morning of Whitsunday, 24th May, his countenance brightened, and he exclaimed, Come, Lord Jesus! James, I shall soon be with that happy company before the throne, and like them shall be clothed in robes of spotless white.' On the afternoon of Whitsunday he was much worse, and unable to recognise his old Christian friends who called to see him. Wednesday, 27th May, all the members of the family within reach being collected around his bed, I said, 'The Spirit and the bride say, COME.' He answered aloud, LORD, I COME.' He had a long sleep, which greatly refreshed him. On awaking he exclaimed, CHARIOT WHEELS.' At nine P.M., noticing us all standing around his bed, he APPEARED to address himself to each. His lips moved, but not a sound, not a whisper was perceptible. He then rested his eyes on me most affectionately. Afterwards, looking all round, my sister Sophia caught his dying accents: 'MEET ME IN HEAVEN.' He now closed his eyes, and slept sweetly, his breathing becoming weaker and weaker, until about half-past two o'clock, Thursday morning, 28th May, his happy spirit took its departure, without a struggle or a sigh, just six months and six days after his dear grandson, our beloved first-born, Charles Augustus, aged twenty-one, whom the Lord took 22d November 1862. He was buried at Waimate by the side of my dear mother and my dear son Augustus, to await the resurrection morn, when he shall arise from the dust of death in the likeness of his glorified Redeemer, and shall meet Him in the air, and he ever with the Lord."

CONCLUSION.

Summary of the Faith and Character of Mr. Davis.

THIS Memoir evidences that Richard Davis was A MAN OF GENUINE HUMILITY. He was humble in his own estimation. He lay passive in the hands of his covenant God. He sought not high things for himself. The ardent desire of his soul was not exaltation, but self-devotion to the cause of Christ, and usefulness in his day and generation. Many heartfelt expressions of deepest humility have been omitted in the transcripts of his letters and Journal to avoid a too frequent repetition of the same topic, as well as to obviate all possible misapprehension that none might form a lower estimate of his character and missionary labours than they justly merit.

This Memoir evidences that he was A MAN OF PEACE. He enjoyed peace with God, assured by the inward witness of the Spirit of his individual interest in the finished salvation of Christ. Having peace with God and peace in his own soul, he sought to live peaceably with all men. His peaceful disposition was manifested by the meekness with which he endured the contradiction of sinners at Stourton Caundle, his insulting persecution during the voyage from Greenwich to Port Jackson, and the gross

neglect of himself and family, where such neglect could scarcely have been anticipated. For his pacific selfdenying conduct under most trying circumstances in New Zealand, especially in regard to the litigated Land Question, and his habitual promotion of peace and goodwill among all the members of the mission family, I confidently appeal to the Right Rev. W. Williams, Bishop of Waiapu, and to the Venerable H. Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate, his former associates in missionary labours, whom he highly respected and most dearly loved. And I must add my own testimony, that during my prolonged personal intercourse and epistolary correspondence with him, from 1816 to 1863-a space of forty-seven years,-not one unpleasant word nor one difference ever occurred between us.

This Memoir evidences that he was A MAN OF A CATHOLIC SPIRIT. He loved all of every denomination who loved Christ and reflected His image. Witness his kindness to James Crocker, whose first religious impressions were the product of Wesleyan teaching. Witness how harmoniously he wrought with the Wesleyan Mission in New Zealand, ever ready to counsel, advise, and assist them. The presence of his eldest daughter (now Mrs. Matthews), and her recognition by one of the chiefs, preserved the lives of the Wesleyan missionaries when their property was despoiled in the Bay of Islands. Yet no man could be further removed from their denominational peculiarities. The doctrinal writings of Owen, Hervey, Whitfield, Romaine, and Scott in England, and of Brainerd and President Edwards in America, were dear to his soul, animated him in his missionary labours, and had his cor

dial acquiescence and concurrence.

The sovereignty of

Jehovah in providence and grace, upholding, directing, and controlling all things here below, was ever the anchor of his hope, the sustentation of his faith.

This Memoir evidences that, in the pursuit of religious knowledge, he was A MAN OF AN INDEPENDENT SPIRIT, not implicitly adopting the sentiments of others, but testing the fallible word of man by the infallible Word of God,the unerring standard of faith and practice. Witness his caution against the misuse of commentaries, a misuse calculated rather to produce head-knowledge than saving faith in the heart (p. 121). Witness his contrariety to the practice of this age in his condemnation of religious novels and works of fiction, because they gratify the fancy, but edify not the soul (pp. 214 and 371). Witness his protest against EXCESSIVE imitation of the image of Christ IMPERFECTLY reflected in the lives and writings of His holy ones, and his exhortation to imitation of that image PERFECTLY delineated in the Scriptures of truth (p. 408).

This Memoir evidences that his self-denying, persevering, and successful missionary exertion resulted from the conviction, deeply impressed on his mind, that THE GOSPEL PROCLAIMED IN FAITH AND INTEGRITY CAN NEVER BE PREACHED IN VAIN. The Dorsetshire farmer spurned the utilitarian maxim, that AN AXE WAS THE BEST MISSIONARY FOR NEW ZEALAND. (See p. 106.) He rejected the groundless figment, that civilisation must precede evangelization, and prepare the Maoris for the reception of the everblessed Gospel. He boldly uplifted the banner of the cross. In season and out of season, in public and in pri

vate, he proclaimed Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He obeyed Christ's command, "Follow Me." In him was pre-eminently fulfilled the promise made by Christ, "I will make you fishers of men." He believed all faithful ministers and missionaries to be heaven-sent, heaven-taught, heaven-commissioned messengers of God, guided by His providence and sanctified by His Spirit. He believed that God never sends the Gospel to any place in vain, but that it is always an effective call to the soul or souls, for whom, and to whom, God especially designed it. On this habitual persuasion he acted, and, according to his faith, he experienced, that the seed sown, and instruction given, returned not void, but accomplished that gracious purpose for which God had sent him.

This Memoir evidences that he both felt in his own heart, and proclaimed to others, THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING, FAITH, AND HOPE. He inculcated and reiterated this Divine truth in the privacy of correspondence, and the publicity of preaching. He enforced ASSURANCE as an efficient cause of holiness, separation from the world, and habitual communion with Jesus, as well as the essential prerequisite to rejoicing in Christ, to joy and peace in believing. From his earliest religious experience to his dying hour he habitually realized in his own heart, and maintained without wavering, that "the work of righteousness is PEACE, and the effect of righteousness QUIETNESS and ASSURANCE FOR EVER” (Isa. xxxii. 17). He could say with the royal Psalmist, "He hath made with ME an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: this is all my salvation and all MY desire" (2 Sam. xxiii. 5).