severe disaster-the bank failure, which brought sorrow to many homes. The fortitude and the resources displayed by your father in that trying ordeal, when so many were panic-stricken, and strove to evade or escape their just liabilities, excited my admiration. The great sacrifices that he made, in his determination that all the creditors should be paid, enabled him to live down the calumnies which attached to [those] who, in the blind indiscrimination of the public, were considered equally responsible for the disaster, because they were Directors. For more than twenty years he has survived this ordeal, and, until recently, has lived near the scene of his labours, leading the life of the true Christian, beloved and respected." Mr. Smith was made joint-treasurer of the "Wornout Ministers' Fund" in 1860; in which office he showed an earnest and sympathetic interest in the welfare of those who had spent their strength in their Master's service. For thirteen successive years he spent his winters in the south of France, on account of a delicacy in his chest. There he became acquainted with several persons of rank and note, amongst whom was the late Sir David Brewster, at whose second marriage at Nice, in his old age, he was groomsman.

Mr. Smith was ardently attached to his native town; he took a lively interest in its local affairs, especially its benevolent institutions, and frequently filled the chief lay offices of the Church of which he was a member. He was a trusted adviser, a sagacious counsellor, and a generous friend. In 1863, it was resolved to celebrate the Jubilee of the Wesleyan-Missionary Society, the object being to give vigour and expansion to the cause of Christ by raising in its behalf a sum of one hundred and fifty, or two hundred thousand pounds. The effort proved a great success. Mr. Smith with his ever-ready and abundant hospitality invited many guests to his house; and says, "I entertained one hundred and four guests to breakfast; the sum contributed at that meeting amounted to two thousand three hundred pounds." Grateful for his deep interest in Methodism, and especially in the welfare of the Missionary Society, it was resolved by his friends to present him with a full-length portrait of himself. The picture was painted by Mr. Sidley, and given to Mr. Smith, who afterwards presented it to the Missionary Committee. It now adorns the walls of the Centenary Hall, in London. After his return from Biarritz, in 1867, he had a severe and dangerous attack of illness, from which he never fully recovered. He had designed writing, as already intimated, a detailed narrative of his religious life, but this desirable work he could not now perform. There are a few entries, however, which, by those who knew the transparency and simplicity of Mr. Smith's

character, will be understood and appreciated. He says, "My Almighty Father has endowed me with a good-natured temper and disposition, so that I have been enabled to surmount difficulties and embarrassments in life which would have broken the hearts of many men. My brother Sam says of me, William's temper is worth eight hundred pounds a-year, and mine only six hundred.' I have passed through a long life of nearly eighty-two years with great comfort, and hope I shall come to its close with a bright assurance and prospect of eternal happiness. I do not say there have not been circumstances that have caused me the loss of sleep, but they have been very rare indeed. I am the oldest clothmerchant in Leeds, having been in business more than sixty years; and I am the only surviving officer out of sixty-six in the Leeds Volunteers who went to Doncaster in 1805."

A near and beloved relative has furnished the following notes of Mr. Smith's last days:-" He returned from France the 1st of May, 1868, and on the 4th he attended the Annual Missionary Meeting at Exeter Hall, afterwards dining with Mr. Heald and some friends at the Albion Hotel, the last dinner-party he ever joined. The next day he was exceedingly exhausted, and came home to Gledhow the day after. All the summer his friends saw that he was slowly but certainly passing away from earth; but he often said, 'I think that, with your good nursing, I shall get through the winter.' On Monday evening, after the Gledhow breakfast, he was so feeble that he could not walk alone; and he remained in bed the whole of Tuesday. Early on Wednesday morning, to every one's surprise, he ordered the coachman to drive him to the meeting at Oxford-Place chapel, where he remained two hours. This was the last time he went out of doors. After this he frequently remained in bed all day. He would say, 'I am better here, I want to rest, and be quiet.' He often suffered greatly from restlessness for hours together, but did not appear to be in pain. The last time he came down stairs, he rose earlier than usual, sat at table to dinner, and talked quite energetically, staying up till nine o'clock, and conducting family prayer himself. He kept his bed just six weeks.

"During all the months of his extreme feebleness, his patience, goodness, and gratitude for every little attention, were such as can never be forgotten. He used frequently to say, 'I am sorry to give you so much trouble,-you are all very kind.' He asked some one to read to him several times a day, and would often choose the ninetieth Psalm and the fourteenth chapter of St. John. He was also much pleased with a book published by the Tract Society, entitled, "Life's Evening." The last three days of his life were more easy and free from restlessness. At seven

o'clock on Monday evening, the 21st of December, he was suddenly seized with spasms, which continued for two or three hours. After the pain of this attack subsided, he sank very rapidly, till two o'clock next morning, when he entered into the 'rest' which remaineth to the people of God.' He was sensible, and was observed to be praying to the last hour. At intervals, he said, Dying-rest-rest-O Lord!' When one of us repeated a few texts, and among them, 'Let not your heart be troubled,' etc., he seemed to answer quite sensibly, Ah, Ah!' but never spoke again." During the last summer an old ministerial friend and namesake, the Rev. William Smith, called at the warehouse in Cookridge Street, and fortunately found him there. He writes, "The last interview I had with him was a delightful one. For upwards of an hour we conversed together on topics of the utmost importance. I was charmed and delighted with him. He said, in substance, I am glad, Sir, that you have so pointedly put the question to me. I have the fear of God before my eyes, and the love of God within my heart. I have a deep sense of my own unworthiness, and am small in stature compared with many of my religious friends, yet Christ to me is all in all, Whose I am, and Whom I serve. To God be all the glory.'"

Dr. Jobson, an old and intimate friend, in a letter of condolence to his son, Mr. George Smith, says, "Of all whom I have had the pleasure and honour of knowing, Mr. Smith was pre-eminently the Christian gentleman. Simple, unaffected, easy, and pleasant himself, he ever sought to give ease and pleasure to all with whom he associated......Quick in intelligence, refined in taste, and beaming with charity and goodwill, his presence was always welcome as sunshine, and his conduct always ennobling. How true in his case is the Scriptural declaration, the memory of the just is blessed!'"

At a meeting of the General Committee of the Missionary Society, the following Resolution was passed: "That this Committee, having heard of the decease of the venerable Mr. William Smith, of Leeds, would place upon record the grateful remembranee which they cherish of his private and personal worth, and of his unwearied exertions and large benefactions in behalf of the Society. Especially they would record their sense of his devotedness to its interests when it was passing through a period of trial, as manifested by the plans which he mainly organized to sustain and augment its income in Leeds. The Committee would further express their sincere sympathy with the family of the late Mr. Smith in the affliction which they have sustained in the loss of one who throughout a lengthened life adorned his Christian profession, and was so generally respected and beloved."

VOL. XVII.-FIFTH SERIES.

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Mr. Smith was a man of high Christian character, firm and decided in religious principle, genial in temper and spirit, highly cultivated in his tastes, and scrupulously honourable in all commercial transactions. He was loyal to his sovereign, and loyal to the Church of his choice. Wesleyan ministers always found in him a judicious adviser. We mourn a standard-bearer fallen, a gap made in our ranks that will not easily be filled.

THE PRAYERS OF ST. PAUL:

PRAYERS FOR ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION.

INTRODUCTORY.

THE two Epistles to the Thessalonians are a field peculiarly fruitful for our present purpose. The language as well as the spirit of deep devotion pervades both: formal thanksgivings and supplications are more frequent and occupy a larger space than in any other Epistles. Not indeed that there is any decline in this respect as we proceed with the series. Prayer is the strength of St. Paul's apostolical teaching to the close. But the earliest of his writings are also the richest both in the number and in the importance of their Prayers.

These two Epistles contain, besides other devotional phrases, five express intercessions, the common characteristic of which is that they all bear in them the burden of entire sanctification. Each dwells on one aspect of Christian perfectness, and as a whole they may be said to exhaust the subject, viewed either as to theology or to life. The first (1 Thess. iii. 12, 13) connects unblamable holiness with the abounding of charity; the second (1 Thess. v. 23) looks rather at the utmost sanctification of man's whole nature; the third (2 Thess. i. 11, 12) contemplates the accomplishment of the design of grace in internal goodness: the fourth (2 Thess. ii. 16, 17) makes the goal of regenerate hope the soul's stability in holiness; while the fifth (2 Thess. iii. 5) sums up all in two words, the perfect love of God, and the perfect patience of Christ, into which the Spirit directs the believer as the way of life.

Whilst all these prayers rise to the height of evangelical privilege, the first three are formally dedicated to this by their very construction and phraseology. The full consummation of religious experience is the central idea of each, and in unfolding it almost all the terms which are sacred to Christian perfection are employed. They form a Trilogy of Entire Sanctification, and, deeply interesting in themselves, their interest is enhanced by the fact that they are the very earliest of the Apostle's Prayers.

It is evident that he began his teaching in the highest possible strain, and one that he never relaxed, but kept up in its unfaltering strength to the end. It has been vainly attempted to prove that St. Paul's theological views varied with the advancement of life, but no one has ever been reckless enough to assert that he ever changed his estimate of the possible elevation of man's nature in the present state.

This Trilogy has another point common to its three parts. They all connect finished sanctification with the coming of our Lord and the presence of the Father brought near to the Church in the second advent. This fact must impress its influence, as we shall see, upon the exposition. First, it shows that nothing less than complete purity can be the object desired in these Prayers: it is such integrity of the Christian spirit and character as may sustain the test, the supreme test, of the great day. Secondly, it proves that this integrity was expected as a present blessing of the covenant of grace for the day of the Lord, used as an argument to diligence and hope, was always regarded as ready to dawn upon the company of Christian believers. The light of that day is supposed to rise upon the sanctity that it tests, and not to create it. From this it follows, further, that these supplications, like all others found in Scripture, should be received by us as indicating our present privilege. Every such prayer is a prayer "with promise." We have our Lord's assurance that all things which are desired for us in the Word of God may be received by us in this present life. If the answer is beyond the reach of faith or hope, or to be attained only in another state, the prayer itself will tell us so. But these unrestricted petitions prescribe the range and the duty also of our expectation. Remembering this axiom let us approach these prayers in their order.

I. THE ABOUNDING OF CHARITY.

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end He may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”—1 Thess. iii. 12, 13.

In the introduction of this, the first of St. Paul's formal Prayers, some things are worthy of note in relation to the Object to Whom it is presented.

First, our Lord Jesus Christ is expressly addressed: not as the Mediator only, by Whom petitions are made acceptable, but as Himself the Hearer, and the Answerer, of prayer. It is true that, in the order and economy of grace, Christ is the Procurer of every blessing, and the Holy Ghost the Administrator. But