mysteriously withdrawn from mortal sight, he has left, in "Select Remains," a radiance which will continue to enlighten and bless "innu. merable that shall come after him." Richard Treffry, Jun., was born at Camelford, Cornwall, November 30, 1804. Both his parents were eminent for piety; and the father, whose pleasant but mournful task it was to prepare this memorial of departed worth and parental affection, had been many years a very efficient Wesleyan minister, and is since favorably known as the author of a "Treatise on Christian Perfection," and several minor publications. We may well suppose, therefore, that no little solicitude was felt for the religious education of this child, and that every oppor tunity was improved to imbue his mind and heart with Christian principles. In his ninth year we find Richard placed at Kingswood school, where he remained five years, and was thoroughly instructed in Latin, Greek, French, and the different branches of science taught in that seminary. The only fault found with him here appears to have arisen from the volatility of his disposition. But his superior genius began to be developed, and we are told that "he could learn any thing, having a most retentive memory." Meanwhile, the testimony borne to his religious and moral character is not less pleasing. "Richard," says his tutor, "is a good boy, uniformly steady and pious." In 1818 there was an unusual awakening among the boys at Kingswood. Many of them were brought under serious impressions, and held, at every convenient opportunity, meetings among themselves for religious conversation and prayer. Richard, being the eldest of them, took a very active part in these meetings; and it was feared that he would seriously injure his health by his fervent zeal and extraordinary exertions in striving to promote the welfare of his school-mates. At the age of fifteen, having left school, Richard began to give serious thought to the choice of a profession; and having at length, with the approbation of his friends, decided to be a printer, a situation was procured in a London office; and in " February, 1820, in company with the Rev. Messrs. Bunting and Watson, who had been on a mis. sionary deputation into Cornwall, he quitted his paternal dwelling, and proceeded to the metropolis. Changes in human life are frequently eventful and perilous, and especially in youth, when expectation is all alive, and every change is supposed to open some new source of grati. fication, or procure a release from some scene of annoyance; when the landscape is all beauty, the skies without a cloud, the roses without a thorn, and every tree is a tree of life. Prospects not less flatter. ing, I have reason to believe, were presented to the mind's eye of my when he left his father's house to repair to London. At home he had every comfort, not to say every indulgence, which a tender and an affectionate mother, who was dotingly fond of him, could bestow; yet such was the gratification that he expected in the prospect of his new situation, that he left us not only with a tearless eye, but with a countenance that bespoke the secret pleasure of his heart. Little did he anticipate the moral and contagious atmosphere in which he would be called to breathe; the fascinating associations by which he would be surrounded, or the snares that would beset his path." son, Such were some of the reflections of the father himself on this eventful occasion; and eventful it proved to be. The story of Richard's career as a printer's boy in London may prove a salutary lesson to all youth. In reply to a letter from his father, instituting an inquiry concerning the moral characters of the individuals in the office where he worked, he wrote:-"Some of them are members of society, and are, I believe, very pious; others are good-natured, but some are very wicked; and one of them is nearly, if not quite, an infidel. I wish they were morose and sullen, then I should have no inducement to associate with them." But for a while he maintained his integrity, attended the ordinances of religion at every convenient opportunity, and regularly met in class; and to show how grateful he was for any kindnesses shown him, he says, in a letter, dated London, August 9th, 1820: The more I see of Mr. and Mrs. Reddall, the more I love them; they are friends indeed; kinder friends I never met with: Mr. R. (his class-leader) asked me to make his house my home. It is pleasant to meet with such people in a strange land. My heart tells me that I am grateful. I am striving to attain the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; though I often find that my carnal nature gets the ascendency over me; but I am seeking for a deliverance from it." 66 From this time, however, it appears that he began to imbibe more and more of the spirit of his associates, and to grow remiss in his devotional duties; presently, without any cause assigned, he changed his class, and soon after gave up class meetings altogether. Having thus dissolved all connection with the visible church, and cast off the restraints of religion, he began to lead a very irregular and dissipated life; absenting himself from his lodgings late at night; prowling the streets; or visiting the theatre, when he should have been in bed; neglecting his work in the office; involving himself in debt; and indulging in habits and practices which, had they not been checked, would have involved him in utter and irretrievable ruin. The deep and distressing solicitude now felt by the parents of this misguided youth we leave for the reader to imagine. His only brother wrote him a letter, breathing unutterable tenderness, and con juring him by every tie of affection to return to the paths of peace. Had that brother been endowed with the spirit of prophecy, could he have foreseen that the counsels and admonitions contained in his letter were the last that he should ever be permitted to give to his brother, and that their correspondence was then to close for ever; he could scarcely have written more seriously or more affectionately. But so it was, for on the nineteenth day of the following month, it pleased God, in his inscrutable providence, after two days of affliction, to cut him down as a flower; and as an evidence of the deep interest which he took in his brother's welfare, when he was about to close his eyes on all terrestrial objects, and even when struggling in the agonies of death, he said, "Charge my brother from me to live to the Lord, and not to trifle with religion, as I fear he has been doing." The afflicted father adds: "The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away-the stroke of death is, therefore, under the direction and control of God. He lights up the lamp of life, and he extinguisheth it at whatever time, and by whatever means or instru ments he pleases; and his operations are all the results of infinite goodness, under the direction of infinite wisdom. How far it entered into the divine design to remove one son for the salvation of the other, I know not; but that this was the effect produced, I most conscientiously believe; and though at that time, when clouds of impenetrable darkness brooded over the future, we were called to walk by faith and not by sight, yet subsequently we had such clear discoveries of the wise designs and merciful providence of God toward us as a family, that we were led not only to acquiesce in his dispensations, but to bless him for all, and most for the severe. "In the course of two or three weeks after the lamented death of his beloved brother, Richard returned to his parents, from whom he had been absent about fourteen months; and there is reason to believe that he quitted London with sensations no less pleasurable than those which he had indulged in the prospect of going there. The seductions of pleasure had captivated his heart; yet the light that was in him was not enveloped in total darkness; nor was the voice of conscience entirely silenced. The conflict between principle and passion, duty and inclination, was still maintained. The Spirit of God had been grieved by him, yet he had not absolutely abandoned him. The sweets of home were still inexpressibly dear to his heart. In a letter which his father received from him a little time previously, in which he describes a visit which he paid to Richmond, he says, While on the deck of the steam-packet, I took out of my pocket my Greek Testament, and on reviewing this, my mind was powerfully affected: I took a retrospect of the time when this was my daily study; and though the Testament was the same as it was months ago, yet there was no father to attend to its contents, no mother to applaud the quantum which I read, and no brother to correct my errors; all these circumstances united with what I read, contributed to work upon my feelings, till I unwillingly dropped a tear upon the book, and probably should have shed a second, had not my attention been called off to view Chelsea hospital, which we were then passing' and after describing Brandenburgh house, Northum berland house, the palace of Kew, and other places that opened to their view, he adds: Notwithstanding all this verdure, and beauty, and magnificence, I would ten times rather have beheld the bleak and inhospitable moors of Cornwall, That land supremely blest, That dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.'' He remained at home about four months, occupying himself in a printing office, and his classical studies; occasionally writing papers on different subjects, which were inserted in the Imperial Magazine. Nor was he unmindful of his spiritual interests: he set himself again to seek the Lord, brought forth fruits meet for repentance, began to meet in class, and frequently became the companion of his father in visiting the country places, where he had to preach, in the neighbor. hood of Truro. In 1822 he was appointed classical tutor of an academy near Rochester. But the task of instructing from thirty to forty boys in the Latin, Greek, and French languages, proved seriously detrimental to his health, and in the course of a few months he was obliged to resign his office, and return home. As soon as his health was sufficiently re-established, he yielded to an impression which he had long felt, that it was his duty to call sinners to repentance. "His first attempt was at a little place in the neighborhood of Chatham, where we regularly preached; the text was Hebrews xi, 16, ' But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for heath prepared for them a city.' The sketch of his sermon, which is now before me, bears date, Rochester, April 23, 1823. "Though he was then but little more than eighteen years of age, and very juvenile in his appearance, yet he found favor in the eyes of the people; his VOL. XI.-April, 1840. 20 labors in the pulpit were highly acceptable to our congregations. The Rev. Jon. Edmondson, the superintendent of the circuit, having heard him preach, greatly encouraged him to proceed in the work of the ministry. The Rev. B. Slater, also, whom he visited at Margate, showed him great kindness, and expressed the most cordial approbation of his ministerial talents. Having been engaged for nearly a year in preaching the gospel, with great acceptance wherever he went, and believing that God had called him to exercise his ministry in a more extended sphere, he was proposed by the Rev. Jon. Edmondson, according to our common usage, at the March quarterly meeting, in the year 1824, as a candidate for our itinerant ministry; and though some objections were raised against him, merely in consequence of his youth, yet he passed by a great majority of the meeting; and he was, in consequence, recommended by his superintendent to the ensuing conference." But our limits will permit us only to glance at the more important events in the remaining years of this remarkable man. At the conference of 1824 he received his first appointment as an i.inerant preacher for the Sevenoaks circuit. Here, by his martyr-like devotion to study and the work of the ministry, by constant exposure, preaching sometimes drenched in rain from head to foot-he probably laid the foundation of that disease which brought him to an untimely grave. He continued, however, six years to preach with singular fervor, energy, and eloquence. "His sermons were richly fraught with evangelical truth; and delivered with a power and pathos that excited the most profound attention. The chapels where he preached were crowded; and he was frequently employed in preaching occasional sermons, not only in his own circuit, but in other circuits throughout the city and neighborhood. Nor was his preaching popular merely, but useful; souls were brought to God by his instrumentality." In the month of June, 1829, Mr. Treffry entered into the marriage state with Eliza Baron, the eldest daughter of Mr. Baron of Hull. With this young lady he had formed an acquaintance when he traveled in the Beverly circuit four years before; and neither time nor distance had wrought any change in his mind concerning her. His biographer adds, "They were nearly of the same age; and never were two indi. duals more passionately or more inviolably attached to each other." But, to use the language of the British Minutes, it pleased Him who holds the stars in his hand, both kindling their brightness, and fixing the limits of their influence, to withdraw into comparative obscurity one in whose light many rejoiced to walk. Soon after his appointment to Bramley, in 1830, he ruptured a blood vessel on his lungs; and for two days he continued to discharge such quantities of blood as threatened every hour to terminate his life. Upon a partial recovery he retired to Penzance, where he resided seven years as a supernumerary, the subject of much languor and occasionally of much pain; manifesting a cheerful submission, and watching without alarm the inroads of a subtle malady, which was surely, though slowly, undermining his earthly tabernacle. He died in the triumph of faith, leaving a widow and six children. A plain stone rests on his grave in the burying ground of the Episcopal chapel in Penzance. with the following inscription, which was dictated by himself:-"In memory of the Rev. Richard Treffry, Jun., Wesleyan minister, who was born in Camel. ford, Nov. 30, 1804, and died in Penzance, Jan. 20, 1838. Also of his infant daughter, who died August 24, 1836. Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered, It is well.'' Seldom have "wearisome days and nights" yielded more valuable fruits than enriched and hallowed the remaining years of this exemplary man. To a mind singularly comprehensive, acute, and vigorous, the discipline of sanctified affl ction now gave a tone of deeper seriousness; and chastened without enfeebling a fervid and luxuriant ima. gination. His numerous publications are marked by a copious and various style, much felicity of illustration, and accurate and spirited delineations of character; while they are rich in evangelical maxims, and pervaded by a spirit of fervent and persuasive charity. So early as the year 1824 we find him engaged in the preparation and delivery of a course of lectures on Christianity. About the same time he wrote an elegy in memory of his venerated and lamented friend, the Rev. John Bryant. "Elegiac Stanzas in memory of Miss Hannah Osborn," followed in 1827, and about this time, anticipating his examination, preparatory to admission into full connection, his attention began to be directed particularly to the doctrines of the divine and eternal Sonship of Christ. Of his Memoir of Mrs. Treffry, we have the following account : "On the 13th day of October, 1829, he lost by death his sainted mother; her health had been declining for a long season; and he had come from York at two several times during the last month to see her. When I left her,' hə said, 'she gave me her blessing, and that voice which had been music to me from my earliest childhood I heard no more. "My boast is not that I deduce my birth From loins enthroued, and rulers of the carth, After the decease of his mother, I desired him," continues the father, "to prepare a memoir of her; which he consented to do: but in a letter to me, speaking on this subject, he says, 'It cannot be expected that, with the oppressive load of circuit business, and our domestic grounds of anxiety,' for his wife at this time was greatly afflicted, that I can afford that constant and calm attention to it which is requisite to make it what I would have it to be. My works, you know, are always unequal; and it must not be matter of surprise if this should be peculiarly so. I never felt so disposed to afford all my ability to any literary performance; and rarely have I been placed in circumstances less favorable to the accomplishment of my wishes.' This work has been before the world for several years, and has had an extensive circulation; and I have reason to believe has been productive of most beneficial effects. The subject of it was a woman who, for genuine piety, consistency of deportment, domestic economy, and every conjugal and maternal virtue, has been rarely excelled by any of her sex." April 9, 1831, he writes to Mr. Treffry, sen.: “I have made a bit of poetry. I wrote it one evening this week, in consequence of the subject coming into my head in some of the sleepless hours of the night." This bit of poetry," was the "Saul of Tarsus," which has been copied verv generally into the public journals of this country, "The first and last chapter in the History of Intemperance," appeared soon after. The following critique upon Wordsworth, which occurs |