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on Thursday, the fourteenth of October, at the moderation of the call of the Reverend JOHN MURRAY, the successor of his late colleague, the Reverend ROBERT DOIG, from Psalm iv. 4. Immediately after, he attended the anniversary meeting of the Aberdeen Auxiliary Bible Society, took some part in the business of the meeting, and entertained in his house a party of the friends of that society in the afternoon. Through the rest of the week his health seemed not to be worse. Though he was ailing a little on the evening of Saturday he was cheerful as usual, and enjoyed himself much in the society of two friends who were with him at the time. The conversation that evening happened to turn on the subject of presentiments of death, several striking instances of which were mentioned. It is somewhat remarkable, that he had himself an impression for some time past that his course would soon be run, and that he spoke of this to several of his friends. To a friend who was taking leave of him the month before, though he at that time felt no symptoms similar to those which immediately preceded his dissolution, he solemnly, but cheerfully, said, I do not think I shall be long here. When a hope was expressed that the event to which he alluded would be far distant, and that he would take as good care of

himself as he could, he replied, that he certainly ought not knowingly to do what would be injurious, but he at the same time added, Our motto should be, Spend and be spent. I shall go on as long as I can, and when I can do no more, then I shall drop: And by this maxim he did proceed, and he went on in his active and useful exertions almost to the very last. During the night of the Saturday just mentioned his difficulty of breathing increased considerably; yet when he rose in the morning of the Sunday, (seventeenth of October,) though he had no intention of preaching, he thought he might be able to attend church in the afternoon. But he suddenly became very ill, and, although he appeared to be sensible, he had neither strength nor time to utter any thing but a few words expressive of his bodily feelings. He did not seem to suffer much pain, and, in the most gentle manner, he breathed out his soul into the bosom of his God.*

* A few hours after this unexpected event, the Reverend Dr. BLACK, of Tarves, who had engaged to officiate that day for Dr. Ross, and who was present about the time of his death, preached in the East Church, from 2 Samuel, iii. 38. Know ye not, that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? This was to many in church the first intelligence of the death of their pastor. The Reverend JAMES FOOTE, of Logie and Pert, now his successor, preached in the forenoon of the

Although his death was thus sudden, it was an event for which he was well prepared, as it had long occupied his habitual attention, and was regarded by him, especially towards the end of his life, as an event rather to be desired than dreaded. In a letter written to a friend about three months before his death, he thus expressed himself: "The fifth hymn is a very beautiful one. We should sing it nightly, at least in thought; for who knows, when he composes his eyes to sleep, whether he may open them again in the land of the living? I have heard of one who took this way to overcome the fear of death, and he did overcome it, through Him who has disarmed it of its sting, and consecrated the grave as a bed of rest to his followers. The answers to all the questions in the Shorter Catechism are excellent. The an

following Lord's day, from Isaiah, lvii. 1. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come; and the Reverend Dr. CRUDEN, of Nigg, in the afternoon, from Numbers, xx. 22, &c. on the circumstances attending the death of Aaron; both of them to crowded and mourning audiences. To these Gentlemen, between whom and Dr. Ross there had long subsisted the most friendly and affectionate intercourse, his surviving relatives consider themselves under peculiar obligations: as also to the Reverend Mr. LESLIE, of Fintray, a particular friend of Dr. Ross's, and to the Reverend Mr. SIMPSON, his assistant, for whom he had a great regard, for their excellent discourses preached soon after.-EDITOR.

swers to the thirty-seventh and the thirty-eighth The climax in questions are my favourite ones.

both is striking and sublime, and the language rises with the subject till it can rise no higher.

The souls of believers are, at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.' And then: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.""

Nothing could shew more clearly the high estimation in which this good man was held, not only by his flock and his numerous friends, but by the whole community of which he was a member, than the deep regret so generally felt and expressed for his loss, and the intense interest excited by his funeral. How well he deserved these marks of respect will be apparent even from the preceding imperfect sketch of his public and professional life, with which his personal habits and private conduct displayed to those who knew him intimately the most exact coincidence. There was nothing, indeed, more striking in his charac

ter than the consistency of the whole, and the placid uniformity of his demeanour.

He had a high idea of the importance and responsibility of the clerical office, and took pleasure in books relating to it; and especially in the memoirs of faithful and exemplary ministers of the gospel. He was greatly delighted with the Memoir of the Reverend Thomas Scott. "Have you

seen," said he, in writing to a friend, "the Memoir of Mr. Scott, lately published? It is one of the most interesting books which I have seen of a long time. I have read the greater part of it with admiration and delight, and I am filled with wonder at the extraordinary decision, boldness, and energy of his character. But, though these seem to be the leading traits of the character of this admirable man, yet these are so chastened and softened by affection and kindness to his relations, the most tender and enlightened attachment to his children, and charity and good will to all mankind, that one is at a loss whether to admire him most in his public or private departments of duty-in his ministerial or domestic character. I feel deeply humbled when I reflect on his ardent love and zeal in the cause of his great Master and for the salvation of souls; on the singleness of his

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