May you enjoy the most cheerful confidence and nearness to God" From this period no rational expectation was entertained by any of his friends of his recovery; and all his letters to his affectionate relatives in London, express his own apprehensions of what would be the inevitable result. In most of thein, alas! may be traced the gloomy dejection of his mind; yet occasionally are intermingled the pious' aspirations of his soul, and expressions of confidence, which intimate, that still he was 'looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' The writer of this brief memorial, when he saw him for the last time, was inexpressibly grieved to witness the melancholy facility which he appeared to possess, of interpreting almost every scriptural passage that could be quoted, to increase the unhappy feeling which was so predominant in his mind. Having lost, by the gradual encroachments of a nervous consump tion, his accustomed vigour of thought, he seemed to sink at times into unutterable sorrow; but now and then he recovered from these seasons of despondency! Hope shed its glimmerings across his path, and he would assume the tone of cheerfulness and consolation. Departed spirit, now amongst the just made perfect! thy last enemy is destroyed;- every tear is wiped from thine eyes, and the days of thy mourning are ended! Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting Light! A few weeks before his departure he sent in his resignation of the pastoral office; and appears to have entertained some thoughts of visiting London, and closing his eyes amongst his relations. Such was the wish he expressed in his last letter to his brother Walter. It was the last he ever wrote; for the day after its arrival in London, information was received by the afflicted family, that their suffering and beloved relative had entered into his rest. The ministerial qualifications of Mr. White were above the ordinary standard. He knew the Scriptures well, and brought from the sacred treasury things new and old. His mind was enlarged by extensive reading;-and nothing of the bigot ever appeared in his discourses. His sentiments were Calvinistic, though his preaching never savoured of that school of theology which confines itself to a few favourite topics, and neglects other parts of the counsel of God,' equally true and important. It was his aim to be no wiser than the Scriptures, and to exhibit the doctrines of the gospel in their just and natural connections. Mr. White was a practical preacher, and failed not to enforce the holy tendencies of evangelical truth. In social converse, when some little peculiarities (for which his nervous habits easily accounted, in the estimate of candour and friendship) did not uafit him for enjoying himself, he was affable, communicative, and instructive; and he has often enlivened, 3 D XIX. the circle of friends by his piety and information. His talents in composition were accurate and ready; and he especially excelled in epistolary correspondence. The nature of Mr. White's disorder necessarily prevented him from exemplifying in his last illness, to that extent which could be wished, the consoling and supporting influence of evangelical truth; but though he never expressed the senti ments of rapturous confidence, it pleased God to abate the violence of those doubts and fears by which he had been so often tormented, and to enable him to commit his soul into the hands of Jesus Christ.' One of the last expressions which fell from his faltering lips was, 'He is able! Before his death be often wished that, if it were the Lord's will, he might not lose one Sabbath by his affliction, and that, he might enter into his rest on that sacred day. His submissive desire was gratified! On the last Lord's Day in April, he went to the chapel in the morning. As he was returning, one of his friends expressed his regret at seeing him in so very weak and debilitated a state, and gently remonstrated with him on his venturing out of the house. Do you think,' replied he with considerable animation, that I will ever desert the house of God? No, no, it. is the house of God; and while I can, I will attend it.' The following Thursday he was out for the last time; and the next Sabbath, May 5, 1811, 'early in the morning, as it began to dawn,' he commenced the service of an eternal Sabbath in the heavenly temple. His remains were interred in the burying-ground adjoining the chapel, on Tuesday the 14th of May. An immense concourse of spectators, and a long train of mourning attendants, testified the respect in which he was held. Six ministers of various denominations resident in Chester, were bearers of the pall; and nine pastors of congregational churches attended on the occasion. The Rev. Mr. Charrier, of Liverpool, read appropriate portions of Scripture and prayed; the Rev. Mr. Spencer, of Liverpool, delivered the oration at the grave; and the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, of Blackburn, preached the funeral sermon, in the evening, from 2 Cor. iv. 7. On succeeding Sabbaths, in the same month, similar testimonies of affectionate regard were paid to his memory by the two last-mentioned ministers, at their respective places of worship, expressive of their mutual attachment to one who sustained towards each of them the relation of pastor.-May the Lord God of Elijah' be their God! THE MISSIONARY'S FAREWELL. Mr. Editor, ALLOW me, my dear Sir, cre I finally leave my native land, the privilege (through the medium of your widely exded Miscellany) to take a final adieu of my country, and of my acquaintances and Christian friends in particular. The last words of a departing relative are listened to with peculiar attention, and remembered with more than ordinary precision; may then, these few lines be remembered by all under whose view they may pass, seeing they are the last that will be addressed to them by him, who at the command of his Lord is about to depart from every thing the world calls dear, to bear the precious gospel to those shores which hitherto have never echoed to the blissful sound of salvation! Farewell then! ye companions of my youthful days, stand ing on the threshold of that door which, when shut, will for ever hide me from your mortal eyes; I solemnly call upon you, in the name of that Saviour, whom I trust I have found preci ous to my own soul, no longer to continue in the paths of iniquity, but to flee from the wrath to come. O that I could rouse you to a due sense of your state! Remember, I beseech you, that eternity is at hand, yea, already may leath have received his commission from the King of kings to pierce thy vitals with his fatal sting. Satan, that foul fiend, may with infernal joy be standing ready to seize his prey, and drag you to that place, where there is 'weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Will you then refuse the offers of mercy when we entreat you, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God?' Methinks it should fill you with unutterable joy to be told that the Being, against whom your whole life has been one continued scene of rebellion, is able, and as willing as he his able, to pardon and receive very repenting returning prodigal ; ‘he willeth not the death of the sinner, but would rather (O amazing benevolence!) would rather he would turn from his wickedness and live. Farewell then for ever! O with what anguish (were it possible for the blessed to experience suffering of any kind) with what anguish would those who have faithfully warned you of your danger, hear you on that tremendous day of accounts, when the secrets of all men shall be made known, calling on the rocks and hills to cover you from the view of him whose eyes are as a flame of fire: but there is no shelter from the righteous vengeance of the Judge of quick and dead. Should these lines be read by any who may be living without God and without Christ in the world, I charge you, it you' value your own souls, if you seek your own happiness, to fly, whilst yet there is hope, to that dear refuge to which the gosel directs you. But I now turn to those of my friends, my beloved friends with whom I have often taken sweet counsel, and walked to the house of God in company. Fareweil, ye who have been the delight of my heart, the support of my drooping moments;' farewell those scenes rendered dear by the sweet delights we jave mutually enjoyed! Farewell, thou sacred house of my God! within whose walls I have so often heard the glad sound of salvation by the cross of Christ, that cross the banners of which I go to unfurl in the very heart of the kingdom of Satan! O my brethren, let me solicit your prayers, your ardent supplications, that the great Head of the church may support me amidst all the difficulties I must look forward to, and make me (delightful idea!) the honoured instrument in his hands of turning sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan to God. But, O ye who profess to be possessed of supreme love to Christ! ye pious young men who have health, strength, talents, and a whole life before you, are none of these to be consecrated by the cross of Christ, and devoted to the cause of your be loved? Will ye sleep away your time and suffer thousands to be perishing on the very brink of everlasting misery? Cast your eyes, 1 beseech you, over the vast continent of Asia! Behold the hundreds of millions of China! and then say whether you can any longer be deaf to the cry, 'Come over and help us. Be assured, if you give yourself up to the ser vice of God, you will never have cause to repent it: no; he amply repays with blessings all the exertions used in his sacred cause. • Shall not then the clang of vile idolatry Awake your souls to set the pris'ners free, And loose the dreadful chains that bind them fast T. J. THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER, WINDS. IN a former paper some account was attempted of the probable cause of the Winds; we now propose to state some particulars relative to their effects: these are, in general, of a very beneficial nature; navigation depends, in a great mea sure, upon their direction and force. Vessels, wafted by the winds from shore to shore, diffuse amongst mankind the va rious productions of different climates, convey intelligence from distant regions, and bear with them the everlasting Gospel to the ends of the earth. The temperature of different climates is very much influenced by the winds, and they are essentially necessary to the salubrity of the atmosphere. It is remarked in Lord Howard's Voyage to Constantinople, That at Vienna they have frequent winds, which, if they cease long in the summer, the plague often ensues, so that it is now grown into a proverb, that if Austria be not windy, it is subject to contagion.'-Derham's Physico-Theology, p. 16. The pleasure, as well as health of mankind, is promoted by the Winds. In this climate the heat of summer is rendered more tolerable by the refreshing breeze which we occasionally enjoy; and the Torrid Zone would scarcely be habitable were it not for the gales which blow throughout the year in that part of the earth. At other times, in hot climates, particularly in the West Indies, the winds blow with a degree of violence which produce the most awful effects. The hurricanes usually happen in the rainy season, principally in the month of August, tearing up trees, blowing down buildings, and, as they are attended with rains, inundating large tracts of country: they are also accompanied with thunder and lightning, with a great swelling of the sea, and sometimes earthquakes. Oft o'er the Eden islands of the West, In floral pomp and verdant beauty drest, Tell the pale world The God of vengeance reigns!' MONTGOMERY. But in the midst of judgment Jehovah remembers mercy! and there are certain signs by which the inhabitants are forewarned of the approach of these dreadful storms, so as in some degree to provide against their effects. They come on either at the quarter, or at the full change of the moon. At the change which precedes their approach, the sky is troubled, the sun is more red than usual, there is a dead calm below, and the tops of the mountains are free from those mists which usually hover about them. In the caverns of the earth, and in wells, you hear a hollow rumbling sound, like the rustling of a great wind: at night the stars seem larger than usual, and are attended with a sort of burs; the north-west sky has a black and menacing appearance; the sea emits a strong smell, and rises into vast waves without any wind; the wind itself forsakes its usual eastern stream and shifts to the west, from whence it sometimes blows violently and irregularly for about two hours at a time. Pinkerton's Geography, Introduc. p. 57. The wind in a storm is calculated to move at about 60 miles an hour*; but however violently the stormy winds may rage, they are under the controul of Him whose word they fulfil: He directs their course, and increases or restrains their violence at his pleasure. The changes which the mariner experiences, afford a lively emblem of those varieties which believers must expect in their passage over the sea of human life. The Christian is sometimes borne on by refreshing Physico Theology, |