ly at times feel itself worn down; and it was rather matter of painful regret, than of surprise, to see this venerable man sometimes melting into tears, even while he declared I have no assignable cause of distress whatever. But, though his spirits thus failed him, his judgment and other intellectual powers remained unimpaired to the end.

In this state his last illness found him. On the first Sunday in March he preached in the forenoon with great animation, from Rom. viii. 32, and administered the Lord's Supper; and in the evening, he expounded, as usual, to several of his parishioners assembled in his kitchen-the subject, the Pharisee and Publican, Luke xviii. But it was for the last time. He soon after caught a severe cold: and though the catarrhal symptoms gave way sooner than was expected, yet on Saturday, March 10, he was attacked with a fever, which continued with some variations, till its fatal termination at the period already mentioned.

Under all the circumstances of such a case, to have expected that Mr. Scott's mind should be kept uniformly cheerful, and filled with bright anticipations, would have been not only less than a miracle, but would have shown a defective acquaintance with the operations of the human mind, and with God's dealings with his most established and matured servants, and also an ignorance of what both Scripture and fact teach respecting the power and malice of evil spirits. The sagacious and observant Bunyan took a different view of the subject, and accordingly represents his deeper and more experienced Christian as encountering, on his first entrance into the river, and in some parts of his passage, a degree of darkness and apprehension, from which the younger disciple, Hopeful, is mercifully exempted. Is not this natural, and supported by facts? The deeper views which such characters have taken of sin; the profounder sense they have of their own unworthiness; their more awful impressions of eternity; and the

apprehensions which long experience has taught them to form of the deceitfulness of the human heart: all conspire to this end. Moreover, it is a common observation, that where (as in the case of Abraham) Almighty God has communicated strong faith, he commonly subjects it to severe trials. If any can conceive of nothing superior to present comfort, to them this may be puzzling ;-but it need not be so to others. The result, in such cases, proves honourable to God, and edifying to his saints. What tried and tempted spirit, for example, has not been animated in his conflicts by the exclamation wrung from holy Job, "Though he slay me yet will I trust in him ?"

Though, however, Mr. Scott passed through" deep waters," and sometimes walked in darkness," Isa. l. 10, during his last illness, it is not to be supposed that this was his constant, or even his habitual situation, much less that fear of the final event prevailed in him. No: hope as to that point generally predominated, though he would say, " Even one fear, where infinity is at stake, is sufficient to countervail all its consoling effects:" but the present conflict was severe : "Satan," he said, "bends all his efforts to be revenged on me, in this awful hour, for all that I have done against his kingdom through life!" and his holy soul could conceive of many evils, short of final failure of salvation, from which he shrunk back with horror. There can be no doubt that these distressing feelings were much connected with the disease under which he laboured, as they increased and abated again with the daily paroxysm of his fever: yet, with the Scriptures in our hands, we cannot hesitate to concur in his judgment, that the malignant powers of darkness took advantage of this, in a peculiar manner, to harass and distress him. From time to time, however, the clouds dispersed, and the "sun of righteousness arose upon him with healing in his. beams." This was signally the case, on one occasion, after he had received the holy sacrament, which he did four times with

a solemnity, and even sublimity of devotion, which can never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. He had observed," An undue stress is by some laid upon this ordinance, as administered to the sick, but I think others of us are in danger of undervaluing it: it is a means of grace, and may prove God's instrument of conveying to me the comfort I am seeking." Blessed be God it did so in an eminent degree. Shortly after the service was concluded, he adopted the language of Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Through the remainder of the day, and during the night, he remained in a very happy state of mind. To one who came in the evening he said, "It was beneficial to me: I received Christ, and he received me. I feel a calmness which I did not expect last night: I bless God for it." And then he repeated, in the most emphatic manner, the whole 12th chapter of Isaiah, “O Lord, I will praise thee," &c. The next morning he said: "This is heaven begun, I have done with darkness for ever—for ever. Satan is vanquished. Nothing now remains but salvation with eternal glory-eternal glory."

This, indeed, was not realized, so far as it implied the expectation that there would be no other conflict. The fact is, he had imagined himself much nearer death than he was; and life continuing, "the clouds," as he expressed it, "returned after the rain." Still, as the end approached, darkness and gloom fled away, and calmness, and peace, and sometimes blessed anticipations predominated. The day before he died he dismissed one of his children to public worship, with benedictions and prayers for all the congregations of Christ's church, and concluded, "Blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. He is highly exalted above all blessing and praise." And the very day he died, he thus addressed an aged and infirm inmate of his family-"This is hard work: but let us think of heaven! let us hope

for heaven! let us pray for heaven!" And afterwards, on reviewing the forenoon, for he seemed still strictly to call himself to account for his use of time, he said, "the morning for some hours passed very comfortably." And again, "this is something like godliness,"meaning, as he at another time expressed it, that he had been able to "approach unto God."

But it was not only at these brighter seasons that the excellent state of his mind appeared: even when "joy and peace" were most wanting, all the other "fruits of the Spirit," produced in rich abundance, were visible in him to every eye but his own. This became the more apparent even by means of his deafness, which while it almost cut him off from receiving communications from others, produced in him a habit of almost literally thinking aloud: and this brought to light such exercises of faith, of hope, of love, of fervent prayer, of deep humility, of meditation on the Scriptures, in which numerous passages were often brought together in the most striking and often beautiful combination, as could not otherwise have been traced, and as cannot be adequately represented to those who did not witness them.

But throughout his illness all his tempers and dispositions marked a soul ripe for heaven. His patience was most exemplary, though this was the grace which, almost more than any other he feared would fail. His kindness and affection to all who approached him were carried to the greatest height, and showed themselves in a singularly minute attention to all their feelings, and whatever might be for their comfort, to a degree that was quite affecting; especially at a time when he was suffering so much himself, often in mind as well as body;-even in the darkest times, Thou art righteous! Father glorify thy name! solemnly enunciated, was the sentence most frequently on his lips, and marked his profound submission. His humility and sense of utter unworthiness seemed now more deep than words could express. One of the prayers

It may be satisfactory also to state, with respect to the stereotype edition of his Bible, which has been long in the course of execution, that the copy is fully prepared by the author as far as the third chapter of the Second Epistle to Timothy; and that besides this there exists a copy of the last published edi

tion, corrected by him to the very end of Revelations : from which the remaining part will be completed, according to his own final directions, under the care of a gentleman, in concert with his family, who has long been his literary assistant in the work, and in whose fidelity he placed entire confidence.

Number of Schools, and Scholars,

under the care of the Union. The schools under the immediate patronage of this Society, are thirty-eight in number, and comprise about 3800 learners, many of whom have been regular attendants from the first opening of the schools in 1816, while a considerable proportion are only occasionally present. Of the present superinten. dents and teachers also, many were among those who first came forward to establish and promote this system of instruction. To these, accessions have been made from some of the congregations, and in some instances teachers have been supplied from among the learners. The Committee are anxious to recognise, in the most public manner the self-denial, perseverance, and zeal of the superintendents, teachers, and visiters, by which the operations of the Society have been sustained and its object thus far accomplished.

Extracts from the Quarterly Re

ports, &c.

The Committee are persuaded that they could in no way do more justice to the schools, or better satisfy the expectations of the Society, than by giving the following extracts from among the reports received at the last quarterly meeting of the superintendents and teachers:

School No 4, altached to Christ Church, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Lyell-This school is conducted by two superintendents, a secretary, two visiters for absentees, and twelve teachers, and comprises seventy-five scholars, of whom about fifty regularly attend.

In the course of the year, 32,658 verses of Scripture have been committed to memory; 225 tracts have been distributed for learning and reciting Scripture proofs, 15 Bibles, 9 Testaments, 14 Books of Common Prayer,

3 Catechisms, and 7 Hymn Books for Sunday Schools, have been given as premiums, and the scholars have paid in tickets for all their Spelling-Books.

The prayer-meetings of the teachers have been regularly held once a fort night through the year, and we have reason to believe that a blessing has attended them. Three of our number, we have the pleasure to regard as having fled to the refuge, and laid hold of the glorious hope set forth in the Gospel. Others have had their minds seriously and solemnly impressed.

We think it our duty in this report to mention the support which we have received from the Vestry of our Church, in providing a room for our accommodation for two years past, and having authorised us to procure one for the coming year at their expense.

School No. 6, attached to the Middle and North Dutch Churches.-The School at present is under the direction of two superintendents, two visiters, and nine teachers. The number of scholars, whose names are registered, is seventythree. Several of the boys have received, for their diligence and application, the different rewards of Bibles, Testaments, hymn-books, tracts, &c., which have been proposed, either by the superintendent or by the Visiters of the Union Sunday School Society.

School No. 10, attached to St. George's Church. This school consists of one superintendent, twelve teachers, five assistant teachers, two visiters of absentees, and one hundred and twentyfour scholars. During the past year, two hundred and three scholars have been admitted, one hundred and fourteen transferred to School No. 24, and one hundred and thirty-nine dismissed. During the same time, there have been purchased by the scholars, with tickets, &c., four Bibles, nine Testaments, fifteen hymn-books, fifteen First Part, and five Second Part Spelling-Books. Added to these, several rewards of Bibles and Prayer-Books have been presented by our Pastor to those boys who

have excelled in committing Scripture to memory.

Our library now consists of about 500 volumes. Regarding it as an important auxiliary to the cause in which we are engaged, we are constrained to recommend the collection of a library to those schools which still remain without one. The greater part of those parents whose children attend our school are unable to own any book except the Bible. By means of our library, they have it in their power to employ many of their leisure hours in profitable reading; and that they do so employ them, we have the most satisfactory evidence.

School No. 11, attached to the Baptist Church in Mulberry-street.-The number of Scholars on the Register is one hundred and eleven, of whom sixty generally attend at a time. The school is conducted by one superintendent, one secretary, nine teachers, and four visiters of absentees, who also collect new scholars.

Our school was formed on the 3d day of March, 1816. Since its commencement, there have been admitted seven hundred and thirty-four scholars. Seven teachers and eight scholars have been seriously impressed since their connexion with the school, and have publicly professed their faith in the Gospel.

School No. 17, attached to St. Stephen's Church. Our school at present consists of one superintendent, one assistant, one secretary, fifteen teachers, and one hundred and forty-three scholars. The average number of punctual attendants is from eighty-five to one hundred.

It is with pleasure we state that the parents of our scholars appear to be more willing, within a few months past, to second our endeavours, than at any former period; which, in a great measure, is attributed to frequent visiting. Part of our teachers have devoted their leisure hours to this object, and in most instances their visits have been received with gratitude.

Our pupils have made considerable