church was numerously attended; the sabbath became a hallowed day, and its approach was anticipated with lively expectation. The Gospel was preached with fidelity, and heard with deep and solemn interest. Many were awakened from a state of insensibility and thoughtlessness, to a just estimation of the truths which they heard from their beloved pastor. Instances were not wanting, of sound and solid conversion; and even those who received little spiritual benefit, learned to treat religion with respect, and began to exhibit a decency of deportment. Vice did not lift up the head with its wonted effrontery, nor was sin committed with the same fearless unconcern

Another circumstance in the ministry of Mr. Richmond, deserves the particular attention of the reader; we mean the examination of candidates for the communion. It has often been objected to the Church of England, that her ministers admit to the Lord's Supper indiscriminately, and without due regard to the principles and character of the communicants. The charge cannot apply to a consistent minister of the Established Church. He is empowered, nay, required, by the instructions of that church, to put in force her discipline-to examine, to reject, or admit at his own discretion; subject, indeed, as it ought to be, to the approval of his superior.

Mr. Richmond, as a faithful son of the church, and a no less faithful minister of the Gospel endeavoured to carry into effect the requirements of the Rubric, and the directions of the Holy Scriptures: 1 Cor. v. 7, &c.; xi. 28. The person proposing himself for the communion, was examined, and a year of probation was recommended to him for the trial of his sincerity, and the manifestation of it by a consistent and virtuous conversation. Perhaps there were few communions which exhibited a more satisfactory piety; and the attendants at the sacrament were, for the most part, the fruits of his own ministry, and the dearest objects of his heart: he was regarded by them as a father; they consulted him on all occasions, and received advice and sympathy in all their affairs, both temporal and

spiritual. At once respected and beloved by "the children which God had given him," he, in return, watched over them with anxiety, prayed for them with earnestness, instructed them with diligence, ruled them with mildness, and regarded them with the affection of an apostle: "for now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord."-1 Thess. iii. 8. While Mr Richmond was thus fulfilling the duties of an active and laborious parish priest, he commenced a work, which justly entitles him to the gratitude of present and succeeding generations. We allude to the Fathers of the English Church,' a publication containing copious and impartial selections from the writings of our Reformers, and comprising a valuable mass of theological knowledge, illustrative of the doctrines of the Reformation. Nothing of the kind had ever been attempted, and perhaps, few modern divines possessed the requisite means of information.

The circumstance to which Mr. Richmond was indebted for his superiority on this subject, is singular, and deserves insertion. While he resided in the Isle of Wight, and shortly after his perusal of Wilberforce's Practical View,' which had effected so striking a change in his own sentiments and character, a grocer at Newport sent him some trifling article wrapped up in a leaf of Bishop Jewell's Apology. His attention was directed to the wrapper by one of his family, who jocosely remarked, this looks as if it would suit you, Legh." He read the leaf, and instantly set off for Newport, to inquire after the remaining pages. The grocer, smiling at the anxiety of his clerical customer, replied, "O yes, Sir, here they are, and I have a whole hogshead of these worthies; they are much at your service, for two-pence a pound." The treasure was speedily and joyfully secured; and to this incident, trivial as it may appear, Mr. Richmond owed his extensive and profound acquaintance with the authors of the Reformation.

It is, indeed, a humiliating consideration, that works like these should lose the veneration of posterity, and be treated with the contempt due only to the meanest pro

ductions of the day. It was an honour reserved for Mr. Richmond, to draw from obscurity the writings of those eminent men, who had shaken empires by their discussions, overthrown systems which centuries had struggled to uphold, and sealing their testimony with their blood, bequeathed a sacred legacy of pure doctrine to the Protestant church.

At the urgent and repeated entreaties of a large body of the clergy, Mr. Richmond consented to lay before the public a prospectus of his plan, about the year 1806; and shortly after, he published the work itself in numbers, which was completed in eight volumes. It was favourably received, and is allowed to be executed with much judg ment and impartiality. On the whole, the selection is rich and appropriate-presenting a perfect uniformity of sentiment in the great essentials of Christianity; and if compared with the writings of many modern divines, detecting in those writings a mournful departure from the truth. Some parts of the selection might, perhaps, have been omitted, without injury to the cause of vital religion; and other extracts added, which would have increased the value of the publication The candid reader will allow for these defects, and duly appreciate what has been accomplished. It is only wonderful, that amidst incessant parochial labour, when it was difficult to find moments unemployed or spirits unexhausted. Mr Richmond should have been able to bring together so much valuable material with credit to himself and advantage to the church of God. A man less devoted would have shrunk from the task, or have failed in its execution. But the apostle's command was Legh Richmond's motto through life; give thyself wholly to them." His heart was in his work: he turned for relaxation to his employment, and found refreshment in its variety.

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From this brief mention of the Fathers of the English Church,' we are naturally led to the consideration of the doctrines in that work, to which Mr. Richmond attached

so much importance, and which furnished the leading to pics of his own ministry.

He has often been heard to declare, "that two great subjects pervaded the Bible-sin, and salvation from sin; and that these ought to form the basis of the Christian ministry."

In his addresses from the pulpit he never failed to point out, distinctly and forcibly, man's ruin by the fall—his condemnation under the law, and his moral inability to deliver himself by any power or strength of his own.- -Free and full justification, through faith in the atoning blood and righteousness of the Redeemer-the na ure of that faith, and its fruits and evidences.—the agency of the Holy Spirit, in the regeneration and sanctification of believers;—and the necessity of personal righteousness, or a conformity of heart and life with the word of God—not ás the title to heaven, but as a meetness for its enjoyment. These are fundamental doctrines, in which all true Christians, without distinction of sect or party, cordially unite. They have been the food of the church of God in all ages-the manna which has sustained her children in the many and diversified scenes of human trial and infirmity; they have been the song of their pilgrimage; their joy in tribulation; their light in darkness, and their guide to life and immortality

:

In addition to the above mentioned doctrines. Mr. Richmond adopted the views which are commonly called Calvinistic; but not in that offensive sense in which they arc frequently, though most erroneously imputed. It is not the intention of the editor to enter here on the Calvinistic controversy this is neither the time nor the place for such a discussion. He may offer a still better reason for his silence the conviction which he has long entertained, that the real question at issue, and the one in which the interests of true religion are most concerned, is not, whether the Articles of our Church, and the sentiments of the Reformers, be more or less Calvinistic; but whether we spiritually understand, and cordially embrace those funda

mental principles, the belief of which is indispensable to salvation, and the well-being of every Christian community.

These principles are stated, with admirable precision, and strict adherence both to the letter and spirit of the Scriptures, in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Articles of the Church of England; and must ever entitle her to rank among the purest of the reformed churches. Satisfied with the principles there laid down, we may safely allow a latitude of interpretation' on points which, though deemed important by some, are not maintained by any to be essential to salvation

The following analysis of Mr. Richmond's mode of preaching, is submitted to the candid consideration of those persons who have fostered prejudices founded on error and misrepresentation ;--prejudices not wholly unaccompanied by a very culpable ignorance, and which charity and truth must alike lament and condemn.

As a preacher, he was scriptural-experimental--practical-comprehensive--powerful in his appeals to the conscience, and addresses to the heart-full of pathos and in

terest.

1. He was scriptural. A rich vein of divine truth was diffused through his sermons, arising from a frequent perusal of the Bible, and a familiar acquaintance with every part of it. No man can become a sound and enlightened divine, who does not give his days and nights to the study of the Word of God, accompanied by prayer and meditation. The connexion of solid piety with an intimate knowledge of the Scriptures, is indissoluble. This forms, indeed, the manual of every Christian, but belongs in a more especial manner to the minister of the sanctuary. It is the armoury whence he must draw all his weapons ;-it is. the treasury whence he is to be supplied with every motive and every argument which, through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, can fix conviction on the mind, rouse the torpid conscience, excite the affections of the heart, and elevate the soul to God. It is the sceptre of righteousness, by which he rules and guides the flock ;--the rod