Institution will very shortly be so far extended, as that most, if not all, the candidates for our ministry will be favoured with that training for the itinerancy which it is intended to give. This will undoubtedly contribute to preserve their health and life, by gradually habituating them to patient study and to regular preaching, without subjecting them to that sad waste of vital energy to which a zealous young Minister is almost necessarily exposed in a Circuit, and especially his first Circuit; as well as by clearing the ground for future mental and ministerial improvement, which many of us know it costs us some of our best days and nights to accomplish, in the beginning of our important career. These remarks will serve to prepare the reader for what follows.

Towards the close of the year Mr. Burrows's health failed, and for some weeks he was laid aside. His disorder was a severe attack of inflammation upon the lungs. His parents became alarmed, and instantly urged upon him the necessity of being more moderate and more prudent. He felt the force of parental remonstrance, and promised obedience. In the mean time all possible attention was shown him by his medical attendant, while nothing could exceed the kindness and consideration of the Oldham friends, except their anxiety for his recovery. Prayer was made for him without ceasing; and, by the blessing of God, he was able to resume his labours before the termination of the winter. It is doubtful, however, whether he ever recovered substantial health, although greatly revived by the approaches of warmer weather. For in a letter, dated June 26th, and written shortly after his return to Oldham, from a visit he had made to Rotherham, for the sake of his health, after writing, "I am happy to inform you, that my late visit has been of great service to me," he adds, "Cold weather and night-air are still unfavourable to my lungs, and will produce soreness;" and yet, with these symptoms of disease and danger, in the very same sheet he states, that since his return he has been fully employed in preaching in the chapels, in private houses, and in the open air. He then goes on to say, "One Sunday morning, whilst preaching in the market-place, at seven o'clock, to several hundreds of persons, the Almighty was pleased to convince two reprobate characters of their state as sinners. Last week, whilst addressing a numerous company in the open air, the power of God was specially felt by all present. My hearers were melted; and in the concluding prayer it was a solemn sight to witness the whole of them, old and young, bending their knees upon the ground, and supplicating divine mercy." O that with this zeal for God, and this burning charity for the souls of men, he had attended to the earnest entreaties of his excellent father, addressed to him a few months before! After observing, that from the first of his son's going to Oldham, his fear had been, that the labour would be too much for him, and that those fears had become revived and strengthened of late, the father remarks, "To lose all

command over yourself in prayer; to be quite exhausted before beginning to preach; then to preach for fifty-six minutes, and hold a prayermeeting till ten o'clock; I saw, very plainly, would lead to the most painful consequences. You will say, 'What can I do? souls are perishing, and I must endeavour to pluck them out of the fire.' I hope you will. Long may you live to be the honoured instrument of doing this; but cannot you alter your plan of operation? If you cannot, you will most assuredly find an early tomb. You will say, 'An early grave will be early glory.' I hope it would. But is it nothing to you, that, so far as we can judge, many, very many, immortal souls will perish, whom, if you were spared, you might have been the instrument of saving? I take my stand on the infinite value of souls. Their conversion is everything to me. A son, an only son, a thousand sons going to a premature grave is nothing, compared with the conversion of sinners. My heavenly Father gave his only Son to death, and ought not I willingly to surrender mine? Most assuredly I ought, if your death would save them. But I ask, in the fear of God, Will your death do this? You say, 'Sinners are wrapped around my heart.' I believe it, and I rejoice that it is so. I would not, on any account, have it otherwise. But then I say, Live for their conversion. Do not, by any unnecessary over-doing, by any neglect of yourself, hurry yourself away from this world of sinners. I repeat it, Live for them. Take all the support your body requires, and let there be no useless expenditure of health and strength. Never were the lives of successful Ministers more valuable than at present. Never was your life of so much value as it is now. So far as regards the most valuable purposes of life, you are only just beginning to live. With all my reverence for such men as Stoner, Smith, and others, I ask you seriously, What would have been the probable amount of good effected by them instrumentally, had they lived to this day? If regret can possibly enter the realms of bliss, and they have any knowledge of this lower world, it will be their regret that they should, by any want of prudence, have shortened their useful lives." This extract is long; but remarks like these need no apology: they are worthy of a permanent record.

About the time of the Conference of 1839, Mr. Burrows sank again under a second attack of inflammation, and was obliged to go to his father's house, affected by the idea of his returning home a wounded man, after having been so short a time engaged in the field. It is useless to conjecture now what might have been the result, had he remained this year at home. But he was full of confidence himself as to his recovery, even when his friends were ready to despair; and, like many another victim of pulmonary disease, really fancied himself improving, when no eye but his own could discern anything like signs of amendment. It was now the decided opinion of some of the Oldham friends, that he needed rest, or a milder air, or lighter labour at the least but, in general, they were anxious for his return; and, therefore,

:

he was appointed for the Circuit a second year. His parents were exceedingly desirous of keeping him at home. To their entreaties he replied, that if they said, he must not go back, he would obey; but that it was worse than death to keep him from the work of God. Under this feeling it was judged impossible that his health could be much improved; and as his parents saw with pain that he was getting worse, rather than better, they yielded to his wishes, and allowed him to return to his Circuit. At the same time they had a deep conviction of his physical unfitness for his work, and were seriously afraid that they should see his face no more.

He returned to Oldham about the month of October, and took an early opportunity of consulting Dr. Peter Wood, of Manchester, whose decided opinion was, that he should desist from preaching: but, seeing his great reluctance to this, he allowed him a month for consideration and trial, desiring him at the expiration of that term to come again. During the month he seemed to rally. He had become more moderate in labour; he was more careful of his health; he had been received into the house of his friend, Mr. F. Jackson, where every want was anticipated, and all the comforts of home were enjoyed; while the consciousness of improved health gave animation to his countenance, and appeared to impart vigour to his frame. It is not, therefore, surprising that, on November 15th, we find him writing,-" Yesterday I hastened down to Manchester, with feelings somewhat different from those I had on my former visit. Dr. Wood was astounded at the alteration in my appearance. After feeling my pulse, &c., he stated, that he should have thought it almost impossible that there should be so decided an improvement in the course of a month, especially as I had for a fortnight been doing my full work. The Doctor advised me to act with the greatest prudence, as any cold I might take would most certainly affect my lungs, and expose me to danger. Before leaving him, I expressed myself as feeling truly grateful for his extreme kindness towards me. He replied, that he felt considerable pleasure in seeing me so much better, and would be glad to do all in his power at any future time for me."

He continued to labour, without any alarming interruptions, until the middle of February, 1840. On the 16th of that month he had to exchange with the Preacher of the Saddleworth Circuit. He had been slightly indisposed for a day or two previously, and went to Delph on the Saturday afternoon, on the outside of the coach, exposed to a damp atmosphere. On the Sabbath he felt rather fatigued and poorly after having preached in the morning, and lay down in the afternoon for repose. He fell asleep, and slept too long; for, on awaking, he found that he could not possibly get to his evening appointment in time. However, he hastened off, excited in mind, and weak in body; but did not reach the place until twenty minutes after the usual hour for commencement. In this state he entered the pulpit, and preached,

but for the last time. It was with great difficulty that he reached home on the Monday, and with still greater difficulty that he got to Rhodes-house the next day, where he was desirous of meeting the Ministers and friends who were assembling for the Missionary Meeting at Middleton, in the evening. Several who saw him on that occasion

felt that his course was well-nigh finished.

The day following he was laid prostrate by a fresh attack of disease; and although he so far recovered as to be able to get home to his parents, at whose house he arrived on March 11th, he never left their house again. And yet, in prospect of this visit, he wrote, "Do not suppose that my coming home is a case of necessity; that I am driven. to it by a worn-out, broken-down constitution. Were I to remain at Oldham, I should soon be able to resume my labours; but there is the great danger of being exposed to the cold winds. My coming home must be considered as a prudent step on my part. I do not feel that reluctance to come home which I did in the autumn. This does not arise, thank God, from indolence. It is not because my love for precious souls has diminished; nor is it because I am less interested in the welfare of the Circuit. Upon these matters my soul, I trust, assumes as high a tone as ever it did." And again, two days later, "Upon the important subject of health, I am happy to inform you, I have had no relapse, but experience a gradual improvement. I feel much stronger, and have regained my former appetite." All this will not appear surprising to those who know anything of the character of the insidious disease under which he was labouring. Whilst at home, he had alternations of better and worse; but to his parents it was evident that he was sinking. His state of mind at this time was delightful. He possessed unruffled peace, and sometimes his joy would rise to ecstasy. Until a short time before death, he cherished the impression that the Lord would restore him to his labours; but at all times he expressed the most perfect resignation to the divine will. On its being represented to him, that had he not given himself to the ministry, he might then have been enjoying good health; he admitted the probability of this, but added, that he had never doubted his call to the work, and therefore had no regret. When the almost certain issue of his illness was named to him, he remarked, that he was not at all anxious about it; adding, that the only reason why he wished to live was, that he might preach the Gospel to perishing sinners. “If I live,” said he, “I live unto the Lord; if I die, I die unto the Lord: so that, living or dying, I am the Lord's." Almost his last words were declaratory of his solid peace, and the preciousness of the Saviour, on whom he rested all his hopes of everlasting life. Thus, fully aware of his situation, he calmly waited for the moment of his departure. He fell asleep in Jesus on April 21st, 1840, in the twenty-second year of his age, and the second of his ministry.

As a Preacher, Mr. Burrows was plain, practical, and faithful. He

strove, by "manifestation of the truth, to commend himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God." He did not aim at high things, and there was no attempt at display. He was, indeed, diligent in preparation for the pulpit; and at first his fears chained him down to his discourse as it was written in the study. But he soon felt that a servile adherence to his manuscript checked the flow of fresh thought; which, being suggested by the state of the congregation, was much more likely to be useful, than what he had composed in the quiet of the closet. He found that, in order to raise still higher the tone of feeling, and to produce impressions that should be deep and lasting, it was necessary to venture on extemporaneous address, when the sight of the mourner's tear, or the sound of the half-suppressed and deepdrawn sigh, indicated that the word had not been without effect: for his one great object, as on many occasions he stated to his father, was, to be useful-useful in the best sense of the term-in bringing lost sinners to God. In accomplishing his object he was careful to connect every argument and every motive with the cross; and although he so strove to preach, as that those might be alarmed who were neglecting the great salvation, his ministry was comforting to those that mourned, and edifying to the people of God. At the same time he had a deep.conviction of the dependence of the church on the Holy Spirit for all real prosperity. In a letter to his father, written December 26th, 1839, he says, "What the church wants is, the outpouring of the Spirit in his saving, hallowing influence. Let us obtain this, and we have all we want. It will give liberty to Ministers, make the word successful, reach the hearts of the impenitent, heal the contrite sinner's wounds, and quicken and purify the members of the church. O that we, as Ministers, saw, as we ought, the necessity of securing this divine influence, and of trusting in it! O that our people strove to secure it at all our meetings!"

His ministry was eminently successful. When he went to the Oldham Circuit, the society had not fully recovered from the effects of a division that had occurred a few years before. His appointment as a third Preacher was the result of an anxious desire, on the part of some of the leading friends, and of the Conference, that a larger amount of ministerial labour might be brought to bear on the immense masses of proverbially ungodly sinners within the boundaries of the Circuit: and, to a considerable extent, the experiment succeeded. In the town of Oldham the society was very much quickened, the congregations greatly improved, and the members in the Circuit, which in 1838 were six hundred and sixty-seven, had in 1839 increased to eight hundred and four. Towards this improvement there can be no question that Mr. Burrows's labours largely contributed; and yet he was not "puffed up." There was nothing of self-consequence in his spirit or deportment. On the contrary, no one could be long in his company without remarking his unaffected humility. Indeed, the great secret