afterwards followed the occupation of a last and boottree maker, and employed several workmen in his business. He was a truly pious man, and trained up his family in the fear of God; maintaining family worship, and instructing his children in the duty of a strict observance of the Sabbath day.

On his removal from Scotland, he bore with him an honourable certificate of a Christian character from the Session of the Kirk, of which he was a member. He was, moreover, for many years an Elder of a Scotch church at Newcastle.

Robert, the subject of these Memoirs, received his elementary instruction from a maternal uncle, named James Nicholson, who was a respectable schoolmaster of Newcastle, and under whose care the young pupil evinced an extraordinary delight in the pursuits of learning, although his earliest advances were but slow.

In a religious point of view, his opportunities were greatly superior. In addition to the valuable instructions of his parents, he enjoyed the catechetical exercises of the Rev. John Hutton, of the High-bridge Chapel, whose ministry his parents attended; and to these he always referred with lively interest and gratitude. The following incident, illustrative of his retentive memory, is furnished by one of his surviving relatives. "When in his thirteenth year, he repeated one evening the whole of the hundred and ninteenth psalm, Scottish Version. To try him, Mr. Hutton did not go straight forward, but took different parts, forward and backward. He nevertheless accomplished his task without a single mistake."

At an early age he was apprenticed to his father, and learned the trade of a last and boot-tree maker, in which his industry was very commendable.

His youthful conduct was not entirely free from outward improprieties; and over these he mourned deeply after the light of divine truth had penetrated into the recesses of his mind. Such, however, was his dutiful behaviour at home, that his father was rarely obliged to rebuke him; and towards his mother, he evinced a warmth of affection which was worthy of universal imitation. Her memory, after her decease, he held in the highest esteem. Ingenuousness was also a prominent feature of his character. He has often been heard to say, that he was not conscious of having ever uttered a deliberate falsehood, except once; and then, although there were no probability of detection, he could not rest until he had acknowledged his fault. This innate rectitude of disposition shows the value of that moral discipline to which his mind had been subject; and the example is eminently encouraging to parents to "train up their children in the way they should go."

Towards the close of the year 1797, or the early part of 1798, Robert Morrison became the subject of that great change which the Saviour describes as the new birth, and pronounces essential to admission into "the kingdom of heaven." No remarkable circumstances led to this conversion. By parental instruction his mind had been full early stored with the principles of scriptural truth; and his regular attendance on public worship, and especially on the catechetical exercises of Mr. Hutton, tended still farther to enlighten his mind, and prepare him for that course of serious reflection on the defects and inconsistencies of his own character, which first filled him with deep compunction on account of sin, and eventually led him to seek salvation and happiness by faith in Christ Jesus. The fullest account of this event is con

tained in his letter addressed to the Committee of Hoxton Academy in the year 1802, when he applied for admission to that institution, as a student for the Christian ministry. It is as follows:—

"In the early part of my life, having enjoyed the inestimable privilege of godly parents (a blessing for which I desire ever to be thankful), I was habituated to a constant and regular attendance on the preached gospel. My father was ever careful to keep up the worship of God in our family, and educated me in the principles of the Christian religion. When farther advanced in life, I attended the public catechising of the Rev. John Hutton, from whose instructions I received much advantage. By these means (under the good hand of God), my conscience was somewhat informed and enlightened; and I was kept from running to that excess of riot to which many persons in an unregenerate state do, though as yet I lived without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world. I was a stranger to the plague of my own heart; and, notwithstanding that I often felt remorse, and the upbraidings of conscience, yet I flattered myself, that somehow I should have peace, though I walked in the ways of my own heart.'

"It was, perhaps, about five years ago, that I was much awakened to a sense of sin, though I cannot recollect any particular circumstance which led to it; unless it were, that at that time I grew somewhat loose and profane; and more than once being drawn aside by wicked company (even at that early time of life), I became intoxicated. Reflection upon my conduct became a source of much uneasiness to me, and I was brought to a serious concern about my soul. I felt the dread of eternal damnation. The fear of death compassed me about, and I was led to cry mightily to

God, that he would pardon my sin; that he would grant me an interest in the Saviour; and that he would renew me in the spirit of my mind. Sin became a burden. It was then that I experienced a change of life, and, I trust, a change of heart too. I broke off from my former careless companions, and gave myself to reading, to meditation, and to prayer. It pleased God to reveal his Son in me, and at that time I experienced much of the kindness of youth, and the love of espousals;' and though the first flash of affection wore off, I trust my love to, and knowledge of, the Saviour have increased. Since that time (soon after which I joined in communion with the church under the Rev. John Hutton, my present pastor, and likewise became a member of a praying society) the Lord has been gradually pleased to humble and prove me; and, though I have often experienced much joy and peace in believing, I have likewise experienced much opposition from the working of in-dwelling sin— 'the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these being contrary the one to the other, I could not do the things that I would.' I have gradually discovered more of the holiness, spirituality, and extent of the divine law; and more of my own vileness and unworthiness in the sight of God; and the freeness and richness of sovereign grace. I have sinned as I could; it is 'by the grace of God, I am what I am.""

The cordial reception of Christianity is as favourable to general improvement as it is essential to spiritual character. It elevates, at the same time that it purifies, the mind. The wide field of investigation which it opens, inspires the love of knowledge; and wherever the intellect is vigorous, general improvement will be desired, and opportunities of making further

progress will be eagerly sought, and usually found. This was the case with young Morrison. From the time when his mind was seriously occupied with the great truths of the Bible, he began to intermeddle with all knowledge; and those elements of character quickly appeared, which became the basis of his future greatness and success.

Having become a member of the Presbyterian church in the year 1798, he commenced those habits of study which, by the blessing of God, he maintained with ever increasing effect to the end of life, by learning a system of short-hand writing. His aim was to facilitate his future pursuits, and to record the incidents of his life, and the workings of his mind, in a Diary. This last exercise he commenced on the first of January, 1799. The document still remains; an interesting, though brief record, of his early habits and piety: the hour of his rising in the morning, and the number of his hours which he slept-the passing events of his family, and of the neighbourhood-his daily occupations in manual labour, in reading, and in efforts to do good-his defects and his aims, are all faithfully written before God. Similar documents are preserved for each succeeding year, with one exception, down to the time of his leaving England in January 1807. His reading, at this period, was chiefly of a devotional kind, and mostly confined to the Holy Scriptures. The "praying society," above referred to, met every Monday evening in his father's work-shop; and on those occasions he was regularly present to take his part in its devotional exercises. A close intimacy too, which subsisted between Morrison and a young man then resident at Shields, was a source of reciprocal pleasure and advantage. They met almost daily for religious