direct thy paths." But while watchfully observant of the agency of God, he entertained a due regard for the means to be used in the attainment of any desirable end; and he would frequently quote and apply the two aphorisms of scripture, in connexion with each other, "The blessing of the Lord maketh rich," and "The hand of the diligent maketh rich," enforcing attention to assiduity, dependence, and prayer. Some extracts from letters to one of his family, will illustrate his sentiments on these points; and they are therefore introduced here, though they were not written till many years subsequently. "MY DEAREST «**** We live in a state and under a dispensation where we cannot have all things according to our own will. Nor is it fit that we should, except as far as that is brought into conformity with the will of God. This will be the case when we arrive at the possession of the complete felicity of the redeemed and sanctified. Our happiness consists in perfect submission to the divine will; and in proportion to the degree we attain of this temper and disposition in the present state, does our true peace, comfort, and happiness depend. All things should be viewed in connexion with the operations of providence; and in this point of view, we should distinguish between circumstances that are presented to us without our own seeking, and those which we make the objects of our choice. We should desire to be where God may please to make us most useful. I am quite aware that no place or situation or circumstances can be any more to us than God is pleased to make them. I hope, therefore, my dear * *, that you will make your circumstances the subject of earnest and sincere prayer to God, and look to him for direction in all your paths, remembering that it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps. We may consider and deliberate, and must at last act according to the best of our judgment; but if we truly and earnestly desire to be led and guided by the God of providence and "MY DEAR ** "I sit down to reply to your letter by return of post. I would gladly go to ** under present circumstances, if it could be effected with prudence and propriety; but a barrier of insurmountable difficulties prevents the execution of this plan. I am now receiving letters by almost every post which require immediate answers, that cannot possibly be deputed to another. The present period seems also to be a critical one with respect to the dear boys, E. and S. The sentiment of Shakspeare, turned into more orthodox language, is important: 'There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune; I forget the rest; but the idea is, they may be cast among shoals And again, "How wonderful are the ways of God; and how evidently is his agency discovered, both in the dispensations of his providence, and in the methods of his grace! The divine power and wisdom are continually producing great effects by small instruments, and important ends by insignificant and unexpected means. This remark might be confirmed and illustrated by innumerable instances from the scripture, and from the common history of nations, families, and individuals; and the accumulated facts must necessarily convince every one who is not possessed of the credulity of an infidel, or the scepticism of an atheist, that the invisible agency of the Divine Being is incessantly employed in the operations both of his providence and grace." My father left Reading with his family, in the first week of January 1811, and after spending a few days in London, he reached Olney on the 12th. The vicarage of Olney is endowed with a stipend, charged on the great tithes, which in 1767 was increased to 70l. per annum. The rectory and advowson belonged, for some time, to the Johnson family, who resided in the old rectory house, near the church. From the family of Johnson they passed to that of Nicholl. By the marriage of Sir Charles Gunter Nicholl's daughter and heiress with the Earl of Dartmouth, they came into the possession of that noble family. The church is a spacious gothic building, ornamented with a tower and very fine steeple, one hundred and eighty-five feet in height, supposed, from the character of the architecture, to have been erected in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The parish of Olney had long been favoured with a succession of eminently pious and zealous clergymen, some of whom were no less useful as authors than as preachers. Their praise is in all the churches, and their names will be long held in remembrance. While their unremitting exertions were more or less effective in their immediate circle, their writings embraced a wider sphere, and will (some of them at least) be commensurate with, and durable as, the church of the living God upon earth. The Earls of Dartmouth, in their appointment of the several incumbents of this vicarage, have uniformly appeared desirous to select able and vigilant servants of the sanctuary, many of whom, by their superior talents and christian lives, have reflected lustre on the discrimination and piety of their noble patrons. It may not be considered superfluous, briefly to notice the names and characters of the excellent men, in whose steps my father felt it to be his privilege to follow. Moses Browne, a man of unaffected piety and simple manners, rose from the humble occupation of a pen-cutter, by the blessing of God on his abilities and industry, to the station of a respectable and valuable minister of the church; and was presented to the living of Olney, in 1753, by George Earl of Dartmouth, a lover of good men, and distinguished for piety.* Mr. Browne was the author of "Sunday Thoughts," a translation of “ Zimmerman's Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ," and some other religious and ingenious works. He was induced, on account of pecuniary difficulties, to accept the chaplaincy of Morden College, Blackheath, when he resigned the charge of his parish to his curate, the Rev. John Newton, whose remarkable history is well known. After spending his youth in profli gacy, and suffering much extremity by sea and land, the subject of many a marvellous escape in situations of singular peril, he was rescued from a state of the most degraded slavery in Africa, and at length, through the abounding mercy of God, • This nobleman was the correspondent of the Rev. J. Newton, and to him several of the letters were addressed, which afterwards appeared in the well-known work entitled "Cardiphonia." was called to the ministry of the gospel. He was ordained, in the year 1764, to the curacy of Olney; and, while resident in that place, he became the intimate friend and chosen companion of the celebrated poet Cowper. Mr. Newton afterwards, to adopt his own language, became the minister of the parish of the first magistrate in the first city in the world, being presented by his friend, Mr. Thornton, to the rectory of St. Mary Woolnoth, London. Soon after Mr. Newton's removal to London in the year 1780, the Rev. Thomas Scott succeeded to the curacy of Olney. During the residence of the latter at Weston Underwood, (his former curacy), Mr. Newton was the means of convincing his friend on many important points of christian doctrine which he had hitherto rejected. But it was not till after much opposition, arising from a mind of uncommon strength, conscious of its own power, and trusting in its own integrity, that he surrendered one by one the several positions of the heterodox system he had embraced, and yielded to "the force of truth;" afterwards becoming a zealous champion of the catholic faith. My father not unfrequently expressed his opinion that Mr. Scott, as a theological writer, deserved equally, with the venerable Hooker, the epithet of "judicious." It would be quite unnecessary to advert to this truly great man's subsequent life, or voluminous works, so well known and justly esteemed. On the death of Mr. Browne, in 1788, the Rev. James Bean was presented to the vicarage. He was |