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emplified a spirit of lamb-like meekness even to those who might entertain different views of doctrines and measures.

"The bible," he observed, "has been a great source of comfort to me in my affliction, especially the Psalms."

Shortly after, a bright smile diffused itself over his countenance, indicative of the heavenly tranquillity that reigned within; his eye, yet undimmed in its luster, sparkling with joy, and his whole manner bespeaking a consciousness of holy triumph over the king of terrors; Brother A.," said he, "after all, it is a pleasant thing to die.

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'Sweet on his faithfulness to rest,

And trust his firm decrees.'

In the midst of his groans-the struggles of expiring nature-he remarked: "I am as happy as I can well be. My soul is in perfect peace." Angels will hover round your bed," observed a friend, "and take your spirit home." ""Tis sweet," he replied, "but far sweeter to think that JESUS will be there to receive me." After some severe struggles, that shook his frail tabernacle almost to dissolution, respiration became easier, and he said: "Truly after the raging of the storm, there has come a calm, as when the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. This is in direct answer to prayer. I can now rejoice in all parts of the divine character. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, can separate me from the love of God. It is a far GREATER thing to die than I had supposed." And in the greatness and in the joy of that thought, he burst forth in unison with a song of praise from the lips of christians around that happy bed:

"The voice of free grace cries, escape to the mountain."

While they were singing the chorus,

"We'll praise him again when we pass over Jordan,"

"Yes," he exclaimed, in the raptures of unmingled triumph, "I'll praise him in it, and while passing through it." So perfect was the work of the Holy Ghost on that heart which had experienced its full share of trials and sorrows in this vale of tears.

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At 7 o'clock on Tuesday morning, he was supposed to be dying. With another seraphic smile, he exclaimed: "I see him! I see him! O glorious Savior! O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory! Both are gone." Then sinking into a kind of sleep, and again reviving, he opened his eyes, and asked, "Is it possible? "Am I here yet? Let me not be too anxious. The Lord is with me. Well, I am in his hands. Let him do with me as seemeth him good.

'Sweet to lie passive in his hands,

And know no will but his.'

You see what he can do. He sits as a refiner's fire, to purify the faith of his people."

A stanza of a hymn he loved to sing was repeated:

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"The waves of woe

Can ne'er o'erflow

The rock of thy salvation."

"No!" said he, with another indescribable expression of countenance, NO, AND I AM ON IT." Various promises were reiterated to him. "They are precious," he observed, "but what good would they do me, if I were not a christian? None. No; they are all made to obedient faith. The bible is a book of realities." This idea was prominent in his mind throughout his sickness-that the bible is a book of realities. All its truths seemed eminently real.

His voice now became quite hoarse and thick. The physician entered and felt his pulse. "How long?" he asked. "How long?" he asked. "I think it will soon be over," was the reply. "That is good news, GOOD news," he rejoined. Soon after, he was heard to utter this prayer: "Dear Savior, do come and consummate the desire of thy servant, and grant that my last struggle may be an easy one, and take me to thyself, for thine own name's sake." That prayer was heard in heaven and immediately answered, for as he uttered these words, he folded his hands on his breast, and expired!' pp. 266-276.

Numerous testimonies to his worth and amiableness follow,the tribute of sorrowing friends over one with whom they had taken sweet counsel. His biographer also has drawn his character very justly, as we believe; but as the foregoing sketches have perhaps delineated the main features, it is unnecessary for us to dwell upon it. Our readers will see, by what we have quoted, that he was a most successful preacher. For a period of more than ten years, his labors seemed to have met with a peculiar divine blessing. He was called to aid in many places in conducting revivals of religion, and many, doubtless, were led to feel, that, under God, to him they owed their acceptance of the terms of salvation. It is a natural inquiry-What then was the grand secret of his success? He was not what would be called a peculiarly powerful preacher: he was clear and impressive, solemn and winning; his views of divine truth were those which we have been long accustomed to call New England theology; nor was he afraid of certain explanations of doctrines which it so much delights some to call by the name of heresy, and with which we stand charged. His views of the objects and aims of a successful minister of Christ, and the character which he should bear, are well drawn out in the article in our pages to which we have alluded. He was a man of great singleness of purpose,-wholly devoted to his work. The constraining love of Christ urged him forward. He lived as one who felt that he was not his own, and his continual aim seems

to have been, to discharge well his stewardship. He sought not to shine in the arena of ecclesiastical debate,-to be a great man on the floor of the synod and General Assembly, as appears to be the ambition of too many at the present day; but all he coveted was, to be the humble instrument in the hands of God in gathering souls to Christ. While he felt the importance of bringing the sinner to realize his own responsibility and to act in view of it, at the same time he had a deep sense of dependence on the gracious Spirit of God. This led him to be constant and earnest in prayer, as well as energetic in action. He possessed an excellent knowledge of the windings of the heart of the impenitent, so that he could adapt the truth of God to meet the latent objection and subterfuge. For this his own self-acquaintance qualified him. He knew how men reasoned, for he was with them from day to day; and while he was bold in the performance of duty, he was actuated by a spirit of uncommon tenderness and love: and when he saw hearts breaking over the view of their vileness, he never withheld his sympathies. He united in a more than common degree the qualifications of a good preacher and pastor. At the bedside of the dying, and mingling his tears with the afflicted, his people ever found him such a friend as they needed. Experience had taught him the benefit of heavenly chastisement; and the same gracious promises and divine consolations which he had found so efficacious in his own case, he well knew how to apply to meet the wants of others. We have seen how from year to year, as he drew on towards the departing hour, his spirit seemed to receive fresh anointing for his gracious Master, and became more obviously prepared to be unclothed of the flesh, and clothed with immortality. He died at a comparatively early age; but he had lived a long life in a few years, and the savor of his name is indeed precious to those who knew and loved him. In his death we have felt, too, that we have lost one who, had he lived, would have enriched our pages with many an article of acknowledged excellence and utility. We owed to his memory this brief tribute of recollection and gratitude, and but for a disappointment from one who was to have given it, we should sooner have paid it. WALTON sleeps in the silent grave. His cheerful visage, his mild and winning virtues, are treasured in the heartfelt memories of many. Let his biography, as it is well calculated to do, help to form the characters of numerous faithful and successful servants of Christ.

ART. II. DISTURBANCES IN Lower Canada.

THE interest and sympathy of the people of the United States have been powerfully attracted, within the last few months, towards the British provinces on the northern frontier. The military movements which have lately occurred in the Canadas, have been hailed as the incipient struggles of a successful revolution; Canadian refugees, of whatever rank or description, have been welcomed as the martyrs of liberty, and as new victims. of British oppression. It is thought, therefore, that a calm and impartial sketch of these disturbances, drawn by a resident in Lower Canada, may be interesting to the public, and may serve to correct some current misapprehensions.*

The Canadas were ceded to England by France in the year 1763. The Province of Lower Canada at that time was very sparsely peopled. The inhabitants were exclusively French, and were scattered along the borders of the St. Lawrence. The whole country, with the exception of a narrow territory skirting the rivers, was a dense and unbroken forest. During the war of the American revolution, unsuccessful attempts were made to induce the Canadians to unite with the insurgent colonies. The people were so ignorant, and so paralyzed by the influence of popery, that they either did not know what political liberty meant, or did not think it worth the expense and hazard of a

war.

In the year 1791, when Pitt was prime minister, there was introduced into the British parliament, under his own inspection and from his own pen, a bill, commonly termed in Canada "the constitutional act." This act separated the Lower Province from the other British possessions, and gave the people a government of which the following are the principal features:

The governor is appointed by the crown, and possesses the executive power. United with him, however, in this trust, is an executive council, also appointed by the crown, intended to consist of permanent residents in the country, and to be the

* It will be perceived by our readers, that this article relates to Lower Canada, and that it was written some time since; consequently, it does not notice the various abortive attempts which have taken place in the Upper Province, and along the frontier of the Lakes Erie and Ontario. The conclusions of the writer do not seem to be affected by anything which has transpired since his views were penned, unless it be, that they are more abundantly confirmed. Perhaps in the present state of affairs, the sketch of events may not be of equal interest as it might have been a month or two since; but we trust that it may be acceptable, as affording information to many of our readers.-ED.

official advisers of the king's representative. The second branch of the legislature consists of the Legislative Council, the members of which are appointed by the crown, and hold office for life. The third branch is termed the House of Assembly, and its members are chosen by the people. The whole was modeled, as the reader will perceive, after the constitution of England, and the powers given respectively to these three branches corresponded to the powers and rights of an analogous portion of the British parliament.

In process of time, collisions and differences took place between the heterogeneous elements of which the provincial parliament was composed. The house of assembly, like the majority of their constituents were French Canadians, and naturally preferred their own language, laws, customs, and officers. The legislative council and governor,-of English extraction,as might be expected, disliked the French, and exerted all their constitutional power to give the English influence the entire predominance in the government. It would be unnecessary and tedious to recapitulate the various disputes which arose between the different branches of the legislature,-the grounds, progress, and termination of those disputes, the various changes of governors, and the history of political parties and contested elections. It will be sufficient to remark, that in the course of time, the French population gradually increased; their acquaintance with the political condition of the powerful American States in their neighborhood became more intimate; and there arose a race of Canadian gentlemen, with strong national feelings, galled by the inferiority of their own people, and insulted by the uniform bestowment of all the highest offices on persons of English extraction.

These few hints are intended to be introductory to the notice of an event, which may be considered as the incipient measure of the present war.

The disputes just alluded to, had become so frequent, and the consequent animosities so bitter, that the House of Assembly, two or three years since, took the following ground :-They accused the legislative council of systematic opposition to the best interests of the country,-of refusing to enact laws, or concur in laws of imperative necessity,-of the oft repeated rejection of important bills, for selfish reasons, and from national prejudice, of obstructing, hopelessly, the progress of education and internal improvement: they maintained, that this body was composed of bankrupts,-pluralists, of men dependent on the crown for their salaries, and therefore incapable of proper VOL. X.

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