justification before God, through faith in the blood of Christ; and believing that Christ died as a sacrifice for the sins of men,—that Christ died as a sacrifice for his sins,-he put his trust in Christ for pardon, for a title to eternal life, and for that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." It was done unto him according to his faith. His midnight was turned into the light of day; guilty fear in his breast gave place to filial love; the Holy Ghost bore a distinct and indubitable witness with his spirit that he was a child of God; he loved God under a deep and impressive assurance of God's love to him; and he loved all mankind for the Lord's sake.

66

It has been justly observed by a modern writer, that a change like this can never be forgotten; that a man might as well attempt to forget a hairbreadth escape from shipwreck, or from his house at midnight when he suddenly found himself enveloped in smoke and flame, as forget the period when, in the Scriptural sense of the expression, he passed from death unto life." The subject of this account retained to the end of his days a vivid recollection of the feelings and occurrences connected with this period of his moral history. In familiar intercourse with his friends he often referred to the callous state of his heart before his conversion, and the spiritual enjoyments which succeeded that happy event. After a lapse of nearly thirty years he visited the place of his spiritual birth; and amidst the delightful services of a missionary anniversary, a love-feast was held for the members of the Methodist society in Lincoln and its neighbourhood, at which he was present. With deep emotion, the tears gushing from his eyes, he related the particulars of his early life; especially his wickedness in connecting himself with the persecutors of God's people; the penitent distress which he experienced when convinced of sin; and the state of light and liberty into which he was brought when "the God of hope filled him with all joy and peace in believing," and he was enabled to "abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." During his last illness, when death appeared in full view before him, he said to a friend with strong feeling, "What a light was that! what a day, when the blessed Spirit first struck the light of heaven into our dark minds."

The principles which this truly great man recognized in conversion, he cherished through the labours and afflictions of life. He regarded the sacrifice and intercession of Christ as the only ground of a sinner's justification before God; and faith in the blood of atonement as inseparably connected with salvation from the guilt and power of sin. The Holy Spirit he honoured as the author of saving faith, and of all holiness, power, and comfort in the mind of man. The salvation of the Gospel, consisting of these blessings, and obtained in this manner, he felt to be the great end of existence; necessary to prepare mankind both for the duties and trials of life, and the joys of heaven. An enlarged acquaintance with theology, the Scriptures, religious people, and the history of the Church, only served to strengthen his attachment to these principles; and he realized their truth and efficiency when passing through"the valley of the shadow of death."

The effects of regenerating grace were perhaps never more strikingly manifest than in the spirit and conduct of this extraordinary youth. Not many days had elapsed after he was convinced of sin, before he was made a happy partaker of the pardoning mercy of God. In

him "old things were passed away, and all things become new." His attention to secular duties was most sedulous and exemplary; and his proficiency in the practical knowledge of his business was rapid and surprising. All unnecessary connection with his ungodly companions was immediately and for ever abandoned. He became a willing and happy member of the Methodist society; and meekly submitted to all the contumely and insult with which they were then treated in that city. His passion for folly and mischief was entirely subdued; and his spirit, sanctified by Divine grace, and under the full influence of evangelical truth, was serious, cheerful, and devout. Notwithstanding his youth, his entire deportment was marked by such circumspection and decorum, that religious parents were accustomed to direct the attention of their children to him as an example; and in some instances, young people were so struck with the change which they saw in him, as to be deeply impressed with the reality and power of religion. His conversion, as might be expected, excited considerable attention among the persecutors of the Methodists, who were roused to more determined opposition and outrage; and the congregations were subjected to every species of annoyance, both in the chapel, and on their way to it. One evening, a number of men, dressed in a most ludicrous and fantastic manner, came to the chapel with a fiddle to disturb the worshippers of God. This impious adventure, had it occurred a few months before, would have been exactly adapted to his taste; but now he viewed it in a very different light. On his return home he related to his mother what had occurred; at the same time weeping, because of the dishonour done to God by the profane interruption of his worship, and the folly and wickedness of the men who were thus criminally indifferent to every obligation of decency and religion.

After his conversion, the improvement of his time became with him a matter of supreme importance; and " no moment lingered unemployed." The day was cheerfully spent in the labours of his calling; and his evenings were devoted to the acquisition of useful knowledge, and attendance upon the worship of God. His mother states, that he spent much time in secret prayer, wrestling with God for spiritual blessings, and for the prosperity and enlargement of the kingdom of Christ. Public prayer meetings were frequently held; and he was constantly present in these means of grace. His heart expanded with the love of Christ; his peace often flowed like a river; he longed for the salvation of others in the bowels of his Lord; and under the impulse of these hallowed feelings he sometimes took a part in the public addresses to the throne of the heavenly grace. This provoked, in a high degree, the ridicule of his former companions; yet his self possession appears never to have forsaken him; nor was he at all hindered in his Christian course. He steadily held on his way; and neither the scoffs of the ungodly, nor the more dangerous suggestions of those who thought him "righteous overmuch," moved him from his purpose to serve God, and him alone. He resolved, in reliance upon the promised aids of Divine grace, to be a Christian altogether.

The prayer meetings in the chapel often began about the time when his labours in the shop were ended: considerable haste, therefore, was requisite, that he might be at the house of God when the service commenced; and it is a remarkable fact, that, at two different times,

when running to the chapel, in his eagerness to join his Christian friends in Divine worship, he fell, and broke his arm. This was probably occasioned, in part, at least, by the rapidity of his growth, and the enormous stature to which he had so suddenly attained. In these instances the ardour of his mind received a temporary check; and, instead of pursuing his way to the "place where prayer was wont to be made," he returned home pensive and sad, holding the fractured limb in his hand, and relating to his parents the disaster which had befallen him.

CHAPTER II.

Developement of Mr. Watson's mental Character-Death of his Grandmother -Beginning of his Ministry-State of the Villages near Lincoln-Labours as a Local Preacher-Opposition-Visit to Newark-Freedom from his Apprenticeship-Labours in the Newark Circuit-Appointed to the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Circuit-Character and Usefulness-Thirst for Knowledge-Desultory Nature of his Studies-Removal to the Castle-Donington Circuit-Henry's Method for Prayer-Winchesterianism.

THOSE persons who had carefully observed the progress of Richard Watson from his infancy must have been aware that his mental powers, though as yet very imperfectly developed, were above the common order. The readiness with which he acquired the elements of classical learning at Barton, and the rapid advancement which he made in the same studies in the grammar school at Lincoln, showed something of his capabilities; and the eagerness with which he encountered the voluminous History of England, and even that of Europe, seemed to give an earnest of future application, and of the eminence to which he might arrive in the various departments of knowledge. But it was not till after his conversion that his true intellectual character appeared. Up to that period his mental faculties had never been fully called forth. This complete change in "the inner man," gave an intensity to his feelings unknown before, and directed his attention to the sublimest and most important topics that ever occupied the thoughts of either men or angels. The perfections of the Godhead, the redemption of the world by the death of the incarnate Son of God, the guilt and misery of fallen man, the necessity of repentance, faith in the blood of atonement, the salvation of the Gospel, the pleasures of religion, triumph in death, the resurrection of the entire human race, the general judgment, the joys of heaven, the endless miseries of hell; these and many collateral subjects roused his feelings, and stimulated all the energies of his imagination and understanding. His talents for usefulness soon became apparent. The moral state of the surrounding country was eminently calculated to awaken his sympathies, while it called for the most strenuous exertions; and with the full approbation of his religious friends, who saw that his piety was deep, and the growth of his mental stature as rapid as had been that of his corporeal frame, he soon began to deliver exhortations in the prayer meetings, and to officiate as a local preacher. The employment of persons so young in the public service of the Church requires great caution. There is a danger lest their personal religion should be injured by

vanity and spiritual pride, while as yet their knowledge of themselves and of Satan's devices is very imperfect; and there is an equal danger lest they should injure the sacred cause of true religion by advancing crude and undigested views of Divine truth, and erroneous interpretations of Scripture. The case of this remarkable youth, however, was peculiar. In ordinary instances such juvenile ministrations are seriously to be deprecated; but he possessed a strength and sobriety of judgment, of which, at such a period of life, there have been few examples; while the depth and solidity of his piety would have done honour to hoary years; and the cordiality with which he was received by the most pious and intelligent of his hearers, and the success which attended his labours, proved that he had not mistaken his calling. He was a man in understanding, when people in general are mere children. The manner in which he was led to speak in public was very striking. His maternal grandmother lived in the family of his father. She was upward of eighty years of age, and appears to have been a woman of a very devout spirit. It was her practice regularly to attend the religious services of her parish Church on the Sabbath; and almost every day in the week beside she was present at the worship of God in the cathedral; although that edifice was nearly a mile from her home, and was situated on the summit of a steep and lofty hill, which it was necessary for her to ascend. She was not a member of the Methodist society, but was a frequent attendant at the chapel, where she joined in the service of God, and listened to "the word of his grace." To this venerable relation, who, like another Anna," was of a great age," and " departed not from the temple, but served God with prayers night and day," the pious youth was tenderly attached. One day, when he was at work in the shop, she said to her granddaughter, the present Mrs. Robinson, of Nottingham, Ann, my dear, get the prayer book, and read to me the whole of the burial service. I should like to hear it." Her request was complied with, notwithstanding its singularity. She then said, "I very much wish to see Richard. Will any of you ask him to come home?" Her message was conveyed to him; but the answer was, that he could not be spared from his work. He added, however, that he would see his grandmother in the evening when his work was done. In the meanwhile she said to her daughter, "I am very sleepy." "I will.fetch you a pillow, mother," was the reply; "and you shall lean your head upon the table, while you sit in your chair." The pillow was brought; she reclined her head upon it, closed her eyes, and instantly expired, without the slightest indication of pain. When Richard returned home, and found that his grandmother was no more, and that she had departed this life in this calm and peculiar manner, he was greatly affected. A prayer meeting was held in the chapel that evening; he, according to his custom, resorted to that means of grace; and, under the strong impulse of the feelings thus excited, he delivered an address to the persons then assembled, on the solemn event which had just occurred in his father's house; adverting to the lessons of piety and diligence it was calculated to teach. This appears to have been the commencement of his public ministry; the future character of which neither he nor his humble auditors at that time anticipated. The remains of his venerable grandmother were interred in the church yard of St. Mary's; and the following inscription

66

is still legible upon her grave stone: "In Memory of Sarah Weeden, who departed this life February 10th, 1796, aged eighty-one years. Also, William, son of Thomas and Ann Watson, who died an infant, April 9th, 1792." As Richard was born February 22d, 1781; it appears that he was scarcely fifteen years old when he began to call sinners to repentance: an instance of precocity almost unexampled.

Having begun to declare "the truth as it is in Jesus," he was impelled onward by a conviction of duty, and an intense zeal for the spiritual good of mankind; and on the 23d of February, the day after he was fifteen years of age, he preached his first sermon, in a cottage, at a small village called Boothby, a few miles from Lincoln. He saw the vanity of the world, and its utter insufficiency to confer the happiness to which the deathless soul of man aspires; he saw, in an impressive light, the evil and danger of sin, and the necessity of salvation from it; he was himself happy in the enjoyment of the Divine favour, and it was his ardent and restless desire that all the world might share with him in the blessings of the Saviour's love. The moral state of the villages in the neighbourhood of Lincoln was deeply to be deplored. There was among the people a general indifference even to the forms of religion, and a lamentable ignorance of its spirituality and power; and at the same time, they were strenuously opposed to all attempts to instruct and reform them, because such attempts they felt to be a direct reflection both upon them and their forefathers. This state of things called for tender compassion, and required more than ordinary firmness and perseverance. The men who were to bring about a new state of things needed a courage which no personal danger could daunt, and a patience and self possession which no provocations and insults could move. These qualifications were found in Richard Watson, young as he then was in years, and younger still as he was in true religion. Not many months had elapsed since he was a companion of ungodly men; but now his views and feelings were so changed, that life itself was of small value in his estimation, when placed in competition with the Christian instruction and consequent salvation of the people. The harvest was at once plenteous and difficult, and the labourers were few and unpromising. In what is now the Lincoln circuit, there were then only about six local preachers; and there was no chapel in which to officiate but that in the city. They had no regular plan of operation; but each man went to the places where he found an opening, or where he thought his labours were the most needed. The entire circuit comprehended what are now the circuits of Lincoln, Gainsborough, and Sleaford; and these distant places were regularly visited by the itinerant preachers; but the labours of the local preachers, being generally confined to the Sabbath, were of course circumscribed within much narrower limits. In this work our youthful evangelist took his part. There were no dwelling houses open to him in which he could be accommodated for the delivery of his message in several of the villages which he felt it his duty to visit; the erection of chapels was out of the question; and he was accustomed, therefore, accompanied by one or two friends of a kindred spirit, to stand up in the open air, and, after the example of his Lord, inculcate the leading truths of Christianity. The principal scene of his early labours lay in what is called the Cliff Row; a number of agricultural villages situated on a range of