Christ, that whenever, and in whatever way, he should be called into eternity, he should be for ever with the Lord. Three or four nights before his death, when lying down, he said, with great solemnity, “I bless my God, I could lie down to die now, if it were his will, with as great composure as I can lie down to sleep."

When he was recovering from the influenza, in 1837, he expressed, at different times, a desire to live a little longer, if it were the Lord's will, that he might endeavour to do a little more good. But, latterly, even the wish to live for so noble a purpose appeared to subside in unqualified submission to the divine will. In conversing one day with the Rev. Barnabas Shaw, reference being made to his age, he said, “I am not yet quite ripe for heaven. If I were, the Lord would take me."

He was eminent for simplicity and humility; for an abhorrence of everything like pomp, ostentation, or a desire of human applause; and for a frank, open, and generous disposition. Never, perhaps, was there one, to whom our Lord's character of Nathanael could be applied with more striking propriety: "An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."

His liberality in supporting the cause of God, and relieving the poor, knew no bounds, but those of his own pecuniary resources. Of Mr. Wesley's three celebrated maxims, "Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can," he heartily approved; and, whether he observed the first or not, all who knew him well will agree, that he exemplified in his conduct the second and the third. He carried both economy and benevolence to a high degree.

He gave what may be regarded as a dying proof of his attachment to the Wesleyan body, and of the interest he felt in the plans proposed for the celebration of the Centenary of Methodism, by paying, a few days before his death, the whole of the sum which he had promised, in his own name and in that of his family, to the Centenary Fund.

The funeral, which was very numerously attended, took place in the burying-ground of the Ebenezer chapel, on Friday, March 29th. The service was read by the Rev. William Tarr, who delivered an appropriate and impressive address, founded on Psalm xii. 1.

On Sunday evening, April 7th, a funeral sermon was preached in the same chapel, to a very large and deeply-interested congregation, by the Rev. Philip C. Turner, whose excellent and animated discourse was founded on Revelation i. 18. Sermons on the occasion were also preached that evening in our chapels at Devonport, by the Rev. William Tarr, and the Rev. W. R. Williams.

Instead of adding any further remarks of my own, relative to the character of my revered father, I shall close with a few testimonials from some who knew him well for many years; and who, not being connected with him by relationship, cannot be suspected of partiality.

The late Mr. Joseph Braithwaite, of Plymouth, a man of a sound and discriminating judgment, was acquainted with him about thirty

years; and stated, alluding to the sainted Vicar of Madeley, that "he had long regarded Mr. Burgess as the Fletcher of modern Methodism." To each of the following testimonials the name of the author is appended:

"I had but little knowledge of your venerated father, until my acquaintance with him at Plymouth. Of the opportunity of that acquaintance I was exceedingly glad, as it freed my mind from a prejudice that had been of many years' standing. I always thought well of his piety, from my first knowledge of him. But, from a little controversial dispute with him and a few other brethren, in the Cornish District, in 1805, I had always undervalued his understanding and doctrinal knowledge, until I had him with me at Plymouth, and had an opportunity of weekly converse with him and Mr. Truscott. By that intercourse, I found that I had taken too low an estimate of the vigour of his intellect, and of his knowledge of divinity; and that, in every respect, he was entitled to a higher standing than I had allotted to him. It rejoiced me much to have my own mind disabused; and yet more to have an opportunity of doing justice to so venerable a man and Minister. I may and must say, that I loved my dear father Burgess very much; and the more, as I knew more of him. His Christian simplicity, his godly sincerity, his zeal to do good, his unwearied diligence in visiting the saints, whether ill or well; his punctuality to his engagements, his liberality in the support of God's cause, I could not but admire. Nor did I less admire his unabated thirst for knowledge, and his diligent endeavours to add to his mental stores. But I most esteemed him in the pulpit; where he shone by his efforts to set the Saviour forth, and to bring the people to him. In short, it was my happiness and my glorying to have two such consistent, excellent, eminent men, saints, and Ministers, as Messrs. Burgess and Truscott, with me, for companions and counsellors. I shall ever venerate their memory."-Rev. John Burdsall.

"I was more or less acquainted with your venerable father about thirty-five years; that is, from his first coming into Cornwall in 1804; and during this period I had innumerable opportunities of knowing his character, both from personal observation, and from the testimony of others. He was ever the same man,-a Christian of singular eminence one more generally respected and esteemed I certainly have never known. He was not only blameless and harmless, the child of God without rebuke before the church and the world, but his character was adorned with many prominent virtues. In humility and simplicity, he was a Christian of the apostolical order; in meekness and selfgovernment, he had few equals; and his integrity and generosity commanded my constant esteem and admiration. With respect to his indefatigable zeal as a Pastor, as far as my knowledge extends, he stood unrivalled. I was stationed with him in one of the earlier years of my ministry; when he laid me under peculiar obligations of gratiVOL. XIX. Third Series. JULY, 1840.

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tude, by his example in prosecuting plans for mental improvement, and by his most kind and unwearied attention in assisting me in my studies. A man of more distinguished excellence, and solid worth to human society, has, I think, seldom been known amongst us."-Rev. Benjamin Carvosso.

"To have had such a father, must afford you peculiarly grateful recollections; for, though he shone not among the more eminentlyconspicuous and deservedly-popular Preachers of his generation, yet he was a Christian and a Pastor of no ordinary character. I have often felt grateful to God, that I had the happiness of being stationed with him for four years; and shall, I trust, preserve a suitable recollection of the kind assistance which he afforded me in my studies, and of his uniform kindness and affection toward me and my family. There were many things in his character which I greatly admired, and of which I have still a vivid impression. His early rising, his constant application to some useful branch of study, his great diligence in pastoral visits, his deep and uniform piety, his Christian simplicity, his great disinterestedness and liberality, were traits in his character which stood forth so prominently, that it was impossible for a person to live with him any time without being struck with them. They have often been topics of remark and admiration in my family; and frequently have we expressed our desires, that a succession of such men may be raised to fill up the ranks in our ministry, as the late Messrs. Truscott and Burgess; men who will long be remembered by many, who will be the crown of their rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus."-Rev. Thomas Staton.

"As to your late excellent father, whom I knew well for eight-andtwenty years, I cannot convey in words all that I think and feel. His uniform and deep piety showed itself in the most scrupulous exactness in every part of his conduct; and yet there was no stiffness, but the most perfect ease, through which his transparent conscientiousness was seen unceasingly. His gifts were excellent, and all sanctified to the use and edification of the church. The Spirit of his Lord and Master rested upon him in a very high degree; and, being a man of genius, he was a rich Preacher. It was a very rare thing to hear a slighting word of anything said or done by Mr. Burgess. Even the ungodly reverenced him, as an eminently wise and holy man. In his ministry, which I had the privilege to sit under for some years, there was an unction from the Holy One, a force and copiousness, a depth and mellowed ripeness, which carried the hearer, almost before he was aware, into the holy of holies, and into the presence of the Lamb standing upon the mount Zion, as it had been slain. His manner was quite his own; his matter was from God."-Rev. Walter Lawry.

"Your honoured father always appeared so far above me, that he was more like one of another world, whose hallowed spirit was unfit for earth. I knew him for more than twenty years; and for the last fourteen years was favoured with knowing him intimately, both abroad

and at home, in health and in sickness, in his official character and as a friend; and certainly I never knew his equal. His piety was not cold, repulsive, cringing: no, quite the contrary; there was all about it that was warm, and attractive, and manly. It inspired both love and reverence; it charmed and elevated. Many times have I been reminded of Enoch, by his example; for of him it may be said, 'He walked with God:' his conversation was in heaven; he dwelt in God. His deep and elevated piety showed itself in his look, as well as in his whole spirit and behaviour. Many persons have been struck with his countenance; there was something in it expressive, commanding, and heavenly. Some Quaker friends, on one occasion, met him, on some public business of a merciful description. He said little; but one of them was so affected with his placid, heavenly face, that he inquired his name, with some expressions of admiration and delight.

"On one occasion, while he was preaching, I well remember seeing such a lustre on his face, that I could not bear it without being overwhelmed, and was constrained to close my eyes. It was like the face of Stephen. Many times have I seen an unearthly benignancy on his face, and an unutterable something flashing from his eye, while in the pulpit.

"His hospitality was very great; his house appeared to me like heaven,-open to all.

"His generosity was truly remarkable; it knew no bounds but his means. Sometimes it poured forth itself in silence and unseen, like the dew; at other times it swelled beyond its channel, and bore all before it. When there was a collection to be made, he was always among the most liberal. When any Circuit or chapel difficulty came in his way, he did not leave the friends to struggle and help themselves; nor did he merely devise plans to be executed by them; but he nobly led the way, and generously gave all he could, and sometimes more than was convenient.

"His tenderness was striking. His tenderness of the character of the absent: never could he touch this, or suffer it to be touched. His tenderness to the young: he would conceal, as much as possible, his superiority; let down himself to their capacities and attainments; ask questions so simple, and make remarks so affectionate, as to lead them into truth and goodness. His tenderness to the sick was affecting : he would not merely visit, and read, and pray; but would enter into their sorrows and pains, and sympathize with them.

He seemed not to think
Only let him see that

"His disinterestedness should be noticed. of himself; this was forgotten, out of mind. what was to be done involved no departure from truth, and he considered not the sacrifice it required at his hand. He pleased not himself; this seemed not to be the end at which he ever aimed.

"His courtesy should not be overlooked. He was a perfect gentleman; at least, I should so esteem him; a gentleman of the right

stamp, a Christian gentleman. He was always trying to please, and to render all happy, with whom he had to do; anticipating their wants, and ministering to their comfort.

"I well remember being a witness, on one occasion, to the way in which he was treated by a misguided and unprincipled professor; who was so foolish and so wicked as not only to contradict him, but to represent him as not having said the thing that was right. Though he said just nothing, there was a grace, a dignity in his demeanour, so Christ-like, that every person present, except the unhappy individual, was deeply affected and improved.

"You need no support of anything you may mention respecting your father: you cannot say too much."-Mr. Nicholas Stapleton, of Plymouth.

"He was a bright example of all that is excellent and amiable in the religion of Jesus Christ; and, during the latter years of his life, was generally regarded with a high degree of veneration, as a saint of a superior order; as one of the patriarchal relics of a former generation; and as a fine specimen of that simplicity and humility, that deep and unaffected piety, that diligence and zeal, that disinterestedness and benevolence, which so signally marked the character of the early Methodist Preachers. He had attained a richness and maturity of Christian experience, and lived in a blessed state of preparation for his final change. His hoary head was eminently a crown of glory, and his memory is blessed."-Minutes of the Conference, 1839.

MEMOIR OF MR. HENRY JAMES WHEELER,
Of Ryde, in the Isle of Wight:

BY THE REV. ROBERT BENTHAM.

MR. WHEELER was born at Ryde, in the Isle of Wight, August 27th, 1811, of parents who feared God, and trained him up in the way of righteousness. His grandfather and grandmother were some of the earliest fruits of Methodism in the Isle of Wight. Mr. John Wheeler, the grandfather, with his son Emmanuel, were in the habit of coming from Bembridge to Haven-street, a distance of many miles, to hear some of the earliest Preachers who visited the place. He invited them to Bembridge, and thus introduced Methodism into the eastern part of the island. Mr. John Wheeler became a useful member of the Wesleyan society, a Class-Leader, and Local Preacher: he, at the same time, officiated as Clerk in the parish-church at Yaverland, where the late pious Legh Richmond was the Minister. A perfectly good understanding existed between them. Mr. Emmanuel Wheeler, Henry's father, has had the principal management of the Wesleyan Sundayschool in Ryde from its commencement to the present time. Henry was early instructe in the school; and, for such instruction, he has