Chapel, Birmingham, to preach before them as a probationer for the pastoral office. The result of this engagement was an invitation to Mr. W. to become their pastor. With this invitation he complied, and in September, 1802, was solemnly set apart to the pastoral office over that church. In 1806, Mr. W. removed to Warwick, as successor to the Rev. Mr. Moody. Disunion having crept into the church at this place, he thought it most beneficial, for the church and for himself, that a separation should take place. Having, after fervent prayer, arrived at this conclusion, in 1808, he resigned the pastoral office at Warwick, and removed to Edmonton, where he laboured for nearly twenty years, happy in witnessing, during the greater part of that time, the most complete harmony amongst the people, and the warmest affection towards himself.

In 1805, Mr. W. was united to Miss Richards, sister to the Rev. J. Richards, of Birmingham, with whom he lived in the greatest happiness for more than seventeen years. During the year 1822, he was visited by a succession of most afflictive and mysterious providences. In February, he was called to surrender a beloved son to the hands of his Maker. Within three short months the endeared partner of his life was called to enter into the joy of her Lord; and in the following September a third breach was made in the family, by the death of his youngest son, Under these distressing visitations, Mr. W. was enabled to say, with pious resignation, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord." In the latter end of 1823, Mr. W. was married to Miss Cawley, a Christian friend of his former wife, who, on her dying-bed, speaking of Miss C., said, "She is the only

person in the world with whom I can entrust my family." It is no small commendation to say of the bereaved widow, that she has uniformly acted the part of a kind parent, and enjoyed the affectionate esteem of those whom Pro

vidence has committed to her care. In 1825, Mr. W. buried his third son, after a protracted illness of more than two years, during which the sufferer had given satisfactory evidence of an interest in Christ. In addition to these family afflictions, Mr. W. suffered many heavy pecuniary losses; but with all these accumulated trials he was never heard to repine. When the fears of friends were excited, his constant expression was, "The Lord who hath provided will provide." The following extract from a letter, bearing date August 7, 1828, convey some idea of the serenity of his mind, and likewise the ground on which it was founded.

will

"In this world we are to expect trials and disappointments. Some are more severely tried than others, but none escape. Prosperity and adversity, afflictions and consola. tions, are wisely and mercifully blended together. I have had my share of trouble, but I have no reason to complain, for I have many mercies. I have never had reason to despond, for the promises are my portion, and I have witnessed the fulfilment of them repeatedly, seasonably, and graciously. Though I have experienced some severe calamities, I have not endured the heaviest that might have befallen me. I have followed a wife and three children to the grave. I am de prived of their society, and shall not see them again till I pass beyond the barrier which separates this world from the world of spirits. Then I shall be re-united to them, for two of them died in their infancy, and the other two gave satisfactory evidences of conversion. They all sleep in Jesus, and are blessed. In my four eldest surviving children I can rejoice, for I trust that the good work is begun both in Sarah and in Margaret, and that it is gradually advancing. There is not one of my children who manifests an aversion to religion, or disco

*Since the period in which this was vilege of beholding both his daughters united written, the deceased father enjoyed the pri to Christian churches.

vers an inveterate propensity to sin. While I can rejoice in my children, I cannot be unhappy."

The increase of his family, and a variety of other circumstances, concurred to induce Mr. W., in 1829, to remove, with his family and school, to Chelsea. Having occasionally supplied at Norwood, and given great satisfaction, he was requested to become the successor of the Rev. J. Richards, who removed from Norwood in 1830. With this request Mr. W. complied, and continued to labour, with great success, till within a few days of his lamented decease.

But we hasten to detail the closing scenes of the life of this man of God. On Wednesday evening, July 25th, he, for the last time, proclaimed the sacred truths of the everlasting gospel to his affectionate people at Norwood, after which he walked home to Chelsea, a distance of nearly seven miles. On the morning of July 27th, he complained of indisposition; his illness increasing towards evening, he consented to have medical assistance called in. His medical friend found him in a dangerous condition, and remained with him during the whole night. In the morning, he appeared to be relieved, and his family cherished the hope, from the improvement which had taken place, that his valued life might be spared. During the Sunday and Monday he

continued to improve, though still he could not be pronounced out of danger. On Tuesday, no alteration to excite alarm, or to strengthen hope, was apparent. In the course of this day his medical friend, a pious member of the establishment, said, "Mr. W., if you should recover, it will be owing to the astonishing tranquillity of mind you possess. He replied, "It is all peace within.” On Wednesday, strength began to fail, and a low weakening fever attacked him. But while the outer man was thus perishing, he enjoyed the renewal of the inner man. A friend from Norwood called to see him, and asked how his mind felt. He replied, with as much emphasis as his weakness would allow, "It is in perfect peace." During the ensuing night he sunk rapidly, and on Thursday morning, August 2nd, at ten minutes past 10 o'clock, he yielded his spirit into his Saviour's hands, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. So peaceful was his end, that it may be emphatically said, "He fell asleep." He has left, to mourn their irreparable loss, a widow and numerous family, many of whom are but of tender age, and consequently are dependent on their widowed mother. After contemplating the death of this good man, who can but exclaim, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like HIS!"

employ to quicken their approach to him. Whatever obstructions may lie in their way, and by whatever hand they may have been placed there, we must labour to remove them by every effort we can employ. Such labour is one of the most important and necessary of the works of mercy, and one which must be peculiarly pleasing to the Redeemer, whose invita

tions in the gospel are so richly fraught with the blessings of his salvation, and the kindness of his heart. In addressing them to sinners, he may be viewed as saying to them what Balak of old said by his messengers to Balaam though in a very different spirit, and with a very different object, Let nothing, I entreat thee, hinder thee from coining to me." Such is the object of this essay; and, while we urge, may the Lord draw with the cords of love; while we expostulate, may the Lord persuade; and while we admonish, may he alarm.

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Some are kept from coming to Christ by the idea that they are not prepared for coming. They imagine that they must be possessed of certain feelings and qualifications to ensure their welcome, and that, till these are attained, it is presumptuous to think of advancing. But in what portion of his word does the Lord Jesus require such preparation? Nay, does not he invite the stout-hearted who are far from righteousness, and the scorners, who delight in scorning, to turn to him and live? Do you imagine that you must begin the work of salvation, and that then he will carry it on to perfection? Little does that man know of his own depravity and weakness, who thinks that he has the power to kindle one holy desire, or to form one heavenly purpose. It is the same almighty grace which perfects holiness that forms the first wish for it; and He alone who completes salvation can make the need of it to be duly felt. As well might we suppose that the first streaks of dawn proceed from the darkness of midnight, as that the first movements of piety originate in mere nature. It is from the sun, whose meridian glory fills nature with light and gladness, that they issue. As well might we imagine that the first buds of the spring proceed from the torpor and the desolations of winter, as that the first impressions of goodness arise from natural feelings. It is in the renovating power of the God of nature that these pledges of the summer's beauty take their rise; and to the God of grace must be ascribed the first meltings of contrition, and the first wish that is felt for mercy. Come to him, then, as you are; be willing that he should have all the glory of your salvation; and beseech him to work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Some are kept from coming to Christ by their insensibility to their need of him. They suppose that conversion is necessary only to such as are grossly profligate, and

that their conduct has been so devout and so inoffensive, that they require no such change. But to Nicodemus, blameless as his character before men had been, our Lord said, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Think how deficient you have been in the best duties of charity-solicitous efforts for the salvation of your brethren; and where has been your delight in God, and your zeal for his glory-your joy in devout exercises, your desires after his image and Spirit, and your looking to things heavenly and eternal ? Search

your hearts, and try your ways, and you will find that your carnal minds are enmity against God; that the rules of devotion have been often neglected, or felt by you as a burden; that the prosperity of religion has been none of your cares; and that eternity has had no influence over you. You have been the slaves of the world, and as regardless of God as if he had no control over you and no charge for you. The stagnant pool, whose surface seems clear, needs only to be stirred to show its impurity; and, had the temptations been presented, corruptions in your hearts, of whose existence you were not aware, might have been made manifest to yourselves, and evil passions, which you have concealed from others under the guise of manners gentle and decorous, might have been discovered to the world in the language or the deeds of rancour and of profligacy. Implore the influences of that Spirit who shall convince the world of sin, that he may impress you with your urgent need of a Saviour, and that you may be excited to flee to him. The more you are affected with your guilt and your helplessness, the more welcome and precious will be grace and salvation.

his

Some are kept from coming to Christ by the idea that they are too young to be urged to seek after salvation. They imagine that such serious concern may well become those who are in danger of death, or who have for a long course of time sinned against the Lord, but is in them by no means so necessary. But do you think that the young have no need of a Saviour? Do not seek for your answer to this question in the praise of flatterers, the partiality of friends, or the estimate of vanity, but in the word of God. "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as as they are born, speaking lies. Childhood and youth are vanity.' Has Christ no claims on youth? Does not

soon

he deserve the first-fruits as well as the grape-gleanings of the vintage — your nature in its activity, and your affections in their first glow? Think of the special calls Christ addresses to youth. "My son, give me thine heart." "I love them that love me, and they that seek me early shall find me.' Can piety do nothing for youth? It will give to youth its fairest beauty, its best portion, its only safety, its happiest connexions, and its brightest hopes. And are you too young to die? Death often comes to such as you. He delights to waste the beauty of the blooming countenance, and to lay man low in his full strength. Come, then, to Him; and, should an early grave be yours, he will shed over its darkness the sweetest light of hope; and, should you live to old age, he will say to you, to cheer your gloom, and to encourage your hearts, "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine espousals." You have felt the delights of a parent's welcome, when, after a long absence, you returned to their dwelling, and found their hearts melting with kindness. You also may have felt how sweet it was to be received in compassion and peace by parents whom you had offended and injured by your folly, to hear from their lips the assurance that they had forgiven you, and to feel in their embrace that you still retained your place in their hearts;

but know that far, far beyond such pleasure will be the joy which you shall experience in the Redeemer's gracious reception, and in the mercy with which he shall protect and cherish you.

Some are hindered from coming to Christ by despair; and this despair arises generally from two causes. Some are led to despair by the number and the aggravations of their sins. They think that, for guilt so atrocious as theirs, there can be no remission, and that, ample and extensive as the grace of the gospel is, they must, from the enormity of their offences, be excepted. Such have not merely been the apprehensions of the blood-stained criminal in his dungeon, but of many whose consciences have been roused to peculiar sensibility, and who feel themselves to be the chief of sinners. But what saith the Scripture? "Come, now, let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as the snow." And what say the trophies of divine

mercy which you see raised on high as you travel along the path of God's word? There is an inscription

which you may read on them all:"Where sin hath abounded, grace doth much more abound." Some look to these triumphs of divine mercy to embolden themselves in sin; and, for an abuse so presumptuous and so wicked, their account will be dreadful; but to look to them with a heart to which sin is loathsome, and to strengthen our hopes of sanctifying as well as forgiving mercy, is an exercise which tends to the praise of the glory of Jehovah's grace. Around these trophies of mercy there are terrors set in array; so that, while we look to the dungeon of Manasseh, and to the cross of the thief, in hope, we receive warning, the most solemn, not to be highminded, but to fear.

Some, too, are ready to despair because they have grown old in sin. They say in their hearts, What is such a rotten and putrid branch as I am fit for but the fire of hell? But God calls men to turn to him, not because their services are profitable to him, but because of the benefits conversion will yield to themselves; and to melt in contrition the heart that seemed twice dead, to make those happy in piety from whom all the joys of life have fled, and to form for heaven those who seemed vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, displays the exceeding riches of his grace. Besides, the very solicitude which you feel about the salvation of your souls shows that God has not given you over to a reprobate mind. The Saviour is almighty; and, from the very brink of hell, he has turned some to goodness. How wondrous is his grace! The arms which are open for little children are not closed against the oldest transgressor. The failing heart has been purified by his grace, and revived by his mercy. Come, then, to him, and you shall find that the door is open even at the eleventh hour. You have heard that hour strike, and in another hour you will be in eternity. Late as you are, you are still welcome; and, late as you are, you are not yet too late for mercy.

Some are kept from coming to Christ by mistaken views of some doctrines of Scripture, such as those of election and of particular redemption; respecting which some reason thus:-"If I am not among the number of those whom God hath chosen to salvation, and for whom Christ died, it is vain for me to draw near to him." But it is not to the purpose of God, nor to the extent of Christ's death, that we are to look in our appli

cation for salvation, but to the command of God to believe in the name of his Son whom he hath sent, and to the universal call of the gospel, in which there are no exceptions: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and beside me there is none else." Wherever a desire for salvation is kindled, the cross speaks hope, and the book of life unlooses its first seal. Listen not to the strange conceits of those who would encourage you to hope by the gross delusion of universal pardon; but rejoice that you are called to a safer and better hope, that to you is the word of salvation sent; and that, while our Lord hath said, “All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me," he hath graciously added, to encourage the trembling steps of the dejected and the fearful, "And him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out."

Some, too, have the apprehension that they have committed the unpardonable sin, and that, on this account, there can be no hope. But that sin consisted in the ascription of our Lord's miracles to the agency of the devil, to vilify his character, and to defeat his efforts for the spiritual good of man, in opposition to the conviction of their own consciences and though I will not say that this sin cannot be committed in our day, it is certain that they have no reason to think they are guilty of it who would gladly be indebted to Christ for salvation.

;

Some, too, from what is said about a day of grace in Scripture, imagine that theirs is ended. The lamentation of Christ over Jerusalem sounds in their ears as their final doom. "O that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace; but now are they hid from thine eyes." But though there have been cases in which God hath sealed men's perdition by judicial abandonment, they have been rare. In general, he does this by the hand of death; and they may be assured that their light of mercy has not gone down in whom there is any feeling of interest in the gospel, any meltings of contrition, any desire for salvation. While I say this, do not, I entreat you, presume on its permanence. Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation." Twice is the word "behold" used, to excite your attention, and to quicken your diligence in redeeming the time, and in working while it is day, since the night comes, in which no man

can work, Imagine not that the common saying, "While there is life there is hope," is in no respects applicable as to this state of the soul, for it is the grave that cannot praise God, "it is death that cannot celebrate him, it is they that go down to the pit who cannot hope for his truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee."

Some are hindered from coming to Christ by blasphemous suggestions of the devil. While Satan works in all the obstructions which I have already men tioned, he employs, in some cases, evil imaginations of a very horrible description, to confound and to agitate the mind of the awakened sinner. Often are such thoughts thrown into the mind, in the hour of earnest supplication for mercy, with such force, that the sinner starts from his knees in fear and horror; and every time that he engages in a similar exercise he is thus interrupted and shocked, and at last begins to think that every effort for salvation only aggravates his guilt and ensures his condemnation, and that all such attempts must be discontinued. But to such persons it may be said, that the horror which those thoughts excite, and the methods by which you are tempted to get rid of them, clearly show from what quarter they proceed, and what is the tempter's object. So far from giving place to his suggestions, oppose them by greater earnestness in prayer, implore that influence of the Holy Spirit which can effectually counteract all such impressions, and call up meditations which may solemnize and elevate the heart. Adore what he would vilify, sanctify what he would defile, and repel what he would inject. Consider, that it is by yielding to these suggestions that you will be charged with their guilt, and that, by pressing forward to the Saviour in opposition to them, you will, in the outset of religion, glorify Christ, and overcome the wicked one. I that, as many impressions of the kind arise from Satan's influence over the frame labouring under nervous weakness and inquietude, it is your duty to use every proper means for restoring it to soundness and vigour. It is in the trou bled water that he mingles his poison, not in the clear stream, where it could be easily detected.

may

add

Some are hindered from coming to Christ by the influence of their friends, who, from dislike to piety, or apprehensions that the change of their views may