but the whole tenor of her conduct evinced a thoughtful appreciation of her real state, and the firm conviction that He who loved her would love her unto the end."

On the morning before her decease she spoke of her pastor's absence from home, and regretted that she should not, in all probability, see him again, adding, "I can never say too much to my dear pastor; I can never feel too grateful to him."

On another occasion she said, "I have many nice seasons whilst lying here, many times I feel the presence of Jesus with me," 12 After a night of suffering and restlessness, when asked if she had not had a very uncomfortable night, she replied, "Nearer Heaven."

The night before she died, when the servant went into the room to take leave of her, she addressed her most earnestly and affectionately, and expressed a hope that if they did not meet again on earth she would meet her in heaven, remarking, "What a miserable thing it would be for a person to be in her situation and unprepared for death; but I am happy."

The Gospel of John, the Epistles of the Ephesians and Hebrews, she particularly delighted in. On the Thursday morning, after the 17th chapter of John was read, she requested that beautiful hymn to be repeated

"Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to thy bosom fly," &c.

About eleven o'clock on Friday morning the doctor called to see her. She answered all his questions very collectedly. When he left the room, her aunt just stepped out with him and returned in three minutes, but she was unable to articulate. She was only in time to see

DEATH OF A CENTENARIAN. THE necrology of Hexham has this year to record the death of John Bell, aged 105 years. It is not always easy to ascertain the exact age of extremely old people; and it was believed by many that the deceased was seven years older than we have stated: his friends allowed 112 to be put upon the coffin. The writer had, however, the means of judging, having been present in a court when this remarkable man was prosecutor of an alleged thief, and in answer to the question, "How old are you?" said distinctly, "A hundred and three." He survived about two years.

A life so extended could not fail to present points of interest, and to afford some materials for profitable contemplation. It by no means follows that his career was exemplary. This is not a subject for religious biography. We may remark how retentive is the human memory this man, in his youth a subject of George II., could recount incidents connected with the Hexham Riot, which occurred in 1761. How difficult it is to instruct the old! The moral sense in this case had never been acute, and latterly defective vision and almost total deafness had shut up the channels of information, whilst aggravated induration expressed no concern. We once introduced a minister to him, without any known result.

"Whisky Johnny"-for so he was calledhad ranged the hills and valleys of Tindale, tracked its fells and morasses, at all hours of the night, and all seasons of the year. Many of his acquaintance, and some of his family, had sunk prematurely under the harassing career of the smuggler; yet this old hulk came quietly ashore, after being more than a hundred years afloat. "Verily there is an appointed time to man upon earth." Hexham, 1857.

Is the life of John Flavel, it is said, "One of those omens, which are supposed to announce future eminence, accompanied his birth. A pair of nightingales made their nests close to the window of the chamber of his mother, and with their delicious notes sang the birth of him whose tongue sweetly proclaimed the glad tidings which gave songs in the night." I cannot assert that the oratorical distinction of John C. Burress was preceded by any such incident, but it has seldom been my fortune to hear

J. R.

a more mellifluous and seductive speaker. In very early life I heard the famous Summerfield, a young Methodist itinerant. His face and form were of womanly, almost of angelic beauty. A divine lustre beamed in his eye. His clear, full, sonorous voice fell like the tones of a mountain bell one moment, and anon came crashing, thundering down, with terrible effect, on the startled masses, forcing them to cry aloud, and crowd together, with uplifted arms, as though for shelter from an impending

avalanche. His eloquence shook sin from its citadels, and dragged vice and fashion from their "pride of place." The sensation he produced was tremendous. Multitudes followed his footsteps. As a field preacher, he towered alongside of Whitefield; but he soon went down to the grave, consumed by his own fire, and called to a higher sphere for some inscrutable purpose.

It is related of Bossuet that when he pronounced the funeral sermon of the Princess Henrietta, and described her dying agonies, the whole audience rose from their seats, with terror in every countenance.

When Massillon ascended the pulpit, on the death of Louis XIV., he contemplated for a moment the impressive spectaclethe chapel draped in black-the magnificent mausoleum raised over the bier--the dim but vast apartment filled with the trophies of the glory of the monarch, and with the most illustrious persons in the kingdom. He looked down on the gorgeous scene beneath, then raised his arms to heaven and said, in a solemn, subdued tone, "My brethren, God only is great." With one impulse, all the audience rose, and reverently bowed.

When Dr. Hussey preached at Watford, on the small number of the elect, he asked, "Whether, if the arch of heaven were to open and the Son of Man should appear to judge his hearers, it were quite certain that one of us," he exclaimed in a voice of thunder, "would be saved?" During the whole of this apostrophe, the audience was agonized. At the ultimate interrogation, there was a general shriek, and some fell to the ground.

M. Bridaine, a French missionary, and the peer of the most renowned orators of that eloquent nation, preached a sermon at Bagnole. At the end of it, he lifted up his arms and thrice cried in a loud voice, " O, Eternity!" At the third repetition of this awful cry, the whole audience fell upon their knees. During three days, consternation pervaded the town. In the public places, young and old were heard crying aloud, "O Lord, mercy!"

In all this there is much of the histrionic on the one hand, and much ignorant enthusiasm on the other; but still it shows the power of the natural in addressing multitudes. Let a man but speak to a mass as he would to a handful, and he will not fail to make himself felt, and to send home his Master's message. X. X.

PRAYER BY MINISTERS. PERICLES is said never to have ascended the rostrum without first invoking the gods. What an impressive lesson to Christian orators and teachers!

The importance of prayer, to a minister of the Gospel, is obvious in the light of both

reason and the Bible. Strong expressions, as to this, may be gathered from the works of all those who have been preachers indeed.

Wickliff said of the expositor: "He must be a man of prayer. He needs the internal instruction of the Primary Teacher."

Luther said: "Prayer, meditation, and temptations make a minister." Another vigorous phrase of his is well known : "Bene orasse, bene studuisse "-to pray well is to study well.

The pious Quesnel said: "The Christian minister must learn the Scriptures otherwise than by study. The unction of the Spirit is a greater master in this science and it is by prayer we become his scholars."

The timid but learned Erasmus said : "In reference to preaching, let the ecclesiastic give himself to profound prayer. It is incredible how much of light, vigour, strength, and alacrity will hence result."

John Owen, that mighty theologian, said: "For a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of any portion of Scripture, without invocation of God, is a high provocation of him."

The famous Mr. Shepherd, of New England, when on his death-bed, addressed some young ministers thus: "Your work is great, and requires great seriousness. For my own part, I never preached a sermon which, in the composing of it, did not cost me prayers with strong crying and tears."

Philip Henry remarks in reference to a certain occasion, thus: "I forgot explicitly and expressly, when I began (i.e., his preparation for the pulpit)-I forgot to crave help from God; and the chariot wheels drave accordingly."

Humble and earnest prayer should precede and accompany every preparation for the pulpit. It is the key which unlocks heaven, and obtains for us the wisdom and power of God.

PREACHING THE GOSPEL.

DR. SPRAGUE tells the following anecdote of an evangelical clergyman of the English Church, named Jones. The story was given him by the Rev. George Burder.

Mr. Jones had a college classmate, who entered the ministry at the same time with himself, but was a mere man of the world, and knew little, and cared nothing, about the true Gospel. This man, conversing one day with Mr. Jones, said to him, half jocosely, half seriously,

"Why is it that you are so popular as a preacher, and so few come to hear me, when everybody knows that at the University I was considered greatly your superior ?"

"Why," said Mr. Jones, "the reason is, that I preach the Gospel."

"The Gospel?" said the other; "so do I; almost every text I preach upon is from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John."

Said Mr. Jones, "You may do that, and yet never preach Jesus Christ."

"Well," said the other," lend me one of your sermons, and see what effect it will have 53 21.99xt

He actually did lend him one, and he preached it as he had engaged to do: and as he was coming out of the church at the close of the service, he was accosted by a man, who, in listening to the borrowed discourse, had been thrown into a state of anxiety in respect to his salvation.

Says the minister, somewhat confused by the strange result of his preaching, Wait, wait; say nothing about it till the people have all gone out." DUR PUMPA bos JD1 1999 31 191 Zuidscomy

After the congregation had retired, the anxious inquirer began further to explain himself, when the clergyman interrupted him by saying

"But what is the matter with you? I see no occasion for your making yourself unhappy."

"Matter!" replied he; "why, your preaching has made me feel like a condemned criminal, and I fear there is no mercy for me."

"Well, really," said the minister, "I am very sorry that I have wounded your feelings-I had no intention of doing it; but since you have got into this uncomfortable state, I advise you to go and see Mr. Jones."

LOSING sight of the end and purport of an Established Church, and caring only for the opportunity of enriching their family connexions, English statesmen have provided splendidly for their friends and relatives, out of the Church revenue of Wales; appointing men who know nothing of the people or their language; allowing them, with large preferments in Wales, to live in England, and spend their revenues there, assigning to their Welsh parishes merely an ill-paid substitute, and allowing the people to be wholly drawn over to Dissent and Methodism. Illustrations abound.

Dr. Horsley was made Bishop of St. Asaph in 1802. He was succeeded by Dr. Cleaver in 1806. He held the bishopric, therefore, only four years. Among those of his relatives and connexions preferred, during this period, we findFirst, H, Horsley, who holds

That is a valuable piece of preferment every year for three years successively. The population of Chirk is 1,508. Value, £570; Curate's salary, £85. The third is F. H. Neve.

He holds,Per Ann. Appointed 1805

1 Llansantffraid, value £198 2 Sinecure of Angle (St. David's)

3 Walwyn (Pembroke) 4 Southhill (Beds)

Total

157

1805

270

1805

384.

1805

It is worthy of remark, with regard to Llansantffraid, that it is a sinecure Rectory, valued at £396 per annum.. The Rector lives in England. The vicarage is valued at £198 per annum. The Vicar also lives in England. The Curate's salary is £63 per annum.

con

Here, then, we have three men, nexions of Bishop Horsley, who presided over St. Asaph only four years, and died in 1806, enjoying preferment to the amount of £3,099 per annum, so late as forty years after the Right Reverend Prelate's death. The present Dean of St. Asaph, holds£1,539 per annum.

1 Deanery 2 Cradley

He

The Rev. H. Horsley was appointed to these livings when a very young man. has been nearly the whole of his time an absentee, and for many years he has been residing in Edinburgh. For Gresford, with a population of 4,000, the absentee Rector allowed £132, divided between two curates. At Castell Caereinion, he kept one Curate, who, at seventy years of age, received £86 per annum.

Another relative of the Bishop is G. Robson. He holds,

3 Bromyard

4 Sinecure of Darowen 131 5 Prebendary of Hereford 43

Total £2,874

د,

1803

270

1805

570

1804

Total. £1,016

VOL. XV.

That is, when a very young man, and within two years after his father was made Bishop, he was nominated to Marchwiel, with an income of £765 per annum. Six years after he received in the very same year two separate preferments, one a sinecure, the other a Perpetual Curacy, their collective revenues amounting to £1,409 per annum.

His sons being thus provided for, we shall now see what provision he made for his nephews.

J. Luxmoore we find holding

1 Llanymynech, value £410-appointed 1829 2 Berriew

458

1829 (since resigned)

He was appointed to both livings in the same year. He was then twenty-four years of age. This is the youngest canonical age at which any man can be preferred. At the time of his preferment, the Curate of Berriew was seventy years old, three times the age of the Incumbent.

The last is C. T. C. Luxmoore. He is Vicar of the large parish of Guilsfield, value £417 per annum. The remainder of the tithes, about £1,000 per annum, belong to Christ Church, Oxford. The population of the parish is about 3,000. At least onehalf of them are ignorant of English, and the Vicar knows nothing of Welsh.

Taking therefore the entire income of the four Luxmoores, we find the collective sum to be £6,737 per annum; or, if we deduct the Dean's English preferment in the diocese of Hereford, which he also re

You

MY FRIENDS, I address you, working men, on this Sabbath question, because it is one that vitally touches you. have the deepest personal interest in it. And I speak to you thus, because I am anxious to turn to some good account the observations of a long tour, which in God's providence I have been led to make, in other countries. Let me, however, first speak to you on what is nearer home.

There has lately been a conference held in Manchester of the "National Sunday League." The members have banded together to destroy the character of

our English Sunday. They are appealing for the co-operation of the

associated bodies of working men. They have agreed to raise a sum of no less than a thousand pounds, for the purposes of the League; to establish branches wherever it is possible; and to deliver lectures in all the large towns during the winter months. The scheme is determined, and the programme complete.

Now I know full well that this "National Sunday League" has not the confidence of working men. It has not, certainly, that of the men of Leeds. You are too cautious. Silence, however, about its movements might be traitorous. You will be appealed to; and, perhaps, we are at present only

entering on a conflict whose momentous issues make it more important than any in which England has been engaged for three hundred years. I do not say this hastily, but deliberately.

I ask you to observe, then, that it is not a Continental Sabbath which the "National Sunday League" seeks to introduce into England, but something VERY MUCH WORSE. A Continental Sabbath rests for the most part on a religious basis. It is a Christian festival. I have seen Sabbath observance in France; during six months in Italy I have spent Sundays in almost every one of its chief cities; have passed three Sabbaths in Switzerland; and have, during near three months in Germany, lived in its cities, and conversed with observant Germans. In those countries of Europe where the Christian basis of the Sabbath has been most recognised, I must affirm there has been far less labour imposed upon the working man, than in those where the religious idea has been abandoned. The demands for labour have always been in proportion to the strength or weakness of the Christian element which has been associated with the day. this League would introduce a Sunday which would be a mere secular holiday, and which would altogether neutralize the religious character of the day. was strongly objected in Manchester to the League being called Christian at all; and the spirit of the meeting was in accordance with this grave objection.

But

It

Now, working men of Leeds, you have the credit for seeing too far to be taken with a scheme like this. You cannot but see the serious and most terrible consequences to yourselves with which it is fraught. You cannot be ignorant of the national character of the English. Instead of the hilarity and comparative freedom from the pride of wealth which appear in other countries, and which might preserve the Sunday as a mere holiday, the steady, persevering, commercial bias of Englishmen would soon turn it into a working day. Among ourselves, the pushing of trade in brisk times, the fierceness of competition, and the eagerness to secure wealth, would soon trench upon the leisure of a mere secular day, and would, without thinking it did you wrong, make it one of productive labour. Would a manufacturer, who had a pressing order to execute, be kept from demanding work on the Sunday by

being told it was the day for amusement? Would a tradesman, who saw his neighbour's shop open, keep his closed if he were persuaded that the Sabbath was no longer a day of divine obligation? Would a farmer morbidly afraid of bad weather be deterred from sending his labourers into the fields, if he believed that the Sunday was no more a religious day than the Wednesday? Those who think so know very little about Englishmen, and are not fit to be the guides of public opinion.

I lay great stress, and I think justly, on the peculiar temperament of the English nation in this argument. There is among us a conventional sentiment around the possession of wealth, and attached to success in business, which hurries men into such a vortex of temptation as would soon overpower the claim for recreation on the Sabbath. If then you sweep away the old religious foundation for the observance of the day, if there are to be no ramparts around it but mere secular advantages, then may God help the working men, for fences like these would, in our race for riches, be like straws before the whirlwind.

There is another party who are entitled to more consideration than the extreme advocates of the National

Sunday League. There were those

who said last summer on Woodhouse Moor that they did not desire a Continental Sunday, but one divided between sacred observances and secular amusements. They would not discard the former, but would greatly multiply scenes and facilities for the latter. Not a few who hold this view have the welfare of working men at heart. They are, however, labouring under a most extraordinary mistake. A Continental Sunday is exactly what they are seeking to introduce. The Sabbath on the Continent is in theory partly a religious and partly a gala day. Some divine obligation for the setting apart of the day is rarely abandoned. This leads me to illustrate the EVILS OF A CONTINENTAL SUNDAY.

I was lately at Schwalbach, a bathing place in Germany. On the Saturday I told one of the attendants at the bath establishment that I wished them to have rest on the Sundays, and should not, therefore, require my room on the morrow. The woman looked at me and said, "I wish all the people would think that way, sir; I have not been to