Reluctance and

the subject was adverted to. timidity to die, he viewed as unbecoming the Christian's hope, and inconsistent with the love he professed for the Saviour. There are ties to life, which many good men have, which he had not; and it had been long his study to subject every feeling to the control of reason, and to the guidance of religious principle. Opportunities of doing good were the only attractions which this earthly scene presented to his mind. In three weeks his strength was in part restored; and on the 28th of September he attended public worship, and was resolved, if Providence permitted him, to preach on the ensuing Sabbath. To the remonstrances of some of his friends against his engaging in public duty, he stated how painful it was to him to remain unemployed; and the uneasy feelings to which this would have given rise, would have produced a more perilous excitement in his constitution, than a moderate share of official duty could have done. But it was not the purpose of Heaven that he should enter the pulpit or the sanctuary ary more. On the Monday, he should have gone to Kinross to meet with some ministers, in an association formed for friendly and improving intercourse. In the annual meetings of that society he felt a great interest. It was endear

ed to him by the memory of valued friends that once blessed it, by the company of his younger brethren, to whom he was much attached, and by the information which it elicited, and the kind affections which it cherished. He felt that he could not undertake such a journey, but sent them a message expressive of his kindest regards. Alas! ere that meeting was dismissed, the mournful intelligence of his death reached them; and on the Saturday they were assembled to convey his body to the grave.

He spent that Monday in reading and prayer and religious conversation, and in the evening went out to attend the weekly meeting of the savings bank. After his return, he called the family for worship, and, after it was over, conversed a little with his niece, and retired to his apartment, bidding her good night and wishing her God's blessing. He read the 15th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians-for the Bible was found lying on his table open at that place-he engaged in secret prayer, and was stepping into his bed when a blood-vessel burst in his head. His niece, who was in an adjoining chamber, heard a noise as of a struggle in the throat for respiration, and ran into the apartment, and raising him up, asked him about his illness; he gave her a look most expres

sive of kindness and peace, and immediately expired. A surgeon was instantly sent for, but the moment he saw him he pronounced that nothing could be done. I never heard of his expressing any wish as to the mode of his decease; he left this with perfect confidence in the hands of his Maker; but it would not have been possible for him, had it been left to his choice, to have selected a death more sweetly tranquil.He had not the painful consciousness of fading talents and declining popularity, nor that heartdepressing loneliness sometimes felt and lamented in advanced life; for the vigour of his mind was unimpaired, and he was surrounded by the most gratifying expressions of public respect, and by all the attentions of domestic kindness. And death came to him in its softest form; for in his case there was no protracted suffering, no harassing anxiety, no dark forebodings; but while the glow of prayer was on his heart, he, without pain or struggle, sunk gently into rest. As he had spent much of his time in prayer, and had peculiar delight in this exercise, so to him it was given, when the work of devotion was ended, to " gather up his feet into the bed," and to yield up the ghost.

In reviewing this sketch, how beautiful does religion appear when it is seen thus devoted to

the glory of God, and thus occupied about the welfare of men, thus amiable in friendship, and thus cheerful in solitude; and thus uniting the most delightful suavity of temper with the strictest regard to principle and duty. May his people, as they were exhorted after his departure," remember him who presided over them, and spoke to them the word of God, and may they follow his faith, considering the end of his conversation; and may his friends, while they cherish his memory, feel increasing animation in cultivating his holy wisdom, and imitating his active goodness, and may they be blessed with that heavenly peace which rendered his life so tranquil and his death so happy.

It is a very false way of forming an estimate of the influence of Christianity, to judge of it merely by its power in high places, or over the

public affairs of life. Every man of candour and observation will admit that it has done much to promote the general improvement of society; that it has given refinement to the manners, abolished practices which were a disgrace to humanity, reared institutions which are the bulwarks of social order, and in which the calamities incident to the present scene of things are removed or alleviated, and that the intellectual and moral elevation of modern times is to be attributed to its influence. But it is amidst the obscurity of domestic and humble life that we must search for the best operations of its virtues. There the loveliest graces flourish, and yield the principal part of the happiness which is enjoyed in these quiet habitations; and it is from them that the largest displays of excellence shall be brought forth in that day when Christ shall be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe. To bring forward at present, to the view of the world, instances of eminent piety and goodness, seems calculated to promote the honour of religion, and to encourage the spirit of holy imitation. These are the legitimate motives which ought to influence religious biography, and not the mere wish to honour the memory of a departed friend, in which vanity has often as much influence as