his band mates Robert Andrews and Robert Milne, two young men of extraordinary piety and fine talents. These three young men of similar age and in similar circumstances, meeting thus together, if observant of the band rules, and faithful to each other, must have acquired a love for each other, and a confidence in each other, which no other kind of fellowship on earth, whatever be its name, could have inspired; and so it was; and thus it will be, wherever band meetings are observed according to their original intent.* "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another," is a scriptural injunction, and whereever it is regarded in the spirit of the command, it will be attended with the best results. "Where there are no bands there is no Methodism," says Mr. Wesley; and who ever understood Methodism better than Mr. Wesley? Let us therefore as a body "repent and do our first works, lest our candlestick be removed out of its place." We are a singular people; raised up, and upheld by the special power and providence of God. Let us never "remove the ancient land marks." Let us rather "contend for the faith" and practice delivered to our founder. "Israel then shall dwell alone, he shall not be reckoned among the nations," and though some future Balak should hire a Balaam to curse us, his curse shall be turned into a blessing. May the Lord preserve his church, and may I never see the day when it shall be said of our Israel, "the glory is departed."

Our brother, from whose narrative I have digressed a little, while careful to improve in personal holiness, was not negligent of the cultivation of his mind. For it appears by his narrative, that during his stay in Dublin, he made himself well acquainted with the writings of Prideaux, Rollin, Stackhouse, Fenelon, Saurin, Bourdalou, Massilon, Josephus, Socrates, Seneca, Pliny, and Wesley and Fletcher. "I always made it a practice," he observes, "with every book I read, first to take a cursory view of the work, and then, if satisfied with its contents, I began to read it with steady and close application, in order as much as possible to partake of the spirit of the author." But perhaps some will say, "Where was the fruit of all this reading? did it appear in his writings, his sermons, or his conversation?" To such I would say, take notice of the motto at the beginning of this memoir, for certainly it is most applicable to the character before us :

* In a letter of brother Davidson's now before me, dated Dec. 31, 1825, he says, "I have had a letter from Dublin, from an old fellow traveller, who is still in the good old way.' He gives a pleasing account of all my band mates, and some others of the same class. One of them is now a dignitary of the church. Two are travelling preachers. Three are local preachers, some leaders, and others exhorters. All of them in an official capacity in the church one way or other."

The writer of this article speaks thus confidently from experience.

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

But I who knew him can testify, that to me at least he often supplied the place of an encyclopedia, and when in his company I never found the need of a concordance. It has been said, that if all the Bibles in the world were burnt, we might find one in Scotland. But the question is, "Where ?" and the answer is, "In the memory of a Scotchman."

About this time an opportunity was given to as many of the army of reserve" as chose, to "turn out," and go on "foreign service." A considerable bounty was offered, and many, allured by the charms of gold, left their native land for ever, and two of the society followed their example; but our friend, though he believed it right to stand in the defence of his country, preferred his religious privileges at home, to the prospect and hazard of "plunder and preferment" abroad. Lorenzo Dow and Alice Cambridge made a considerable figure at this time in and about Dublin, and though their movements were novel and irregular, yet in the opinion of brother Davidson, good was done by their means, particularly among the soldiers. The latter, however, was not permitted to preach in any of the Methodist chapels; and the former, after finishing his mission, returned to his native country, where for aught I know he wanders to this day.

The time of service in the army drawing near to a close, and great changes having taken place, and many new arrangements having been made in the different regiments, by which means the religious part were brought nearer together, they availed themselves of all the helps in their way; and in addition to prayer meetings, class meetings, and band meetings, they added fellowship meetings, or monthly love feasts, and "walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Their enemies also were at peace with them, and the Lord gave them favour in the sight of the officers, and of the people around them. They availed themselves of this circumstance, and as their military duty was now easier than at first, they spread themselves into bands, and "entered into the streets and lanes of the city ;" and among the poor, ignorant, outcasts of society, they did much good; and as the country at this time was protected by the soldiery, they could often have access where others could not, by which means they sometimes succeeded in bringing over to a better mind some of the sons and daughters of the church of Rome; and though they were sure of being "cursed" for their temerity by an interested priesthood, yet it mattered not with them who pronounced a curse when God pronounced his blessing.

The interesting period at length arrived when these "lambs of the flock" must part. Their time of service having expired,

the night previous to their final separation they met together for the purpose of commending each other to the grace of God. They had a very refreshing time from the presence of the Lord, and then with tears took an affectionate farewell of each other, under the impression that they should see each other's face no more in this world. "I found it hard to part," says brother Davidson," with those that first taught me the way of salvation. The next day we embarked for Liverpool. My much beloved and truly affectionate brother Andrews [one of his band mates] accompanied me on board, in order to take his last and final farewell. I found it a more difficult thing to part with him than with any other person, having been more closely united with him in Christian fellowship than with any other. As we bore down the river I fixed my eyes on the city, until it entirely disappeared. Then said I, Farewell, Dublin; thou hast been a place of great mercy to me. Farewell, beloved brethren, whom I hold so dear, and with whom I have often taken sweet counsel, and enjoyed many happy days. May God bless you all-adieu.""

From Liverpool they marched to Hull in Yorkshire, holding meetings at every halting place. When at Hull they received a letter informing them that their labours in Knuttsford had been the means of a revival of religion. On hearing this they commenced operations in Hull, and the same blessed effects followed their humble and zealous endeavours here as in the former place. They continued in Hull until the regiment was finally disbanded, and then a second parting was experienced which was almost as painful as the first, and to some perhaps more so.

His reflections on arriving at the place of his nativity are fraught with piety and good sense. Out of the forty men who left the neighbourhood at the time he left it, he was the only one that returned. The "army of reserve," which at first contained sixty thousand, was reduced to three thousand five hundred. Some had gone to the continent of Europe, and some to their eternal home. During his military career he had seen ten, and sometimes twelve of his fellow soldiers flogged in a day; but was never subjected to that disgrace himself; nor was he so much as once within the walls of a guard house, or any where else as a prisoner all that time. This he attributes to the mercy and grace of God, and not to any cunning that he possessed above his fellows. But while we give the glory to God for his "distinguishing grace," as some would call it, may we not ascribe a little something (I will not call it praise nor glory) to Methodism, and a pious education, as the immediate causes in the hand of God of producing this difference? In Great Britain Methodism and loyalty are almost inseparable, and in this country Methodism and patriotism are as nearly allied; and in all countries a virtuous education lays a foundation for a virtuous

life. But though we praise Scotland as being first among the nations in looking to the morals of her children, yet for the social means of grace she must surrender the palm to her southern sister; to the land which gave birth to Wesley, and to the system to which Wesley gave birth. When brother Davidson arrived at home, he found no Methodists within thirty miles, nor any thing like a prayer meeting among any of the branches of the Church of Scotland. Separated from his spiritual companions and guides; deprived of all the social means of grace in one day, and among unconverted relatives, he soon began to "backslide," and to lose those divine enjoyments which had been his portion when in the army. He then began to neglect private devotion, and finally the public worship of God, till at last, through the subtlety of the serpent, and the cunning craftiness of his agents, he lost the life and power of religion altogether. Then he fell into a controversy with the Calvinists, which continued for some time, but without any good effect on either side. They were too old to be convinced of the propriety of his creed, and he was too stubborn to be converted to theirs. His reflections, however, on this subject, are very much in point: "One thing I learned by this controversy, namely, that it is much easier to move the passions than to convince the judgment, as was evident in both parties. Thus did I spend my time in contending for the shadow, without taking hold of the substance; and in process of time I got completely tired of controversy, and gave it up as wantonly sacrificing that precious time which ought to have been appropriated to better purposes."

Previous to his leaving Scotland a second time, he put himself once more to school, in order to review the ground over which he had once travelled, and to complete himself in several branches of the mathematics. After this he took up his residence in England, as a gardener to the duke of Bedford. Here, after a lapse of twelve months, he met with a few of the people who bore the name of Methodists, and though they were few in number, and poor and despised, he cast in his lot among them, and now again he sought the Lord with all his heart, and the Lord heard his prayer and "healed all his backslidings," and "restored unto him the joys of his salvation."

The manner in which he was "thrust out into the vineyard,” if I may so speak, I shall give in his own words, on account of the artless simplicity with which he relates the simple fact. "The week after the society was formed, [in Woburn, near, where he then lived,] I was called upon to take up a very heavy cross, such as I thought I must have sunk under; but thanks be to God, notwithstanding its weight I was enabled to bear it. The manner in which this happened was as follows. On Thursday evening as usual the congregation assembled for preaching,

but the preacher disappointed us. At that time I was labouring under great uneasiness; not on my own account so much as on account of the people, it being a new appointment, the society being small, and there being none to carry on the meeting at last a pious young man beckoned me out of the house, and said to me, What shall we do, as the preacher is likely to disappoint us?' I am in a strait, said I, what to do. He proposed to begin the meeting with singing and prayer, if I would speak to the people. I complied on condition; if I felt my mind at liberty I would; if not, I would conclude the meeting with singing and prayer. So in we went; he gave out a hymn and went to prayer; but what to do I could not tell, the burden on my mind was very great. At length I took up the hymn book and gave out a verse or two. In singing the first I felt no alteration, but in singing the second all my doubts and fears vanished like the baseless fabric of a vision; my tongue was loosed; the fear of man disappeared; I felt the Lord present and precious, and was as certain that it was the will of God for me to speak to the people as I was of my existence. Under these circumstances I addressed the people for the space of twenty minutes with liberty to myself, and to the apparent satisfaction of the people, as appeared by their earnest solicitation for me to renew my exertions on some future occasion."

Thus began his public labours for the good of souls, without pomp or parade; without the gown, and without a title, except 66 gardener to the duke of Bedford," to recommend him; no wonder "he was despised and rejected of men."* There were

a few, however, notwithstanding all the opposition that he met with from the men of this world, that "clave unto him in love," and in due time and in due form he was entered as a probationer on the "local preachers' plan." Here our acquaintance commenced, for it was my lot to stand in the same relation, on the same 66 plan," at the same time; and I can testify that whatever a haughty world might think of the labours of a "local preacher," the labours of brother Davidson at this period were not in vain in the Lord Fruits of his labour in several parts of that circuit (the Bedford circuit) were found after many days. On the first plan, which embraced a period of six months, he had no more than six Sunday appointments given him, there being five travelling and twenty-two local preachers employed within the bounds of that one circuit. But though he had no more regular appointments, ere six months had expired, he had spoken in public forty times. It was thus he gave "full proof of his ministry," and finding him diligent, acceptable, and useful,

If any wish to know what Methodism had to contend with in the region where brother Davidson then lived, they are referred to the English Methodist. Magazine for 1819, p. 20, &c, and for 1821, p. 28, &c.