untrue in religion, to suppose that, in many cases, these things may leave an impress on the features of departed saints, until decomposition begins its work. I cannot, however, fully explain my views in a hasty note.

With kind love to dear Mrs. Baggaly and yourself, in which my dear relative unites cordially, I am, my dear brother, yours very faithfully, JOHN BENSLEY.

On Mr. Bensley's capabilities as a preacher I need not enlarge. A well-disciplined mind, chastened and purified by the Spirit, enabled him to feed the flock of Christ, over which the Holy Ghost had made him an overseer. Those who had the privilege of sitting under his ministry will remember, with pleasure, his lucid and forcible expositions of truth. He always prepared for the pulpit, and his clear and intelligent ministrations made known to his hearers the whole counsel of God.

It is but just to the memory of our departed friend to say, that as a minister he stood high in the estimation of his brethren. The Conference had great confidence in his mental powers. The circuits in which he laboured were respectable, and for several years he had the honour of sustaining the important office of secretary to the theological committee. In that capacity he not only did credit to himself, but rendered great service to a number of junior ministers, who will long cherish his memory with gratitude and affection.

The pages of this magazine have often been enriched by Mr. Bensley's communications. Last year a number of his posthumous papers appeared on " Colloquial Communion." They are beautiful specimens of correct thinking, richly pervaded by pious feeling. His powers of criticism were above mediocrity, and his review of the "Jubilee Volume" will long do honour to his name. He was a correct as well as an easy speaker. In the pulpit he was not always sufficiently distinct. Occasionally, there was an unconscious lowering of the voice, or, as some have said, too rapid an utterance of several words, which now and then embarrassed his hearers; but on the platform he was very effective. There he was generally free and easy, and often spoke with great power.

We have referred with confidence and with freedom to the piety and talents of our departed brother. He was justly entitled to esteem, not only as a Christian friend, but as a good minister of Jesus Christ." Perhaps he enjoyed quite an average share of happiness; yet he was no stranger to severe trials. Indeed, there were times when his sufferings well nigh overwhelmed his spirit. "The waters of a full cup were wrung out to him." The severe and protracted affliction of his first wife operated painfully on his feeling heart. But, perhaps, his greatest trial arose from confirmed deafness. A settled chronic affection seriously impaired his hearing many years ago, and which no human skill could remove. This affliction deprived him to a great, extent, of the advantages of social intercourse, and materially interfered with his pastoral and ministerial duties. Indeed, this was the chief, if not the only cause of his difficulties for several years.

But amid all these afflictions, numerous sources of comfort and encouragement opened before him, which never failed to awaken emotions of unfeigned gratitude. Amongst these, he could never overlook that gracious hand of Providence, which provided another "helpmeet for him" in the person of Miss Margaret De Jersey. Her kind

and affectionate spirit, accompanied by the unceasing attention or her estimable sister, greatly endeared them to his heart. They studied to make him happy, and he duly appreciated their kindness to the very close of life.

At the Conference, 1853, Mr. Bensley was declared "a supernumerary." But though not appointed to a circuit, he resolved to be uesful as far as possible. This led him to enter into a private arrangement to supply Sheffield South Circuit. That opening was deemed quite opportune. He embraced it with cheerfulness, and they received him with all that cordiality and affection which have long distinguished them in reference to the preachers. Our brother's mind was somewhat soothed and comforted by this engagement. The labour was comparatively easy; he entered upon it with becoming zeal, and there the remainder of his days were spent in the prosecution of duties which had long been the joy and delight of his soul.

On the 12th of October, Mr. Bensley complained of a slight cold. After that, however, he appeared better, and preached as usual on the following Sabbath. On the 19th he preached again. Returning from this service he was seized with a cold shivering, but no serious apprehensions were entertained. On reaching home he retired to rest, fully expecting to be better the next day. In the morning those symptoms disappeared. They were found, however, to have left him quite feverish, and without delay, medical assistance was called in. Typhus fever supervened, and that in a form which no human power could control. On Wednesday the 26th he became quite delirious, and continued so until the 30th. After that he was mercifully restored to a state of consciousness, and became perfectly calm and composed.

But the restoration of the mind brought no physical improvement. His physician apprehended the worst, and could give no hope of recovery. This intimation fell with crushing effect on the ear of his affectionate partner and endeared friends, but it produced no painful emotion in our brother's mind. The great question of his salvation had long been settled. He was the Lord's, and having "kept the faith," nothing remained for him but to die in peace and enter into rest. But whilst his own heart was peaceful and serene as a summer's eve, he was fully alive to the painful situation of his affectionate but sorrowing partner. She was about to be left a widow. Separation was inevitable. He saw it, and felt for her. Nay more, he endeavoured to cheer her fainting spirit by assurances of a happy reunion in the paradise of God. "Thy brother shall rise again," said our Lord to Martha when she wept over Lazarus ;-" thy brother shall rise again." "I know that he shall rise again at the resurrection of the last day." There was comfort in that thought. He was dead, but not lost. The same thought has cheered and sustained many a sorrowing heart in the hour of bereavement. The body dies, but the spirit is immortal. Death conducts the Christian home,-conveys him to his Father's house above, to "the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven." There we shall meet departed friends again,

"High in salvation and the realms of bliss."

Animated by such prospects, the departing saint and his weeping partner blended their voices in singing:

"Him eye to eye we there shall see,
Our face like his shall shine;
O what a glorious company,
When saints and angels join."

That verse appeared to give new energy to his failing powers. He sung heartily, and was evidently enraptured with the hope of their ere long meeting, and mingling their hallelujahs in harmonious

strains before the throne above.

It must be admitted that there was something mysterious in Mr. Bensley's affliction and sudden removal from such a promising sphere of usefulness. But it was 66 the Lord's doing," and must be right; though to his sorrowing friends it is painful and inexplicable. Under such circumstances we must be still and know that he is God. Our dear brother fully confided in unerring wisdom, and was quite prepared to leave the issue in his hands. He knew it would be right, and turning to his afflicted and dearly beloved partner he said, in a manner that can never be forgotten; "What you know not now, you shall know hereafter."

When the world was thus receding, and the tide of life rapidly ebbing out, he thought of his mercies, and was deeply affected. He felt that he was under special obligations to both Providence and grace. Such reflections led him to exclaim, "O I wish to praise the Lord for his goodness." Yes, he wished to "magnify the Lord;" and he endeavoured to praise him with "joyful lips," but nature failed, and he was obliged to pause. Then, referring to his pain— probably occasioned by these exercises-he said, "Let patience have its perfect work." These were some of the last words he was heard to utter. "Patience" had "its perfect work." At half-past twelve o'clock, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1853, the weary wheels of life stood still, and his disembodied spirit entered through the gates into the celestial city. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." On the following Friday, his mortal remains were interred in the Sheffield cemetery-a hallowed spot, where many precious saints repose- some of whom are peculiarly dear to the writer of this memoir. The ashes of a Newbury and a Burrows-and he believes the venerable Scott also-all of whom did honour to our ministry, already mingle within that sacred inclosure, and now our brother is gathered to them. "Lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not divided."

"They sleep in Jesus, and are bless'd,

How kind their slumbers are."

But though they rest together in the grave they will rise again. For "them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Our dear brother has ascended to the skies. In imagination you saw him go. The spirit emerged from its prison-house of clay, and was conducted by angels to the paradise of God. What a glorious scene, especially when the gates of the celestial city opened, and he was triumphantly ushered into the new Jerusalem. His work was done. The end of faith, and hope, and effort was fully realized; and in the presence of innumerable angels, and a host of glorified saints, his Divine Master received him with ineffable delight, saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." From these words a funeral sermon was preached in Bethesda Chapel, Liverpool, on the 11th of December, 1853, by the individual who has endeavoured to raise this humble tribute of respect and affection to his memory. The above statements, except the letters, were embodied in the discourse, to which a very large and respectable congregation listened with the most respectful and profound attention.

WHY BE SAD?

STRAY beams of heaven's lustre often fall on the dying believer before his soul leaves its tenement. "This is heaven begun," said Rev. Thomas Scott; "I have done with darkness, forever-forever. Satan is vanquished. Nothing now remains but salvation, with eternal glory-eternal glory." Come to the verandah of a Brahminic temple. In the last spasms of Asiatic cholera Gordon Hall cries, "Glory! glory! glory!" and he

"Passed through glory's morning gate,

And walked in Paradise."

"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth!" Blessed are the dead-not survivors, not the most favoured of those who remain here, still sinning and repenting, and so imperfectly serving God-but blessed are the dead in Christ who have ceased from sin, are made perfect in holiness, and have passed into Paradise.

Transplanted trees flourish best. Shall we grudge those plants of righteousness their better soil and purer air? Shall we grudge an escape from the hovel into the palace of the great King? Children," said the mother of John Wesley, the last thing she uttered, "Children, as soon as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God." Music sounds best after sunset. is no time to mourn here, while angels clap their wings, and the whole family cry, Welcome home! Who would keep his tears for coronation day? Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!

"Thus star by star declines,

Till all are passed away;

As morning high and higher shines

To pure and perfect day.

Nor sink those stars in empty night,

But hide themselves in heaven's own light."

It

Shall not this abate the dread of dying? That dread is instinctive; it is deep. By most, death is regarded as ultimum terribilium—the extremest of things terrible; but is it not gain, great, unspeakable gain, to the child of God to die? And shall we hesitate to encounter the little inconvenience of stepping ashore from this shattered vessel? Why so in love with perils? Whence this fondness for buffetings, sickness, and protracted wreck? Whence this aversion to enter the haven of everlasting bliss." Better Land,” by Rev. A. C. Thompson.

67

ESSAYS, &c., ON THEOLOGY AND GENERAL LITERATURE.

ABEL'S SACRIFICE AND CAIN'S OFFERING.

A DISCOURSE BY THE REV. W. SHUTTLEWORTH, DELIVERED IN DUBLIN, SEPTEMBER 11, 1853.

"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door."-Genesis iv. 3-7.

It is pleasing to reflect that, notwithstanding the heinous transgression of the first man, the Almighty did not execute upon him all the fierceness of his anger, and consign him over to blackness and darkness for ever. No, he was mercifully spared; and thus an opportunity was afforded him to repent of his sins, to be reinstated into the divine favour, restored to the image of God, and secure present peace and everlasting felicity!

We see the same long-suffering exercised towards his descendants, who, though conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, and running out into the practice of every evil word and work, were the objects of divine pity, blessed with temporal mercies, such as the fruits of the ground, the lambs of the flock, in rich profusion, and, above all, favoured with liberty of access to God, to worship him in spirit and in truth,

Brethren, can we behold all this without recollecting the divine forbearance towards ourselves, as strikingly manifested in a thousand ways? We have sinned and come short of God's glory, and yet we are spared-may obtain from God the grace of repentance-may be restored to the favour of God, forfeited by our sins, and regain the divine image, consisting of righteousness and true holiness and we are invariably told in the Holy Scriptures, as we are told in our text, that if we "do well" we shall be "accepted" of God, and that if we "do not well," sin will lie at our door.

Without further introduction, I remark that the words before us suggest the following observations, to which I now proceed to call your serious attention.

I. I OBSERVE THAT TO WORSHIP GOD IS BOTH THE DUTY AND THE PRIVILEGE OF MAN.

Both Cain and Abel brought their respective offerings before the Lord, in compliance with a divinely appointed institution. This they did, says the text, "in process of time," or, as it reads in the margin, "at the end of the days," i.e. the days of the week, the holy sabbath, sanctified and set apart to the worship of God from the beginning of time; and the whole history shows that they regarded the arrangement, not only in the light of a duty, but also as a high and signal privilege.

To worship God is a duty founded on the most reasonable and general principles. It is an expression of what? Of reverence to God, the greatest of all beings; of love to God, the best of