delicate texture of his nervous system seemed then to have got a shock which it never wholly recovered. Early in the year 1816, that house in which he had embarked all his own and some of the property of his friends, became insolvent in the general distress of that period; but although the property was lost, he was not rendered liable for the engagements of the concern.

Mr. Leiper was thus thrown out of employment, in a very infirm state of health; he was then led to see the hand of a gracious Providence, and friends were raised up, with whom he enjoyed the comforts of life, while they formed society suited to his taste, and calculated to soothe and cherish him.

Having, in some measure, recovered his health, he accepted the situation of accountant in the Stirling Bank, which he occupied for about four years, and only left it on account of a second attack of the nervous complaint.

In this instance it was attended at times with a sort of religious melancholy, in some respects approximating to that with which the poet Cowper was afflicted. He doubted all his former professions of Christianity; and although he always seemed to understand and appreciate the work of the Saviour, yet his mind grasped at some evidence, which he himself called "The triumph of faith," which he hoped would so overwhelmingly convince him of his own interest in the atonement, as to leave no possibility of doubt. His acute mind felt most keenly, and though, in all general reasoning on the work of the Saviour, he would talk like one half inspired, yet his mind, in its debilitated state, had worn a channel for itself, to which it always recurred. Experienced Christians of various denominations visited him, and all were convinced that his mental agony was chiefly to be attributed to the state of his body.

In

deed, it was restored strength that brought back with it cheerfulness of mind and relief from gloomy apprehensions.

After a considerable interval, part of which was spent in Glasgow, part in Edinburgh, part in Aberdeen, and part in Huntly, he felt himself considerably restored; and, in the end of 1824, he was persuaded to accept of a situation in the Northern Bank at Belfast. Here he found the duty too heavy for his weakly frame, in consequence of which he resigned. Notwithstanding all the liberal offers made to him by the Directors, who would gladly have restricted his labours to mere superintendence, yet such were his conscientious feelings, that he would not permit himself to accept the remuneration annexed to a situation, any of the duties of which he felt himself unable to perform.

In the summer of 1825, he made voyage to London, and, while there, was recommended to the Directors of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, and appointed by them to the management of their Branch at Waterford. In the autumn, he came north to Edinburgh, and, having made some arrangements, from thence to Glasgow, from which city he proceeded to the place of his destination, by way of Liverpool and Dublin. This was in a bad season, and he caught cold during the voyage, and after his arrival felt otherwise indisposed.

On the 21st of January, 1826, after describing the state of his health, and the means used by his medical adviser, he thus writes:

"In fact, I fear I am in more danger than ever I have yet been; I hope, my dear' friend, I have your prayers and those of my other friends with you. Being free, as yet, from an excess of nervous irritability, my mind has not been so much depressed as on former occasions: and I hope I enjoy, occasionally, some support from the precious truths of the Gospel: at other times I am in a low frame, and am prone to conclude, that as my feelings rise and fall with my animal spirits, it is not from the truth that the comfort I feel springs."

When about to depart for Waterford, he carried with him letters of introduction to some respectable ministers in Dublin, in order that he might be by them introduced to the society of some others of like mind, or to private Christians, in that city; but no such introduction could be procured for him.

In his first letters to his friends, he mentions the name of John Harris, Esq., as a pious man, but with whom he had, as yet, little intercourse. It pleased the Lord, who is a better friend than man, to supply in this gentleman and his worthy family, what neither friends in Scotland nor their friends in Ireland could effect. Of Mr. Harris it would be impossible to speak in terms adequate to his worth. Not a few of Mr. Leiper's friends in Scotland will bless the Lord for what he did for him, and pray that it be returned in blessmay ings on his own head and on the heads of his family. Mr. Leiper had been so weak at former times, that it was long before his friends considered him in imminent danger. On the 13th of February, they received a letter from him which was scrawled with a pencil, and with difficulty; perhaps it was the last he ever wrote. Then the truth seemed to be manifest. On the 25th of Feb., Mr. Harris wrote to Mr. L.'s cousin in Glasgow, assigning as his reason, that he was "incapable to put pen to paper;" a violent diarrhoea had left him very weak, and although it had abated, he did not appear likely to recover. Mr. Harris concludes "Your cousin's mind is in a happy state. It is happy for him that he has not now to seek for that refuge which alone can avail in the trying hour, when heart and flesh fail."

On the 27th of Feb., Mr. Harris again wrote: "It is my melancholy task to communicate that within the last forty-eight hours, he has sunk so rapidly as to leave slender hopes very that he can hold out many days longer.

I had a short conversation with him yesterday, wherein he appeared to express a well-assured hope of mercy through Jesus his Saviour."

On the 1st of March the same gentleman again wrote, announcing his decease. He says "From great debility he was frequently wandering in his expressions. One subject, and one alone, when presented to him, seemed at once to recal his thoughts. That is the subject that now, and will through eternity, occupy his spirit— the love of God in Christ."

A brief journal of his three last days, written by a lady belonging to Mr. Harris's family, is so appropriate, that we cannot omit it. She says:

"On the Sunday previous to his death, when Mr. Harris visited him, he found him wandering a little, but as soon as Mr. H. went to prayer, he became composed, and repeated the words after him. On Monday Mr. Harris repeated to him the 23rd Psalm. Mr. L. said, That is beautiful, but don't you know the 42nd?' and then repeated it himself. On Monday night I asked him, 'Did he trust in Christ, the friend of sinners?' He answered with great emphasis- I do, ma'am.' On Tuesday, when I read to him that beautiful hymn-The hour of my departure is come he began to pray thus: O Thou who dwellest in light ineffable!' He continued praying for a long time, but I could only comprehend the last words, which were, 'Glory! glory!' Some time after, he turned to me and said, 'The Gospel is offered to youth, but they will not receive it, though the truth be offered freely.' He then said,

Take the book and read.' I did so; after which he prayed thus: "O thou Almighty Lord God receive me, poor, vile, and worthless sinner as I am!' and then clasping his hands, and with a look of delight and animation, which I cannot describe, he seemed to answer himself—'I will receive thee, poor, vile, worthless sinner, as thou art. Late that night, when Mr. Harris and those who were present went to prayer, he seemed to join, and looked at them with apparent pleasure. Mr. Harris repeated the hymn, Jesus, lover of my soul.' He repeated it also, and some passages of Scripture. He frequently mentioned the throne of grace. The last intelligible words which he uttered (except when he called the servant) were, 'Mercy! mercy! O Lord God.' During his illness, not a murmur escaped him. Every expression proved that his heart had indeed been purified by faith. I might mention many sentences which he said, but I

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fear to alter the words of him whose record is now on high."

Mr. Leiper had attained his fortieth year. He appeared rather older, but his countenance was highly pleasing, and his smile quite irresistible. He had a fine eye. His whole soul would have shone out when he advocated the cause of suffering man, or spoke of the things that concern salvation. His talents were of the first order; and at times, when in health, he employed them in literary composition; but his highly-refined taste led him to reject much that was above mediocrity. A little poem in our Magazine for June, 1817, p. 252, bearing the signature L., is his: the subject is the death of Mrs. Newell. At times, also, he wrote brief reviews for the periodicals--but these were rare exercises.

The variety and extent of his information rendered his company desirable; and the milk of human kindness which his conversation distilled, made him universally beloved. No man, perhaps, was ever more so. He was the good man for whom peradventure one would even dare to die. Many admired his manners and conversation, who were strangers to the producing cause. The love of God was shed abroad in his heart, and he loved those who bore the Divine image, wherever he met them. He loved all mankind. There was

hardly a harsh feeling in his nature, and though we have seen his quick eye dart a flash when he spoke of the oppressors of the human race, it was but momentary, like the lightning's glare-there was no malus animus. Our friend was a Timothy; he had been early taught the truth, and perhaps one cause of his occasional doubting was, the want of any remarkable epoch in his religious history. The change had been early, for he, too, was by nature a child of wrath, even as others; he also required to be born again, but it was in the morning of his days, and the

principle then infused "grew with his growth."

May we also be followers of him, as he was of Christ; then we shall meet again to unite with him in the song of the redeemed-" To Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to Him be glory for ever and ever." AMEN.

THE SHOWER.

IT was a fine afternoon in September, when a physician of Edinburgh left home on foot, for the purpose of visiting a patient at some distance from

town. He was one of those members of the medical profession (and blessed be God, they are increasing in number) who, having tasted and felt that the Lord is gracious, are anxious, as opportunity occurs, to benefit the souls as well as the bodies of their fellowcreatures. He had not quite reached the place of his destination, when he was overtaken by a shower of rain, so heavy and unexpected, that he sought shelter under the first roof that presented itself, which was that of a little cottage by the way-side. In this abode of poverty the most perfect neatness prevailed, and the stranger received a cordial welcome. He sat down at the window to watch the termination of the shower, when one or two moans, as of a person in pain, attracted his attention to a concealed bed, which had previously escaped his notice. Humanity, mingled with a still better feeling, induced him to approach it; and he beheld on it the emaciated body of a female, apparently about fifty years of age, who had been, as he was told upon inquiry, very long under the rod of affliction.

"You are ill," said he, "very ill, I know something of the consolations of perceive, in body; but I trust you that Gospel which can make even a

sick bed comfortable ?"

"Yes," she replied, "I am ill; but it is the hand of the Lord, and let him do what seemeth him good. I have been sixteen years in this situation, but I can still say of my dear Saviour, that he is all my salvation and all my desire."

"Thank God, then," said the physician," and take courage. Be assured

of infatuation. A liberality which requires the giving up of principles, is not liberality, but indifference. A whole generation has been educated on this system; and the result has been disappointment. The union of all parties in one Sunday-School has, in some cases, been abandoned; but the resolution not to teach any peculiar or sectarian principles generally remains: hence the children never become attached to any religious assembly; and, when they have learned to read, and are discharged from the school, they are presently lost sight of. A child must be trained in the way he should go; but these children are, with few exceptions, trained up by their parents in iniquity, and the merely learning to read is not a sufficient check to this baneful influence. Must we then abandon Sunday-Schools? Certainly not. As the part of a system, they are indispensable; as a whole, they are inefficient; for there exists a power stronger than that which a Sunday-School can exert the power of the mother-the power of first impressions. This power must be gained before education can have much influence on the national character. The base and grovelling sentiments which the children of our poor are taught, and which lay the foundation of their character, cannot be removed by the principles generally taught at Sunday-Schools. But parents will yield their authority, and commit their infant children to our care, and pay for the accommodation.

It is high time we were engaged in this service. The road is open and plain before us. An Infant School may in every place be connected with the Sunday School. The object of the former should be to direct the disposure, and lay the foundation of a character-to act the parent's part. A female, whose manners and mind are a model for the scholars, and whose station in society is, consequently, only just above theirs, will be competent to instruct seventy children, which, at twopence each per week, (a sum the parents gladly pay,) will be a compensa

tion.

When the children have arrived at a suitable age, they may be admitted into the Sunday-School; not to learn to read, for this is already accomplished, but to receive religious instruction, on the plan of the Infant-School. A portion of Scripture, or of other

suitable books, may be read, from which the teacher will form appropriate questions; and those doctrines, and that mode of church government, which interests the teacher, he will endeavour to communicate to the children; not by making them bigots, for bigotry is destroyed by knowledge, but by forming their character-by making them as much interested in Christianity as other nations are in the religion of their country. As, by this plan, the scholars may be continued in the school till they become adults, the eye of the teacher will not be required in the place of worship for the senior class; these may be permitted to obtain accommodation for themselves, the expense of which may be regulated by their circumstances, (say 3s. or 6s. a quarter). By this means, an interest will be excited in the prosperity of the place, which, in many instances, will continue through life. Another advantage, and one that will not be disregarded, is, the diminution of expense. Upon this plan little money will be required; once a day will be sufficiently often to collect the scholars, except for Divine worship; and, as this will be done in classes, appropriate rooms for this purpose may be obtained at a very small expense.

THOS. JARROLD, M.D.

Manchester, Oct. 20, 1826.