"What ghostly energy and mystic life Do we now feel within! We have this jewel; The casket where it lies,-faith in Christ's blood!" He was received into communion with the Methodists by the late Rev. Isaac Muff; and very soon gave proof of "gifts and grace," which he was called to exercise for the glory of God and the benefit of his fellow-sinners. He began his course of active duty in the church, by engaging in the very useful employment of Prayer-Leader and Teacher in the Sunday-school. But in the year 1815, when the superintendence of the Leeds Circuit was in the hands of that venerated servant of Christ, the late Rev. Walter Griffith, brother Lawson received his sanction to go and call sinners to repentance. He made the attempt; and, though with fear and trembling, he was assisted in his first efforts; and being ultimately approved as a Local Preacher, he continued, during more than twenty years, to discharge the duties of that office with affectionate fervour, fidelity, and success. He possessed a sound mind, a warm and affectionate heart, a conscience tender, yet not scrupulous; and a spirit devout and ardent, without extravagance. Devoid of educational advantages, he was, however, diligent in availing himself of every help within his reach to supply that deficiency, so as to be qualified to preach the Gospel in a manner that might protect himself from being despised, and his message of mercy from being contemned. He loved his Bible. He read, he meditated, he prayed, he received the teaching unction from the Holy One, without which the richest stores of learning are unavailing in the ministry of the Gospel, and with which the humblest attainments have been honoured to "turn many to righteousness." He well understood, and dearly loved, the scheme of theology as held and taught by the Methodists. He was tenacious of all our peculiarities, which he fearlessly maintained against all opposers, and affectionately enforced on all who had "ears to hear." He had a good report throughout the whole of the Circuit in which he resided, and also in those places in the vicinity of Leeds where, previously to the division, he was accustomed to labour. There are also witnesses that his labours were accepted of Christ, as well as appreciated by his people. Nor was he less attached to our discipline than our doctrines. It is true, that, during the agitations in Leeds, he received a momentary shock, from which, however, he happily recovered; and that, too, not like some, to continue in alliance with a people from whom the heart was alienated, and whose system was disapproved. The writer of this sketch has heard him declare, with deep emotion, his gratitude to God for deliverance from that temptation; and also for the benefit which had accrued to him from the fiery trial. On one occasion, when referring to this circumstance in his history, he remarked to the writer, B 2 evidently under strong feeling, and with a most gladsome countenance, "Sir, I never knew the worth of my Ministers as I have done since that period. I never saw the importance of the pastoral office; I never loved my Ministers as I now do; nor did I ever derive so much benefit from their ministrations." It has been one of the artifices of Satan to array that invaluable class of officers in our economy, the Local Preachers, against the Itinerants, who are wholly separated to the work of the ministry, and to whom belongs, according to our constitution, the office of Pastors, as well as Teachers and Preachers. The attempt not only has failed, but, in many instances, as in that of John Lawson, as he who now testifies concerning him witnessed, God has made "the wrath of man to praise him," by an increase of mutual affection, confidence, and union. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" &c. If brother Lawson was acceptable and useful as a Local Preacher, he was not less so as a Class-Leader. He seemed eminently qualified to discharge the duties of that important office in the economy of Methodism. His sobriety, his gravity, his cheerfulness, his kindness and tender-heartedness, combined with his insight into the deceits of the human heart, and the devices of Satan, fitted him to watch over, instruct, admonish, and comfort the souls entrusted to his immediate care. His classes contained persons of every grade in society, from the humblest to the most exalted of those who are ordinarily found united with the sect still " every where spoken against." He knew not to fawn upon the rich members, any more than to neglect the poor ones. Although much of his spare time was necessarily occupied by his duties as a church member and officer, he did not allow them to displace those which he owed to his family. As a husband, he was distinguished by tender and affectionate fidelity. As a father, he neither "provoked his children to wrath" by excessive severity, nor hazarded their salvation by excessive indulgence, but brought them up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." In attention to family worship he was highly exemplary, stoutly resisting all interference with it, which could convey the slightest impression to his household, that it was something secondary and subordinate. Nor was he less punctual and faithful in the discharge of those secular duties which devolved upon him in that station of life in which it had pleased God to place him. His employers, Messrs. Ripley and Ogle, held him in deserved estimation as one whom they beheld "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." While to them he conducted himself with respect, without adulation; to his fellow-servants, and those of whom he had the oversight, he deported himself with kindness and courtesy, without mean compliances; and to both, as believing that "the rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all," and that it behoveth the servant of the Lord, when "called" to be the servant of men, to perform that service," not as pleasing men, but God." "Every thing is beautiful in its season," is the sure maxim of the wisest of men. The controversy about the comparative claims of the active and contemplative life, we leave to the mystics. The evangelic law enjoins both. Both are cherished by all who " are taught of God." In these the "servant is as his Lord." "Between the mount and multitude, His days are spent in doing good, But there is no controversy about the necessity and obligation laid upon Christians to cultivate the passive graces which belong to their state of earthly suffering. Man is born to trouble. Piety of the highest order gives no exemption from the cross. The way of suffering is the consecrated way to the unsuffering and unending kingdom of the Lord Jesus, who himself is here our pattern, as well as our sacrifice. The saints are destined, like the King of saints, to be "made perfect through sufferings." Mr. Lawson, though naturally what would be called 66 a hale man," was, however, during a considerable period of his life, "an ailing man." The latter months of his sojourn upon earth were so overcast with severe affliction, as to render it imperative upon him to desist from the work of preaching, and also greatly to diminish his work as a Leader; but his God was with him in the fire. He felt the weight of his sufferings, and never affected an unnatural stoicism; but he bowed with much submission to the will of God, and gloried in tribulation, "knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope" of the eternal glory of God in heaven. In this frame I found him at our last interview, little imagining that it was the last we should have on earth, and that he was so near taking "His last triumphant flight From Calvary's to Zion's height." But so had He determined in whose hands are "the keys of death and hell." After a long cessation from preaching, in an interval of what seemed like reviving strength, the servant of Christ felt a strong desire once more to buckle on his armour, and take the field. He attended his appointment on Sunday evening, June 11th, 1837. His intimations to the conductor of the singing showed that he felt his weakness, and apprehended insufficiency for the work. His text declared the thoughts which occupied his soul. It was, "But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" (Job xiv. 10.) In the midst of the discourse he felt himself unable to proceed, and requested a friend to give out a verse. person hesitated, when the falling soldier of Christ exclaimed, "The first hymn: " The "O for a thousand tongues to sing The triumphs of his grace!" The singing proceeded; but before the congregation had concluded the verse, Mr. Lawson fell against the pulpit door; and, as he fell, he cried with a loud voice, "Sing, John, sing!" They were his last, his dying words. It is a singular coincidence, that singing the praises of God had been his favourite employ for many years. The ruling passion was strong in death," Sing, John, sing!" And in one short hour, he was where more than ten thousand times ten thousand voices unite with him to "sing the great Redeemer's praise." Blessed servant of Christ, we give thee back thine own dying words, and cry to thee, amidst the songsters of the skies, "Sing, John, sing! Sing the Lamb, the dying Lamb! the Lamb who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever! And, in a little while, a very little while, we come to unite with thee in the everlasting anthems of heaven! The suddenness and peculiar circumstances of his decease created a great sensation. The scene at his funeral was one I shall never forget. He was attended to the grave by one of the largest concourses of persons ever witnessed on any similar occasion. It was a public testimony no less honourable to those who offered it, than to him to whose memory it was yielded. How venerable is goodness! That the corpse of deceased royalty should be attended to the sepulchre of Kings through a long avenue of soldiery, and by a splendid procession of robed Commoners and Peers; that Joseph and his brethren should follow the remains of their venerated father from Egypt to Canaan, and place him by the side of Abraham and Sarah in the cave of Machpelah; that devout men should carry Stephen to his burying, and make great lamentation over him; are all easy of explanation. But that a lowly plebeian, a Yorkshire clothier, without wealth, without rank, and with humble talents, should be attended to the tomb by an unforced procession of his superiors and his equals, and amidst the sighs and sobs of hundreds of his neighbours and acquaintances, can only be explained on the principle, that his virtues were as conspicuous as they were genuine, and that who so honours God, him will God also honour. The decease of this honoured brother was improved in a sermon preached on the occasion, in Brunswick chapel. It was on a weekday evening; but, even then, there were thousands present, to pay a last tribute of respect to the memory of the man whom the King of kings delighted to honour! May his children and his children's children never forget the blessing wherewith the man of God blessed them! May the congregations of Methodism in Leeds, numerous, large, and influential as they already are, never cease to furnish such specimens of the power of that Gospel which is proclaimed among men! And may the successive Ministers of our churches be honoured as their predecessors have been from the beginning, with those best seals of their apostolic ministry, souls converted from sin to holiness, through the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the faith of Jesus's blood! May those already given to them be distinguished for purity, zeal, simplicity, and benevolence, even beyond the best who have gone before them! And may the everlasting Gospel (which, during six years, the writer personally witnessed in glorious results amongst them) continue to have "free course and be glorified." Believers die, Ministers die; but the Gospel never dies. It is "the word of the Lord" which "endureth for ever;" "and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached." "The Lord liveth, and blessed be our Rock, and exalted be the God of our salvation." MEMOIR OF MRS. RANSON: BY HER HUSBAND, THE REV. HENRY RANSON. MRS. ISABELLA RANSON was the daughter of Captain Shields, who' was accustomed, for many years, to trade in the South Seas, the continent of India, and other foreign parts; and who was admitted to be one of the first English mercantile Captains who was known to sail round Cape-Horn. He was generally regarded as a man of courage and enterprise; and also as one of the strictest integrity. He usually sailed out of London; and it was in that city that the subject of this account was born, November 13th, 1794. Being deprived of her mother before she was seven years of age, she was brought up partly under the direction of her grandmother, of whose piety and love to the word of God she always spoke in terms of the highest respect. Some of the first and most lasting impressions in favour of religion, were made upon the mind of Mrs. Ranson by the judicious instructions, faithful admonitions, and upright example of this excellent woman. She was a member of the Church of Scotland; and while the family remained in London, sat under the ministry of that community. About twelve months after the death of Mrs. Shields, the family removed to Norton, near Stockton-upon-Tees, and there she was accustomed regularly to attend the preaching of the Wesleyan Methodists. She lived in the fear and love of God, and died with a well-grounded hope, through the merits of Christ, of uniting with those who inherit the promises. In the year 1823 the children were deprived of the affectionate care and superintendence of their father also; which was a solemn and affecting event to the whole family. For the last fourteen years of his life, Captain Shields had given up his occupation at sea, and resided with his daughters; and, being very conscientious and uniform in his |