views, the honesty with which they were held, and the marked degree in which they have promoted the public good. From those more intimately associated with the departed, equally strong testimony has been borne to the warmth of his friendship, the generosity and frequency of his acts of kindness, and the integrity and purity of his private life. The attendance at his funeral of so many of the older men from almost every city and town in our province is the best proof of the strong hold which he had early taken, and which he to the end held, of the affections of a large portion, and that neither the least intelligent nor the least worthy of his countrymen. In his death our country has lost the citizen whose influence has been more potent than that of any other, and who has left his mark deepest on its history. It is surely a matter for thankfulness that the influence has been throughout a beneficial one, and that the mark speaks of liberties extended, and civil rights confirmed, and religious equality secured, and provinces consolidated. This result has not been reached without great, we may say indeed herculean, effort. Thrown into the stream of active life at an age when most young men are only entering on the last important stage of their education, and ever since engaged with an amount of public and private business under the weight of which most men would have sunk long ago, we may safely say that no more active, no busier life, no life which has undergone more of hard though not ungrateful toil and struggle, has been led in this land than that which closed so peacefully last Sabbath morning amid its hallowed calm and opening buds.

In many of the reforms, in the accomplishment of which deceased bore a leading part, religion among us had a direct interest, and has been a great gainer; by no more perhaps than by that change which swept away invidious and offensive distinctions between various branches of the Church of Christ, and set them all on terms of perfect equality. I do not know, however, that any service rendered by the departed to the moral well-being of our country is of equal value with the establishment and maintenance in this city of a widely circulated newspaper, which has throughout preserved a healthful, moral, and religious tone. When I see how easily in our day and in all lands the daily newspaper can become the apologist for, if not the propagator of, sceptical views, the vehicle of sneers at religion, the caricaturist of ecclesiastical bodies, or at least of their weaknesses, then I can only feel thankful, as I have often done, that through the enterprise of him who has been so mysteriously removed we have had among us a powerful organ of opinion, which has been the defender of the Sabbath, the upholder of the divine truth against prevailing error, the fearless rebuker of immorality and lawlessness, which has on all the more important questions of religion and morality, and in its general tone, reflected the sentiments of the best classes of the community. This is a service which I believe it would be difficult to overestimate.

Regarded in a moral point of view, the spirit in which a public man has done his work, the qualities he has evinced in doing it, are of even greater moment than the work itself. In this respect we may claim a very high place for the departed. Large in his views, sincere in his desire for his country's good, noble in his aims respecting it, honest in the convictions which he entertained, and fearless in maintaining and acting on them, adding the exercise of private virtues to the exhibition of public spirit, he has left an example which we may well wish were widely imitated. Granted that he may have sometimes asserted his will too strongly, we have more to fear both on patriotic and religious grounds from the suppleness and the selfishness which can pocket principles for power or pelf than from the assertion of individual conviction which may not be always so deferential as it ought to be to the opinions and feelings of others. alliance of a life of public activity with the exercise of private virtues and attention to the duties of religion, while happily not singular, is never

The

come.

theless not so general that we may not find even in this au additional cause for thanksgiving on behalf of him who filled so large a place in the public eye, and whose example will have its influence for many years to These considerations, however, to which I have thought it right to call attention, are not the vital ones after all. The service which the departed rendered to his country may have been valuable, the qualities he evinced admirable, but the question still remains-and standing where I do I must pronounce it the most important of all--from what did this service, these qualities, spring? What was the sustaining principle? Had the life which we have described a Christian root? There is every reason to believe it had. I cannot doubt it. In the first place his faith in and attachment to the doctrines of grace were very strong and decided. The interest with which he listened from Sabbath to Sabbath to the statement of them is wel! known to the members of this congregation. The negative views that are afloat in our day had taken no effect on his mind, except to make his attachment more pronounced to the simple and positive truths in which he had been trained, and of which, it is believed, he had gained more than a theoretical knowledge many years ago. He was for himself a firm believer in the depravity of the race and in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one hope of the sinner, even while he was tolerant of diversity of opinion and numbered among his personal friends some who were far enough from sharing his religious views. The extent to which his time and energies were taken up in the absorbing demands of public and private business left him little leisure-too little, let us say, for the service of Christ's Church; and he was living in the desire and hope, not to be realized, alas! that in his later years he would be free to serve it to an extent and in forms which had been found previously beyond his power. The readiness with which he agreed to address the annual missionary meeting of this congregation in February last may be accepted as an evidence of the sincerity of this desire, as the earnest and lofty spirit with which he spoke on that occasion-probably the last on which he addressed a public gathering-will be remembered as a proof of how much he might have done for the cause of Christ had he been spared and free to advocate its claims. This, however, was not to be. Nearer to him than any of us dreamed was even then the night, when one can no more work.

But,

When it came, or when the shot was fired that was to bring it in a few short weeks, the doctrines of the Gospel, the sacrifice and the mercy which they reveal, were his only and sure trust. Resentment towards the poor, guilty instrument of all this suffering, there was none. His person was soon dismissed from thought, and not even amid the utterances of wandering reason was a single allusion made to the mad and merciless act. united with submission to the will of God, there was the deep sense of his own sinfulness, of the imperfections attaching even to his better acts, and at the same time most earnest and humble recourse, revealed in many a brief but touching prayer, to the Saviour, to Him "whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.” 'Erect before men, on his knees before God"-that is the description which a gifted writer has given us of the Christian. You who have seen the departed in public life do not need to be told how fully he was the one; those who knew him in the home, those especially who saw his exercise of spirit under this mysterious visitation, can testify how completely he was the other.

These details are not given to satisfy a vulgar curiosity. They are stated to the honour of that grace which had brought him to the cross, and by which alone we are saved. Our loss as a congregation is very great in his removal. His connection with us had not, indeed, been long, but it was very cordial from the first. We lose in him the largest contributor to our missionary and college funds: one, indeed, who was ever ready to help with his means or his powerful advocacy any good cause. The very en

dorsation, in his case so unmistakably given, by a mind of his grasp, of the views of truth stated from this desk was a source of strength which my brethren in the ministry present will readily understand. It has been the I will of God that this should not be continued to us, and we bow to it, not without sorrow, but with a sorrow relieved by the thought that our loss is, as we trust, his gain.

Into the far more tender and sacred sorrow of the bereaved relatives, and especially of the desolate home, I would not venture to intrude farther than to give expression to the deep sympathy with it which you all feel. Here, where the prayer has often risen to God that if it were His will this loss might be averted, there can be no heart whose joy has not been sensibly clouded, none from which even now the prayer does not rise that God may be the light and the salvation of the bereaved in the night of their sorrow. For ourselves, let us hear in this, and so many other visitations of death among us since the year commenced, the summons of the Saviour to work "while it is day," as "the night cometh when no man can work." "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind; be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now, unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

FUNERAL SERMON.

PREACHED IN ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, SARNIA, ON SUNDAY MORNING, 9TH MAY, 1880, BY REV. MR. THOMPSON.

TEXT: Genesis xlix. 33: "And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."

After some remarks explanatory of the event referred to in the text, Mr. Thompson proceeded as follows:

A week this morning one of our greatest and noblest men finished his earthly career, and on Wednesday his mortal remains were followed to the grave by such a multitude as no similar occasion in Cauada ever brought together. The spontaneous outburst of sympathy and sorrow from all classes and creeds, and from every shade of political opinion, was truly marvellous, and told unmistakably how much the man was venerated and loved. His body was laid in the grave amid the sorrow of the nation, and the day was made sacred by a grief that covered the land. As the solemn procession wended its way to the city of the dead amid the assembled thousands, the look of reverence on every countenance, the audible stillness of the vast throng, the sober faces of the little children, the soft spoken word and silent tear, showed what a hold the man had on the affections of his fellow-countrymen, and how his character and work were valued by those who came from all parts of the country to pay the last tribute of respect to Mr. Brown's memory, and to show their appreciation of his life and labours.

And it was most fitting that thus it should he, for seldom have more valued services been rendered, and no country is more indebted to its leading statesmen than Canada is to Mr. Brown. This is not the place to discuss party questions in a party spirit, but it is both the place and the day to point to the life and labours of one of whom our country may well feel proud, and thankful for what has been done through his instrumentality.

He has been as a king among men, and has done the work of a giant. He was born to rule over men by the mastery of superior power. No one who has taken an intelligent interest in the shaping of our country's fortunes, or who is moderately acquainted with her past history, but will readily admit that Canada occupies a very different position to-day, poli tically and religiously, from what she did when, as a young man, he came forth into public life to do battle on her behalf. During those important years we have passed from feudalism to recognized citizenship. When a presumptuous oligarchy attempted to rule this country in their own family interests, as a family compact, unblushingly asserting that the many existed for the sake of the few; when a dominant church, backed by the prestige of an establishment at home, attempted to trample on the liberties of other churches, and actually punished with imprisonment ministers of other churches for performing their religious functions; when the bishop, in virtue of his office, took his seat in parliament and attempted to pass laws which made it a crime for Presbyterian or Methodist ministers to perform the marriage ceremony among those of their own flock; when none of the young men of our country were allowed to attend the college that was supported by public funds without first signing the Thirty-nine Articles; when a man was branded as a rebel if he dared to speak a word against these feudal enactments; this illustrious statesman who has just left us, then as a young man beginning his public career, erected his battery on the foundation of popular rights and common justice, and opened fire with speech and pen, and almost single-handed broke down one wicked defence after another, and wrung from his opponents concession after concession, til to-day it is safe to affirm that all are glad to shelter themselves behind the defences which he has set up. It is most fitting that the country should be grateful for what he has done. It is, moreover, an interesting study to watch the political progress of our country from those days to this, and to feel that the very things that bring us honour and wise liberty and a brightening future, are quite recent blessings extorted from determined opponents in many a hard fought battle. For example, our municipal institutions, with all the valued principles of self-government (which one of our wise governors characterized as sucking republics, which were to work such ruin to our country if granted, and overthrow the throne of the nation); the throwing open the university of the country to the young men of the country, irrespective of creed; the settlement of the clergy reserves; a perfect equality of all churches in the eyes of the law; representation according to population; the unification of these scattered provinces into one grand confederation, with many other measures in which our country rejoices to-day, have all been contended for by him in the face of bitter opposition, as many a speech or article of his will show. He has been a tower of strength on behalf of popular rights and liberties, on behalf of morality, and religion, in the land he loved so well and served so nobly. But not as a politician on the floor of Parliament alone, but as a journalist his services to the country have been no less valuable and distinguished. The press and pulpit must be the two great agencies in moulding the future character of our people, and they must stand shoulder to shoulder. And when we know what a power the press wields, and what a direct and immediate bearing it must have on the shaping of national and individual life and character; how it can both elevate and degrade, poison and nourish, the activities of human life, it is one of the greatest services rendered, that the leading journal of public opinion, controlled by him, has ever been pervaded by such a healthy tone, and has spoken so nobly on all questions where morality and religion were involved; how he has guarded the spiritual interests of the Christian church; how reverent towards God and all divine institutions; how nobly he has spoken on public and private morality—the temperauce question, the Sabbath question, the social evil; how he has ever taken the side of

truth against laxity of opinion and practice; how steadfast and loyal he has been to the distinctive doctrines and polity of his own church, and how he has never hesitated to affirm and defend these no matter who might approve or dissent. When we consider these things, it must be admitted that he has been a tower of strength to the church as well as to his country indeed, his first endeavours as a journalist were in connection with the church, and all through he has never ceased to view with joy her increasing prosperity. Always liberal, one of his last acts was the contribution of an additional $100 towards removing the deficit in the ordinary revenue of Knox College. Small men have often said he was dogmatic and domineering, while great men have greatly admired him for these traits of character that made him the man he was, and enabled him to do the work he did. He was a man of deep convictions, of intense individuality, of indomitable will, who never knew what it was to hesitate or fear in the presence of a foe; a man who put a great value on his convictions, as every noble man does, and like every man of great force of character and determination, who moves with heavy momentum along the line of his convic tions, he was sure to have attached and ardent friends, as well as very decided opponents. But as the spontaneous outbursts of sympathy, and the sorrow of an afflicted people showed, he ever got credit, even from his opponents, for honesty of purpose, nobility of character, and the valued services he has rendered to his generation.

In my humble observations I have discovered that there are two great classes of public men: those who have convictions that mean something, and those who have none-men of expediency, who crawl into notice on the shoulders of other men as their parasites, and, as parasites, often feed on their large bounty; men who never denounced a wrong in their life, or defended the right; men who go as far as they think politic, and who turn back when the wind acts in their face; men without conscience, who have nothing worth defending, and are ready to shift their ground as expediency requires; men with no heart, but two faces, that look both ways at once. Such men have no opponents, nor have they friends, except what the exigencies of the hour call forth, and when they die, their names will rot, and those whom their false policy has blighted will rot with them, while the righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance. John Knox has also been blamed for the very same features of character. Men who measure him by their own little rule, have spoken of his domineering severity and dogged resolution. Little puppies have often scratched on his illustrious grave, and barked their little bark. But an enlightened Christian sentiment feels grateful for what Knox was, and for what he did. Much of the civil and religious liberty of our day has had its root in those very features of his character which the puppets of an hour have professed to deplore. At such great moral junctures of a nation's life, men needed moral muscle and a strong back-bone of conviction, while sneaks and vipers will crawl on their belly till the world ends. So was it with Mr. Brown; while politicians and public men generally discuss his character-the supposed strong or weak points in it-and canvass the nature of the services rendered by him to his country, I wish to emphasize the fact that the great central principle that formed his character, the very trunk around which his nature grew and blossomed, was his faith in God; the deepest of all his convictions was the fact of personal redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ; the strongest feeling of his heart was his feeling of loyalty to his Saviour, on whom he depended through life, and in whom he trusted at death. No man could be for any length of time in Mr. Brown's company without being convinced that he was not only a pure-minded man, but that he habitually lived under the power of the world to come; and as he lived, so he died, trusting in the sacrifice which Christ had made for his sins, and in trustful submission to the will of God. In all his manifold duties and labours that were most exacting, he never forgot his duty to his God and