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morning of June 27th, 1884, without any premonition, his valuable wife was suddenly snatched from him by death. On the preceding evening she had retired apparently as well as usual; but about one in the morning she was seized with an alarming fit of coughing, and within an hour expired in her husband's arms. This most unexpected event proved an almost overwhelming blow to Mr. Burgess; deep and protracted was his agony of soul. Not only were the fair prospects of domestic happiness abruptly overspread with an almost impenetrable obscurity; but he felt, at the same time, deprived of that judicious counsel and sympathy in the prosecution of his ministerial duties with which he had for five years been blessed, and which he had so highly prized. In his private memoranda we find him making frequent and most touching references, at this time, to the loss he had sustained. The depth of his sorrow may be inferred from the following utterances of his wounded spirit. "O my God! help me in this time of need. Suffer me not to sink beneath the weight of sorrow. Help me to mingle submission, resignation, and meekness with all my lamentation. O my God! it is Thou who hast done it, and therefore I will not murmur, I will not repine.......O what a changing, what a dying world is this !...... Prepare me for a heavenly mansion; since all on earth is so uncertain, so transient, so frail......And is this bereavement a proof of God's love? A proof that He is my Father, and that He regards and treats me as His child? Yea, verily, this is so. Now I believe it: hereafter I shall understand the whole case. I shall see it, I shall know it, I shall be assured of it....... Yes, my heavenly Father! I praise Thee that Thou hast concealed futurity from our view, and that I cannot look into to-morrow, so as to know what will then occur. I leave all things in Thy hands. Thou art infinitely wise, and infinitely good. I claim Thee as my covenant God."

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Extracts, in the spirit of the preceding, might easily be multiplied; but it is probable that, in the judgment of some, it may be thought undue prominence has already been given to this occurrence. In explanation, the writer begs leave to remark that two reasons influenced him; first, that the narrative helps to unfold the inner and domestic life of one who was much before the public, but comparatively little understood, owing to his extreme natural reserve: second, that it may meet the eye of and afford profitable suggestion to some tried sufferer who is called to drink a similar cup of sorrow. Our merciful Father who is in heaven ever bends an eye of pity "on them that fear Him," and never fails to remember His covenant, and to "stay His rough wind in the day of the east wind." While Mr. Burgess's heart was bleeding under this infliction, the good providence of God so ordered it that his

venerable father, now relieved from the cares and labours of regular work, was enabled, with his wife, to join the bereaved family at Portsea, and for more than two years efficiently to assist his son in the dischargé of his ministerial functions.

On leaving Portsmouth, Mr. Burgess was again appointed to the Plymouth Circuit, to which he had received a friendly invitation some months previously. He subsequently travelled in the Spitalfields, Devonport, Cheltenham, Camborne, St. Ives, Bradford, (Wilts,) and Exeter Circuits: in all of which he "obtained a good report," and was cheered by satisfactory testimonies of the spiritual good received by many under his faithful ministry. In the course of his three years' residence at Plymouth, he again entered the matrimonial state. Miss James, of Newton, near St. Mawes, Cornwall, a lady of respectable family connections, established piety, very decided in her views of Methodist doctrine and discipline, active, cheerful, and benevolent, had been for several years to our Society at St. Mawes what Phebe, of Pauline commendation, was to the church at Cenchrea. To this estimable lady he was united towards the close of the year 1846; and for more than twenty years he had the happiness to enjoy her warm-hearted affection, sympathy and help.

Throughout life Mr. Burgess had been subject to attacks of disease, which greatly tended to prostrate his system; and as he advanced in years these became more frequent, until, at the close of his last appointment to the Exeter Circuit, it was obvious that the time had arrived when he should retire from the fatigues and responsibilities of the itinerancy. Having fixed on Plymouth as the most convenient and eligible place of residence, he, with his family, removed thither soon after the Conference of 1856. Here for twelve years he continued to prosecute those evangelical labours in which he found his highest, his holiest delight. He was ever ready to co-operate with the Circuit ministers by meeting classes, visiting the sick, and supplementing their public ministrations when called from home for special services. Gradually, however, his health and strength declined; his voice, which through life had been remarkably sonorous and distinct, became low and feeble; walking became difficult, and it was evident that his departure from the militant Church could not be very distant. Early in June, 1868, after administering the sacrament of baptism, he was suddenly prostrated by an attack of paralysis, from which he never rallied. For six weeks he was confined to his bed, and, at times, suffered acute pain, yet no murmur was ever heard to escape him. His extreme weakness incapacitated him for conversation; but it was most satisfactorily evident to the ministers who kindly visited him, and to his family and friends, that he held deep communion

with his adorable Saviour. When a cessation of pain allowed, he was frequently overheard by his affectionate wife and his daughter, repeating those of our hymns in which he had been accustomed to take special delight; and on some occasions, summoning up all his powers, he would even sing, in a tremulous voice, such verses as, "On all the earth Thy Spirit shower;" etc.; "Jesu, Lover of my soul," etc.; repeating over and over again,

"Safe into the haven guide,

O receive my soul at last!"

Life, mortal life, now ebbed apace, until, on the 23rd of July, he sank into the sleep of death, to awake with his God in a blissful immortality.

In closing this memoir, the writer, who had known Mr. Burgess from a period so far back as 1812, and had been favoured with the best opportunities of ascertaining his true character, hopes that the estimate he has himself formed of that character may not be charged with eulogy, arising from the undue partiality of friendship. To all who knew him his course through life appeared marked not merely by a singular blamelessness, but by a rare combination of intellectual and moral excellencies. By nature he possessed a capacious mind, a strong understanding, a discriminating judgment, a retentive memory, and a thirst for knowledge.. His diligence and perseverance enabled him to amass stores of valuable information on a great variety of topics. His acquaintance with the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin tongues was critically accurate and familiar, and his general scholarship too solid to be in any degree impaired by the pride of learning. His inflexible truthfulness rendered him the uncompromising foe of all species of falsehood and dissimulation, and his high sense of justice made him the warm advocate of every truly liberal effort to improve and raise the condition of his fellow-men. Catholicity of principle, open-handed beneficence, from which none were excluded, liberality which knew no bounds but those of his income, a warm heart, hidden under a somewhat cold exterior, and a profound humility were prominent traits in the character of this truly exemplary man and eminently useful Christian minister. In the Minutes of the Conference (1868) he is described as having been "a thoroughly sound theologian, and peculiarly clear and luminous in the statement of Methodist doctrine: evidence of which remains in a volume of sermons, scarcely valued at their full worth......He was a man always conscious of the solemn realities of life and duty, allowing himself no recreation, save that of music, in which he attained excellence. Some interesting annotations on our Hymn-Book remain as evidence of his culture in this department."

587

THE CHRISTIAN SALVATION, AND THE COMPREHEN. SIVE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH:

THOUGHTS ON THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE EPISTLE TO THE
EPHESIANS.

No. II.-VERSES 11-22.

(Concluded from page 499.)

SUCH is the grand provision which God has made for the recovery of men, and for their union in one spiritual Church. We are brought near to Him by "the blood of Christ;" and thus are formed into "one body," the mystical body of our Lord. But the Apostle passes to the restored life of Him who thus gave Himself up to death for us, and to those agencies of grace and blessing which, as the Mediator whose sorrow and humiliation are over, and who has entered upon His state of exaltation, He raises up and sustains. It is to every believer a source of holy triumph that the death of the cross does not close the Redeemer's history upon earth. It was followed by the bright and joyous event of His resurrection, by the sending forth of His ambassadors, with their perfect commission, to the whole world, and then by His ascension to the realms of light and glory. "He came, and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."

"He came." There is, in this brief expression, a distinct reference to the resurrection of our Lord. It was not possible that He, the Lord of life, who had wrought out a perfect expiation for sin, and thus had opened the way for the justification of men, should be holden of death. It was not possible that He should continue to lie under the degradation of mortality, and that His sacred flesh should see corruption. He came forth from the sepulchre, released from the burden which had oppressed His spirit in the days of His flesh, and which, when the crisis of our redemption arrived, was all but overwhelming. He came forth to offer "peace" and salvation to all who would receive Him as their Saviour and their Lord. He did not, it is true, resume His personal ministry; but He commissioned His Apostles to go forth in His name, to publish the Divine scheme of grace, and to press on men the acceptance of the overtures of reconciliation. From that day to this He has provided for the announcement of the Christian message. It is His prerogative to raise up, from time to time, His own ambassadors, and to send them forth, under the constraining power of love to Himself and to the souls of men, to testify of Him, and gather men to Him. And the burden of His

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message is "peace,"-peace with God, conscious reconciliation to Him to whom we had been opposed, and under whose sentence of condemnation we lay. It is observable, that in the text now generally adopted, on the authority of the oldest Mss., the word "peace" is repeated, so as to give to it peculiar emphasis: "He came, and preached peace to you which were afar off, and peace to them that were nigh." However different the position of the two classes, as to outward religious advantages, both needed to be reconciled to God; and when this "peace was brought about," then also they had peace with each other, and, receiving the one Spirit of their Lord and Head, were united in holy privilege and hope. How impressive and encouraging is the statement, that the risen Saviour "came and preached peace " to universal man! When His servants stand forth in His name, to declare the message of reconciliation, and to invite men to return to God, it is as if He Himself addressed them, and pressed on them His offer of peace. This consideration may well banish the fears and doubts even of those who are most deeply conscious of unworthiness and guilt. The adorable Redeemer Himself draws near to us, to point us to His perfect sacrifice, and to assure us that "whosoever" of all mankind "believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting

life."

The reality of this "peace" is evinced by that habitual access to God which believers in Christ enjoy. The cordial reception of the Christian message, followed, as it is, by the cancelling of our guilt and the communication of the Holy Ghost, opens to us the way to spiritual fellowship with the Father through our adorable Lord and Head: "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." The privilege thus indicated is one which meets the deepest wants of the human spirit. We are brought near to God in Christ, and from Him we derive continual supplies of life, and peace, and strength. We have access to Him under the changes and conflicts of earth, so as to experience succour in temptation, and consolation in sorrow. The fulness of the Divine resources becomes ours, as we come to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. And this communion with God is itself the source of a rich, deep joy, of which the unregenerate mind can form no conception. There are manifestations of the Father's favour, and communications of His love, which gladden the soul, and form the earnest of the pure and ever-flowing happiness of heaven. And in this privilege of intimate access to God all believers share. Jews and Gentiles alike, led and actuated by the one Spirit whose indwelling produces and sustains the spiritual life, come to the Father through Him in whose redeeming work they have an equal

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