"He

representative to act for you, then behold this Saviour is He: shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." "He hath borne ⚫our griefs and carried our sorrows." "The chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." Surely we may have ineffable confidence in Him who voluntarily became our representative to discharge the law penalties which we had entailed, and to redeem the inheritance of life eternal which we had forfeited. This is the doctrine which the serpent and his seed have laboured hard to root out from this perishing world; but in vain-God will never permit this gospel of the vicarious righteousness and true sacrifice of Christ to be lost or forgotten in the earth. Lay hold of this then in seeking salvation. Behold Christ is the representative of sinners on the cross, and make Him your own by acceptance and trust.

This leads me in conclusion, to speak of Jesus as an everliving and present INTERCESSOR. He ascended up on high, and is now within the Holy of Holies, procuring and communicating the benefits of His sacrifice which He offered on earth. He lives and He saves now; yea, to the very uttermost does He save now; for, "He ever liveth to make intercession for those who come to God by Him." He was dead, but is alive again and liveth forevermore. He is accessible now as of old. He is within hearing as of old: He is as near to you by His Divine presence as ever He was to His disciples when He tabernacled in Judea; and He is now as much a Saviour in His exalted and intercessory state, as He was ever in His state of humiliation and suffering. There is no distance to be removed, no space to be overcome, there is no new office to be created, no new plea to be devised; the Jesus of the gospels is our Jesus, the Christ that died on Calvary is the Christ of whom now I write. To apply to Him is in itself as simple (I do not say as easy) an act as to eat the food or drink the water, or breathe the air that God hath given you. You are a sinner perishing-He is a Saviour given; will you, do you accept of Him?

My object has been to introduce you somewhat to the knowledge and acquaintance of our blessed Saviour. I have acquitted myself in a very imperfect and inadequate manner. I have almost broken down in the attempt. I have left much unsaid about the glory of my Lord and Saviour. He will forgive me, I know, for I intended it not in dishonour or neglect of His majesty. Even the world itself could not contain all the books that might be written on this subject. I should like to say something more of the character of Christ as a Saviour, and also direct your attention a little more to the sacrifice which he offered up of Himself, but I may not now-perhaps I may again.

I close this epistle with beseeching you to enter into immediate fellowship with the Son of God. Lose not a day, lose not an hour, lose not a moment. Even now lift up your heart to Him. He heareth the whispers of the soul; and He loveth to meet with us in secret. Oh, my friend, separate yourself from this time-murdering world. Join not in its ruinous trifling. "Jesus waits for me," say thou to thyself, and then drop thy toys and baubles, and go meet with Him who waiteth for thy coming. Oh did men know the sweetness of friendship and fellowship with Jesus, soon would peace, righteousnsss and joy fill their souls, and overspread their land! May the Lord, the Spirit lead you and guide you unto the Saviour, and may you in union to Him enjoy salvation, eternal SALVATION!

Yours with love lasting and sincere,
J. M. D.

VIII. A Short Memoir of the Rev. W. H. Pearce.

In drawing up a short account of the life, death and character of Mr. Pearce, the writer finds himself called to the discharge of a very mournful duty. He enters upon it with feelings of grief and disappointment-of grief for the loss of a most sincere and affectionate friend; and of disappointment from the expectation he had entertained that one better fitted to describe the loss sustained by the Mission and the Public, would have spared him the painful task. It is not however the first time he has been constrained to duties of this mournful kind. In 1838, he was called to lament the loss of an affectionate and faithful wife; in 1839, of his beloved brother and companion Mr. Penney; and now in 1840 of his long-tried and ever-devoted friend Mr. Pearce. Thus, one after another and in this quick succession, has he witnessed the departure of his dearest associates; and now, of all those who commenced the Mission with him in Calcutta upwards of twenty years ago, none are left beside himself and the widow of his last deceased friend; all have been removed from this field of action, either by the providence of God to other parts of the world, or by the stroke of death to the spirits of the just made perfect. This last bereavement is to the writer peculiarly distressing, and brings forcibly to his mind Young's Apostrophe to Death. Insatiate archer! could not one suffice?

Thy shaft slew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain.

He knows not how to express his feelings for the loss of one so dear to him, except in the words of David when lamenting over his dearest friend slain in the high places: "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful; passing the love of women."

Mr. Pearce was a most interesting character, being loved by all who knew him for his own excellencies, and rendered conspicuous by the virtues of his parents. He was the eldest son of the Rev. S. Pearce of Birmingham, whose praise is in all the Churches. No one can read the life of his Father without being struck with his eminent piety and ardent desire to do something for the welfare of India; and no one can review the life of the son without perceiving how completely he was animated by his father's spirit, and how steadily he pursued the great object on which his heart was fixed. It is almost impossible to reflect on what the father devised, and what the son executed, without being reminded of the case of David and

Solomon. David said, "I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building; but God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name: Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father."

Mr. Pearce was born at Birmingham on the 14th of January, 1794, and before he was six years of age was deprived of his father, the guide of his youth. In the edition which he published of his father's life, the following are his remarks in reference to that event. "Having lost his beloved father before he was six years of age; almost the only recollection of his person and character, possessed by the editor, is associated with his coffin; and he is therefore necessarily incompetent to add any thing of importance to the memoirs from his acquaintance with the subject. He has, however gathered up some fragments of value which might have been lost; and hopes that in doing so, he has performed an act of public utility, as well as of filial gratitude.

By the death of his father, he with his mother, brother and sister were thrown upon the care of the Church of God. The sympathies of the religious public were greatly excited on the occasion, and plans were soon devised by which the widow's and the orphans' wants were all supplied. On this Mr. Fuller offers these excellent remarks:

"The situation in which he left his family we have seen already, was not owing to an indifference to their interests, or an improvident dispo sition, or the want of opportunity to have provided for them; but to a steady and determined obedience to what he accounted the will of God. He felt deeply for them, and we all felt with him, and longed to be able to assure him before his departure that they would be amply provided for: but owing to circumstances which have already been mentioned, that was more than we could do. This was a point in which he was called to die in faith: and indeed so he did. He appears to have had no idea of that flood of kindness which immediately after his decease flowed from the religious public; but he believed in God and cheerfully left all with him. O that I could speak (said he to Mrs. Pearce a little before his death); I would tell the world to trust a faithful God. Sweet affliction; now it worketh glory, glory!' And when she told him the working of her mind, he answered, O trust the Lord! If he lift up the light of his countenance upon you, as he has done upon me this day, all your mountains will become mole-hills. I feel your situation, I feel your sorrows, but he who takes care of sparrows will care for you and my dear children.' "The liberal contributions which have since been made, though they do not warrant ministers in general to expect the same, and much less to neglect providing for their own families on such a presumption, yet they must needs be considered as a singular encouragement when we are satisfied that we are in the path of duty, to be inordinately careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known unto God.'"

From his infancy he was trained to religious reflexion. This appears from a letter written by his mother to a friend when he was sick; in it we see the tenderness of the mother, and the first dawnings of piety in the mind of her son.

"My dear boy has a fever, the symptoms of which are alarming. The physician assures me his lungs are not at present affected; though I much fear it will so terminate. Mr. and Mrs. N. are unbounded in their tenderness and attention: I know not what is before me. God is a sovereign, and has a right to do with me and mine as seemeth good to him. I have long ago in words acknowledged his right; nor will I now retract should he remove the delight of my eyes from me. No, though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him. I feel an unbounded confidence in Him. He will, I am persuaded, do all things well. He has been very gracious to me. My dear William is a very desirable child. I feel all the mother yearning over him; yet I have not had the least disposition to think hard of God; but have viewed it as the rod in the hand of a father who knows the end from the beginning, and who doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. Pray for me, my dear friend, that it may be sanctified. My love to our friends. I hope they will not forget us when they bow before the great Physician; for as our dear boy says, It is of no use to apply to earthly physicians without the help of the great One."

After the death of his father, Mr. Pearce was placed under the care of Mr. Nichols, a kind and benevolent gentleman, whose heart was touched with sympathy for the bereaved family, and who came forward and offered to adopt the eldest son of his deceased friend as his own child. Great was the attention which Mr. Nichols paid to the formation of his character. In his education he acted upon the principle laid down by the wise man "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Through all his life did Mr. Pearce carry with him the savour of those truths which were here first instilled into him, and to the day of his death exhibited the lovely virtues of the man who took the charge of him in his early youth. Mr. Nichols died only a few years before our friend, so that he was amply rewarded for all his care of him in his youthful days, by living to see in him a moral likeness of himself, a worthy son devoted to objects of benevolence and willing to make any personal sacrifice for their accomplishment. A regular correspondence was kept up between them as long as they both lived, and there can be no doubt that it contains much that will illustrate the character of our friend if permitted to be made public.

After Mr. Pearce was removed from Birmingham to Nottingham and committed to the care of Mr. Nichols, he was placed in the school of one Mr. Goodacre, which was at that time the best seminary in the place. Though his tender spirit was scarcely fitted to contend with the rough manners of many "Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem

Testa diu."-Hor.

around him, yet by the sharpness of his intellect he made his way among them and commanded their respect; whilst his 'more gentle manners softened the minds of some and made him an object of admiration.

While residing at Nottingham he used to accompany Mr. Nichols on the Lord's-day to Arnold, a village at a short distance, and to listen to the gospel as preached by him to an attentive congregation. The discourses he there heard, the acquaintance he there formed, and the conversation into which he entered in going and returning, were blessed to his soul by the Spirit of God; and though they did not produce a decided change of heart, they prepared him for higher communications of divine grace. Conversion is very diversified in the manner in which it is effected, though always the same in its end. Some, like the apostle Paul and the jailor at Philippi, are convicted and converted in a short space of time; while others pass through a series of gradual changes from year to year before they become decided Christians. "But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will?" Where habits of vice have been contracted the operations of the Spirit become notorious by leading, the individual to abandon those habits and enter on a new course; but where no such habits have been formed and the depravity of the heart only is to be opposed, the workings of the Spirit are then like the leaven that is hid in three measures of meal, operating till the whole is leavened.

Being now well disposed and inclined to imitate those whom he saw active in doing good, he was encouraged to take a part in conducting the Sunday school, and to assist Mr. N. by giving out the hymns. The dread of leading unconverted characters to engage in the most sacred and solemn of all duties, has led many to discourage all youthful beginnings; while others, sensible how much piety is increased by exercise, have encouraged the first appearances of piety. It is right indeed that unconverted characters should not be employed as ministers of the word; but there is reason to believe that many, humanly speaking, have been driven to a worldly calling, who would have been shining lights in the church, had they at the first received due encouragement.

There seems reason to believe that the indications of piety now manifested, added to an acute understanding, and uncommon quickness of perception and comprehension, led Mr. N. and others of Mr. Pearce's friends to entertain the idea that he might one day be engaged in the work of the ministry. It was therefore thought right, in addition to a good common education, that he should receive such a one as is commonly given to