularies of the Established

Church, have been openly disavowed by Men of eminent station; their REFUTATION' coolly undertaken, as an easy task; and an Attempt made to consign them to contempt and oblivion, as the Reveries of an Individual * ;an Individual, however, whose Name was almost idolized by the first Protestant Bishops of the Anglican Church, and which will gloriously survive the opposition of Modern Ecclesiastics, as it did that of LAUD and his immediate followers. Our Readers may be assured, that, although we decline Controversial Subjects in general, we shall not fail to contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints.'

While, in these eventful days, we behold, on the one hand, the Operation of Error and of Envy, labouring to suppress the Efforts of Truth and Holy Zeal, we see, on the other, the Imbecility of all their Projects. Great is the Truth, and it will prevail: it has already prevailed; and the laudable Endeavours of Missionary Societies, Bible Societies, Tract Societies, and many other useful Institutions, are evidently crowned with Divine Approbation and Success. To the first Formation of these Benevolent Associations we gladly lent our helping hand; and we shall feel it no less our Pleasure than our Duty to afford them every Encouragement in our Power. Hasten the time, glorious Redeemer, when, by the Instrumentality of thy Servants, the Knowledge of Thyself shall cover the earth as the waters cover the channels of the sea!

* Calvin.

EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1811.

MEMOIR
OF

THE LATE HERMANUS HILBERTUS POST, Esq.

OF DEMARARA.

(In a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Wray to the Editor.)

Reverend Sir,

With great pleasure I comply with your desire, to give you some account of the life and death of our excellent friend Mr. Post. I have frequently heard him relate almost every circumstance of the former; and in his last sickness, when I was seldom from his bed-side, he made me acquainted, I believe, with every secret thought of his heart. I often requested him to give me some account of his life in writing; but he used to say he had not time. However, as he knew I much wished it, he sometimes repeated on his death-bed what he had before related in the days of his health. Mrs. Post, and two respectable neighbouring planters, have also assisted me in communicating every needful information. One of them, Mr. Van Coote, was his bosom friend for 30 years; and the other, Mr. Sample, was a very intimate acquaintance. To Mrs. Post and these two gentlemen, I have read the following sheets, which they approve, and believe to be perfectly correct: —

HERMANUS HILBERTUS POST, Esq. was born at Utrecht, in Holland, on the 26th of Dec. 1755. His parents were truly respectable, both in circumstances and character. His father was a Member of the Senate of that city for several years, was universally respected, and was eminent for his protection of, and kindness to, the lower class of people. He carried on an extensive sugar refinery, and some other business, in which he sustained severe losses, and failed. Honest to the utmost degree, he disposed of all he possessed in behalf of his creditors, resigned his office as a senator, and retired to a country-seat near Houdegyn. Sometime after, he went to live at Amerengen, and was made Chief Justice of that district.

Mr. Post's mother was a very devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ for many years, and spent much time in reading,

meditation, and prayer. She was a peculiar comfort to her husband in his reduced circumstances. I have heard Mr. Post say, he has heard her converse with his father a great part of the night, endeavouring to comfort his mind with the promises of the gospel.

Mr. Post had two brothers and three sisters. One of his brothers was educated for the bar, and the other for the church. The former died at the Cape of Good Hope, on his way to India; and the other obtained a living at Arnham, which he still occupies. The two youngest sisters are married to ministers in Holland; and the eldest to a very respectable and pious gentleman. This lady has been distinguished by her piety from her earliest years, and acquired much reputation by her writings. She took much pains in catechizing Mr. Post when he was a child, and was made very useful to him. He often spake of her with the greatest affection, and sometimes with tears in his eyes, as he did also of his mother. At the age of eight years, his mind appears to have been much affected by the love of Jesus Christ, and the things of eternity. I have frequently heard him say, that, when very young, he was often deeply impressed by the application of sermons, though he attended but little to the illustration of the subjects. About 14, he was taken from the Latin School, and went to reside with his parents at Houdegyn, where he amused himself, in his leisure hours, by gardening and fishing. He was afterwards placed at Utrecht, in a counting-house; but did not like his employment. He used to say, his proud heart would not submit to such engagements, after being accustomed to wear a sword by his side, and to associate with the most respectable people of the city. Being fond of reading history and travels, he acquired a desire, when a child, to go either to the East or West Indies; and now he determined to do so the first opportunity. He soon obtained letters of recommendation to persons of distinction in Dema rara, and arrived in this colony in the year 1774.

Full of life and activity, and anxious to put himself forward, in order to assist his parents,' says his friend, he soon became manager of an estate, which was begun new out of the Bush, on the west point of the river Demarara; and, about two years after, he obtained his own land, on the east sea-coast, by the help of a friend; in the remembrance of whom, he called his estate Le Resouvenir. From the revenue of this, he soon began to assist his beloved parents, and continued to do so until their death; and then continued the same help to his sisters.'

His genius and activity as a planter are well known in Demarara. His estate is one of the best and largest on the east coast, and is admired by all who visit it, for its neatness, order, and cultivation, as well as for the convenience of its