high regard for this important institution to the latest period of his life, contributing more largely than any other individual to its numerous and interesting publications. Amongst the latest publications of his pen were the Sermons to the Aged, published by that Society, proving that, even amidst the feebleness and sufferings of declining nature, his mind retained its vigour, and that doing good was the habit and the element of his life. "Whatsoever his hand found to do, he did it with all his might." He "abounded in the work of the Lord."

On the decease of the Rev. John Eyre, of Homerton, in the year 1803, Mr. Burder was solicited and elected to be his successor, both in the office of Gratuitous Secretary to the Missionary Society, and Editor of the Evangelical Magazine. He received also a unanimous invitation to become the pastor of this church (Fetter Lane).

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I ventured to accept these appointments," said Mr. Burder, "I trust with a sincere desire to glorify God and edify his church, humbly hoping that the great Head of the Church would supply my dear old friends at Coventry with a faithful minister." It cost him much, however, to burst asunder the strong and tender ties which had for nearly twenty years united him to that church, which had been built up by his assiduous, zealous, and successful labours. The attachment cherished and expressed by all classes of his hearers, and the unfeigned respect with which he was regarded by the inhabitants of the city at large, were such as to render a separation unusually painful. It was sustained, however, on his part, by an undoubting conviction of duty, which he never ceased to feel.

During his residence in Coventry, and while engaged in the

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arduous duties of his pastoral and itinerating labours, he published the first two volumes of his Village Sermons, a work which was afterwards extended to eight volumes. Many other works, before and after this series, were published by our excellent friend, all of which are marked by his characteristic qualities-eminent simplicity, directness of adaptation to their end, and that end obviously and continually -USEFULNESS. The Village Sermons, however, are the publications which will never be forgotten, and they deserve the immortality which they will assuredly obtain. Evangelical in sentiment; pervaded by a tone of spiritual and practical piety, pre-eminently lucid and simple in their style, their method, and their object; marked by a calm dignity, and an unaffected plainness, as remote from vulgarity as it is from display; and free from every thing polemic and directly controversial, yet always maintaining the great truths of the common salvation, they have attained an extent of circulation, and secured a degree of usefulness, altogether unparalleled in the history of sermons. They have gone through numerous and large editions, have been widely circulated in America, and have been translated into several of the continental languages; they have been read in villages and schools in all parts of the country; they have been the means of introducing the gospel into districts, and even parish churches, where before it was comparatively unknown; thousands and tens of thousands have been benefitted by them, where the name of their author was unknown. Numerous and most encouraging have been the instances of conversion by their means; and some are now preaching the gospel with zeal and success, who, by the blessing of the Divine Spirit on the reading of

them, have been "turned from darkness to light." Had Mr. Burder written only the Village Serhis name would be for ever embalmed in the grateful remembrance of the church of God.

mons,

After being ten years actively and usefully occupied in his arduous engagements in London, he thus writes in one of his private papers.

"When a traveller gets near his journey's end, he notices every hour of time, and observes every mile-stone which he passes. So when a man reaches the age of sixty-one, it is high time for him to consider what progress he has made, and how near he is to his home. I hope I am not insensible to these things. I have greatly to admire the goodness of God in continuing so great a degree of health as I now enjoy greater than at almost any former period of my life. I am inclined to think the Lord thus favours me that I may more fully devote myself to his work, which, blessed be his name, is my delight; and I think myself highly favoured in being permitted not only to preach his gospel with acceptance and success, but also to engage daily in promoting his cause among the heathen, by the Missionary Society. To God be all the glory! As to myself, aware of my time of life, I wish to work while it is day, and to watch while I work, that I may be found ready for death and heaven whensoever the Lord shall call."

Fourteen years afterwards, in the year 1827, his age and consequent infirmities compelled him to resign his office as Foreign Secretary to the Missionary Society, having previously found it necessary to relinquish the editorial charge of the Evangelical Maga

zine.

On the 18th of June, 1826, he thus writes:

"It was fifty years yesterday since I preached my first sermon; and this day I have preached to my people at Fetter-lane on the same text (Luke iv. 18). This is a day of humiliation : enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord; but graciously accept my very imperfect attempts to serve thy cause. Accept them through Jesus Christ, through whom alone I can hope for the acceptance either of my person or my works.""This must also be a day of thanksgiving. Half a century have I been spared to serve the Lord in his Sanctuary, whilst multitudes of younger ministers have finished their course. I suppose may have preached nearly ten thousand

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sermons; and, blessed be God, some of the seed has been productive. To God be all the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."

By the great goodness of God he was enabled still to preach with ease and energy once every Lord's day. This, however, being the full extent of labour practicable at so advanced a period of life, it afforded him great satisfaction to receive the aid of the Rev. Caleb Morris, who was associated with him in the pastoral charge; towards whom he ever cherished the feelings of paternal affection, and from whom he uniformly received every demonstration of respectful and affectionate attachment. Long may the health and life of your surviving pastor be continued-your "peace be as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea!"

The following touching reflections are extracted from the last paper in his occasional writings. It was written on his birth-day, June 5, 1829 :

"Seven years ago, when I concluded my seventieth year, I called my family together, prayed with them, gave them some advice, and read a paper which I committed to their care. Of the domestic circle which then surrounded me, no less than four are gone to the grave my dear wife, my two dear daughters, and my dear daughter-in-law, the beloved wife of my son Henry--all gone; and 1, who am older than any of them, still spared, and complete this day my seventy-seventh year. A few days ago, I visited the spot where the mortal remains of the above are

deposited, and in which this frail body must soon be laid up. O that with them I may have a joyful resurrection to eternal life! The disorder in my face, of ten years' standing, continues gradually though slowly to increase, and with increasing pain, which I endeavour daily to bear with patience. My chief complaint is the weakness of my faith."

His sight, which had been gradually failing, was at length entirely lost.

Yet even its total failure did not induce him to discontinue his beloved engagements in preaching the gospel of his Lord and Saviour. In this he was graciously enabled to persevere even till the first Sabbath of March last;

and t was not till about that time that any difficulty in the exercise of memory materially interfered with the tranquillity, or even the energy, of his pulpit exertions. The last time of his officiating in this sanctuary will never be forgotten! During the period of his blindness, his preaching had often been eminently marked by the power and rich unction which distinguished it, and his characteristic assiduity and diligence had been evinced even in his mental preparation for the pulpit. But on this final occasion there was a peculiar solemnity and pathos in the discourse he delivered. The subject was-" The man of sorrows." His own personal sufferings were not, and could not be, forgotten, while he uttered the affecting words of the text; and if his afflictions abounded, his consolation also abounded through Christ Jesus.

For the last two months his strength continued rapidly to decline. He was soon fatigued with the effort necessary to converse at any length with his friends, and even with his family. His mind was, however, preserved in the possession of peace and patience. He frequently intimated that he was favoured with peace; although, under the pressure of much pain and many infirmities, he could scarcely say that he had joy. He was continually "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

The closing scene was one of great debility and exhaustion, but of perfect peace. Within a few hours of his departure, he added. his feeling and emphatic Amen to a few petitions offered by one of his sons; and at length, surrounded by his attached and devoted family, gently and serenely he yielded up his spirit into the hands of him who had redeemed it by his blood, and entered into the joy of his Lord!

And thus departed our once suffering, but now glorified friend! His course was the path of the just, that shone with increasing splendour to its meridian of earthly glory, and, amidst all the softened radiance of its setting, gave the sure pledge that it would rise in brighter array. His character was no ordinary exemplification of the faith and hope of the gospel. His excellencies were the result of heartfelt evangelical principles. His virtues were Christian virtues; they sprang up and flourished-where alone true holiness can be found-at the foot of the cross. The grace of Christ was the sustaining principle of his character. Piety, prudence, and patience, were associated in lovely combination, and, as heavenly graces, presided over his spirit, and formed the habitual temper of his mind. If one term might be considered as describing the prominent feature of his character, it was SIMPLICITY. It was that simplicity of purpose and aim which proved at once the strength and the integrity of his mind. Its one object was usefulness; to this every plan of action was steadily and uniformly subordinated. There was no parade, no ostentation, no attempt at display, no ambitious effort; and he was therefore free from the anxieties and the perturbations of pride and vain glory. This concentration of aim and motive gave unity, efficiency, and consistency to his character; imparted a corresponding simplicity to his manner, his style, and his arrangements; and pervaded the entire system of his private intercourse and his public life. This was the secret spring of that calmness and repose which he usually maintained. In patience he possessed his soul; his " eye was single, and his whole body was full of light."

Yet, amidst all these excellencies of character, no one had more lowly thoughts of himself; he was clothed with humility; and, towards the close of life, seemed more than ever conscious of his obligation to the sovereign grace of God, as the sole cause of his salvation. Every reference to his own character and usefulness gave him pain; he disclaimed all self-dependence; he felt that no righteousness but that of the Divine Redeemer could form the basis of his hope; and thus he died as he lived-looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ."

My brethren, what responsibility is connected with the services and the remembrances of such a man! It was no inconsiderable distinction to have had, nearly thirty years, a pastor whose fidelity and simplicity, and holiness of life, and honourable consecration to the glory of the Redeemer, so delightfully illustrated and adorned his Christian profession. I ask you, individually, as in the presence of that Judge before whose tribunal you must soon appear, what is the answer you are prepared to give at his tribunal, when you are to return an account of your stewardship? His character, his services, his instruction, his admonitions, will all be remembered another day! How often in this sanctuary have you heard that voice, now silent in the grave, directing you to look to the mercy of the Lord Jesus! How often have you been warned to flee from the wrath to come! How fervently and affectionately has every class in this congregation been directed by the appropriate warning, or the faithful exhortation! How wisely and judiciously has every portion of the divine testimony been applied, with enlightened discrimination, to believers in all the varieties of their experience, and to the careless amidst all the diversities of their

impenitence and unbelief! That voice you will hear no more; to those instructions and appeals you will listen no more; by those solemn warnings you will be entreated and admonished no more: and can they be forgotten? Many, I know, will remember them; with the name and services of your departed pastor, you will ever love to connect your highest happiness on earth, and your brightest hopes of heaven; and, as his spirit ascended to that world where with him you are preparing to be associated, you looked up with tears, and exclaimed My father-my father! the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" He first led you to the paths of peace; he first directed you to look to Jesus, and to seek mercy through him. May you be faithful unto death, and meet him at last as the crown of his rejoicing! Others now present have been, by his ministry, "built

up

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in their most holy faith;" and this place has been to you the house of God and the gate of heaven. Here you have been directed in your perplexities, fortified amidst your conflicts, and comforted in your sorrows. Your venerated pastor

"Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way."

There are some before me whom I ought to address on this affecting occasion, and I wish that with composure and self-possession I could give full utterance to the feelings and sympathies of my heart. My beloved brethren, the honoured sons of our venerated father, you have recollections at this hallowed hour peculiarly and exclusively your own! Others may forget even the departed pastor of this church; -and, alas! how soon does the church as well as the world forget its benefactors !-but you cannot forget! The tenderest and the most sacred associations are yours; and what precious reminiscences

will it be your privilege as well as your duty to cherish! While you feel that a father's venerated me mory will ever be dear to you as your richest treasure, you have still higher reasons for grateful and affectionate remembrances. You can never forget the instructions, and the prayers, and the example, by which you have been led to seck the God of your father. It was his felicity, and what to a parent's heart was a richer felicity, to see your early days and your matured powers consecrated to the service of the Redeemer, and the advancement of the same holy cause to which he devoted himself with such honourable and successful activity. What a model for the imitation of your filial piety, and what a motive to the persevering and faithful discharge of every parental duty! The memory of your father will henceforth be associated with names that are dear to the churches of Christ, inseparable from the history of the progress of truth, and identified with the triumphs of missionary enterprise. When you call to mind the illustrious and venerable men who established by their zeal, and matured by their wisdom, and consecrated by their prayers, those great institutions which have given a new impulse to the energies of the church, and commenced a new career of sublime benevolence; when you think of the honoured names of Bogue, and Wilks, and Hardcastle, and Townsend, and Waugh, whom to have known and loved

you feel at this moment to involve in it a high obligation to all that is "true, and venerable, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report," it is your privilege now to associate the honoured name of BURDER; and to rejoice that the affections which nature and grace alike command you to cherish, are combined with all that is hallowed in the energies of Christian devo

tion, and sublime in the anticipations of eternal glory. Let these elevating thoughts mingle the sweetness of their influence with all the sorrows and remembrances of this day. May a double portion of the Spirit that rested on your honoured parent, descend upon you! May you feel that all your recollections, tender and touching as they are, bind you more firmly to that truth which he delighted to proclaim, and to that Redeemer to whose unfailing mercy he looked amidst the changing scenes of this world, and in the prospects of the world to come!

Can I forget that there are before me the younger descendants of our revered friend? Oh! let the recollection of the name you bear lead you, my dear young friends, to regard it as the object of your first, your deepest, your most fervent solicitude, that the God of your fathers may be the chosen guide of your youth-the strength of your advancing years-the joy of your spirits in the unknown futurity that is before you, and your portion for ever! Make it the great concern of your life to SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Let your very name be as a sacred spell to bind you to the cause of truth and holiness! See to it, that the entail of piety in your honoured family may never be cut off; seek to realize the fondest hopes and most fervent prayers of those who are most tenderly concerned for your welfare; that thus, from generation to generation, God may be glorified amongst you, and you may at length constitute a part of the

one family" that shall meet in our Father's house above!

Brethren, we must soon appear before the judgment seat of Christ! Parents and children, ministers and hearers, pastors and the churches committed to their charge, must meet again-and meet each other before the "great white throne;"