wants; the enlargement of the Parochial School; the share which he took in the establishment of a local Bible Society; the plan for the better accommodation of the increasing population of the parish, as to the public worship of Almighty God,-all proclaim his pastoral care and kindness, his practical wisdom, his unwearied and beneficial exertions for the temporal and eternal welfare of his flock.

"If from this brief and imperfect sketch of his ministerial character, we direct our attention to our departed friend, as a MAN, we shall be equally struck with the extraordinary value of the blessing which we have recently lost.-Humility, profound and unvarying humility, the foundation of all that is great and excellent and amiable in man, was remarkably conspicuous in him whom we are lamenting. Not only was he humble as a sinner before God, ever acknowledging his own unworthiness, and accepting the faithful saying' of the Gospel, as the chief of sinners; but humble in his intercourse with men'; and with those amongst whom it is most difficult hoth to be and to VOL. I.

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appear so, with his associates and equals; not affectedly, however, obtrusively, or painfully humble; but manifesting upon all occasions the most marked yet unostentatious apprehension of his own inferiority; eagerly and cordially allowing and assigning to others a large share of the merit, or the praise, which every one else perceived to be far more justly due to himself; frequently lamenting his imperfections and deficiencies in duty; thinking nothing of his eminent and various services; and willingly performing the least and lowest offices of kindness and love.

"Universal benevolence, and uncommon tenderness, were other striking features in the character we are considering.-His love of man was indeed inferior only to his love of God. It was the element in which he moved in his intercourse with others; and the kindness which warmed his heart, beamed forth in his countenance, and was manifest in all his words and actions. This truly Christian temper was steady and invariable, and prompted him to a thousand nameless expressions of it, which diffused an air of

peace and harmony, of benevolence and happiness, over all around him.

"Disinterestedness, a greatness and magnanimity which overlooked all that was envious, little, or selfish, was another admirable quality which distinguished your late excellent Minister, and which could not escape the notice of the most superficial observer of his conduct.

"I might mention the remarkable soundness of his judgment, which rendered him so wise and able a counsellor; the singular sobriety of his views, possessed as he was of such genius and talent; and the equanimity and well-balanced proportion of his whole character. But enough has been already said, and much more will readily occur to those who have been so long and so intimately acquainted with his excellence, to prove the value of what was once enjoyed, and the greatness of our present loss.

"That such a Minister and such a Man should have been thus removed in the midst of his years, and in the midst of his usefulness, is one of those mysteries in Providence, which we too often witness, but endeavour

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in vain fully to comprehend. thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.' We may, indeed, consider, that your late Pastor had been long spared to you; that he had taught, and exemplified, and effected much for your benefit; and that he was peculiarly qualified to be an inhabitant of that higher world to which he had long aspired, and for the enjoyment of which he was anxiously training you. Still there will remain in this mournful dispensation of Providence, much that is painful, trying, and, for the present, inexplicable. In one respect, however, it is calculated to afford us the most important instruction and consolation. During the lengthened and afflicting illness which terminated in the death of our lamented friend, he exhibited an example of the infinite excellence and value of the Gospel, of the solid peace, the firm hope, the joy unspeakable, which it inspires; of the meekness, the patience; the submission, the resignation, the

spiritual and heavenly temper of the true Christian; an example which infinitely exceeds the most laboured and finished description of those blessings, and was doubtless intended, as it is eminently suited, to produce the deepest and most beneficial impressions upon our minds.

"The hour of sickness and the bed of death are the times which more especially try the stability of the foundation on which the Christian hope is built it is then that the real character appears, that the genuine dispositions of the soul are manifest, and that the supports and consolations of Divine Grace are most abundantly vouchsafed to the faithful servants of Christ. It was thus with the pious and excellent subject of these remarks. Living as he had done the life of the righteous, it could scarcely be doubted, that he would in sickness possess his peace and comfort, and in death enjoy his blessedness and hope. Accordingly, your departed Minister afforded a most animating and edifying example of the reality and power of religion, of the faithfulness of God to his promises, of the triumph of the Gospel of