Supplement to the Autobiography, by the Editors

In attempting to supply some facts additional to the very few relating to the latter part of Mr. Jay’s life recorded in the Autobiography, we must be permitted to state, that it is impossible now to recover an accurate account of many events and circumstances of interest connected with his public life. Time is frequently revealing the usefulness of his labours both as a preacher and an author; but it is more than probable that many remarkable instances of his success will remain untold upon earth. We have reason to believe he knew of many more than he has anywhere recorded. Some of the more remarkable circumstances of his life and ministry he has scarcely, if at all, noticed. It is our intention to record as many of these as we have been able clearly to ascertain. But some have been published which are wanting in sufficient evidence, and others which are certainly false. The chronological order we shall endeavour to observe as far as possible. The dates which we have gathered with some difficulty from a variety of sources will enable the reader to, form in his own mind, after reading the Autobiography with the following additions, a tolerably correct as well as orderly conception of the events of Mr. Jay’s life.

His own account of his birth and education is more full and satisfactory than many other parts of the history. It appears that, immediately upon completing his term of study under Mr. Winter, he was engaged by the Rev. Rowland Hill to supply his pulpit at Surrey Chapel. This event, as he himself states, was of great importance, as it brought him into acquaintance with Miss Davies, who became Mrs. Jay; and also introduced him to the friendship of Mr. Newton, Mr. Ryland, and others. The continuance of these annual visits drew him also into connexion with some of the eminent and excellent men who shortly after formed the plan of the London Missionary Society. It was, as nearly as we can ascertain, in the year 1788 that Mr. Jay fulfilled his first engagement at Surrey Chapel. The Missionary Society was planned and founded in 1794; its first May meetings were held in 1795; and at its first anniversary in May, 1796, Mr. Jay was called to preach, though then only twenty-seven years of age. His sermon from Psalm lxxii. 19, 20, And let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen,’ &c., was published at the time, and is included in the uniform edition of his works. This sermon was the means of the conversion of an eminent and distinguished individual, John Poynder, Esq., as may be seen in the ‘Reminiscences of that gentleman. Speaking of him in a letter to Mrs. Bolton, many years after, he says, ‘’ Yesterday I was informed dear Mr. Poynder had left us. His death will lead to another ‘Reminiscence, which I began last evening. I know as yet no particulars of his departure. He was one of the most noble and useful converts God ever favoured me with.’’

Within four or five years after preaching at the first Anniversary of the London Missionary Society, Mr. Jay took a journey on its behalf into Scotland. An interesting memento of this visit he has preserved in the Autobiography. These facts sufficiently attest his great popularity in the early years of his ministry. But his intimate connexion with the London Missionary Society, and his deep interest in its progress, as well as the honour which its successive directors have awarded to him, will be shown by the facts we have now to state.

In the year 1826 he was called to preach at the anniversary of that society at the Poultry Chapel to its juvenile friends. In 1834 he preached a third time at its May meeting. His fourth sermon before the same Institution was preached at its Jubilee in November, 1844; and again a fifth time he preached at the annual meeting of 1851 in Surrey Chapel. The honour of preaching five times at the meetings of this society in the metropolis has, we believe, fallen to the lot of no other individual. Although we have singled out his services rendered to this society, yet there are many others among our public institutions, the interests of which he has ably and successfully pleaded, both in London and the country, though generally from the pulpit.

In the year 1810 the college of New Jersey in North America conferred upon Mr. Jay the degree of Doctor in Divinity. Though he did not assume the title, yet he acknowledged the honour done him. But that which gave him the highest satisfaction was the extensive circulation and usefulness of his writings in that country among all evangelical denominations.

In the course of the year 1820 he experienced a deep affliction, referred to pretty fully in his Autobiography, Letter IX.; on which occasion he addressed the following characteristic note to the deacons of his church: —

To the Deacons of Argyle Chapel, Bath.

My dear FriendSj — This comes to you from the house of mourning and from a bleeding heart. I mourn much: but I pray that I may not murmur. I have sympathized with you in your respective trials; and I know I shall not ask in vain for a share in your tenderness and prayers. But now that God has taken away my darling child, this is to say with Abraham, “Give me a place where I may bury my dead.” Having passed the best part of my life among you, it is my wish to die in your service. I wish to have a tomb that would contain my own remains, whenever it shall please God to re-unite me to my child, and also my dear wife’s, and perhaps those of some of the other branches of the family. I much desire, if you have no objection, to have it under the burying-ground house, and would thank one of you to come over with whom I have communicated upon the subject, either this evening or to morrow morning early, as no time can be lost. Excuse brevity. I cannot write, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. Believe me, my dear friends, as respects the whole Church,

Your affectionate and devoted Pastor, This refers to the death of his daughter Statira, who was seized with fever while he was on a journey in Devonshire, and from which he was recalled, and only reached his home in time to see her die, without an opportunity of communication. Her death occurred August 31, 1820, in her nineteenth year. Being the first inroad made by death in the happy circle of his family, it was deeply felt by him, as appears by the lines written on the occasion, and inserted among his poetic remains.

The year 1831 witnessed the arrival of the fortieth anniversary of his pastorate. The following documents will attest the deep interest his congregation felt in that event, and show how he improved it: —

At a Meeting of several of the Members of the Church and Congregation held in the Vestry of Argyle Chapel, on Friday the 28th January, 1831,

Mr. Griffiths in the Chair,
It was unanimously resolved.

That this Meeting desire to express their gratitude to Almighty God for the continuance of a faithful and acceptable Gospel Ministry, under the pastoral care of the Rev. William Jay, and for the uninterrupted harmony which has subsisted between their beloved Pastor and this Church and Congregation for a period of Forty Years. And that we, being desirous of presenting to Mr. Jay some lasting memorial of affection and esteem, do unite with such other persons as are willing to contribute in raising such a sum as may be necessary for the purpose; and that a Committee be appointed to decide upon the most desirable mode of carrying this object into effect, in a manner the most congenial to the feelings of our Minister.

That a copy of the foregoing Resolution be transmitted by the Chairman

to Mr. Jay.

Henry Griffiths, Chairman.

In pursuance of this proposal, a handsome landaulet, accompanied with a silver inkstand, bearing the following inscription, was presented to him: — ’ i’

“This Inkstand, together with a Landaulet, was presented by the Church and Congregation assembling in Argyle Chapel, to their beloved Pastor, in commemoration of Forty Years’ faithful labour among them.

“Bath, January 30, 1831.”

The following acknowledgment was subsequently addressed by Mr. Jay to the contributors, through the hands of Thomas Kingsbury, Esq., who had acted as chairman of the committee: —

Vi Bath, January 29th] l^Zl.

My dear Sir, — ^I beg to express my very sincere and hearty thanks to all my friends, for the kindness they have shown, in contributing to the handsome compliment you have presented me; and also to the Committee for the trouble they have taken, and the taste they have displayed, in the management of the design.

As a token of regard from my Church and Congregation I shall highly value the Inkstand and the Carriage. The larger portion of my ministry has now of course terminated. It yields me great satisfaction (among a thousand causes for humiliation) that it has continued for forty years to meet with the approbation and acceptance of those I have endeavoured faithfully to serve; and I pray that my remaining labours, whether they may be of longer or shorter duration, may be equally favoured by them, and far more blessed to them. The present has reached the Receiver in a state of great affliction and anxiousness, during which nothing can afford him the pleasure it would produce, could the entirely loved wife of his youth and riper years be capable of appreciating and enjoying it along with him. Should she be able to employ the vehicle in her infirmity, and derive benefit from the use of it, nothing could lead him so ;much to prize it, as he can never discharge the obligations he is under to one who has so sedulously watched over his life, health, and comfort, and by keeping his mind disengaged from all other things, and free to follow his important and delightful work, has so much aided him in any little usefulness he has rendered his hearers and his readers, from the pulpit and the press.

Let him importunately beg, in addition to the favours thus acknowledged, that you and all the friends in whose name you have made the communication will not in your prayers forget.

My dear Sir, Your grateful but tried Friend and Pastor, This anniversary was also celebrated by a sermon preached in the morning of Lords Day, January 30, 1831, to a crowded and deeply-affected audience. As this was a discourse of great excellence, and productive of a deep impression, and as it is not included in his collected works, we shall insert that portion of it which related to the interesting occasion.

So much for the explanation of the words of our text. But there are many of you who are aware of the seasonahleness of this memento this morning, to at least one individual here. Yes, your Minister has this morning been privately, and is now publicly, engaged in the review of forty years, which the Lord his God has led him in the wilderness, and during which he has maintained the most momentous connexion with this place, and with you, the people of his charge. This is the fortieth anniversary of my ordination, as the Pastor of this Church, and the Minister of this Congregation. After leaving the Academy, and I left it too young — but that was not my own choice — I laboured for some time in two other places, though in neither of them with a view to final settlement. By a series of rather remarkable circumstances I was brought, during the illness of the minister, a man of no ordinary piety and talent, to preach, one Sabbath, to this Church and Congregation, then assembling in the Chapel now occupied by “the Friends,” in St. James’s Terrace. After this I preached to the same people several other Sabbaths, at different times. At length this place of worship was to be opened for their use; they invited me to preach at the opening, and the sermon preached on the occasion was afterwards published. Some time after this, I received a unanimous invitation from the Church and Congregation, to settle among them; having, what I valued much, the dying recommendation of the minister. I accepted it; and this day forty years ago I was ordained your minister within these vralls. How many of you have been born since! But there are some who will well remember the stripling that stood upon a table before this pulpit, in order to give a general confession of his religious belief, and of those truths which he intended to preach here; when he was commended to the grace of God by prayer, and received a solemn charge from one who has long since gone to glory. Well do I recall to my mind some characters who were then present: such, for instance, as the venerable Mrs. Hannah More. Nor do I less remember the feelings of another, who endeavoured to hide herself in the crowd in the gallery — the most interesting character in the world to me — whose name I dare not venture to utter — and who has been forbidden, by deep affliction, this morning, from attending to hear these interesting recapitulations from the lips of her beloved husband. I believe, too, there is another here this morning who was impressed religiously by my Sermon that evening, and who has ever since been walking in the way of everlasting life. Well, my dear brethren, forty years have rolled away since then; and perhaps they have been some of the most important and interesting years that ever passed away. To many of you, indeed, the earlier parts of them must be matter of history, and not of personal knowledge. But let me suppose, now, six individuals throwing their eyes over these forty years that have passed away — a Philosopher, a Politician, a Briton, a Christian, a Member of this Church, and the Preacher himself.

1. Let us imagine 2i philosopher throwing his eye over this period. It is impossible for him to do this without being struck with the amazing advance of learning and knowledge of every kind. He must be struck also, in many instances, with the character of usefulness and solidity which these have acquired. People are not now to be satisfied with words — mere names and learned ignorance — hypothesis, or mere conjectures; they ask for knowledge, solid, substantial, useful, resting on the enduring basis of truth. Nature has been analyzed, the deductions of experiment have succeeded to the theories of hypothesis and of opinion. WTiat additions have been made to the arts and sciences — what accessions have been made to the discoveries and improvements in mechanical power — and what wonders have been performed by the application of steam, by sea and by land! What discoveries and improve jients have been made in navigation and in chemistry; and, above all, in that most interesting of all departments, anatomy and surgery, when their use and advantage are so palpable and undeniable — intimately connected, too, with all that is comfortable and useful and important in human life! What masses of ignorance and prejudice have been rolled away! Astrology and witchcraft, and belief in ghosts and apparitions, and dreams and visions, and a thousand other things, equally superstitious and foolish and hurtful, have been driven down to the very skirts of society, and are rarely to be found even there. Consider how all kinds of information have come down from the higher ranks, and been made to circulate freely and influentially among the middle and the lower classes of society. Men can no longer be priest-ridden. No, that day has gone by, and the danger now is from another extreme — the danger now is from licentiousness of inquiry, and contempt of lawful authority, as well as despotism; and recent occurrences must teach us now where we ought to place our feet, and determine us to withstand the encroachments on prerogative, and the invasions, and insults, and desolations of a daringly tumultuous and infidel radicalism.

2. Let a politician look back upon these years. Is he attracted by new and strange and wonderful things, in the state of society? Then he will find materials enough in this period amply to gratify his curious speculations. “What deviations from the usual course of civil transactions! — if not in the things themselves, yet in their number, in their variety, in their magnitude, in their suddenness, in their rapidity. Well do some of us remember, many years ago, that there was as much often crowded into a single week, as in earlier history might have served to distinguish a whole age. We remember the time when a newspaper was deemed dull and uninteresting, unless it announced some battle, or the fall of some state, or the transfer of some province from the fangs of one tyrant into the grasp of another. What lapses of fortune — what degradation of rank — what changes of government — what new denominations of geography! Or is he prone to account for things, and to trace them back to their principles? Surely he will find enough in these forty years to baffle all his sagacity, and to make him supply the place of inquiry and reason with profoundest wonder! How many of his most confident opinions will he find to be falsified! How many events, which seemed improbable, if not impossible, and concerning which, previously, he was ready to say,” if the Lord should make windows in heaven might these things be,” have actually come to pass! And if he were a statesman, whose religion would compel him to see and to own the agency of God, how would he have been led to exclaim, “His way is in the sea, and his path in the mighty waters! “” O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways are past finding out!” When he throws his eye back upon the period, and sees the schemes that were abandoned, the expedients that failed, the confederacies that were dissolved, the allies that were turned into enemies, the enemies that were turned into allies; — when he sees princes led away spoiled, and judges made fools, — if he approves of the plans and measures, and considers them as the effects of wisdom, surely he must acknowledge, ‘’ there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel, against the Lord,” — that when man has done all that the feebleness of his arm, and the contractedness of his resources, enable him to accomplish, the agency of God’s providence is necessary to give it success; and that it is, therefore, as reasonable a thing for a statesman to pray, as for a statesman to plan. Or if, in the retrospect, he condemns these measures, and the effects they have produced; if he considers them as the results of folly — let him then remember how limited are all the faculties of man; how easy it is to condemn events when they have happened. Let him inquire whether, if placed in exactly the same circumstances, he would not have adopted the same, or it may be, a much worse line of procedure; and let him reflect that, in such unexampled circumstances, mistakes were almost natural and unavoidable. The waters of calamity had overspread the earth, and there were no flood-marks to guide the statesman through. Reflections like these are perfectly just; and surely they would tend, if indulged, to soften the asperities of party rage, and induce politicians more easily to tplerate each other.

3. Let us now imagine a Briton — and we hope there are many true Britons yet — let us imagine such an one indulging in this retrospect. And there are three sentiments which should obviously animate and characterize him.

1. Of Gratitude. How good has God been! The heavens over our heads have not been brass, nor has the earth been iron. The seasons, with little variation, have retmned in their proper time, and have been fruitful. He has caused the grass to grow for the cattle, and herbs for the service of man; our valleys have waved with corn, and the little hills have rejoicejd on every side; the mower has filled his hand, and he that bindtth sheaves his bosom; and the years have been crowned with goodness. It is conceded that the cup which has been handed round to the other nations has also been presented to our lips. We have tasted the contents, but we have not been called to drink the dregs. Our sufferings have been considerable; but surely every particle of justice and ingenuousness must have quitted the minds of those who can confound the condition of our nation with that of any other country around us. We have not been in the seats of war, we have not had to attend in the train of devastating armies. We have not been under military rule and law. The enemy has not been allowed to invade our shores. We have not heard the confused noise of warriors, nor seen garments rolled in blood. We have not seen the smoking ruins of villages, or the wretched inhabitants fleeing with their suckling babes clinging to their breasts, or supporting the tottering steps of their aged parents, or shielding from inclemency and danger the sick and the dying. No. But there have been a great many measures achieved whose beneficial influence, I doubt not, will long continue to be felt. I have not time to notice them; they are familiar to all of you — down to the abolition of the Test and Corporation Act, and the carrying of the Catholic Emancipation Bill. I am very well aware that many persons will differ in their opinion in regard to this latter measure; but we must surely admit that there have been no stretches of arbitrary power, yea, that our constitutional rights have been not only maintained, but enlarged, variously and considerably, during these periods.

Yes: but yet, while we have been acknowledging these things, have we ascribed them to their proper Author? Is there no such thing as a kind of national self-righteousness, by which we conceive ourselves entitled to such blessings, because we would make ourselves believe that we were better than others? How many are there who “have burned incense to their own net, and sacrificed to their own drag,” and have never thought of anything more than of the patriotism of states, the wisdom of senators, or the bravery of their armies and navies! God, the good, the long-suffering God, has been overlooked in all this; while, penetrated with a sense of his kindness and our own un worthiness, we should have exclaimed a thousand times, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth’s sake,”

2. A Briton should feel a sentiment of fear. We are required to rejoice with trembling; and never were the two more wisely united than here. We are like a vessel with the wrecks of others floating around us, preserved as yet, but not entirely relieved from apprehensions. Oh! we have reason to fear for the number of our sins, for the heinousness of our sins, because the guilt of our sins will be aggravated by the mercies and advantages which we have so signally enjoyed. We fear, because of the little effect his dispensations have exerted upon us. What self-abasement have we expressed before God? What sins have we abandoned? He has spoken to us, and we have drowned his voice with the harp and tabret. His hand has been lifted up, and we have refused to see it. He has smitten, and we have disdained to receive correction. Who can tell but He is now looking over our Jerusalem, and ready to say, “Oh that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace! — but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

3. Let a Briton review the period with hope for the future. Who could destroy this? The factions have always been hopeless, and characterized alike by the principles of puerility and villany. I sympathize not with those T/yho, from fanaticism, or folly, or perverseness, have delighted to foredoom their country, and to declare the judgments of God, which, in their frenzied imaginations, were about to be poured out upon it, because fear is the easiest of all the passions to excite, and the easiest of all passions also to propagate. These sentiments being announced, they are concerned for the support of them. They must, therefore, paint darkly both the times and the events, to make them accord with their predictions. What is the sacrifice of a kingdom to the falsification of one of their conjectures? Remember how it was with a true prophet of old, who, rather than lie under the suspicion of being mistaken in his predictions, desired that all the men, and women, and children, in Nineveh, should die, rather than he should appear to be a false prophet. Why wonder, therefore, at others who do not hail calamities as vouchers for the truth of their word? But we do not surrender up ourselves to these gloomy imaginations. We indulge hope concerning our country; because “to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;” because we are upheld by his promise; because the number of those who love and serve him is continually increasing, and they have power with God; because if we too much resemble Sodom and Gomorrah, we have more than Abraham to intercede for us, and more than ten righteous men to stand in the gap, and say, “Save thy people, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach!” because,

Oft have our fathers told,

Our eyes have often seen.
How well our God secures the fold

Where his own sheep have been;”

because we believe that our destination is glorious, and that we are the ordained mediums of divine grace to extend the unsearchable riches of Christ to the ends of the earth. Personal trials are often sanctified to individuals; and however trying they may be at the time, when the believer has been enabled to look back upon his past course, and to survey all his trials and afflictions, his language we know will be, “It is good for me that I was afflicted.” Why, then, may it not be the same nationally? Why may not national corrections, and humiliations, and afflictions, produce national reformation, and thus preclude national ruin? Yes, we hope yet that even that commercial distress, which of late has been so great and so portentous, will lead to superior modes of merchandize and trade, and prevent, in future, all such hazardous and iniquitous speculations. We hope that even the violence and outrage which have so extensively and alarmingly prevailed, will be checked by opportune judicial interference, and the salutariness of punishment, and he overruled by leading people to a concern for the distresses of the’^suffering poor, and to a consideration of every possible means for their relief. We hope that the evils which have ohviously, and are now generally, acknowledged to have grown out of the two extremities in society, the very rich and the very poor, will be checked, and that there will be a greater increase of the intermediate gradations, upon which so much of the welfare and safety of the country depends. We hope that the looking into the public expenditure and pensions will lead to retrenchment; that the voice of real grievance will be heard, and that the call for reform will be strictly and speedily regarded.

We confess, therefore, that we feel nothing like despair in reference to our country; we view it differently from every other country; and though as yet we are not a nation of Christians, yet, blessed be God, we have a Christian constitution. Our constitution is not a thing of a day; it has borne the test of ages. Our institutions are based in justice — everlasting justice — and come to us commended by manifold proofs of their utility. And after all that has been averred to the contrary, we are persuaded that the majority of the English nation is yet sound at the core.

4. Let us take a Christian, and suppose him looking over these forty years. He ought to judge of things far differently from others. He ought to judge by a standard of his own. “He walks by faith, and not by sight.” He ought to judge more disinterestedly and more spiritually; hence he may feel peace and contentment, while others are filled with depression and despair. Not that the Christian is insensible to public calamities; he can say with David, “My flesh trembles for fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments.” He cries for the abominations that are done in the midst of us. Not but that he feels as a man and as a citizen. But then the Christian absorbs the man and the citizen. A Christian extends his views beyond, the particular community or country to which he belongs. The cause that lies nearest his heart is the cause of his Redeemer; and he would be unworthy the name of a Christian, if he did not judge of the value of things principally by their bearing upon that cause. He would be ashamed of himself if he did not consider that the most prosperous season, in which this best and most glorious cause advanced most flourishingly, regardless entirely of either personal or public inconveniences or distresses. “What,” should he say, “if schemes have failed while His cause is prosperous! What if I have been reduced and embarrassed while He is magnified and glorified! Let the times be troublous, if but the walls of this temple rise; I then rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” Now, on this principle, we say that a Christian ought to think well of the times wherein we have been living.

When the Saviour was about to come in the flesh, God said, “I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come;” — and that has often been the case with Him also in the Gospel. So it has been here. How has he displayed the vanity of all creaturegreatness, as if he would constrain persons to turn their back upon the world, and to seek a better part — an enduring treasure! And considerable effects have been produced, yes, some of the great have been impressed by them. I am persuaded that there has been a greater movement among persons in the higher rank of life, religiously considered, than among any other class. We have had, during this period, a monarch who, for fifty years, was an example of morality to his people. We have had statesmen who have not only pleaded for Christianity, but even for its evangelical doctrines. We have had noblemen who have worshipped God morning and evening in their families. Can a Christian be indifferent to the progress of freedom during these forty years? We are commanded to pray that the word of the Lord may have free course, and run, and be glorified. But we are not to dictate to God how this prayer is to be answered. We are to pray that the chariot of the everlasting Gospel may go forward, and we well know, that for this purpose “every valley must be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked made straight and the rough places plain.” God’s soldiers will have much to do in our world, in many places, before his preachers can do anything. Look at China, you send your Bibles and Missionaries there — what progress could they make? Suppose Whitfield had begun his career in Spain or Portugal, instead of beginning in this country; the first sermon which he had preached would have crushed him under the savageism of the Inquisition; and no more would have been heard of him. But what has taken place within the compass of the years we are now reviewing? Why, there is Protestant preaching even in Rome itself, the seat of the “beast.” Even in popish countries now, where the cursed Inquisition is formally put down, you see how it works. No heretic can, indeed, be openly put to death; for if a heretic were now to be burnt, either in Spain or Portugal, it would produce a clamour to the ends of Europe, — and they are aware of it. Yet the progress of religious liberty is much impeded by the restrictions which have so long obtained in respect of civil liberty.

Can a Christian, then, review the progress of civil liberty, which, when properly considered, includes religious freedom, and not be grateful for the

o times in which we live? Is it nothing that good men have been uniting together to co-operate for the extension and establishment of the good cause upon general principles, while, with respect to minuter diflferences, they have been disposed to say, — “Let every one be fully persuaded (of them) in his own mind “? Is it nothing that theology has been delivered from the jargon and folly of the schools? Some, indeed, have avowed that the truth was perishing in the earth; but I am persuaded that the Gospel was never more fully preached than during these forty years; while there have been inculcated all the principles of the reformation, these have been darkened with less of the metaphysical, and less of the controversial, than before; useless subtleties have been dropped, and truth has come home to men’s business and bosoms.

Is it nothing that infidelity has been driven off the field — that it is now only fighting in ambush — that it is necessitated to betake itself only to objections which have been triumphantly answered a thousand times? Some of you, it is true, cannot compare the present state of religion in the country with what it was forty years ago; but some of us can.

How many Associations have, during this period, been organized, or enlivened, or enlarged in their sphere of active usefulness! Look at the Sunday Schools. They were then in their beginning, and we had to explain them; they were opposed, and we had to defend them.

But there was nothing like the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Methodists had one Society (Missionary); our Baptist brethren were about commencing their splendid Missionary career; but the London Missionary Society was not; and the Church Missionary Society was not. All these have been established within these forty years, which we are now reviewing; and we have been the means of their support, and their combined operation. People talk of dark times. Dark times! What do they mean? We are now speaking religiously and practically. The times, blessed be God, have gone by, when, if the country had peace and plenty, the bulk of the people were cursed with the greatest of all plagues, an unregenerate ministry; and were perishing for lack of knowledge. “The Lord gave the word, and great was the company of them who published it.” Had I died the day after my ordination, and been lately raised from the dead, and led again through this country, I should have been perfectly astonished at the change, and have exclaimed, “What hath God wrought!”

5. Let us imagine a Member of this Christian Community reviewing these years. It is not easy to satisfy the benevolence and the zeal of a truly pious mind. Such an individual always laments that more is not done, and that it is not done better; and yet I think that a person attached to this social body — a person who has been led to pray, “Peace be within these walls, and prosperity within this palace; for my brethren and companions’ sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee,” — must see something that is pleasing and grateful in the review. He must have seen how “the little one has become a thousand;” how many have been “added to the church of such as should be saved;” and how few comparatively have been excommunicated, or rebuked for immoral conduct. He must have seen the unity and the harmony that have prevailed from the beginning within our church, without discord; and yet the times we have lived in have been troublous. In what a state of danger and fermentation has society been! And there has been enough of the latter among some of our neighbours j but we have enjoyed tranquillity. Yet we have not all thought alike doctrinally. There have been shades of difference with respect to church government; some have not been Independent in their views; some have preferred Presbyterianism or Episcopalian ism; yet there have been no discords. We have not all thought alike with respect to the ordinances of religion,’ but “here,” as Cowper said, “the dipped and sprinkled have lived in peace.” I have always treated those who in this matter conscientiously differed from me, with Christian candour; and I must say they have abundantly repaid it. As it has been with sentiment, so it has been with liberality. We have had institutions of our own: the Sick Man’s Friend Society, and others of the same description. We have aided other institutions of the Gospel; the London Missionary Society; the Home and Irish Societies; besides admitting occasionally other collections, which have always been such as to do honour to the minister and the congregation.

The cause also, must be considered here as having been a candlestick holding out the light to others. Bath is a place of peculiar resort and intercourse. Many have, therefore, dropped in here who have received conviction, and carried it away with them. How often have I been delighted, when called to preach in various parts of the country, to meet many individuals who have acknowledged that their first impressions of religion were received from the preaching of the word within these walls. Several Dissenting ministers, and no fewer than three episcopal clergymen, whose names I might mention, have acknowledged to me that here they first received the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.

Once more, the preacher must be allowed to review these years. I know there are many strangers in this congregation, and I really feel for them this morning. It is hardly to be supposed that they will feel interested in a great deal of what I deliver on this occasion. But I must depend upon their candour and good sense, to excuse a recapitulation in which the

o2 preacher and the hearer must be considered as feeling a concern, after an interesting connexion of so many years. It is impossible also now to go on without some reference to myself. Whether I have credit enough with the audience to prevent the imputation of egotism and vanity, I cannot determine; I must be content to lie under the suspicion — a suspicion which, I can appeal to God, is undeserved — the design of the reference being, not to set off myself, but being, in fact, altogether inevitable. It is impossible, then, for the minister, in a review of these forty years, not to feel both gratified and solemnized, yea, to feel a number of emotions so mingled in his bosom, that he cannot express them separately. In general, I can say, that these years have been years of pleasure; and I should have no objection to go through them again. Goodness and mercy, intermingled with some trying dispensations, have followed me all the days of these years. But I have a livelier idea of the kindness of Providence than when I began them — a better opinion of my fellow-creatures, and more confidence in them. My views of some religious subjects have been rendered more liberal, and encouraging, and satisfactory. My life, too, has been preserved, while so many of my brethren, and many of them much younger, have been hurried off in the midst of their days. And then, for some time, my own life, I believe, was deemed precarious by my medical friends; of this I am sure, my life was deemed precarious by myself: I had the sentence of death within myself, and never did I expect to reach anything like this anniversary. But God was pleased to raise me up, to renew and establish me. Some of my own order, these forty years, have fallen by temptation; some, who having put their hands to the Gospel -plough, have looked back; some have been drawn off by dangerous errors, injuring their character and destroying their usefulness; while, “by the grace of God, I am what I am.” Many years have passed, many changes have occurred, yet have I been upheld till now. Who could hold me up but Thou, O God? During these years I have become a father, and I have lived to see my children’s children. I have also become a pretty extensive author; and on this latter account, I feel peculiarly grateful, having received so many testimonies, both at home and from abroad; and because, by my writing, I can be doing good in many places, and to many individuals, at the same time; — because I can be useful through these means, when I myself am here no more; and because by these my own people may have in remembrance, after my decease, many of my religious sentiments, and I can be aiding them in the closet, and at the family-altar, when the clods of the valley are round about me. Of these numerous works, unless indeed it be their imperfections, were I dying, I should not wish to blot out a single line; and I hope there is not a single sentence of them that can give offence to Christians of any denomination. I desire to bless God for having continued my acceptance, and I trust, my usefulness also, so long. The charm of novelty must long ago have been worn off; and you will bear me witness that I never attempted to strike into any new paths. I have never tried to get into any new wind of popularity; and if any such wind has aided me, it has fallen in with my own steady course. It sought me, I never sought it. But I have other feelings on this occasion. How is it possible that I should not be affected with the loss I have sustained in hearers and members? What family is there here that has not bled during these forty years? What pew that has not been stripped of some of its occupiers? What think you, of those who signed my call when I came here, there are only three

individuals now alive. Oh, how much precious and endeared dust have I interred in our burying ground! Who has not something there now which he calls his own? Blessed be God, I see others rising up; and instead of the fathers the children; but “my soul desireth the first-ripe fruit.” Can I be otherwise than affected with the preservation of my own life? When I was ordained here, this almond tree had not then flourished. But, blessed be God, not one of the hairs have grown grey in the service of the world and of sin; yet the greatest part of my life is gone, and by far the greatest part of it has been spent in your service. The evening of life has now set in, gently and mildly indeed; but to alter the metaphor, you had part of the spring; you have had the whole of the summer; and if there be any ripeness in the winter, this is before us. But the winter has come, and how can I help being affected with my awful responsibility? How many services during these forty years have I engaged in! How many individuals must I meet at a righteous tribunal! But a merciful Saviour — here is my consolation — I serve a Master who knows our frame, and remembers that we are dust. I have a consciousness that I never perverted my office to secular purposes; that I never shunned to declare what I thought to be the whole counsel of God; that I have never concealed the truth, nor mangled it, at the expense of my own convictions.

Though I do not consider kindness shown to ministers as eleemosynary, yet I cannot but publicly express my thanks to those who have all along shown me so much of their esteem and regard. As for others they will feel easy. I never burdened any one, in any instance or degree; and at the end of forty years, I have no obligation, in reference to them, to acknowledge — a boast which perhaps few ministers of my standing or acceptance, in the kingdom, can make.

But I have already encroached too much upon your time. If the great apostle of the Gentiles entreated of those to whom he wrote, an interest in their prayers at the throne of grace, how much more have I reason to say, “Brethren, pray for us,” “and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak;” that I may be supported and sustained in my afflictions; that the arms of my hands may be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; that I maybe long spared to preach to you the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ; and that at last, as an unprofitable servant, I may be enabled to look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life! “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace!”

With this benediction I was about to conclude; but how can I conclude without reminding some, whom, long as I have addressed them in this place, I have yet addressed in vain! How many hundred, how many thousand affecting invitations, and solemn warnings, and urgent admonitions have you heard from my voice! With that voice, like birds in the belfry, you have grown familiar; and the peal which once alarmed you, now passes by and leaves you unaffected. You are just what you were twenty, thirty years ago, and some of you even forty years ago. Ah no! you are not the same; you cannot be the same; if you are not the better, you must be the worse J if the preaching of the word has not proved, in your experience, “the savour of life unto life,” it must prove “the savour of death unto death.” Under what a condemnation will some of you perish! You cannot now dissolve the connexion which you have had so many years with the means of grace, even if you would now detach yourselves. And the image of this place, the figure of the preacher, the tones of his voice, and the messages of grace which he has delivered, will be remembered hereafter, and will be as fuel to that fire that shall never be quenched, and food to that worm that shall never die. Oh that I could this morning bring you to consider! Oh that God would awaken your consciences! And when this voice which, for these forty years, has filled this house, is silent, and when another shall occupy this sacred desk, may “the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you, establishing the work of our hands — yea, the work of our hands, may God establish it upon you! Amen.”

SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON AT BATH.

In the year 1833 an eminent and distinguished individual, who might not have been expected to feel any curiosity to hear the Dissenting minister of Bath, was present in Argyle Chapel on two successive Sundays, and on both parts of the day. The following extracts from the” Memoirs of Sir William Knighton, Bart., Physician to King George IV., and Keeper of the Privy Purse,^^ written by Lady Knighton, will be interesting to the readers of Mr. Jay’s Life.

“June 9, 1833. We this morning attended Mr. J.’s chapel. He had been visited, as he stated, with domestic affliction during the previous night. It was supposed to be the illness of Mrs. J. He preached from the 119th Psalm, 32nd verse, — ‘I will run in the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.’

“He said, this saying by David comprehended three things — a complaint — a dependence — and a resolution. He propounded in a very beautiful manner the usefulness of knowledge in Divine things, and stated that this was a qualification not sufficiently preached — but without which we could do nothing — we could not even make a beginning. * Faith in Christ.’ — His illustrations were beautiful. I wish I could remember them sufficiently to write them down. He praised the Liturgy of the church, and said it was to be lamented that the doctrines of the reading desk were not always preached in the pulpit: and observed that they (meaning himself and congregation) did not deserve to be called Dissenters, for they did not dissent from the doctrines of the beautiful Litany; but that they were called Methodists, fanatics, and enthusiasts, for preaching them.

“The chapel was quite full, and seemingly with well-dressed people. We went in the evening again to hear Mr. J., and were disappointed to find he was not to officiate; but Mr. J., who preached, completely satisfied us. I never heard a more delightful discourse. His text was from the fourth chapter of the Hebrews, 9th verse. * There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God.’ He drew a most affecting picture of the miseries of this probationary life, and the joys that await the true and holy Christian — for in heaven there is a day of rest. There was no sorrow, no calamity, no adversity, no deep affliction in this life that he did not bring home to one’s understanding and feelings. He brought many of them before us with a heart-rending eloquence, as if the sources were drawn from his own bosom.

The loss of a child — perhaps an only child — here he paused, and I fancied I saw his lip quiver as the tongue gave utterance to the sentence. When he called upon his Christian hearers to look to that day of rest when corruption would cease, and the joys of heaven supersede all the woes connected with our present earthly tabernacle, his manner of conducting the subject was delightful. He said that he had no doubt, deducing his authority from Scripture, that saints and Christians do know each other in a future state; that the child taken from the disconsolate parent in early life would welcome the pious and holy Christian parent to heaven. This earthly separation, therefore, as being only for a season, bears marks of Divine love, and not the dispensation which, in our sorrow, we feel as an overwhelming calamity. I underwent great emotion as he proceeded, and so did Mr. D., and never felt my heart more under the holy influence of religion. I am sure poor Mr. Jay must have felt the prayer, and the able discourse. I fancy he was in the chapel. Mrs. Jay is alive, but she was struck with paralysis the preceding night. This has been a very interesting day, and I shall not readily forget it.” — Vol. II. p. 307 — 311.

“Sunday, 16th June, 1833. We hailed this morning with great pleasure, because we had the satisfactory prospect of again hearing Mr. Jay, and we were not disappointed. He preached from 119th Psalm, 18th verse. * Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.’ He began by explaining what was meant by the law. It was nothing more nor less than the commands of God. David saw the Gospel in the law. It is in vain to go to this book with any opinions of your own. You must take it as it is — the law of God cannot be changed. If your conscience when awakened under the terrors of the law has found comfort under the Gospel, you may hope that you are in the right road. But let me tell you, he said, that religion and the knowledge of this book are not of sudden growth. This I would not only address to the infidel and unbeliever, but also to the fanatic and enthusiast. The one adapts every thing to his own presumptuous notions and opinions; the other mystifies and confuses revelation from heaven with things not yet revealed. That such states are both dangerous may be well understood, when David, who knew so much, calls out, not in the self-sufficient language of our times, but in the words of the text, ‘Open thou mine eyes,’ &c.

“Mr. Jay adverted to the wonders of the universe. He referred to the chapter he had read before the sermon, in which the miracle is related of our Lord’s restoring the blind to sight, and stated that spiritual blindness was quite as perceptible as corporeal blindness. The man corporeally blind could not indeed deceive you — the loss of the sense was apparent — but the spiritual blindness was also evident to the true Christian. The soul must receive a Divine influence, not miraculous, (for there is no such thing now-a-days,) but a sense of its own unworthiness; then follow penitence and prayer; — an earnest desire for the Saviour’s image to be implanted in the heart; a life in the ways of godliness according to the law and the Gospel. Cicero, the greatest philosopher, and the wisest among those of his day, was accustomed to say, that we lived by the power of the gods — but that to live well, and not wickedly, was in our own power. Seneca said, that those men who lived in the rules of virtue were in merit above the gods, because the very nature of their existence did not admit of their being otherwise. Here you have the reasoning of the wisdom of this world. Truly, when you come to contemplate the establishment of Christianity, it strikes you with awe and wonder that a few unlettered fishermen, without learning, or what we call education, should be sent forth to preach the redemption of mankind to the uttermost corners of the earth.

“In the evening, Mr. Jay’s discourse was from Job ix. 4.” He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? “He began by giving the character of God most beautifully, and then he drew the picture of the hardened sinner. I wish that every sinner could have heard him. In giving the catalogue of sins that belong to sinful man, he said, it was wonderful with what a degree of complacency words were found to palliate all the vile passions of wickedness. Covetousness was a sense of prudence to one’s self and family; revenge, a just sense of what was due to one’s self on the score of honour. A departure from truth, a necessary observance of the ways of the world; and so on. He mentioned that Lord Bacon had said, that * Knowledge is power; ’ and this saying had been put forth as Lord Bacon’s, but Solomon had said long before Lord Bacon was cradled, that ‘Wisdom is a defence,’ and so it is. It gives a power that wealth cannot often give, although Solomon says that ‘Wealth buyeth all things.’ There seemed no end to the beautiful and appropriate truths put forth in this discourse!” — Vol. II. p. 328 — 332.

This will no doubt be interesting to the reader as evincing the deep impression which Mr. Jay’s preaching was calculated to make upon persons of cultivated minds, and moving in the highest walks of life. Many such took the opportunity of hearing him when in Bath, and, in numerous instances like the present, have been known to express both the great pleasure and spiritual profit they had experienced.

THE JUBILEE OF MR. JAY^S PASTORATE.

The next important event in Mr. Jay’s history which it becomes us to record, was the completion of the fiftieth year of his ministry in Argyle Chapel. The commemoration of this event was looked forward to with no little interest by a very wide circle of friends. Those in particular who formed his church and congregation resolved to celebrate the day in a manner honourable to all parties. Of this memorable occasion, we now proceed to give an abridged account from the little volume which was afterwards published — observing, at the same time, that, since we could not and did not deem it needful or proper to transfer the whole to these pages, we have limited our extracts to the speeches of Mr. Jay and the Chairman, with those portions of Mr. Jay’s sermon which were specially appropriate to the occasion.

The first meeting was one for devotion, held on the morning ot Lord’s-day, January 31, 1841, in Argyle Chapel, at seven o’clock, when fervent thanksgivings and prayers were ofiered.

At nine o’clock the scholars in the Sunday Schools belonging to the chapel were assembled, and received presents of books, bearing appropriate inscriptions, commemorative of the day. A suitable address was delivered to them by the Rev. Samuel Nichols, of Darwen, Lancashire.

At eleven o’clock the public service was held in the chapel. The introductory devotional service was conducted by the Rev. S. Nichols, after which Mr. Jay preached from 1 Thess. ii. 19: — “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”

The sermon contains highly interesting instruction, addressed to the disciples of the Gospel — under the different classes of those who encourage, those who solace, and those who dignify ministers. After the general discnssion of the text the author enters into a detail of the circumstances which led to his settlement at Bath, and a review of his lengthened ministry, the substance of which being contained in the Autobiography now published, we pass over, for the sake of introducing a few of the solemn and affecting paragraphs which close the sermon.

“Such are the reflections derivable from the subject of our text, and the occasion of the day. And now what can I add more? As I ascended this desk, and looked down upon this vast audience, I said to myself, Ah! where will all this assembly be by the return of this Jubilee? Some of you will remain, and perhaps you will then be talking over what is now passing here: but where, oh where, will the majority of you be found then?

“As to many of us, a much shorter period will have removed us, and the places that now know us will know us no more for ever. Other occupiers will fill these pews; other singers will lead the psalmody, when the voices of those who now charm us will be silent in the grave; and another voice will be heard in this pulpit than that which has filled it for fifty years past.

“To how many of you is my ordination a matter of history! You have been born since that day, which many of your fathers and mothers attended. How many of you have I taken in these hands, and oflered to God in holy baptism! How many of you have I hailed at your coming to the table of the Lord! And how many of your connexions have I followed to our burial-ground! * Ah! ’ says one, * there lies my cherub-child! ’ * And,’ says another, * there lies the desire of mine eyes, taken away with a stroke.” And there,’ says another, * lies the guide of my youth.’

“I am glad, therefore, when every church has a place of interment of their own: it seems keeping up still a kind of connexion with the departed. Our dead lie not among strangers. ‘There I buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife; there I buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; and there I buried Leah! ‘We have all our precious dust in yonder ground. “Where is the person belonging to us who does not go to the grave to weep there? I am sometimes ready to be jealous lest our burying-place should become richer than our church. But no; instead of the fathers are their children. Our sons are as plants grown up in their youth; our daughters are as corner-stones polished after the similitude of palaces: and we have a noble band of the young and middle-aged, who have covenanted with God, and who are saying, we will not forsake the house of our God. O, how does old age, while it leaves life, peel off continually its connexions, till we seem left even as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, or as an ensign upon the hill! O, how many of the various relations of life, during such a varied and extensive acquaintance as mine, have gone down to the dust, and have seen corruption! How many ministers have been taken away! * The fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? ‘Of all the ministers that belonged to the Wiltshire Association when I entered it, I am the only survivor; and of all those who signed my call when I came here, only one remains, whose venerable head you would have seen here this day, but for indisposition. And, O! what a curtailment are fifty years in a brief duration like ours! Your preacher, therefore, feels this; and though, in some measure, he can talk like Caleb, who said, ‘As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in,’ yet he does not forget that the days of our years are threescore years and ten. Yes; therefore, a period cannot be far remote when, as he hopes he shall never stand in the way of usefulness, he will either entirely resign his labours, or share them with another: and, though he knows the extreme difficulty attached to a concern where three parties are so deeply interested, the Lord can provide. Now I seem to be taking a farewell of the fifty years which I have passed within these happy walls! What a difference between the day of which I am reminded, and this day! Then, I was rapidly entering life: I am now gradually withdrawing from it. Then, I was commencing my voyage across an untried ocean: now, with the glass in my hand, I am looking for the fair havens. Then, I was a mere youth; now, surrounded with children and grandchildren. What was then anxiety is now repose: what was then hope, is now accomplishment; what was then prayer is now praise. What a season of humiliation, you will naturally conclude must this have been! We are hardly aware of our deficiencies and imperfections till something occurs which drives us to retire, and reflect and review. But who can look back upon fifty years, and not exclaim, ‘Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified.’ * O Lord, if thou shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who can stand!’ Yet what a source of thanksgiving ought it to be! How has my life been indulged! How few have been so satisfied with favour, and filled with the blessing of the Lord! Yet I have had trials enough to remind me that

* Full bliss is bliss divine.’” Though I have not drunk deep of the cup, I have tasted the bitterness of affliction. One trial has pressed upon me with peculiar force; and concerning which I should have been ready to say, Lord, afflict me in any other point — but his ways are judgment.

“But what deliverances have I experienced during this period! Serious attacks of indisposition formerly prepared me to expect an abbreviated ministry; and perhaps you looked for it too; but, having obtained help of God, I continue to this day; and, after all the Ebenezers I have reared along the road, I now rear the largest of them all. And,

“* Here in thy house I leave my vows.
And thy rich grace record;
Witness, ye saints, who hear me now.
If I forsake the Lord.’”

On the evening of the same day the Rev. Timothy East, then of Birmingham, preached from Daniel xii. 3:” They that turn many to righteousness [shall shine) as the stars for ever and ever.^^

On the Tuesday morning following, (Feb. 2,) a public breakfast took place at the Assembly Rooms. The number of persons present at the breakfast was eight hundred and twenty. The ministers attending both from the city and neighbourhood, were about forty. Henry Godwin, Esq. was called to the chair.

In his introductory observations Mr. Godwin particularly alluded to the friendship of Mr. Wilberforce for Mr. Jay. He said, —

“There is one witness whom I could almost wish were here this morning, to bear his testimony to the worth of our beloved pastor. Believe me, sir, I am not going to indulge in the language of adulation: it would be as repugnant to me as it would be oflFensive to you; and as contrary to the canons of good taste as to the canons of Scripture. I wish the sainted Wilberforce were here to testify his esteem for you: and we know not but that he may be looking down with pleasure upon us now; for if angels rejoice over a repentant sinner, why should not glorified saints look with ecstasy upon such a scene as this? But I can give you the testimony of Wilberforce himself; and I give it you on the veracity of a man who feels, I trust, that he stands in the sight of God.

“Though not intimately acquainted with that good man I had the pleasure of having three interviews with him, in one of which Mr. Jay was the subject of conversation; speaking of whom he said, * There is one thing in Jay, (for he spoke familiarly, and I will speak familiarly too,) there is one thing in Jay, dear Jay, that I love: it is his uniform consistency, his uniform humility. I remember, when he was a very young man; and I know that the popular applause which followed him was enough to turn a young head; but he always kept his steady course: I never saw him in the least inflated by it. I never saw the least indication of his being so: he seemed to shake it off as the lion shakes the dew from his mane. Dear Jay, I love Jay! ‘Such was the testimony of Wilberforce: but his sons appear to have forgotten that love; at all events they have not shown it in the Biography of their Father.”

After some further observations appropriate to the occasion, the chairman read the following address from the church and congregation: —

“TO THE REV. WILLIAM JAY.

Reverend and Dear Sir, — Fifty years have rolled away since a gracious God was pleased to direct the Church and Congregation assembling in Argyle Chapel to choose you as their pastor. Solemn is the thought that of those who then crowded to hear you profess ’ a good profession before many witnesses,’ few — very few — remain to welcome this day; and of those who then invited you to accept the ministerial charge, one, only one, honoured individual survives. But God has preserved you, — and we are now assembled to commemorate the lapse of half a century, spent in holy duty, and affectionate intercourse between yourself and the people of your charge.

“We come not to praise you. It would not be acceptable to you, and we regard the occasion as too hallowed for any such purpose. We desire to unite with you in fervent gratitude to the Great Head of the Church for the signal blessings He has bestowed on you, in fitting you for the high, and sacred, and distinguished course of ministerial usefulness He has enabled you to fulfil; and on us, as a Church and Congregation, in providing for us so rich and edifying an exhibition of the Gospel of the grace of God.

“But while we bow in gratitude before the Most High, and would devoutly adore Him for his goodness, we cannot be insensible that under Him, * from whom cometh every good and perfect gift,’ we owe you much. To the great Apostle of the Gentiles, Philemon owed his ’ own self.’ To you some of us are under similar obligations; and it is our prayer, that, with those of our predecessors and fellow-worshippers, who have departed in the faith, we may unitedly rejoice in the day of Christ, that you have neither run nor laboured in vain.

“Receive from us, very dear sir, the assurance of our strong affection and unabated regard; and with it, as a token of our attachment to your person, of our veneration for your character, and of our gratitude for your labours as a faithful minister of Christ, we request your acceptance of the accompanying tribute of esteem.

“Finally, we pray for your prosperity, and commend you to the love of the Saviour. May the evening of life, which is now come upon you, and upon one who has tenderly and long augmented your joys, and alleviated your anxieties, ever be irradiated by the Divine presence; and when it shall please Him, whom you serve, to call you to the temple above, may these glorious words break upon your ear, * Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’

“Signed on behalf of the Church and Congregation, Bath, January 30th 1841 : —

Henry Griffith.
William Newall. Isaac Titley.

James Bryant. Jacob Titley.

E. H. Griffith. Samuel Fisher.

Deacons of the Church.

Rice Hopkins, Secretary of the Committee.

John Matthews. William George.

George King. John Barnard.

Richard Parker Lemon. Edward Saunders.

William Price. Charles Godwin.

Richard Finigan. George Northmore.

‘William James. Thomas Barter.

John Griffiths Mansford. James Griffiths.

J. C. Spender. William Gibbons.

S. King. -Henry Edmund Goodridge.
Henry Morgan.

“Being the Committee appointed at a General Meeting of the Church and Congregation, held 13th October, 1840.

“With this Address, sir, which so fully expresses my own sentiments, I have to present you also with this salver, and purse, which contains £650, as a token of our united esteem, affection, and gratitude.

The salver was of silver, with a shell pattern border, containing in the centre the following inscription, surrounded with an engraved wreath of flowers: —

Presented,

Together with the Sum of Six Hundred and Fifty Pounds,

to the

REV. WILLIAM JAY,

By the Members of the Church and Congregation

Assembled in Argyle Chapel, Bath,

And by other Friends,

On the completion of the Fiftieth Year of his happy and useful Pastorate,

As a Tribute of

Christian Esteem, Affection, and Gratitude.

January 30, 1841.

The Rev. William Jay then addressed the assembly as
follows: —

“Mr. Chairman and my Christian friends, — Of late years you have not often heard me speak publicly, unless in my own appropriate sphere. It was not without reflection and conviction that, believing every man is best in his own order, considering the limitation of human powers, and knowing how liable I was to importunities, and feeling the pressure of various important engagements, I was induced to lay down a rule — and which I rendered general, in order to avoid giving particular offence — that I would decline all platform engagements, and confine myself more exclusively to the press and the pulpit.

“With regard to the former, I hope I have not erred, because I have not failed, God having given large acceptance and circulation to my various and numerous publications; in consequence of which I have the pleasure to think that, after my decease, there are many who may derive some pleasure and profit from the labours of my pen; and especially that my own church and congregation will be able to have in remembrance many of the things they heard from the living voice.

“Nor do I think I have been mistaken with regard to the latter, when I was led to view my principal duty as lying in Argyle Chapel, since, after having preached there for more than half a century, I have had no diminution in attendance or attention; and I now survey this large and voluntary assembly convened together to exhibit tokens of their regard.

“Without any intimation or promise from myself I fear an expectation has been raised that, on this occasion, I should take rather a large review of a ministry, the fiftieth anniversary of whose ordination, so many of my friends have agreed to celebrate in this flattering manner. But, in the first place, in the usual course of nature, you will soon, from what I may leave behind me, learn some of the circumstances of my earlier history, if they may be worth inquiring after; and you will see the peculiar, the very peculiar manner, in which the providence of God, without any design or efibrt of my own, or of my humble friends, led me into a work to which I have consecrated so large a portion of my life happily, and I hope not unprofitably. And, in the next place, on Sabbath-day morning last, (as our Chairman has mentioned,) I took a pretty large review of things, especially as they led to the formation of my connexion with those who have so long been * my hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing; ’ together with some other circumstances connected with the Church and with the Pastor.

“I seem, therefore, now only called to do what would be a very pleasing duty, were it not for the load of emotion under which I am called to discharge it: for, unless I were made up of insensibility and stupidity, you must suppose that I could not receive such an address, such a token, such a testimonial, without feelings which would be too oppressive and embarrassing to allow of a full, or perhaps even proper, utterance. I will not, therefore, attempt what I feel to be impracticable; but will briefly and simply, and in a manner the most respectful and grateful, acknowledge my obligations to you, Mr. Chairman, for your disinterested, zealous and judicious agency — to the gentlemen of the Committee who have been connected with you; and to all those who have contributed on this occasior as if mentioned by name. Many of them are present; they can receive my thanks from my own lips immediately; and I hope that, in some way or other, they will reach all those contributors also who are absent; for I find that I have had friends not only at home but abroad: and also to that distinguished and truly Christian Poet who has deigned to employ his Muse on this occasion.

“But what do I owe to those Ladies who darted into this business, and who have shown (they are always combined in them) so much earnestness and taste in the arrangement of this festival? I never, indeed, despair of anything being done, and being done well, when it once gets into the heads, and the hearts, and the hands of females. My fair sisters, I am not indulging the language of flattery. My conscience bears me witness that I have always had a concern in private and in public to plead the cause of your sex; and you may take it, if you please, as a kind of testamentary avowal, that, in a long and not unobserving life, I have always found females — like the dear afflicted one at my right hand — worthy of peculiar confidence, esteem, and praise.,

“I hope I have character enough to obtain for me a belief, when I affirm, that all, with regard to this Jubilee — excepting the sacred part of it — originated with, and has been carried on by, others; and, therefore, all the guilt must rest upon the heads of a numerous body of friends, who have been, perhaps, too partial and too warm in their friendship.

“I should be sorry if any have been led to imagine, because I have generally been successful in life, that I had now well feathered a nest for myself, or for one dearer to me than myself. But I can glory in saying this is not the case. While, therefore, with regard to the pecuniary part of this oblation, I am not at a loss to employ it, especially relatively and prospectively, yet it is not with this that I am principally impressed. * How long have I to live that I should go up with the King to Jerusalem? ‘I hope Providence and grace have taught me, in whatsoever state I have been, therewith to be content. Nor can I expect to derive any immediate comfort from this present; but, as a testimony of respect and approbation, I exceedingly prize it: and there are few things which could have afforded me more pleasure, considering the principle from which the gift has sprung, and the various expressions of esteem and regard with which it has been accompanied.

“I feel also the unsectarian nature of this boon, as it has come from churchmen and dissenters, and from the various religious parties for whom I have often preached, and for whom I have always prayed, saying, * Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; * for, * whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my mother, and sister, and brother.*

“From the rank and office of some of the contributors, in Church and State, perhaps it may be expected, that there should be a more distinct acknowledgment. I am very willing to render to them the praise which is their due; but you will allow me to say, I have been most affected with the poor of my flock; and nothing will so long remain written on the fleshy table of my heart as the generosity of one individual who presented sixpence to one of my deacons, adding, * I only wish it were a hundred pounds.’

“I have only one thing more to add. I take this purse, and I present it to you, madam, {addressing Mrs. Jay, in whose hands he placed the purse, amidst the warm applause of the company,) — I present it to you, madam, who have always kept my purse, and, therefore, it has been so well kept. Consider it as entirely sacred to your pleasure, your use, your service, your comfort. I know this has been perfectly unexpected by you, but it is also perfectly deserved by you.

“Mr. Chairman, and my Christian friends, — There is not one here this morning but would acquiesce in this appropriation, if they knew the value of this female as a wife for more than fifty years; and if they knew also the obligation the public is under to her, if I have been enabled, in any measure and degree, to serve my generation; and how much her sex owe to one who always raised and confirmed my estimation of them; and especially how much my own church and congregation owe to one who has watched over their preacher’s health, who has cheered him under all his trials, who has reminded him continually of his duty, who has animated him in the prosecution of it, and who has freed him, when in her power, from every interruption and embarrassment, that he might be free in his work; and how much my family owe to her for aiding in training up a number of children, who will always call her blessed; and being the mother of another mother, who now resides in America, shining at the head of a lovely train of thirteen children, all walking with her in the way everlasting.”

After the delivery of Mr. Jay’s speech the following gentlemen addressed the meeting: the Rev. B. Elliott of Devizes, the oldest of Mr. Jay’s contemporaries then present, the Rev. J. G. Bedford of Winchester, a minister of the Established Church, the Bev. T. Haynes of Bristol, the Bev. T. East of Birmingham, W. T. Blair, Esq., the Bev. S. Martin of Cheltenham (since of London), and Edward Smith, Esq., of London.

The Bev. J. Jackson, of Tamiton, then gave out one of the hymns composed for the occasion by James Montgomery, Esq.; after which he pronounced the usual benediction, and dismissed the assembly.

p2

EVENING MEETING.

At the evening meeting in Argyle Chapel, Henry Godwin, Esq., was again called to the chair. On one side of the pulpit was placed a handsome stone pillar commemorative of Mr. Jay’s predecessor, the Rev. Thomas Tuppen, and of the erection of the chapel; and, on the other side of the pialpit, a corresponding pillar commemorating the fifty years’ pastorate of the Rev. W. Jay. The pillars are of Scotch granite beautifully polished, and surmounted by a bronze lamp. Prayer was offered by the Rev. John Glanville of Kingswood, and one of the hymns composed by Mr. Montgomery was sung by the congregation. The chairman then addressed the assembly as follows: —

“I believe the present meeting is assembled to praise God, and that praise will constitute the greater part of our employment this evening. We are also assembled for an object which must be familiar to most of our friends who are at all conversant with profane history. We know that the setting up of pillars and obelisks was very common in ancient times; and so early did the practice obtain in the world, that the period when the pyramids of Egypt and others were set up, has been the subject of dispute among historians; and, to the present day, there is a difficulty, if not an impossibility, of ascertaining how early the setting up of pillars might have begun in the profane world. We see them also in use in our own time. We have our Wellington pillars and our Nelson pillars, and our obelisks, and the crosses which we see at the roadside; and votive altars which are discovered in digging foundations for buildings in this neighbourhood, show us that the custom is ancient, and perhaps laudable. *” But these trophies, these obelisks, these pillars, were raised for mortal heroes to perpetuate the fame of those whose glory was in the field of battle, who carried carnage, with garments rolled in blood, through the world. They have been crowned indeed with the emblems of victory; but the victory has been attended with the sighs, the mourning, and the tears of widows and orphans. We are, however, assembled this evening to set up other pillars. We have a higher and a brighter object. We have to-night to set up peaceful emblems, — to follow examples recorded in the Scriptures as our authority for what we are about to do. I am sure that most of those who hear me now are familiar with some of the first pillars which were set up, such as that erected by Jacob on his journey to Padanaran. The pillar which he there set up produced an awful impression upon his mind, which constrained him to say, (and may we now and at all times, when we enter this sacred house, entertain similar feelings,) — * How awful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.’ A little of this feeling to-night, amidst all our joy and all our praise, will not be either inconvenient or inconsistent.

“There are other accounts in the Scriptures recording similar occurrences, such as the setting up of the twelve pillars by Moses in the wilderness. But there is a pillar spoken of in the Apocalypse which we all should think of; that is the pillar which is to be in heaven; the pillar that is to bear the temple there; the pillar that is to bear the inscription of the Christian’s name, and be placed in that city whence they shall no more go out. Oh! let us be more emulous than ever, that we may become the pillar that St. John saw in the temple, and that our names may be written upon it.”

Resolutions were then passed recording the events celebrated, and expressing the gratitude of the assembly for the successful and happy pastorate of the Rev. W. Jay through fifty years.

The speakers were the Rev. T. East of Birmingham, the Rev. W. Bunting of Manchester, the Rev. T. Haynes of Bristol, the Rev. S. Nichols, &c.

The younger members of the congregation having determined to take part in the celebration, presented their minister with a handsome gold medal and a silver salver. On one side the medal presents a likeness of Mr. Jay, with the following inscription: —

“The Rev. William Jay completed a Pastorate of Fifty Years, January 30, 1841.”

The reverse shows the front elevation of Argyle Chapel, with the inscription: —

“Argyle Chapel, Bath, Erected 1789.

First Enlargement, 1804.

Second Enlargement, 1821.”

The salver bears the following inscription: — “The Juvenile members of the church and congregation of Argyle Chapel present this salver, bearing a gold medal, commemorative of the event, as a tribute of affection to their highly-esteemed pastor, the Rev. William Jay, on the completion of the Jubilee of his ministerial labours, with the sincere hope that he may long be spared to them as their shepherd. — Bath, 30th Jan., 1841.”

This testimonial was presented by a deputation of the young people,, headed by Mr. King and Mr. Finigan. Mr. Jay then ascended the pulpit, and addressed his young friends as follows: —

“I feel more at home here, though not entirely so, amidst these peculiarities. Mr. Chairman and my dear young friends, — I little imagined I should have been called upon for a second address on this occasion. I feel entirely exhausted, not by exertion, but by emotion: for who ever endured such a persecution of kindness, and friendship, and honour, as I have endured this morning and evening?

“And yet I cannot complain of being called to this service. Yea, I ought to feel gratified and grateful in no ordinary degree. The token I have now received is enhanced and endeared by the very quarter from whence it comes. For the young are the hopes of our families, and of our churches, and of our country. On them we depend to fill all the sacred and civil departments in the community; for one generation passeth away, and another cometh, and none is suffered to continue by reason of death. But, O, could we see a larger number of the rising race coming forward as a seed to serve the Redeemer, who shall be accounted to him for a generation; — how would this gently loosen the cords of life, and enable us to say, ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.’ My dear young friends, — what a privilege — for I will not refer to it as a duty now — what 9. privilege is early piety! hence the language of Solomon which we so often quote, *I love them that love me, and they that seek me early shall find me;’ and which has so frequently adorned an early tomb. All that seek shall find. The force of this promise, therefore, must be considered comparatively. All alike find, but all do not find alike. Is there no difference between your finding Him now in the beginning of your journey, to guide you safely forward, and finding Him after wandering in wrong roads, and after being robbed and wounded by thieves, and having your strength worn out, and the shadows of the evening falling upon you?

Is there no difference, my young friends, between finding Him in the loveliness and cheerfulness of life, and finding Him * when the days and the years draw near wherein ye will say, we have no pleasure in them ‘? No difference between your finding Him in the health of your coimtenance and the vigour of your strength, and finding Him only when your bones will be filled with the sins of your youth, which lie down with you in the grave? No, none find Him like those that seek Him early. None find such peculiar acceptance with Him, none derive such distinguished privileges from Him. A thousand satisfactions and advantages are wanting in a late conversion which adorn and bless an earlier one. Take an old man; his conversion is of importance to himself; but what is it to others? His conversion secures him for eternity, but it is attended with no usefulness in life. He runs no race; he accomplishes no warfare; he gains no laurels; glorifies not God in his body and spirit; nor serves his generation according to the will of God.

“There is a proverb which you, perhaps, may have met with, which says, ‘Young saints prove old devils.’ I would rather reverse this, and say, that young saints often prove old angels. Read through the Scriptures; notice the history of Joseph, and Samuel, and David, and Daniel, and John, and Timothy. Read through the history of our godly ancestors. Remember the language of Beza in his will: ‘Lord,’ says he, * I thank thee, that, at the early age of sixteen, I was enabled to dedicate myself to thy service.’ Here the speaker could refer to his own experience, and perhaps it would not be improper on this occasion. My young friends, if he had not been cut off in the midst of his days, what a different figure would he have made at this time, had he been the victim of youthful vices! And I am persuaded that there is not a Christian here who is not, next to the salvation of his soul, more grateful for an early consecration to the service and glory of God.

“Now I presume that many of our young friends, who have joined in the testimony of respect, are already walking in the truth, and I can have no greater joy than to see this. But I hope this will be the case with all who have joined in this token of respect. Oh, my young friends, it would be sad, it would be dreadful, for any of you, after hdving comes forward thus to honour your minister now, to constrain him hereafter, on a more public occasion, to condemn you — to say. Lord, they are guilty: Lord, they have destroyed themselves. I instructed them; I warned them; I invited them; I besought them with tears to come unto Thee. But they turned away from Him that speaketh from heaven; they neglected so great salvation; they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. But I hope better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though I thus speak. And, O my young friends, who have thus favoured me, could I take many of you by the hand and lead you to the table of the Lord, it would afford me much more delight than the reception of this medal. And yet I do not undervalue this present; yea, I prize it, not only for the exquisite beauty of the workmanship, but for the sake of those who have presented it. It will remind me of you, my young friends, and lead me to remember you, too, for good.

“This medal you are aware cannot long remain in my possession; but it will, as our Chairman has remarked, serve as an heir-loom in my family; so that my children and my children’s children, when they look upon it, may prize it, and remember how long their father laboured within these walls, and how God smiled upon him, and was pleased to favour him to the last.

“Here are two pillars erected. Delicacy and my feelings will not allow me to refer to them. Indeed, the allusion would be unnecessary after the remarks which have been made by our chairman. But remember they are memorials. One of them is a memorial of my predecessor; the other, after a while, will be a memorial of myself. O, then, may I be enjoying Him above, while you are zealously serving Him below, and at last may we all unite in that blessed world where adieus and farewells will be a sound unknown! * O God, let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children: and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.’ Amen.”

The Rev. D. Wassell of Bath then gave out one of Mr. Montgomery’s hymns, and the Rev. W. Lucy of Bristol pronounced the usual benediction. The chairman then dismissed the assembly.

We subjoin the hymns composed for this interesting occasion by James Montgomery, Esq.

A blessing on our Pastor’s head,
Lord God, we fervently implore
On him, this day, a blessing shed,
For life, for death, for evermore.

For all that Thou in him hast wrought,
For all that Thou by him hast done,
Our warmest, purest thanks be brought,
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, thy Son.

To Thee he gave his flower of youth,
To Thee his manhood’s fruit he gave;
The herald of life-giving truth,
Dead souls from deathless death to save.

Forsake him not in his old age,
But while his Master’s cross he bears,
Faith be his staff on pilgrimage,
A crown of glory his grey hairs.

With holier zeal his heart enlarge,
Though strength decay, and sight grow dim,
While we, the people of his charge,
Still glorify thy grace in him.

So, when his warfare here shall cease,
By suffering perfected in love,
His ransomed soul shall join in peace
The church of the First-born above.

Hymn II.

Hallelujah! heart and voice.
Yielding all the praise to Thee,
Lord, the flock would now rejoice
In the Pastor’s Jubilee.

Hallelujah! heart and voice,
When the day of God they see.
All Christ’s sheep will thus rejoice,
Dn his own grand Jubilee.

Hallelujah! heart and voice.
Then in heaven one fold shall be.
And one Shepherd, — to rejoice
In eternal Jubilee.

The following letter from Mr. Montgomery, addressed to the chairman of the committee, H. Godwin, Esq., will appropriately conclude this account of the Jubilee celebration: —

“The Mount, Sheffield, Feb. 9th, 1841. -” Deak Friend, — Accept my best thanks for your packet and the accompanying newspaper, which duly arrived on Saturday. I do heartily congratulate you and your brethren, as well as your venerable pastor and his partner, on the happy celebration of his Jubilee Anniversary in Bath. I have read the proceedings both of the Sabbath and the Tuesday following with great delight; for yet, amidst all the strife, envy, and uncharitableness in churches, and between churches, so flagrant at this time, you have shown that there are occasions, and there may be found professors, when and of whom even an ungodly world can say, (reverence touching their hearts, and softening their tongues, while they utter the words) — ‘See how these Christians love one another! ‘Alas! how seldom is this exemplified! The record of your festival, however, will be hailed throughout the country, and perhaps through all Christendom, as a blessed evidence of a Philadelphian spirit yet living and breathing in a Laodicean age, when the suspended animation of lukewarmness is only disturbed by the hallucinations of that vain-boasting which says, * I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,’ when — you know where to look for the sequel, and what that is. * For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart,* says Deborah in her song, and she doubles the burthen of her lamentations, by adding, * For the divisions of Reuben there were searchings of heart.’ In the multitude of our thoughts within us, on our unhappy divisions, personal, domestic, and denominational, as Christians, may there be great searchings of our hearts, and trying of our ways, that we may turn again to the Lord, and to our Jlrst love, if we ever loved at all; for assuredly there is an awful apostasy from this, among and between every section of the catholic church in this land, — and the plague has extended its baleful influence even into the fields of missionary labours. But I must forbear, — the digression has not been wilful, but I was drawn into it insensibly, from feeling that the scene of holy harmony at Bath ought not to have been one of rare occurrence, but, more or less, of every-day felicity among our Saviour’s disciples, when and wherever they meet in His name and He is in the midst.

“I thought much of you on the two days, especially on the Tuesday, when the meetings — the love-feasts I ought to call them — were held, because with us the weather was tempestuous, and I feared that with you, if the visitation reached so far, many of your friends might he disappointed of the * hope deferred ’ which they were already cherishing when I was at Bath, fourteen months ago, of heing partakers and helpers of the joy of their brethren and companions, on the expected Jubilee of their venerated pastor’s ministry among their fathers already called to glory, and themselves, I trust, on their way thither, under the staff and rod of the Great Shepherd’s ministry to the flock of God in your neighbourhood, over which he has been so long a watchful and faithful overseer. It appears, however, that whatever storms might rage without, there was peace within, and as many to enjoy it as the rooms would contain.

“I am greatly indebted to Mrs. Godwin for the Jubilee-medallion — the workmanship of which seems to me admirable, the likeness of your good pastor excellent, and the simple register of dates, on either side, the most appropriate of inscriptions in such a case. It was a beautiful and affecting sequel to the solemnities of the Sabbath, and the festivities of the breakfast on Tuesday, that the children and the youth were allowed to bring their offerings of gratitude and love to the father in the gospel of both old and young in your church and congregation. I have only to add my heart’s desire and prayer to God for you all, that every one of the number of those who participated in the privileges of those two memorable days, may be finally associated in that place where, a thousand and ten thousand ages hence, each may remember, with adoring gratitude, the blessedness of those meetings on earth, which many of you, no doubt, felt to be an earnest and foretaste of the glory and felicities of that house of God eternal in the heavens,

* Where congregations ne’er break up,

And Sabbaths have no end.’

* *

“I am, your obliged friend and servant,

“J. Montgomery.”

A few days after this commemorative service the committee of the Bath Auxiliary Bible Society passed the following resolution, at a very full meeting, by an unanimous vote: —

“That this Committee, participating in the prevalent disposition of the Christian public to glorify God in the long course of consistent piety and extensive usefulness maintained for half a century in this city by the Rev. W. Jay, and fully appreciating the value of his unwavering attachment to the British and Foreign Bible Society, from its earliest formation — do appoint a deputation to wait upon him, and request his acceptance of the office of a Vice-president of the Bath Auxiliary.”

The deputation consisted of the Kev. John East, the mover of the resolution, W. T. Blair, R. Perfect, and W. Sutcliffe, Esqs. The interview was of the most cordial and pleasing description. Mr. Jay accepted the honour, and his name henceforward was placed on the list of Vice-presidents of the Bath Auxiliary.

In the year 1845 Mr. Jay experienced a severe trial in the death of Mrs. Jay. She expired, Oct. 14 of this year, in the 79th of her age. From the time of her first seizure, which Mr. Jay has sufficiently described in his Autobiography, and which took place in the year 1830, she never recovered the full use of her faculties, and, as age produced greater weakness, she gradually sank under the power of disease, so that at length it became impossible to hold intelligent conversation with her. She continued, however, to attend the house of God through a great part of her affliction, but it was doubtful whether she understood anything. She seemed sometimes to recognize the persons of those about her, but generally reversed everything, calling a son a daughter, and a daughter a son. With much confusion of memory she would speak of things which took place long before her illness. Even as early as the year 1834 Mr. Jay said, in a letter to Mrs. Bolton, that her mother was often very low on her account, and adds, “You will suppose I have no little engagement in attending to her in her advancing infirmities, and her almost total absence of employment and amusement.^^ Again, in a letter written in 1837 to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, then in America, he says,” Your dear mother grows feebler with years. I think also she gets blimter in apprehension, and more perplexed in speech.” In April, 1840, speaking of other members of his family, he says,” They have more leisure and opportunity than I have.

with SO many things pressing upon me alone, which your precious mother formerly divided with me, or, rather, entirely took from me.” In October, 1841, he says, “Your invaluable mother gets very feeble, and a short walk soon fatigues her, and she is no stranger to lowness, especially in thinking of death. This is, I believe, a frequent case with those who are best prepared for it. But she does not and cannot complain of any want of esteem, and love, and attention, even to devotedness, from all that are about her, and, with regard to myself, she seems to get dearer every day,”

Some months after her decease he expressed himself thus: — “There is not a day, nor hardly an hour, in which I do not think of your inestimable mother; and though she was getting increasingly helpless, yet still I had her, and delighted to attend her. I now feel very solitary, and often sad, from my social disposition and long experience of such a companion, and as privations and infirmities are likely to increase.”

To have watched and attended her so many years under this painful affliction, and with so much tenderness and constancy, under his own advancing years, must have been a heavy burden, and a severe discipline for his heart. But his Christian excellency shone the brighter through this dark domestic cloud. At length it passed away, when her sorrowful spirit was emancipated from the bonds of mortality, and preceded her beloved and faithful companion to the realms of perfect and unending bliss.

In the following year he wrote thus to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton:” You blame me for not writing, but did you know what I have felt (yet how strange!) at the thought of writing since, as it would necessarily turn much upon my great affliction, you would perhaps blame me less. I have yet answered no one. I physically felt the more as other afflictions preceded it; and I was nearly five weeks confined from air and exercise by my accident; so that my strength was lowered, and my spirits broken, -when I was called to surrender one who had been my honour, my comfort, my happiness, for fifty-five years. I need not enlarge upon her worth to you. You know I could not say too much of her as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a woman, a Christian.’^

“What a mild season! My garden already begins to bud forth. How many rose-trees do you imagine I have? Five thousand four hundred and one. How fond I get of flowers! I lately heard of a pious female who, dying, said,” I am going to a land of peace and flowers.^’ Yes —

“There everlasting spring abides,
And never- withering flowers.”

‘’ Well! in that happy region is now, and soon we

shall follow. Oh for grace while we live, to live unto the Lord, and when we die, ‘to die unto the Lord!’ ^’

Referring to the same topic in another letter, he says,” We rejoice to find that you are so improved in health, and are looking forward, with glowing hope and pleasure, to an interview in the spring — lamenting only that time will turn the visit into a vision. One mighty loss you will feel and deplore, though on her account we ought to be more than resigned — freed as she is from the burden of the flesh and growing infirmities. There is not a day but I have her variously in remembrance.’^

Early in the year 1846 Mr. Jay received a deeply interesting testimony of affectionate respect and gratitude from one class of his congregation, whose welfare, both for this life and that to come, he had often laboured to promote: these were the female servants. They united their humble offerings together, and presented to him a silver sugar-basin, stating simply, — that it came from many attached female servants in connexion with the church and congregation.

Mr. Jay’s reply is as follows: —” Mr. Jay will thank Mary Rogers to communicate to the kind domestics, who with herself have testified their regard by presenting him with a piece of plate; — First, that he is much pleased with the utensil itself, and admires its form and simple elegance. Secondly, that he much values it as to the quarter jfrom which it comes. From no class of his hearers would it have been so welcome. He has, as is well known, always avowed the obligations we are under to good servants, and has always pleaded for their rights. Thirdly, that he is peculiarly thankful, that, while they afford him this token of their esteem, they also acknowledge their having derived spiritual benefit from his labours, and that he has not preached among them in vain.

“He prays and hopes that his services may continue to be acceptable and profitable; and that they who have contributed to this ’ work and labour of love,’ may unceasingly * serve the Lord Christ; ’ and at last hear from our one Master in heaven, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,’

“‘Honour and shame from no condition rise:
Act well your part, — there all the honour lies.’

“He now desires each of the servants to accept one of his publications, inscribed with their names and with his own. This will aid their remembrance of him, when the lips upon which they now hang will be silent in the grave; and by this, he ’ being dead,’ may yet be speaking.

“He gladly subscribes himself their grateful and affectionate Pastor, “Bath, Jan. 7, 1846.”

Mary Rogers is still living, and mourning the loss of her beloved master and pastor. She was an ancient and most valuable servant in his family.

Mr. Jay some years since preached a funeral sermon for a female servant; upon which occasion he observed, that there were two things which caused religious servants to be too generally disliked. The first was their fondness for religious gossiping, or cronyism, which made them regardless of their time, &c. And, secondly, their aptness to carry their equality as Christians into their secular stations, and to use an unbecoming familiarity, instead of a dutiful respect, to their masters and mistresses.

In the year 1846, Mr. Jay having been for some time a widower, and having all his children removed to a distance from him, deemed it desirable to change his state. He chose as his future partner Miss Head, an excellent and pious lady, with whose parents he had early become acquainted through the introduction of his friend and tutor Mr. Winter, who was much attached to them on account of their Christian zeal and liberality. Mr. Jay preached and published the funeral sermon for Mrs. Head. Miss Head was the last surviving member of this family, and the marriage which took place was not only with the entire approbation of all Mr. Jay’s family, but appeared to them, as well as to himself, kindly ordered in Providence to promote the comfort of his latter days. He always referred to it with the liveliest gratitude to God. The ceremony was performed September 2, 1846, at the Congregational chapel. Worthing, Sussex. In the year 1847 Mr. Jay proposed to obtain permanent assistance in his ministerial labours; and, with a view to such an arrangement, Mr. R. A. Vaughan preached for a period of three months with much acceptance. At the expiration of that period he received a unanimous invitation to become assistant-minister at Argyle Chapel. He accepted the invitation, and entered upon his stated duties in April, 1848, and continued to discharge them tni March, 1850, when he resigned, and removed to Birmingham. In the autumn of this year Mr. Jay wrote thus: —

“I cannot do things so quickly and easily as I once could, and feel a growing reluctance to exertion. I must, therefore, be judged of, not by my former, but present self, at going on for eighty-two, and feeling, in a degree, Solomon’s description, — * the grasshopper is a burden,’ and desire fails. Yet I do what I can in my own old work; and, I assure you, friends are not disposed to spare me. “We are yet at sea with regard to an assistant; but I hope the Lord will provide, as I want to effect a settlement and retire.”

Towards the end of the year 1851 he expressed his sense of growing infirmity and anticipation of the coming trial in his owu peculiar manner, thus: —

“As to myself, I am as well as I can expect to be during the remnant of my advanced life. God has two kinds of duty for us — the active and liG passive — ‘for they also serve that wait;’ and I expect to find the latter more trying than the former: but his grace is sufficient for us.”

In the spring of 1852 the Rev. Dr. Johns, Rector of Christ Church, Baltimore, paid a visit to this country, and through his acquaintance with the Rev. R. Bolton, obtained an introduction to Mr. Jay, and a temporary sojourn in his house. In a letter to Mr. Bolton he gives the following interesting account of that visit: —

“We arrived in Bath on Saturday, June 26, 1852, and were kindly welcomed by your aged relative, then, I believe, in his eighty-third year. I can never forget the sentiments with which his form and face, his dignified and easy manner, filled me. He was not entirely well, however; and having to preach on the ensuing day, excused himself at an early hour, saying, * I must retire into the wilderness. I must pump a while. You, in travelling, need not do so, but I must.’

“I asked him if he was in the habit of preaching from notes? ‘From catch words, on a slip of paper,’ he answered; ’ but I wish I had never used even these, for the memory is like a true friend, it loves to be trusted.* This remark made a deep impression on me at the time, and I resolved to treasure it for the benefit of others. He informed me that he endeavoured to select his text on Monday morning, stating that by so doing he could meditate upon it all the week. ‘But,’ said he, ’ no clergyman ought to study on Saturday, but should allow his mind perfect rest at that time.’ He approved of formal divisions in sermons, and said his rule was to have about five. His opinion was that they aided the memory of the hearer, and made the subject of the sermon more open and clear. Referring to the Calvinistic system, he said it was a thing to be held, not formally preached. His idea seemed to be that it should leaven the whole character of the pastor and preacher, but not be urged dogmatically.

“In a subsequent conversation, he alluded to the Rev. John Newton, with whom he had been intimately acquainted, and spoke of him with all the warmth of an early friendship, and observed that he surpassed all

Q the ministers of the gospel he had ever known, in the variety and solidity of his qualifications for the sacred office. Alluding to the Rev. Mr. Romaine, he observed that he was a good man, hut a high churchman. Mr. Romaine, he went on to say, once remarked to him, that at the beginning of his ministry he could only count fifty evangelical clergy in the Establishment, but that he could then name five hundred.

“Referring to the present prospects of the English church, he freely gave it as his opinion that the evangelical clergy would carry the day, as they were not only increasing more rapidly than the opposite class, but were more active and enterprising. He said that when he first came to Bath sixty years ago, there was scarcely a clergyman in the Established Church there who preached the gospel. ‘Now,’ says he, ‘there are few here who do not preach it.’ He alluded, in terms of deep regret, to the disposition evinced by many of the evangelical clergy to withdraw from the free and aflfectionate associations which they formerly cultivated with the dissenting ministers. He said, he thought he noticed a change in this matter, and noticed it with sorrow, and appeared to think both would be losers by it. I informed him the same thing was true of the United States, and that we mourned over it.

“On Sunday, June 27th, I heard Mr. Jay preach in the morning in Argyle Chapel. His text was. Psalm cxix. v. 17. ‘Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.’ The passage had been sent to him by a friend with a request that he would preach from it. He made it the basis of an examination of the question, — When may the Christian be said to be in a safe state? or rather. What may be considered a safe state? His heads of discourse were something like the following: —

“1. When the person is under the influence of a deep concern for his spiritual welfare.

“2. A sound conviction of the exposure to which the soul is ever subjected in its journey through this world.

“3. An abiding conviction of our liability to spiritual injury arising from our weakness.

“4. An unfailing confidence in the faithfulness and ability of God our Saviour to make and keep us safe.

“5. A spirit of earnest prayer, and a devout reliance through it upon God.

“Mr. Jay’s manner was calm, and his voice clear and distinct. His object seemed to be to show the sinner’s weakness on the one hand, and his safety on the other; and these points, sustained from Scripture, were also illustrated by one or two quaint but very forcible anecdotes. No one

but a person of his age could have used them with advantage; but with his peculiar manner they told with great effect upon the audience, reminding me of Bishop Latimer’s favourite style. I have never heard more of the gospel in a single sermon; and in reply to the inquiries of American friends, as to whose preaching I liked best of all I heard while in England and Scotland, my answer has uniformly been, ‘The old preacher at Bath, whom you all know as the author of the “Morning and Evening Exercises.”’ His sermon was full of Christ, discriminating and searching, while in point of style I did not notice a sentence ’ out of joint,’ from the beginning to the end, and it was an hour in delivery.

“On the ensuing Monday morning, as we were gathered around the breakfast table in the library-room, good, kind Mrs. Jay presiding, and by her gentle hospitality making the stranger feel as if he were at home, instead of 3000 niiles from it, an incident occurred which I noticed with pleasure. He inquired of his niece, Miss Jay, if she recollected the text of a sermon she had heard at Ventnor the previous week, and he continued to inquire until the young lady gave it to him. I suspect it was his custom with the young, and was designed to show his desire that they should retain what they had heard. Few opportunities of doing good to souls around him, were allowed to pass unimproved; and yet so cheerful, and at times even playful, was his manner, that there was nothing morose or forbidding about him, or calculated to do other than attract even the youngest.

“I cannot omit speaking of his remarkable solemnity in conducting family-worship. He read the Scriptures with an emphasis, and expounded as he passed on; whilst in the prayer he seemed to carry all along with him. I do not think there were any with us who could have been much troubled with wandering thoughts. He seemed to chain each heart to his own, and to draw the whole to the Saviour’s feet. His accents appear, even now, almost to sound in my ears, as I revert to those sweet and blessed moments.

“Conversing with Mr. Jay seemed like speaking with a past age. He had seen and known and heard nearly all the distinguished men in both Church and State, for more than sixty years; and as his memory was. fresh, in reference to early incidents, he described Whitfield and his contemporaries, with the leaders in parliament, and in all the important movements of benevolence, with a minuteness and graphic power that no studied writer could well give to them. How few have lived so long, and lived through an age so abundant in events so deeply interesting to the Christian! As I gazed upon this venerable man, and thought of his longq2 extended labours, both in the pulpit and through the press, and then anticipated what has since occurred, his entrance to our Master’s presence above, I could scarcely contain my emotions. God be praised for such a life; yet when removed from earth, what a blank is left! Be it ours, my dear brother, to follow him as he followed Christ, and to strive to imitate his meekness and fidelity, his love of souls, and his enlarged interest in the cause of Christ.

“Truly and affectionately, your friend and brother,
To the Rev. R. Bolton. Henry V. D. Johns.”

On Lord’s-day morning, July 25, 1852, Mr. Jay preached what proved to be, though unexpected at the time, his last sermon, in Argyle Chapel, from the text, Ps. lxiii. 1, 2:” O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee, my soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is: to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary .^^ The preacher was in his usual health, and none who heard him supposed they were listening to his last address from that pulpit. A few of the closing sentences we insert as a beautiful specimen of the interesting and impressive manner in which he terminated his faithful testimony among his people.

“But I dare say you think it is time for me to conclude, and my age and weakness tell me the same. I therefore hasten to a close, by observing one thing only; that is, experience is both alarming and encouraging. It is very alarming to those of you who are strangers to it. And this is the case with many who are very familiar with the means of grace. ‘You come as God’s people come;’ that is, if you do come to God’s house — but no further. You come from curiosity or custom, or to comply with the desires of your connexions, or to appease conscience; not to please God, and to hold communion with Him. You have never come — you know you have not — to see His power and His glory. You never prayed for it before you came; you never examine yourselves when you go there, whether you have enjoyed Him. Oh! it is awful to think what a length of time this has been the case with some of you. Five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years, without one effectual religious movement! Dear hearers, what will these means of grace do for you? You will never hear to purpose till you so hear that your souls may live. You, singers, if you do not sing with melody in your hearts to the Lord here, you will not be found among the blissful number of those who shall celebrate His praises in the courts above. And you, hearers of the gospel, if you are hearers only, you are deceiving your own souls; and this word of life will only be to you * a savour of death unto death.’ You worshippers, if you ‘draw nigh to God with your lips, and honour Him with your mouth, while your heart is far from Him,’ and you do not worship Him who is a Spirit in spirit and in truth, you will pass on from possessing a name and a place among the people of God here, to that place reserved for hypocrites and unbelievers. May you * seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near! ’

“But some of you can say with the psalmist, —

“‘I ‘ve seen Thy glory and Thy power
Through all Thy temple shine;
My God, repeat that heavenly hour.
That vision so divine!’

Let the pleasure of former experience increase your expectation. May you ever repair to His temple, humbly believing that you shall be satisfied with the goodness of God’s house, * and made to drink of the water of life.’ And then you shall soon see God in the sanctuary above! And, oh, what a sight will that be! How satisfying! how beatifying! how eternal! —

“*If such the sweetness of the streams,
“What will the fountain be.
Where saints and angels draw their bliss
Immediately from Thee! ’

Then, with all the redeemed, you shall be before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. * They shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’ *Ah!’ said Philip Henry, ‘If this be heaven, oh! that I were there!’”

HIS ILLNESS AND RESIGNATION OF THE PASTORATE.

After this service he went to Worthing to enjoy his usual relaxation, but was seized with alarming illness. His friend and physician, Dr. Bowie, hastened to attend him, and he was removed to his own house with as much speed and care as possible. To his attendants he then said, ‘^ I am going homey to go home.’’ After a few weeks, his sufferings were alleviated, and he then resolved to resign his pastorate. He accordingly addressed the following brief but pathetic letter to his people.

Bath, October 5, 1852.
“To the Church of Christ assembling in Argyle Chapel.
“To the deacons and all the members of the church.
” My most dearly beloved, —

“I had fully intended to send from Worthing an official intimation of the resignation of my pastorate, January next; a measure to which my mind has been brought by various considerations and proprieties of things; but a dreadful and painful assault of disorder prevented my doing anything. As soon as possible, I now thus announce officially what I then intended, and had mentioned to my deacons before. Had I my usual ability I should do this in a very different manner; but you must now excuse a want of enlargement, dictated by extreme depression and weakness.

‘* The Lord bless and direct you, and enable you to preserve the union, and harmony, and prosperity, and reputation of a church which has been exemplary in the world, endeared by the affectionate and happy connexion of more than sixty-three years to your now resigning pastor, Upon this a meeting was held on October 30th, at which the following resolution was passed: —

*’ That this church, in receiving the intended resignation, on the 30th of January next, (the day of his ordination,) of its revered and beloved Pastor, devoutly acknowledges the goodness of God in permitting it the distinguished privilege of enjoying a ministry so faithful, valued, and eminently useful, for a lengthened period of sixty- three years; and, while it deeply sympathizes with him in his present affliction, prays with submission, he may be restored, occasionally to preach the * gospel of the grace of God; * and that, when his labours shall close, an entrance may be ministered unto him abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour. That it also traces with gratitude to the same Divine source, the unanimity and peace which have hitherto marked its history; and while it would seek to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, prays that the great Head of the Church may afford it wisdom and guidance in the appointment of a successor to the venerable “William Jay.”

CHOICE OF A SUCCESSOR.

Early in the year 1853, among other persons who came to supply the pulpit at Argyle Chapel, was the Rev. William Henry Dyer, of West Bromwich, Staffordshire. After a suitable season of probation, the choice of the majority of the church fell upon Mr. Dyer; and although there was a respectable minority, among whom was Mr. Jay, who dissented from the choice, yet the church asserted its right of election, and determined to give Mr. Dyer an invitation to the pastorate. This occurred in the month of April, and shortly after Mr. Dyer accepted the invitation, and took upon him the oversight of the church and congregation. A division ensued, and a separate church has been since formed, under the ministry of the Rev. Richard Brindley, for whom a new chapel is now in course of erection. This event was the occasion at the time of considerable uneasiness and even pain to Mr. Jay; but in this, as in many other instances, the Great Head of the church has overruled the infirmities and differences of his servants for the trial of their faith in Him, and for the furtherance of his own gracious designs to the world and the church.

It was, in one respect, painful, that a church which had been so long distinguished by its harmony, should be divided; and especially so that its venerable pastor should be called to witness

the division. But, in another view, it was time for so large and flourishing a body to colonize. The storm often bears precious seed to new fields; and both persecutions and disagreements have been among the means of scattering the good seed of the kingdom more widely. Two ministers of the Gospel are now labouring in the place of one, and it is to be hoped that both will gather fruit unto eternal life; and that, while intent upon the one object which filled the mind and inspired the heart of their venerable predecessor, their people will respectively forget their differences, and strive, if not together, yet separately, for the furtherance of the Gospel in the populous city where their lot is cast.

LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH.

As early as the year 1844 the complaint which proved fatal to Mr. Jay, had begun to manifest itself, but for some time it did not materially interrupt his labours either from the pulpit or the press. He continued to bear up calmly and energetically, notwithstanding occasional seasons of weakness and attacks of pain. But about a year previous to his last sickness, came on the severe attack at Worthing already noticed. From this his recovery was only partial and temporary. Yet, in the spring and summer of the following year, (1853), he was enabled to take short journeys, and enjoy a little of the society of his friends. During this period he visited Bradford,. and preached several times there and at Bratton, between April and the end of August. Early in September he visited Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, and preached at the opening of Lord Ducie’s new chapel at Tortworth, from John xx. 16. “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say. Master !^^ Again, the following Sunday, Sept. 11, he preached at Tortworth, from Ps. cxxxvii. 4.

^’ In the next week,’’ says Mr. Rice Hopkins,” he came ta spend a few days at the house of his old Mend Mr. Long (my father-in-law), at Kingswood, near Wotton-under-Edge, and I was there to meet him. Although frequently suffering much pain, he was remarkably cheerful, and every day rode or walked out, and visited several friends in the neighbourhood. On the following Sabbath (Sept. 18) he preached in Kingswood meeting-house, and that was the last time he ever preached. The sermon occupied fifty minutes, and was delivered with great pathos. You will be able to form some idea of its contents from the following brief heads. The text was taken from the fortieth chapter of Job and part of the fourth verse, Behold, I am vile.^ ‘’

In his introduction he remarked that self-knowledge is of inestimable importance. Even the heathens used to say that the adage, ‘’ Know thyself,’^ was descended from heaven. Truly has Mr. Pope said, that the proper study of mankind is man.’* Having briefly enlarged upon this topic, and pointed out the importance of every man being fully acquainted with his own character and prospects, he proceeded to consider the subject of the text, and noticed,

I. The nature of the self-accusation — ‘^ I am vile.’’

1. What it included. Vile signifies base, mean, despicable, worthless; and it can only be applied to that which is sinful.

2. The person by whom it was uttered. It was not by a notorious sinner, nor by a penitent brought for the first time to a conviction of his sin; nor by a backslider returning to God; but by Job, an eminently pious man.

3. The time when it was uttered. It was after he had had manifestations of the glory of God.

II. The way in which this perception of vileness is obtained.

1. The Spirit of God operating upon the mind.

2. The medium is the Word of God, convincing of sin, and showing the spirituality of the Law of God.

3. The manner is sometimes instantaneous, but niore commonly gradual.

III. The effects of this perception.

1. Conviction of sin.

2. A sense of our own inability to save ourselves.

3. A conviction of the necessity of salvation by Jesus Christ.

4. A persuasion of the importance of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

5. Candour, and tenderness in judging of the faults of others.

6. Hatred to sin, and an increasing desire of holiness.

IV. The way to endure this perception.

1. Are you vile? This vileness is not peculiar to yourself.

2. Are you vile? If a Christian, you are only vile considered in yourself, but not in Christ Jesus.

3. The time will soon come when this vileness will be done away.

“Yet a season, and you know
Happy entrance will be given,
All your sorrows left below,

And earth exchanged for heaven.”

Christians, is not this worth dying for?

These were the last words of the last sermon preached by the venerated deceased, he being then in his eighty-fifth year.

Upon his return to Bath, after the visit to his children and friends, he wrote thus to Mrs. Ashton: —

“We arrived here in safety about two hours before yours and dear Garfit’s letters came to hand. You are mistaken in supposing I am returned so much better than I went. I behaved as well as I could; but I felt exceedingly weak, and suffered more than usual from my complaint, and do suffer. But I valued and enjoyed the visit. How could it be otherwise, when every attention was exquisitely paid me, as if I had been a prince royal; and I was in the midst of such a family as I never witnessed. I was often, from indisposition and suffering, in a mood to find fault, but not one thing could I censure, — yea, I kept applauding.

“As well as weakness and pain would allow, I preached with freedom and pleasure in the new chapel, and was much pleased with my visit to the new Earl and his Lady. I daily rode out, drawn by the ponies, and was much amused in feeding them. Mr. Long and Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins were unusually kind and attentive, as if they thought (not an unreasonable conclusion) that this might be my last visit. Bath, Sept. 19, 1853.”

From the date of this letter till about Christmas, he suffered much anguish of body, but was occasionally able to read and write a little. As his sufferings permitted, he attended to the printing and publishing of his last work, entitled, ‘’ Female Scripture Biography,” the last sheet of which was corrected and sent to the press only on Friday, December 23rd, 1853; and on Tuesday, the 27th, at half-past six in the evening, he calmly slept in Jesus.

He had never laid much stress upon death-bed experiences, and used to say, “Tell me not how he died, but how he lived.” Without entering, therefore, into a lengthened detail of his last days and hours, we may yet put on record a few of his memorable and emphatic words, which will enable his numerous friends to realize, in some measure, the character of the last scenes. The acuteness of his sufferings sometimes gave a tinge of melancholy to his utterances; but these were the groanings of the creature waiting to ‘’be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

In his various conversations, particularly with Mrs. Jay, he said, “Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he will put strength in me.” “He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him; but he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” “And now. Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee. I know, O Lord, that all thy judgments are right.”

“The sharpest sufferings I endure flow from his faithful care.”

“What are all my sufferings here when once compared with His?”

“Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” &c. O, blessed prediction, and how gloriously fulfilled! “He sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,”

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

“Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,”

“Jesus, thy perfect righteousness
My beauty is, my glorious dress;
‘Midst flaming worlds, in this array ‘d,

With joy shall I lift up my head.”

“Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thyself I cling.”

On another occasion he expressed his feelings thus: — “But I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” “O my God, give me patience; forsake me not, a poor sinner. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto I have declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not.” Adding, in the words of the hymn,

“Even down to old age my people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs their temples adorn,,
Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

Afterwards he exclaimed, “Exceeding great and precious

promises! ■: r:

“* Sooner all nature shall change,
Than one of his promises fail.’”

On another occasion, when one of his attendants was reading to him, as was the constant practice, a certain speculative work on theology, which was then occasioning much controversy, was mentioned, he said,” Dont puzzle yourselves with such subjects. View God as he is, infinitely holy, wise, true, merciful, gracious, amiable. View him not as a tyrant, but as he is, God of all grace. Look entirely to him at all times, and under all circumstances. He is ever waiting to be gracious. He changeth not. He is ’ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.^ ‘*

One day, while suffering under great bodily distress, he said, “I fear God has forsaken me. Let me not be impatient; let me repose in his love. I fear I am impatient. Mrs. Jay replied,” Think of the feelings of your precious Saviour: like you, he said, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ He has promised never to forsake you. His grace is sufficient for you.’’ He then replied, “I mourn, I do not murmur. ‘It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.’ I desire to lie passive, and know no will but his. ‘In patience possess ye your souls.’ Lay no more upon me than Thou wilt enable me to bear; and I will glorify Thee in my sore affliction.”

“* Dear Lord! though bitter is the cup

Thy gracious hand deals out to me,

I cheerfully would drink it up;

That cannot hurt that comes from thee... -.;

Dash it with thy unchanging love.

Let not a drop of wrath be there;

The saints for ever blest above

Were often most afflicted here.

From Jesus, thy incarnate Son,

I learn obedience to thy will;

And humbly kiss thy chastening rod,

When its severest strokes 1 feel.’ “The language of the publican/^ he said,” did, does, and ever will, befit me; and even down to death must be my cry, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner/

“* Mercy, good Lord, mercy I ask,
This is the total sum;
Mercy through Christ is all my suit;
Lord, let thy mercy come.’

“I do not murmur — allow me to groan. It seems to ease my pain. Objects most dear and attractive now fail to interest. O for a grateful heart! I have made some little stir in life, but now 1 am nothing. God seems to be saying, I can do without you.^ An official character is not to be judged of by his ministerial work. He is compelled often to administer comfort to others when he is, perhaps, not enjoying it himself. You see the sail, but not the ballast.”

On Christmas-day his sufierings were very severe, and he said to Dr. Bowie, “O Doctor, what a Christmas-day! but I can say, ‘Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift;’” and then he quoted 1 Pet. i. 3, 4, 5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time! ‘^ He was particularly partial to the hymn,” Guide me, O thou great Jehovah! ‘’ often repeated it, and especially the last verse —

“When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side:

Songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee.”

He was most intensely alive to every attention paid to him by any one, and grateful for it. With peculiar pathos, never to be forgotten, he one day said to his faithful servant who sat up with him, along with his affectionate wife, who never left him, —” Thank you, Ellen; be very tender and kind to your precious mistress. May the Lord bless you! *’

On the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 27th, the day of his death, he said, Oh, none of you know what it is to die.^’ From this time he spoke little, but sank gradually into the arms of death, becoming so stiQ and calm that the precise period of his departure could not be perceived. Though he uttered but few words on the bed of death, yet there was the silent testimony of a settled peace; while his long life and entire labours had afforded a faithful and consistent witness for God and Truth.

THE FUNERAL SERVICE AND INTERMENT.

In accordance with the wishes of Mr. Jays widow and the other members of his family, it was determined that the funeral should be as private as possible.*

* Mr. Asliton, as Mr. Jay’s son-iu-law, legal adviser, and executor, attended and directed the obsequies of his venerable relative. On the very day following his return to his residence at Cambridge, after the affecting and exciting scenes at Bath, he was smitten by an alarming attack of paralysis; from the severity and peril of which he was somewhat recovered, when he was suddenly overtaken by the most afflictive bereavement which a husband can be called to endure. On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 19th, 1854, Mrs. Ashton, while walking in those beautiful grounds which she had herself planned, and every tree and shrub of which was planted by her own hand, or under her direction, was taken suddenly ill. She hastened into the house, and medical aid was instantly sent for, but before it arrived the vital spark was extinct. She expired in the room and before the eyes of her suffering husband. Thus abruptly was this superior and excellent woman snatched from an earthly paradise which she had embellished by her taste, and animated by her presence. Along those walks, and amidst

The interment took place on the 2nd of January, 1854, in the vault which had been prepared many years before for members of his family previously deceased, in the cemetery at Snow Hill, belonging to Argyle Chapel.

The service was conducted by the E-ev. John Owen, minister of the Vineyard Chapel, in the connexion of the late Countess of Huntingdon. In the course of the funeral oration Mr. Owen paid the following tribute of affectionate respect to the memory of Mr. Jay: —

“In referring to our departed friend, whether we regard him as a believer in Christ, as a minister of the everlasting Gospel, as a pastor of a Christian church for so long a period, as a philanthropist, as an author, as a citizen, or as a friend, we cannot hut sorrow, — but most of all that we shall see his face no more on earth. There are circumstances, we admit, my dear friends, which greatly soothe our pain under the loss we have sustained, and which tend to moderate our regret, and to chasten our grief on this occasion, when we call to mind the early commencement and lengthened period of his religious course, — the remarkable and increasing acceptableness and usefulness of his ministrations, — the variety and unique excellence of his published works; — when we look at the unsullied purity of his moral character, when we reflect on his peaceful end, and think of his present blessedness in the presence of Jehovah, — there is much, my. brethren, to soothe our griefs. We mourn, but not on his account. No! He has fought the good fight, he has finished his course, he has kept the faith, and has now joined the general assembly and church of the First-born

those shrubberies, she had often led her beloved father, under whose smiles and in whose presence they appeared still more interesting and lovely. Both have now disappeared from the fairy-land, to meet and unite, we trust, in a fairer, happier Eden.

The bereaved, afflicted husband still remains in this lovely spot to converse with the reminiscences of “joys departed never to return” here but to be renewed and surpassed in the society of those loved ones where neither death nor sin can enter. May the Divine Comforter grant him, in his solitary and mournful hours, many bright hopes and blissful anticipations of an union in the celestial paradise with all that was most dear to him here.

which are written in heaven; he is with the spirits of just men made perfect. He is with the Saviour he loved, the Saviour he proclaimed, and will be with him for ever.

“And yet we cannot but mourn on our own account. We suffer a loss — a great loss — by his removal from our midst. We lose his wise counsels, his instructive example, his ready co-operation, his tender sympathy, and his fervent intercessions, and therefore we mourn. Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, and we may weep at the grave of the venerated Jay. His name will for ever be imprinted on my memory. For fifty years I have known it: for forty in connexion with religion, for thirty-five as a fellow-minister of the Gospel, and especially during ’ the last twenty-five have I regarded him as a son would regard connexion with his father. From my first taking up my residence in this city to the last day of his life, there was never a mis-thought or a mis- word between us, and, therefore, I cannot but mourn his loss on my own account. But how can we best express the sincerity of our grief, and manifest our tender regard for his meniory? Why, by embracing the blessed truths which he so long proclaimed, by following the course he pointed out from the pulpit, and recommended through the press, — by devoting ourselves to the service of the Lord, — by imitating his excellence, — and by seeking, through faith in Christ and dependence on the Holy Spirit, to attain that rest into which he has entered, and to be with him for ever in the presence of God and of the Lamb. In order to this we must have an interest in God our Saviour and Sanctifier; and then, while we stand mourning at the tomb of our departed friend and father, we may yet, in the triumphant language of the Apostle, say, * 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 unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

“I shall not attempt to refer to the loss sustained by the bereaved relations who are present, and those who are absent, because of the near approach of the solemn service in which our revered friend from Birmingham, (the Rev. J. A. James) who is with us this morning, will take part; and when, aided by the Spirit of God, he will off’er such instruction and consolation as may render the removal of our beloved friend of advantage to our souls.”

The day of interment was one of the most inclement in a winter of extraordinary severity, yet a train of mourning friends, members of his own church, with many from other denominations, joined of their own accord in the sable procession, to pay

R this last tribute of aflPectionate respect and esteem to the memory of the aged pastor; and regardless of the drifting snow and piercing wind, to drop a silent tear at his grave, while many a sorrowful heart devoutly exclaimed,” My father! my father! The chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof !^^ But for the wishes of the family to make the obsequies as unostentatious as possible, a large number of ministers, both from the city of Bath and the neighbouring towns, would gladly have been present on the mournful occasion to do honour to the memory of the deceased. Many of the houses and shops in the line of the procession gave evidence to the sympathy of the inhabitants by their closed windows; while, within the cemetery, a large concourse, despite the severity of the weather, had assembled to witness the interment.

The Bev. John Owen, after the address from which we have given an extract, offered an impressive prayer, and having pronounced the apostolic benediction, the funeral procession was reformed, and the mourners left the ground. Then the hundreds, who had congregated to behold the mortal remains of William Jay consigned to their last resting-place, flocked into the little building to gaze upon his coffin, and slowly and sorrowfully the assembled multitude dispersed.

The inscription on the coffin was as follows: — Rev. William Jay,

DIED

27th December, 1853,
Aged 84 Years.

On the following Thursday evening, Jan. 5th, the funeral sermon was preached in the Vineyard Chapel by the Bev. John Angell James, from 2 Kings ii. 14,” Where is the Lord God ol Elijah r

Funeral sermons were also preached on the occasion, in Argyle Chapel on the following Lord’s-day, by the Bev. James

Sherman of London, and the Rev. W. H. Dyer; also by the Rev. Richard Brindley, to the separate congregation worshipping pro tempore in the Assembly-room.

Thus closed the lengthened earthly career of this eminent servant of Christ, who, through the period of siaty -three years, faithfully discharged his ministerial commission, and diligently served his generation, in a city distinguished indeed by its fashion and gaiety, but yet not wholly insensible to the attractions of his eloquent and evangelic labours.

Whatever may be the monument which shall be raised to perpetuate the memory of so good, so great, and so useful a man; and whatever may be the terms of just eulogy which the hand of affection may inscribe upon it, this volume, mainly from his own pen, as well as his other published works, will constitute his best and most durable memorial. The characters inscribed by the chisel of the sculptor will be obliterated by “Time’s effacing fingers,^’ and the marble that shall bear them will resolve itself into dust; but the truths he has embalmed in his writings, or by his eloquent tongue written upon living hearts, will retain their interest and influence undiminished amidst all material ruin and desolation; and the writings of William Jay will continue to shed light upon the pathway of many a traveller Zionward, and to train many of the heirs of immortality for their mansion in the skies.

When William Jay died, the city in which he had so long laboured lost one of its most honourable patriarchs, one of its richest ornaments and holiest attractions. There, under his ministry, senators, wearied with the cares of state, had listened gratefully to the Saviour’s invitation:” Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest •/’ and found that repose which only faith and hope can impart. There, many of the slaves of dissipation and vice were emancipated, by

r2 the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, from the fetters of their fatal enchantment, and were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. There the eager votaries of fashion, thirsting for the pleasures of sense, and proving the emptiness of the wells from which they had hoped to draw them, were allured by his sweet voice to taste the fountain of living water, and found the bliss which they had vainly sought from worldly sources. There, too, the victims of fell diseases, who had tried many physicians and were nothing bettered, were directed by him to the Divine Physician of their souls, and received that healing which made their bodily afflictions light, by teaching them to triumph over death.

But this ministry is now closed. He that granted it for so long a space, and made it so rich a blessing, has seen fit to withdraw it. The city that possessed his pulpit, around which such distinguished assemblies crowded, now exhibits his sepulchre. From the one they heard his living voice, from the other they will learn the silent but eloquent lesson of his death. No saintly shrine will be erected to court and stimulate the incense of superstitious and idolatrous worship, though he was a saint in the church below, and is now a glorified one in the church above j yet, to his tomb a pathway will be worn by the feet of many pilgrims of affection, from various parts of the earth, who will inquire for the spot — not where rest the ashes of the great dramatist, poet, philosopher, or statesman, but where, till the morning of the resurrection, repose the mortal remains of the wise, and good, and holy William Jay, the great and useful preacher of the Gospel of our salvation.

We shall here subjoin some Miscellaneous Recollections and Sketches of his life and manners, which will, no doubt, interest the reader, by giving him a pleasing sight of Mr. Jay in the heart of his family, and among his familiar friends.

DOMESTIC SKETCHES.

“It was the practice of my dear father,” writes one of his daughters” to throw off all study on the Saturday, that he and his subject might be fresh for the Sabbath. On that day (and O, what a joyous afternoon that was to us children!) we were indulged in rambling with him in a country walk, choosing the side of some running brook, which he delighted to follow, or sending us scrambling into field or hedge-row for wild flowers; and, when each brought their little nosegay, to receive the prize held out to them for the best flowers, or best arranged.

“How full of hope and happiness was he, and how free to make others the partakers of his joys! How many will remember the pleasure in his later years it gave him to fill his pockets with apples, books, and pence; and then either from the carriagebox, or in walking, he would throw them so dexterously to a too ready group of boys and girls, who were fleet enough, or had skill enough, to carry away the prize; and how he always gave his throw in favour of the girls.

“Our dear father was strongly excited by music, of the pleasure of which he was susceptible in the highest degree. He had an ear formed to enjoy the simplest melody, and, though little cultivated, he relished its highest charms; and a simple air would transport his feelings to the utmost pitch. In his last visit to Stone, how did he delight to lie on the sofa, and hear his granddaughters sing, and often said, — ‘How delightful now to enter heaven! ’

“Another little trait of his character was his sweet thought of giving pleasure to others. It was almost always his habit to go into his garden before service, and pick each of the servants a good handful of flowers, arranged by himself, which they were desired on no account to bring home, but give to some of the poor people, who would value them doubly sent from such a garden.^’ ■.

FAMILY PRAYER, SIMPLICITY OF MANNER, ETC.

Mr. Bolton says,” My father-in-law came in to breakfast with us, as our early hour suited him best. In family worship I was struck with his prayer for us: —

“Peace be to this house! May thy servants at the head of it enjoy much of this peace — that peace which the world cannot give by its good things, nor by its evil things take away — that peace which passeth all understanding. Let all their dear children live before thee, be the care of thy tender providence, and the early subjects of thy grace. We are now going forth into the engagements of the day: let thy presence go with us. Whether alone or in company, may we sanctify Thee in all our thoughts, and all our words — concerned to improve all our opportunities of gaining good and doing good, and the more so as we see the day approaching which will deprive us of both.”

In connexion with Mr. Jay’s peculiar gift in family prayer, we introduce the following anecdote communicated by Mr. Waylen: —

“A domestic servant, of rare excellence of character, was, when very young, nursing old Mrs. Colbourn of Chippenham. Under great spiritual anxiety of mind, she resolved to descend and listen at the door of the parlour at a moment when she knew Mr. Jay was leading the devotions of the house, he being then on a visit there. If reference to herself individually should occur in his prayer, she resolved to take it as a token for good.’ And such was the wished-for result. She is now in my house.’’

A near witness testifies, that ^’ his simplicity seemed innate and natural; for he was as free from affectation as from guile. The gentleness, ingenuousness, and unsuspiciousness of a little child were ever displayed by him. Thinking no evil himself, he believed every one open and sincere as himself, and his heart was pained when he met with deceivers.

‘* Nothing could satisfy him in his preaching but bringing forth the whole story of Matthew Henrys three R^s Ruin, Redemption, and Regeneration — Jesus Christ and him crucified, to meet the condition of poor sinners — to try to save souls; and if, in any part of his sermon, he considered that he had been deficient, his heart felt deeply, and he longed for the next opportunity of preaching more fully, more pathetically, and practically. Such seasons were most prayerfully and tearfully implored in private previously, and he would then bless God for the enjoyment, and entreat that it might not be different with him in public. Sometimes he seemed under such a happy Divine influence, that a blessing was felt to rest in an indescribable manner upon his conversation. His heart was all alive to participate in the woes of “those around him, and his expressions were so balmy that they soothed the deepest wounds even when they could not heal. The piety and copiousness of his prayers were very remarkable. You felt that they were poured forth from a heart which seemed the very sanctuary of devotion. He lived, as it were, in the precincts of heaven, and was ever ready to present petitions to God. He was especially observant of devotion when he had public services in prospect. He always took a j9r«yer/w, review of his subject, and often was a tearful, wrestling season of communion with God in private the prelude to the holiest and happiest seasons in public. His practice uniformly was to go from the closet to the pulpit. Nothing was allowed to intervene. In this, doubtless, may be found one of the elements of his efficiency and success. He came as from the Divine Presence with a message from God to men. Devotion had given greater strength to his arm, and keener edge to his weapon. Hence he spake” not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth our hearts.^’ Happy would it be for the church of Christ if all its ministers conscientiously followed this example! How would it contribute both to their happiness and success!

DR. Bowie’s recollections of mr. jay, and account of

HIS last days.

^’ I had the great privilege of affording him my medical assistance to the close of his honoured life (a period of more than thirty years), and am happy to say, of receiving to the last, and at the last, the same proofs of esteem, affection, and regard, which he had for so many years bestowed on me, and for which blessing I indeed give God thanks. You ask me — if I have any recollections of our dear departed friend? I answer, none in writing y but many in mind. It would be perfectly impossible for any one to have had the privilege I possessed for more than thirty years, of having him as my pastor and friend, without having numerous recollections of one I ever considered a shining star, and one of the most extraordinary individuals this country, or indeed any other, ever saw. I will here say, that I allude now to him as a preacher of the Gospel of Christ. Here, in my opinion, he was quite unique, and unlike every other preacher I ever heard. If you will allow me to say, it was not, in my opinion, that Mr. Jay possessed any one peculiar point of mental character which made him the highly-finished preacher; but he appears to me to have combined in himself a number of faculties arising from his organization, which in the highest degree fitted him to excel as a preacher. He possessed very great powers of imagery, pathos, and irony, all of which were occasionally brought out in the pulpit; and when to these powers are added Mr. Jay’s great knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which enabled him to dovetail, as it were, all his statements with texts suitable to his subject; his general information, derived from his extensive and laborious readings, which, having a most retentive memory, he could use at all times; and his great knowledge of the human heart — I need not say that, with his vigorous and powerful mind brought under the influence of the operation of the Holy

Spirit these points and advantages enabled him well to fill the office of a minister and teacher. I must not forget, in this my catalogue of excellencies for the pulpit, that Mr. Jay was the simplest preacher possible to be conceived; his sermons were all delivered without the least effort and difficulty, and so simple that any one might have said — nay, indeed, I often did say — I could do all this myself. In this simplicity of dear Mr. Jays preaching I consider lay one of its chief excellencies; and certainly it may be said, that by Mr. Jay the poor had the Gospel preached unto them. He was, at the same time, a most sententious preacher, and could, by a few words, said in a pithy and sometimes quaint manner, produce a wonderful effect. This I have often seen and felt, and some such sayings have never been obliterated from my mind, even after a distance of many years. Although this was often the case to a remarkable degree, yet all his sermons were from first to last most interesting and powerful; and no individual ever kept up the continued attention of his hearers more than our beloved friend. He was emphatically a textual preacher; never wandering from his subject; and in this point he so much excelled, that, in endeavouring to give what he considered to be the true meaning of the Scripture he had in hand, he might appear at different times to preach against many of the preconceived views of some of his Christian hearers; so anxious always was he to give every text its true interpretation, without reference to any system of divinity, however good and admired. This it was, combined with the great variety of subjects chosen by him for the pulpit, which made it necessary to hear Mr. Jay again and again, previous to any one being enabled to come to a proper and sound opinion as to the nature and exact character of his preaching. One thing more I only will add to the list of qualities possessed by Mr. Jay for a preacher, and that is, his most melodious and well-modulated voice, by which he indeed gave the grand truths of the Gospel through a silver trumpet; and he was, in my opinion, from the combination of all the powers I have now mentioned, the most fascinating preacher this country has seen for many a day; and so interesting was his preaching, at least to myself — and I hope I may add useful — that all preaching appeared tame after hearing him. This may, perhaps, have arisen from his peculiar style, so unlike any other, and from the fact that, during about thirty-four years, when I had the privilege of hearing him generally twice a week, and occasionally three times, I had been so deeply identified with his mode of preaching, that I could hear no one else so well, nor, I think, so profitably. It was not only preaching but teaching, and that, too, in the most beautiful and winning manner. The simple and clear way in which Mr. Jay divided and explained all his sermons, added to the attractive style of delivery, made all he said easily remembered; and, indeed, so attractive was his mode of preaching, that numerous individuals whom I have met with during my life-time who have heard him only once, have been at the end of years able to give the substance, if not the division, of the only sermon they ever heard from his lips. One of many such instances I will now relate. A few years ago a clergyman of the Church of England, now dead, called on me for medical advice. On seeing in my room a print of Mr. Jay, he at once recognized it, and inquired kindly after him. I asked him if he was acquainted with Mr. Jay; he replied, No; but I have heard him preach once, and I shall now give you his sermon.’ He arose from his chair, and gave the text. Psalm xvi., verse 3. He then began, and at once I saw he had indeed heard him

preach, as I recognized the well-known manner of treating his subject. I inquired when it was that he had heard this sermon which had so deeply impressed him. He replied, ‘Thirty-five years ago. I was then a student at Oxford, and passing through London, I understood that the far-famed Mr. Jay of Bath was to preach in Surrey Chapel. I

went, and I have now given you the outlines of his sermon, which I shall never forget.^

“One other instance of the simplicity and attractiveness of his preaching, so as to awaken a spirit of inquiry in a child, I shall relate. Travelling in a railway carriage some little time ago, an elderly gentleman sat opposite to me. Finding I came from Bath, he asked me how Mr. Jay was. I told him, and he informed me that, at the early age of eight years, he was deeply interested with a sermon which he heard preached by Mr. Jay at Argyle Chapel; and filled by it with a spirit of inquiry. His mother had taken him to chapel, and the preacher took for his text Acts ix. 16, Come over into Macedonia and help us.^ When he went home he eagerly asked his mother many questions regarding what he had heard, as, ^’ Where was Macedonia? what help was wanting? and who was to go over?^^ Although young, it made him desirous and anxious to know more on the subject which had so engrossed his attention, and the recollection of the sermon was even then most vivid. I have already said, that Mr. Jay did in his preaching often make a wonderful impression by a single sentence delivered in a powerful manner. One of these I shall mention, as pressing most strongly at this moment on my mind, although heard by me many years ago. He had been preaching on the repentance of Judas, and took occasion in the discourse to attack the love of money, as one sin, if not the principal sin, of the Church of God; and at the close of one of the divisions of his subject, he burst forth in his own peculiar and emjhatic manner with the following awful sentence: ‘Avarice, avarice, is the monsoon, the deviFs trade- wind, from the church into hell.’ Another instance presses itself forcibly on my memory, and although, perhaps, by the very fastidious it may be deemed not well fitted for the pulpit, yet at the time of delivery it made a wonderful impression, and now is so clear before me that I must give it. Mr. Jay was speaking of the glaring inconsistency of many professors of the Gospel and endeavouring to show how impossible it was to expect the Divine blessing to rest on half-and-half, undecided professors of religion. He rested much on the necessity there was for decision for God, and the clear manifestation before the church and the world, in the believer’s walk and character, so as to leave no doubt who indeed was his Master; and, in the midst of a powerful appeal, pronounced the following: — ‘Some of you, my dear brethren, are so inconsistent and undecided, that if at this moment I saw the devil running away with some of you, I could not call out, Stop thief! — he would but carry off his own property.’

“Mr. Jay I would call, in his views, a moderate Calvinist; but he never was shackled by any system of divinity, and never feared to give from the pulpit what he conceived to be the whole counsel of God. If he apparently met with difficulties in the subject he was at the time treating, he would mention the circumstances, and leave them, without an attempt to combine what was, in his opinion, far beyond man’s finite powers. — Thus one day speaking of Judas, he said he was fore-ordained of God to betray the Saviour, and yet he betrayed him willingly, and is damned for the deed: — having said so, he, in his own peculiar and well-known manner, leaned over the pulpit, and exclaimed, ‘Now, do not look at me for an explanation of this subject — both statements are true — the foreknowledge of God, and the free agency of man; and when we reach heaven, and not till then, shall we be able to understand all, which in our present imperfect condition is quite beyond the grasp of our finite minds.’

‘^I may here allude to Mr. Jay’s great faithfulness in the pulpit, and most fearlessly giving reproof to any of his hearers, if by him deemed necessary. One instance of this is now most vivid before me, although it happened many years ago, and that to myself. The valuable and most interesting course of lectures, now forming one of his published volumes, under the title of ‘The Christian Contemplated, was delivered in Argyle Chapel, and occupied the Sabbath morning of each week till completed. At the time of delivery I was much younger than I am now; and from God’s peculiar dealings with me, added to my natural character, I had embraced, more than was agreeable to my beloved pastor, what are usually called, the high doctrines of the Gospel; and I fear I had more than once been led to declare, that I considered the lectures from their practical nature to be Christless. At the close of the delivery of the last lecture, he said, — ‘My brethren, I have done with the course of lectures which I had announced, but I have not done with those of you who have denounced them to be Christless, Having said this, he began an admonition, of a wise and useful character, in the following striking and forcible manner: ‘You mushroom Christians — you men of one idea — you who would have a minister go round a few of your favourite texts, just like a blind horse in a mill — am I to be taught preaching by you? ’ — I may add, that the next day I called to visit Mrs. Jay professionally: I met Mr. Jay in the room, who actually was looking for a leaf of the lecture preached on the previous day, which he had mislaid, and in his own quick way he addressed me by saying, ‘How are you, doctor? Did you take part of my sermon yesterday? ‘I answered, ‘Yes, I did.’ He replied, holding out his hand, Then give it to me, for I have lost a leaf; and if I am to publish these lectures, I must find it.’ I said, ‘No, dear sir, I have no leaf of your lecture, but I did take part of it notwithstanding.’ He instantly replied, Doctor, if tKe cap fits you, wear it,’ and left the room. I do hope and believe this quiet and just reproof tended, under God’s blessing, to make me more prudent and cautious for the future.

“It is well known that, occasionally, Mr. Jay would engage the attention of his hearers most powerfully by the introduction of an anecdote into his sermon, which was always much to the pointj and told with much effect. This habit, however, for several years previous to his retirement from the pulpit was much given up, and seldom or never indulged in.

‘’ From my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Jay, may be expected that something ought to be said by me, with regard to his social habits and character. Here, however, little need or, indeed, can be related. He lived in such a primitive manner, — so as to put it very much out of the power of any individual like myself, engaged in active employment, to see much of him. He rose at five — breakfasted at seven — dined at one — drank tea at five — supped at nine — went to bed at ten — and this I may say was a general rule without any exception. He was most regular in his daily exercise; and one of the many reasons which, under God, tended to give him such a fine constitution, was his choosing the early part of the day for his pulpit and press- studies. He, from breakfast till dinner-time, devoted himself to this work — and after that period, he, I have reason to believe, seldom or never did so — and I have heard him more than once say, that he never was found in his study after nine o clock at night. The after part of the day was usucaly spent in exercise and general reading. His mind was so well stored with information, and his memory so retentive, that it was quite a treat to pass a short time in his society. You never could be with him for any time without discovering the depth of his information, the strength of his mind, and the easy and simple manner of his conversation, which was at all times so interesting and attractive, that you had much difficulty in lealdng his company; and never did so without admiration and instruction. My usual time for seeing him was when I knew he was at tea, and at which hour I often contrived to be professionally -in his neighbourhood, that I might have the pleasure of a little conversation with him. Mr. Jay was all his life so completely accustomed to be listened to, and not much to listen, that perhaps, for some years after I knew him, he might occasionally appear impatient of being interrupted or contradicted; but that indeed was seldom attempted by any one, as all were generally too glad to hear the good and great man, whose words flowing from him were like the dew which watereth the earth. Mr. Jay was a man with whom no one felt he could ever take a liberty; and of all men I ever knew, he was’ the only one in whose presence I always, in a manner, felt a kind of reserve, fearing in any way to give him the smallest offence; in fact, I had an exalted opinion of him, and gave him reverence.

“Like all on earth Mr. Jay had many trials, and none greater than the long and severe illness of his first wife; and I may, I trust, be allowed to say, without any fear of misconception in the mind of any one, that he grew much in grace under his trials; and when I add, that he was at times thankful even to me for a word of admonition or encouragement, it will I think be evident, that his fine mind and understanding were much brought into subjection to the grace of that blessed Redeemer whom he had so long preached, not only as the atoning Sadour, but the bright Example.

‘’ During his long and most painful illness, for nearly eighteen months, he never murmured, but gave a noble testimony to the truth of the Gospel, and its being able to sustain the believer under every trying dispensation — he became in fact like a little child; — and in the midst of great sufferings and sleepless nights, over which medicine had little or no control, he was enabled to glorify God in the fires, and to leave a powerful and lasting evidence of the truth and efiicacy of that Gospel which he had so many years so truthfully preached to others. Mr. Jay through life had always a natural fear of death — that is, of the agonies of the dying struggle — but even all this he was at last quite freed from; and he died so peacefally and quietly that, for a short time after the spirit had taken its flight to mansions in the skieSj it was not known to his sorrowing relations that he had gone home to Jesus. ‘Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.^ ‘^

MR. jay’s familiar EXPOSITIONS AT THE PRAYER MEETINGS.

Those who knew Mr. Jay at home, in the weekly round of his duties, would scarcely deem our work complete, if we failed to exhibit him, as, for a very long period he had appeared, in his vestry on a Monday evening, like a father in the midst of his family, explaining to them and enforcing upon them some portion of God’s Word, in the most simple and familiar manner.

It is believed that he rarely, if ever, made any written preparation for these services; but having fixed upon a portion of Scripture before he left his home, he turned it over in his mind as he walked to his chapel, a distance of nearly a mile. When he entered his vestry, he took his seat in his arm-chair at a table, and gave out a hymn in his own peculiarly feeling and devotional way. When this had been sung, he would call upon one of his deacons to engage in prayer. He then opened the Bible, read a text or a few verses, and, in a style more like serious and engaging conversation than preaching, spoke upon the words or subject in an easy and colloquial manner, often with striking originality, point, or pathos, as the text might require. The hearer felt, and could hardly fail to feel, as much at ease as the speaker, who sat all the time as if in your parlour, conversing with you on your spiritual interests, and the great things of God’s salvation. A specimen or two of these familiar services we shall here insert. They have been furnished by friends who were accustomed to take notes, and of course do but imperfectly represent the original: —

Psalm xci. ver. 14: “I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.”

This psalm has sometimes been called the charter of the believer’s privileges; and in this sense I wish you were all chartists, and in no other; for I do not approve of the other charter at all. A great man once said: “The whole of this psalm has been fulfilled in my experience, except the last clause of the last verse; and that will he fulfilled, I am fully persuaded, within an hour.” Now what is that verse? “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” The former part had been fulfilled, for he died at the age of ninety-five. He had lived long enough, I should suppose, to have seen all that was worth seeing, to hear all that was worth hearing, and to enjoy all that was to he enjoyed; and he must surely have known the vanity of all things here below. But what is meant by the last clause which yet remained to he accomplished? “And show him my salvation.” This is future. How can that he? The believer is saved now; that is, he is in a state of salvation, in a state of safety —

More happy, hut not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven.

But the believer’s salvation will be more fully shown, when Christ shall say to all his redeemed, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world.” But only think of this good man’s saying, — that he was fully persuaded that this would be accomplished within an hour! Oh, what a solemn thought How would many of you feel, if you knew that you were but one hour out of eternity! — but one hour from a world of spirits! — that in one hour you would be in the presence of your Redeemer! Beyond the reach of every care. There is but a step between me and death! Perhaps there is hut a step between you and — hell! But oh, what an overwhelming thought, if there is but a step between you and heaven! I remember good Ambrose, sitting in his chair, feeling the pains of death coming over him, he raised his eyes, and exclaimed; “Come, good angels, and do your ofiice, and gently waft me into Abraham’s bosom.” But you will say, what has all this to do with the subject? Why, it is a part of the loaf that I wish to divide among you to-night; and I do not think it much signifies where I begin to cut first.

Now, — “I will set him on high because he hath known my name.” The Name of the Lord is often put for the Lord himself. Many texts might be brought forward to prove this. I will mention only one: Prov. xviii. 10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Not into a word, but into Jehovah himself. Now, what is it to know the Lord? People sometimes speak of head-knowledge. But it is a 258 SUPPLEMEJ»IT TO THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

singular expression; as if there were such a thing as arm-hnowledge or legknowledge. Where should knowledge be but in the head? At the same time, it is very expressive, as marking the difference between a mere speculative knowledge of the great truths of Christianity, and that knowledge and conviction of the heart which is here implied. Ah, what pleasure does it give you to say — “I know such and such a distinguished person.” What an honour would you feel it to be able to say, “I know the king and am intimate with him.” Or, if he were living, to be able to say, “I know Milton, and am intimate with him.” But the Christian can say far more ;. “I know the Lord, the King of kings, and am intimate with Him. He is my Father and my Friend.”

Now, here is the promise, —” I will set him on high, because he hath known my name We must not look on this word because — as a condition. Our dear brother used this term last night, and I began to fear lest he should be misunderstood. But he afterwards explained himself very clearly. Yet why should we use a word of doubtful meaning, when there are others that would answer the purpose quite as well, if not better? It is true that some of the old writers use this term, but it is in a different sense to that in which it is employed now-a-days. Now it is employed to signify a sort of claim that one has upon another for a reward; but they used it to express a sort of connexion, that God would do one thing because he had done another: thus because God had given faith, he had also given salvation, and in that sense it is used here.

Now, what is meant by this promise — “I will set him on high?” Is not Christ risen from the dead? Has he not ascended above the skies? And are not all his believing followers ascended with him? Is not this to ascend on high? Cannot the believer look forward to heaven as his inheritance, his kingdom, his everlasting portion? Call you not this high? The king is the highest civil officer, the priest the highest ecclesiastical; and God will make all his people kings and priests unto himself, and their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and their priesthood one that endureth for ever.

But notice not only the promise, but the agent by whom it is performed, that is, God himself. There are many kinds of promises. There are the devil’s promises, they are false and deluding. O, beware of them! There arc the world’s promises. They seem all bright and fair; but what are they? Only vanity; yea, lighter than vanity itself. Then there are men’s promises. O, trust not in them, for they are uncertain — often deceptive. But there are God’s promises. They are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus, Lean on them, trust in them, and you shall never be confounded.

“0 for a strong, a lasting faith,
To credit what the Almighty saith
T’ embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own”

Another Monday evening Exercise was as follows: — Having read the words,” O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do,^’ Daniel ix. 19, he observed, —

This is one of Daniel’s prayers. The scripture is full of prayers, and I love them much. Now let us speak of Daniel. He was a temperate man. This will account for his haleness and vigour, at least in some measure. But he was rich in grace. He had been raised from one stage to another, till he became prime minister over twenty-seven provinces; yet he found time to pray thrice every day. Many people who have not half the business to attend to that he had, say they have scarcely time to pray once a day. — Daniel was highly favoured. Three miracles were performed by him; one was interpreting the king’s dream; the second, recalling Nebuchadnezzar; a third, interpreting the hand-writing on the wall. But one miracle was performed for him; that was, his safety in the den of lions. Twice the angel Gabriel came to him with the words,” O Daniel, man greatly beloved!” Some will say, “I would not have told him that to his face, lest it should make him proud.” But Gabriel knew better. The proud are always the most backward to praise. The reason is, they judge from themselves; because when they are praised they are so puffed up, they think others must be the same. The celebrated Dr. Robinson having preached three times on one Sunday, at a chapel in London, after the evening service a man came into the vestry and said to him, — “This morning, sir, it was a very dry opportunity; in the afternoon I got no food for my soul; but this evening you have preached a most blessed sermon, and I hope to live in the enjoyment of it for some time to come. But I hope you will not be proud at my telling you so.” “No, no,” said the doctor, “for I have no opinion of your judgment.”

Let us notice this prayer before us. How importunate it is! It is not one of the sleepy prayers. If a person were to come and ask a favour of you, and were to fall asleep in doing it, you would spurn him from your presence. Yet how often do we act so with the blessed God! The first thing here is forgiveness, — O Lord, forgive! The second thing to pray for is attention, — “Hearken and do.” Do what? He does not say what, and I am glad he does not. If a beggar were to call out to a king as he was

s2 passing, “Hearken and do,” he would be repulsed for his impertinence. But how different it is with this King! He says, “Call upon me, and I will answer:” “Ask, and ye shall receive.” He can change the hardest heart; can renew and sanctify the vilest passions; and can make those whom we imagine to be beyond the reach of mercy, “pillars in the house of our God.” He will do this for you, if you apply to him. He did not turn a deaf ear to the cry of Daniel. Nor will He to your cry. Let your sins be what they may. He can and will wash them all away in the blood of His dear Son. Blessed be His name.

One Monday evening, he had been addressing his people on the importance and blessedness of humility, and closed his remarks by observing:

“How beautifully Bunyan has represented the shepherd’s boy in the valley of humiliation, cheerful and happy, while singing, — ‘He that is down need fear no fall,’ &c. But you all know his song, and we will now unite in singing it, for it will do for us as well as for him.

“*He that is down need fear no fall.
He that is low no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have.

Little be it, or much:
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,

Because thou savest such.

Fulness to such a burden is

That go on pilgrimage:
Here little, and hereafter bliss,

Is best from age to age.’”.

He then proceeded with the following verses, which were sung in succession, as if they had formed one hymn: —

“Turn, pilgrim, turn — thy cares forego;
All earthborn cares are wrong:
Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.

Then shall “we sit, and sing, and tell

ITie wonders of his grace,
Till heavenly rapture fire our hearts.

And smile in every face.

For ever His dear sacred name

Shall dwell upon our tongue.
And Jesus and salvation be

The close of every song.”

The impression produced by the mixture of verses, as well as by the climax, was felt to be highly profitable and elevatingv Those who witnessed that scene will never forget it.

It was at one of these week-evening meetings he finished his labours at Argyle Chapel, observing at the close,” I shall never enter this place again /’ adding some remarks of great tenderness and solemnity to his friends, who stood round him.

On the 21st of March, 1853, he went to the vestry, intending to give only a short address; but the congregation assembled was so large that they were obliged to adjourn to the chapel. He selected for his subject the appropriate words of the 116th psalm, verses 1 and 2:” I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I praise him as long as I live.’^ The testimony of so venerable, so faithful a man of God, labouring under much weakness and pain of body, yet with all the devotedness and zeal of his youthful days, pointing all to the throne of grace, and expressing, with touching sensibility, his own gratitude for the help he had thence derived, was felt to be most deeply impressive and affecting.

The following Monday evening, March 28th, Easter Monday, was the occasion when he made the remark above noticed, that he should enter that place of worship no more. On this last occasion he spoke again in the chapel, but on neither of these occasions from the pulpit. The subject was taken from Isaiah liv. 17, “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” This is described by those who were present as a most interesting, solemn, and edifying address.

Thus ended his public ministry in Bath.

The following testimony of respect and expression of friendship for Mr. Jay from so excellent a nobleman as the Earl of Gainsborough, will doubtless be gratifying to the reader, and suitably terminate this section of the work: —

In a letter to Mrs. Edward Jay, written since the solemn event took place, the Earl of Gainsborough says, —

“Although at his good old age the great change has been a glorious one for your excellent father, yet I cannot hear of the departure of my longloved and revered friend without much sorrow and emotion, and deep concern for all those who have sustained so truly irreparable a bereavement. I hope his last hours were free from much suffering.

“It is painful to me to have been out of England; for it would have been a real gratification to me to have followed the dear and honoured remains of my beloved friend to the grave.

“It will give me much pleasure to hear from you, and that Mrs. Jay and all of you are well.

“It grieves me that I have not seen dear Mr. Jay lately; and should I live to return to England, it was one of my pleasant anticipations that I should have seen him once more. I trust, through the mercy of that blessed Saviour he so long and so ardently served, to meet him again where friends will no more be separated.

“Believe me, my dear Mrs. Jay, sincerely and affectionately yours,

“Gainsborough.

“Naples, Feb. 4, 1854.”