tages over public schools, which many suppose. The fact is, that human depravity is perpetually operating;—no care or caution can exclude its influence; it can only be effectually counteracted by that scriptural instruction, and that holy example, which Mr. B. received from his pious and affectionate relatives, and which enabled him while young, not to depart from the good way in which he had been trained. The same sound principles preserved him from temptation on his arrival at Oxford, where he commenced his residence at Oriel, in 1798. There were among his fellow students at that period, some who had fallen into habits of intemperance, and who would gladly have induced Mr. B. to join their society; this however he cautiously avoided; and through the divine mercy was enabled to maintain such propriety of conduct, and cultivate such diligence in study, as to obtain high commendations from his superiors, and receive the thanks of the examiners for the manner in which he acquitted himself, when about to take his degree of bachelor of Arts, in 1801. He was one of the six undergraduates, who first encountered an examination under the new statute.

Referring to this part of his career, his biographer, the Rev. T. A. METHUEN, justly observes,

Let parents, then, strenuously inculcate on the minds of their offspring, when resident at either of the Universities, the immense advantages of diligence. It not only brings into operation and distinction confessedly superior talents, but it also strengthens those of an inferior kind; so that the latter occasionally prove far more useful than the former. But, when idleness is the law of youth, and the golden privileges of an university education are thrown away, a foundation is laid for that regret, which is equally great and unavailing. What, then, must be the disgrace,

and the self-condemnation of the parent, who leaves his children, unadmonished and unreproved, to the consequences of such a habit ?

'As Mr. Beachcroft was uniformly and on principle opposed to idleness, so was he distinguished alike by his manners and his morals. The former could not fail favorably to impress those who value urbanity and kindness. These however, were his exterior, and therefore his subordinate characteristics. At that period his morals were his highest praise. Daring to stand aloof from those whose society might have proved his ruin, whose habits were wholly incompatible with a due improvement of time, and therefore hostile to all his academical pursuits, he avoided many dangers which are truly formidable to youth. Pride, however, in no way governed his determination. None of his cotemporaries would deny the unassuming character of his deportment. It was, therefore, a strict regard to the advantages of moral conduct, as well as of intellectual improvement, that led him to enter his study while others were carousing at the table. To his temperance was naturally allied that sedateness of conversation, which gently, but significantly, rebuked those who were accustomed to speak with an unbridled tongue.'

On leaving Oxford in Jan. 1802, Mr. B. applied himself diligently to theological studies, with a view of entering into the church; in the following summer, he married Miss Devon, the eldest daughter of a highly respectable solicitor; and in November of that year

was

ordained deacon by the venerable Bishop Porteus, and appointed to the curacy of Tottenham, near London. Here he engaged with the utmost diligence and industry in the preparation of sermons, and the pastoral duties of that exten. sive parish. His views of divine truth were at this period by no

means explicit, but his zeal, his industry and fidelity, were yet blessed to impress on the minds of many, a deep sense of the value and importance of true religion.

After labouring at Tottenham somewhat more than two years, Mr. B. was presented by his early and much esteemed friend, Lord Grantham, to the rectory of Blunham, in the county of Bedford, where he commenced his residence in the summer of 1807. Here his pastoral anxiety and his Christian love were strikingly evinced, his views of Christian doctrine gradually enlarged; and he proceeded with continually increasing assiduity, to preach Christ Jesus and him crucified. The effect of this diligence and fidelity was soon manifested by the rapid increase of his congregation, and by the attention and devotion which they evinced in every part of the service. Mr. B. indeed, both by precept and example, invariably evinced his reverence for the house of God. His services were marked by strict punctuality, and fervent devotion. He read with great seriousness and propriety; preached with simplicity and earnestness, and joined heartily in singing the praises of Almighty God. Some twenty years after his appointment to Blunham, Mr. B. addressed a paper on Village Psalmody to the Christian Observer, in which he remarks:

It has been frequently, and I think justly observed, that the state of a congregation may be known by its singing: for when persons are really thankful for the blessings which they enjoy under a truly scriptural ministry, they will find pleasure in uniting most heartily with him who is appointed to watch over their souls, in ascribing praise and glory and thanksgiving to God. The various members in that little ecclesiastical body, the village church, will all be employed according to their

ability. "The eye will not say to the head, I have no need of thee; nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you." Our parochial ministers perhaps often increase their own difficulties by imagining them to be much greater than they really are. The point may be carried, and the Psalmody improved, and rendered sufficiently good for every purpose of devotion, by the kind and affectionate interference of the rector or curate. The great secret in all parochial improvement is to know how to gain the affectious of the people. A truly anxious pastor may gently Jead them to any point of-duty, by going before them and walking with them, as a shepherd accompanying his flock. But in such a matter as singing, which must, if fervent, proceed from the heart, he cannot and must not employ compulsion.' Again, says Mr. Beachcroft, if he (the minister) uses in his church the old or the new version of the Psalms of David, he will carefully make choice of such passages as are the most profitable. He will unite certain well-known tunes to certain well-known words, so that the people may be acquainted with the tune the moment they hear the words given out by the clerk. If again the minister adopts any of those numerous selections which are now in use in many of our churches, he must still exercise the same judgment in the choice of words; for many of these selections need to be again and again revised. ... Having taken his stand, as it respects his book and his well-known tunes, the minister will endeavour to familiarize the Psalmody to his congregation.

To this end in his study he would, during the week, commit to paper the psalms, and the names of the tunes, and give his directions to the clerk and to the village schoolmaster. Such a regular habit of practising the psalms

would be introduced as would lead the children in a few months to form a little choir of themselves.' Of the clergyman's wife he adds, 'Presiding, as of course she would wish to do, over the Sunday school, she opens the interesting morning employments of that holy day with prayer and praise. She may practise the children in that very tune which is subsequently to be sung in the congregation.'

'Mr. Beachcroft stopped not to inquire what would please the ear, or gratify the taste, or even meet the prejudices of his people; (though no man could perhaps surpass him in studying the art of conciliation; but he, principally, asked, What kind of psalmody will most effectually honour God and prepare his people to bear their part in the purity and fervour of celestial worship?' Conscientiously as he regarded canonical and rubrical authority, he still properly distinguished between the prayers as sanctioned by parliament, and the psalms (the singing psalms) as subsequently affixed to them at the mere discretion of the printer; or, at most, indirectly claiming the sanction of an act of parliament passed in the days of king James. And whatever offences against taste, or even against sound doctrine, may sometimes have been detected and exposed in modern hymns, Mr. Beachcroft was well aware that similar defects are discoverable in the old version; therefore, with that discreet zeal which adorns the Christian character, he allowed his singers to make use of psalms and hymns, as the occasion admitted or required.'

These remarks of Mr. Methuen, deserve especial attention, at a moment when some zealous partizans are anxiously calling for the publication, by episcopal authority, of a selection of psalms and hymns for general use. It is not clear that our diocesans can at present give a legal sanction to any such

publication; while it is evident that the preparation of a generally acceptable selection is a work of considerable difficulty. Our church appears very wisely to have left the psalmody in the hands of her clergy, and considering the widely different character of the congregations to which they are called upon to minister, it may fairly be presumed that the psalmody is at present conducted in a more appropriate manner than if one selection was provided for the whole empire. Certainly the collections prepared in modern times, by some distinguished poets, are in a congregational point of view, decided failures.

Mr. Beachcroft evinced his pastoral care also by publicly catechizing his village school immediately after service on the Sunday afternoons. Many of the congregation remained while the children both repeated their catechism, and replied to the plain and interesting questions proposed by the minister, and there is reason to conclude that in numerous instances, the effect produced was equally beneficial with that resulting from his valuable sermons.

No

Mr. Beachcroft has himself left us a specimen of his usual strain of preaching, in two volumes of plain Scriptural Discourses, published in the year 1816. printed discourses indeed can convey any accurate ideas of the powers of a preacher, since much of their effect under the divine blessing, is connected with the tone and manner of their delivery. In this respect Mr. B. was peculiarly interesting; his voice was clear and melodious, and his whole manner devout and impressive, so as to arrest and retain the attention of his hearers. His discourses were eminently scriptural, and often abounded in original ideas, though in attempting to produce a deep effect, he was occasionally somewhat quaint and fanciful. He

often dwelt on Scripture narrations and characters, and deduced from them instructive and important observations. For many of these he appears to have been indebted to Henry's Commentary, which had early attracted his attention, and which, though eminently holy and devotional, requires no small degree of spiritual discernment to separate the chaff from the wheat. It is unquestionably a work which should be found in every minister's study, but the reading of which he will do well to postpone, until he has carefully weighed and meditated on the Notes and Practical Observations of Scott, who is, we conceive, pre-eminently the most valuable of all our English Com

mentators.

Mr. Beachcroft's preaching was distinguished for its simplicity, its continual reference to Scripture, and its incessant endeavour to exalt the Redeemer. It was perhaps somewhat deficient in Christian experience, which may obviously be accounted for by the uniform and tranquil progress of his own religious principles and feelings, and that course of providential events by which he was exempted from the many and severe trials with which others are exercised.

Mr. B. however, not only preached the gospel publicly, but also from house to house. There were two hamlets connected with his parish, to one of which he usually proceeded every Thursday, where he expounded a portion of Scripture, and implored the divine blessing by fervent prayer. His attention to the sick and the afflicted, the inmates of the work-house, and all who are in need and necessity, was unremitting; but every house in his parish occasionally enjoyed his presence in writing to a friend, he observes

pry into secret things, and applies those words of Job to his own presumptuous heart: "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further." Life is too short for me to waste my time on matters upon which I could not precisely speak, were I to consider them to the exclusion of profitable subjects. Many a time have I laid aside the most valuable book, asking myself if at the end of the next hour, should I live to complete it, I should do the most good, and look back upon the hour with the most real pleasure, if passed in administering to the temporal and spiritual wants of one or two poor persons, or in benefiting my own mind; and I generally find that theory gives way to practice, and meditation upon what I ought to do to the actual doing of the thing. . . . Besides, I can meditate the most profitably whilst I am practically engaged. It is said of one of old (I give the substance of the passage) that "being in the way, God met him." And the man who humbly lays himself out for usefulness, will find the truth of many such passages of Scripture experimentally fulfilled. . . . I leave the matter, not to wiser heads, but with that God who has done and will do all things well, and who has revealed just so much as it is good for his inquiring servants to know.'

Mr. B. was, from his own experience, a decided advocate for the residence of the clergy.

the

The benefits to be derived from clerical residence are incalculable. 1. The minister is neither hurried nor fatigued when he enters upon the duties of the Sabbath. It is the Lord's day; and therefore the Lord's servant should make Sabbath a delight.' 2. The minister's example has great weight on this holy day. The (pious) behaviour of his children and his servants, tends to lead others into the path of holiness. 3. The minister is at hand to advise his pa