journey and time; but I feel a persuasion that my own soul, and those of others are to profit by it. Join your prayers to mine, that it may be so.

"Since writing the above, I have given three services, under circumstances most interesting and novel, to these poor islanders of Icolumbkill. The last by a Gaelic interpreter, who translated every sentence after I had delivered it in English. I passed near two hours alone, amid the ruins and graves of the cathedral. It was a most solemn and peaceful meditation: and here, you may tell Willy, I knelt down upon the graves of ancient monarchs, mouldering in the dust, and prayed God to ' remember him for good ;' to make him a holy and happy being, both in time and eternity. I asked of the Lord, that my child might share in the Christian privileges, character, and literature of the once renowned Christian divines of Iona, the missionaries and theologians of a primitive period, on whose ashes I was treading; I prayed that if (and only if ) his heart were rightly directed, God would make him a minister of Christ's church on earth; but that he might never enter on the sacred office, if likely to be a careless, carnal, unconverted servant of the sanctuary. My heart was full of holy freedom, as I offered up a father's petition on the birth-day of my child."

The last we shall give is a letter to his son, and which, as the editor observes, from the serious remarks contained in it, is worthy the attention of every aspirant to the ministerial office.

"My dear boy,

"It is high time that you and I should communicate frequently, intimately, and confidentially. If this is not to be expected by the time you have arrived at fifteen, when is it to be looked for? On one account, I have more solicitude, and even dread, on your hehalf, than for any of my children. Earnestly as I should wish a son of mine to be a minister, yet I tremble at the idea of educating and devoting a son to the sacred profession, without a previous satisfactory evidence that his own soul was right with God. Without this, you and I should be guilty of a most awful sin in his sight. To any, and every other good profession, trade, or occupation, it may be lawful and expedient to fix with some degree of determination, long before entering upon it; but the ministry is an exception. Even St. Paul himself trembles at his responsibility, and exclaims, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.' I consider personal religion, accompanied and evidenced by personal conduct, to be indispensible in the individual, before either he, or another for him, fixes on the ministry for his profession. And I will not hesitate to say to you, that, honoured and happy as I should feel, in being permitted to see you a faithful preacher of righteousness, adorning the Gospel which you would proclaim to others;-yet without this, I would rather a thousand times see you a mason, or in the humblest capacity in life. I know what the office is; and a penitent sense of my own deficiencies teaches me to be fearful, and to tremble for those of others: how much more so in the case of my own child?

6

"The national church groans and bleeds, 'from the crown of its head to the sole of its feet,' through the daily iutrusion of unworthy men into its ministry. Patrons, parents, tutors, colleges, are annually pouring a torrent of incompetent. youths into the church, and loading the nation with spiritual guilt. Hence, souls are neglected and ruined-bigotry and ignorance prevail-church pride triumphs over church godliness-and the Establishment is despised, deserted, and wounded. Shall you and I deepen these wounds?-shall we add one more unit to the numbers of the unworthy and traitorous watchmen on the towers of our British Jeru

salem? God forbid? But to avoid so sad a departure from every principle of sacred order and conscience, you must become a humble, seriously-minded, consistent young disciple of Christ: a diligent student, an obedient son, a loving brother, a grateful worshipper, a simple-hearted Christian. And I must feel comfortably satisfied that you are so; or with what conscience, with what hope, with what satisfaction, with what peace of mind, can I consent to devote you to the most sacred, the most important, the most responsible of all offices within the compass of human existence ?

"Now, I will not, and ought not to conceal from you, that, however accustomed we may all have been to talk of you as a future clergyman, I dare not decide upon any such plan without a much more clear evidence than I have yet seen, that your actual state of feelings and conduct, temper and conversation, habitual and permanent thoughts, are such as will justify me in coming to so solemn a determination on my own part.

"I say this with anxiety, and write it with fear, as my pen proceeds; but I say it with earnest prayers for the real conversion of your soul to God, and with some hope that He will hear the petitions which I have offered up for you through many a long year. I still repeat it, that I never can consent to put my seal to the question of the ministry, unless, and until I have some satisfactory proof of your heart being turned to God, in holy consistency and permanence of character.

"Let these pages be a testimony before God-and keep them as a sign between you and me---that I am in earnest, as to a subject where indifference would be sin. "I have long been rtudying your character in the hourly events of each day, in immediate reference to this point. 6 Remember, they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts' crucify yours. Pursue your studies with diligence: you may do great things for yourself, even without help— although I grant, much better with it. But work while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.'

"Believe me your affectionate father,

L. R."

Did the limits which necessarily confine a Review of this kind permit, we would gladly have given to our readers the very interesting account of the last moments of Mr. Richmond. As it is however, impossible, we can only say, that his departure was such as his previous life of consistent walking with a reconciled God might reasonably warrant. Indeed, perhaps, too much stress is laid by some upon the closing scene of existence as evidencing the true state of the soul: and that speech of the Rev. John Newton, has always seemed to us sound and rational: when speaking on the point he said, "Tell me not how the man lived, but how he died." Mr. Richmond's life was the life of faith in the Son of God, and this implies' every thing. But to those who love to hear the manner in which believers die, suffice it to say, "the end of that man was peace."

In concluding we have but a few remarks to make. Of Mr. Richmond, we could add nothing in the way of eulogy, his praise is in all the churches." But in saying this, we would say, that his excellence was that of a good man, rather than a great one. Indeed, we should not have felt ourselves called on to record such a sentiment as this, had it not been, that Mr. Richmond's biographer seemed to insist upon Mr. R's intellec

tual superiority in a manner by no means warranted, as far as we can see, by facts. With the first clause of the quotation, which Mr. Grimshawe has perfixed to his memoir, we can cordially agree not so, however, with the latter; against the "magnum libenter" we enter our decided protest. Had we any doubts on this, Mr. Grimshawe's own book would have decided us: for while he brings before us many and affecting evidences of the sincere piety and holy conversation of the excellent person in question, there is nothing from beginning to end, we hesitate not to say, which would induce us to rank the name of Legh Richmond among those who shine in intellectual splendor. Among the Halls, the Leightons, the Baxters, the Owens he never could be classed. But not to lay too much stress upon those venerable names, with which modern strength should hardly be required to compete, we are free to say, there is more of the materiel of thought in one page of Cecil, or of Newton, than in all which Mr. Richmond ever penned. His imagination was lively, and his vein of prose composition smooth and flowing, his taste cultivated, and his piety ardent. These fitted him to compose with much of what is pleasing the tracts which he has left behind him, but beyond that style of writing he could not have attained. We, therefore, think it injudicious in his biographer, to ascribe to him qualities which he never possessed; as this laying claim for what was his in no degree, has a tendency to make the mind of many question his claim to what was undoubtedly his due.

We would observe also, that the book is much too big. A seven shilling volume would have contained all that was really called for, and been available to many who cannot afford to give twice that sum. Indeed, the omission of a great deal of what has been brought forward would, we think, have been desirable. Why should there be introduced extracts from Mr. R's tracts, extracts from his Fathers of the Church;' Mr. Grimshawe's Account of the Origin of the Religious Societies;' His History of his own Change of Religious Sentiments;' A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification by Faith as the Genuine Doctrine of the Church of England, &c. &c. things really uncalled for? Above all why such copious extracts from Mr. R's diary? A few would have shewn the piety of the man, and as to any thing else they shew, we confess ourselves unable to see it. In fact the disjointed meagreness of a great portion of them, appears as if they were exhibited rather to do harm than service to the writer's memory. Of this, we need not say, we acquit Mr. Grimshawe; but like many, his friendship has been more ardent than discriminating. While, however, we thus differ from him toto cælo as to Mr. R's head, we are one with him in the admiration of his heart. Though he was no philosopher he was a far better thing, a sincere Christian. And this we are sure of, that no thinking person can rise from the perusal of this memoir, without a secret longing, that the final state of him who who was the subject of it, might be his also. The fair transcript of so much righteousness and true holiness, might charm the soul even of infidelity into the temporary acknowledgement-how blest are they who serve the Lord; and draw forth the wish" Let my last end be like his."

DOMESTIC RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

REFORMATION SOCIETY. Extract of a letter from J. E. Gordon, Esq. to the Secretary of the Dublin Metropolitan, Auxiliary to the British Reformation, Society.

"Our first Meeting in Limerick was held on the forenoon of Friday, the 7th inst. By unforeseen delay at the printing office, the placards were not ready for exhibition until the day previous to the meeting; and during the whole of the morning fixed for holding it, the rain descended in torrents. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the meeting was what is considered an average attendance in Limerick. The speakers were the Rev. Messrs. Couzins, Gibbings, Locke, George Hamilton, Dr. Townley, and myself—and the meeting adjourned at four o'clock until seven in the same evening.

"On this occasion the number in attendance was nearlydouble that of the forenoon, and the greater part were Romanists. Nothing could exceed the order and attention throughout, and a further adjournment took place until the following Tuesday, at seven o'clock in the evening. On this occasion, upwards of 2000 persons were crowded into the smallest of the two Methodist Chapelseven the pulpit itself was filled by Roman Catholic and Protestant gentlemen; and the most gratifying feature in the meeting was, the decided preponderance of that communion which we were most anxious to address. There were present also a number of priests, and a still greater number of friars and monks, connected with the local establishments. I had been privately informed, upon good authority, previous to the meeting, that six priests would attend to give opposition, should the platform appear vulnerable; but there were many more than that number in attendance, and among them the best controversialists in the neighbourhood, including Father Coll and Mr. Fitzgerald, the priest of Askeaton. After two hours had been occupied by the first speaker, the Rev. George Hamilton rose to adjourn the meeting, under the impression of what had been stated, but cries of "go on, go on, it is not ten," (the hour fixed for adjournment by the regulations) resounded from all parts of the chapel, and Mr. Hamilton then spoke for three quarters of an hour upon the Reformation-the proceedings then closed-and thus terminated by far the most numerous, interesting, and imVOL. VII.

portant meeting ever held in the county of Limerick. I have neither time nor space to detail the interesting circumstances and anecdotes connected with these proceedings; but the deep and devouring attention shown while they lasted, could only be equalled by the strong impression produced in the town-and Mr. Murray and others tell me it is travelling through the country.

From Limerick, proceeded to Ennis, under the comforting assurance, that I should certainly be murdered. This information I derived from a wortby Baptist minister, of the name of Thomas, who is stationed in that district; and the apprehension was natural enough to one who had been deliberately horsewhipped by a priest in the public street, only a few days before. Finding his advice was not likely to prevail, the last thing the good man insisted upon, was, the abandonment of the mad intention of holding a night meeting, while the military were at the distance of two miles from the place. On reaching Ennis, I found only three individuals disposed to join in the desperate enterprise; and with these we immediately formed a Society for the county of Clare, and sent forth the placards. In addition to the form used in Limerick, stating that any Roman Catholic clergyman or layman of respectability would be heard in defence of the doctrines impugned, we sent ten personal notices to the priests of the town and neighbourhood. The first meeting was held in the Court-house at twelve o'clock; and as not more than two or three Protestant families of respectability ventured out, it was crowded by an almost exclusively Roman Catholic attendance. Mr. Murray had joined me by this time; and as we had no assistance, we relieved each other in the unchurching operation which was kept up through the meeting. Nothing could exceed the attention of the crowd throughout; and when a young demagogue of indifferent character came forward to offer opposition-they suffered us to extinguish him a-la Spence. The meeting was then adjourned until seven in the evening; and as Mr. Mahon's large school-room was considered more convenient and capacious than the Courthouse, it was fixed upon as the most eligible situation. This part of the proceedings appeared to have some slight effect upon the nerves, even of those who were willing to hazard the morning ex3 P