WE esteem the skilful artist who furnishes us with a correct likeness of a beloved relative or friend, and thus perpetuates the departed in our memory, long after his decease. And we feel ourselves under obligation to the Christian biographer, who supplies us with a faithful portraiture of our kindred and acquaintance, and by which we hold continued fellowship with them, when they are no more in the world. But there is this difference between the two: the former can only represent to us the external figure, and the lineaments of the countenance with which we are so familiar; but he cannot display the features of the mind; whereas the latter develops the inward man, and describes the sentiments, principles, and habits, which formed the elements of the moral and religious character. In his accurate exhibition, he represents those infirmities and imperfections against an imitation of which survivors should be on their guard, and those peculiar excellences which they should strive to copy, and in which they become followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Hence it is, that the memoirs of the excellent of the earth, whether they have moved in private or public stations, have not only proved interesting and profitable to the family circle, but have been extensively beneficial to large masses of readers in different departments of society.

VOL. XV.

Although the usually even tenour of the course of a Protestant dissenting minister seems to afford comparatively few materials to his biographer, yet there is much in his history which may afford subjects for serious reflection. The manner in which he was introduced to his Master's work, his discouragements and trials, his successes and pleasures, the productions of his pulpit and of his pen, together with the closing scenes of his earthly existence, yield valuable lessons to his surviving brethren, and to greater numbers who were conversant with him in the several walks of life: and it has sometimes happened, that those who turned a deaf ear to his sermons while living, have been savingly impressed by his obituary, and have been led to consider the end of his conversation, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.'

The late Rev. Dr. John Humphrys was descended from an ancient family of high respectability. His paternal grandfather, a merchant at Birmingham, was a man of eminent piety, a friend and admirer of the Rev. George Whitfield, and one of the founders of the Independent church in Carr's-lane, when a separation took place from the old meeting, on the ground of doctrinal sentiments relative to the deity of Christ. His son, Abel, trod in his footsteps, and was zealous for the truth and holiness of the Gospel. Mr. Benjamin Humphrys,

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his youngest son, was educated at the Grammar School at Wolverhampton, and was articled with William Russell, Esq., of distinguished commercial reputation, in Birmingham; he afterwards settled at Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire; and married a daughter of Josiah Dowler, Esq., of the same town, by whom he had six children, one of which is the subject of this memoir, and who survived the rest of the family. When he was about seven years old, he was placed at a respectable boardingschool, at West Bromwich, in Staffordshire; there he continued six years, attending the various branches of learning. During the last of these years, the wife of his tutor died in the faith and hope of the Gospel, and her demise made a very powerful and lasting impression on the mind of the pupil. His instructor fostered those feelings which were deepened and confirmed by the interesting exercises of regular family devotion. At this period, his mind had become so habitually serious, that several friends suggested to him the idea of devoting himself to the Christian ministry. Rev. B. Fawcett, of Kidderminster, encouraged him in the prospect, and, in 1771, he was placed at Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, under the care of the Rev. Stephen Addington, who conducted a flourishing school there for many years, and of whose church he became a member at the age of sixteen. From that seminary, he went to the Dissenting Academy at Homerton, over which Dr. J. P. Smith now presides, and about this time he commenced a diary, which he continued until his last illness. In the summer of 1782, he was ordained at West Bromwich; and, after having been there some years, he received an invitation to succeed Dr. James Watson, the pastor of a church assembling in Deadman's-place, Southwark. In 1788, the church and congregation erected a more commodious place of worship in Union-street, the pulpit of which is now filled by the Rev. John Arundel. At this place he continued his labours till 1819, when he was solicited to become the Principal of the Protestant Dissenting Grammar School at Mill Hill, near Hendon. Over this institution he remained six years, when circumstances arose which terminated in the resignation of his office. Subsequently to this period, he lived in comparative retirement from

public life, excepting his occupation as occasional preacher at the chapel at Finchley, almost contiguous to the place of his residence, and the share he took in the management of several important trusts, among which are those of the late William Coward, and the Regium Donum, or Parliamentary Grant, with a few others of less notoriety. It was his privilege to enjoy an almost uninterrupted state of health till about the close of 1836, when an obvious change took place in his frame, concerning which he remarked, "That it was a token from his Lord that his departure from life could not be distant," adding, as he went early into his study one morning, "it is a delightful thing to prepare to take my last journey; and I have little to do now but to wing my way to another world." In the spring of the following year, having some business to conduct in London, he sojourned for a few days, at Hackney, with a minister with whom he was intimately acquainted, and was observed by the family to have undergone a considerable alteration in his appearance. One day, returning much fatigued, he complained of severe pain in his left leg, and of a slight inflammation. This, however, proved the commencement of a rapid decay. The lower extremity of the limb had become greatly affected, and after having languished for three months, mortification soon ended in death.

During the beginning of the inflammatory attack, neither he nor his relatives apprehended danger, and for some time confidence was cherished that he would recover; but it was at length found impracticable to arrest the progress of the malady, which terminated his life on the 15th of July, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He was interred, on July the 24th, in the family vault, in Deadman's-place, and an appropriate and impressive address was delivered at his tomb, by the Rev. Dr. J. P. Smith. The funeral sermon was preached at Finchley, by the Rev. John Clayton, Jun., from those expressions in St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, which had frequently dropped from the lips of the departed," To die is gain."

It was partly owing to the full persuasion entertained by Dr. Humphrys of his recovery, and partly from the debilitating progress of his disorder during the last weeks of his illness, that he spoke so little on the subject of death, though

on his dying couch. Whenever he referred to the topic, however, he talked of his removal from life with great calmness; and at the close of a conversation with his relatives, he said, with emphasis, "Nature shrinks at the idea of dying, but I have no fear of the consequences of death;" and "I am fully persuaded God will be more glorified in my salvation than in my destruction." On being asked by a relative how he felt as to leaving the world, and the time and manner of it? he replied, "I leave all that with a gracious God. He who has made the universe can do nothing but what is right, and he who has loved me in Christ will not be unkind. I am perfectly resigned to whatever is his holy will." He frequently broke forth, on his bed, into expressions of adoring thankfulness to his Saviour, and poured out short prayers for himself, and for the different members of his family; till a few days before his release he sunk into a state of torpor, and the cloud which thus obscured his mental faculties, was not dissipated till his happy spirit rose to enjoy the light and glory of an everlasting day.

From the various documentary evidence he has left in his copious diary, and from his copied letters to his correspondents; from his sermons; but more especially from the whole course of his blameless life, it is not difficult to form an estimate of his character. As a husband and father, he was most affectionate; being ever concerned to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of all his relations and dependents. As an instructor of early youth, he was competent, assiduous, and successful; and many, who are now ornaments of society and of the church of Christ, can attest the vigilant care he exercised over their mental and moral improvement,

while under his tuition. As a friend, he was frank, sympathetic, generous, and ever prompt to discover proofs of his esteem and attachment. As a member of the committees of various institutions, he was punctual, laborious, and urbane; and while he supported his own opinions with firmness, he was not tenacious on points of inferior moment, but was always ready to merge his own particular views upon artificial modes of procedure, for the better promotion of general usefulness. As an author, in the fifteen or twenty pieces which fell from his pen, whether in ephemeral essays, letters, or in sermons, his style was classically neat, but deficient in force; his productions always tending, however, to advance the great interests of evangelical truth and piety, and to disseminate those principles of civil and religious liberty, which are calculated to produce the greatest good to mankind. As a minister, he was highly respectable, though he was never a popular speaker, but his discourses were full of solid matter, and his prayers were scriptural, devout, and impressive. Not many weeks before his death, during a visit to one of his brethren, he so impressed the whole audience, while assembled at the family altar, by one of his pertinent and affectionate appeals to God, that several of the household were melted into tears, and all joined in the avowal, that he prayed like a man "on the verge of heaven." The Christian, after all, is the highest style of man, and the abundant proofs which Dr. Humphrys gave of his genuine godliness will long embalm him in the memory of his best kindred and friends, and confirm their full assurance, that he is now united to the goodly fellowship of the prophets and apostles, in the everlasting services of the heavenly sanctuary.

By many commentators these words have been applied to Christ; and certain it is, that his love to his friends surpasses, in every way, the most ardent,

Proverbs xviii. 24.

the most faithful, the most romantic, and the most disinterested of human friendships. The date of his friendship is from everlasting,; for his delights

were with the sons of men ere yet the foundations of the earth had been laid. His friendship involves the greatest sacrifice that the universe ever beheld: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends; but while we were yet sinners-and enemies -Christ died for the ungodly." His friendship is the most unshaken and stedfast; whom he loves, he loves to the end; and to all who obey and follow him, he says, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you;" no, never! And oh how he bears, too, with the infirmities of his friends, supporting the feeble, succouring the tempted, healing the backsliding, restoring the wandering, and gently chiding the ungrateful!

What a distinction, what a blessing, then, to have Christ as our friend! Earthly friendships may pierce us to the heart; but the friendship of Christ will be the solace of our hearts for evermore. Earthly friendships may fail us ; but Christ will be the "strength of our heart, and our portion for ever." Earthly friends may leave us desolate and forsaken; but in the great day of account not one of Christ's friends will be amissing, when the living in Jerusalem shall stand before the Lamb.

Reader, is Christ your friend? Have you given him your heart, and chosen him as your eternal portion and refuge. Forget not that the day is fast approaching, when nothing but the friendship of Christ will avail you. What will it be, in the hour of death, to be greeted by the smile of millions of your fellow creatures if He befriends you not, at whose girdle hang the keys of hell and of death. Make Christ your friend, and then you need not dread the enmity of the universe.

But though the words of Solomon are capable of a solemn and instructive reference to Christ, it is by no means obvious that he had Christ in view when he committed them to the pages of the living oracles. He is evidently speaking of friendship as it exists among men, and as it often surpasses the attachments of kindred and blood. "A man," says Solomon, "who hath friends, must show himself friendly," must cultivate a friendly disposition, and act in a faithful, generous, and disinterested manner. "And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother:" the friends whom God raises up to a man, and who are attached to him for his piety and integrity, will cleave closer to him often

in affliction than his nearest relations, who are not thus united to him. Nay, this friendship shall not be dissolved in death, but shall endure for ever!

There are those who would tell us, that there is no such thing as friendship in this world. This is too often the language of those who little know what it is to estimate or to deserve the blessings of friendship. Such a sentiment is essentially erroneous, and the indication of a selfish, proud, and disappointed spirit. Sanctified friendship is the very balm of life; and has done more to extract the bitterness of the curse which sin has brought upon our world, than almost all other things combined. But, in proportion as true friendship is a blessing, it is necessary that it should be formed on right principles, and conducted to a right end. "The friendship of the world is," emphatically, "enmity with God." Its fellowships are often corrupting-always, more or less, disappointing. The fear of God enters not into their com position; the principles of true grace and benevolence do not regulate their exercise; and therefore it is that they too generally issue in chagrin, in bitterness, and in alienation of heart.

Youth is the time for contracting warm and useful friendships. But how prone is it to err in the manner in which it gives forth its young affections! Hence the sad instability of many friendships, which promised fair for long endurance, and deeply cherished regard. In a world like ours, no rules can be laid down for the government of friendship, which will in every case be found sufficient to provide against occasional failure and disappointment; but if due care were taken to bring God into our friendships, and to form and conduct them upon the principles of his word, we might hope to see many attachments as faithful and tender as was that of David and Jonathan.

If the present essay should, by God's blessing, aid in the formation of any right friendships, or regulate those already existing, the writer will have reason to bless God for that friendly suggestion, which determined him to lay the following remarks before the nume rous readers of this widely circulated periodical.

Attention should then be directed to the principles which enter into the formation of a sanctified friendship; to the rules by which it should ever be regu