Ghost, in some mysterious manner, ally himself with our
very corporeal part, in order that that corporeal part may be
purified-in order that all its energies and members may
be sanctified to God-and shall that body lie forever in
the ruins of the grave? Will not the Holy Ghost come
down again, some day or other, to claim his temple-to
claim that which it enshrined itself in while man was
upon the earth? Why, the very fact that the Holy Ghost
makes the body of man his temple, is itself a pledge that
the body of the believer shall be raised at the last day.
"Why, then, should it be thought a thing incredible,
that God should raise the dead?" It was not thought "a
thing incredible," by Abraham. He, when on Mount
Moriah, having Isaac his son with him, built an altar-
laid the wood in order upon the altar, placed Isaac on the
wood, and bound him on it; he had a knife in his hand,
and there was the fire. Abraham went up the mountain
to sacrifice to take away the life of his son; and not only
to take away his life, but he went on the top of the moun-
tain to burn the dead body after he had taken away his
life. Abraham went up to stand by the altar while it was
burning the bones, flesh, and sinews of his son Isaac; and
he was to stand by the altar while all the winds of heaven
swept over the summit of the mountain, and carried the
ashes of Isaac east, west, north, and south, and scattered
them all over the four hemispheres of the globe. But he
had faith enough to enable him to believe, that though that
was the case-though the body of Isaac was burned to
ashes, and though those ashes were diffused throughout
every region of the habitable and uninhabitable parts of
the globe,-he, by his faith, saw atom coming to atom,
particle to particle, one part joining another; he stood by
the altar in faith and hope, and, in fact, saw the conjunc-
tion of all the fragments of Isaac-the reunion, the re-
connexion of all the parts that had been severed by the
processes of combustion; and, in fact, he saw the atoms
come floating together at the command of God, and stood
by the altar and saw the whole body of Isaac complete
above the altar, and saw life entering into it, and saw Isaac
rising above the altar and going into the arms of his
father, and walking down the hill of Calvary to worship,
as Abraham had said, with the servants that were left at
the foot of it. Abraham believed all that: and if he be-
lieved that, "why should it be thought a thing incredible
that God should raise the dead?"

It would be interesting if I were here to follow out the view that is given us in Scripture of the resurrection of the body of the believer; but our time and my strength compel me-that is, the want of both compels me to pass over this altogether. I can merely glance at the promise; and now I pass on to notice,

Thirdly, THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THIS MAGNIFI

CENT EVENT AND THE MEDIATION OF THE REDEEMER.

"Jesus said, I am the resurrection."

I remark here, first, that the resurrection of the believer has been purchased by the merits of Christ-that it has been procured by the mediation of Christ. I know that it is very common for us to say, that death is natural: we say, that to die is natural. That is plausible, but not true: it is not natural to die. Our philosophers tell us, that the death of the body was part of the original plan of God at the formation of the body of man-that it was a part of the original scheme which God entertained when he formed man; and therefore they say, that death is natural.Death was not a part of God's original plan-death was not a part of the scheme-death did not enter into the arrangement. When God made man he made him immortal-he made his body immortal; and, in fact, it seems that man had, in the garden of Eden, the means of effecting the immortality of his body: there was "the tree of life" that was in the midst of the garden. Death has been brought in by sin; death is the penalty of the transgression of the law of God; death is the curse which has been engendered by sin. When man took of the fruit of the forbidden tree, its "mortal taste brought death into our world;" and were it not for the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no resurrection to life. What does that passage say that we quoted just now? "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." The doctrine teaches us that all men die-that they undergo the death of the body as the consequence of Adam's transgression.

I know that this is one of the deep things of God, which we can but very imperfectly develope; but the doctrine of Scripture is exceedingly clear, that the universal death of mankind is the consequence of the one transgression of Adam, his progenitor. So we are especially taught by the Apostle, in the epistle to the Romans. He says, that "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;

|

and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Then he goes on to argue→→ "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Its influence, therefore, extends over infants and idiots; neither infants nor idiots ever sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression; there was no voluntary moral trespass on the part of infants or idiots; and yet both die, though neither the one nor the other ever sinned "after the similitude of Adam's transgression." The argument of the Apostle is this: that there is no death when there is no transgression-that there is no transgression when there is no law-that there is no law that touches infants and idiots-and that as infants and idiots die a physical death, they die for the infraction of the law perpetrated by Adam, their first father. That is the clear doctrine of Scripture. But another doctrine as clear, is-that as in Adam all die, in Christ we are made alive again; and that what we lost by the first Adam we recover by the second.

I remark, secondly, that Jesus Christ has given us a pledge of the resurrection of believers, in the fact of his own resurrection: He has given us the proof and example of it in his own history. So that passage which we read "Christ the before in the Corinthians, evidently teaches us: first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming" -"they that are Christ's,"—that is, believers.

Here I am aware there are two things which ought to be embodied. The one is to show the fact of our Saviour's resurrection; and the other is, to show how that fact is a proof of the resurrection of his people from the dead. I must be exceedingly brief on each of these.

The proofs of our Saviour's resurrection. These are threefold: they are negative, positive, and cumulative. Negative. All will allow that Jesus died; infidels allow that: all will allow that Jesus was buried; infidels allow that all will allow that his corpse was not in the grave the third day after its crucifixion. The question then comes, where was it? If it had risen out of the grave, it must have been somewhere. Let the high priest produce the body: let the scribes and pharisees produce the body. If they assert that the body of Christ has not risen from the grave, I demand the body of them; let them produce it, and then we will know that it has not risen from the grave. But as it was not in the grave, though it had been there, and as nobody could find the corpse any where, nobody could produce it. The negative evidence is as clear as any thing can be, that the body of Christ must have risen out of the grave.

The positive evidence is, that he was actually seen alive after his death and burial-that he was seen alive by those that had been most intimate with him before his crucifixion. Observe what they say: they don't tell us some speculation-they don't give us something problematical; they tell us that they saw him-that they touched him-that they handled him-that they thrust their hands into his side, and into the print of the nails-that some doubted and afterwards believed; and all of these were determined to maintain the fact of having seen him alive, at all hazards and at all perils.

There are only three ways of accounting for the conduct of these men: one is, that they were impostors: another is, that they were deluded, though not impostors: you know the other-that they were honest men, and told the

truth.

The first hypothesis is, that they were impostors. That, however, is now given up: infidels cannot come to that now at all; they allow that the thing has not a leg to stand upon it has gone down completely, that the apostles were impostors everything about their history shows they were not impostors.

The second hypothetical explanation of the phenomenon is, that they were deluded-that some fallacy was passed upon them-that some trick or other was crammed down their throats-that some manœuvre was played off on them-and that they were the victims of designing men. I appeal to those who have read the four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles, to say, whether or no every word, every deed, every suffering of the lives of the apostles, subsequent to the resurrection of Christ, does not prove that they had common sense. And if they had but that, it is impossible that such an imposition could be played off upon them, as to make them believe that Christ had risen from the dead, when he had done no such thing.

The third conclusion is the honest and the true one. I feel that here I carry along with me the sweet concurrence of the immense crowd of human intellects that are within the application of the sentiment I am now bringing for

of terrible and universal bankruptcy, and bound all his seed in the ruins of that bankruptcy; but Jesus Christ has lent himself to the broken and dishonored family, to bring them back again to their former condition. The first Adam was at the head of the covenant of works-the second Adam is at the head of the covenant of grace. The first Adam brought a curse on us--the second Adam has brought us unspeakable blessings.

I remark, once more, What an encouragement the words of the text are to the ministers of the Gospel! I cannot say here what I might, under other circumstances. Suffice it to say to that man who wrote to me last night-not subscribing himself by his name, but by one of the characters I have been recently addressing from this desk, "A backslider"--some man, I dare say within the range of my voice to-night, whom I know not, wrote me a note, and subscribed himself by that appellation. Just let me tell thee, O backslider, that Jesus is "the resurrection." If thou art dead, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, Jesus can make thee alive again. Oh, he says unto us poor ministers, whose breath is in our nostrils, who are to-day and gone to-mor row, he says, "Go into the valley of dry bones; and though the bones be dry, very dry, say unto them, Live, live!" Ah! is Jesus the resurrection of the dead? Then I go and stand in the valley, and cry, "Live!" The silver trumpet of the Gospel has been blown, and great wonders have followed. Louder than the thunder of Sinai has been the sound of the Gospel that has stirred the bones into which Jesus has put his vivifying influence: the darkness of the human mind has been dispelled, the strong holds of the powers of darkness have been broken up, and the dead have come to life again. May God raise the spirituallydead this night!

-that the number of our months is with him-that when the decree shall come forth, nothing shall be able to ward off the stroke of death, or to protract our existence a single

moment.

The loss we have sustained is, indeed, unspeakable. It has created a void in our community and a chasm in our attachments which we can never hope to get supplied. He was not one of those ordinary men who may disappear from the stage of life without being missed or regretted beyond the circle of their private acquaintance, and whose place may be well filled up from among the circle which they leave behind them. It is not enough even to say, that he belonged to that more limited class whose abilities and education and influence have raised them above their brethren, and given them a superiority which few, comparatively, can ever expect to reach. He towered above us all in peerless and isolated grandeur, and held a station to which the most accomplished of us felt ourselves constrained to look up with reverence. He stood forth from among his contemporaries pre-eminent in strength of personal faculties and also of public character; and in his sway of intellectual power and greatness, he was like Saul among the men of Israel-head and shoulders higher than any of them all. His intellectual and moral worth won for him the respect and honour and reverence, which all men conceded to him. He occupied a place which nothing else could have enabled him to have acquired and afterwards maintain to his dying day. And we may affirm, that among those that can discern the things that differwho know how to appreciate intellectual vigour, moral worth, honest independence, real learning, practical usefulness, disinterested generosity, and inflexible integrity,there never was a man more highly and sincerely honoured while he lived, or more deeply and deservedly lamented when he died.

To give any suitable delineation of him is a task to which I feel and confess my inadequacy. I knew him, and knew him well, and was privileged with his friendship. Some years ago, when my local nearness to his own residence allowed it, I enjoyed much personal intercourse with him. My very knowledge of him satisfies me I cannot do justice to his memory; I cannot speak of him as he ought to be spoken of; I cannot speak of him as you will justly expect; I cannot speak of him as my heart would fondly wish; I cannot speak of him as others who have-I will not say, loved him more, but who have known him more, and who have powers more equal to the subject, will speak of him. This inability I regret the less, as his character, in all its aspects, was familiar to your minds. You knew him well-you loved him dearly-you venerated him highly: hundreds of you, under Čod, owe much to his ministry; it has been unto you a savor of life unto life." Many of you recognized him as your spiritual father; you were converted under his zealous, faithful preaching. Many of your fathers and mothers he has visited in their sickness and attended on their dying beds. I hardly need to tell you this night his character: it had, indeed, a length and breadth which made it obvious to all mankind; it had nothing hidden or equivocal about it; it was all wide, open, candid, and majestical. There was a magnanimity, a strength, a fulness, a freshness, an originality about his modes of thinking and acting, which were as eminent to the eye of observation as the lineaments of his face.

In a ser

Dr. CLARKE, as you have learned from the public papers, was born in Ireland, but his parents were natives of Great Britain-his father being, I believe, an Englishman, and his mother a Scotch woman: I don't wonder that the whole of the three kingdoms claim him as their own. mon which he preached in Derby, two or three years ago, from the words-"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,"-he observed, that before he heard the Methodist preachers, Adam Clarke was as stupid a lad as was any in the place: that, nevertheless, he was characterized by an insatiable thirst for learning; and that after the light of the Gospel shone upon his mind, Adam Clarke could learn anything. It seems, that he was brought to God under the ministry of a methodist preacher of the name of Breedon. He became the subject of a sound, thorough, scriptural conversion; how genuine and radical was that change, a life of uniform, practical, growing piety, covering over the space of more than half a century, is the delightful and triumphant witness. He soon afterwards was called of God to preach the gospel. This he revealed to his parents, having been brought under the notice of Mr. Wesley, by letter from Mr. Breedon, who saw that he was no common individual. His parents were strenuously, and for a considerable period, opposed to his convictions and wishes: but in this distressing perplexity, he received an intimation from Mr. Wesley, that

he must come over to England, go to Kingswood school,
and see if there was anything he could learn; after that,
Mr. Wesley would tell him what further was to be done.
Mr. CLARKE left his parents, and landing at Liverpool,
proceeded immediately to Bristol, and safely arrived at
Kingswood school. Owing to some error or neglect, the
master was not duly apprised of his coming, and his re-
ception was anything but cordial and agreeable. It was
winter, and he was sent into a room to study alone, and
without fire. Looking out of the window one day, he saw
some men digging up the soil in the garden: and being
much annoyed by the cold, he went down to try to warm
himself by breaking the clods after the men. While thus
employed he found half a guinea. He took it to Mr.
Bailey, the head master-afterwards Dr. Bailey, of the
Old Church at Manchester. One of the masters owned it,
and after some time, this master came to Mr. Clarke with
the half-guinea, saying, he had lost half a guinea and that
that might be his; but whether it was or not, he was de-
termined not to retain it; "for," said he, "I have been
quite miserable ever since I received it."
As no one
would own the money, Mr. Clarke was obliged to retain
it; and, perhaps, never half guinea did so much good as
that half guinea; for I heard him say, myself, that with
that half guinea he bought a few coals to warm himself
with, and a few books, and those books oriental books;
and that those few oriental books laid the foundation of
his being all that he ever was as an oriental scholar.

He wrote by and by to Mr. Wesley, to say that there was nothing taught in the school which he did not know, and therefore wished to be informed what next was to be done. Mr. Wesley came to the school-had an interview with him-asked him certain questions-examined him concerning his experience, his views of scriptural doctrine, and then put the question, Whether or not he would become a minister in the Methodist Connexion? He paused, and then answered-If Mr. Wesley thought him worthy he was willing. Mr. Wesley paused; his countenance assumed an unusual heavenly placidity and radiance, there was solemn silence for some time between them; and at length Mr. Wesley rose from his seat, moved forward to Adam Clarke, and invoked upon him the blessing of Almighty God, that he would make him a successful minister of the New Testament.

He was then sent into Cornwall as an itinerant minister; and the intelligent people there welcomed this youthful evangelist, highly valued and greatly profited under his ministry, and predicted some of his subsequent eminence; and to this day, his name in that county is held absolutely sacred: and as I had opportunity—when in the spring I was on a tour through that part of the country— of witnessing, I found that everywhere his name was as ointment poured forth. At Launceston, which was one of the places he preached at, a persecutor of gigantic stature and rage, determined to take away the life of this zealous evangelist; and for this purpose filled his pockets with large stones, that he might, as he expressed it, "dash out the brains" of the preacher. On arriving at the place with this awful intent, he found Mr. Clarke in his sermon, and he thought that, before he executed his purpose he would listen to a few words that the preacher was saying. He listened, and listened, and whilst listening, suddenly fell down as if he had been shot. He was convinced by the word, judged of all, and acknowledged that God was with the preacher. Mr. Clarke's life was saved, and the man's soul was saved! Glory be to God most high!

On his removal from that scene of toil, he was sent to the Norman isles of Guernsey and Jersey, and here he was truly and eminently a missionary. When about these islands he had much persecution; but he carried on his labors among those people, and was the means of the revival of religion at Guernsey; such prosperity crowning his labors, that a considerable society and a large congregation were raised by his influence, and a large chapel built, for which they were soon out of debt. The treatment he received here was most severe and violent, especially at St. Olives, where the house was frequently surrounded by a furious mob, and in one of their attacks it was nearly pulled to pieces. To himself the most violent indignities were offered, which even endangered his life. But the island was too strait for him, and he longed for a wider field in which to put forth the might of his energies, and to expatiate in all the fulness of his benevolence."

In addition to this craving after a more suitable and extensive sphere of action, he had considerable doubts as to the fairness of the manner in which his appointment had been brought about. This is quite apparent, and put beyond all doubt by his letter to Mr. King, one of the preachers with whom he had travelled on the Plymouth circuit, with whom he formed a most affectionate friend

ship and maintained a close correspondence for many years afterwards. Mr. Clarke disclosed his views to Mr. King, in the following letter-a letter for which I am obliged to the kindness of Mr. Toase, who is nephew to this same Mr. King, and has the whole of Mr. Clarke's letters which were written in this early period of his life to his attached friend. This is the very letter which was written by Mr. Clarke, and is dated "Guernsey, Feb. 22, 1787." After some introductory remarks, from which it should seem that Mr. Clarke had given an invitation to Mr. King to come over to Guernsey, and that an intimation had been given that he would visit the island, Mr. Clarke goes on-"Your first letter, I acknowledge, buoyed me up with the hope of seeing you. With affection I have frequently mentioned it to our friends, who were taught to expect what I promised them as a blessing; but to my surprise, and perhaps their and my loss, we are all disappointed. To Sua Tou Kupiou voow!-There is still a friend that sticketh closer than the most affectionate brother. Glory be to his name, He is at present the portion of my soul, and in my many trials, the lifter up of mine head. Through eternity I trust to praise him for what he has done for me, for whose unworthiness the widest extremes can have no parallel: on me salvation must shine with peculiar lustre.-On a review of your epistle, I can find many intentional, but very well expressed ironia. For instance-you say you have much work to do, and many other letters to write, which must take up much time. I have much work to do too, which, accompanied with frequent afflictions and temptations, have caused my body to acknowledge its weakness by sinking under it. Yet I could do more were I in a more enlarged sphere. As to my writing, it has generally been a curse to me; but my conscience acquits me of a single desire to write one letter, or hold any correspondence with any person, which is not necessary or for the glory of God. Yes, I find that in this, as in every other respect, it is full time to have done with all trifling. Oh, may Jesus more deeply teach me to do all I do to the glory of God!"-Now, here there is an ellipsis: he must be referring now to the contents of a letter from Mr. King on the subject of the unfairness or the fairness of his appointment by the Conference to Guernsey. "It may be 80, my brother; but still I am induced to scruple my appointment as the immediate result of the Divine counsels. Had Mr. Wesley appointed me, it is probable I should have had little doubt concerning the matter: but I have been credibly informed by Mr. Day, that Mr. Wesley had no hand in the affair. But I bless God I neither murmur nor repine-yea, what is more, am far from desiring to leave it; I am heartily willing to stay, whatever privileges I am obliged to relinquish, as long as God sees meet to detain me. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high! That he has blessed and is blessing my labor, is a truth for which I can never be sufficiently grateful: yet still this is no proof that he would not have prospered me more abundantly in a situation where I should have had ten times the ground to sow the seed of life in. But this shall work eventually for my good. And never did I so comprehend what is implied in watching over souls, as I do now. Before, having two or three preachers always with me, we all shared the labor and concern; I had less burdens to bear; but here, I may truly say, I stand alone; every load falls on my shoulder, very incapable of bearing it; and my feelings are so increased, and my concern so deepened to get eternal souls brought to and kept with Jesus, that any backsliding among the people is a sword to my soul, and gives me some of the most poignant sensations." He then goes on to say, "My language is incapable of describing facts as they are, and I must cease. Here I stand-God help me! My brother, rush into every place; there call-O call immortal perishing souls back to God! How should my soul triumph to have such towns here to introduce the gospel in, as are vacant in your circuit! I now see, more than I did, how I am straitened; and being so circumscribed, my soul earnestly desires to be more useful." There you see the man and the workings of his mind. It seems that his friend, Mr. King, so far sympathized with him as to write to Mr. Wesley, and state the views of Mr. Clarke; and I hold in my hand the letter which was written by Mr. Wesley to Mr. King on this very subject. Here is the letter written by Mr. Wesley, from Ireland, to Mr. King; and you will see what Mr. Wesley's opinion of Adam Clarke was, almost fifty years ago. Athlone, April 21, 1787. My dear brother,-Adam Clarke is doubtless an extraordinary young man, and capable of doing much good; therefore Satan will shorten his course if possible, and this is very

vi

likely to be done by his still preaching too loud or too long.
It is a sure way of cutting his own throat. Whenever
you write, warn him of this; it may be he will take advice
before it be too late. He may have work enough to do if
he adds the isle of Alderney to those of Guernsey and
Jersey. If you have a desire to go and be with him, you
may, up to the conference. At that time I expect they will
have both work and food for another laborer."

Now here is a part of Mr. Clarke's letter to Mr. King,
in reference to this communication of Mr. Wesley. This
small scrap contains both Mr. Clarke's and Mr. Wesley's
letter; for Mr. Wesley's letter got into the hands of Mr.
Clarke; and as Mr. Clarke was then going to sail for the
island, and had reason to suppose that the letter for Mr.
King referred to himself,-he having a particular intimacy
with Mr. King,-opened the letter, and found what Mr.
Wesley said here. "It seems from the contents, that you
have been saying something to Mr. Wesley on my affairs,
which I did not desire. However it is an evidence of
your sincere friendship. May the kind Lord give me what
I possess not, and increase in me that which, in a mea-
sure, already exists! I find Mr. Wesley is willing you
should come to the island, if you please. Were I to stay
here your presence would be a pleasure to my soul and
body; but should my kind brother suffer in consequence
of his affection for me, I know not what to say. If I stay,
I pray God to send Mr. King to labour with me, if it be
not injurious to his welfare; but otherwise I cannot
desire it.

Well, since Guernsey and Jersey were too small a circuit for this young man, he proceeded to make the annexation of the isle of Alderney. It is a little curious, that last evening, about this time, I received the letter I referred to, written by "A backslider;" and while I was actually upon the very part about the doctor going to Alderney, a letter came to my house from a person giving me a history of his introduction into Alderney. Here it is:"Permit the writer to say, that he has been acquainted with the Old Arminian Methodist church for forty-eight years; wherefore he remembers the late most excellent and truly devout man of God, Adam Clarke, in early life. And give me leave to observe, that a few years after he became a preacher, he was appointed for Jersey and Guernsey. While Mr. Clarke was at Jersey, it was impressed on his mind to visit Alderney; but this place being at this time peopled by outlaws, no mariner could be found who would trust this virtuous young apostle to the mercy of such miscreants. Mr. Clarke, being under the influence and direction of the Holy Ghost, determined on paying them a visit. He got a passage in a smuggler's boat, from which he was landed safely on the isle of Alderney; but knowing no one on the island, he for some time roamed about, with a heart truly devoted to the work in which he was embarked. At last, placing his eye on a little cottage, he ventured to enter it with the promise of his Master, Christ Jesus the Lord, 'Peace be to this house!" "

Well, Mr. Clarke, in writing to Mr. Wesley, observes that the same little house was inhabited by an aged man and woman, the latter of whom understood his mission, and, like the Shunamite, perceiving that he was a man of God, showed him to an "upper room on the wall, where there was a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick." Here Mr. Clarke, the good man, and his wife, spent a short time in prayer, when he prevailed on them to publish that it was his intention to preach. Around him they gathered, and he truly unfolded the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; when many, being convinced of sin, were constrained to cry out for mercy; and many, gratified with the doctrine delivered, cleared out a large store-room, where he delivered to them his second sermon. On leaving the island, he was followed by the people, entreating him to stay with them, or shortly to return, or send one like himself; for they needed such preaching. Further, Mr. Clarke adds, in his letter to Mr. Wesley, that there was no minister on the island but an old French Roman Catholic priest, who cared nothing for the souls of the people; and here, in early life, Mr. Clarke was made the sole instrument of establishing a society in that place, which hell and death have never yet been able to prevail against. God be thanked, and of his infinite mercy grant, that the death of this eminent man may be the occasion of the resurrection of the soul of the man who wrote me that letter!

It seems that his preaching extempore was considered, in the island, as a phenomenon; and on one occasion the governor heard him on the stairs, and at the conclusion of the service, politely requested him to allow him to see his Bible-fully expecting to find his sermon enclosed in it. He found it a simple Bible, without note or comment; and

returning it to the preacher, expressed his pleasure at having heard the discourse.

I hold in my hand a copy of an extract from one of his letters to Mr. King, from Guernsey. He says, "Here I am determined, by the grace of God, to conquer and die; and have taken the subsequent for a motto, and have it placed before me on the mantel-piece." It is a Greek sentence, the meaning of which is, "Stand thou as a beaten anvil to the stroke; for it is the property of a good warrior to be flayed alive and yet to conquer." That was the motto of Dr. Clarke's life.

Having fulfilled his mission, he was removed: and now the scene widened before him, and the whole length and breadth of England and Ireland laid at his feet. As it is impossible I can continue this narrative, I shall merely say that God gave him, henceforth, his heart's desire. He had now a noble and spacious theatre of action for the play of his faculties; and it must now be pleasing to observe, that all the way from the Norman Isles in the south to the Shetlands in the extreme north, he has diffused the savor of the knowledge of Christ; and all along-from one extremity of the British islands to the other, taking Britain itself as a centre-he has left a track of light and glory behind him. In what great division of the country has he not been? and where has he been and has not left the print of his feet, a memorial of his genuine piety, and acknowledgment of his sterling worth, the sweet odour of his name? The whole land is mourning for him: this day his name has been on myriads of lips since this morning's sun appeared above the horizon. What portion of the people is there not sighing to think that he is no more-that the wind has passed over him and he is gone? Oh, my heart is sad! I will not-I must not-I dare not utter all that I feel. Oh, thou great and gracious God, teach us to bow meekly before thee, and to profit greatly by this most stunning blow of thine hand!

What did I say?-that Great Britain and Ireland formed the theatre of his usefulness? It was a great mistake: all over the United States of America he is read, and studied, and felt, and all but seen and heard by the germinating mind of that new and teeming hemisphere. No wonder that its chief men should send an invitation to him to come and see their shores, as the last "Christian Advocate" so beautifully tells us, that he may go and tread their shores, and visit their pulpits, and bless their youth, and lift up his honoured head among their rising schools and colleges; and by showing them ADAM CLARKE, let them see what a thinking head, and a diligent hand, a gracious heart can bring forth, under the divine blessing. But what a shock is now vibrating towards that land! How will they grieve-not that they shall see him no more, but that they shall never see him at all! In Germany, as I was told by a learned friend and a great traveller, who was present at his funeral, he will be lamented as much as in this country-that he is beyond measure respected and revered there, his works having revealed and praised him in their gates. When I think on these things-when I look back on the course he has thus so long and so splendidly pursued when I reflect on the rectitude and gentleness of his doings, as a ruler in our Israel-when I call to mind that his single object was to advance the power of religion in every part of the land, and to render Methodism its chief blessing, safeguard and glory-when I call to mind his unparalleled pleadings for the thousand charities among us-when I know that he drew over to our society individuals of station and exalted character, that the fame of no other than his name could attract-when I remember that he had set his heart on the conversion of all men, and how dear that object was to his benevolent mind, and how vigorously, and steadfastly, and triumphantly he worked for its accomplishment-when I think how wise, and good, and great he was-and then, when I bethink myself of the melancholy fact, that he has been taken away, hurried away out of the land of the living, and that we shall see his face no more, behold his form, and hear and profit by his discourse no more,-I am amazed and very heavy. When I remember those words that he uttered in the last Conference on the first day,-"I am the father of the Conference, and you cannot help yourselves,"-words which are now ringing in my ears and thrilling through my heart-how can I believe that he is gone? And yet, gone, gone, gone from us he is! and I can only exclaim, as Elisha did, when, with sorrow and surprise, he saw Elijah carried from him into heaven, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!"-But I must go on.

In his conduct amongst men he was remarkably plain and manly-natural, simple, honest, ingenuous, and unaffected. His conversation was pleasing and lovely, not learned, except when circumstances so combined as to render it a duty to give it that particular character. He

never pretended to refinement, though he was eminently affable and polite, and disclosed by his manner the effect of that intercourse which he, more than any other man who ever bore the appellation of Methodist, actually had with what is usually called good society and exalted rank: all who approached him felt the indefinable but irresistible fascination which such intercourse never fails to produce on a nature like his.

The excellencies of his sentiments were not drawn from exterior embellishments, their character not needing the aid of foreign ornament, but were, "when unadorned, adorned the most." From his extended and unbounded acquaintance with the religious world, and from his access to every walk of life, his information was universal. As his discourse combined the agreeable with the edifying, he was listened to with delight. He was the very reverse of moroseness, as every body knows; his heart was the region of cheerfulness, and on his tongue was the law of kindness. Warm in his friendships, none could surpass him in sympathy for his afflicted people and suffering friends, or his possession of sentiments of participation in their joys. In fine-the spirit, influence and virtues of Christianity uniformly diffused over his character a serene splendoradorned and imbued his whole behaviour. His fine intellectual and commanding mien, together with the natural and easy manner, that seemed to pervade him like an atmosphere, were particularly prepossessing and delightful; and perhaps it was impossible for any person, however uninfluenced by religion, to experience disgust or to feel uneasy in his company; for the heart that did not vibrate to his, felt constrained to pay homage to his superior greatness and unaffected goodness.

But you expect me to speak of him as a preacher. On this I am aware some will differ from me. I consider him to have been pre-eminently great, and that he occupied a field of religious eloquence altogether and exclusively his own. The whole kingdom has acknowledged the sway of his master mind as a teacher of the people. The truths of revelation received a coloring and flew forth from his skilful hands with an energy that secured the attention, admiration, and reverence, of myriads, and the actual reception and personal belief of thousands. He took up the precious ore as it lay in its original bed; and by such a disposition of its several parts, and such a powerful handling of it, as a whole, compelled myriads to acknowledge its heavenly worth and origin, and to sink, and flinch, and quiver, under its searching power. His manner of preaching was, beyond all comparison, authoritative and forceful; and no one could listen to him without being assured that he was as certain of the truth of what he was enforcing as of his own existence. He spoke in the fulness of his heart, and delivered, with the earnestness of a messenger of God, that which he had received from the Lord Jesus Christ.

There was, in his preaching, not only intellectual perception, but also the power of moral suasion; and his hearers were made sensible of it; they felt that he and his subject were one-that his being was possessed of it-and that it was twined and intertwined, laced and interlaced, with the very essence of his nature-that they might cut off his right arm, but that nothing could separate him and his faith. It was this air of authority in which his message was steeped, that made it altogether his own, and perfectly unique. He demonstrated and expounded, perhaps, as much as any uninspired man ever did, how the truth was as it was, and that it could not but be so. He conveyed the knowledge of it and commended the testimony of it to every man's conscience; and with his mighty galvanic battery of logical argumentation, stormed the citadel of many a proud and lofty spirit, and gained a lodgment for the heavenly message. He made the truth flash forth its own evidence; so that you saw its coruscations and felt its weight. This gave his addresses the momentum, the penetration and the force which it is difficult to describe to one who never heard him, and impossible to conceive.

But, after all, I think it will be admitted, that the great and prominent characteristic of his preaching, was the high degree of unction that generally pervaded it; hence it was that a sermon of Dr. Clarke's was universally looked forward to, by the people, as a feast-a spiritual banquet-as food into which, as into that of Elijah, on one occasion, a heavenly seasoning was transfused, so that the receiver could go on in the strength of the meal for many days. It was this that made the word of the Lord so precious. From his lips the gospel came, not distinguished by its authority alone, but also by its fragrance. In fact, to hear the doctor was regarded by multitudes of sensible pious people, as the greatest treat of their lives. Some years since, when coming from the pulpit stairs, after preaching before the Conference, the subject having been the account of