that they should be justly, and equitably, and faithfully administered? Would it make no difference in the character of that administration, if the offices of Judge, Attorney General, and Fiscal (to say nothing at present of Governors, and of Protectors and Assistant Protectors of Slaves), were filled by barristers of a certain standing, wholly unconnected with colonial interests, with fixed and suitable salaries, altogether independent of the local assemblies, and receiving their authority and their instructions from the Crown? Would not the institution of a universal system of record, report, inspection, publicity, and consequent responsibility, go far, of itself, and still more when combined with the suggested change in the executive department of the law, to reform many of the existing evils of the colonial system? And is it not in the power of Parliament to follow up its enactments for the improvement of the law, by such improvements in the administration of that law as have now been hinted at? And if in the power, is it not also the duty, of Parliament to do so?

"But it will be argued, that, though something may thus be done towards correcting the existing evils of the Slave system, yet the juries must still be composed of men actuated by colonial prejudices, and ready to render nugatory every obnoxious law. This is to a certain degree true: but there is a large department of the judicial administration which is entirely in the hands of the judges, independently of juries; and even in that department of it which rests wholly on the decisions of a jury, it cannot be supposed that the presence and dicta of an intelligent and unbiassed judge, and the system of revision and publicity which has been suggested, would not produce a very powerful and salutary effect on those decisions.

"Besides this, there is another and obvious palliative at least, if not remedy, for the evil under consideration, in the admission to the jury box of those free Blacks and Persons of Colour who are qualified by their property, and intelligence, and acquirements, to take a share in the administration of justice. Why should they be excluded? Have they not interests, and large interests too, at stake? Even foreigners have a right, when tried, to have a moiety of their peers foreigners like themselves. By what strange anomaly in British jurisprudence is it that native-born subjects, men possessing a common interest in the state, shall, not on account of the want of a qualification as to property, or intelligence, or loyalty, but on account of the varying shades of their complexion, be excluded, as a degraded caste, from the first and dearest right of the British Constitution, a trial by their peers?

"That such reforms are in the power of Parliament; and that, if made, they would improve the administration of justice, and afford increased security to the slave, and thus obviate the only solid objection to parliamentary legislation cannot be questioned; and without parliamentary legislation, what hope exists that slavery will either be materially mitigated, or finally extinguished?”

We are glad to find that Ministers have determined not to renew the inhospitable Alien Act; but to propose in its stead a registration of foreigners.

The armistice with the Burmese has not led to a negociation for peace. Hostilities have re-commenced, in which both parties are likely to expend much blood and treasure, without any countervailing honour or advantage. We are astonished at the apathy of the British public in reference to this impolitic and inglorious, but unhappily most sanguinary and expensive, contest.

Rev. H. Evans, Swanton Abbotts R. Norf.

Rev. C. R. Handley, Sturry V. Kent. Rev. J. M. Parry, North Muskham V. co. Nottingham.

Rev. S. Philips, Puddington R. Devon. Rev. J. Pyke, Parracombe R. Somer.

No. 293.]

MEMOIR OF MR. C. MARTYR.

(Concluded from p. 198.)

AMONG Mr. Martyr's papers

was found one containing his last wishes and directions respecting his funeral, dated in August 1822; at which time he was suffering severely from the disorder which proved fatal to him. In this paper is recorded the following declaration of his Christian resignation and trust: "Believing death to be at no great distance, I have no hesitation in saying, that, individually, I have found an ample equivalent for the loss of property, prospects, friends, and health, in the discovery that I have a friend in Jesus Christ; and that, great as my anxiety for the welfare of my children may be supposed to be, I feel confident at this moment that the Lord will take them into his keeping and provide for them. May He, through the influence of his Spirit, lead them to trust in Him through Christ, and they need not fear that He will forsake them."

His warm affection for his chil dren was evinced by various other papers, which he had prepared for their future instruction, as they grow up, in the principles of the Christian religion. Though suffering under disease and weakness, he was not checked in his efforts to provide for their spiritual good. He commences a valuable system of advice for them as follows: "Although I have been now for a long time suffering from a painful and lingering illness-an illness that at one time threatened almost immeCHRIST. OBServ. No. 293.

diate dissolution, yet do I find myself strong enough to commence an undertaking I have long meditated as an imperative duty I owed to my dear children." To engage their attention to the instructions which he had thus prepared, he left the following affectionate letter, the date of which cannot be ascertained: "It is probable that when this letter meets your eye, the heart that dictates it will have ceased to beat; and the hand that is now busily engaged in preparing the best offering of a parent's love, will be cold. In such case, you will, perhaps, have attained an age, when, I trust, you will be able fully to appreciate the motive that has led to this undertaking, and to give to the subject it embraces all the consideration that it so especially merits. When you discover that the object I have in view is to lead you to a right understanding of the principles of the Christian religion, it may at first seem strange to you that in the present enlightened age I should think such an undertaking necessary; but, ny dear children, it is from a firm conviction, the result of long observation, that the greatest errors, and the most profound ignorance prevail among all classes of society, and among none more so than that in which you are likely to move, of the plan of redemption offered to our acceptance in the holy Scriptures. It is, I say, under the firmest conviction that the most awful and alarming danger exists among those who have not the slightest fear as to their spiritual safety, that I am anxious to warn you, while I am yet

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able, to flee from the wrath to come, by searching for yourselves, in the pure records of eternal truth, for that light which alone can lead you to everlasting life, and without which the utmost efforts of man are unavailing. But, although I am confident that the Scriptures are fully able to lead you to salvation, if read with singleness of heart, and with continual prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, my conscience would misgive me if I did not detail to you my ideas upon the subject; and at the same time use my most hearty endeavour to prepare you for all the opposition you are likely to meet with in your search after truth, both in the natural dictates of your own heart, and from the little world about you; an opposition which nothing but the power of God can overcome. This power, however, is promised to all who seek it, and rely upon its influence in the warfare which every Christian is called upon to wage, during his pilgrimage on earth.

"Nothing is more necessary to enforce in the outset, than that the heart of every man by nature is opposed to all that is spiritual; and that such is necessarily the imperfect state of our nature, even when the heart is renewed by the grace of God to resemble, in some mea. sure, its state before the fall of man, that we must perpetually view its suggestions with distrust. Prayer, constant unremitting prayer, to the God of all mercies for a right judgment in all things, must attend every endeavour to understand the Scriptures; but even with all this, there may remain many things that seem unintelligible, and irreconcileable; but bear in mind, my dear children, that man is in a state of intellectual as well as moral discipline, and that there are mysteries in the operations of grace, as well as in the operations of nature, which the human mind cannot fathom; and that of a truth great is the mystery of godliness.' Yet, al though I would warn you of the

presumption of attempting to unravel what God may never have intended to discover to man, I must impress it upon your minds as a truth the most affecting and important-affecting, as it displays to us the unbounded mercy and love of the Christian's God-and important, as it concerns the state of your souls for ever-that by a diligent use of the appointed means, and by a firm reliance upon the teaching of the Holy Spirit, you will attain a knowledge of all that is essential to your salvation. With the Bible in your hands, and the Holy Spirit for your guide, I should have no fear of leaving you to steer your course through life; and my main object, in now addressing you, is to enforce the necessity of reading the sacred volume with prayer, making its precepts your rule of life, and of invariably referring, where doubts may occur, to the standard of God's word, and not to lull yourselves into security by comparing yourselves with other people, and then remaining satisfied because you conscientiously believe the comparison to be highly favourable to yourselves. Of all the devices of satan, this is the most common and the most fatal, and, as such, requires a particular consideration."

Paternal affection and Christian piety breathe in every line of this letter. Happy would it be, if every father had the same anxious solicitude for the spiritual welfare of his children; and were equally influenced by religious principle, to cherish for himself and them the same correct views of revealed truth.

To introduce the whole, or even the greater part, of his excellent and Christian advice to his children, would far exceed the limits assigned to the present narrative. All that can be attempted, is to extract one or two other passages, as a specimen of the whole.

After speaking of the value of religion, and the urgent necessity of searching the Scriptures, as alone

containing the truths essential to salvation, Mr. Martyr refutes, in the clearest and most convincing manner, some of the common objections against a diligent perform ance of this duty. He then proceeds with the following impressive admonition :-"I warn you, my dear boys, in the most solemn way, not to be diverted from your purpose. I know that with many, the very idea of young people voluntarily embarking upon an undertaking of such solemn and momentous import, will be thought unnatural, and, perhaps, reprobated as metho distical, and so forth. Be on your guard, I beseech you, that you may escape the danger too likely to result to young minds from observations of this kind; coming, as they may, from those among whom you may be moving, and whose characters for judgment and virtue you may have been accustomed to respect. I well know the kind of observations you will have to encounter, if you seriously commence the task I am urging; but I beg you to turn a deaf ear to them. You will be warned not to be too much in earnest, not to be righteous over much;' and told that the mind resting too intensely upon one great object, will become bewildered; and occasionally religious madness will be hinted at, and instances will be recorded of persons who have taken the most pains on the subject, being still in the greatest doubt, and that there are mysteries in religion, which are difficult and impossible to be understood. But bear in mind, my dear children, Who hath said, Search the Scriptures;' and be assured, that until you have a higher authority than our Saviour himself for the recantation of this simple but positive commandment, you are certainly guilty of a high misdemeanour against the Almighty himself, (to use the mildest terms,) unless you take advantage of the means you possess to make yourself acquainted with the revealed truths of our

holy religion; upon which you know all your hopes of eternity must rest.'

"I should be unwilling for you to fancy, that I attribute all this formidable opposition that I predict, to any predetermined attack upon Christianity by those about you. I ascribe it, first, to a thorough want of suspicion on their parts, that they are pursuing, either in docdrine or practice, a course of conduct inconsistent with the rules laid down for them by Christ himself; and secondly, and consequently, to an utter unconsciousness of their own danger. The origin of all this is again to be traced to their want of acquaintance with the word of God. Living as they do, according to what they may really think a Christian life, it is impossible that prejudices and habits grown grey with use, and supported by the concurrent practices of thousands about them, under an equal delusion, can be overcome hastily; or indeed until a sense of danger, or some such circumstance shall awaken them from their alarming lethargy, and their thoughts are directed to the Book of Life for spiritual instruction."

Convictions such as these could not fail to "bring forth the fruits of good living" in the individual who had thus happily imbibed them.Never, perhaps, were Christian faith and Christian practice more entirely united. Finding that public employment was still unattainable, he anxiously looked round for some opportunity of occupying, with advantage to his fellow-creatures, the leisure thus afforded him. "I feel confident," said he to a friend, "that no person can move in so contracted a sphere, or possess means of usefulness so limited, as not to be able to do much good. For my own part, I am convinced that my present leisure is not given me for nothing. Others have riches, or rank, or power, or great abilities, for the use or abuse of which they must one day give a solemn account. All I have to give is time:

this is, indeed, but ، one talent, but that one must not be hid in the earth."

Accordingly, Mr. Martyr commenced a regular system of charitable visits, from which not even his own weak and precarious state of health could ever deter him, except when he was absolutely confined to his bed; and from that time it may literally be said, that, in imitation of the blessed Master whom he truly loved and served, he "went about doing good." His was not that sensibility which can weep at the perusal of some fictitious tale of woe, and yet shrink from the real, everyday sorrows of a wretched fellowcreature. He never heard of a case of distress within his reach, that he did not in person visit the unhappy object, and endeavour to administer some balm to his afflictions. No hovel was too mean for him to enter, no bed too wretched to sit beside, where either pecuniary aid was required to procure the necessaries of this life, or spiritual exhortation wanting to turn a dying sinner to repentance. His own pecuniary resources being very scanty, he exerted himself unremittingly in obtaining, from persons better able to afford it, the means of doing good. The peculiar talent which he possessed of recommending to the notice and sympathy of others, any deserving objects of charity, and of thus drawing forth from all who heard him some little contribution towards their relief, will long be remembered with delight, and ought to be regarded as an example, by all who knew him. The sums he thus collected were usually small, seldom exceeding a few shillings from any individual at one time; and yet such was the persevering industry with which he pursued his object, that in the year 1823, his accounts, in which he was extremely regular, contained more than 2001. thus collected by himself within twelve months, and judiciously applied to charitable purposes. He was also an active and valuable co

operator in the labours of the benevolent societies in his vicinity.

Mr. Martyr's zeal and judgment were no less conspicuous in availing himself of every favourable opportunity for introducing into ordinary conversation the all-important subject of Religion. He did this in language at once energetic and uncompromising, yet without that indiscreet and intrusive forwardness which sometimes injures the high cause it is meant to serve. His disposition was so cheerful, his manner so mild and conciliating, and every pious thought appeared to come so warmly from his heart, that the attention of even the most indifferent hearer was for a while arrested by what he said on religious subjects.

In visiting the poor, he was most earnest and indefatigable in his endeavours to better their spiritual condition; always carrying to their houses some copies of the holy Scriptures, and various religious tracts, for distribution, and frequent. ly occupying several hours in a day in reading to those who, either from infirmity or want of education, were unable, without such assistance, to enjoy this privilege.

Much more might be added to the extracts already given from Mr. Martyr's valuable papers; but it is necessary that I should hasten to offer some brief account of the last few months of his life, and especially of its closing scene. In April 1825, he obtained the appointment of Purser to the "Ordinary" at Chatham, which, together with the society of several warm and pious friends in that neighbourhood, once more held out to him a prospect of independence and worldly comfort. In the course of that summer, however, the disease with which he had been so long afflicted, began to exhibit still more dangerous symptoms, an internal abscess having evidently been formed, leaving little hope of ultimate recovery. Fully aware as he was of his own state, for several months previous to his decease, his pious cheerfulness never forsook