some instances his judgment; whilst his desire to be exact in his explanations may have led him to long and even unnecessary details. But what is this? I speak not of an angel, but of an humble and sincere Christian. And therefore I describe him, not by the particular and inconsiderable failings from which none are exempt, but by the train and course and mass and leading features of his holy and excellent conduct; a conduct, which I must again say united in a high degree more of the apparently opposite virtues of religion than I scarcely ever before witnessed.

I pray God that we may follow him in this as he followed Christ! Virtues which are, so to speak, allied to our natural constitution of mind or body, are less certain proofs of grace. It is the assemblage, the universality of Christian dispositions and duties which bear the unequivocal stamp of the Holy Spirit. It is no excuse for bad tempers or bad conduct to plead our turn of mind or natural inclinations; Christianity must change and renew the whole soul, and it is our duty especially to cultivate those graces in which we are in the greatest danger of being defective. To lay the blame of our failings on our dispositions and temperament is one thing; to resist and overcome them in the strength of Christ is quite another.

(

After these general features of Mr. Cardale's

character, I shall be expected, I am aware, in this place to mention HIS STRONG AND ENLIGHT

ENED ATTACHMENT TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

He had read much of the history of the Reformation, and of the writings of the founders of our Church, and he preferred it to every other from the mature conviction of his mind. He was neither the bigoted partizan who could not allow to his fellow Christians the liberty of choice which he claimed for himself, nor the indiscriminate professor of Christianity who had little judgment of his own, and acted on no fixed principle. He united a firm and undeviating regard to the Church, with a candid and affectionate esteem for all who loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. He was not of the number of those worldly churchmen who are indifferent to the very services they profess to admire, and feel little concerned whether they are present when the prayers first commence or not. Far from it. No foot entered this chapel earlier than Mr. Cardale's. He considered the solemn devotion of the Church as a whole, and not a service of independent parts; and his punctual attendance was an edifying example to all around him. Even when the chief care of the chapel was reposed in him by Mr. Cecil, and he was under the necessity of correcting from time to time any little irregularities which might arise in the course of the public worship, his profound

devotion remained undisturbed, and his heart ascended to heaven in the prayers which were offered up. He was indeed a genuine unaffected churchman; and in all his conduct, as well as in the distribution of his charity, he sincerely laboured to advance the best interests of our truly venerable and apostolical establishment.

I may here mention also his DISTINGUISHED LOYALTY to the King. He was an obedient subject, because he was a sincere Christian. He blessed God for the happy constitution under which he lived, and he used all his exertions as a private individual to strengthen and uphold it. Far from lending himself to any faction in the state, or aggravating the inflictions of a righteous Providence, or the defects incident to all human institutions, he was a peaceful and contented citizen, submitting to the powers that be from conscience towards God, and stepping forwards on every difficult occasion for the support of good order in the community to which he belonged. His loyalty was not a blind adulation of a particular ministry; but a religious, and therefore a cheerful and steady, submission to the authority of God.

May Christians be anxious to copy this part of his character! No branch of duty is more expressly inculcated in the Sacred Writings, and few tend more directly to conciliate the

esteem of others and promote the best interests of piety and virtue.

To these particular graces of Mr. Cardale's character I must now add, as the last ornament of the whole, the FERVENT PIETY WHICH HE MAINTAINED EVEN TO THE END OF HIS LIFE. His religion was not the effect of youthful or enthusiastic ardour, but the produce of divine grace. He did not lose, as too many I fear do, the simplicity of his faith in Christ and the warmth of his love, as he advanced in life, and attained the respect and consideration of the circle in which he moved. But he was the same humble lively Christian at seventy that he was at thirty; ripened indeed in judgment and grace, but active and affectionate still, eager to glorify God, anxious to improve his talents, thirsting for further discoveries of his Saviour's grace, and humbly waiting on him in all the appointed means of instruction. Of too many it may be said that they have lost their first love*; that they have declined in religion as they have advanced in worldly prosperity; and in some cases I fear, that they have little left beyond an approbation of religious truth, an exemption from the grosser vanities of the world, and some regard to the more usual public and private duties

4 Rev. ii. 4.

of Christianity. Not so our excellent friend. All who knew him saw the warmth and sincerity of his delight in God, the simplicity of his faith in the Saviour, and the zeal of his benevolence to his fellow Christians. There was, indeed, in his last illness, some natural relation between the general decay of his bodily and mental powers, and the vigour of his religious feelings and graces, as I have already noticed; but his heart was, throughout his long course, and especially as he approached its termination, right with his God, and he continued stedfast with him in his covenant. He lived and he died in the faith and fear of Christ the Saviour.

May God give us grace thus to keep ourselves in his love 5. May we dread the first beginnings of religious, declension, as we should the symptoms of a fever! May we live and die contrite, penitent, fervent Christians! May our last days be our best days! May we continue to exhort one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching O may that God who is able to keep us from falling, present us at length faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy".

6

For what a PECULIAR HONOUR rests on an aged Christian, whose holy and consistent life has adorned his profession! Allow me to add

5 Jude 21.

6 Heb. x. 25, 26.

7 Jude, 24.