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that existed where he was stationed, found in him a zealous advocate; and the nature of his zeal became manifest, by his affording them pecuniary support to the full extent of his means. His habits were those of punctuality and order. All his duties were performed at the proper time. He was not to be diverted from his purpose. His arrangements were clear, and diligently acted upon. It might be said of him, "He was never unemployed; never triflingly employed." He was zealous and bold in reproving sin. The crying sins of West Indian society be fully exposed. He spared neither the slaves, nor the free population. Many have thought that he exceeded the bounds of prudence on some occasions; but he acted from a high sense of duty. He knew the rage which some of his reproofs excited; and considered there were many who wanted only the ability to take away his life. But even this did not move him. His faith in divine Providence was strong. Though he lived in the midst of persecution in Jamaica, he was never subjected to fine or imprisonment.

He was a man of plain habits, decidedly opposed to gaiety of apparel, and the wearing of ornaments. Whatever may be thought of his wellknown zeal on this subject, it must not be forgotten that he could quote Scripture and Methodist rules in his defence; and that he was the means, in many instances, of turning an extravagant expenditure into a more useful channel. He was distinguished by his discharge of relative duties. An aged father received the principal part of his support from him for many years. His widow bears testimony to his persevering and affectionate discharge of every conjugal duty.

As a colleague and Superintendent he was affectionate and kind. His journal proves that the afflictions and deaths that occurred among his brethren or their families in the Missionary field always deeply affected him. He knew how to sympathize with his brethren. He took his colleagues along with him in all that he did; and was neither in affection, plan, nor effort, separate from his brethren. Mutual love appears to have existed between him and his brethren in every station.

He had zeal

As a Wesleyan Missionary he was qualified for his work. and calmness; was patient and untiring in his efforts; and delighted in setting the whole machinery of Methodism at work. He would move with the foremost of its agents, and continue at his work with the last of them. That he had the confidence of his brethren abroad, is clear from many communications I have seen. That he had the confidence of his fathers and brethren at home, it is easy to infer from the frequently expressed approbation he received from the Managing Committee, and from his appointment to the office of Chairman of Foreign Districts, during eleven years of his Missionary life. He was strictly economical of public money. While he knew that the Wesleyan Missions were generously supported, he considered that the utmost economy in expenditure should be practised both abroad and at home. The Minutes of Conference for 1833 bear an honourable testimony to him on this point:--

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It was in a great degree owing to his cordial co-operation with the Missionary Committee, in their plans of economy, that they were enabled to enlarge their sphere of usefulness, and increase the number of labourers in that part of the Missionary field."

He loved the West Indian Mission; and though he stated to the writer of this account, that the two years he spent in the Frome Circuit were among the happiest of his life, yet his heart still went after the negro race; and had his health rallied, he would certainly have offered himself again as a Missionary to the Western Isles. He manifested his attachment to the Missionary cause and to the African race, by purchasing an intelligent and clever little boy, a slave of about four years old, whom he brought to this country. His object in doing so, he stated to be that of awakening additional interest in favour of Missionary exertions in behalf of the negroes; and he ventured to hope that this lad might possibly become useful among his own people at a future time. An allwise Providence, however, determined otherwise, and removed by death this little boy a few months after the demise of his greatest earthly friend. Mr. Morgan bequeathed the whole of his little property to the Wesleyan Missions for the West Indies, after the death of his widow; and though, by some legal informality, his designs are partially frustrated, yet at least he is entitled to the commendation, "Thou didst well, that it was in thine heart." If the defects of Mr. Morgan be inquired after, I may venture to remark, they need not be mentioned, as his excellencies were numerous and great. The only complaint I have heard preferred against my excellent friend, arose out of the apparent harshness and abruptness of his manner on some occasions. It is not my wish to palliate or excuse any thing that is wrong. But I have often thought this abruptness of manner which he occasionally manifested arose out of his peculiar habits, and his great dislike to every thing bordering upon indecision, insincerity, and the wilful violation of the law of God. That he never cherished unkind feelings toward any one, I firmly believe. I have seen him melted down into tenderness and affection while speaking concerning the welfare of the church of God. The temper of his mind, and the actions of his life, in his latter days, exhibited

"The farewell beauty of a life
That brightens as it fades;
That sets in glory!"

It may be said of him, that, though fearless and uncompromising in his honoured Master's cause, yet his heart was touched with human woe; and he felt anxious to dry up the stream of human misery, in whatever direction it might flow.

His piety was of that sterling character, that it would bear the severest test of reason and Scripture, and elicit, as the result of the experiment, that well-known remark, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile."

The Rev. James Catts bears the following testimony to the general excellence of Mr. Morgan's character:-" My intimacy with our late excellent brother Morgan commenced in the year 1821, when we were both stationed together in the island of St. Christopher; since which period, to the day of his death, I found him to be a sincere and constant friend. The year which we spent together on that delightful station was one of the most pleasing of my public life. We lived on the most intimate terms, and laboured together with great cordiality; and most sincerely do I now regret the loss of such a friend. Mr. Morgan was a man who had given himself wholly to the work in which he was engaged. He was no hireling, but a faithful servant. Often did I admire, when his colleague, the fervour and constancy of his zeal,-a zeal which was not partial in its regards, but which embraced equally all those objects which came within the range of his duty as a Minister and a Missionary. In the superintendence of his Circuit he was judicious, diligent, and very attentive to economy, and to every branch of discipline; and his ability and assiduity soon appeared in the improvement of the order and finances of the societies. He paid commendable attention to the instruction of the rising generation; and under his fostering care, the Sunday-schools were generally improved and enlarged. I have heard much about pastoral visitations, and have seen little of what I consider worthy of that designation. But, according to my apprehension, I saw it in perfection when labouring with that good man, whom I had the opportunity of frequently accompanying on such occasions. He commenced his visits at nine o'clock every Monday morning, and continued until two in the afternoon, without intermission; calling at the dwellings of the widow, the fatherless, and the aged, and entering the chambers of the sick; making it his business to see all those whom he knew to be afflicted in mind, body, or estate, if possible, and as many others as time permitted. The conversations were strictly spiritual, and always concluded with prayer. In this work Mr. Morgan was the leader and pattern of his brethren, in that part of the world. I often found these engagements to be very profitable; and, though a laborious, not an unsuitable, preparation for meeting a large congregation in the evening of the same day. I have known men more eloquent, but none more diligent, than our departed friend. I have known men more literary in their pursuits, but none more persevering in their duties. If he was not a man for show, he was a man for work. I knew him in his prime, before the ardour of his mind, and the activity of his life, during long years of labour in an exhausting climate, had worn away his strength, and dried up his spirits. But even to the last he was neither frigid nor indolent, as appears from the part he took in the means which were used to obtain the emancipation of the negro race from that slavery which he had personally witnessed for so many years. I sincerely respected and loved him in life, and I revere his memory in death. May we long be favoured with such men for Missionaries to the Heathen!"

Mrs. Gilbert, a respectable member of the Antigua society, thus writes concerning Mr. Morgan :-" I could fill many pages with details of the excellencies of the late Rev. Thomas Morgan. I have only time to say, I have not known his equal as a Missionary. I do not mean to say he had no superior, or equal, as a public speaker, for gravity of manners, or politeness of address. Neither do I say he was unequalled for piety. But that in which he stood foremost, was deadness and nonconformity to the world; his diligent and unwearied performance of his duties as a Minister, and his labours as a Missionary among the poor slaves; his universal self-denial, his abstemious habits, the opposite of which has crippled, yea, destroyed, the usefulness of many promising men; his steady and persevering frugality, by which means he benefited the Mission. He left nothing undone, that could preserve the spirituality of the Mission. He made no sacrifice of time or principle to gain what is called the favour of influential men. He took higher ground. If the Lord be for us, what can man do?' appeared to be his motto. He trusted in the Lord Jehovah, and in his everlasting strength. Yet he always gave honour to whom honour is due. He manifested a judicious consistency in conducting the temporalities of the Mission. He is gone! O that I may meet him in

heaven!"

DIVINITY.

THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS
ADAPTED TO EXISTING CIRCUMSTANCES:

A SERMON :

BY THE REV. PETER M'OWAN.

(Concluded from page 517.)

III. In the third petition,

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Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us," they beseech God to invest the church with the beauties of purity and unity.

The word which is here rendered " beauty" has various shades of signification, as applied to different things and persons; but in all those passages where it is used in reference to God, or his people, its meaning may be expressed by the words purity and unity.

First the word is expressive of purity. This is its meaning in Psalm xcvi. 9, where David calls upon the "kindreds of the people" to worship the Lord in the "beauty of holiness;" that is, in the spirit of simplicity and godly sincerity, of lowly reverence, and assured confidence. This is its meaning also in Psalm cx. 3, where the holiness of Messiah's subjects, and the unconstrained character of their obedience, are foretold.

The purity of the church has respect,-

First, to her doctrines. The doctrines of a church may be said to

be pure when the preaching of her Ministers, and the theological opinions of her members, are in strict accordance with the holy Scriptures, in their plain and obvious meaning: we say, in their plain and obvious meaning; for those tenets which are not seen on the surface of Revelation, and which owe their origin and defence to metaphorical interpretations, and far-fetched, though ingenious, criticisms, are of a questionable character, and ought to be received with caution. As God has forbidden us to teach for his doctrines the commandments and traditions of men,—as error in principle naturally leads to error in practice, and gives birth to a spurious experience,-as nothing but the truth as it is in Jesus can promote the conversion of sinners, or minister to the edification of saints,- and as the Lord of glory has promised his presence and blessing only to those Teachers who preach his Gospel,-it is of the first importance that the truth should be taught and believed in the church. In order to secure this, candidates for the ministry should be thoroughly instructed and faithfully examined; those who are already in the ministry ought to "take heed" not only to themselves," but to their "doctrine;" and every religious community ought unquestionably to possess the power of ejecting such of their Ministers as depart from the faith.

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It is to me an occasion of great glorying, that no man is admitted into the ranks of the Wesleyan ministry till he has undergone a series of rigid examinations, extending through a period of four years; and involving every point connected with moral conduct, ministerial talent, Christian experience, and doctrinal belief. Besides this, every Preacher is required annually, in the presence of his brethren, to give an explicit answer to the following question :-" Do you believe, and to the best of your ability teach, all the doctrines taught in the first four volumes of Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and his Notes on the New Testament?" Not only so, but our chapel-deeds are so constructed, that were the Preachers on the one hand to renounce the truth as it is at present taught in the body, the Trustees are empowered to debar them from every pulpit in the land; and on the other hand, were the Trustees to swerve from doctrinal purity, the Conference could, by law, occupy the chapels as heretofore. There exists, therefore, not only a moral improbability, but a legal impossibility, of our chapels ever becoming, while held as the property of the Connexion, any thing but what they now are; namely, places of worship, in which man's total depravity by nature, the divinity of Christ, the atonement in its infinite value and general extent, justification by faith, the witness and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, Christian perfection, the possibility of final apostasy, together with the eternity of future rewards and punishments, shall be preached. It is owing to the efficiency of these guards, under God, that the Wesleyan Ministers, though so numerous, though exhibiting almost every variety and grade of ministerial talent, though scattered over the four quarters of the globe, and though called to preach in almost all the principal lan

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