in his Journal, 'The last has been a most painful week of discussion, temptation, and conflict, and yet a week with many mercies. There seem real difficulties, either in retaining my situation as Secretary, or in retiring, both as it regards the Church Missionary Society, and myself. The will of the Lord be done! The probability is that I shall stay a little longer. I have been anxious to explain my situation fully to those who ought to decide, that I may see the leadings of my God. O Father! make

my path clear, and may I ever live to Thee.'

"This Sunday, Abel Smith, Esq., the patron of the living of Watton, Herts, was one of his hearers at Wheler Chapel. He had attended his ministry with profit and delight, during the few weeks he spent in 1826 at Stapleford; and Dr. Dealtry, the incumbent of Watton, having informed him of his wish to resign, he desired, before making an offer of the living to Mr. Bickersteth, to hear him preach again among his own people.

"On March 19th, Mr. Bickersteth's Journal contains the following entry: 'I am brought, encompassed with many mercies, to the day of my birth, and though clouds are round about me, yet mercies also abound on every side. I know not the way before me, but my Father does, and I hope to keep close to Him, and then I need fear no evil. Never did I seem more encompassed with straits and doubts, but all shall clear up.'

"The next Sunday, Mr. Smith was again at the Chapel, and coming into the vestry after the service, offered to him the living of Watton. His path seemed to be so plainly marked by God, that, after a few days' consideration, he felt it his duty to accept it."

Towards the close of the year, Mr. Bickersteth removed to his new scene of labour, where, as on a quiet watchtower, he was able to take a wider view of the prospects, duties, and dangers of the Church of Christ, than was possible during the heavy pressure of his official engagements in London. His interest in the Missionary Society was undiminished, and other institutions still continued to receive his sympathy and support: but the general works of benevolence in which he took an active part became more numerous and varied after his removal to Watton.

He was,

moreover, the mainspring of religious

"The village of Watton is five miles from Hertford, and twenty-six miles from London, on one of the main north roads through Stevenage, Biggleswade, and Huntingdon. It lies in a valley, pleasantly wooded, and watered by a small stream which joins the river Lea ; but the church and rectory are on a rising ground, at a small distance on the western side. At the foot of the hill, and at the southern end of the village, the roads from Ware and Hertford meet each other. Between them, to the southeast, is Woodhall, the seat of the patron, Abel Smith, Esq., surrounded by a park several miles in circuit, and a private walk of half a mile leads to it from the village, through a small copse by the side of the stream. This walk, through Mr. Smith's kindness, was always open to Mr. Bickersteth and his family. It was one of his favourite resorts, when wearied with his incessant labours; and he used often, at mid-day or in the summer evening, to enjoy this quiet retreat, and to take sweet counsel there with many a dear friend who had come to see him, and to be refreshed by the communion of Christian love."

To which we may add the following reminiscences of a visit paid to Watton by Dr. Tyng, of the United States: -

"With what delight I met my revered and excellent friend, Mr. Biekersteth, you can readily conceive. Nor was I The sweetness disappointed in him.

and openness of his manners, and the remarkable cheerfulness of his countenance and conversation, would win the heart of an entire stranger. To me they were peculiarly enchanting. He was apparently in very feeble health, stooping a little, perhaps from weakness, and indicating, in all his aspect, that spiritual character, and separation from this evil world, which so distinguish him as a minister of Christ. ... The influence of Mr. Bickersteth is most extensive. There is such universal confidence in his remarkable excellence of judgment and integrity of purpose-such unfeigned respect for his real learning, and holy and exemplary ministry-that there are very few, if there are any, among the clergy, who have at all an equal influence over the minds of others. He seems enshrined

in the affections of his brethren, and I could not but feel the worth of such a character as his, when I heard him spoken of by them in private conversation, under the title of 'dear Bickersteth.' All that I saw of him continually increased my love for him; and cheerfully would I cross the Atlantic again, for the simple privilege of one more visit to Watton....

...

"When we descended into the quiet valley, in the bosom of which this little village rests, every spot awakened my increasing interest. It is a single street of cottages, with no houses of a higher character among them, in a narrow vale, which is crossed and watered by a beautiful stream. On an eminence on the right, before you reach the village, is Woodhall Park, the seat of Abel Smith, Esq., a large, modern residence, looking more like a public than a private edifice, encompassed with very extensive grounds, in which are large numbers of deer. On the hill opposite, before you reach the village, are the church and parsonage. The former is about 500 years old, and built of parts erected apparently in different ages: and, with its ancient tower among the trees, it is a striking object. Just above it stands the residence of Mr. Bickersteth, a large and commodious house, in the midst of a neat and wellimproved enclosure. The exterior, like all the country residences, is beautiful from the extreme neatness of the grounds. I walked up through the lane and churchyard with peculiar interest. It was the home of a man whom I have venerated and loved for years, and to whose writings I have been indebted for much important instruction. He was now to be seen by me in private life, and all the feelings of regard, which I had cherished at a distance, were confirmed and deepened by nearer observation. His manners are full of kindness and love; and there is a spiritual character in his conversation, and a religious influence about all he says and does, which is very impressive, and most delightful. He is also full of vivacity and life in his conversation, and exhibits that most interesting combination of gentleness, anima. tion, and seriousness, which gives a charm to all instruction, and an improving power even to recreation and amusement. How truly delightful is it to see him in the midst of a family, who understand the value of their privilege, and hang intently on every word he speaks! After dinner, on the day of my arrival, which was Saturday, there was a prayer

meeting in the library, when, at the request of Mr. Bickersteth, I spoke to them on a passage of the word of God. How quiet and soothing, how solemn and impressive, was the influence of this occasion; and I trust the blessing of God was with us.

"The morning of the Sabbath opened upon us with freshness and beauty. It was the most lovely season of the year, in a beautiful part of the country; and, amidst the holy calmness of the day, every object seemed to beam with pure loveliness. My window overlooked the village, which lay sleeping in perfect repose at the the foot of the hill, and seemed the resting-place of quiet and contentment... After breakfast, I visited the Sunday and Infant School, which are held in two neat buildings erected by Mr. Smith of Woodhall, who supports the schools with much liberality. I was much pleased with a small Bible-class of adults, who were taught in the church, and appeared to listen with great interest and desire to learn.

"Mr. Bickersteth preached a solemn and impressive sermon, on the offices and work of the Holy Spirit. The congregation, except the Woodhall family, seemed composed wholly of villagers, and the neighbouring farmers, and their labourers. It is a rural parish, having about eight hundred inhabitants, engaged in agriculture; but they seemed a serious and attentive people, and interested in the evangelical instructions of their pastor. I preached to them in the afternoon, and delivered a familiar lecture in the evening, at the school-house in the village. It was a peaceful, happy Sabbath, and I could only look back upon it, as passing too quickly for the pleasure it gave'

Turning to Mr. Bickersteth's more public labours, we find ourselves able only to glance at a few of the details presented in the memoir. Mr. Bickersteth took part in nearly all the Church questions of the day, and every year brought with it a silent accession to the moral influence which he exercised. In 1836 he published a pamphlet on the Progress of Popery, which in a few weeks passed through six editions, and in which he thus plainly exposed the tendencies of the semi-Popery of Oxford, and the danger arising from the unconcern of Protestants. We give the passages, with the comment of the editor:

"A highly respectable, learned, and devout class of men have risen up at one of our Universities, the tendency of whose writings is departure from Protestantism and a return to Papal doctrines. They publishTracts for the Times;' and while they oppose the more glaring part cf Popery, the infallibility of the Pope, the worship of images, transubstantiation, and the like; the very principles of Popery are brought forward by them; undue deference to human authority, especially that of the Fathers, overvaluing the Christian ministry and sacraments, and undervaluing (rejecting?) justification by faith. With much learning and study of the Fathers, with great apparent, and doubtless in some cases, real devotion, and a devotedness ascetic and peculiar, they seem to the author, as far as he has seen and known their course, to open another door to that land of darkness and shadow of death, where the Man of Sin reigns.'

This opinion on the true character, and probable issue of the Oxford Tracts, which Mr. Bickersteth thus expressed, with equal gentleness and faithfulness, fifteen years ago, has been fully and painfully justified by later events. Several of the writers of these Tracts, and a large number of their enthusiastic disciples and admirers, have already reached, in their steady progress, that 'land of darkness and the shadow of death,' to which their steps, from the first, were secretly tending,-the idolatrous communion of Papal Rome.

"The observations in the Tract, on the foolish unconcern of Protestants, and its probable consequences, have been not less fully verified :

"The false security in which the Protestant Church has been resting, is a most serious difficulty, to which we are by no means yet awake. The victories over Popery at the Reformation and the Revolution, the complete exposure of its idolatry, and display of it as the Antichrist, at the Reformation, and of its contradiction to Scripture and to all just reason, at the Revolution, and a century's quiet since, have occasioned this security. Our various legislative protections, one after another, have been removed, and still we have not yet awakened. And on what does this fancied security rest? On the enlightened spirit of the age? Surely we have not yet to learn that 'the world by wisdom knew not God.' the substantial good sense of the mass of the nation? Surely we have not forgotten the lesson- Cease ye from man;

On

put not your trust in the son of man, in whom there is no help.' But if we think our security rests on the word of God deposited with us, and his people residing among us, let the history of Israel speak volumes. When were there holier men than when Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel lived? Yet were the Jews carried captive to Babylon. When had the Church a greater revival than on the first spread of the gospel from Jerusalem? Yet was Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans, because, in both cases, of the abounding iniquity of the mass of the people.

"Our difficulties from Papists will most probably very greatly increase. As the Papists increase they will get more political power, and they are very subtle to use it. Already they very extensively hamper and restrain the efforts of true Protestants, and, where they can, injure and annoy them. How easily, if the Lord permit, may this spirit of persecution rise and grow, and bring on all the sufferings through which the Church may have to pass in these last days.'..

666

.... A conflict more arduous than the Church of Christ has yet passed through, seems then to be rapidly hastening on. Our advantages may hasten the last struggle. May we remember that we conquer by suffering. Bad men's minds are too excited by evil principles on every side, to rest; and God forbid that there should ever cease to be, among good men, those who will, at the extremest hazard, yea, at the loss of fortune, worldly reputation, ease, and life itself, proclaim the only name of Jesus to dying men, and the vanity of every other foundation.""

The Maynooth Bill of 1845 awoke in Mr. Bickersteth a deep and mingled feeling of grief and indignation. The following graphic touches are from a letter written by him to an opponent of the measure in Parliament:

"I venture to write to you again, after reading Peel's, Gladstone's, and Roebuck's speeches. Peel's is worldly conservatism, Gladstone's is superstitious Romanism, Roebuck's infidel liberalism, -the three unclean spirits of this day, (Rev. xvi. 13,) all perfectly opposed to the word of God, which abides for ever.

"Gladstone denies that Protestantism is any thing more than a negative term, as knowing and feeling nothing of its lifegiving doctrines, common to all Refor

mers; and so defames that which God accounts in His word (Rev. x.) an unspeakable blessing.

"He insists that we should look upon it in the way in which the Irish Papists must regard it, that is, we must give up our truth to adopt their error. His speech is more revolting than even Sir R. Peel's. He professes to look for principles, and has not one scriptural principle to stand upon.

"Roebuck thinks it requires omniscience to know what truth is. Was there ever such a Pilate-like state of mind?

"The real strength of the case seems to me very simple. God says, 'Thou shalt not bow down to an image.' The Papists bow down to images. The Queen is made by the legislature to say, ⚫ This is superstitious and idolatrous.' The same authority now proposes to educate persons who shall teach what the Queen then de

clared to be superstitious and idolatrous, at the expense of the country. It is monstrous infatuation, apart even from the testimony of Scripture against this corruption of Christianity.

"It is more than ever the turn of England's future history. We are Christians, but we are patriots. We love our country and our families. Now is the special opportunity to be faithful to God our Saviour, and to our fellow men, and to save ourselves, and those that hear us.

"I write in the fulness of my heart, hoping that God may strengthen you to stand up for His truth where it is so little regarded."

About this time Mr. Bickersteth's mind became much occupied with the subject of Christian Union, and, notwithstanding the discouragement he received from many of his dearest friends in the ministry of the Establishment, he gave his full support to the formation of the Evangelical Alliance. Whilst doing so, however, he fully recognized the conscientiousness of those christian friends who differed from him in respect to the movement. In a letter to a brother clergyman, he thus concludes:

"How are we to overcome evil? There is tremendous evil in this war of brethren, Protestant brethren, biting and devouring one another. It is the scoff of the Infidel and the Papist. I believe that we shall best overcome it, by men of the beatitudes presenting another spirit, that shall commend itself to the minds and consciences of all men, overcoming evil with good. It is not necessary that all who have a

heart-union should visibly unite, but it is needful that enough should do it, to pro duce the effect of a brotherly recognition.

"It is with the Lord whether it prosper or not. I feel that hitherto the design is hopeful, though full of difficulties. I endeavour to commit it all to the Lord; my conscience being clear that His truth and His love are my main motives in what I have done. Be also fully assured of my entire conviction of your brotherly spirit and faithfulness to Christ."

In another letter to a friend, dated February 2, 1846, he remarks, "There is a much greater disunion between me and Dr. Pusey, or a mere worldly clergyman, than between me and Mr. James, or a spiritually-minded Dissenter." How true this remark was, was signally proved the very following letter from the Rev. Angell next month, when he received the James, one of his Dissenting brethren We must premise

in the Alliance. that the occasion of the letter was, Mr. Bickersteth's having been thrown from his carriage, and laid-by by consequent illness :—

66

I cannot refrain any longer from conveying to you the assurance of my tender and prayerful interest in your present situation, and future recovery. With what deep concern I heard of your accident, as we call it, He is witness who alone knows how much I love you, and how much I glorify Christ in you; and with what gratitude I praised Him for the preservation of your invaluable life, which seemed in such imminent peril, my congregation can testify. Never was public prayer presented by them more fervently for the restoration of any one, except in the case of their own pastor, when his life seemed trembling in the balance. Thanks to the God of all power and grace, dearlybeloved servant of our common Lord, that in your case has been exemplified the truth of David's words in their true import: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints;' which evidently means, that God does not allow His servants to die, but watches over them as a rare thing, which He values and protects. So has it been in your case; and so, I trust, it will be. With our Divine Lord, the source of all life, all power, all wisdom and grace, at the head of His Church, and the helm of the world, I dare not say of any human instrument,' We cannot do without him;' but as far as I can with propriety say this, I say it, dear

sir, of you, in reference to our glorious cause of Christian union. Oh what an affliction is it to me, that we shall not see you in Birmingham! With this, however, we may be content, now that you are likely to be spared to us for future service, and spared with all the new treasures acquired in the purifying process of affliction. Yes, honoured and beloved brother, we shall love you more, and see more in you to love than ever, even as we shall love Christ more, not only for giving you, but now for sparing you to us. The Lord Jesus be with your spirit."

We must notice, also, Mr. Bickersteth's intimate connexion with the Society for Irish Church Missions. The greater part of the Special Fund for Ireland, raised in the year 1847, had been spent in aiding various existing religious societies; but in the following year the committee, besides continuing their aid to other societies as before, devoted about £800 to direct missions in the county of Galway. The success of this effort was most encouraging; and at the close of 1848 the committee determined to reconstitute themselves as a distinct society for missions to the Irish Roman Catholics. Next year, Mr. Bickersteth and Mr. Dallas, who had been among the earliest promoters of the Special Fund, visited Ireland for the purpose of learning the feelings of the Irish clergy; and, after hearing the statements of the Deputation, two hundred clergymen signed an address, expressive of their hope and gratitude, in reference to the new society. At the first public meeting of the society, held in London on the 22nd May, 1849, Mr. Bickersteth moved the first resolution. His address was simple, faithful, and impressive.

"Our mission," he said, "like our common Christianity, is aggressive, but aggression in real love to those whom it assails. We wish not their destruction, but their salvation, and would use no methods but speaking the truth in love!no bribery, no Roman anathemas, no Inquisition. The only remedy we desire to apply is God's own remedy,-the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ in love to their souls. . . It is a false charity for Protestants to be indifferent to the conversion of the Roman Catholics.

It is a

selfish cruelty, and places them in a false and indefensible position. It is infidelity

to Christ and His Gospel to remain silent with His truth in our possession, while so many millions are perishing for want of that truth. The Irish Roman Catholics must be considered as our neighbours, our brothers. and sisters. Their misery springs from Popery. Popery enslaves the intellect and brings men under an intolerable yoke of bondage. Ignorance is made the mother of devotion, or learning prostituted to oppress the soul. There is need of the royalty of true faith, in a Divine testimony of the liberty wherewith Christ makes free. . . Great trials, however, are to be expected, and many reproaches; but let us be strong and courageous, and we are assured by God,Then thou shalt make thy way prosper, and shalt have good success.' The urgency of the work has brought me out of direct parochial duties, to seek to promote it. We must all make sacrifices to advance it; and oh how thankful shall we be, if we thus bless our Roman Catholic brethren, bless Ireland, strengthen our Church, promote the welfare of our country, and honour that Divine Saviour who is our only Lord and Redeemer. Let the work be carried on in the spirit of prayer, confer His blessing on the Society. Withand in the spirit of love, and God will out prayer the hearts of Protestants will not open to aid us, nor the hearts of Roman Catholics to hear us; and deep intense love to their souls is the quickening and powerful motive for doing them real and lasting good."

The last London public meeting in which Mr. Bickersteth took a part, was in connexion with the same so

ciety. It was held in November, 1849, and formed a fit and worthy close of those abundant labours in which he had been occupied for more than thirty-five years in the cause of Christ. Mr. Dallas and Mr. Wilkinson had just returned from Ireland, and they recounted the cheering triumphs of the Gospel, which they had witnessed, in districts once spiritually dark. Then Mr. Bickersteth rose, and gave an address, which proved a parting one,-full of glowing praise to God and loving exhortation to his fellowProtestants.

Edward Bickersteth's active life was now drawing to its termination. Incessant occupation, without exhausting, in other respects, his strong constitution, had worn out the organ of thought, and brought on a fatal