fering, he slept in Christ on the Saturday morning following, amid the most agonizing grief of his all but distracted wife, and the inexpressible sorrow of his weeping church. No pen can describe the overwhelming scene. His was indeed a house of mourning; a picture of lamentation and despair. The follow

ing is an account of the last nights of his life, by one of his most endeared friends who was with him during the whole time, and who was therefore a witness of his dying moments:

"When I arrived at Bacup on Friday, the 10th inst., I found him very feeble, but without any apprehension of death. About noon the doctor pronounced him improving; but from that time he grew rapidly worse, and about two o'clock in the morning he seemed to apprehend some danger, and prayed in a loud tone of voice, in the presence of his dear wife and myself, a most touching, comprehensive, and even eloquent prayer, embracing himself, his brothers and sisters-the people of his charge--a near and dear friend, together with his partner and family, and then for his own dear wife, begging especially that he might be permitted to stay a little longer to comfort her, and guide her in the way of life. I cannot describe how affecting this part of his prayer was. He, however, suddenly changed his tone of voice, and, with the deepest seriousness of feeling, and the profoundest humility of spirit, he said, 'Not my will, O Lord, but thine be done.' After a short time, he prayed again, in similar strains. I then asked him how he felt Christ to his soul. He looked up, as if half astonished at such a question, and said, 'Oh, dear brother, He is precious! precious! I have loved Christ; believed in him; in some humble measure, followed Christ; laboured for him; and, surely, dear friend, this is not the time to forsake him. I lean upon Christ now. Upon whom can I lean but upon him? He is my only

Saviour.'

"After a short interval, I asked him if he had anything particular to request of me. He replied, Yes; you must tell the friends at Idle that Christ has been with me; that I die in faith; that I have a good hope through grace; and that, having finished my course, I am going to my reward.'

"At another time he remarked, 'What a valuable thing Christianity is in dying circumstances, pointing us, as it does, to a glorious immortality,' &c., &c. I began to repeat to him, 'How happy are

the saints above.' He instantly took it up, and repeated two verses himself. He then said, 'Oh! but there is another hymn which has often impressed and delighted me; 'Jerusalem, my happy home,' &c. He repeated three verses of that, and then returned to the first with the greatest emphasis.

"Some time having elapsed, he seemed to summon all his remaining energy, and prayed with a very loud voice, pleading with intense earnestness God's promises and Christ's death, saying, among other things, O Lord, I believe thou wilt bring me off more than conqueror. Oh, blessed Jesus, I have but one more plea to urge; thou hast said, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Lord, I have come, come in faith, come in penitence. I come so now. come for eternal life, for eternal life.' Then lowering his voice, and lifting up his eyes, he calmly said, 'Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit.' Finally, after a pause, he said, 'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly; ' then, calmly, with that expression upon his dying lips,

he entered into rest."

I

Thus lived and died one of the most loving and loveable of young ministers, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, in the ninth month of his pastorate, and in the third month of his wedded life, amid the profound regrets of weeping people, the tearless sorrow of suffering relations, and the universal sympathy of all denominations of Christians. The particulars of the funeral need not be repeated. Suffice it to say, that a spectacle of more intense mourning by his church and friends, and townsmen, has rarely been witnessed. His death, above his life even, demonstrated with what intensity he was respected and beloved. His funeral sermon was preached on the Sabbath evening after the interment, from 2 Tim., iv. 7, to one of the most densely crowded audiences ever witnessed, who testified the depth of their sympathy by the seriousness of their attention, and the fulness of their weeping eyes. As a preacher, he was earnest and self-possessed, sometimes impassioned. His sermons were thoroughly scriptural, experimental, and practical. His manner was serious, without being formal; his style simple; his voice impressive; his aspect grave; his attitude dignified. In the pulpit, his whole appearance was that of a man who was anxious to save souls; out of it, that of a man who really believed in Christ.

Keighley, Sept. 25, 1852.

THERE are few among our educated mothers who have not heard of John Knox, and not many who are wholly strangers to the name of his celebrated Biographer, Dr. M'Crie; but we presume the number of those is not great who are acquainted with some of the facts of his early and deeply-interesting history, as set forth in the excellent Life of him by his Son :

His mother, Mary Hood, was the daughter of Mr. John Hood, a respectable farmer in the vicinity of Dunse, and allied to different families of that name who still follow the same occupation in Berwickshire and East Lothian. She was a woman of superior mind, of exemplary piety, and the most amiable dispositions. From his father he appears to have inherited a vigorous constitution and a masculine understanding; from his mother, the almost feminine sensibility of of his nature. The mutual attachment between this truly excellent mother and her first born, was of no ordinary kind. He has been frequently heard to trace to her example, her instructions, and her prayers, his first serious impressions of religion; and to relate, with much feeling, how deeply he was affected by what he heard at a female prayer-meeting, to which her kind hand conducted him when he was a mere child. Nor did he fail, on his part, in his duty to this affectionate parent; he would spend the time allotted by other boys of his age to play, in watching the sick-bed of his mother, who was long in delicate health, and even aiding her in the performance of domestic duties. To use the expression of an old servant of the family, who is still alive, "he was aye manly in his carriage," -as an instance of which, she recollects of his being employed, in the absence of his father, to conduct the family worship, and catechise the servants, when he could be little more than ten years of age.

Young M'Crie's parents were connected with what was known as the Scottish Secession,-a species of Dissenters of a very rigid character, but exhibiting firmness of principle and excellence of character. The boy drank deep into the religious spirit of the circle it was his happy lot to move in :

In these circumstances, he received that thoroughly religious education, of the importance of which he was ever afterwards so strenuous an advocate, and of the success of which he was himself a striking example. His own inclination, coinciding with the ardent wishes of his mother, led him, at a very early period, to choose the profession of the sacred ministry, and to direct his studies toward that object. He was taught the elements of classical education by Mr. Crookshanks, parish schoolmaster of Dunse. At

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this time, his avidity in the pursuit of learning attracted the notice of all around him. Sedate and studious in his habits, he would often retire to the fields, and there, not only forsaking his companions, but forfeiting his ordinary meals, he would spend the livelong day in poring over his books. With such application, his progress, it may well be supposed, was rapid, and advanced beyond what is common in one of his years; and he thus acquired in his youth that classical taste which is rarely the attainment of those who commence their studies at a later period of life.

From his earliest days he manifested a great love of books, requiring rather to be restrained than impelled in the prosecution of his studies. His worthy father, whose means were limited, soon saw that if the matter was to be carried out to a College education, it would involve expenses which might subject him to difficulties, and with a spirit the reverse of that of the feudal aristocracy, he said that "he would not make a gentleman of one of his sons at the expense of the rest;" and it was only through the kind interference of his maternal grandfather and other relations, that the difficulty was overcome, and the boy allowed to proceed in his literary career. He was a man in heart when only a boy, and very speedily found the means of supporting himself:

Thus encouraged, however, he threw himself on his own resources; and with a manliness and resolution little to be expected at his time of life, he earned for himself the ways and means by which, with the occasional help of his friends, who discovered the promising abilities of the future historian, he was enabled to meet the expenses of his education. Before he was fifteen years of age, he taught successively two country schools in the neighbourhood of Dunse. In 1788 he acted for a short time as usher in the parish school of Kelso, and shortly afterwards served in the same capacity in East Linton. While employed in these situations, every one was struck with the extremely youthful appearance of the "dominie," who was, in fact, little older than the boys whom he taught, and with whom he would join in their out-door amusements; though, during school hours, he maintained over them the most perfect control. It might be mentioned here, perhaps, that with all his fondness for study, he delighted and excelled in rural sports, could lend a hand in the lighter labours of the farm, and was famed for his feats in horsemanship; thus giving proof of that activity and boldness, for the display of which he afterwards found a very different field.

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church teaches, the perpetual miracle of transubstantiation, and the sacrifice of the mass for the quick and the dead soon followed.

Justification before the tribunal of God, by the alone merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, had been early disclaimed, and an inherent operation of grace substituted; that is, man's deserts put in the place of the sacrifice of Christ. The merit of congruity and condignity was a corollary from this. The addition of five sacraments to the two instituted by the Lord, the denial of the cup to the laity, auricular confession to the priest, monastic vows, the merit of virginity, and the celibacy of the clergy, were dovetailed into this system of human works and deservings.

In the meantime, the authority of the priesthood, and of the bishops and priests, were by degrees subjected to the Pope. The temporal dignity of the ten Roman kingdoms bowed to the ecclesiastical. They gave their power to the mystic wild beast, as St. John had predicted. There he sat, and sits now, enthroned in the chair of blasphemy, styling himself the vicar of Christ, dispensing with the laws of God, imposing on the consciences of men whatever idolatries and superstitions he pleased; and proclaiming himself the Anti-Christ by "opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped."

To terrify men into obedience, at least an external obedience, the secular arm was called in, persecution cruelly inflicted, the horrors of the inquisition invented, the blasphemous claim to infallibility assumed, a temporal dominion over the country round Rome obtained, and the mighty defences of an earthly sovereignty thrown around his spiritual idolatry.

What more! Councils and synods through a series of dark and ignorant ages from the first council of Nice to those of the fifth Lateran and of Trent, that is for more than twelve centuries, gradually sinking deeper and deeper in superstition, strengthened the papal usurpations; the second Nicene in 787 establishing the worship of images, the fourth Lateran in 1215 decreeing the extermination of heretics, and the synod of Trent in 1545 embodying and confirming the whole accumulated mass of abominations.

To deck out all this idolatry and superstition with what attracts the multitude when ignorant of Scripture, shows, pageants, music, incense, processions, gor

geous robes, endless variety of altars, chapels to saints, statues, images, mere tricious splendour of churches were multiplied. Gold and jewels dazzled the eyes, melodious sounds of music fell upon the ear, fragrant perfumes overpowered the senses.

But the Reformation burst out in the sixteenth century. To meet the shock of it, the Jesuits arose in 1534. They surrounded the papacy as a body-guard. They devoted themselves to its defence by a special vow. They craftily adapted their measures to the necessity imposed by the revival of learning and the invention of printing. They seized the spiritual guidance of princes. They grasped at popular education. They worked their wily way by talent, learning, scholastic refinements, the Aristotelian philosophy, a yielding system of morals, art, chicane, policy, intrigue. And after a dissolution of their order for forty years, they contrived to obtain a re-establishment soon after the peace of 1814; and are now filling our colonies, our Indian Empire, and our mission stations abroad, and every part of the British dominions at home, fed by the Propaganda societies in papal Europe.

Such is Popery, as worked out from the few principles condemned by our apostle at Colosse; and such is the system to which, with unutterable fatuity, our Tractarian divines have been so lamentably tending.

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And how has the apostacy gained its hold on the consciences and affections of men? Simply by "beguiling" them, as St. Paul tells us, "with enticing words," by making a prey of them by philosophy and vain deceit," by building upon a "voluntary humility" well worked into their habits in childhood, by a "show of wisdom" attractive to the superstitious mind, by an affected "neglect of the body," and a "will-worship" dictated by the church,

In this artful way, Rome has much to say for herself. She asserts that she is misrepresented by the Protestants. She acknowledges Christ as the only Redeemer; she holds the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, the work of the Holy Ghost. She retains the three ancient creeds. boasts of having overcome in the early centuries all the blasphemous heresies which denied the humanity or divinity of Christ, or the fall and corruption of man, or the personality and grace of the Holy Ghost. She resisted the Gnostic, Mani

She

She

chæan, Arian, Pelagian, Macedonian, Apollinarian, Eutychian, and Nestorian heresies. She extinguished the Waldenses and Albigenses, defended the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the revocation of the edict of Nantes. She is the orthodox church. She claims antiquity, universality, and general consent. points to her fathers and saints, to her sisters of charity and her monastic institutions, to her learned Benedictines and Sorbonne divines. She bids you contemplate the piety, humility, and spirituality of her Thomas à Kempis. She tells you, that with her alone are the feelings of awe, veneration, and deep devotion to be found. She bids you, in a word, contrast her unity with the varieties and divisions of the reformed bodies.

But, brethren, you will never listen to these enticing words with the New Testament in your hands. You will pierce this whited sepulchre, and look within, and see the dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Instead of words and pretences you will ask for facts. You will contrast St. Paul's method of sanctification with that of the Pope. You will tell them that the three creeds are nullified by the thirteen suffrages of Pope Pius IV. You will tell them that the heresies they crushed, and the fathers they rely on, were chiefly before the ripening of the apostacy at the commencement of the seventh century. You

will remind them that their persecution of the Waldenses and Albigenses, and their concurrence in the murders of Paris, and the banishment of the flower of the population from France, were amongst their foulest crimes. As to antiquity, tell her it is clearly against her. The universal consent claimed is all contradictory; and the general diffusion asserted, a lie. You will inform her that her Thomas à Kempis, and Pascal, and Nicole, in later ages, and her Cyprian and Augustine in earlier ones, were rescued by God's mercy from the idolatry and real spirit of Rome prevalent in their day, and protested against it. As to her feelings of awe and veneration, and her unity, you will let her know we possess them all in our own Protestant churches, without pushing them to superstition, and without swamping them in the mass of idolatry which destroys all their real effect in the church of the apostacy.

Rome, in a word, is not misrepresented by the Protestants. She is perfectly understood; as she was by St. Paul and the other inspired writers who have delineated her features to the very life. Her system is idolatrous; her worship frivolous and debasing; her discipline a tyranny; her doctrines in the very teeth of Christ's mediation; her external government an usurpation; and her false humility and show of wisdom only a cloak for pride and folly. WILSON.

REV. AND DEAR SIR,-Permit me through your columns to intreat the Ministers, Deacons, and Members of Congregational Churches to bear with me, while I address to them the word of affectionate exhortation, on a subject of all subjects the most important to the church of Christ at the present crisis. I allude to the general decline of services on the Lord's day afternoon throughout our land. I wish not to intrude long either upon their time or your space, and therefore, without any introductory observations, I shall at once divide my thoughts into four parts, on each of which I shall offer a few brief remarks.

I. THE CHARACTER OF THE DECLINE IN AFTERNOON SERVICES.

While I am prepared to admit that it prevails, to a certain extent, among all religious bodies in our land; I believe its

most devastating and baneful influence is peculiar to Independent and Baptist churches. It has made alarming progress within the last twenty, but more especially within the last five years. As facts are preferable to indefinite assertions, I give the following from the town and county wherein I reside. Twenty years ago the Unitarian chapel was the only dissenting chapel in this neighbourhood in which there was not a full service, including a sermon, on the Lord's day afternoon. At the present time the state of things is as follows.

No. 1. Independent Chapel: formerly three sermons by the pastor; now morning and evening by the pastor; afternoon by a stranger; ordinary congregation, 2,000; formerly, in the afternoon, 1,200 to 1,500; now, 250, and sometimes as low as 100.