every kindred and tongue and people and nation.* There is a sense in which the dead know not any thing: their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished, neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. All this is true, as to the things of this world; but it does not follow, that those who die in the Lord have no more a portion in his spiritual kingdom. As well might we infer that their love of him and hatred of evil shall perish. But I ask leave, on this subject, to refer to A Meditation on the nature and progressiveness of the heavenly glory, contained in a small volume of Dialogues, Letters, and Essays, published in 1806.

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Another stream of mercy for which we are directed to look, will attend the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consist in the dead being raised, and the living changed. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, -with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It has been usual for nations to reserve the most notable acts of grace to the appearance or coronation of their kings, as tending to honour their entrance on the government. And thus both the first and second appearing of Christ are periods which God has distinguished by the most glorious displays of mercy. The first was a jubilee to the Gentile world; and the last will be the same to the whole creation. As, on the sounding of the jubilee trumpet, the captives were liberated; so, when the trump of God shall sound, the righteous dead shall be raised, and their resurrection will be to the creatures of God the signal of emancipation from under the effects of sin.

View the grave as a long, dark, and comfortless abode, and it is sufficient to appal the stoutest spirit: but take into consideration that here the Lord lay; that he was raised from the dead, that he might be the first fruits of them that slept; and that of all that the

* Such, we know, were the ideas of our dear departed brother; which, as some may remember, he enlarged upon at the Thursday-morning meeting of the Association, held at Kettering, in 1813.

Father gave him he will lose nothing, but will raise it up at the last day and it will wear a different aspect. Job, when contemplating the grave as a long and dreary habitation, describes it in the most plaintive language: Man lieth down, and riseth not till the heavens be no more! But, when his views are fixed on the deliv erance which he should obtain at that great and glorious day, his complaints are exchanged for triumphs. It is delightful to observe the erection of soul which a believing prospect of the resurrection gave him, after all his depressions: Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For Iknow that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. In a strain very similar to this, the Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, describes the victory over death and the grave, representing believers as actually raised from the dead, and as standing upon their graves, looking the conquered enemy in the face, and exclaiming, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Chest. By looking for this part of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be reconciled to death, even before we meet it.

But there is another stream of mercy beyond this, to which we are directed to look, and which pertains to the last judgment. We have an impressive idea given us of this in Paul's prayer for Onesiphorus: The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus ; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain : but when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me The Lord grant unto him that he may find MERCY OF the Lord, in

THAT DAY.

We have needed mercy on many days, and have found it; but that is a day in which we shall need it more than ever. It is a fond notion, entertained by some, that the sins of believers will not be brought into judgment. We are assured, however, that we must VOL. VII.

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all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one of us shall give an account of himself to God; and that of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of judgment. The mercy of the Lord, in that day, will not consist in connivance; but, as in all other instances, be exercised consistently with righteousness. In our present state of mind, we may wish to have it otherwise. David might wish that the evil he bad wrought in secret should be kept secret; but the Lord determined to expose it before the sun. It does not comport with the character of God to conceal the truth, but to make it manifest. If the sins of believers were not brought into judgment, there would be no occasion for the exercise of forgiving mercy. It is from the strictness of the trial, and the awfulness of the sentence to which, if dealt with according to their deserts, they would be exposed in that day, that mercy will be needed. The world shall know their guilt, and their repentance, and the way in which they are forgiven so as to glorify God, though it be unwillingly, and to feel the justice of their own condemnation. In this view of the last judgment, the manifestation of guilt and wrath and mercy will each surpass all our present conceptions.

It is commonly represented, in the scriptures, that every man will be judged according to his works: and true it is, that all our actions and words, and even thoughts, will undergo an impartial scrutiny, and be considered as the test of character. They, for example, who have ministered to Christ's members in their necessities, will be treated as having ministered unto him; and they that have disregarded them, as having disregarded him: but, if, by being judged according to our works, were meant that God will proceed with us on the principles of mere justice, giving to every one his due, we should all be condemned: If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Nor will the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that day, be confined to the forgiveness, of sin: even the rewards of that day, though expressive of righteousness and faithfulness, yet have their origin in mercy. The crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give in that day to all who love his ap

pearing, will not be a reward of debt, but of grace. But for grace, we should have had no good deeds to be rewarded; or, if we had, they could no more be named in that day than the good behaviour of a murderer will bear to be alleged as a balance against his crimes. But, being accepted in Christ, what is done for him is rewarded for his sake. Hence, the crown of glory that shall be bestowed on his appearing is denominated, The GRACE that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

After this, nothing remains but that eternal life, into which, as into an ocean, all these streams of mercy flow: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from-the foundation of the world. Such was the object of your dear pastor's hope. May such be yours and mine: let our last end be like his!

The separation of a pastor and a people is a serious event. He is gone to give account of his ministry, and his account will include many things pertaining to the people of his charge. Some of them, I trust, will be found to have received the love of the truth, and will be his joy and crown of rejoicing. Could he have utter ed his heart to you, his children, it would have been to press upon you a perseverance in the things that you have received and learned. Nay, he did so far utter his heart as to say to those about him, "If any thing be said as from me, let the last word be, As I have loved you, see that ye love one another.' I doubt not but it has been his endeavour, that, after his decease, you might have these things always in your remembrance; and that he was less anxious that you should remember him than them: but I trust you will remember both. Others, I fear, will be found to have sat under his ministry in vain. The word preached has not profited them, not being mixed with faith. It is an affecting case to perish from under a faithful minister: for if he be pure from your blood, on whose head must it be found, but on your own? Let us hope, that if the warning voice of your minister has not been heard before, it may be heard now. His last end furnishes a lesson of instruction, by which he being dead yet speaketh. You see here, that if a man keep Christ's saying, he will never see death.

Death to him is not death, but the introduction to everlast

ing life. But know also, that he that believeth not the Son will never see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

I shall conclude with a brief account of our deceased brother; which I give partly from my own knowledge, and partly from the communications of others.

I am aware that some great and good men have imposed silence on these occasions. Without impeaching their motives, I take the liberty to differ from them. It is true, that for sinful creatures, as we all are, to heap encomiums on one another, is vain and sinful : yet we may err, on the other hand, by concealing what the grace of God has done for us. In this view, one may, on occasion, speak of himself, as did the Apostle Paul; and, if so, why not of another. David did not withhold a tribute of affection to the memory of his brother Jonathan. Nor did Luke conceal the fruits of faith and love which had appeared in Dorcas. She might have left an injunction that at her decease nothing should be said of her: but the widows must weep, and show the garments which she had made for the poor in her life time. It is not for us to suppress the feelings of nature, and still less those of grace.

Our deceased brother was born near Halifax, in Yorkshire, on the 9th of August, 1752, O. S. His parents were both of them pious characters, and remarkable for their strict attention to the instruction and government of their children. Of course he would be taught the good and the right way from his childhood. It does not appear, however, that he was made wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus, till about the sixteenth or seventeenth year of his age. This was under the ministry of his revered friend and father Mr. John Fawcett, pastor of the churchmeeting at Hepden Bridge. Of this church he became a member, on May 28, 1769. Being of a serious and studious turn of mind, he appeared to his friends to possess gifts suited to the ministry, which was proposed to his consideration. The proposal met with his own wishes, and being desirous of obtaining all the instruction he could, he went, in January 1772, to the Bristol Academy, then under the care of Messrs. Hugh and Caleb Evans. Of his conduct in this situation, it is sufficient to say, that it procured him the esteem of his tutors to the end of their lives.