We now resume our subject, and insert a letter to his friend, the Rev. H. I. Maddock.*

"My beloved Friend and esteemed Brother ;-Such you shall be called, for such you are and long have been to me. I am told how ill you are, and that you are, as it were, vibrating between two worlds. The outward man is fast decaying, but not so the inner man. Glory to God alone for the past, present, and future. You know in whom you have trusted. He cannot, will not forsake you. My heart yearns over many pleasant recollections concerning you. The visions of the past revive. O may they unite with those beyond the grave, and may sovereign grace sanctify them both! We have spent many a happy hour together, cheerful and grave-we have laboured together in public and in private. We have, I think, loved each other as brothers; and when little, perhaps, was written or spoken, we have had mutual thoughts of peace, and regard for our god-children, our wives, and our little ones.

"I had pleased myself with the thought of visiting you for a week at Matlock, next month; but I fear we may never meet again. But shall we not meet hereafter? Lord, how long!

"When I last parted from you, I had a dear boy with mehow dear, no one can tell! You are hastening to the mansions where he dwells. It is not permitted me to send a message, or it should be expressive of ten thousand emotions of a father's heart. But Christ is all! And I have lost my eldest boy— my sailor boy! But God has found him, and all is well there also. Forgive my ramblings. Give me a book, some little book-one that contains your name, written in it with your own hand. It shall be a cherished memorial-pignus amicitiæ jucundissima.

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My regard for you, my brother, has not been of a common character. I fear you are not strong enough to give me a few lines; but perhaps your venerable and respected father will do So. I this day saw your very dear friend Mr. Allen. The sight of him did me good, although he told me how ill you were, beyond what I was aware of.

"And now, my beloved friend, I commend you to the triune Jehovah-Father, Son, and Spirit-to united power, wisdom,

* The name of this excellent man is mentioned in the journal of Mr. Richmond's tour, in the year 1814. He was prematurely snatched from a life of usefulness and zeal, beloved and lamented. His end was approaching at the time the above letter was addressed to him. Mr. Richmond did not long survive him.

and love; to the consolations of promise, and the consummations of Omnipotence. Faithful is he that hath promised; and he will perfect the thing that concerneth you. What a strong

hold is this! While you can and may, cherish a tender and prayerful feeling for your friend. Fanny shares in all these feelings; she can never speak of you but with Christian affection.

"I desire to be most kindly remembered to all that belong to you. May the God, whose consolations are neither few nor small, overshadow you with his wing! L. R."

The next letter is addressed to a daughter, then at school :

"Turvey, December 5, 1825.

"My dear Child,-I am much pleased with your letter, the more so as it contains some expressions which cherish the hope, nearest to my heart, as to your spiritual thoughts and feelings. Whilst I cannot but feel most tenderly affected by the loss of my two elder sons, endeared to me by a thousand recollections and emotions, I become the more anxious for the welfare of all my children, whom God yet spares to me. I have for a year and half past, and especially during the last year, undergone a great change in my spirits, and my whole system has suffered; but in the midst of all, the inexpressible goodness of God has been manifested, and I trust that my trials have been blessed to not a few. Many a rose has sprung up around the grave of dear Wilberforce, and they still blossom, and I trust will do so, until they shall be transferred from the spiritual garden of Turvey to the glorious Paradise of God. Our young friend C- manifests, in his numerous letters, a most decidedly spiritual mind. He writes upon the subjects of experimental and practical religion in a truly delightful and satisfactory manner. And can I feel otherwise than anxious that my dear Catharine should add a flower to my parochial and domestic shrubbery? Are you to arrive at your sixteenth year so soon, and not internally as well as externally, prove that the grace of Christ has not been preached to you in vain? I trust not. Religion is not a matter of mere ceremonials, nor even morals, but the spiritual application of divine truth to the heart, producing those devout and moral principles of action, which distinguish the true Christian from all others. But where, how, and when, does this begin? Not until you have deep, humbling, sincere, and anxious thoughts about sin, and yourself as a sinner, in the sight of God.-Not until this conviction, by a kind of holy violence, compels you to

flee to Christ as the only refuge from the wrath to come.-Not until prayer becomes an action of the inmost soul, and the study of God's word a real delight.-Not until every other consideration yields to that infinitely important inquiry, 'What must I do to be saved?'-Not until the light, trifling, and thoughtless mind of the child of man be converted, through grace, to the serious, conscientious, and believing state of the real child of God. Now, has this been, and is this the case with you? I speak as a Christian, a father, a minister. What are your views of these all-important subjects?-I wish my child to be deeply. in earnest. Life flies apace-the period of the tomb advances. I have four children there already. It is true I have eight still on earth-but how long will there be eight here? Who may be the next to enter upon eternity? Think upon these things with devout affection. You tremble a little even at the thought of a school examination; but what is that, compared with the examination of an immortal soul before the judgment seat of God? Go, then, as a sinner to Christ; he sends none empty away. In him, and him alone, there is a rich provision for every coming sinner. But let this coming be a surrender of all you are, and all you have, to the Lord of grace and glory. Be contented with nothing short of a reality in religion.

We have few materials of public interest during the year 1826. Mr. Richmond declined in health, and was indisposed for much exertion beyond the confines of his parish. We may, however, fill up the chasm with his opinions on a few subjects connected with the cause of true religion, but which we could not notice at an earlier period without interrupting the narrative, and departing from the order we had prescribed to ourselves.

We advert with extreme reluctance, and with the most painful recollections, to the apocryphal controversy, which unhappily for a long time divided and distracted the Christian world. Mr. Richmond, with many other conscientious and excellent men, at first approved the judgment of the committee of the Bible Society, in allowing the circulation of the foreign editions of the Holy Scriptures. He considered the fundamental law of the society," without note or comment," to include the authorised versions of the Continent. He knew that the apocryphal books, though attached to the canonical Scriptures, had fallen

into contempt in our own country; and he was disposed to believe that increased light and information, by the circulation of the word of God in any form, would eventually illumine the darkness of men's minds, and enable them to distinguish between truth and error.

We abstain from entering on any unnecessary discussion of this question. We confine our remarks to recording the ultimate sentiments of the subject of this Memoir.

In the progress of this unhappy dispute, Mr. Richmond saw reason to change his opinion; and though the meekness and humility of his spirit would not allow him to become a violent partisan, he joined in the remonstrances which were made to the parent committee, by the greater part of their auxiliary societies. On this account he has been accused of vacillation; but in our judgment, the manliness which avows an error, is much more commendable than the pertinacity which defends and persists in it.

We are far from designing to censure our brethren on either side, or of either country, much less to connect the memory of our friend with a controversy which has no parallel in the history of modern polemics. He deeply lamented the separation of the two great Christian communities: "the most calamitous event," he used to say, "which has befallen the church of God for the last century; and I fear that feelings have been excited between the nations, which it will take more than a century to allay." Let us indulge a hope, that in this sad foreboding he was mistaken. There is an Almighty power which can restrain the wrath of man; and we hope the readers of this Memoir will pardon our earnest entreaty, that, considering this question to be now set at rest, by the pledge so formally given for the future exclusion of the Apocrypha, they would henceforth implore the Father of mercies to infuse the dove-like spirit of peace and love into the minds of men; that they may put far away "all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and evil speaking, with all malice; and speak the truth in love; being kind one to another, in honour preferring each other, esteeming others better than themselves, being pitiful, kind, and tender-hearted; forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven them."

The Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews furnishes another subject for remark. A discussion had arisen in some of the periodicals, as to the most efficient mode of preaching to the Jews; whether the doctrine of the second coming of Messiah in his kingdom and glory, ought not to constitute the

most prominent feature in the discourses addressed to that people.

In conversing with Mr. Richmond on this topic, the writer one day submitted to him the following question :

"What is the scriptural and right way to preach to the Jew?" "I know of no scriptural way," he replied, “of preaching to men, otherwise than as sinners; and why the Jews, whose sins are of so aggravated a nature, should be dealt with in a different way, I do not see. I would address the Jew as I would any he is convinced of his Christ crucified,' is

other man ;—that is, as a sinner; and till sin, he will never believe in a Saviour. declared to be to the Greeks foolishness, and to the Jews a stumbling-block; but to them that believe, the power of God and the wisdom of God.' No man will ever feel the power of God, whether he be Jew or Gentile, till he learns it at the foot of the cross.

When speaking of the strong prejudices that existed among many in our own church against several of the public institutions, as contrasted with the expression of popular feeling in their support, he observed-" I am fully convinced that nothing is more likely to weaken the attachment of serious and reflecting minds to the Church of England, than this standing aloof from public feeling, as if we had some distinct interest of our own, and were insulated from that of the great mass of the community." He added, that, "in a period peculiarly marked by enlarged ideas, and extended efforts for the cause of God, not to participate in these views, nor to grow with the growth of the times in which we live, renders us liable to the charge of being unfit for the age to which we belong, as if we were men 'born out of due time.' Some persons,' " he said, "think they are building up the church by encouraging a spirit of hostility to these great causes; my own opinion is, that they are overturning it; and that no position can be more dangerous to a church, than that which exhibits it in avowed opposition to the prevailing character and sentiments of the community in which it is placed."

Alluding to some modern religious controversies, I asked, “if he did not think that many readers became thereby more confirmed in their prejudices ?"

"All are so," he replied, "who read only one side of the question, which is generally the case with the majority of readers, and especially of prejudiced readers. They say to each other, 'have you read the book of .? It is a most able and triumphant work.' In the meantime, they never read what is