Permit me to indulge one more reflection: the life and ministry of this great man of God affords a demonstration of the futility of the clamour which is raised against the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith; as though it tended to relax the obligations to virtue, and to annul the commands of God. Who ever insisted on this doctrine more constantly, or urged its importance more earnestly, than he? and where, amongst its opponents, shall we discover indications of similar usefulness? Through a period of more than forty years, he employed himself in beating down the arrogance of a self-justifying spirit, in evincing the impossibility of being accepted on the footing of our own works, and in directing men of every description to seek for pardon in the blood of the cross. If there were any one topic on which he delighted to dwell more than others, this was unquestionably the topic.

To his manly and unsophisticated understanding, it was evident to a demonstration, that repentance must be grafted on humility; and that there was no room to apprehend his hearers would be tempted to contemn the authority, in consequence of being abased before the majesty, of God. He was also perfectly convinced that the blood of Christ, sprinkled by faith, was the only effectual balm for afflicted consciences. On these principles he conducted his ministry for near half a century, and we may challenge his enemies, (if there be any remaining,) to deny that its fruits were most

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salutary. If the apostolic doctrine, which affirms that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law, possess the tendency to licentiousness which its opponents ascribe to it, that tendency could not have failed to operate under a course of instruction so long continued, and of which the tenet in question formed so distinguishing a feaBy their fruits ye shall know them: men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.", To conclude the fittest improvement we can make of the melancholy event we are now deploring, will be a serious attention to the exhortation of St. Paul, addressed to primitive christians on the loss of eminent pastors :-"Remember them which have had the rule over you; and, considering the end of their conversation, imitate their faith."

FRAGMENT.

CHARACTER OF THE REV. JOHN SUTCLIFF. [WRITTEN IN 1814. NOT PUBLISHED BEFORE.]

A SWEET humility formed a very distinguishing feature in his character. Who ever witnessed, in our deceased brother, those airs of arrogance, or that fondness for display, which are frequently found in persons of very inferior talents and acquirements to those which he possessed? In truth, his aversion to ostentation might alone be said to be carried to excess, since it prevented him, in his public ministry, from availing himself of [those] ample stores of knowledge by which he could often have delighted and instructed his hearers. He had far more learning than the mere hearer of his discourses would have conjectured; for he seemed almost as anxious to conceal as some are to display.

Nor was it in this particular alone that his humility was apparent. It diffused itself over the whole of his character and deportment, and gave it a certain beauty which [no] artifice could successfully imitate. His humility was not displayed in depreciating his performances, nor in speaking

of himself in degrading terms: it appeared rather in forgetting himself, and in a natural readiness to give others the superiority. It accompanied

him so incessantly, that he might truly be said to "be clothed with humility."

As his disposition little inclined him to ecstasy and rapture, so his piety shone with a mild and steady lustre, perfectly free from the false fire of enthusiasm, and equally from a lukewarm formality. There were few men in whom it appeared more natural, or more manifestly as a principle interwoven with the inmost texture of his mind. His great modesty seldom permitted him to advert to his own experience, either in public discourse, or in more private conversation; but a savour of experimental piety pervaded his whole character.

The mild and placid cheerfulness which marked his countenance and deportment, would lead us to suppose that he habitually walked in the divine light; and the evidences of his interest in the divine favour were rarely, if ever, impaired or eclipsed. He was one of the few men whose cheerfulness appeared to be increased by age; verifying, in this particular, the description given of "the path of the just, which is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." His life was truly exemplary, being filled up with an uninterrupted series of useful, benevolent, and pious actions, proceeding from their true principles, and distinguished by an eminent decorum of time and place. He was a pattern to

believers, "in faith, in purity, and in conversation." Though rather the opposite to loquacious, he had a high relish for the pleasures of christian society, in which it is difficult to say whether he imparted or received most pleasure. "The law of kindness was on his tongue;" and so attentive was he on every occasion to the feelings of those with whom he conversed, that his company was both inoffensive and delightful.

Through a long series of years his attendance at the association, and at ministers' meetings, was so constant and punctual, that his occasional absence was severely felt; and that meeting seemed essentially defective, which was not graced with his presence. His appearance amongst us was hailed as a certain presage of harmony and love. Multitudes can witness the deep and pungent regret experienced at the last annual association, at the melancholy tidings of that fatal illness which prevented his attendance.

Few men took a deeper interest than our deceased brother in the general state of the church, and the propagation of the gospel abroad. The future glory of the kingdom of Christ, and the best means of promoting it, were his favourite topics, and usurped a large part of his thoughts and his prayers; nor was he ever more in his element, than when he was exerting his powers in devising plans for its extension. The baptist mission in India is under incalculable obligations to his sagacity and prudence.