glorify your Father which is in heaven." He kept Christ before him daily in his intercourse with men. He had to conflict with an opposing world, to resist gainsayers of the truth, slanderers and false brethren; and yet with what prudence and wisdom does he act! He rails not against railers, but commits "himself to him that judgeth righteously." He knew that a holy life would be a weighty argument in favour of Christianity; and that he daily strove after this, is evident to all who are familiar with his writings and life.

In this respect, too, did our revered friend glorify Christ. His conduct was eminently conducive to the honour of the Redeemer and his cause. He was a light in the world, of which men could not but take notice; and, long as it burned, — for more than half a century,—it never once underwent an eclipse. Even the ungodly respected him, and the tongue of the scoffer was silent when he was named. His simple and unostentatious piety, his unblemished reputation, his genuine kindness, his prudent walk, proclaimed “an Israelite indeed." His humility of mind, and the absence of all pride, were observed by every one who knew him. To assert, that in nothing he offended against a pure and righteous God, would be to belie the scriptures, and pervert the truth. And yet it may truly be said of him, that he honoured the cause of his Divine Master by the holy deportment he exhibited before the world.

Thirdly. By his labours in his cause.

These, as the scripture narrative shews, were diversified and extensive. The news of his conversion had scarcely flown through Damascus, before he was heard speaking in defence of the gospel; and from that time until he assumed the crown of martyrdom he never desisted from his work.

At first his labours were confined to his own nation.

They had great claims upon his sympathy and compassion, and these were ever cherished. He felt deeply their rejection of the Messiah, as is evident from his impassioned language concerning them. But when the will of the Great Head of the church was made known,—that he should go to the Gentiles,-without any conference with flesh and blood, he went forth, and committed himself to the work; and, throwing all the energies of his powerful mind into the service in which he delighted, warned sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and held up the torch of truth to point out the cross to a darkened and dying world.

We find the Apostle passing through a great part of the Roman empire, preaching the gospel of the kingdom; and, although exposed to perils by sea and land; in the city and the wilderness, from false brethren, from robbers, and from the heathen, nothing moved him. As the sun, he pursued his course, unweariedly; putting aside the clouds of trouble and calamity that at times gathered around his path, not allowing them to arrest or retard his progress while performing the duty that had been assigned him by God.

No matter what scenes he visited, nor what objects of interest presented themselves to his view; these engaged not, although for a moment they might excite, his mind. That which would have stirred up the soul of the mere learned traveller to rapture, awakened far different sensations in his. The splendour of Rome, and the elegant refinement of Athens, entranced not the senses of the man of God, when he bore in his hand the banner of the cross, as they might have done, when he first went forth from the feet of Gamaliel, flushed with success in his literary course, and burning with youthful ambition and zeal. Most others would have gazed with wonder and delight upon that city,

which was the boast of Greece, with all its temples, and towers, and palaces; but Paul, as he passed through it, and beheld its inhabitants wholly given to idolatry, felt his spirit stirred with the deepest compassion. He thought not of the prowess of her armies, nor of the learning of her sages, but of the dishonour done to God; and being earnestly desirous there to erect spiritual temples, that Christ might be honoured and loved,—and disregarding all other matters-he preached him as crucified for a perishing world. And thus did he act at Rome and elsewhere. This was his work; for this he lived. And no matter what might be the toil or pain attendant upon it, or the ignominy with which he was treated; no matter whether friends frowned or smiled, whether a contemptible or an honourable name was given him ;-none of these things moved him. He had identified himself with the interest of Christ; it was therefore his meat and drink to serve him. Out of love to him he lived and wrought for him; and nothing gave him greater joy than to know that Jesus was received into the heart as the hope of glory. He longed to swell the mighty hosts of the redeemed who should cast their crowns at the feet of their Lord, and join in the everlasting chorus of the skies. For this he besought men to be reconciled to God; persuading them by the alluring displays of divine love, or alarming them by the dreadful annunciations of divine wrath.

And again we perceive the applicability of the text to him who has just been gathered to his fathers. How unequivocally has he proved, by his multifarious exertions in the cause of Christ, that he had caught the spirit of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Deferring for the present any enumeration of his labours, it may be unhesitatingly asserted that few men have worked so long and so laboriously in the

vineyard of the Lord. From the time that his mind was first awakened to a clear comprehension of the truths of religion to the very close of his life-comprising a period of more than half a century-he never ceased from active exertions in the cause of Christ. Whether at home or abroad, amid civilized or savage, on the ocean or the land; whether by the pulpit or the press; whether he warned or entreated, sought to alarm or to win; one great truth was manifest to all, that for him to live was Christ. And when he heard of the success of the gospel, his heart rejoiced. I remember well, at the special services held in this district last year, after we had had an unusually solemn and impressive meeting, he came into the vestry, his eyes swimming in tears, and said, "Oh! I think the glory of God will be promoted by what has transpired." And not only with reference to his own people or denomination, did he rejoice when good was done. Wherever this was the case, his heart thrilled with pleasure; and many know how lively an interest he felt and evinced in the prosperity of the several sections of the church of Christ around him, and how ready he was to render any assistance he was able to afford. For him, again emphatically it may be said, to live was Christ.

This ought to be the language and the motto of every Christian; but he who would assume it must be careful that his warrant for its appropriation is sufficient. Are there not many professors of the faith who must conscientiously shrink from making the first part of this declaration, however unhesitatingly they might utter the last? In the case of Paul, the words were used with perfect propriety, and also by our revered departed friend. But could you say this, Christian professor? Is your life, as noticed by the eye of God, at all a copy of the Apostle's? You may

not be expected to give yourself up to the service of Christ as he did, but in the sphere in which God has placed you, you ought, as far as your influence extends, to seek to win over to the religion of Christ those who are as yet opposed to it. Have you done this? So many and so various are the modes of usefulness at present adopted, that he who does nothing for God cannot fling from him the charge of a want of participation in the spirit of Christ; and against such a man, the blood of his brother who is perishing at his side, or in heathen lands, has a voice that is crying unto God from the ground.

The apostolic maxim, "None of us liveth to himself," needs to be seriously considered by many; by those professing Christians especially who act as if the very converse were true. It is high time now for all to be active, and to gird on the armour, and assume the weapons of a holy warfare; for the powers of earth and hell are leaguing together to assault the strongholds of religion and morality; and nothing, under God, but an individual interest being awakened for the cause of truth and holiness, and individual and combined exertions being made to stem the advancing torrent of scepticism and impiety, will avert the most fearful evils, and turn aside the anger of an offended God.

The examples that have been witnessed by our own eyes, as well as those recorded in the pages of inspiration, stimulate us to duty. As one and another of the standardbearers fall, uttering the sentiment contained in the text, that sentiment must be caught and re-echoed by thousands, determined to imitate their holy and heroic conduct.

II. The Apostle's estimate of death—“ to die is gain." Paul had learned to look at the last enemy which is to be destroyed in the light of the cross, and the grave was illuminated by the radiance of immortality. Death to him was