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FOR SEPTEMBER, 1840.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN EDMONDS:

BY HIS WIDOW.

MR. EDMONDS was born on the 18th of October, 1798, at Rosemoderis, in the parish of St. Buryan, in Cornwall, on the same day that his maternal grandfather died. His disposition, when young, was volatile, but distinguished by much mildness and affection. I have heard him say, that if ever he had grieved his mother during the day, the recollection cost him many tears, and restless hours at night.

At a proper age, he was placed at school in Penzance, and, with several of his schoolfellows, attended the worship of Almighty God, and the ministry of the word, at the Wesleyan-Methodist chapel in that town. The discourses which they heard arrested the attention, and affected the conscience, of some of these lads; and among them was John Edmonds. His mind was so impressed, that he not only diligently attended the more public means of grace, but sought the advantages afforded by select Christian society. For about eleven months after he thus began to meet in class, he remained without that sense of the divine favour which he desired to enjoy. This pressed much upon his spirit; and, at a prayer-meeting, held early on the morning of Good-Friday, 1814, he felt that "the burden was intolerable." In this state of mind, he, with several others similarly exercised, took a boat, and rowed to a short distance from the shore, that they might in greater privacy pour out their hearts before the Lord, and seek" the joy of his salvation." Not obtaining deliverance, they returned somewhat discouraged; but resolved to persevere. On the following Sunday, two of the four youths who were thus "seeking the Lord," that their " soul might live," obtained "peace with God," at a meeting held after the services in the chapel; a third, who afterwards, as a Clergyman in the established Church, had himself to point sinners to their Saviour, was enabled, while engaged in earnest prayer, "with the heart" to believe "unto righteousness; and, last of all, at midnight, when persevering in prayer, the subject of this memoir received the blessing he had so earnestly desired. The burden under which he had groaned was removed, and he was filled with joy and peace in believing. This was in the seventeenth year of his age.

VOL. XIX. Third Series. SEPTEMBER, 1840.

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Soon after this he left school, and entered on the performance of those secular duties which the situation in which he was engaged required. His heart, however, earnestly desired the salvation of others, and he embraced every opportunity of endeavouring to promote it. His parents, he feared, were not sufficiently alive to the importance of things spiritual and eternal; and in his correspondence with them he sought, and not vainly, respectfully and affectionately, to bring them to a happier state of feeling. The father, indeed, died in the Lord, not long before the removal of the son. But though his own relations were the first objects of his solicitude, it was by no means confined to them. He believed it to be his duty to call sinners to repentance; and, after the usual trials, was received as a Local Preacher in the St. Austle Circuit, where he then resided. He was likewise actively engaged in Sunday-school labours; and he devoted a portion of his time to the Circuit Missionary Society, as its Secretary.

While thus endeavouring to serve his generation by the will of God, a growing opinion prevailed among those who had the opportunity of observing his piety and zeal, that he should be employed in a wider sphere of labour. I find in his diary a reference to this subject. He says, "I desire to give myself entirely into the hands of God, and of his church. I only wish to do the will of God; and I hope I shall be enabled to consider the voice of the church to be as the voice of God to me."

With these feelings, having been duly proposed at the Quarterly-Meeting, and examined and recommended by the DistrictMeeting, he was directed, at the Conference of 1823, to hold himself in readiness for an appointment to a Missionary station. To this, however, his mother could not be induced to give her consent; and, all circumstances being considered, the appointment was not persisted in During the year he was sent to the South-Petherton Circuit, to supply the place of a Preacher who was not able to attend to his whole work; and afterwards he was removed to Bath. At the Conference of 1824 he was appointed to the Sherborne Circuit, where he spent two years; and afterwards to Tiverton, and then to Abergavenny. We were married in 1828, and sent to the Lancaster Circuit. I find in his journal a brief reference to the two years which he spent here.

"August 26th, 1830.-The two past years have been hard-working years; but I do not regret having come here. The Lord has helped and blessed us. We have not only paid off a considerable Circuit debt, but have had an increase of a hundred and seventy members."

He next laboured in the Ashton-under-Lyne, Wantage, and Lane end (or Longton) Circuits; in most of which it pleased the Lord to aid the labours of his servant. He was always desirous of placing the Circuits, to which he was appointed, in comfortable circumstances as to their financial affairs; and as he had good talents for business, he

was generally successful. His great object, however, was the salvation of souls. For this, I can truly say, that he prayed, and wept, and toiled; preserving, in his own country, the full influence of a Missionary spirit. He lived in the affections of the people among whom he laboured. They saw that his one desire was, that God might be glorified in the conversion of sinners; and acknowledged that he counted not his life dear to himself, that he might finish his course with joy.

For several years he had been subject to a bilious complaint, the attacks of which were very painful, and often rendered a punctual attendance upon his appointments a work of difficulty. But as far as possible it was paid; so that he indeed offered himself as a living sacrifice. He was accustomed to say, that he neither wished for a sudden death, nor a lingering affliction; but that, if he might choose, (which he did not,) he should like a brief interval of two or three weeks between active duty and heaven. His wish was granted; and his work was nearer its close than he anticipated. Some agitations in the Circuit made him more anxious to fulfil every engagement. On Easter Sunday, (March 26th,) 1837, he left home to attend his appointment at Stoke-upon-Trent. Thomas, his eldest child, (seven years of age,) was very unwell, and ceased to breathe before his father's return in the evening. The next day he was at the Quarterly-Meeting, and accepted an invitation to remain a third year. But his work was done. He caught cold on the evening of the same day; and soon became so ill, that it was with difficulty he followed his beloved child to the grave, the grave which was so soon to open for himself. Symptoms of typhus fever soon appeared, utterly prostrating his strength, and producing frequent delirium. During those intervals in which he was collected, he appeared to be aware of his situation, and to be resigning himself patiently to the will of God. "I am in good hands," said he, on one of these occasions: "all shall be right." Even when his mind wandered, it was pleasing to see that things spiritual and divine had the uppermost place in his thoughts. To a person who was sitting by him one night, he said, "Do you see any thing?" and when, replying in the negative, she added, “Do you, Sir?" he instantly replied, "Yes; I see four." On another occasion, appearing to be somewhat low and sad, he was asked whether he was thinking of his lately-departed child. He replied, "No; I grieve that I have not served my God more faithfully." He afterwards seemed engaged in prayer, and was heard several times to exclaim, "His blood! his blood!" His recollection again leaving him, he said very little; but that little was very gratifying to his friends. Once he suddenly exclaimed, "They are come ready-winged. I only want wings myself now." Generally, his friends were prohibited by his Physician from seeing him; but, occasionally, when he appeared somewhat revived, one or two would speak to him. His colleague, calling on him, took

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him by the hand: on which he said, very solemnly, and with an affectionate look, "My dear brother, farewell. All is right." He was aware of his situation, and once said, very calmly, in reference to it, "I am going home." His family he commended to God, whose he was, and whom he had served; and in this composed state he remained, gradually sinking, till April 11th, 1837; when, without a struggle, he fell asleep in Christ, in the fortieth year of his age.

One of his friends and correspondents has furnished me with the following observations on his character:-" As a Christian, he was a man of fervent and deep piety, of unaffected humility, and of uniform consistency. He was a very ingenuous and kind friend. As a Minister, he was faithful, zealous, and affectionate." During the brief period in which he was called to suffer, he manifested the greatest resignation and patience; and plainly evidenced, that the truths which he had preached in health fully supported him in sickness, and that he was himself on the Rock on which he had so often exhorted others to build. And as his life was marked by great simplicity and devotedness, so his death was characterized by great peace. His death-bed was made, by the goodness of God, the continuation of the testimony to the truth and blessedness of religion, which he had endeavoured to bear during the years of his active life.

MEMOIR OF MR. ISAAC PAPE :

BY THE REV. JOHN BURDSALL.

ISAAC PAPE, the subject of this memoir, was born in the year 1800, at Wild-grove, near Bradford, Yorkshire. His mother died when he was but eight years old; and being the youngest of the children left, he was sometimes taken by his father into private when he retired for devotional purposes, that he might in an especial manner commend him to God when he wrestled with Him for himself and family. In this respect Mr. Pape's father was an example worthy the imitation of all Christian parents similarly circumstanced. About fifteen months after the decease of his mother, his father died, and he, as an orphan, was confided to the care of an uncle then living at Clifton, near York. By his uncle he was bound apprentice to Mr. John Taylor, of York, cabinet-maker and upholsterer, with whom he continued for the term of his apprenticeship. Mr. Pape had reason to bless God that his lot was cast in this place; for, as Mr. Taylor regularly and daily kept up the worship of God in his family, Isaac was soon led to think of the importance of this practice, and of the advantages he had enjoyed under his father's roof. He now became deeply concerned for the salvation of his soul; which a pious female servant in the house perceived, and invited him to the class in which she met. He went, and found it an occasion of much pleasure and profit. He had met in class but a short time, before he determined to cast in his lot with the

Methodists; and from the period that he did so, he was made so sensible of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, as to be perfectly unable to rest without forgiveness. This blessing he sought with all his soul, and soon was privileged to find it. O that all professing masters were like Mr. Taylor, all professing servants like this pious female, and all meeting in class like our departed friend!

No sooner was Isaac brought to enjoy the light of God's reconciled countenance, than he became anxious that others, and that all, should be made partakers of the same blessing; and under the influence of this feeling, he began to talk to his fellow-apprentice, and with such success, as to induce him soon to join the Methodists, and to give himself to God. That person is now a useful Class-Leader among the Methodists. How highly are those churches favoured that abound with such members as Isaac Pape, whose zeal to do good will not permit them to partake of their morsel alone!

For six years he was an active agent in one of our Sabbath-schools; and for several years had a place among those brethren who, every Lord's day, visit the villages round about, for the purpose of holding meetings for prayer and exhortation. In the close of 1820 Mr. Pape made his first attempt to call sinners to repentance; and, in 1822, was put on the Local Preachers' Plan in the Ripon Circuit, to which he had removed. While in the Ripon Circuit, he and a brother of his set on foot an excellent Sunday-school in Borough-bridge.

In 1826 he returned to York, and, as a matter of course, was put on the Local Preachers' Plan. So humbling were the views which he entertained of his own talents, attainments, and services, that he would much rather have been a hearer of the Gospel than a Preacher of it, if his conscience would have suffered him so to be: but, believing it to be his duty to preach, he nobly took up the cross in obedience to his Lord and Saviour; and often has he been heard to say, that preaching the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to perishing men, is the most delightful work in which a man can possibly be employed, seeing it yields such satisfaction to a man's mind when he has done his best to save souls from death. And the writer of this memoir must say, that if it be possible properly to estimate a man's qualifications for this work from the report of those who frequently heard him, and from the plans of sermons which he prepared in reference to his public exercises, the qualifications of Mr. Pape were very respectable. But as the object of this memoir is neither to eulogize the talents of the dead, nor to praise the bare possession of talents, however splendid, but to magnify the grace of God in man, the writer thinks it meet to say, for the honour of God, and in justice to departed worth, that as far as he had the opportunity of knowing Mr. Pape, he had every reason to look on him as a genuine saint, and as a good Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While he had bodily strength to keep his appointments on the Plan, he did it in a most

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