and cheerfully engaged in the discharge of his ministerial duties. "He felt as if he had been transplanted into a totally new world; as a missionary abandoning home and friends, and cherished habits, for the awful and important work to which he had solemnly devoted himself."

From his talents-fine poetic taste-and vivid imagination, Mr Wolfe was eminently suited to address a congregation of more refinement than the one over which, in the providence of God, he was now placed. A large portion of the lower classes in his parish, were even living in a state of gross demoralization, and he sometimes required to employ a method of preaching not so consonant to his own feelings, as well adapted "His nato their peculiar circumstances and wants. tural turn of mind" (says his biographer) "would have led him to dwell most upon the loftier motives, the more tender appeals, the gentle topics of persuasion with which the Gospel abounds; but the dull and stubborn natures which he had to encounter, frequently required the terrors of the Lord' to be placed before them; the vices he had to overthrow, called for the strongest weapon he could wield. He often, indeed, sought to win such souls unto Christ by the attractive beauties, and the benign spirit of the Gospel; but, alas !

"Leviathan is not so tamed."

Amongst the people whom he had to address, he found drunkenness and impurity, and their base kindred vices, lamentably prevalent; and therefore, he felt it necessary to stigmatise such practices in the plainest terms; he could not find approach to minds of so coarse an order, without frequently arraying against them the most awful denunciation of divine justice."

Though not in the habit of writing out his sermons fully, such portions of them as have been preserved. betoken at once the richness of his mind, and fervour of his piety. They possess, it is true, no complicated train of abstract reasoning, or profound disquisition on passages of Scripture; for these would have been altogether out of place in discourses addressed to the people among whom he was called to labour; but they abound in illustrations of the most beautiful and instructive character, equally adapted for a plain country congregation, as for the most cultivated minds, and admirably calculated to gain admittance to the hearts of all.

Mr Wolfe's labours were not, it may be supposed, under the blessing of God, unattended with success. When he entered on his work, he found the Church rather thinly attended; but, in a short time, crowded and attentive congregations began to gather around him, and the number of communicants soon exceeded the whole ordinary congregation at the commencement of his ministry. Many of the Presbyterians in his parish who flocked to hear him, afterwards became constant attendants; and with the Methodists, he not only lived on the most friendly terms, entering familiarly into discussion with them, but at length succeeded beyond his hopes in softening their prejudices, and conciliating their good-will. The Sunday school, too, for the instruction of the young, in which he took a particular interest, was very large, and attended by many Roman Catholics.

tions of his providence which now appear so dark and inscrutable, to interrupt, in the midst of all his usefulness, the labours of this young and devoted minister, and soon afterwards to bring them to a final close.

We cannot

During the year that the typhus fever was so prevalent in the north of Ireland, Mr Wolfe's neighbourhood was much afflicted with the disease. His duty of vi siting the sick, in which he was indefatigable, was, in consequence, greatly increased; and though his frame was robust, and his general health good, his exposure to frequent colds, and disregard of all precaution, soon unhappily confirmed a consumptive tendency in his con stitution. A habitual cough, of which he himself seemed almost unconscious, often excited the apprehension of his friends, and at length, in the spring of 1821, the complaint, of which it seemed the forerunner, began to make manifest inroads on his constitution. help regretting that, in such circumstances, his situation should have been so little calculated to promote his comfort, or retard the progress of the alarming com"He seldom plaint with which he was threatened. (says Mr Russell)" thought of providing a regular meal : and his humble cottage exhibited every appearance the neglect of the ordinary comforts of life. straggling rush-bottomed chairs, piled up with his books, a small rickety table before the fire-place, covered with parish memoranda, and two trunks containing all his papers-serving at the same time to cover the broke parts of the floor-constituted all the furniture of hi sitting-room. The mouldy walls of the closet in which he slept were hanging with loose folds of damp paper: and between this wretched cell and his parlour was the kitchen, which was occupied by the disbanded soldier, his wife, and their numerous brood of children, who had migrated with him from his first quarters, and seemed now in full possession of the whole concern, entertaining him merely as a lodger, and usurping the entire disposal of his small plot of ground, as the absolute lords of the soil."

A few

No arguments, however, could for a time prevail of Mr Wolfe to leave this comfortless home, or to relax his parochial labours. At length his declining health, an. the importunity of his friends, impelled him, with much reluctance, to leave the scene of his laborious duties and in the month of May 1821 he set out for Scotland, to consult a physician celebrated for his skill in cases of consumption. On his way to Edinburgh, he with a deputation from the Irish Tract Society; a at a meeting held in that city, for the formation of its important objects, he consented, notwithstanding the langour of his frame, and the irritation of a harassing cough, to exert his eloquence in that cause.

On his return from Scotland in a few weeks, M: Russell met him at a friend's house within a few miles of his own residence, and on the following Sunday a companied him through the principal part of the pas to the Church. The interesting scene he witnessed, s they drove together along the road, and through village, shews more than language can express, bo much poor Wolfe was respected and beloved. he quickly passed by, all the poor people and child ran out to their cabin doors to welcome him, with locks and expressions of the most ardent affection, and wit Mr Wolfe laboured for about three years with the all that wild devotion of gratitude so characteristic c utmost diligence in the interesting sphere of duty in the Irish peasantry. Many fell upon their knees, iawhich he was thus placed, and "his life," in his own voking blessings upon him; and long after they wer words, was nearly made up of visits to his parishion- out of hearing, they remained in the same attitude. ers, both sick and in health." On his return to his shewing by their gestures that they were still offe parish, after a short absence, he thus writes: "I am up prayers for him; and some even followed the ear again the weather-beaten curate; I have trudged roads, riage a long distance, making the most anxious in forded bogs, braved snow and rain, become umpire beries about his health. He was sensibly moved by th tween the living, have counselled the sick, administer- manifestation of feeling, and met it with all that hearted to the dying, and to-morrow shall bury the dead." ness of expression, and that affectionate simplicity It pleased God, however, by one of those dispensa- manner, which made him as much an object of love,

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his exalted virtues rendered him an object of respect. I
The intimate knowledge he seemed to have acquired of
all their domestic histories, appeared from the short but
significant inquiries he made of each individual as he
was hurried along; while, at the same time, he gave a
rapid sketch of the particular characters of several who
presented themselves,-pointing to one with a sigh,
and to another with looks of fond congratulation. It
was, indeed, impossible to behold a scene like this
(which can scarcely be described) without the deepest
but most pleasing emotions. It seemed to realise the
often-imagined picture of a primitive minister of the
Gospel of Christ, living in the hearts of his flock,
'willing to spend, and to be spent upon them,' and
enjoying the happy interchange of mutual affection.
It clearly shewed the kind of intercourse that habitually
existed between him and his parishioners; and afforded
a pleasing proof, that a faithful and firm discharge of
duty, when accompanied by kindly sympathies and gra-
cious manners, can scarcely fail to gain the hearts of the
humbler ranks of the people."

Mr Wolfe was peremptorily ordered, by the physician he had consulted, to retire for some time from all clerical duties; and it was hoped that timely relaxation, and a change in his mode of living from what he had been originally accustomed, and suitable to his delicate health, might avert the fatal disease with which he was threatened. It was with much difficulty, however, that he was dislodged from his post, and forced away to Dublin, where most of his friends resided.

He seems to have been quite aware during the latter part of his illness that his death was approaching; and he looked forward to that event with the calmest resignation. He does not appear to have felt any of those joyful emotions which many eminent Christians have on their death-beds been sometimes permitted to experience. But though from the nature of his complaint his spirits were much depressed, and his cough was so incessant, that for some time before his death he could hardly utter a single sentence without incurring a violent paroxysm, his soul was filled with peace-even that peace of God" which passeth understanding." "His feelings," says his eloquent biographer, "appeared too deep for superficial expressions. The state of mind towards which he seemed to aspire, was what the excellent Henry Martyn preferred above all others, "a sweet and holy seriousness;" and indeed he seemed to have attained it. His was a calm serenity, a profound thoughtfulness, a retired communion with his God, which could not, properly, vent itself in verbal ebullitions; but when an opportunity of doing good to the soul of a fellow-sinner presented itself, he shewed how strongly he felt the Gospel to be the power of God for salvation to his own soul," by his zeal to impart it to another.

Though his malady seemed to increase, and his frame "On the day before his dissolution, the medical to become more emaciated, he experienced some of gentleman who attended him felt it his duty to apprise those fluctuations which, in cases of consumption, are him of his immediate danger, and expressed himself so common, but withal so deceitful; and he was en- thus: Your mind, Sir, seems to be so raised above abled to retain his natural flow of spirits, and even to this world, that I need not fear to communicate to you preach occasionally in Dublin with his usual energy. my candid opinion of your state.' 'Yes, Sir,' replied His great anxiety at this time was regarding a suitable he, I trust I have been learning to live above the provision for the duties of his parish; and he felt so world; and he then made some impressive observakeenly on this subject, that he could scarcely be satis- tions on the ground of his own hopes; and having affied with any arrangement which his friends could make terwards heard that they had a favourable effect, he for him. Though absent from his people, their eternal entered more fully into the subject with him on his interests were ever uppermost in his mind; and so next visit, and continued speaking for an hour in such anxious was he for their spiritual welfare, that he made a convincing, affecting, and solemn strain, (and this no less than three attempts to resign his charge without at a time when he seemed incapable of uttering a sinsuccess. "I do not know," says he," that any circum-gle sentence,) that the physician, on retiring to the adstance would give me more pain, than that my poor flock should fall into the hands of a careless, worldlyminded pastor."

On the approach of winter, Mr Wolfe was advised to go to the south of France; but having, in his attempts to reach Bourdeaux, been twice driven back by adverse gales, it was deemed prudent for him to abandon the plan, and to settle near Exeter during the winter and ensuing spring.

He returned from Exeter in May 1822, and remained, during the summer, with his friends in and near Dublin. He also took a voyage to Bourdeaux, and returned in about a month, having apparently derived some benefit from it. This, however, was of short continuance, as all the symptoms of confirmed consumption soon discovered themselves. His cough became more incessant, an oppressive langour weighed down his spirits, his countenance assumed "the pallid cast of wasting disease," and his feeble step and drooping figure indicated too plainly the effects of declining strength, and the gradual approach of his " coming change.'

As the last remaining hope, he was removed, about the end of November, to the Cove of Cork, which, from its peculiar situation, is much sheltered from the asperities of the weather. At this time he scarcely relished any subjects of conversation but those connected with religion, and the Bible was his chief companion.

On one occasion, when his spirits were much de

|

joining room, threw himself on the sofa, in tears, exclaiming, There is something superhuman about that man: it is astonishing to see such a mind in a body so wasted; such mental vigour in a poor frame dropping into the grave.'

During the last few days of his life, when his sufferings became more distressing, his constant expression was, This light affliction, this light affliction!' and when the awful crisis drew near, he still maintained the same sweet spirit of resignation. Even then he shewed an instance of that thoughtful benevolence, that amiable tenderness of feeling, which formed a striking trait in his character, he expressed much anxiety about the accommodation of an attendant who was sleeping in the adjoining room, and gave even minute directions respecting it.

"On going to bed (on the evening of the 20th of February 1823) he felt very drowsy, and soon after the stupor of death began to creep over him. He began to pray for all his dearest friends individually; but his voice faltering, he could only say God bless them all! The peace of God and of Jesus Christ overshadow them, dwell in them, reign in them!' 'My peace,' said he, addressing his sister, (the peace I now feel) be with you!' Thou, O God, wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.' His speech again began to fail, and he fell into a slumber, but whenever his senses were recalled he returned to prayer. He repeated part of the Lord's prayer, but was unable to proceed; and at last, with a composure scarcely cre

dible at such a moment, he whispered to the dear relative who hung over his death-bed, Close this eye, the other is closed already; and now farewell!' Then having again uttered part of the Lord's prayer, he fell asleep. He is not dead, but sleepeth."

Thus ended the life of this devoted servant of Christ, at the early age of thirty-two. His simple history is fraught with instruction both to minister and people; reminding the one of the duty of unremitting diligence, by the solemn consideration that the shadows of death may darken his path, even in the morning of his labours, or in the height of his usefulness; and calling upon the other as they regard their eternal happiness, to value aright their spiritual advantages, ere they be for ever hidden from their eyes.

Mr Wolfe's ambition for literary distinction and poetic reputation was early overcome by the desire to dedicate all his time and talents to the duties of his sacred calling. And while he has left enough behind to shew that he might, by perseverance, have risen to a high rank in mere worldly estimation, it is now far more delightful to think, that his energies, though employed in a humble sphere, were devoted to a far nobler end. Some may look back with regret on the sacrifice of health, comfort, and earthly reputation which he was induced to make; but let them at the same time look forward with joy to that happy period when the fruits of his labour shall be made to appear, and when he himself shall receive a crown of glory in "the great day of the Lord."

VISITS TO A FARM-HOUSE.

on the retrospect. 'Happier hours than those,' which were thus spent with them, I never expect to see in this world. Very pleasantly did they pass, and moved smoothly and swiftly along. They are gone, but have left a relish and a fragrance upon the mind, and the remembrance of them is sweet.'

"It was the last morning but one of the month of April, and such a morning as Thomson would have chosen to ramble forth and cull the flowers of poesy, when, with H at my side, I quitted my college cell to perform my promise to the sister of Mrs B, that I would visit the abode of the latter. Bounding along in all the vivacity and vigour of youth, we quickly passed the walls, and towers, and spires of Alma Mater, and took the road to Bn. One in sentiment, taste, and affection; pursuing the same studies; and making our way through the initiatory discipline of the univer sity to the same high office, we were at no loss for topics of discourse to beguile the length of our road. We loved to enthusiasm

us.

'the boundless store

Of charms which Nature to her votary yields! The warbling woodland, the resounding shore, The pomp of groves and garniture of fields; All that the genial ray of morning gilds, And all that echoes to the song of even; All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields, And all the dread magnificence of heaven.' "Conversation, suggested and varied by the infinite diversity of objects, which met our roving eyes in every direction, and called up, in more pleasing forms, the beauties of the sacred and of the classic page, flowed without effort or restraint. Our path was new to We were about to visit strangers, and little did we anticipate the lively interest with which in after years we should revert to the incidents of that day. We made pleasure subservient to usefulness, and often stopped to converse with the labourer as he paused from his toil; with the child as it was conveying a noon-tila meal to its father; and with the cottager as she sat at her door. We left with each an appropriate tract, to enlighten, to admonish, or to comfort them, amidst the ignorance, the thoughtlessness, and the sorrows of their condition. Through our ignorance of the direct road, we made a wide deviation from our proper course; and, after having passed over many miles of ground, we began to despair of reaching our destin tion. We at length reached the brow of a verdant hill, crowned with nine lofty and luxuriant elms, and looked round if haply we might discover the dwelling which we sought. A column of smoke ascending thro the calm atmosphere, proved the friendly token th our journey and our wandering were at an end. We quickly descended to the sequestered vale, where stood the picturesque farm-house of Mr B.. All the flowers of spring were blooming in the neat parterre through which we passed to the readily opened door. Though strangers and unexpected, we were quickly relieved from every uneasy feeling, by the open and liberal hospitality which usually attends one's reception under the roof of a respectable English yeoman. A other and a superior order of feelings increased our we come. He who, while on earth, often retired to Be

"THE recollections of college days, which recur at every turn of progressive life, are not only amongst the most interesting and fascinating memorials treasured in the mind, but, in many instances, are invested with a solemn sacredness, which redeems them from the oblivion into which they might otherwise gradually sink, and from the vanity which too commonly is inscribed upon our remembrances of the past. Were I to traverse my native land in its length and breadth, and then to launch from its shores, and cross the ocean which intervenes between it and the eastern and western hemispheres, I should find the companions of those days, who shared my joys and griefs, my hopes and fears, my walks and my studies, remotely scattered through the widening space, over which the Church of Christ is extending its spiritual empire. My feet would be arrested at the premature graves of several, who, having just entered with glowing zeal, and lofty purpose, on the work of an evangelist,' were suddenly accosted with the summons, Come up hither,' and were removed to serve their Divine Master in a higher world, and in a purer temple. Their silent tombs would send home to my heart the admonition of their Lord and mine, sanctioned as it is by his application of it to himself: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.' With a few I should meet, who have failed of the fair promise of their earlier years, and whose goodness was as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that goeth away. Others I should exult to contemplate walking on ele-thany, and sanctified, by his presence, the abode of the vated ground, guiding their flocks in the narrow path of salvation, and themselves pressing forward to that glory, to which they beckon and direct their followers. With two of this latter class it would give me unspeakable delight to review the times, and places, and circumstances, which recur as I transcribe the subjoined recollections. For they were my beloved companions in walks, of which nothing is forgotten but the transient fatigue that may have arisen from them; and, should these pages meet their eye, I doubt not but they will pleasurably retrace the paths we trod together in long past years, and dwell in not unprofitable reverie

little family whom he loved, had, unseen, but not
known, entered here, and prepared a cordial reception
for any who could speak of him and his salvation. Mrs
B-received us with overflowing kindness as the
friends of her beloved relative; but to my surprise de
not open a letter of which I was the bearer. She aft
wards told me, that her sister's letters were too
cious to be read with a divided attention. To th
sister this was but partially known. On Mrs B
part, the languor of a fatal disease had long interrupt
their correspondence, and the real state of her mind was
but imperfectly understood. From the time of our vist

from the public means of grace. These ordinary chan- | trustful of herself, and thoroughly humbled; harassed nels of divine influence and teaching being closed against by many temptations to unbelief, yet simply reposing her, she drew nearer to the fountain of living waters; in steady faith and tranquil hope upon the covenanted and though she most highly estimated the privileges she grace of the Saviour, her mind's eye was immovably had lost, and often longed again to enter into the courts fixed on eternity. So wholly and happily was she taken of the Lord, she was taught, by her privation, to rely up with the high theme of her salvation, that no reply less upon man, and more upon God. And, truly, this could be elicited to inquiries respecting her health. She is both the chief end and benefit of affliction. It not would smile, express her gratitude to the inquirer, and only strips the world bare, and exposes the insufficiency turn off the question by saying, But oh! I have so and emptiness of its resources, but also reduces the ex- many mercies-God is so good to me! She would ternals of religion itself, its forms and ordinances, to fixedly gaze upon her sister, and a tear of delight would their proper level, and forces into full light, and raises steal from her eye, when she discovered that they were to their due elevation and importance, those principles now more closely united than ever, as being one in and exercises of the heart which constitute the very life Christ. The communion of saints' with each other and soul of true religion. Humility and love, faith and is not a matter of barren credence. It is a sacred reality, hope, may have a being and a sway in the soul, when less frequently known, indeed, than acknowledged, but health, and peace, and joy, diffuse around their exhil- the perennial source of pleasures the most refined and arating beams; but it is in sanctified affliction that those exalted, and inferior only to those which flow from Christian graces, like the stars and planets, stand out 'the communion of saints' with their Father and Reto the eye in the fulness of their native lustre, when all deemer. None of the 'yesterdays' of life look backother light is withdrawn. To be enabled to interrupt ward with a smile so sweet and satisfactory, as those, the groans extorted by the pangs of suffering humanity, which were marked with the true bliss of hearts in by confessions of unworthiness and guilt, which justly union mutually disclosed' on all that gives a character merit deeper woes, and by acknowledgments of still of interest to the present and the future scene." granted mercies that outnumber even innumerable 'O! days of heaven, and nights of equal praise, Serene and peaceful as those heavenly days, griefs; to love as a father the God who inflicts the When souls drawn upward in communion sweet, chastisement; to hold fast the oath-bound promises of Enjoy the stillness of some close retreat, the Lord with the firm resolve of Job, Though he Discourse, as if released and safe at home, Of dangers past, and wonders yet to come; slay me, yet will I trust in him: he also shall be my And spread the sacred treasures of the breast salvation;' and to cherish hope in Christ as the sure Upon the lap of covenanted rest.' and stedfast anchor of the soul, are exhibitions of Christian virtue in its highest excellence, which owe their very existence, under God, to the occasion that calls them forth. We glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.'

"On the following Sunday, the friend and minister, from whom her distant residence had so long separated her, called and sat with her two hours, in delightful surprise at her advance in enlightened conceptions of divine truth, and in an experimental acquaintance with its efficacy to quiet the solicitudes of an awakened conscience, to detach the heart from the fondest and the strongest of earthly ties, and to clothe death itself with the robes of an angel of light.

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Many days did not elapse before we retraced our steps to that spot, whither in our daily walks on classic ground our thoughts and conversation continually reverted. It was the Sabbath; and we resolved

to attend our friend and tutor to the scene of his pastoral labours, and to repeat our visit to GFarm.

"After uniting with the rustic congregation at HGin listening to a faithful, plain, and useful ex

position of the offices sustained by him, whom God

hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins,' we there joined Mrs B's sister, who had recently arrived. She wept, as we crossed the intervening fields, at every mention of her relative. But in this instance, the same fountain sent forth both sweet water and bitter.' She said, I cannot but keenly feel for the bodily sufferings of my dear sister. But when I see the state of her mind, my anxiety and pain almost vanish. She is so greatly altered. The work has been done in a short time. The goodness of

God is wonderful."

"When we entered the same room as on our first call, we met the husband, the children, the sister, the aged

father; but the wife-the mother, was not there. Her decline within ten days had been rapid. But there was no declension in the renewed habits of her soul. Dis

"In the enjoyment of such holy intercourse, we left the sisters, and we ourselves were not unconscious of a portion of its blessedness."

(To be Continued.)

DISCOURSE.

BY THE REV. ROBERT LEE,
Minister of Campsie.

They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth."-HEB. xi. 13.

IT may appear not very wonderful that Abraham

and Isaac should make the confession in the text. For in the land where they dwelt they had not whereon they might set their foot-not a spot, not a yard of ground, except a home for their dead-a sepulchre which Abraham bought of the sons of Heth. Nor was it strange that Jacob should profess before Pharoah, that the 130 years of his life were "the days of the years of his pilgrimage," for then Jacob was twice banished; first from the country of his fathers, and then from Canaan, which, though it was not his proper home, had been a place of pilgrimage to his people during three renerations. God, however, in due time fulfilled his promise to give Canaan to the children of Jacob, so they were at home, and masters, where their forefathers had been but pilgrims, and without possession. Now, who can choose but wonder to hear David and the people of Israel, in the height of temporal prosperity, and in full and undisturbed possession of that country which had been promised, but not given, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, making the same profession which strangers before thee, and pilgrims, as all our fatheir pious progenitors had made,-" We are thers were?"-1 Chron. xxix. These holy men all died in faith. They desired a better country, even an heavenly.