druggist there. This circumstance determined my father in the choice of his future home. Accordingly, at Chesterfield he took up his abode; and while health and strength permitted, he cheerfully devoted what services he was able to render to the Master in whose work he had so long been engaged, and to the Christian society with which he had so long been connected. His entire trust was in Christ, and he was always composed and happy. In 1835 his wife, daughter, and son were all attacked by typhus fever, and, soon after their recovery, the same disorder seized on himself; but in the midst of trial and suffering, he was preserved in the same delightful composure. He was willing to live or die as God should appoint.

After his recovery he continued to preach as long as he was able; and when obliged to relinquish the pulpit, he rejoiced to assist on sacramental occasions. He was likewise very regular in attending the class which he had joined; and though, from his deafness, he heard none of the religious communications of the members, yet he used to say, that to him the way of duty was the way of blessedness. The Leader has informed me that he never saw a full trust in the atonement, and the established peace in which it results, more strikingly exemplified than in my father's religious experience.

After my mother's death, (an event which he felt deeply, but which he bore with Christian fortitude,) he resided with Mrs. Haslehurst, his daughter, where he had every attention which filial regard could pay, so that his latter days were made as comfortable as, in his circumstances, they could be. For some time his health had been declining, and at length he suffered much from gangrene; but, by the grace of God, his patience was invincible. I had the opportunity of seeing him a few days before he died. He was not able to converse much; but he said, "All is well. The Lord does not leave me. Give yourself fully to God. Preach Christ; and your God, and the God of your father, will bless you." I saw that he could not continue long, and I much wished to remain with him to the last; but I was on my way to Glasgow, where it was necessary that I should be as soon as I possibly could. My father knew this; and when I went to see him on the morning of the 4th of May, (1836,) he said to me, "Thomas, my dear lad, I am glad the Lord has permitted me to see you once more. I know you are peculiarly situated. You are wanted in the Circuit to which you are going. You must stay with me no longer, but proceed on your journey. I am thankful we have met again. You see that I have every thing that I can wish. I may yet linger some time." He blessed me, and bade me farewell till we should meet in heaven. I felt the separation very acutely, but I believed it was my duty to acquiesce. His end, however, was nearer than he seemed to anticipate. For two or three days after I left him he was quiet and serene, waiting on God, and resting on the merits of his Saviour; and on the morning of the 7th of May, while appa

rently in a sound sleep, it pleased God to release his spirit, and to remove him

"In speaking of my father's character, I may be allowed to say, that what he appeared to be, that he was. Honesty, openness, and firm→ ness were in him combined with affability and kindness. His relative duties were discharged with fidelity and affection. He set before his family an example of Christian uprightness, and taught his children the good and the right way. As a Preacher, he was plain and scriptural. His sermons were marked by good sense, and a clear and personal acquaintance with the work of the Spirit of God on the heart of the believer. He was a judicious Superintendent, cares fully attentive to every branch of the Methodist discipline. I believe I may say of him that he walked uprightly, wrought righteousness, and spoke the truth in his heart;" that "he did not backbite with his tongue," and that "he did no evil to his neighbour.” “In his eyes* it was only "a vile person" that "was contemned; but he honoured all them who feared the Lord."

He died in the seventy-second year of his age, above fifty years of which time he had "walked humbly with God." Thirty-six years he had been diligently engaged in the duties of the Christian ministry, and the remaining twelve of his life were passed in quiet, but not inactive, retirement. He served his generation by the will of God, and at last died in the Lord, and rested from his labours.” ↑

Addressed to One Hundred Sons of Wesleyan-Methodist Preachers, * at the Anniversary of their Academy, Woodhouse-Grove, July 13th, "1838

BY THE REV. WILLIAM L. THORNTON.

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word."-Psalm cxix. 9.

THE elaborate psalm from which the text is selected, is attributed to the time of the Babylonish captivity. Its general design is readily dis+ covered. In its commencement, as in its successive passages, the writer celebrates the supreme authority of inspired truth, and the unspeakablė rewards of obedience. Numerous terms are employed in denominat! ing the great subject; and the instructive variety suggests the compres hensiveness of the sacred page, as well as the aspects in which it is to be studied and honoured. The infallible pen magnifies the law,"

the "testimonies," the "precepts," the statutes," the "commandments," the "judgments," the "word," the "ordinances," of the Lord; and records the blessedness of "the undefiled in" this "way" everlasting. According to the beautiful descriptions of the Psalmist, the inestimable word purifies the heart and life; sustains the spirit in distress; inspires unwavering confidence amid the discouragements of arduous duty; affords counsel in the perplexities which human wisdom cannot relieve; and opens, for loving obedience, a spring of divine and permanent peace. It directs the sweet singer in the labours and activities of day; it furnishes his theme of blissful meditation and holy melody in the quiet of night. It makes him wiser than the less-privileged ancients,"-than his "enemies," than "all" his unrenewed "teachers." It sheds a richer light on every scene of earthly joy; and its revelations "give even affliction a grace," array trial in the guise of privilege, and teach him to welcome the darkness which manifests worlds of truth and wisdom, otherwise undiscovered. In fine, it adapts its communications to all ranks and classes of human society, and not less to all seasons of man's uncertain life; inasmuch as, while it solaces age, smooths the pillow of death, and brightens the prospect of the unbounded future,-it accommodates its instructions to feeble infancy, and guides the steps of ardent youth into the paths of purity and peace.

The structure of this ancient song is peculiar, and its arrangement is even artificial. Masoretic critics have styled it "the great alpha, bet;" as it consists of twenty-two parts, answering to the characters of the Hebrew language; and as all the verses of each alphabetical section commence with the letter which is distinctively prefixed. It has been maintained, that a special connexion is traceable in the passages which form any one of these divisions; but, as we are not persuaded that this opinion has more than fancy for its basis, a single preliminary remark will introduce us to our subject. That remark relates to the comparative privileges of those who, in this psalm, chanted the praise of inspiration. They had a revelation of truth which was glorious indeed, in contrast to the night of Paganism. Their dispensation was even superior to the Patriarchal. But of our Bible they had only a portion. "God, who, in many parts and in many ways, (πολυμερώς καὶ πολυτρόπως,) spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." (Heb. i. 1, 2.) Ours is a bright and long-expected day. The Christian church, in eminence of light and privilege, resembles the woman in the Apocalypse,"clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." (Rev. xii. 1.) We are warranted, therefore, in asserting that the Psalmist's eulogies of revealed truth are more emphatically applicable to the whole than to a part, and to the evangelical than to the Levitical sections of holy Scripture.

The text suggests three topics for our consideration: from ed

his

I. The highest object of human desire.gi

II. The season in which it is most appropriately pursued,
III. The method in which it is attained.

The object most worthy of man's anxiety, is the "cleansing of way; "the sanctification of his converse and life. We may assume the necessary connexion of outward rectitude with inward holiness. The great Teacher explains this truth by the wellknown reference to the productive branches: "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." (Matt. vii. 18.)

Purity has been justly represented as "the health and beauty of the soul." Its loveliness and value defy the power of description, and exhaust the resources of illustration. Every word which the Holy Ghost dictates is full of sacred and most accurate meaning; and that all-searching Spirit tells of "the beauty of holiness." (Psalm xxix. 2.) For its model and everlasting fountain we must ascend through all ranks of created being, to the throne of the Eternal; and Him the truly enlightened mind loves and adores, not less because He is "glorious in holiness" than because he is perfect in wisdom or infinite in goodness. Purity was the characteristic of man's primeval state: this gave perfection to Eden, and made its happy fields a sanctuary. And, though the veil hangs over the future state, we know that the “inheritance of the saints in light" is not only incorruptible," but also "undefiled." (1 Pet. i. 4.) If we cannot sketch the “new heaven" and the "new earth," or even ascertain the radiant province of the universe in which they shall be situated, we know that therein "dwelleth righteousness." (2 Pet. iii. 13.) In the everlasting home of the glorified, purity appears in its just and congenial associations, There it assumes its own sceptre, and wears its own diadem. Its struggles ended, no tear sullies its angel-face; no sigh interrupts its rapturous hallelujahs.

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The design of the redeeming plan is to restore to holiness our ruined nature. All the blessedness that man can realize, results from his interest in this great enterprise of divine charity. As in heaven, so on earth, holiness is indissolubly allied to happiness. He that wanders after rest of soul, must endure disappointment until he finds that the "ways" of piety are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." The spirit of man, unblessed and unsaved, resembles the dove of Noah, which fluttered with feeble pinions over the unbroken waters of the deluge, and "found no rest for the sole of her foot-brought to the bosom of Jesus, redeemed from guilt and sin, it resembles the same bird, when received by the Patriarch's hand into the ark of security and repose.

All these reflections impress us with the importance of a true and sanctifying religion, Before this, wealth, honour, genius, intellectual endowments, friendship, patriotism, fade and sink. This alone brings

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peace to the labouring conscience. It makes man the receiver of a drop from the unbounded ocean of God. It sustains trembling humanity in life and in death. It decks youth and age with unwithering honours. It prepares its subject for a happy eternity; and it flourishes in ever-during glory, when short-lived worlds are forgotten.

Of practical holiness,the outward righteousness that springs from inward piety,the Psalmist's interrogation suggests one or two illustrative views

1. That the sanctification extends to the entire conduct.

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way,”—his entire deportment? The streams which issue from one unpolluted fountain are pure, though they run in many channels: so the grace which reigns in the heart extends a sanctifying influence to the thousand duties of the life. The renewed mind perceives "the law" to be "holy;" and "the commandment holy, just, and good." The undivided soul bows to the authority, and blesses the pleasing sway, of the Lawgirer. Allegiance to heaven demands unreserved obedience. is inconsistent with the retaining of one sin, or the acknowledgment of any rival to Christ in the heart. It stands immeasurably remote from the presuming spirit of selection: "This I will do, and that I will not do. This is too hard, this is too mean, this may be well enough let alone." It submits to the most humbling and painful of the sacred precepts; and, in the quiet magnanimity of meekness, it dearns to say," Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” (Psalm cxix. 6)·

Feeling the eye of an omnipresent God, "wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" How shall he direct each footstep of his course ? How consecrate every thought, word, and deed? How maintain a course of righteous obedience to his Lord, in secret as in public, in the desert as in the city, in the gloom of night as in the face of the sun, and in unpierced solitudes as amid a million of witnesses?

The pursuits of "a young man" may be various; but our inquiry is ever apposite. By whatever difficulties environed, to whatever legitimate consummation directed, he is solemnly bound to aspire after the "cleansing of his way." Holiness will adorn every path with a lustre which the world can neither kindle nor obscure. Is it the path of business?" Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." (1 Tim. iv. 8.) Scriptural piety guides our steps; preserves us from the ruinous Lanxieties of the world; and promotes, even in the marts of earthly commerce, the acquisition of the true riches. Is it the path of science ?— “God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy." (Eccles. ii. 26.). True religion beckons us onward in the flowery walks of learning; guards us from the entanglements of I • Covenant Tract.

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