Riding of Yorkshire, at the time of the last debate upon the subject in the House of Commons, when Mr. Fox's motion " having to encounter the full weight of ministerial influence, was consequently negatived by a very great majority." Upon his return to Yorkshire a Meeting of the Committee of Protestant Dissenters, in the West-Riding of the County, was held, when a very interesting report of what had passed was read by him, the causes of the failure of the applicants were ably stated, and the means of securing success at some future period, were briefly suggested. No long time, however, had passed, before the general defection of one denomination of the Dissenters, the strange and gloomy aspect of public affairs, the violence of party spirit, the fears of some, and the misrepresentations of others, forbad all hopes of success, convinced the most strenuous and sanguine advocates of religious liberty, that no exertions, however ably and wisely directed, could avail, and determined them to wave their just claims, and to wait till that which they had so often asked in vain, should be restored to them unsolicited. The sentiments

which in common, it is believed, with all his brethren, Mr. Wood at length adopted, he has thus admirably expressed in the sermon preached on occasion of the death of Dr. Priestley.

"On the subject of a religious Test as a condition of admission to a civil office, he spoke and wrote with considerable warmth, and not entirely without asperity. He felt it to be a reflection on himself and his brethren, no less unjust, than degrading and severe. But his warmth was the effervescence of a noble mind, excited for a moment by a generous impatience under unmerited suspicion and distrust, which soon cooled down to the mild temperature of christian benevolence. And after an interval of fourteen years, there is, I trust, no intelligent Dissenter who does not think on the subject with tranquil indiffe rence. We had misconceived the prevailing spirit of the times. We judged that what did not openly appear, had ceased to exist. We were disappointed of our expectation; but our disappointment has not diminished our attachment to our native land. We are still sensible of her invaluable blessings. We do not

quarrel with the great and substantial good she offers to us in common with all her other children, because she adds to it a trifling inconvenience, and has given us a slight affront. We shall, I sincerely hope, never again repeat our request. If a free communication of every secular advantage should be offered to us by a confiding country, it will be received by us with a dignified complacence, and a cordial return of beneficial kindness. But we should forget what is due to ourselves, were we to discover any anxious solicitude, and to sue a fourth time for what, weighed in opposition to our legal rights, is less than the small dust of the balance." (e)

On the 28th of August, 1794, died the Rev. W. Turner, of Wakefield; and on this occasion Mr. Wood was requested to deliver the funeral sermon. This was afterwards published, accompanied with Memoirs of his life and writings drawn up by his son, the Rev. W. Turner, of Newcastle; the whole forming a very interesting and appropriate tribute to the memory of one who will ever be esteemed a bright ornament to the christian ministry, and the dissenting name.

(e) Sermon on the death of Dr Priestley, p. 39-41.

In the succeeding year, he was again called to perform a similar office, but in circumstances far more melancholy. Mr. Turner had attained to a good old age, and his long day of labour and of usefulness was ended sooner than his day of life; but Mr. Ralph, of Halifax, had scarcely passed the meridian of his years; time had in no degree impaired his faculties, or disqualified him for the active service of .his brethren. He was pursuing with zeal and ability the duties of his profession, surrounded by "a numerous uneducated family," when by one of those dispensations of providence which appear to be designed to throw some degree of darkness over the ways of God towards man, in order that our faith and piety may be exercised and proved, he was speedily taken from this uncertain scene of being. With this excellent person, Mr. Wood had been "strictly and cordially connected from his entrance into public life, he had seen him in a great variety of situations and circumstances, he had always the happiness to possess his confidence, and from him he had been accustomed to ask and to receive counsel, in every season of doubt and embarrassment. In the removal

of such a friend he felt a heavy loss," and wisely distrusting his power over his own feelings," when speaking upon the mournful occasion to the afflicted relatives and friends, from the place which he had so lately and so ably occupied, he described in general terms the character which alone can be a sure preparative for the hour of death, leaving it, as he safely might, to his hearers, to make the intend. ed application. This Sermon was also published, and is a striking and very affecting memorial of his esteem and friendship for that truly excellent person.

A short account of Leeds was this year contributed by him to Dr. Aikin's History of Manchester. The nature of that work admitted only of a brief and general view of the state of that extensive and flourishing Town. The statement of its population may be relied upon as then accurate, Mr. Wood having not long before been engaged in making an enumeration of all the inhabitants, by means of a personal application at each house.

In the year 1796, he had the unhappiness to lose an amiable and very promising son, at the early age of 12 years. This was a severe