WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE.

AUGUST, 1854.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. ROBERT WOOD :

BY THE REV. JOHN C. LEPPINGTON.

(Concluded from page 591.)

AT this Conference (1831) Mr. Wood entered the "Legal Hundred," being one of the youngest Ministers hitherto so honoured. In a letter to his sister-in-law, he makes the following filial reference to his venerable father:-"On Friday last we had a delightful party at my brother's. It consisted of Messrs. Bunting, Newton, Watson, Lessey, James, Hannah, Morley, and others. We had the pleasure of congratulating my revered father on concluding his eightieth, and entering on his eighty-first, year. Yesterday morning, by request of the Conference, he preached to us--a very excellent, affectionate, and faithful sermon, on Acts xxvi. 17, 18. He is very much altered within the last year, and is becoming, in his movements and gait, the old man; but his countenance remains unaltered. He is a fine specimen of cheerful, aged piety; and his sun is going down with great glory." Mr. Wood's letters to his parents (both of whom, as before stated, reached an advanced age) abound with evidences of his filial affection and duty. His correspondence with them was neither bare nor infrequent. The limits of this notice will not admit of any extended citation; but the following, addressed to his father on receiving the intelligence of his mother's death, shall not be withheld. This event occurred in the autumn of 1832, shortly after he was settled in the Leeds West Circuit :

"MY DEARLY BELOVED FATHER,-On my arrival at home late last night, after a week's absence, I found awaiting me the afflictive intelligence of my dear, dear mother's decease. Heavily indeed did the tidings press upon my spirit. To have seen her once again in life, under the consciousness that it was the last time; to have had from her affectionate heart a mother's last blessing; to have received from her lips the last maternal kiss,-I thought, would have lightened my sorrow. Even to have had the opportunity of once gazing upon her interesting though inanimate countenance, and of following her mortal remains to the house appointed for all living,' would, if anything could, have excited the joy of grief.' But, alas! the latter was equally impracticable with the former. Gladly would I have set

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forth at a moment's warning, and travelled night and day till the spot. was reached, could I but have arrived in time. But earlier than to-morrow night it was impossible for me to reach Bristol; and that would be too late. All I can do is to be (as I most assuredly shall) 'present with you in spirit' on the most mournful occasion our family has ever yet witnessed; sorrowing, yet submitting. The event has filled the hearts of all the family here, together with its branches in Wortley, with mourning. May the bereaving visitation be sanctified to each and all!

'My mother is gone! She has, blessed be God, like the weatherbeaten mariner, entered the desired haven in perfect serenity. There her shattered bark is safely moored, and the spirit is landed on that lovely, peaceful, heavenly shore, where billows never beat, nor tempests roar.' And, though judgment admits it would be unkind to wish her back again, it is difficult to repress the desire affection prompts that she may yet return. Methinks I almost realise the presence of her sainted spirit whilst I write, and hear her, while watching the tears which, in spite of all effort to restrain them, will gush forth, with tenderness exclaim :

'Weep not, my Robert, weep not; I am blest,

But must leave heaven, if I return to thee;

For I am where the weary are at rest,

The wicked cease from troubling. Come to me!'

Yes, my loved mother, I will come to thee. Thy children all will come to thee. Thy partner, when the time is come, will come to thee. Our SAVIOUR gives the gracious call, 'Come to Me;' and we will all obey it. And the venerated parents shall have to present us as their joy and crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus, and to say, 'Here are we, and the children that were given us.' Amen,— so be it!"

After soliciting an early account of his mother's "last sayings," he tenderly subscribes himself "if possible, your increasingly affectionate son, Robert Wood."-His attentions to his now bereft parent were more unremitting than before, and he embraced every opportunity of personal or epistolary intercourse.

The period of Mr. Wood's residence in Leeds was marked by great and general religious prosperity; and two or three new chapels of large dimensions were erected. One of these was Oxford-place, in his own Circuit, of which he laid the foundation-stone. "A very blessed influence," he writes, "rests on all this country-side. Nearly every place in the Bramley Circuit, and many in the adjoining Circuits, have been visited therewith. The best of all is, God is with us.' Sinners are saved, souls are sanctified. The work is delightfully deepening, though not at present extensively spreading. But we are waiting, watching, praying, labouring for a blessed revival and ingathering to our church. We want, however, more room..........If a continuance of the prosperity of the last four or five years be vouch

safed to the Leeds Methodists for as many years to come, I think I see the way to a division of the two Circuits into four, and the increase of the number of Travelling Preachers to twelve. Amen!"

From Leeds Mr. Wood removed to Manchester. Whilst here he received a visit from the venerable James Montgomery.* Between the poet and Mr. Wood a friendship had been formed when the latter was resident in Sheffield; and from that time Mr. Montgomery had frequently responded to calls made upon him at the suggestion of Mr. Wood, from the different Circuits in which he travelled, to preside at Missionary Meetings. On these occasions Mr. Wood's house was the poet's home; and his visits were highly prized. Their common love of sacred song led, as may be supposed, to frequent and interesting discussions.

During Mr. Wood's residence in Huddersfield, Methodism entered the one hundredth year of its corporate existence; and he gladly availed himself of the opportunity of attending the initiatory meetings in Manchester connected with its Centenary celebration. He was highly gratified by the devout and grateful spirit which pervaded those meetings, as also with the munificent gifts presented in memorial of the Divine goodness; and became himself a very liberal contributor. He subsequently took great interest in the local meetings in his Circuit. His correspondence with his aged father meanwhile shows the continuance of his spirituality of mind, his love of his work, and his filial affection and reverence. Before he left Huddersfield, this correspondence was terminated by the death of his venerable relative; but it shows that to the last he was a most affectionate and dutiful son.

The labours and fatigues of a four years' residence in London, increased by the care and labour attending the division of the First Circuit, and many Connexional demands, so seriously affected Mr. Wood's health, that at the Conference of 1845 he removed to Scarborough, in the hope of recruiting his strength by sea-air and country duties. Here his health in the course of six months considerably improved; but his eagerness to return to full employment brought on occasional relapses. At the Conference of 1847, with the aid of an assistant Minister, he took another-and his last-Circuit. It was Manchester; with a residence at Cheetham-Hill. One year's further experience convinced him that his period of active and full service had terminated. At the Conference of 1848 he retired; but not without a lingering hope of being able to resume, after a tolerable rest. How reluctantly he did this, and what he thought of the "pleasantness" of having "nothing to do," or even of choosing his own occupations, may be gathered from the following, written to his son from Hull at this time :—

"This town, the place of my former and longest residence in any

* Since the above was written, this sweet Christian poet has entered the heavenly home. He went into the presence of his Master on the same day as our own beloved Robert Newton.

one place, does indeed call up many old associations. Almost every street, the sight of which reminds me of my former faults and follies, reminds me also, that once I was young,' while present circumstances and feelings convince me that I am now grown old.' Shame and confusion of face may well cover me, when I think to how little purpose all these years have been spent. And yet I may be thankful that, by the grace of God, I am what I am.' With a learned divine of the sixteenth century I can say, 'Life to me will be truly vital and pleasant so long as any hope exists of my labours contributing, though in a remote degree, to the glory of the Divine Majesty.' An inactive and useless life never was agreeable to me, and I seriously deprecate the arrival of that period when such a mode of wasting my fleeting moments may either be imposed on me through necessity, or steal upon me, as the result of my own debased wishes. O, my son, be admonished by your father's failings! Damage not the fecundity of your moral summer, nor the perfection of its autumnal fruits, by unemployed or misemployed energies in the spring, Work while it is day."

Writing to his daughters towards the close of the same Conference, he says: "The pleasure [of meeting], however, is considerably damped by the affecting and afflictive circumstances under which we shall meet. I cannot but consider my life of active labour and service in the church as ended. Providence has been, and still is, whispering in my ear, by my protracted and, I fear, incurable ailments, 'Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.' May I be obedient to the Divine admonition, and so be found ready when the Lord cometh!"

Being entirely free from Circuit claims, he spent the greater part of the year in visits amongst his children and friends, hoping by change of air, scene, and society, to improve his strength and spirits. He went to Huddersfield to place himself under the medical care of the late Dr. Taylor; and some weeks were pleasantly passed in the society of valued friends in that town and its neighbourhood, -Lockwood, Wentbridge-House, and Willow-Hall. Of the affectionate and respectful attention shown to him by these friends he speaks in his letters with the most amiable and Christian gratitude. "The exuberant kindness of our friends in this neighbourhood (Huddersfield) almost overwhelms me, feeling myself so unworthy of it. May all their kindnesses meet with a gracious recompense from Him whose we are, and whom we serve ;' for whose sake alone it has been shown; and who will not allow any act of sympathising love to any of His disciples, even the weakest and unworthiest of them, to pass unrewarded."

From the Conference of 1849, he thus writes: "I purpose giving up the office I now hold, though not without regret; having been connected with our chapel affairs, officially, for twenty-five years: three years, as Secretary of the Chapel Building Committee; fourteen, as Secretary of the General Chapel Fund; and the last eight, as its