congenial with his own views of the Gospel of Christ. The Methodist Ministers had now commenced preaching at a village called Monkton, about three miles from Witchampton, Here he began to attend; and finding under their ministry that help which he needed, he determined to use his efforts to bring the preaching nearer home. He accordingly licensed a cottage occupied by one of his labourers, and received the Preachers to his own house, where they have ever since been hospitably entertained. A Class was soon formed, of which he was appointed the Leader; an office which he continued to fill till his death. At what particular time he first experienced "the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins" is uncertain; but this blessing he professed to enjoy, and his conversion was evidenced by his exemplary life and happy death. Some years ago, as he and Mrs. Brewer were returning from the preaching, she pointed out to him, in one of their own fields, a spot which she conceived would be an eligible situation for a chapel. A similar thought had passed through his own mind. He therefore, without delay, began to make preparations for the building, and in a few months a small neat chapel was erected at his own expense. It was opened in the year 1812, by the late R. C. Brackenbury, Esq., and the Rev. Thomas Roberis. This chapel he secured for the sole use of the Methodists; and at the same time he vested a sum of money in the public funds for the support of the cause at Witchampton after his decease. His attachment to Methodism appeared like wise in his annual subscriptions to several of its institutions. It was evident to many of his religious friends, that for some time before his death he was ripening for a better world. His conversation was spiritual; and when he engaged in social or public prayer, he was often much affected. This was particularly the case, sometimes, while pleading for his relations and neigh hours; for whose salvation he had always felt greatly concerned. He seems also himself, even before his health was materially impaired, to have had a presentiment of his approaching end. He had been favoured with an unusual share of good health; having, as far as he could recollect, never been confined to his house one day by affliction, till a fortnight before his death. About ten days before he died, he was seized in the night with violent sick ness. This alarmed his friends, aud convinced him that he was going the

way of all the earth. He met the attack with a composed mind, and expressed the hope he had of a better world. To a friend who saw him in the morning, he said, "Jesus is precious. My mind is happy." His friend remarked, "You have done much for God and his cause, and he will reward you." He replied, "I have been an unprofitable servant; but I love God, and his cause, and his people :" and allud ing to the chapel he had built, he said, "I have often gone to that place cast down and burdened, but I have returned home rejoicing in the Lord." His friends entertained hopes that he might yet be spared to them a little longer; but he thought otherwise; and told them that he had done with the world, and did not wish again to engage in its

concerns ; expressing, at the same time, a fear, lest he should lose the happiness he then enjoyed, a bap piness which he said he could scarcely have conceived it possible for any one to enjoy while in the body. In this blessed frame of mind he continued to the last. Mr. Brewer was a man of a remarkably cheerful disposition; and having improved his mind by reading, his conversation was in general both agreeable and instructive. He pos sessed a sympathizing spirit, and often rejoiced with those that rejoiced, and wept with those that wept. He was generous: few persons in the time of need applied to him in vain. He was liberal in his contributions to pious and charitable purposes. He was a man of God, and lived in the blessed hope of entering into his glory. Agreeably to his own request, his remains were interred in a vault in front of the chapel, where they wait till the morning of the resurrection, when this "corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

J. SQUAREBRINGE

4. Died at Bristol, Dec. 16th, Mrs. Elizabeth Boley, in the sixty-fifth year of her age. She was born in the year 1759, at Turley, in Wiltshire. Her parents were some of the first Methodists in that part, who gladly received Mr. Wesley and the Preachers to their house; they also regularly attended the religious services of the Established Church. Her mother died when she was very young; but her father married another pious, prudent woman, who watched over her with tender affection, and trained her up in the fear of the Lord. By the preventing grace of God, she was so far kept in his fear, as never wilfully to depart from truth

:

but twice, when very young, which occasioned her much sorrow both then and in after life. Wheu about nineteen years of age, being on a visit to an uncle and aunt, she met with a young woman, who was a member of the Methodist Society, whose piety led Mrs. Boley to examine her own state of mind, and excited an ardent wish that she might became a partaker of the same grace. She resolved to make religion her chief concern; and, on her return home, to join the Methodist Society. After this she became greatly distressed on account of her sins; but diffidence prevented her from opening her mind to any Christian friend, which was very injurious to her. Her feelings were very acute, on account of her state; and she resolved not to rest till the Lord should speak peace to her soul. On Easter Sunday she arose with lively expectation that she should on that day obtain the blessing; and it was done to her according to her faith. She went to her Class, at Bradford, at six o'clock in the morning, the usual time of its meeting; aud there she found that peace which the world cannot give that passage of Scripture, "My grace is sufficient for thee," was very powerfully applied to her mind she believed the word, and ventured her all on the Saviour. Her soul was made happy in God. On the following day she was much blessed in hearing Mr. Pearce, her Leader, preach on, "If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." The sermon was peculiarly suited to her state of mind, and proved indeed a word in season. From that time she continued a steady member of the Methodist Society till the day of her death. In the year 1792, she was married to Mr. Robert Boley, and came to reside in Bristol. With him she lived happily till the year 1803, when it pleased God, the all-wise Disposer of events, to remove him suddenly from time to eternity. This was a severe trial to Mrs. Boley, who was left with three little children, and a business which required more attention than she was capable of giving; but she realized the promise of God, to be a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless, Her business prospered, and she acquired a sufficiency to retire, and give it up to her son, Mrs. Boley was at times the subject of much bodily afflic tion; and for the last three years of her life she was almost a constant sufferer. About a fortnight before her death, her sufferings greatly increased, but her mind was/supported. She was happy, and expressed fervent gratitude

to God. On awaking one morning, she said, "Death is swallowed up in victory. Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly." She thanked God for all his mercies, and for a glorious hope beyond the grave. She was remarkable for the uprightness of her life; and her end was peace. JAMES WOOD.

5. Died, Dec. 16th, at Stoke-Beckett, in the Barnstaple Circuit, in the forty sixth year of his age, Mr. John Gould, who had been for nearly twenty years a member of the Methodist Society. He was the only son of the late pious John and Elizabeth Gould, who were chiefly instrumental, in the hands of divine providence, of introducing the Gospel, as preached by the Methodist Ministers, into the northern part of Devonshire. Under their government and tuition, he was happily preserved, in the season of youth, from open vices; and being blessed with an amiable disposition, he was beloved and esteemed by all his friends. Accustomed from his infancy to attend the preaching of the Gospel, and to associate with the Ministers and members of the Methodist Society, he could not be destitute of religious knowledge. He was also frequently the subject of serious convictions of the evil of sin, and of the necessity of a change of heart; but it was not until after he became settled in life that he united himself to the church of Christ. Of his conversion we have no certain information; but of the reality of the change which grace had produced in him, the consistency of his deportment, his zeal for the glory of God, and attachment to his church and people, afforded incontrovertible evidence. Though possessed of a well informed mind, his humility made him decline any public office; but in the retired sphere of a private Christian, he shone with no or dinary lustre. He blessed his house with a uniformly pious example, and affectionate admonitious. His house was a house of prayer, and the sacrifices of praise daily ascended from his family-altar. His zeal for the prosperity of Zion led him, to the utmost of his ability, to labour for its promotion; and for the erection of those public edifices which have been reared in this Circuit to the honour of God, his benefactions and influence were cheerfully contributed. Beneath his roof the Ministers of the Cross ever found a home; and the salvation of the Gospel was statedly offered to a small congregation who worshipped there. In the midst of his usefulness, the allwise Disposer of events has seen fit to

deprive the church of this valuable member, and a widow and eight children of their best earthly friend. A fortnight before his death, he com plained of a pain in his head, which, gradually increasing, terminated in an affection of the brain. In the early part of his affliction he asserted his unshaken confidence in God, and his sense of acceptance through the merits of the Redeemer; but the nature of his disorder soon deprived him of all power of expressing either joy or sorrow. The sensibility of his religious friends was kindly excited on his behalf, and much prayer was made by the church of God for him: but Infinite Wisdom saw fit to remove him into those celestial climes, where sickness, sorrow, and death, can no more annoy. J. AVERY.

6. Died, at Wandsworth, in the Hammersmith Circuit, Mrs. Isabella Acres, December 20th, in the seventy-ninth year of her age. She was born at Colborn, near Richmond, in Yorkshire, in the year 1746. Her maiden name was Fryer. Her parents were members of the Established Church, but she was brought up a Roman Catholic. She entered into the married state with Thomas Acres, of Wandsworth, and, nine years after, was left a widow with two daughters. In the providence of God, she was drawn to hear the Methodist Preachers, who came to Wandsworth. She soon felt that a profession of religion, however rigidly adhered to, would not save her. She was convinced by what she heard and felt, that she was a sinner, and exposed to the wrath of God, and that without an interest in Christ she must perish. She sought by fervent earnest prayer, and by faith found, refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, and was blessed with the knowledge of salvation by the remission of all her sins. She was a Member of the Methodist Society in Wandsworth upwards of twenty-seven years, during which time she adorned her religious profession. Her attachment to the cause of Methodism, which she believed to be the cause of God, was strong and sincere. After receiving the truth as it is in Jesus, she never varied in her religious opinions, nor did she ever lose a sense of her acceptance with God through Jesus Christ. For some years she was a subject of much affliction, occasioned by a dropsy in the chest, which terminated in death." The grace of God she found to be sufficient, in enabling her to endure the dispensa tion without murmuring. When life was ebbing towards a close, her hopes

were not only luminous, but expanded. She knew whom she had believed, and was persuaded that He would keep the great deposit of her immortal spirit, which by faith she had committed to his trust; and rejoiced in the prospects with which she was favoured of the place, the state, the company, the employment, and the felicity of the heavenly world. The last words that she uttered were, " Blessed Jesus, I am thine, take me," and expired. Mrs. Acres possessed those properties which are necessary for true and permanent friendship. She had humbling views of herself; self-praise was odious in her ears; nor could she esteem herself worthy to be praised by others. From the time that she enjoyed real religion she was no changeling in her religious profession and attachments. She would not defile her ears with listening to those who prostitute their tongues in defaming characters. She was much accustomed to read the Word of God. The plan of salvation by grace, through faith, appeared glorious in her view; she experienced its efficacy, and found it to promote holiness of heart and conduct. She embraced and rested on the Lord Jesus Christ, as offered to her in the Gospel. Her faith was the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. It worked by love to God and his people. It purified the heart, enabling her to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. It filled her with hatred of sin and loathing of self, and with love to holiness, and desires after a conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ, her Saviour." AARON FLOYD.

7. Died, at Norwich, Dec. 22d, Mrs. Lydia Flegg, wife of Mr. Edward Flegg. At an early age she was often induced to pray earnestly to God, from a fear of being miserable after death. She also endeavoured to do every thing that was right, and to abstain from sin; but she found, even then, that her strength was perfect weakness. In the twentieth year of her age she lost both her parents, whose piety and tenderness had awakened in her so deep a veneration of their character, joined to a strong affection, that the separation was almost insupportable. In a few months afterwards, she was introduced into the company of a Dissenting Minister, at Beccles, by whose conversation she was convinced that she had been building upon a wrong foundation, by endeavouring to nierit the favour of God by her own performances. She was awakened as from a dream; and seeing the purity of the divine law, in contrast with her total depravity and des

perate wickedness, she found "the coinmandment which was ordained to life, to be unto death." In this coudition she continued to attend numerous religious services, alternately much discouraged and comforted, but with out any positive evidence of the divine favour. In the year 1784, she removed to Loddon: she had been previously warned to beware of Methodism, as erroneous in its doctrines, and destructive in its tendency. She was, however, determined to give its Preachers a candid hearing. Having read much Calvinistic theology, and partially imbibed its principles, she experienced a violent struggle between her wants and prejudices. After attending the Methodist ministry for some time, she was fully convinced of the truth of what she heard, and joined herself to the Society. In a memorandum, dated 1787, she thus writes," I am afraid I have rested more on what Ministers and private Christians thought of me, than in the experimental knowledge of God and Christ. I thought more of an orthodox creed, than of the Spirit of God witnessing with my spirit, that I was a child of God. Alas! with all my knowledge, I have found that. I was a stranger to the latent evils of my heart. I knew that the way of salvation was only through what Christ had done and suffered; but I could not call the Saviour mine, I have since found, through the great goodness of God, that Jesus bath tasted death for me; and that my sins are all forgiven." She saw the necessity of a clean heart, and earnestly pleaded with God for the entire renewal of her soul in righteousness and true, holiness. Nor did she plead in vain. In May, 1822, and again in 1824, she suffered attacks of paralysis, and became consequently much enfeebled both in body and mind; but still the love of Christ was the theme of her conversation, and even in the wanderings of her imagination she gave evident proofs that her heart was right with God. In July, 1825, a third attack of paralysis greatly shook her whole frame. After suffering great mental depression, in consequence of her complaint, the clouds which had overcast her spirit were scattered, to gather no more. In her dying struggles, she said to a friend, All is well;" and in about an hour afterwards she peacefully fell asleep in Jesus, in the seventythird year of her age. She had been a member of the Methodist Society thirtyseven years, and a useful and highly respected Class-Leader ten years.

SAMUEL HOPE.

8. Died, at Groombridge, in the Lewes. Circuit, December 22d, 1825, Mr. John Wickenden. About twelve years ago, he was deeply awakened to a sense of his lost state as a sinner, both by nature and by practice; and feeling the remembrance of his sins grievous, and the burden of them intolerable, he earnestly sought salvation by a coustant attendance upon all the means of grace within his reach, until the Lord was pleased to turn his sorrow into gladness, and to fill him with peace and joy through believing. He joined the Methodist Society at Groombridge, and throughout the whole of his earthly pilgrimage he frequently mentioned the great good which he derived from fellowship with that people. Shortly after the commencement of bis Christian career, he kept a weekly account of his progress in the divine life. "I intend," says he, "to examine myself once a week, in order to determine the state of my mind, and to commit the result to writing; remembering that I shall have to give an account of my self to God. By sitting in judgment upon myself, I may be prepared for the more general and strict scrutiny at the bar of my Judge." As a Member of the Methodist Society he was consistent in his outward deportment, regular and diligent in the use of the means of grace; aud in domestic life the inHuence of vital godliness was distinctly manifested in him. He enjoyed much of the presence of God; he lived in the enjoyment of pardon. The Holy Spirit bore witness with his spirit that he was a child of God, and an heir of heaven. He earnestly sought a more full manifestation of the love of God in the destruction of all inward sin; and towards the close of his earthly pilgrimage he imbibed more of the mind that was in Jesus Christ. After being a steady and consistent member of Society for six years, he was employed as a Local Preacher; in which capacity he was universally acceptable and useful, and for six years he laboured diligently tó bring souls to God through Jesus Christ; and several are now walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, who, through bis instrumentality, were turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God. His zeal for the honour of God was singularly fervent. He faithfully reproved sin, whereever he saw it; he visited the fatherless and widow in distress, and kept himself unspotted from the world. No inclemency of the weather, or slight indisposition, could induce him to neglect his Sabbath-day appointments. He

was willing to spend all his powers for the promotion of the kingdom of his Redeemer. A cold which he took while journeying to a place where he had to preach, laid the foundation of that complaint which was commissioned to close his mortal career. During the early stages of his disorder, he was favoured with occasional lucid intervals, and was enabled to testify to surrounding friends the strong assurance which he had of his acceptance with God, and his bright and cheering prospects of happiness beyond the grave. This, at every opportunity, he continued to do, till he exchanged the earthly house of this tabernacle for a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He died in the thirty-fourth year of his age. CHARLES HAYDON.

9. Died at Somerby, in the Oakham Circuit, Dec. 25th, aged seventy-two years, Mr. Newton. He was brought to the knowledge of God among the Methodists in the year 1798. Somerby was then visited by the Rev. Messrs. Edmondson and Laycock, who were stationed in the Leicester Circuit. But this was the day of feeble things with the Methodists in this part of the kingdom; and this sect, like the primitive Christians, was every where spoken against. Somerby had a visit from the Preachers only once a fortnight. Many of the seeds, however, which were then scattered, took root, sprang up, and still bear fruit to the glory of God. Mr. Newton immediately espoused the cause, joined the Society, took in the Preachers into his house, and continued so to do till his death. In the following delineation of his character, I have no fear of being charged with exaggeration by those who best knew him. He was courteous and mild in his general conduct and disposition, which made him beloved by his relations and friends, and respected in the entire circle of his acquaintance. He was also a man of decision: he embraced the cause of religion from principle, took a firm stand on the side of God and truth, with a resolution never to recede from his sacred vows and engagements. In attending to the concerns of his salvation, he did not take worldly consequences into consideration. Generosity and liberality were also prominent in his character. His house was always open to the Ministers of Christ, and his hand was ever ready to support charitable and religious institutions. His religious experience was deep and scriptural. He was a father in Christ, and richly en-"" joyed the blessings of his dispensation.

About thirty years ago he was favoured with a consciousness of his acceptance with God, and was sealed with the Holy Spirit; and this earnest of heaven he never lost. "I love God, and God loves me; and I feel the love of God shed abroad in my heart, by the Holy Ghost given unto me," was bis constant testimony. His conduct was exemplary. He attended conscientiously to all his Christian and relative duties, with uniformity and perseverance. Religion was not with him a secondary affair. He considered his duty to God as his first work, and a right discharge of that duty his principal concern. He had a lively sense of the goodness of God in his providential favours, and frequently expressed his gratitude for the daily mercies that crowned his table. His friends say be never partook of food without blessing God for it. He was cautious of what he said concerning other people, and would not allow any thing to be said against an absent person, without expressing his disapprobation. His last affliction was severe and protracted. He was chastised with strong pain dur. ing the last four or five years of his life; but he bore it with resignation to the will of God. His afflictions were also a means of weaning him from the world, and of bringing him nearer to God. He praised the Lord in the furnace, under a full conviction of his acceptance through Christ, and a lively hope of a glorious immortality. He continued to sink gradually, till the weary wheels of life stood still.

WILLIAM Ash.

RECENT DEATHS.

Oct. 1st, 1826.-At Kingswood, the Rev. WilJiam Horner, aged seventy-nine years. During the long space of fifty years he laboured irreproachably as an Itinerant Preacher, and seven years as a Supernumerary. His life was eminently upright, and his end was peace. The last words he was heard to articulate were, "All is well." A further account of him may be expected. J. W.

cuit, Martha, the wife of Samuel Curtis. She Oct. 14th.-At Wilsden, in the Bingley Cirhad been upwards of forty years à pious and consistent member of our Society, and after enduring a great fight of affliction, died in peace, and entered the joy of her Lord. S. S.

Oct. 18th.-At Ilford, in Essex, Elizabeth Walker, aged twenty-seven years. She had been a member of the Methodist Society four years, and died happy in God. A. W.

Oct. 20th.-At Salisbury, Robert Hallet, aged forty-five years; having been a steady, uniform, and exemplary member of the Methodist Society twenty-one years. The affliction under which he suffered, was tedious and painful, but he bore it with Christian fortitude and resigns

tion, waiting for the coming of his Lord. He was favoured with seasons of rapturous joy, and generally expressed strong confidence in the God of his salvation.

B.A.