preach on Easter Sunday to the schools. This, however, was a pleasure to be enjoyed by him no more. He sat in his drawing-room, and gazed on the little children as they thronged to the chapel, and talked with much delight of bygone days, when he had met them, and preached to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the Monday evening he dictated to a ministerial friend the following aphorisms, which show the piety of his holy mind, only three days before he was "clothed upon

with his house which was from hea

ven:

"What is the nature of God, that must ever be the will of God. He who is holy in his nature, must be so in his laws.

"God must therefore ever behold sin with infinite detestation, and he must pronounce the sentence of condemnation on him who commits it.

"The law condemns the sinner, and not one jot or tittle of that law can ever be violated.

"The law is the letter that killeth as to all expectation of good from ourselves; all hope of salvation by our own good works is, therefore, fallacious.

"Christ has laid the foundation of our hope in his own finished work, and he produces this hope in our minds by the effectual operation of his Holy Spirit.

"We can never desire to say, 'Thy will be done,' until the kingdom of God is set up in our hearts, and we can have no evidence that the kingdom of God is within us, unless it produce 'righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.'

"Every subject of Christ's kingdom will naturally be desirous of entire conformity to the holy laws of that government to which he belongs. These first principles must be rooted and grounded in the heart of every Gospel minister, or he cannot expect to preach them with power and success.

"He who is influenced by these truths, will yearn over souls in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and be animated by a glowing anxiety that his hearers should feel the truths he feels himself.

"No considerations whatsoever, which are not immediately conducive to the introduction of these first principles, should ever be allowed to influence his mind, or attend him in his

sacred work. He will not consider his own feelings, but lay himself out for the universal good of the Saviour's cause, He will spend and be spent for the Redeemer, and die harnessed as a good soldier of the cross.

"While it is acknowledged that the labourer is worthy of his hire, yet this will be the very last thing that will engage his devoted mind. He will 'make full proof of his ministry; ' and, instead of asking when, where, and how often he is to preach, he will inquire how he can bring most souls to Christ, and do most good in his heavenly work.

"It is impossible to excite zeal in the minds of the people if they do not witness the overflowings of that zeal in the heart of their minister. He must provoke them unto love and to good works."

On Wednesday, the day before his death, his friend enjoyed much conversation with him on his past experience. On that morning he kindly said to his friend, "I most earnestly recommend to you to make full proof of your ministry, and give yourself wholly to it." His friend told him he had received a letter from one of his hearers, complaining that he preached to sinners as though he thought they could convert themselves. "Had I," said Mr. Hill, "been behind you in the pulpit, I would have patted you on the back, and told you go on."

In the course of this day a friend asked permission to write to a few of the neighbouring ministers, to invite them to meet at a special prayer-meeting to be held on his account. He consented immediately. His friend prepared the letters, but hesitated to send them, as he was fast entering the valley of the shadow of death. This proposal, however, appeared to gratify him so much, that he desired his servant to write down a hymn, which he wished to compose for the use of the meeting. But he was utterly unable to collect his mind for any such purpose. His friend inquired if he could see his personal interest in Christ. He answered, "I can see more of the personal glory of Christ than of my own interest in him." And, at another time, "God is letting me down gently into the grave. I feel myself poor, weak, and sinful, and desire to creep into heaven through some crevice in its door."

On the evening of this day, during a temporary wandering of mind, he requested that a chapter might be read to him, as he wished to select a text. The passage he chose was 2 Cor. v. 4: "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."

About ten o'clock that night he sent for the same friend to conduct family prayer beside his bed, and he refused to rest until they had all assembled round him, and complied with his request.

On Thursday morning, April 11th, the accumulation of phlegm prevented him from speaking distinctly, but they could, at times, hear him repeating passages of Scripture and verses of hymns; particularly "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him;" and, "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God."

About ten o'clock that morning a friend gently whispered to him those favourite lines, which were almost hourly on his lips,

"And when I'm to die,
Receive me, I'll cry,

For Jesus hath loved me, I cannot say why;
But this I can find,

We two are so join'd,

He'll not be in glory, and leave me behind!"

He tried to utter them, but could not, and this was almost the last evidence he gave of remaining consciousness. He gradually became weaker, till at half-past five o'clock he entered into the joy of his Lord. Never was there a finer illustration of falling asleep in Jesus. There was no groan, no struggle, no sigh. He laid his bead on his Saviour's bosom, and sweetly breathed away his life. He was "absent from the body, and present with the Lord."

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."

The Rev. W. Thorpe died about the same time. He endured much and long. For four months he never knew what it was to rest upon his bed; that is, he never laid on his bed at all. Much did he suffer, and that much patiently. Tribulation works patience,

and patience experience, and experience hope. The last words he uttered in the language of mortals was, "Hope!" When he last supplied the Tabernacle, he had a fall in the Tabernacle house, from which he suffered so much, that he was never able to return to London again. Mr. Thorpe was formerly the pastor of Careystreet church. In 1805 he accepted a call to the church at Castle-green, Bristol. His father was a Christian minister, who was cut off in the vigour of life, leaving behind him a large family wholly unprovided for. His demise was connected with circumstances of no ordinary sorrow. The mother was confined the one day, and the father expired the next! The last words of the dying father to the prostrate mother were, "Call the child Christianne, 'all things work together for good,'" etc. Here was a scene of domestic calamity! The father, the support of all, lay dead, the mother was laid up, a numerous family of little children, fatherless and helpless, clung around her; the rivers overflowed their banks, and inundated the habitations of the people; the torrent burst into the humble home of this poor widow, and settled in the house to the depth of twelve inches! A few days after the death of the lamented father, the house was robbed, and everything portable carried away, as also the last quarter's salary she had received. After this, a little child, who heard the dying words of her parent, when this was discovered, rushed into the chamber of her mo. ther, exclaiming, "Mother! the thieves have stolen all we had in this world, will this also work together for good?' She replied, "Yes;" and so it did.

For thirty years Mr. Thorpe filled a great space in the public eye, and was accounted one of England's greatest men. In point of talent, especially of intellectual power, it would not be easy to mention a contemporary to whom he was inferior; and his abilities were equalled by the benevolence of his nature. This union rendered him, in private life, one of the most companionable and interesting of mankind. A night spent with him could never be forgotten. As a preacher he ranked among the first of modern times. His views of Gospel truth were luminous and harmonious, Scriptural and grand. No man had more

It

exalted conceptions of the work of Christ and the glory of the cross. is true, he had some peculiarities; he was an adept and disciple of the Hutchinsonian philosophy, which often tinged his interpretations; he advocated also the personal reign of Christ and modern millennium; he had likewise some political predilections, which are not now popular, and which sometimes found a place where they might have been profitably absent. In these things he differed from most of his brethren, and sometimes the difference led to unpleasantness. But suffice it to say, these were his opinions, and he avowed them; he believed these things, and he had a right to state, diffuse, and defend them. Still, those who differed from him viewed such matters only as the dust in the balance, as excrescences on the goodly cedar. Sometimes his discourses possessed

every excellence that pertains even to the highest order of public instruction. Intelligent, critical, profound, doctrinal, practical, consolatory, soft, and sympathetic, vehement, and expostulatory, and awakening, simple, natural, and sublime, no competent judge could hear him in his best times without concluding that the Gospel was a great theme, and the preacher of it a great man. They seemed to sustain and elevate each other into reciprocal majesty.

A few of Mr. Thorpe's hearers still survive. They admired and loved the man, did they receive his message? They will hear him no more till the day of judgment; then they must be confronted with him and others who have preached to them the word of life. He is now with his God, resting in peace! May the readers of these lines, in due season, follow.

IT may be interesting on this occasion to give a brief sketch of the history of the church with which this movement is identified. This may very speedily be done, seeing that the church connected with this place has been in existence scarcely a century. It originated by a secession from the Established Church, which took place on the removal of that excellent and useful minister of the Gospel, the Rev. Samuel Walker, curate of St. Mary's church, in this town.

Mr. Walker was a man of commanding personal appearance, and possessed all those qualities, both physical and mental, which made him a very pleasing and fascinating companion. He was the very life of that circle of gaiety and pleasure in which he moved; and on every occasion of social festivity, which he was so well fitted to enliven and enjoy, his company was eagerly sought. But a mighty change suddenly took place in his character, occasioned by religious conversation with a Scotch gentleman, who was then the master of the grammar-school in this town. The first indication of this change in

Mr. Walker is said to have been given from a window which looked down upon this very spot on which we are now standing. A gentleman, who was his intimate friend, approached the place, and threw something at his study-window, and said, "Squire begs his compliments to you, and would be glad of your company to supper to night on a roasted pig, to celebrate the erection of a set of bells in Kenwyn church." He replied, "Give my compliments to the squire, and say that I am better employed." The message was delivered, and, in the jovial circle of his old friends, created no little astonishment and surprise; and many were the conjectures as to the cause of his apparently altered conduct.

It was not long, however, before the mystery was explained; for from that time Mr. Walker's pulpit ministrations became entirely altered. He now began to preach with great plainness and earnestness, faithfully reproving sin in every form; making the most touching and powerful appeals to the impenitent; instructing and comforting the

prayerful and contrite, and boldly proclaiming the great distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. He met with much opposition, but, by God's assistance, he was enabled to persevere, and was made a great blessing to the town. He was the means of suppressing vice, and greatly elevating the moral tone of society. A hundred of the Scotch soldiers, who were then stationed in the town, came to his house at once, asking what they must do to be saved; and it is said, that in the town and neighbourhood, he was blessed to the conversion and confirmation of a thou

sand souls. But after a comparatively brief course, this devoted minister of Christ was called to his rest on July 19, 1761, and taken home to enjoy his reward with those many other pious and excellent men who, in different ages, have graced and honoured the establishment of this country.

On the removal of Mr. Walker, his place was filled by a gentleman of a very different character; and as those who had been converted to Christ were now deprived of that spiritual instruction and faithful preaching of the Gospel which they had formerly enjoyed, many of them withdrew from the Established Church, and opened a room, where they "met together for reading sermons, prayer, and singing," and where they could worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience and the directions of His words.

They continued to worship in this way for some time, meeting with no little opposition and reproach. They were called "Walkerites," and also "Cockpitarians," from the fact that they met in a building which had been formerly used for cock-fighting, a diversion which, through the influence of Mr. Walker, had now been abandoned. But finally, after a considerable time, they formed themselves into a regular Dissenting congregation of the Independent order, and obtained the services of the Rev. Peter Sampson, of London, who, on the 9th of April, 1770, just ten years after the removal of Mr. Walker, was ordained as their pastor at the Independent church at Plymouth Dock. Among those who took part in the service on that interesting occasion, appear the honoured names of Fawcett, of Kidderminster; Lavington, of Biddiford; and Kinsman, of Plymouth.

The church, which was then formed

under the pastoral care of Mr. Sampson, consisted of about forty members, nearly all of whom ascribed their conversion to the labours of Mr. Walker. They continued to worship in the cockpit for about four years, and then made an effort to obtain a new and more commodious building, and set about it with a zeal and energy that are worthy of our imitation at the present time.

At their church meeting, held December 7, 1774, "It was unanimously resolved, that seven persons belonging to the church (to wit), the Rev. Peter Sampson, pastor; Nicholas Ivey, John Allen, and Peter Traer, deacons; Philip Cundy, Henry Mudge, and Joseph Knight, members, be appointed as a committee to direct, manage, and su perintend the whole intended new buildings; the said persons to give in a particular account of all moneys received and disbursed when required by the church. Also that the said committee do immediately make every necessary inquiry respecting a legal conveyance of the new spot of land to the members of the church, and get an instrument of writing drawn up for that purpose by some able attorney, with all possible expedition; and then, as soon as the nature of the business will admit, proceed to get the necessary plans and estimates of the intended buildings, and agree, on the best terms they can, with some able tradesman or tradesmen, for the building and completing the same."

The enterprise which was commenced in this energetic and business-like manner was carried out with great per severance and zeal. £107 was required to purchase the land on which the chapel was to be erected, and this the committee kindly advanced to the church without interest; and when it was found that in addition to what they had collected for the purpose, £200 more would be requisite for completing the building, the committee liberally came forward again, and lent it to the church at 4 per cent., on no other security than a written acknowledgment of the debt signed by the members of the church. The chapel thus erected was opened for Divine worship June 10, 1776, and after labouring in it about nine years, meeting with some little difficulty and trouble, and yet being encouraged by much success, the Rev. Peter Sampson entered into his

rest, universally respected and regretted, and after having been the pastor of the church for fifteen years.

His successor, as stated minister of the place, was the Rev. Thomas Parish, who, during his brief pastorate of three years, seems to have been very useful, and to have been the means of adding many to the church. When he retired, the Rev. William_Paddon, previously assistant to the Rev. A. Kinsman, of Plymouth Dock, became the pastor of the church, and for twenty-one years was a most devoted, beloyed, and useful minister of Christ among them; and then, by the mysterious providence of God, he was laid aside from the ministry by a paralytic stroke, and not many years after entered into the joy of his Lord. Mr. Paddon was succeeded by the Rev. William Moore, formerly of Mevagissey, who was favoured with a longer period of labour than any former minister of the place. "When Mr. Moore commenced his pastoral duties at Truro," as is stated in a brief memoir of him in the Evangelical Magazine, "the congregation was small; but the constancy with which he held forth the word of life, and the earnestness with which he endeavoured to make full proof of his ministry,' soon led to the most cheering results. The church was revived, and the congregation increased so considerably, that it was found necessary to erect galleries, and soon after, rooms for the accommodation of the children of the Sabbath-school, and a vestry for the minister." To which I may add, that in the year 1838 Mr. Moore induced the church and congregation to purchase the land in front of the chapel, on which we are now standing, and laid the building open to the street, and thus prepared the way for the larger and more commodious edifice which we are now erecting; and then, after having sustained the pastorate in this place for thirty-five years, and being universally respected and beloved, having served his generation according to the will of God, he fell asleep.”

During the last twelve months of his pastorate, and while gradually sinking under his last illness, Mr. Moore was assisted by the Rev. W. Jackson, now of Mansfield, who, while here, was made very useful, and is still affectionately remembered. The successor of Mr. Moore was the Rev.

James Roberts, formerly of Melton Mowbray, who filled the pastoral office for three years, and was succeeded by the present minister of the place, who is now just completing the fifth year of his labours in this town; thus bringing down the history of the church to the present time.

About three years and a half ago it was considered desirable to clean up, repair, and improve our late place of worship; but upon examination, it was found that the repairs and improvements that were required were so considerable, and the expenditure needed to carry them out so large, that it was thought more expedient, and also more economical, to erect a new and more modern and commodious building in its stead. To raise the funds required for this purpose the members of the church and congregation immediately commenced a subscription, which, with a little aid from their fellow-townsmen, soon reached the sum of £1,000. From that time the subject has continually been kept before the minds of the people, ways and means have been considered, and fresh subscriptions obtained; and now at last we have reached the auspicious moment when we are about to lay the memorial stone of our new sanctuary, we feel that all our efforts and struggles to reach this point are amply repaid by what we now see, and hear, and feel, and think that we have every reason to "thank God and take courage; "for instead of meeting with opposition and ridicule, and even persecution in this enterprise, as our forefathers probably did while erecting the former chapel, we are favoured with the sympathy and substantial assistance not only of the various sections of professing Christians in the place, but of all our fellow-townsmen; and, as a signal proof of how far enlightened and liberal principles have advanced during the last century, we are also honoured on this occasion with the presence and aid of the chief magistrate of the borough. We do not erect this place of worship in a spirit of opposition to any one; but still we have our distinctive views and principles which we value, and which we believe to be Scriptural and right; and while we say "God speed" to all our fellow-Christians, and heartily wish them well, we do feel that we are bound to do all we can to advance