great Head of the church, and the ordinances which he has ordained, cannot be repudiated without substitutes being put in their place; the effect of which will be, to leave the people destitute of those blessings of divine grace and peace which that gospel alone can impart.

Mr. Miller and his colleagues, however, did not labour in this discouraging field in vain; they had the pleasure of witnessing an increase of one hundred and fifty members and when Mr. Miller left them at the end of two years, they were, though surrounded with the dangers referred to, in a comparatively spiritual, lively, zealous, and united state. His ministry had infused amongst them a purity and power, without which, any Christian church must become decomposed, and sink into a state of putridity and death.

6. ROCHDALE became the next scene of Mr. Miller's faithful ministry. We know very little, however, of the events which took place during his two years' residence and labours in that place. Only one letter has come to hand dated from Rochdale, and that enters into no particulars on the subject.

The reasons inducing his appointment to this town are not known, but they probably arose out of the peculiar circumstances of that people at the time. Two or three years previously, a minister had proved faithless to his trust, and preached a sort of neological or rational system of doctrine, which, if not Socinianism in itself, issued in that fatal heresy. This man, in his denial of the vital doctrines of the gospel, fixed upon that of the witness of the Spirit as the object of a formal attack. He succeeded, as all designing men do in our societies, in producing an impression unsettling the

minds of many weak Christians, and ultimately producing a division.

The late acute, and highly talented EDWARD HARE had fully met the theological question, and refuted the sophisms of this agitator. His tracts on this controversy, though amongst the earliest, are by no means the least useful of his very able pen.

It was proper to follow up this polemic victory by energetic evangelical labours; and this most likely induced the conference to send Mr. Miller. Though hard to himself to be again brought into a field of difficult and trying duty; yet the appointment was most wise and proper. But although we have no information respecting the particular circumstances attending the ministry of Mr. Miller and his colleagues, (one of whom was Mr. Hare, the first year,) yet we learn the result. Notwithstanding the discouragements and difficulties which must attend such a scene of labour, the increase of members amounted to one hundred and eighty-five.

7. YORK circuit followed Rochdale, in the course of Mr. Miller's itinerancy. The Rev. A. E. Farrar, who was one of his colleagues, has kindly furnished some very interesting particulars, and his communication will narrate the facts and incidents of this period.

"It was my happiness to spend a year under Mr. Miller's roof at York, in 1809-10; a period to which I look back with many delightful emotions. The children were nearly all, in infancy, and rich in promise; Mrs. M. was an angel of a woman, and Mr. M. had then but little declined in physical vigour. We were associated with the late Mr. J. M‘Donald, a man, who, if Christian love could be carried to an extreme of benevolence, was, of all others whom I have known, most likely to exceed in

its indulgence. I mention these particulars, as possibly spreading a deceptive halo around features of character, which might otherwise have stood out in my memory, under somewhat different aspects.

"The predominant aim of Mr. Miller, at that time, as always, was to live in God.' He professed a state of entire sanctification; and appeared eminently to 'walk in the Spirit.' He left this impression every where. Of the world he cared to know nothing. He was decidedly a spiritual man. His conversation, not often continuous, was directed to lead the heart to God; and frequently—almost every day, he would suddenly call his family to their knees; and seldom did he thus take us into the divine presence, but we felt as though bending beneath the cloud that overshadowed the Mercyseat. He fully entered into the promise, 'If ye abide in me, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.'

"His habits, at this period, were not decidedly studious; and in consequence of the weakness of his eyes he read but little. His preparations for the pulpit, which were elaborate, he chiefly made during his daily walks in the rural retreats which the environs of the city offer, for he was a complete peripatetic,-during which also, he held his chief communion with God, sometimes in a state of mind so abstracted, that the casual passenger was not a little perplexed in forming a judgment of the apparently eccentric wanderer.

"His preaching was characterized by the impassioned feeling which resulted from his constitutional ardour, called into full operation by an intense love of souls. Nothing less could satisfy him than bringing sinners to God.

To this all the resources of a naturally fervid

imagination, not always, perhaps, under the control of what are regarded to be the rules of taste, were powerfully directed. He was always interested himself in every subject he discussed, and he aimed to make his hearers so. Figure upon figure was lavished upon this object; facts, if striking, no matter how simple, were laid under contribution to the same end; and if success be to decide the excellency of any ministry, Mr. Miller's was of the highest order, illustrating the principle which every preacher should constantly take as his guide, He that winneth souls is wise.'

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"In prayer, he had often great power with God. But he was much less familiar, and far more solemn in his manner of offering it, than most who have been distinguished as revivalists. Empty noise, or any thing like an approach to rant, he more than disapproved; it sometimes called forth his stern rebuke. An incident, which, however, he never much liked to hear named afterwards led him once into an expression of feeling on this point, which I believe he saw to have been imprudent. Upon the occasion of a lovefeast at TADCASTER, he was met by some ardent people from a distance, who appeared to expect that he would sympathize in all their vociferousness. He commenced the service, as was his usual practice, by abasing himself and his fellow worshippers in the presence of the Divine Majesty, slowly-reverently-and in a way deeply impressive. One of his visitants made a loud response. Mr. Miller paused. The interruption was soon boisterously repeated. Mr. M again paused. He was grieved; and said, somewhat severely, 'That is not in God: God is not there.' 'He may not be in the pulpit,' replied the offender wholly unabashed,—‘ but

I am sure he is here!' Mr. M. perceived in this case, that the impertinence of this noisy professor, only made more apparent, what he instantly felt to have been a departure from propriety in himself. Ardour was his constitutional temperament; and his imperfections, not less than many of his excellences, flowed from it: for I sometimes detected, on other occasions, a hastiness of judgment and expression, which in a less excellent character, of a different complexion, would have been avoided. 'Elias was a man of like passions with us.”” The following extract is from a letter addressed to the Rev. A. E. Farrar.

"York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 1811. "MY DEAR FRIEND,-I feel much obliged for your affectionate letter. If I had as good eyes, and as great a command of pen as you, my correspondence would be more frequent. I can participate with you in your feelings concerning the work, yet painful as they sometimes are, be assured they are preferable to a careless, shameful indifference. Feel on-groan on-you will be driven to your knees more frequently, you will be stimulated to action more powerful, to labour more fervent. My cry is, 'O! Lord, let me feel more intensely for the cause-lay thy burden heavier upon me-only save me from the curse of insensibility, from the condemnation of unfaithfulness! Preach with these feelings, only let them be pure from selfishness. Let the zeal of the Lord eat you up, and let the fishers for popularity, the drones of laziness, and the muckworms of interest, claim and possess their own. Your reward is with the Lord. You crush me by ascribing any degree of blessing derived from my spirit and preaching to your