-to point the way from probability to "a sure and certain hope" -and to enforce, by powerful appeals to the understanding and the conscience, those practical results which should follow from such premises is a work of incalculable utility; and he who performs it successfully presents a less questionable claim to the approbation of his species than the greatest conqueror that has lived, from Nimrod to Napoleon.

Whether the individual whose life we are about to narrate be entitled to share in such high praise, the reader of the following pages will determine. But whatever, in this respect, may be the sentiments of him who writes, or of him who reads, it is neither to rear a monument to departed excellence, nor to gratify the craving appetite of excited curiosity, that the biographer should undertake his task. The utility of his labours, and the probable influence of the character he attempts to portray, are of far higher importance than the gaining for his subject or his performance the breath of human applause.

The words of inspiration attest, that "none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Every man's conduct is either beneficial or pernicious while he lives, and his name becomes a guiding light or a warning beacon to posterity. The effects of his example may be confined to the domestic circle, or felt throughout a nation; but in either case it will follow, that "the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot."

Faithful biography is to the moral philosopher what a series of experiments is to the student of physical science. Each is a register of facts from which important principles may be deduced. From the one we infer the properties of matter, and from the other we acquire an insight into the operations of mind.

But, though all biographical writings tend thus to enlarge our knowledge of human nature, there are some memoirs which furnish more valuable facts and more delicate tests than others. Where, for instance, the mental powers have been called into exercise at a late period of life, and under circumstances singularly unpropitious to their development,-where obstacles apparently insuperable have been vanquished by resolution and perseverance, and where, in a moral aspect, the commencement of life presents a signal contrast to its subsequent tenour, -more important knowledge may perhaps be gained than from the memoirs of those who have entered on their career, and pursued their course, under a more favourable concurrence of events.

The philosophy of mind is not less indebted to the subject than to the manner in which it may be presented to our notice. A fondness for adventurous exploit, and a love of the marvellous, lead the majority of readers to attach value to those lives only which consist

"Of moving accidents by flood and field,

Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach."

Extraordinary events alone claim their attention; those minor circumstances which chiefly exhibit the character are either overlooked or disregarded.

But are the great and prominent occurrences of a man's life necessarily the most instructive? May not a more valuable lesson frequently be gathered from facts which, though essential to a right apprehension of the subject, are in themselves apparently insignificant? When an individual has attained distinction, it is not enough to know the conspicuous stages by which he rose to elevation: if we would be fully benefited by the history of his life, we should mark the successive steps which conducted him from one stage to another, and trace, if possible, every motive and every movement.

The finished painting of a master's hand may excite universal admiration; but he who aims at equal excellence looks not merely at the result, but at the process which led on to perfection. The preparation of the canvass and the colours, the distribution of light and shade, the numberless touches and erasures, of which the superficial observer knows nothing, are to him matters of engrossing interest; while to him who studies the science of mind, the creative power, the glowing conceptions, the hopes, the fears, the anxieties, and the varied feelings of the artist, during the progress of his work, are of higher value than the final display of his skill, or the manner of its execution.

The great end of biography is to excite emulation,--to call forth the latent or dormant energies of the mind,—to show that what man has done, man may do,-that the field of honourable labour is open, and the reward offered to all who will exert themselves-in short, to lead to the practical application of that pithy exhortation, "Go, and do thou likewise."

Example, to be useful, must be capable of imitation. A brilliant career, resulting chiefly from an unusual train of events, may dazzle and astonish, but lead to no beneficial result. Το imitate with a reasonable hope of success, our circumstances

should not be less favourable than those in which the object of our emulation was placed. The lives, therefore, of those individuals who, from a condition common to the bulk of mankind, unappalled by difficulties, and destitute of ordinary advantages, have, in humble dependence on a gracious Providence, put forth their mental energies, and, by persevering efforts, become the architects of their own fortune, and the instruments of great good to others, are the most useful, and perhaps the most worthy of being recorded.

There are many persons who profess to admit the historic truth of Christianity, and yet pour contempt upon the humbling doctrines of the cross. "Evangelical Religion" is a phrase at which they take offence; and that change of the will and affections which it is understood to imply, they are less ready to seek than to call in question. Not having felt "the powers of the world to come," and being indisposed to make the inquiry with the docile spirit of a disciple, they would fain persuade themselves that these things are but enthusiastic dreams, and not the sober realities which every genuine follower of Christ may and must experience. To such persons, no argument will be so conclusive, and no appeal so forcible, as the fact, that individuals of the most penetrating minds have avowed themselves the subjects of such a supernatural change, and evinced the truth of the declaration by a deportment challenging the most rigorous scrutiny.

In the subject of this memoir we have such an instance. Though possessed of high intellectual capacity, yet, for its development and direction he was mainly, if not wholly, indebted to the work of Divine grace upon his heart. The faculties of his mind were thus roused into activity, and consecrated to the service of his God and his neighbour. It is in connection with his acknowledged mental superiority that his religious profession and practice are deemed of public importance; and it is with reference to his religious life, and his humble origin, that his literary progress is chiefly interesting. There are, we believe, thousands and tens of thousands who can testify as explicitly as he, "that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," and who have exemplified as fully "the fruits of the Spirit;" but there are few of the professors of this "vital power of godliness" whose clear sightedness and habits of close thinking more completely exempt them from the suspicion of enthusiasm and self-delusion.

The memoirs of a merely literary man, daily pursuing the same or similar occupations, and secluded in his study from

the changeful scenery of human life, exhibit few of those incidents that awaken general interest. But where an individual has raised himself from obscurity by superior intelligence, --has boldly grappled, in the outset of his career, with the evils of ignorance and poverty-has struggled successfully against the opposing current of circumstances, and won for himself honourable renown; and all this commenced in the ardour of religious feeling, sustained by the spirit of genuine piety, and prosecuted throughout in sincere and faithful reliance on that Almighty Being to whom all his abilities and successes were ascribed; not only is our curiosity gratified, and our admiration raised, but the religion of Christ is exalted in our estimation, and, through the feelings induced by such an example, our hearts are made better.

Among those who know little of vital Christianity but from the caricatures which its enemies have drawn, and of which its thoughtless friends sometimes furnish the originals, an opinion is very prevalent that it is inimical to scientific pursuits. This, however, is an opinion entirely destitute of foundation; and whatever tends to undeceive in a matter so important must be valuable to every friend of religion, and every lover of truth. If those views of Christianity to which reference has been made have any influence on the pursuit and application of knowledge, its influence must be beneficial. It cannot be supposed that those convictions of the justice, goodness, and mercy of God which fasten on the mind of the pious believer, will indispose him to trace out the wisdom and the power displayed in all the works of Deity. It cannot be credited, that the energetic principle which regulates our passions, controls our temper, and harmonizes our moral system, will incapacitate us for mental exercise or intellectual enjoyment. Nor can it be reasonably thought, that the faith which supplies a purer motive, and promises a more glorious reward, than wealth or fame, will furnish a less powerful incentive to honourable exertion.

Without yielding the truth of a proposition which we believe may be satisfactorily established upon abstract principles, but which it would be foreign to our present purpose to pursue, we may confidently leave it to the evidence of facts. The accumulation and comparison of these will lead to the conviction, that the religion of the heart is favourable to the highest displays of the intellect, and confirm the scriptural declaration, that "godliness is profitable for all things." Each succeeding generation has furnished evidence that this proposition is true; and our own days are not without brilliant examples.

SECTION II.

Family Connections and Parentage.

THE ancestors of Mr. Drew have been represented as respectable and affluent ; but the elderly female in whose memory the family archives were chiefly deposited having been several years deceased, with her are gone the proofs of ancient gentility. His great-grandfather came from Exeter into some part of Cornwall, where he kept a tavern; and a son of his, named Benjamin, followed the father's occupation in St. Austell. He married a person of considerable property; but assuming the rank of an independent gentleman, and plunging into dissipation and extravagance, he squandered his substance, and brought himself and family into difficulties. Nine of his children, seven of whom were females, lived to maturity. Benjamin, the elder son, settled in the neighbouring fishing town of Mevagissey, where the junior branches of his family still reside. The descendants of the married daughters are now found in the Cornish families of Osler, May, Bayley, Julyan, and Hockins.

The attention of Joseph, the second son, the father of Samuel Drew, was first directed to the welfare of his soul, at the age of eighteen, under a sermon of the reverend George Whitefield. With some of his youthful companions, he attended the outdoor preaching in a neighbouring village, as a matter of frolic; but, like many who were attracted in those days by its novelty, though he went to scoff," he "remained to pray." The truths of religion were set forth in a manner so new and so convincing, maintained by arguments so powerful, and enforced by eloquence so resistless, that he was struck to the heart. He returned to his father's house; but finding its scenes of riot and dissipation perfectly uncongenial with his newly acquired feelings, he withdrew from the company of his old associates; sought opportunities for secret prayer; and diligently attended the ministry of Messrs. Whitefield, Wesley, and the early assistants of their itinerant labours.

It is not to be supposed that this alteration in his deportment passed unregarded by his irreligious relatives. In his case, the prediction of Christ respecting the treatment of his followers, that "a man's foes shall be they of his own house