Were this invasion upon the human tabernacle only occasional, at wide intervals of time, and in regions far apart, its approach might not be so appalling; but its victims are not isolated—

"In heaps they lay,

Like the mower's grass at the close of the day."

Did Death come in mild and beauteous robes, garnishing the form it is about to prostrate, giving tokens of joy in its impress on the frame, it might not be so repulsive. But no such amiable accompaniments mark the footsteps of the Destroyer. He comes to sunder, not to bind up; to smite, and not to heal; and that which was comely and glowing and eloquent, is left rigid and still and white.

Only some stern demand could authorize the adoption of such a ghastly agency. Nor need we dwell now on the origin, nature or extent of its necessity. It grew out of the fall and the rebellion of the human will. "Death by sin" reveals the secret of this terrific institution. Its appointment was imperative. If left to themselves, men would defy God. The building of the tower, the numbering of the tribes, the revolts, the successive apostacies, indicate the nature, but not all the obduracy, of the human heart when fully set to achieve its own ends. To check and quell this sturdy defiance of the Most High,

it was necessary to meet man often and with impressive symbols, and in his daily path; and thus and there remind him of God, and of his accountability. But what could stay the heedlessness of thoughtless multitudes crowding the marts of pleasure and of sin? What could still the throbbing of the earthly pulses long enough to let a warning voice be heard? What could, even for a little while, turn the eye of the covetous away from his gains, and of the ambitious away from his prizes, and at the same time open their understanding to the claims of the future? What but an arrangement which, whilst it would subdue unholy desire, should also point significantly to worlds beyond the grave! What but an economy which, whilst consigning the dust to dust, should at the same time remand the spirit to God, who gave it! And what is Death but just such an agency?

Is it not always at work?

lessons for every generation?

Is it not fresh in its

Does it not come with

a relentlessness that knows no intermission, and with a ministry that must ever be felt?

Nor is its mission only to appal. Death, whilst it secures dissolution, may unfold unanticipated felicities to the departing spirit. New powers may be conferred in the dying strife. Resources hitherto unrecognized may then appear, and hold in check the

forces that are conquered only by Omnipotence. What a highly endowed and divinely anointed mind may yet do to unloose the grasp of the Destroyer is not revealed. But this we are permitted to say, that if purity of purpose can make Death's presence tolerable; if elevation of aim can disarm its terrors; or a sincere and conscientious heart look unblanched upon its approach, then Mr. Barstow was not appalled when he found that he "had no power over the spirit to retain the spirit."

It was on Tuesday, the eleventh of July, that an insidious disease manifested itself in that brain which had so often, so generously, so uncomplainingly, and so successfully wrought for others' good. On the Wednesday morning following, the shadows of the Valley were darkening his features, and at three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day he ceased to breathe.

I do not propose to go into any detailed narration of the sufferings and utterances in that sick-room, at Buffalo. His words were few. His spirit, still. Nor would I presume, in the in the presence of those who have known him so long and so well, to enter upon even a sketch of his character, mournfully satisfactory and full of admiration as are my remembrances of it, were I not in possession of some of his own maturest and

sincerest convictions of truth and duty. I will endeavor to let his own words speak.

As the friend of education; as a patriot; as a philanthropist; as a man; as a friend; and as one whose intention it was soon to make a public profession of his faith in Christ, you will be glad to hear from him.

He loved the cause of Education. His views of what an educational system should be, and might effect, were such as commanded the energies of his intellect, and the ardor of his nature. He regarded the school system as developing and forming an era in the history of man. Not more did the free cities, mark and create new modes of thought in the feudal ages, not more surely did the Crusades disseminate information among the nations, and the revival of letters quicken the intellect of Europe, and Magna Charta introduce and fortify English mind, than to his eye did the School System, as an Institution for all ages, promise light and power to the world. So long as it authorized and claimed freedom to read the Bible, and used well its privilege, he saw in it the genius of a loftier civilization, and the herald of a renovated race.

Nor was it an abstract or theoretical enthusiasm that animated him. He labored strenuously to secure to the youth of the city of Detroit, and of the State of

Michigan, a well informed mind. Previous to the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one (says the Secretary of the Board of Education), no such thing as a free school was known in Detroit. Associated with the then mayor of the city, well known for his untiring interest in everything connected with this subject, was Samuel Barstow. The population of the city was then between nine and ten thousand. The whole number of scholars was seven hundred, and the average cost of tuition was seventeen dollars per year for every scholar.

In one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, Mr. Barstow, as Chairman of the Committee of the Board of Education, presented a memorial to the Legislature to amend the Statute on Public Schools. This amendment became a law. A system of instruction was wrought out and set in operation; school-houses were built; objections met; prejudices removed; children sought out from house to house, and brought in; and instead of seven hundred scholars at seventeen dollars each per annum, five thousand are now educated at less than one dollar each, and with incomparably better instruction.

So successfully did Mr. Barstow labor for this object, and so cheerfully, that he seemed to count it a privilege to spend almost any amount of time to shed