Christ, which is far better." He died happy in the Lord, September 12th, 1847, in the thirty-second year of his age.

2. JAMES SMETHAM, of the Warrington Circuit. He was truly converted to God at the age of thirteen, and entered upon the work of the ministry at an early period. He "went forth weeping," under a painful sense of his insufficiency, which sometimes much oppressed and almost overwhelmed him. His piety was deep and uniform; and, animated by love to Christ, and zeal for the honour of God, he greatly delighted to publish the glad tidings of salvation. His powers of mind were considerable; his reading was extensive; and, as the consequence, his ministry, though commenced in much weakness and fear, became highly acceptable and useful. As his labours drew to a close, they were characterized by much heavenly unction and power. He was graciously supported in his last illness, and spent his little remaining strength in testifying of the goodness of God, and in committing his wife and family to His faithful care. Some of his expressions were, "All is well I am on the Rock: God is love." He died at Warrington, October 3d, 1847, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his ministry.

3. SAMUEL HOPE; who was born in Liverpool, where he resided till he entered the ministry. In early life he was converted to God by the instrumentality of the Wesleyan Methodists. Having given proof of decided piety, and of the possession of suitable gifts for public usefulness, and having been employed for some time as a Local Preacher, he was, in the year 1808, called by God and his church to the work of the ministry; in which he laboured with acceptance and considerable success for thirtyeight years. His attachment to the doctrines and discipline of Methodism was sincere and unwavering. He possessed the confidence of his brethren, and was chosen by them to sustain some important offices of the Connexion. After a series of domestic afflictions and bereavements, his own health failed. In the year 1846 he became a Supernumerary, and retired to Guernsey, where, besides meeting a class and visiting the sick, he generally preached once on the Sabbath-day. While thus employed, he was called by his Master to his final reward. On Sunday, October 3d, he was taken ill in the pulpit. On the following morning he observed to his colleague, "I have done with public labour: I shall preach no more. But

all my trust is in Christ: there will I

rest:

'None but Christ to me be given."" He suffered much during his illness, and was for the most part unconscious of his actions. On the 23d of October, 1847, in the sixty-third year of his age, he closed his career, and entered into rest.

4. ROBERT SMITH; who was born at Wolverhampton, October 6th, 1769. When about fifteen years of age he was convinced of sin; and after several months of deep mourning after God, he believed on Christ as his Saviour, and was filled with peace and joy. From that time his Christian course was marked by great decision and diligence; for the maturing of which qualities he was much indebted to the fostering care of the late Rev. Richard Rodda. Mr. Smith soon gave evidence of mental and religious qualifications for public usefulness in the church of Christ; and at the Conference of 1792 he was received on trial, and appointed to the St. Austle Circuit. Throughout his lengthened life his ministry was not only acceptable, but in many instances eminently successful. He enjoyed the confidence and affection of his brethren, and was repeatedly placed in situations of special responsibility. For two years he discharged the onerous duties of Secretary to our Missions with great fidelity. For twentythree years he sustained the office of Governor of Kingswood School, and in the discharge of the peculiar duties of that office secured throughout that long period of service the entire approval of the Conference, and the respectful and affectionate regard of those who had the advantage of his paternal superintendence and care. He was an amiable man in all the social relations of life. While intent upon promoting peace in the church, he would never compromise our discipline. His character and spirit were marked by great simplicity and spirituality; and those qualities were especially conspicuous in his latter days. He was an ardent lover of Methodism, both in its doctrine and polity, and studiously jealous of its practical efficiency. His death was truly patriarchal. Gradual decay rather than disease brought him to the conclusion of his earthly course. His last hours were spent in expressions of love to his family and friends; and, full of confidence, peace, and hope, he entered into rest, December 19th, 1847, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.

5. THOMAS HAYES. In the year 1804 he was convinced of sin; and ex

perienced deep distress, until, through faith in the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, he obtained mercy. Shortly after this he began to call sinners to repentance. In the year 1811, he was admitted into the Wesleyan ministry, and laboured with fidelity and diligence in different Circuits, in various parts of the Connexion, for more than a quarter of a century, when affliction compelled him to retire. For several of the last years of his life, his sufferings were complicated, but he sustained them with much Christian resignation; and died in peace, January 2d, 1848, in the sixtythird year of his age.

6. ZECHARIAH TAFT; who commenced his ministry in 1801. After labouring for twenty-seven years, he became a Supernumerary, and resided at Sandiacre, in the Ilkestone Circuit. His ministry was faithful and useful, and his piety was deep and unaffected. During the last two or three years of his life, he was greatly enfeebled by various infirmities: nevertheless, he bore his affliction with patience, and died, bearing testimony to the preciousness of the blood of Christ, January 7th, 1848, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

a

7. WILLIAM WOOLSEY; who was born at Gainsborough, June 19th, 1792. In the twenty-first year of his age he became a member of the WesleyanMethodist society. Soon after his conversion he was called to fill the offices of Class-Leader and Local Preacher. He entered upon the ministry in the twentyninth year of his age, possessing a sound understanding, a well-informed mind, and an ardent thirst for knowledge. His ministry was highly instructive and practical, and he was esteemed sound expositor of the Scriptures. He was a man of genuine and enlightened piety, and of great integrity, firm in his purpose, mild in his disposition, and modest and unobtrusive in his manners. In circumstances of peculiar trial he evinced a large share of the "charity which suffereth long, and is kind;" never, however, sacrificing to expediency what he deemed to be a just principle. He exhibited a correct knowledge of the rules and discipline of Methodism, and an uncompromising determination to respect and maintain them. For some years his health had been gradually declining; but it was not until a few weeks before his death that his disease was discovered to be of a dangerous character. He received the intelligence without alarm; expressed a willingness to do or suffer the will of God; and was ready

to give a reason of the hope that was in him." He declared his sure and certain hope of a blissful immortality through the merits of the Redeemer, with unwavering confidence, even unto the end; and expired in great peace on the 15th of January, 1848.

8. RALPH GIBSON; who was born in Weardale, in the county of Durham, in the year 1791. He was converted to God in the tenth year of his age, and entered our ministry in the year 1815. As a Preacher, he was zealous, affectionate, useful, and often impassioned. His sermons were the fruit of a strong mind, enlightened by general reading, and the study of the sacred Scriptures. His piety was deep, his judgment sound, and his character unimpeachable: his kindness of heart and devoted love of Methodism secured for him the esteem of the people, and the confidence of his brethren. It pleased God frequently to visit him with severe affliction. Soon after the Conference of 1847, he caught a severe cold, which settled on his lungs, and terminated in death. During his last illness he said, "Should I recover, I will preach the atonement in every sermon: I can do nothing without the atonement now." "All is well." "Christ is all I want. He died in the triumph of faith, January 20th, 1848, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and the thirty-third year of his ministry.

9. JOHN R. BROWNE, of the Chester Circuit. In early life he was convinced of his danger as a sinner, and obtained, through the free mercy of God, the gift of a saving faith in Christ. Constrained by the love of the Saviour, and of the souls of men, he began soon after to call sinners to repentance, and in his nineteenth year was admitted as a probationer for the ministry. His piety was deep: he gave attention to reading; and being conscientiously diligent, and possessed of a good understanding, he acquired a considerable amount of general information, and an enlarged acquaintance with the system of truth contained in the holy Scriptures. His public ministry was plain and practical. In the early part of his career it was eminently awakening; and as he became further acquainted with the life of faith, it was increasingly adapted to the edification of the church. He discharged the duties of his office, as a Minister and Superintendent, with fidelity and affection, and enjoyed the esteem of the people of his charge, as well as the confidence of his brethren. During the

third year of his labours in Chester, he was seized with paralysis, and at the following Conference retired from active service. He felt this to be a severe trial; but his submission to the will of his heavenly Father was complete and cheerful; and the expressions which he used were generally indicative of an unshaken faith, and a gradual ripening for a better world. He earnestly desired to resume the work of the ministry, if possible; but his hopes were cut off by a second seizure; and he suddenly exchanged mortality for life on the 2d of February, 1848, in the fifty-first year of his age, and the thirty-third of his ministry.

10. WILLIAM PEARSON; who was born at Diss, in Norfolk, in 1775. In the year 1800, shortly after his conversion, he commenced his ministry, and discharged its duties with an unblemished reputation for forty-two years. In the work of the ministry he was laborious and useful. During the years of his retirement he was diligent in reading and in doing good. When approaching the close of life, he gave pleasing evidence of maturing piety. The day previous to his death he had walked seven miles to conduct a love-feast and preach, to which duties he attended with unu

sual vigour. He frequently expressed a wish that, if such were the will of God, he might be spared a lingering illness in this he was most remarkably indulged, as he expired, almost without premonition, and apparently without a pang, in the seventy-third year of his age, and in the forty-eighth of his ministry. He died February 14th, 1848.

He was

11. JOHN PICKAVANT, Superintendent of the Leeds Third Circuit. born at Rufford, in Lancashire, in the year 1792. When about sixteen years of age, he was brought to a saving knowledge of the truth, under the ministry of the Rev. James B. Holroyd. At this time his native village was favoured with a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in connexion with which fourteen of his own name and family were in six weeks enrolled in one Class-book. He began to preach at an early age; and his labours, from the commencement of his career, were marked by more than ordinary zeal, acceptance, and success. In 1814 he was called to the work of the ministry. His first Circuit was Luton, in Bedfordshire; but at the following Conference he was appointed to Newfoundland, where he laboured for about thirty years, and was instrumental in extending and establishing the infant churches in that island. During the

greater part of this time he held the responsible office of the Chairman of the District; enjoying in a high degree the confidence and esteem of the Missionary Committee, and beloved and respected by his brethren, and by all classes of the Colonists. In 1843 he returned to England, with his health so greatly impaired that he was compelled to retire from the more active duties of the ministry. The following year, however, he was sufficiently recovered to take charge of a Circuit, which he continued to do till his death. He possessed, in more than com

He

mon measure, some of the most important qualifications for usefulness in the great work to which his life was devoted. His piety was deep, uniform, and cheerful. His address was easy, engaging, and dignified. His views of evangelical truth were clear and comprehensive. evinced no taste for speculation or controversy; but his discourses were eminently lucid in their exposition and enforcement of Christian duty and privilege. They always embodied the marrow of the Gospel; were well arranged, and often strikingly powerful in their style; according with his unaffectedly earnest, though not vehement, manner, and rendering his public ministry both effective and popular. His disposition was marked by great amiability and friendliness; which, as auxiliary to his attractive piety, made him a universal favourite, and a centre of religious influence in the social circle. Indeed, it is thought that few men have more eminently succeeded in securing the friendship and confidence of their associates. After a severe illness of more than three months, which he endured with exemplary patience, he died, in sure and certain hope of eternal life, on the 27th of March, 1848, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and the thirty-fourth of his ministry.

12. PHILIP JAMESON. Of the time of his conversion to God no record can be obtained; but of the genuineness of that conversion he gave the most unequivocal proof in the deep and fervent piety of his subsequent walk through life. In the year 1807 he entered upon the work of the Christian ministry, and performed the duties of his sacred calling with acceptance and usefulness. His meek and affable disposition obtained for him the esteem of all who knew him. He was apparently reserved; but, upon acquaintance, was found to be open and free. His piety was unquestionable; for in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he had his conversation in the world.

His

He was firmly and conscientiously attached to the Wesleyan body, and was scrupulously exact in his attention to his ministerial duties, studying to show himself approved unto God, "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." sermons were plain and scriptural, instructive and faithful, and delivered with such energy and pathos as rendered them useful to his hearers. In 1846 he became a Supernumerary, and resided in Thetford. After this period his pulpit ministrations were few; but as often as his infirmities would permit, he met a class, and engaged in the work of pastoral visitation. His last affliction was short and severe. A few hours before his death, a friend who called to see him said, "The Rock on which we build is firm;" when he replied, "I find it so." He entered into rest, April 5th, 1848, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.

He was

13. WILLIAM CLEGG, sen.; who was born at Bury, Lancashire, 1787. When nineteen years of age he was deeply convinced of sin under a sermon preached by the late Rev. James Wood. After seeking the divine mercy for several weeks, he was enabled to lay hold by faith of the atonement, and obtained the Spirit of adoption. He was recommended to the Conference of 1808 as a candidate for our ministry, in which he continued for the space of thirty-eight years. Possessed of extensive theological knowledge, and clear and scriptural views of divine truth, his sermons were lucid, evangelical, practical, and impressive. His delivery was calm but forcible, mild but earnest, and seldom failed to secure the attention of his hearers. indefatigable in the fulfilment of his pastoral duties. The urbanity and kindness of his disposition rendered his visits to the people very agreeable; and they were generally seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. His colleagues in the ministry invariably found him an affectionate friend. Honoured with the confidence of his brethren, he discharged the important duties imposed upon him with diligence and fidelity, In 1835 he was subjected to painful anxiety of mind, arising out of the Connexional agitations of that period. But it was not until the year 1846 that he was obliged to relinquish all public and official duties. Towards the close of life he was utterly prostrated by his mental and physical infirmities. A few days before his death he said, with much feeling, "I am very happy. I have no fear, no doubt now." He died suddenly at Hull,

April 11th, 1848, in the sixty-first year of his age.

14. JAMES AKERMAN. He was a native of Wiltshire, was blessed with pious parents, and from his childhood was accustomed to hear the Gospel preached by the Methodists. In the twentieth year of his age, having previously joined the society, he obtained a clear sense of the pardoning love of God, through faith in the Redeemer. Soon after this he began to preach, and in 1809 was regularly called into the work of the ministry. His views of divine truth were clear and evangelical, and in every Circuit to which he was appointed his labours were acceptable and useful. Throughout the whole of his ministerial career, he maintained an unblemished character. His temper was amiable, and his deportment modest, unassuming, and courteous. He was universally beloved and respected, both by his brethren in the ministry, and the people among whom his lot was cast. For several years he was subject to a disease of the heart, which rendered it necessary for him to become a Supernumerary for two years in Jersey, and eventually to retire altogether from our work. In 1844 he fixed his residence at Penzance, where he continued, as far as his strength per mitted, to make himself useful in visiting the sick, and in meeting classes. His death was very sudden while he was dressing, he fell gently to the floor, never spoke again, and in about an hour expired. He had, however, long lived in a state of habitual preparation for the final summons; and with him unquestionably "sudden death" was "sudden glory." He died at Penzance, April 13th, 1848, in the sixty-second year of his age, and the thirty-ninth of his ministry.

15. LEWIS LEWIS; who was bora at St. Blazey, in Cornwall, Very early in life he was the subject of deep religious impressions; but while his father was labouring under a painful and severe affliction, his mind became so convinced of the necessity of inward religion, that he determined on an immediate surrender of himself to God. He sought and found "redemption in the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of his sins." Naturally ardent in his temperament, he became very active in prayer, and other means of grace; and shortly afterwards engaged as a Local Preacher, the duties of which office he discharged with much fidelity and zeal. In 1837 he was called to devote himself fully to the Christian ministry. As a Wesleyan Missionary, he was diligent in study, labouring to prove

himself "a workman that needed not to be ashamed." His pulpit ministrations were acceptable and useful. He was an affectionate Pastor. Catholic in his principles, frank and generous in his disposition, he was esteemed not only by his brethren, but by the Ministers and members of other churches. He was deeply impressed with the importance of attending to the young persons in our congregations, and, wherever he could, established catechumen-classes, which he endeavoured to make both interesting

and profitable. During his last illness, which was short and severe, he constantly expressed strong confidence in God. When in prayer, a brother Minister entreated the Lord, if it were consistent with His will, speedily to restore him : he replied, with energy, "No, no; not till the end is fully answered." In this state of mind he passed into the realms above, deeply and sincerely regretted by all who knew him. He died June 30th, 1848, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and the eleventh of his ministry.

SHARKS IN THE

MEDITERRANEAN. An "ancient mariner" told us, that, full forty miles from Syracuse, a shark, which had been following him for a long time, thrust his head suddenly out of the water, and made a snap at him; and if the boat had not been a thunny-boat, high in the sides, there is no saying how much of him might have been extant. A pair of trousers drying in the sun over the side of the boat should have small attraction for a shark; but he took them on speculation. At one of the principal thunny-fisheries near Catania, the fishermen have fixed upon poles, like English kites on a barn-door, pour encourager les autres, two immense sharks' heads as trophies, the jaws at full gape, exhibiting four sets of teeth as sharp as harrows, and as white and polished as ivory. They always wish to decline any dealings with this formidable foe, though his flesh is in repute in the market, and he weighs from two thousand five hundred to four thousand pounds. But Syracuse has no reason to complain of scarcity, or to eat shark's flesh from necessity. Most of the Scomber family-the alatorya, the palamida, and a fine grey-coloured fellow which the fishermen call serrafrequent her coast; then there is the Cefalo, the ancient mugilis, our grey mullet, and the sea-pike, Luce di mare, whose teeth and size might well constitute him lieutenant to the dog-fish,-all these came to table during our stay.Blackwood's Magazine.

HENRY VII.'S CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY.-It is difficult to go into detail, and convey in words a distinct idea of the architectural beauties of this certainly rarely equalled and

never surpassed specimen of art. In the interior the eye traces the octagonal buttresses upwards to the vaulting, where the elegantly-pierced flying buttresses, the pendants of solid stone, which appear suspended in air, the meshes of the tracery, curved and intersected as if the artist had moulded his solid materials into the yielding facility of lace-work, graceful even when the most grotesque, the niches, with their carved canopies, the dragon, the greyhound, the rose, the fleur-de-lis, sculptured around," the blaze of rich decoration,"-all combine to attract attention to the different parts, and each excites the admiration; while the vast height of the roof creates unfeigned wonder at the profound professional skill which thus counteracted the power of gravity, and, after conceiving the bold design, so fully triumphed in its execution. The forms and tracery of the windows, the massive oaken gates, and the tesselated floor, add to the combination of impressive circumstances; nor is the impression, when rightly felt, without its moral value and beneficial results.-Penny Magazine; article, Westminster Abbey.

THE SABBATH.-' -The keeping of one day in seven holy, as a relaxation and refreshment, as well as for public worship, is of admirable service to the State, considered merely as a civil institution. It humanizes, by the help of society and conversation, the manners of the lower classes, which would otherwise degenerate into sordid ferocity and savage selfishness of spirit; it enables the industrious workman to pursue his occupation in the ensuing week with health and cheerfulness; it imprints on the minds of the people that sense of