among the heterodox portion of the Presbyterian body of that country. We heard him once say, in his own quaint way," If the Calvinistic Methodists had not done more for my poor country than the Welsh Bishops, the devil would have laid claim to the Principality as his own undisputed territory long ago." Speaking of the Welsh Socinians, he said once to us, "They are as acute as Priestly himself; and such is the help afforded them by the devil that our very peasants set themselves up as oracles, and would out-argue half the Socinian preachers of England." *

Passing over many interesting features in the history of this extraordinary man, we find him arriving in the metropolis in October, 1811. Here, for a time, he laboured under many difficulties and discouragements, and suffered privations which, in the present age, do not ordinarily befal the faithful ministers of Jesus Christ. But God was preparing him in the furnace of affliction for more extended usefulness in his church; and those who best knew the trials he was called to endure can and do bear ample testimony to the fortitude, humility, and unrepining submission of mind, by which, at the worst of times, he was so eminently distinguished. Like his blessed Master, he was largely experienced in the school of sorrow; but like him, too, though in a far humbler degree, he was wont to say, "Not my will, but thine be done."

Soon after his arrival in the metropolis, he was happily appointed curate to the late Rev. William Goode, A. M., rector of Black

As an instance of the absurd zeal and pertinacity of some of these misguided pea.. sants, he used to refer to a Welshman, who, in contending with him for the simple humanity of Christ, stumbled upon the words of Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 47, in defence of his position.

friars, with whom he continued to officiate till his death, in the month of April, 1816. In 1813, he was chosen Sunday-evening Lecturer of St. Antholin's, Watling-street, by the parishioners. During Mr. H.'s ministry in Blackfriars, there was a small circle of intelligent and good people who discerned and appreciated the inestimable qualities which belonged to his mind and character; but the general impression produced by his labours was by no means remarkable, nor was he ever seen to advantage, even by his most attached friends, while he remained in this important sphere. It is a fact daily urged upon our notice and conviction, that special circumstances are necessary to call forth the energy of particular minds, and that upon some favourable, or perhaps apparently accidental, occurrence, the usefulness of an entire existence may materially depend. Upon the death of Mr. Goode, Mr. H. became a candidate for the rectory of Blackfriars, which is in the gift of the parishioners, but lost it, after a zealous struggle on the part of his friends, by a small majority.

In the month of March, 1817, he became the lessee of the Episcopal Chapel in Long Acre, when he resigned the lectureship of St. Antholin's, and devoted himself entirely to the service of his new congregation, exerting a degree of zeal for which his dispeptical habits but ill prepared him.

Here at once Mr. H. seemed to

feel himself at home, and, like a father in his family, began to deliver himself to the large and respectable auditories which resorted to his ministry. From comparative obscurity, he broke forth, almost suddenly, upon the public mind, and became an attraction to some of the most intellectual Christians in this great city. His eccentricities,

appear, this love involves more of the holiness of Deity in it, than the love that embraces angels. Hear the important truth; it will eventually live in the heart of every child of God, and kindle a fire purer than that of a seraph. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have eternal life.' Here is love!-love so great that it brings Deity down from heaven to earth, for such as you and I !—and yet, remember, nothing less than this could avail us: it is all necessary, True it is, we cannot understand these truths irrespective of a revelation; but thanks be to God for his written word! It is said in Rom. v. 8th verse, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'

On receiving the Bible as a whole.

"If any person were to take an extract from any particular book, and send it forth into the world, capable of being interpreted in a manner never intended by the author, every man of candour and of common sense would desire to see the whole book before he formed his opinion of the work or of the author. This ought also to be done with respect to the sacred writings. This much is their due, and cannot in justice be denied them; and this, in the name of my great Master, I demand for them. And why should it be denied? Is it not very strange, that men will use common sense when they are investigating any other subject, and will not bring it along with them when they come to trial about matters of eternal concerns of heaven, hell, and an eternity of happiness or misery?

"There are evidently many particular passages of Scripture, which, when considered and taken separately, seem to have a meaning very different from other passages and from the general current of Scripture. But the truth depends not upon one passage, but upon the general agreement and union of the whole. In interpreting Scripture, one passage is to be compared with another, and with the general tenor of truth."

On the Moral Perfection and Holiness of God.

"The creating and sustaining power of God are clear, though the manner of them is incomprehensible; but there is one thing to which our attention should be supremely directed the moral perfections of Jehovah, especially his holiness; we should feel this to be as essential an attribute as power or omniscience: God must cease to exist when he ceases to be holy. May we study this lesson by the light of truth, and the principle, if properly learned, will end in practice. Good and evil do not arise from any arbitrary appointment of Deity. The law that is holy, just, and good, proceeds from

a will that is holy, just, and good, and that will from an essence that is holy, just, and good; there is no fatality in the case; every thing that proceeds from God is infinitely free and holy. The holiness of God consists in infinite love to good, and hatred to evil; and the proof of this shines in perfect glory and beauty in the person of Messiah. There are difficulties, respecting each particle of matter, so incomprehensible that a child might readily puzzle a philosopher; but when we behold the incarnate God dying to atone for transgressions that we have committed, we discover the holiness of God at full length -the perfect image of his own perfections in the person of his Son. We perceive his holiness filling both law and gospel in the character of Jesus Christ; we see it in his hatred to sin, in the sufferings of an infinite person; we see it in his love to the sinner, delivering him from guilt and condemnation; the sufferings of the Saviour imply both in an equal degree. A view of God in Christ melts the heart of the most obdurate sinner; he perceives his holiness in the law and in the gospel, in his mercy and in his justice, and it makes and preserves him holy for ever."

On the Sustaining Grace of God.

"While here below, man carries in his bosom a suicidal principle continually; and the holy energy of God, that preserved the angels in their first estate, is necessary to prevent this principle from evincing itself in our destruction. The believer's attention, then, should be continually directed to the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus Christ, that his conscience may be kept in perfect peace, while the Spirit of Jesus disciplines him to oppose the might and majesty of God to every evil continually. I could soon prove that the most glorious beings above, if the Spirit were withdrawn from them, would immediately descend to their original nothingness. If this be true (and true it is), that pure beings require the exercise of the power of God, what is to preserve us in such a world as this? Suppose you were to see a spark of fire descend in the ocean, and were told that spark is to consume the waters; what would convince you of the truth of this? Nothing but facts. Now, here are factsthe grace of God taking possession of the heart of man. Man naturally possesses a will directly opposite to the will of God"enmity against God"-ignorant of the holy character of God; and yet see the power of this grace, influencing him to act diametrically opposite to his natural disposition! And bless God for this his most glorious work! We have naturally no disposition to love and serve God, because he is a holy God. There is a most awful vacuum in the heart, which must be filled here by the regenerating grace of God, or hereafter with the destroying torments of hell."

indeed, might have drawn some to his place of worship; but there is reason to believe that a large proportion of those who resorted to his ministry were attracted by the love of truth, and by the peculiarly enlightened and impressive method in which he discoursed to his people about the great things of the kingdom of God.

The theology of Mr. Howels was of a very masculine order. He never allowed himself to talk about trifles. His sermons compelled thought, and hence his auditory was composed of persons who sought instruction rather than unprofitable excitement. There was a vein of originality about his modes of stating religious truth which placed them at a great remove from the region of common-place. He had thought deeply and vigorously on all the vital doctrines of the gospel, and more particularly on the several subjects connected with divine sovereignty. With the views entertained on these topics by President Edwards, of America, and the late Dr. Williams, of Rotherham, he was intimately conversant, and did not scruple, at times, to use their trains of thought and their very diction. On his first arrival in London, he went to hear the late William Huntington, and was much pleased with the first two sermons; but on finding him assert, on a third occasion, that election and reprobation emanated from the same source, he was so offended and grieved that he never again entered his place of worship. It was a first principle with Mr. Howels, that good, and good only, could be the object of the divine purpose.

Sin," said he, on a very recent occasion, cannot be traced to a higher source than the creature. Election involves in it the predestination of God; reprobation involves in it the predestination of men and devils."

We may here, perhaps, with propriety, introduce to the notice of our readers a few imperfect specimens of his theology, which have been preserved in short-hand, from his lips, as delivered from the pulpit."

On the Sovereignty of God.

"The doctrine," said he, "of the sovereignty of Jehovah contained in the Scriptures is hateful to the unrenewed mind, and this because all who are not created anew in Christ Jesus are the enemies of God, and of all that proceeds from him. All the good we are acquainted with proceeds from the purposes of God in eternity. What is there that does not emanate from this source? Moral evil does not, nor does its punishment; the circumstances of the latter are indeed decreed, the day of judgment is fixed, but the torment will have its source in the bosom of

the transgressor. It is the energy of the Spirit that brings all good to pass, and it must have been purposed from the begin ning. If so,' some one is ready to say, 'I am not to blame if I perish.' To this I answer the covenant of grace has nothing to do with your perishing; it may, indeed, be the innocent occasion of a more terrible destruction to the enemies of God, but it is as true that man's destruction is of himself, as it is that his salvation is of God. Oh, Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found.'

On submitting Reason to the Testimony of God.

"When God speaks reason, is a maniac to question instead of believing? Our province is to receive the whole truth; its glories are such that they could emanate from no finite being; they are such as could be found no where but in Deity itself; to suppose the reverse, is as absurd as to say that light and heat emanate not from the sun, but from a rushlight. Here I find God's testimony clear -the most glorious of all truths-that he loves poor guilty sinners; and it is the greatest wonder, considering his perfections, that he should have thought of any being but himself. The love that exists in God is infinitely superior to the love that exists in man. God is the only being who can find motives of action in his own bosom; he can never love from motives of excelling; the love of God is a free love: the excellency of angels is not the cause, but the effect of his love. The love, indeed, that embraces and preserves an innocent being is glorious; but what shall we say of that love which embraces a transgressor? God must love a transgressor, or nothing short of this could ever reach his case; and, strange as it may

* See "The Pulpit."

cult to believe that he had lived for more than half a century in such a world as ours. He delighted in sprightly intercourse, relieved by anecdotes relating to great or little men; but his conversation was always holy, and the minister was never tarnished by the imperfections of the man. He was so benevolent as to bring himself down to the level of children; and when he had secured their attention by some striking narrative, or by some pecuniary gift, he was always sure to improve the golden moment by pointing them to the great sources of hope and peace in the sympathy and grace of the Lord Jesus. To the child of a friend, whom he greatly regarded, he said, on the boy's departure to school, "If you give not yourself to the Lord, you insult God's truth, and you will be condemned with the wicked in the last day, and I shall be there to witness and approve your condemnation."

In family prayer he was sometimes great and impressive beyond expression. The writer of this article remembers once to have heard him expound, at his own fire-side, the 139th Psalm, when his wife, and children, and servants, were all dissolved in tears, by the stupendous ideas which he threw out in reference to the mercy of Jehovah in all his works and ways. A poor Welsh widow happened to be present in the capacity of an occasional servant; and, after prayer, he was so delighted to find that she could talk Welch, and knew somewhat of the value of religion, that he began a most fluent conversation with her in his native dialect, and then closed the discourse by putting a half-sovereign into the poor woman's hand.

He was generous to a fault, and the poor of Christ's flock shared his most tender pity. He could not see a brother in distress and withhold

from him the aid which his circumstances required. As his means enlarged, so did his heart; and on money he put absolutely no value but for supplying necessities, paying just demands, and helping the virtuous poor.

We need scarcely ask, "How did such a man die?" It is reasonable to suppose that, if intellect were preserved, he would die in peace. And so it was. Although

the disease of which he died made rapid progress, and soon brought on the mortal crisis, yet no symptom of alarm, or fear, or even anxious doubt, was perceived by any of the weeping bystanders.

On Lord's day, the 11th of Nov. he officiated in his place of worship with his usual energy, and took for his evening text the last verse of the 87th Psalm: "All my springs are in thee." Little did his people imagine that they would hear his voice no more. On Tuesday, the 13th of Nov., he spent the greater part of the day with an old and attached friend, whom he afterwards. named as his executor; and, from the testimony of that friend, it appears that his conversation was unusually full of heaven. On the Wednesday morning the symptoms of cold in the chest were distinctly perceived, and, with some persuasion, he was prevented from preaching, on the evening of that day, his weekly lecture. On the Thursday evening, disease had made such rapid progress that fresh medical aid was called in. When the physician arrived, the first thing he said to him was, "See the effect of sin!" But, though he was always deeply conscious of the malignant nature and sad consequences of moral evil, he was not, in his last hours, under any apprehension as to the security of his own state. Perceiving his ordinary medical attendant and the nurse who waited on him dissolved in tears, he looked