It pleased God to convince my dear father in early life of the need of seeking the salvation of his soul; but for some time his views upon the subject were so dark, that he set himself to work out a righteousness of his own, or, as he termed it, to make himself good'; but soon found his want of power for that. He then thought, that by taking the Lord's Supper he should be set quite right. This he did, after having, as he thought, duly prepared himself; but did not find so much improvement as he had expected. At length, however, he was led to hear a sermon in which the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour was so clearly pointed out, that he was enabled, through grace, to renounce his own righteousness, and cast himself upon the mercy of God in Christ for pardon and acceptance. From that time to the end of life, he continued the sincere, humble Christian, growing in grace and in the knowledge and love of God. It might be truly said of him, he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile."

He was naturally of a cheerful disposition, yet at times was very much depressed with doubts and fears; when it pleased God to withhold from him the light of his countenance, and to permit Satan to throw his fiery darts. He was ready to cry out, "My way is hid from the Lord," &c. (Isaiah xl. 27.) In those distressing seasons, both mind and body seemed in agony, and his usual time for private devotion was lengthened so much that his friends were anxious about him; but that time was employed in earnest supplication to his heavenly Father to interpose on his behalf, and rescue him from his malignant foe.

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On his death-bed, he referred to these seasons of conflict, and said, "I bless God, that in all my distress I was never kept from a throne of grace, for I well knew if I could not obtain help there, I could no where else." It was soon known when he had obtained deliverance by his countenance, and by the singing of one of Newton's hymns "Unless the Lord had been my stay;" or "Why should I fear the darkest hour," &c. But during the last years of his life, he was mercifully preserved from such painful seasons, though he knew what it was to feel, as St. Paul describes in the 7th of Romans, "Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death."

But it was not only his own troubles he was concerned about; he had a heart to feel deeply for the sorrows of others, both worldly and spiritual; indeed, to many it seemed a relief to tell their tales of woe to him.

He was much in prayer. His stated seasons of morning and evening devotion were never known to be omitted; nor did he fail to assemble his family around the altar to implore the blessing of Him in whom they lived, moved, and had their being. And it was his practice on the Lord's Day, three times, at least, to pray and give thanks to God in private. Beside this, he was much in the use of ejaculatory prayer, often lifting up his heart, when his hands were engaged in the daily occupation of writing. He had also a great love to and reverence for the written word of God, esteeming it more than thousands of gold and silver, constantly desirous to order his conduct and conversation by its divine precepts, always endeavouring to rest his faith and hope upon its precious promises, even in the darkest seasons, and ever attending with reverential awe to its solemn admonitions and awful threatenings. Never did a day pass without his reading some portion of it, both in private and in the family.

His love to the house of God was very great. He could say with truth, "I was glad when they said, let us go up to the House of the Lord;" and it was his

constant aim that no business should keep him away, though many who were in the same situation considered the necessity of attending to their business a sufficient excuse for the neglect of public worship. But while he was strictly conscientious in discharging the duties of his office, he had such reverence for the Lord's Day, that he would on no account allow that time to be taken for any worldly concerns, which ought to be set apart for the worship of the great Jehovah. A striking proof he gave of this the last winter before his death, and when he was 73 years of age. 'The quarterly accounts which he had to make up, were ordered to be sent in a fortnight sooner than usual. He had but two or three days notice of it, and the Sunday intervened. He however worked hard all day on the Saturday, then cleared away all his papers in the evening, and attended to his religious duties on the Sunday with the same composure and seriousness as usual; retired to rest at ten o'clock; rose again at one; resumed his work, and sent in his accounts much sooner than many who had laboured hard all day on the Sunday, and were also much younger than him.

He esteemed it a great privilege to be a member of the Established Church; and it was his constant practice to attend there in whatever place it pleased God in his providence to fix him. He loved the Articles, and the whole of the service, and joined in it with profit, delight, and much devotion. He used to say, the more he attended the service of the Church, the more he loved it; and a short time before his last illness, speaking on this subject, he said, "For my part, I can never find any words so exactly suited to my state of mind, and so expressive of my feelings, as the Church

prayers.

He was not a perfect character; but no one could think more meanly or unworthily of him than he did of himself. "Behold, I am vile," and "God be merciful to me a sinner," was language ever suited to his frame of mind. Like the Apostle, he considered himself as the least of saints, and the chief of sinners; and

would often lament the little progress he made in the divine life, compared with others whom he considered as surpassing him in every Christian grace; indeed, so great was his humility, that he was willing to learn of the meanest child any thing belonging to the salvation of his soul.

He knew and felt much of the plague of his own heart; had a deep sense of his utter helplessness and depravity; and earnestly longed after conformity to the divine image; accordingly he sought to work out his salvation with fear and trembling, believing that it is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Agreeably to this sentiment, he writes thus to one of his children: "Nothing will yield us solid pleasure, even here, but a good hope, through grace, of our interest in that Saviour whom God has provided for lost sinners; and we have no ground to expect to attain such a hope but in the diligent use of those means which God has appointed. It is a blessed thing indeed to make this duty our pleasure; then we shall never fail of comfort. May we be stirred up to more diligence." Indeed, the care of the soul was to him the one thing needful, the grand business of life. Nor was he only anxious for himself, or those who were dear to him by the ties of nature; it was his desire and endeavour to promote the salvation of others. He sighed for the abominations committed around him, and tried to counteract the irreligion and profaneness as far as his influence extended. He mostly had some religious tracts with him, to lend to those whom he reproved, and particularly among those workmen with whom in his daily duties he was led to converse. used often to inquire, on a Monday, if they had attended public worship the day before. If they had not, he would try to convince them of their sin in such neglect: if they had, he would ask them to tell him something of what they had heard, and endeavour to impress their minds with the necessity of taking heed lest they should let them slip. Some of these persons have owned, that the time was when they dreaded to

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see him come where they were, but he so gained their esteem, that at length they quite reckoned upon seeing him, and envied those who might be present when they

were not.

He was also very anxious for the salvation of the world, and at the two last places he lived, began collecting for the Church Missionary Society. With the exception of the annual subscriptions of two or three, nothing had been collected at either place: these collections are still continued, and a considerable sum has been raised. He also collected weekly for the Bible Society.

My dear and honoured father had nearly up to the time of his last illness enjoyed almost constant good health, except that for some little time he had found his strength fail, and other indications of approaching decay; but was able to continue his employment till one Sunday, when he was taken with a violent shaking fit, just before the time of going to church; but having recovered a little, he went, was very ill all the time, and after his return it was found necessary to have medical advice. His head was much affected during the rest of the day, and his spirits low. He expressed many fears as to his acceptance with God; but the text which had been preached from that morning was well suited to him: "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." (Psalm xxxv. 3.) This he repeatedly said, with much fervour. The day following he was much better, and hopes were held of his speedy recovery; but God had otherwise ordered far better for him, as it seemed as if it had pleased God to put an honour upon his servant, who had honoured him by such a devout and constant attendance in his sanctuary, that he never left the house after his return from church, but was, as it were, taken from the church militant on earth, to join the song of the church triumphant in heaven. In two days, it was found that the complaint, which at first seized his head, had fallen into his leg, and produced violent inflammation. This was checked for a time, but ended in mortification, and closed his life.