earthly pillow. With accelerated speed the destroyer now pursued his steps, until within the sad seclusion of a sick chamber, and beneath the solemn shadows of a dying bed, he had but to complete his fatal work.

On December 7th, in much weakness and pain, the invalid passed the last day of his presence in the family circle. Then followed those distressing seasons of acute physical anguish which the utmost medical skill and the tenderest human sympathy could only temporarily relieve. The strong opiates which it became necessary to administer induced a state of coma, relieved only by transient gleams of consciousness, during which those who now mourn their irreparable loss anxiously sought for a sign of recognition, or a glimpse of the state of his mind. Short replies to the inquiries of friends who visited him, and responses to their prayers, were all that could be obtained; but these were sufficient to show that his faith was still fixed upon Christ, the only foundation of the sinner's hope. On Sunday evening, December 16th, he exchanged earth's sufferings for heaven's sweet rest.

"There is no death! What seems so is transition;

This life of mortal breath

Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portal we call death."

A Memorial Address."

BY DR. UNDERWOOD.

AT the death and burial of our friends, no voice is so proper to be heard as the voice of God. That voice is audible to the soul's inner sense in the events themselves. But it speaks to us literally and loudly-with a thrilling tone, and yet with soothing accents-in the words of Holy Scripture. To some of these pure and potent words we have now been listening, and any merely human utterances must be faulty and feeble in comparison with them. Yet the occasion which has called us together demands that we should not be wholly "dumb with silence," but should endeavour to say something pertinent to it. There is a time to hear and a time to speak.

A sore bereavement has befallen us; one which may be viewed in various aspects, and the consideration of which is fitted to excite mingled emotions. This is a heart-stricken assembly, and we are sharers in a general grief. For what was he whose lifeless body has been borne hither on its way to the grave? He stood in relations more or less intimate and endeared to us all; and the dissolution of these bonds, at a period so much earlier than we should have preferred, is what we unitedly deplore. But the sorrowful event has its individual bearings, and on particular accounts we "mourn apart." The decease of a husband, so long and so happily allied, has left the affectionate survivor "a widow indeed." The death of a father, so considerate of his children, and so revered and beloved by them, is a blow which has fallen heavily on their heads and hearts. The loss of a brother, who was admitted to be pre-eminent among the members of a large family of brethren and sisters, cannot but be lamented with a true fraternal Given at the funeral of Mr. W. Bennett, of Sawley, Dec. 21st, 1877, after the reading of Scripture by brother Stenson.

A MEMORIAL ADDRESS.

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grief and a genuine sisterly sorrow. The removal of a pillar from the church, of which he was not only a support but an ornament, has cast a gloom over those who remain. Nor can the final disappearance from this region of an old resident, so extensively known and so much respected, causing as it does a kind of chasm in the sphere of social life, fail to awaken a wide-spread regret. Considered altogether, we may say of our present solemnity what was said by those who witnessed Jacob's funeral, "This is a grievous mourning."

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The

But nearly all human grief may find some balm to assuage it and heal it. That which is suffered at the separations made by death has sometimes its special alleviations and effectual antidotes. In the present instance we may combine with it expressions of gratitude to God that He ever "gave" what He has now taken away.' We ought to thank our Heavenly Father, even at a time like this, for the grace which made our departed brother what he was, and for the bounties and mercies which followed him all his days. For before he passed away from us it might be said that "God had blessed him in all things." We may remember with thankfulness his early conversion to God, and his hearty fellowship with God's people; the steadfastness of his faith in Christ, and the eminence of his Christian virtues. He had a deep sense of responsibility to God for whatever he possessed, and he was induced to devote his time and talents to the support of numerous institutions both philanthropic and religious. In this branch of his own particular church he used the office of a deacon well." His attachment to it was shown by his constant attendance on its services, his willing participation in its work, and his liberal contribution to its funds. improvements made in this sanctuary, the erection of the commodious school-room near it, and the enlargement of the burying-ground, are monuments of his spontaneous munificence. His care for the moral and religious culture of the young appeared in what he did during a long course of years for the day and Sunday schools which have been so well conducted here, and which have been an eminent blessing to this village. His regard for the denomination to which he belonged was attested by his donations and subscriptions to the College for training its ministers, and to its Missions both at home and abroad. He was one of the largest contributors to the purchase of the College property at Chilwell, and one of the most active members of its managing or house committee from the commencement. Rarely was he absent from the district meetings of the churches, and regularly as the Annual Association recurred he was certain to be seen among them that came to the feast." He was a sterling friend to ministers in general, and of the many who from time to time came into his house, there are not a few still living who might truthfully say of him, as Paul said of Onesiphorus, "he often refreshed me." When acting on committees and in meetings for business, our friend was so thoughtful and self-collected as to be able to form an independent opinion, and he was sometimes as free as he was faithful in the expression of his views. A man of principle himself, he appreciated the same quality in others. Firm in his adherence to what he deemed to be right, he was also stout in withstanding what he thought to be wrong. That he was never mistaken and misled on disputable questions and in divided proceedings would be an extravagant supposition; yet it may be soberly asserted that his intelligence and integrity

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gave him unusual worth and weight both in council and in action. "The tongue of the wise is health." "The lip of truth shall be established for ever."

That grace of God which made our brother so valuable and useful in his lifetime, prepared him for the end which we would fondly have had longer postponed. That latter end he had wisely considered. By a judicious settlement of his domestic affairs, he had "set his house in order." He looked for the blessed hope, and waited for the coming change.

And now, guided by the clear light of the Christian revelation, we can leave his fine manly form to moulder in the coffin which confines it, and trace his immortal spirit beyond its fleshly integuments. Our brother has ceased to breath on earth, but he has not ceased to be! He is gone to be with Christ-to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father-to fill the place prepared for him in the heavenly mansionsto possess the inheritance which is reserved for those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Now he has attained a dignity from which there can be no debasement—a purity exempt from all contamination-a rest secure from all disturbance- -a fulness of joy -a life which is literally everlasting. "Thanks be unto God who hath given him the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

He will never return to us. But shall we not all, by treading the same upward path, gain the assurance that we shall go to him? This must be our hope and aim-the hope of the widow, and the aim of the sons and daughters. Nor less must it be the care of brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends. In a little while our strength will be weakened, and our days cut short; and though there may be fewer to manifest the pensive interest taken in our death and burial than are here to-day, that death will be none the less momentous in its issues to It will be the beginning of perfect blessedness, or the consummation of misery and woe. It must be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked for ever. For the "many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

us.

PAIN AND THE INTELLECT.

MR. G. J. ROMANES has been conducting a series of remarkable experiments on the nervous structure of the medusæ or jelly fish; and in reporting the results of his investigations says that jelly fishes cannot be supposed to be capable of feeling pain, as the power of feeling pain was lodged entirely in that part of the nervous tissue which belonged to the intellectual faculties. The faculty, therefore, of feeling pain bears a direct relation to the intellectual faculties. He froze some jelly fishes, and they were pierced through and through with thousands of ice crystals; and yet on being thawed they became as before, save that there was raggedness from the disintegrating influence of the ice. Chloroform and ether produced insensibility in jelly fishes, strychnine convulsions, whisky intoxication.

If pain holds this correspondence to intellectual faculty, then (1) there is an enormously less quantity of it in God's creation than is generally supposed. Nature is not in the agony that pessimists represent. (2) The capability of real suffering is a sign of high rank in the animal world. (3) "Cruelty" requires a new definition; and (4) the growth and development of mind in the human race will create a deepening need for the solace and joy of the gospel of the grace of God. Increasingly sensitive to suffering, we shall more than ever need the soothing influences of the revelation of God in Christ. JOHN CLIFFORD.

The Prince of Pulpit Orators.

No. III.-George Whitefield: Characteristics of his Preaching.

WHITEFIELD always preached a pure Gospel. He gave wheat; not chaff. He preached Christ; not self. This was the substance of his message, the motive of his service, and the charm of his oratory. His holy fire ever burnt strongly and brightly, with no eccentric flame. His ideas were clear as crystal, and his motive was pure as the light of day. His sermons were lucid and simple. His style was plain and easy. never shot above his hearers' head. As a preacher, he was bold and direct. In all his ministrations he took care to aim at the heart and the conscience, and he did not, like many, stick on a tail-piece of application at the end of a sermon; but a constant vein of appeal ran through all his discourses.

He

His preaching was also characterised by intense earnestness. He was all life and fire. Attention was taken by storm, and held in willing bondage. Apathy fled before him, and sleep could not intrude among his hearers. Everybody listened to what the preacher had to say. And yet his sermons were charged with pathos and feeling. They were baptized with tears. He cried down crying sins. Weeping was one of the elements of his power. It touched the secret spring in men, and melted away prejudice like snow in sunshine. "I came to break your head," said one man, "but you have broken my heart." Whitefield made the people feel that he loved them; and they "heard him gladly." He had, in perfection, the marvellous power of making himself believed. His addresses were faithful, in the aristocratic circle, and in the plebeian crowd, to the sycophantic parasite, and to the stormy persecutor, at once to Christ, and to the sinner's conscience.

He had a bold imagination and a singular power of description. He was a master of impersonation. He essayed the rhetorical daring of holding converse with the archangel Gabriel; of trying the sinner at God's bar, and putting on the black cap of condemnation, and then passing sentence of eternal death. His "Hark! hark!" could picture Gethsemane with its solitude and shade. His apostrophe to Peter on the Mount would light up another Tabor, and bathe it in the glory from the opening heaven. His thoughts were possessions, and his feelings. were transformations; and if he spake because he felt, his hearers understood because they saw. His life-like word-pictures captivated all ranks of society, and all classes of mind. His picture of the blind man, led by a dog, till his foot descended on vacancy, and he fell headlong over the precipice, so enchanted Lord Chesterfield that he started from his seat, exclaiming, "Good heavens, he's gone!" Whitefield's ministry so influenced this haughty Lord-who was the recognised standard of aristocratic etiquette, and whose prime article of creed was, and is, to school and discipline the passions and feelings so that they should never be observed, that he rebuked Voltaire, and an infidel lady, by speaking well of religion, and telling them that English people could get nothing better. Horace Walpole, that cold and cruel critic, whose works are published in six volumes-one for every day in the

week except Sunday, for he was too irreligious to produce any hallowed literature, was obliged to bear good testimony to Whitefield's creed and character. David Hume, the subtle reasoner against Christianity, once declared it was worth while to go twenty miles to hear Whitefield. Kingly courtiers and Kingswood colliers were alike entranced by his eloquence. By a sort of spiritual induction, a vast audience would speedily be brought into a frame of mind in full sympathy with his own; while a revealing flash of sententious truth or vivified Scripture would disclose to awe-stricken thousands the forgotten verities of another world, or the unsuspected arcana of their own souls.

Whitefield's action was perfect. Garrick once said, "I would give a year's income to hold my handkerchief like Whitefield." He had, likewise, a perfect command of his voice. Garrick declared he would have given a hundred guineas to have said "O!" like him. He is credited with being able to make men weep or tremble by his variable pronunciation of the word Mesopotamia.

He had, too, a fine personal appearance. His dark blue eyes were penetrating. His face had a speaking expression. One look was terrific, as if fury itself was enthroned on the brow; then seriousness held sway, and soon beamed forth an angelic sweetness that savoured of heaven: love shone in his countenance, and breathed in his words. His eyes were eloquent with the eloquence of tears and of love. He was, indeed, a modern Jeremiah. His weeping was the overflow of a great soul, and the gushing forth of strong sympathy. What is eloquence? True eloquence is earnestness and passion, and is reflected in the fierce glow of intense feeling. The burning soul enkindles the lips; and makes a tongue of fire. The loftier the emotion, the more impressive the utterance. The same law applies to eloquence that applies to hydrostatics. If the jet is to be thrown to a great height, the spring that feeds the fountain must have a lofty birthplace on the mountain-side. Whitefields sermons were studied in the presence of the Eternal; and this gave him his commanding power, his burning zeal, his holy ardour, his heavenly enthusiasm, and his melting pathos !

Whitefield was the orator, not only of nature, but also of art. He studied oratory; not for display, or dramatic effect, but that he might win souls to Christ. He drilled himself; he copied the finest models; and he sought out acceptable tones, gestures, and looks, as well as acceptable words: so that, while his voice attracted the ear, his features and gestures spoke to the eye, until his hearers were electrified by his eloquence. JOHN ROSE.

HISTORIC CREEDS AND LIVING FAITH.

is

THE Scottish churches are in a ferment on this subject. The "Confession condemned by many members in all churches, and is actually on its trial amongst the United Presbyterians. And all the signs point to the only right issue "The formation of a short and simple statement of the great fundamental truths (and the shorter and the simpler the better), brought up to our present knowledge of God's word, and the retention of the Confession' as a valuable historical document." This is what all the churches, in and out of Scotland, will have to do, and the sooner it is done the better for the churches and the world.