labours, to unfold his deep experience, to characterise his peculiarly rich ministrations, or to describe his end. But I could not permit this day to pass over-the first Sabbath after the earth has received his honoured remains, without placing my humble offering on his tomb, and reminding you that a prince and a great man is fallen in Israel.

Rarely is the steward of the mysteries of God so richly furnished for his arduous work as he; whether he aimed to fulfil the work of the Evangelist, to give milk to babes, or to edify the Church with the deep things of God, drawn from the treasury of his large and experienced heart; whether he poured the healing consolations of the Gospel into the troubled breast, or girt himself with the terrors of the Lord' to grapple with the consciences of the ungodly,-seldom are such varied and opposite gifts concentrated in the same character as those which were combined in effective vigour, yet mellowed by genuine humility, in this distinguished minister of God.

"And now his course is ended, and he is gathered to his fathers. If it were left to my own selection, in whose steps as a pastor I would choose to tread, and whose model I would fain cherish, I know none among modern names whose mantle I would rather inherit than of this eminent servant of his Lord. His separation from the Church of England was a step which, as a sincere and conscientious Churchman, I cannot but unfeignedly regret. But though thus separated from us, his loving spirit was too widely comprehensive to be restricted within sectarian limits, and his zeal for the Saviour's glory was too intensely pure to be content

with any triumphs which fell short of winning sinners back to God.

He is now gone to receive the welcome of many spirits made perfect, who from all parts of the world, by the pulpit or the press, had been brought to Christ through his unwearied labours, and are now his crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord. He rests from his labours, and his works do follow him."

To one and all who have given much valuable aid in the preparation of this work, both by their communications and advice, the sincerest thanks of the Editor are justly due.

May the Hearer of Prayer vouchsafe that His Spirit may rest upon this Volume, and all who read it!

LONDON, Dec. 27, 1851.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. J. H. EVANS.

THE subject of the following memoir was born at Salisbury, on 15th of April, 1785. He was the only child of the Rev. Dr. Evans, Priest-Vicar of the Cathedral in the city, and who was at that time master of the endowed Grammar School, in the Close. Concerning his early childhood there remains scarcely sufficient material for his biographer to be able to record very much more, than that he received the rudiments of his education under the tuition of his father, and that a remarkable precocity distinguished him from almost the commencement of his life. At three years of age, he exhibited so much forwardness of mind, that he was placed in his father's school with boys far older than himself; and pushed on rapidly, till in a few years he attained the honour of being head boy. Placed thus above many, far his superiors in age, he occupied a post gratifying alike to his own youthful ambition, and the fond vanity of his father, who loved tenderly his child of so much promise, and promoted his welfare in every possible way. From his birth he was destined for the Church; inasmuch as the eldest sons of his family for many generations had in succession entered Holy Orders, and no other profession was ever thought of for him.

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The distinguishing features of his boyhood were thoughtfulness above his years, and a constitutional shyness, which loved retirement rather than society; and yet, though if left to himself, he would not have sought the gay circle or the public amusements of the world, when led into festivity he enjoyed it thoroughly. At this period of his life his father was a stranger to the power of vital godliness. Unacquainted himself with that love which putteth away the love of the world, he was not careful to train up his son in the paths of Gospel obedience. A strict clergyman of the old school, the daily lessons were read by him morning and evening, the appointed Psalms were accomplished in their monthly order, and the sermon of orthodox morality, but questionable divinity, was added on the Sunday evening. But he was immersed in the world. Cards, dancing, routs, the theatre, were much in fashion in all country towns. He entered keenly into this circle of amusements, and wished that his son, equally with himself, should participate in these pleasures. Thus passed the earliest years father's boyhood.

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At eleven years of age he had advanced so far in his studies as to make a change desirable. His father's school consisted for the most part of boys below him in attainment and ability, and his remaining longer at Salisbury was deemed unadvisable. Accordingly, he was placed under the care of the Rev. Isaac Hodgson, his uncle, with whom he remained until he went to Oxford. In referring to the time that he spent under his uncle's roof he used frequently to speak of this portion of his school-life as a very happy one. He was warmly attached to his aunt, Mr. Hodgson's wife, who having no children of her own loved him as a son. Nor

was the change of Instructor without its advantage; for though he never mentioned his father except in terms of the fondest affection, yet it may be doubted whether his early days at Salisbury were any of the happiest. Very frequently it occurs that the duties of the schoolmaster will clash with those of the parent, and the impression left on the mind of the child bears more vividly the stamp of the tutor than of the father. Whether this applied to his case it is not now easy to determine, but certainly he always spoke of the days while placed under the guardianship of his uncle, as that period of his early life to which he could look back with the truest pleasure.

His uncle was a clever man, a good scholar, and endowed with talents the most likely to attract the admiration, and tone the mind of a sensible boy. He possessed, moreover, a happy art of conveying knowledge, and brought on his pupil with great success. From a child, never so happy as when he was book in hand, there was no need of spur or of remonstrance to urge him to the accomplishment of the appointed task. When the set time came the lesson was invariably ready, and the work allotted, completed. Knowing well his love of reading, it was one of Mr. Hodgson's plans, not to fasten him down to a desk, or to confine him to the walls of a school-room; he allowed him to prepare his lessons where he pleased, and the consequence was, his favourite place for preparation was a seat in a laurel tree. A discipline lax as this would scarcely have suited one of less ardour or less determination; that it was successful in his case, furnishes us with a little insight into his character as a boy, for in after-life he always asserted that these were amongst the most profitable, as