Mr. Hill always afterwards took in the welfare of the subject of this memoir, and which continued, constant and unwavering, until the good pastor himself was called to a better, even an enduring inheritance.

This important step of self-dedication to the Saviour was in many respects very beneficial to him. Obedience to the Lord's command must soon be followed by much enjoyment of the Gospel. In a letter written about this time we find the following passage:- Since my union to the church my experience of Divine things has been changeable; sometimes I have felt love to my Redeemer and delight in his work; at other times I have been cold and lifeless in his service. I have often approached the table of the Lord with a heart full of deadness. I have felt the inward conflict, and cannot better describe the state of my mind than in the words of the Apostle, "I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me, for that which I do I allow not, for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do." And yet I hope I can say, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man." It is my desire to be made more holy, and to be daily conformed to the image of my dear Saviour.'

This holy desire, aided as it was by constant and earnest prayer to Almighty God, was abundantly fulfilled. Few were enabled, as this memoir will show, to bear throughout life a more unwavering testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus,' or to adorn more consistently the doctrine of GOD his Saviour in all things.'

CHAPTER II.

THE MISSIONARY CANDIDATE.

'I would sooner blow the trumpet of the everlasting Gospel, which proclaims mercy to a ruined world, than sound the archangel's trumpet which at the last day shall call the world to judgment.'

We have reserved for a separate chapter, an account of what we may call an epoch in the life of the subject of this memoir. Before he completed his nineteenth year, he offered himself as a candidate for the honourable office of a missionary to the heathen. Though the wishes of his heart were, for reasons which shall be presently explained, overruled, yet he always looked back to this period of his life with much pleasure. Few have been enabled to see more completely, that it was because the Lord was fitting him for working in another portion of his vineyard, that He denied him the fulfilment of his early desire,

to make known in distant lands the unsearchable riches of Christ.'

Mention has already been made of the impression produced on his mind by attending services connected with the anniversary meetings of the London Missionary Society. His engagement at the Surrey Chapel Sunday-school, naturally brought him into connexion with many who took deep interest in the operations of the various religious institutions. By degrees he became connected with auxiliaries of the Bible, Missionary, and Religious Tract Societies. He was a member of the St. Saviour's Bible Association, and his first speech in public was delivered at one of its anniversary meetings. There are friends yet living who were present on the occasion, and who did not fail to discern, even in this his earliest effort, indications of that self-command, ready utterance, and complete mastery of his subject, which enabled him, as a public speaker in after years, to gain the interest and attention of his audience. His second attempt was at the anniversary of the Sunday School Union, at the early meeting in May, at the City of London Tavern.

Amongst his papers has been found a letter, addressed about this time to his aunt, Mrs. Limden, which shows the deep interest he felt in

all the religious movements of the day. It must be remembered that it was written by a youth, as yet but eighteen years old. He says,

I never spent a happier season in my life than I did at the Missionary meetings. I thoroughly enjoyed the various services that were held, and when at the public meeting I heard the Missionary Report read, I felt that this was enough to animate the coldest heart. After the sermon, at Tottenham Court Chapel, which was preached on the same evening by the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, was over, Mr. Jackson, of Stockwell, took me and several others, one being a missionary proceeding to Java (Oh! that I were going with him), to his father's residence, which is in the neighbourhood, and a very pleasant time I had, I assure you. The next day, I went to Spitalfields Church, where I heard an astonishing sermon from the Rev. Mr. Matthias, of Dublin. The Rev. Rowland Hill stood on the pulpit stairs, and had you seen him, you would have thought that the dear good man would have jumped into the pulpit, he was so delighted with the sermon. He told me on the preceding Sunday what we might expect at the church, for he added, "I know what materials he is made of." On the following Sunday, he said to me," I had hard work to keep from patting the preacher on