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'I C|e f iiit^ful Itinisier. Through his abundant toils, with fix'd amaze We see revived the work of ancient days ; In his unspotted life with joy Ave see The fervours of primeval piety : A pattern to the flock by Jesus bought, A living witness of the truths he taught. O had he dropp'd his mantle in his flight ! might his spirit on all the prophets 'light I Chablbs Wbsi.ev. ^c:::q^^;^> ^t gmjM Pnisttr: A MEMORIAL OP THE LATE Eev. WILLIAM SQUIRE. OENEHAL SUPERINTESTDENT OF THE WE8LEYAN If ETHODIRT mSBIOMS IN EASTERN CANADA. COMPRISING THE FUNERAL SERMON rBIACHKD OX OCCAaiOX OF Hill DRATII, AND A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND LABOURS. BY THE REV. JOHN JENKINS. .. F<^d the floek of God m much «• in you ii, taking the ovrraight thereof, not by eoMtniint, but willingly ; not for fllthy lucre, but of « ready mind ; neither m beiug lords over Ood'e heritage, but being eninniple* to the flock. And when the ehief 8heiiherd shall ap|M>ar, ye shall receive a cn»wn of glory that fadftli not away. Petick. ^ IHontreal: WESLEYAN BOOK DEPOT. LONDON: JOHN MASON. 1853. ■ -»' -♦ _ .■.,*'r- ^* ■ i- 'fc ..«-*U.- ■i V f iiJ..i ..■■'- f;'iv \v TO THE ii0to mIh C^ilhtn OK THB REV. WILLIAM SaUIRE, Called ix thk order of an ixbcrvtable PRovrDENCE to be< yrAlh THE LOSS OF THEIR EARTHLY HEAD; — Suddenly bereaved of ax able Minister and faithful Pastor ;— ®o i)f» Brtttirtn in t^t C!)ri5tlan ;jH(nistr||, Who rejoiced to acknomledoe him not only ah a devoted FELLOW-LABOURER, BUT ALSO AS AN EXPERIENCED OCIDE;— (So ttt ^unbrtbx jeftatttitb ttirougfiout Canaba, Whom in Christ Jesus he had begotten through the gospel; and Qfo tf)t (Jl&ou«anbH, Who, in the various scenes of his evangelical labours, rejoice in the memory of his teaching and friend- ship ;— tR\iig ixiti iHtmotial is rtsputfulls in^tcii^tb, is THE AUTHOR. ¥ " ..I 4 I - ^l** 1 -.t « <4 s 5 . * ^^K.''--^ I/. :.:m- a 1 \ f "J- -Q r: ■:- t.J.ta; ^ \ w H. ■ I « 5 ') 'i/.\'>. ' ^y X ^xthtt ■ 4 H (V\ II i It is not because the author regards these pages as in any degree M^orthy of his late beloved and revered fellow-labourer, that he has been induced to publish them ; but rather because he is unwilling to disappoint the wishes of those who, from respect to the deceased, desire a tangible memorial of their friend and pastor, and especially of the affecting circumstances under which he was so unexpectedly removed from the earthly to the heavenly section of Christ's Church, u-iiu.!. .. .• .,ii^.i.M' ' > ■_ ,.:ii^.i^■^ w 8 PREFACE. i The discourse was prepared in the midst of anxieties and toils, which cer- tainly were not lessened by the sudden and afflictive circumstances which called it forth; and in reference to the "Sketch" which follows, the writer laments, in com- mon with the friends of the deceased generally, that previously to his death he should have thought it necessary to destroy that which alone could have ren- dered this memorial complete, namely, a somewhat copious journal of his Christian experience and labours, extending over a large portion of his public life. This jour- nal, for the sake, it mi^y be supposed, of greater privacy, was kept in the French language, 'vj -.-j --■>; --r,: . .,,.,,, .^^ ■,..,, ;^ s Thrice within the comparatively brief period of three years, has the author been summoned to discharge a similarly mourn- [ PREFACE. 9 • 'I ful duty. Iq December, 1849, the funeral sermon on occasic ^ of the death of the ven- erable Robert L. Lusher was preached; in the March following, another funeral sermon was called for by the sudden death of the friend of the deceased and his pred- ecessor in office, Matthew Lang ; and now, when we expected most from his matured piety and from his experience in evangelic labours, — now, when the circumstances of the Church seemed to demand his stay among us, — William Squire, too, is called to his reward. i \ ♦' God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform ; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. ** Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill, He treasures up his bright designs, And works his so * oreign will." i\ 10 PREFACE. The author cannot close these prefetory observations without imploring, on behalf ■J of the lonely widow and the fatherless children, the consolations of that religion which supported their beloved relative in his last trying hour. His God is their God forever and ever. He will be their GuroE even unto death. Montreal, iVove«i6er, 1852. u ,^v, ; )/ J l' ,.'i5 * I ' '- , >■ ' ■ .' ; w y If ss )n in ir I \ n n^mun. I . ' • I AH NOW READY TO BE OFFERED, AND THE TIME OF MT DEPARTURE 18 AT HAND. I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE, I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH. HENCEFORTH THERE IS LAID UP FOR ME A CROWN OF RIGHT- EOUSNESS, WHICH THE LORD, THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, SHALL GIVE ME AT THAT DAY : AND NOT TO ME ONLY, BUT UNTO ALL THEM ALSO THAT LOVE HIS APPEARING.— 2 TIMO- THY IV, 6-8. • " , ' In the year in which the Son of God was crucified, and when, therefore, the Church of Christ was in its inffmcy — when the chief opponents of the gospel were preju- diced and wicked Jews, who could not quietly endure to see the progress of Christianity after the day of Pentecost — a scene presented itself in the Sanhedrim, or chief council of the Jewish nation, of which the sacred historian thought fit to leave a record. . m THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. The seventy judges being in session in the council-chamber, a man charged with blasphemy against Moses and against God is hurried into their presence by an un- ceremonious mob. In appearance he is altogether unlike a blasphemer: a rich expression of benevolence sits upon his countenance; he is calm and dignified; he seems conscious of innocence, and there is not, of all tie seventy, a single judge who, steadfastly looking upon him, does not see his face as it were the face of an angel. The witnesses are sworn, their testimony is given, the president of the council puts him upon his defence, — " Are these things so ?" — and the power and wisdom with which he makes it are resist- less. Out of the writings of their own Moses he convicts them of "stiff-necked" rebellion against the Holy One of Israel, and as though he himself had been judge, and they a band of prisoners brought be- fore him for condemnation, he fastens upon them the fearful crime of deicide: "Ye have been the betrayers and murderers of THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 13 the Just One." The judges, forgetting the dignity of their office, gnash upon him with their teeth; he is encouraged and sustained in his trying position by a vision of the divine glory, the particulars of which he rapturously describes to the council and the assembled crowd : " Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man stand- ing on the right hand of God." They can endure no longer ; and, without even the formality of passing sentence, rush upon him, cast him out of the city, and stone him. Thus perished the proto-mar- tyr of Christianity, Stephen, the man of God ; not, however, without leaving be- hind him the blessed testimony that his departing spirit rested for salvation upon the merits of Jesus, and that, like his Master, he could forgive his murderers. There was present on this tragical occa- sion a young man who was carefully ob- serving the whole transaction, and whose sympathies were altogether with the con- demning party. Though not of lofty stat- ure or dignified mien, he was a person of 14 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. liberal education, and, for his years, of great learning. He was known to all the Jews as a prominent member of the strait- est sect of their religion — he was a Phar- isee. An expression of savage joy rested upon his countenance, while he muttered, if not in the precise words, yet in effect : " Away with this man, away with him ; stone him, stone him; he is worthy of death." The witnesses, who, according to the Jewish custom,* were to cast the first stone at the condemned criminal, remov- ing their upper garments that they might execute their diabolical work the more readily, laid them at the feet of this young man, who unrelentingly continued "con- senting unto his death." And who was this young persecutor? Who was the man who thus gave promise to the ene- mies of Christianity that he would by-and- by become their triumphant general ? Who was the man that left the scene of this murderous exploit only to make havoc of the Church, entering into every house and I *^* See Deuteronomy xvii, 7. \ THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 15 haling men and women to commit them to prison ? None other but Saul of Tarsus, who also is called Paul ; none other but the apostle of the Gentiles, and without con- troversy the greatest and most successful Christian minister that ever adorned the Church. How mighty and how mysteri- ous are the workings of divine grace, that the first record of the man who, by his labours in the cause of Christianity, pro- duced so astonishing an impression upon the whole Roman empire — upon all the world ; of the man who caused the power of the gospel to be felt by judges and criminals, by philosophers and peasants, by kings and prisoners, and through whose influence it reached and shook even the throne of the Csesars; of the man who fought with beasts at Ephesus for the truth of Christianity, and endured on its behalf stripes and imprisonments, — that the first record of the man who, while lying at Rome under sentence of death, could exclaim, in the triumphant language of the text, " I am now ready to be of- 10 thK faithful minister. ! I fered, and the time of my departure is at hand; I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ;" should be — "And the witnesses laid their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul ; and Saul was consenting unto his death !" I like, brethren, to trace the lines of character which distinguish great and good men. It is elevating to the mind to con- template real greatness, both intellectual and moral : it is elevating and ennobling because it is transforming. I care not who he is, no man can study well the character of the great and the good, with- out being more or less impressed with the qualities of his subject ; and, without fear of contradiction, I affirm that he whose dying words have now been read as the subject of the present discourse, will bear comparison with any of those bright lumi- naries who, in different ages of the world, have been instrumental in dispelling its moral gloom. He will compare with them THE FAITHFUL MINISTEH. 17 •I in all those qualities which impart dignity and nobility to man — in intellectual great- ness, in purity of motive, in integrity of action, in patriotism, in philanthropy, in high and holy usefulness towards his fel- lows, and in unswerving attachment to the cause of truth and righteousness. Favour- ably does he compare with the brightest prophetic lights of the Jewish dispensa- tion — with Moses, with Elijah, with Isaiah, with Daniel. As to the ancient philoso- phers of Greece and Rome, the surpassing brightness of his light casts a dimness over theirs, and even Socrates and Plato fade into insignificancy before him. Compared with his apostolic contemporaries, for la- bours, and sacrifices, and successes, he is chiefest of them all ; and as to his succes- sors in the gospel ministry, who among them is not indebted to his light, to his teaching, to his example, for much of what they have been enabled to accomplish in the sacred cause of Christianity ? It is a great privilege to be permitted to gaze upon such a man as Pnul. to foj- 18 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. V. low him in his labours, to accompany hini in his sufferings, to mark his successes, to converse with him in his writings, to listen to him in his discourses, to attend him in his death. It is history that enables us to do all this ; and we are therefore thank- ful for history, especially for an inspired history, such as the New Testament sup- plies. But no history can reveal facts to us with the same vividness and intensity with which they are communicated to the mind by positive observation and sight. We are creatures of sense, and no imagina- tion can fully supply to our minds a living reality which has not been previously con- templated by actual vision. High and noble as is the view of the great apostle which we acquire from sacred history, it is im- possible that we should conceive Avhat he really was as correctly as if we had known him and conversed with him, and heard him preach and pray, and seen him toil and suffer. By his successors, indeed, we may learn more, his successors whom we have known and seen and heard ; and the THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. m vividness, therefore, which history fails to impart may in some measure be supplied by them — by those earnest, faithful, ener- getic, self-denying, and successful labour- ers, who are here and there (0 that there were more of them !) working in the moral field of the world. I mean that we may imagine, in some degree, what Paul was, as an apostle, by the labours and sacrifices of such men, and what he was in death by the triumph of those who depart in the faith of Christ. We do not forget that Paul ^vas inspired, neither would we de- tract one whit from his intellectual great- ness or his sanctified piety ; but there are men whom, we sometimes think, it would not derogate even from Paul to compare with him in piety and in labours, not in inspiration. Now it does, I con- fess, help me to contemplate our apostle with, as I imagine, greater reality, to com- pare his self-denying labours with those of Wesley, and his ardent piety with that of Fletcher, and his burning eloquence with that of Whitefield, and his noble and 20 THE FAITUFUL MINISTEK. triumphant defence of the truth with that of Chalmers, and his manifold successes with those of Bramwell, and his triumph- ant death with that of Stoner. I know not how it may have impressed the minds of those who best knew our late departed venerated friend, whose sudden death has brought so great a concourse to the house of God ; but I have often been led to view his labours, and his zeal, and his self-denial, and his successes, as truly apostolic in their character; and, blessed be God ! his death was as apostolic as his life ; so that, without the least impropri- ety, though his natural modesty and his Christian humility were too great to sug- gest the analogy, he might have said with the apostle in the language of the text ; " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- eousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day : and not THE TAITIIFUL MINIHTKH. 21 my brih ht- ous not to me only, but unto all thrm altto that love his appearing." Paul's Conflicts, PauVs Endurance, PauFs Triumph, and Paul's Reward, are the subjects to which your earnest and prayerful attention is now invited. Paul's Conflicts. Who that has read the New Testament with attention has not perceived that the Christian life in this world is represented as a course of severe and arduous conflict ? Who that has felt within his heart any experience of religious grace has not set to his seal that this representation is true ? What indeed is the Church but an arena on which immortal spirits are contending for the mastery with the powers of dark- ness and of sin ? That man knows noth- ing of saving religion who is a stranger to strong, energetic, internal conflict with sin, or who knows not the use of that spir- itual armour by which Satan is repulsed and his murderous designs frustrated. Well did Paul, in reviewing his Christian 22 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. career, compare it with a fight. He could not forget his conflicts with sin, when in the depths of spiritual conviction he ex- claimed : " How to perform that which is good I know not: I find a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin ;" or when, in the intense agony of his condemned spirit, he cried out in language indicating a state of mind little less than that of despair : " v/retch- ed man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?'* He could not forget his conflicts with flesh and blood when these enemies of spirituality attempted to divert him from the path of duty. And how could he but remember his contests with him who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de- vour, and not with him alone, but also with principaHties and powers and wicked spirits in high places ? Few men in the Christian army have had to use the weap- ons of their spiritual warfare more fre- quently, and no man has ever used them 'm THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 23 to greater advantage, than Paul. He spoke like an experienced warrior when he said to the Ephesians : '' Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, hav- ing your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked [one], and take the helmet of sal- vation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The Lord had taught his hands to war and his fingers to fight, and he knew, therefore, how to ad- vise and encourage his comrades in the 24 THE FAITHFUL MINISTKK. field. Manfully did he contend with his spiritual foes, and though severe was the contest, he could yet reflect upon it with satisfaction and call it "a good fight:" good, for he was fighting in the cause of God; good, for he was fighting in the cause of holiness ; good, for he was fight- ing in the cause of his soul's immortal sal- vation. " Fight the good fight of faith," said he encouragingly to Timothy, in the course of his advices to that young minis- ter ; fight, for it is worthy of you ; fight, for God will help you in the conflict; fight, for you shall triumph over your every foe ; fight, for you shall gain a glo- rious prize. . ;• ,. But in speaking of Paul's conflicts, we should do injustice to our Christian hero, did we not contemplate those which at- tached to his oflice as a teacher and an apostle of Christianity. That is a great mistake into which many good people fall, of supposing that the spiritual trials of a minister of the gospel must necessarily bo fewer and less severe than those to which liiL. THE FAITHFL'L MINISTER. 25 an ordinary Christian is exposed. For, be it remembered, a minister has to meet not only those difficulties which attach to the Christian life generally, but, in addi- tion to these, the no less trying and per- plexing duties which attach to the respon- sible office which he sustains. What demands, for instance, did the ministerial office make upon Paul's patience and self- denial ? What persecutions and afflictions did it involve ? What a resistance to the dictates of flesh and blood did it call forth ? What necessities did it educe ? And then there were stripes and imprisonments ; there were tumults, and watchings, and fastings, and shipwrecks. With what touching simplicity does he refer to these in his second letter to the Connthian Church : " Are they ministers of Christ ? I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a 26 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. night and a day I have been in the deep : in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- ness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painful- ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and naked- ness. Besides those things that are with- out, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the Churches." This last seems to have been the most perplexing of his trials. Can we wonder at this ? for what, after all, is pain »^f body to dis- tress of mind ? Witness our apostle " trav- ailing in birth" for the faithless Galatians ; witness his conflict of mind when he feared that his labour amongst them had been in vain ; witness his many tears shed at Ephesus ; see him when he could not even speak of apostate Christians without weeping ; observe his contest with Satan, who once and again interposed hindrances to the prosecution of his work. What llil: THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 27 must have been his sorrow of heart when Demas, his fellow-labourer, forsook him, having loved this present world ? or when Alexander the coppersmith did him much evil ? or when at his first answer no man stood with him, but all men forsook him ? If there is any philosophy in the councils of hell or in the stratagems of devils, and there is, the opposition which is offered to the spiritual progress of ministers must be supposed to be greater than that which is presented to the progress of Christians generally. We may be sure that the leaders of the Christian army in the battle which is now waging between the powers of light and darkness, are singled out by Satan and his hosts as w^orthy of being set upon with concentrated energy. The ministerial Hfe is indeed a warfare ; there is a perpetual conflict, there are abounding trials, there are manifold temptations, of which private Christians must be alto- gether ignorant ; there are attacks from the world, and from faithless Christians, and from hypocrites, and from the flesh, THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. of which ordinary Christians do not even dream ; there are anxieties in relation to the prosperity of the work of God, and the apostasy of believers, and the incon- sistencies of professors, which weigh down his soul to the dust, and which are shared by the flock only in an imperfect degree. Ah ! this warfare, these fearful struggles, this fight of faith. Who is sufficient for these things ? Who would willingly en- gage in this conflict ? Who would engage in it at all ? None surely but he whose conviction runs parallel with that of Paul : " Necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." ^•" ill ll i Mi But we are called upon to contemplate also Paul's Endurance in the midst of these conflicts. ^ It was not as a theorist, but as an expe- rienced general, that he commanded Tim- othy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He himself had warred a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, not entangling himself with THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 29 the affairs of this life, that he might please him who had chosen him to be a soldier. And let it not be supposed that Paul, or indeed any other minister of the gospel, had no temptations to unfaithfulness, no temptations to shrink from the trying du- ties of his office. He had many, both from within and from without. We have already shown to you some of the conflicts, personal and official, which he had to un- dergo ; and really, brethren, when we sur- vey them in their number and in their strength, and observe, in the midst of them all, his persevering fidehty, his firm- ness, and his courage, w^e stand in admira- tion, if not in awe, of the man of God. Every call upon his patience, every de- mand upon his spiritual strength, every requirement of his self-denying courage, was met by this valiant warrior in the cause of Christianity. The world tempted him with lucrative offers, but he kept the faitli ; flesh and blood assailed him and urged him to take his ease, but he kept the fiiith ; Satan hindered him, but he Il 30 THE FAITHFUL MINISTEK. I ! ■1 I I kept the faith ; principalities and powers wrestled with him, but he kept the faith. No temptation to ease, no trial of patience, no deceitfulness of his natural heart, no presentation of worldly pleasures or of worldly splendours, could turn him aside either from personal piety or from his Master's work. What intentness upon accomplishing the chief end of his exist- ence does he exhibit in his language to the Church at Philippi : " This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and re^Vihing forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." " So fight I," said he again, "not as one that beateth the air ; but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away." It was not in the language of bombast, much less of hypocritical bravado, that he said: "I have kept the faith ;" but it was in the language of humble confidence, of adoring THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 31 gratitude, and of certain triumph. How transparently sincere is that appeal to Timothy which we find in the previous chapter : " Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecu- tions, afflictions, which came upon me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what per- secutions I endured." But none of these things moved him. He was steadfast, un- moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. He kept the faith in its purity, in its integrity, and he kept it to the last. He endured to the end; he was faithful unto death. Not only when the Church was in peace, but when she Avas in persecution also ; not only w^hen she was in prosperity, but when she was in adversity ; not only when he himself was in health and youthfulness and vigour, but when he was in weakness and old age and deaths, this faithful apostle held fast his profession. Who could separate him from the love of Christ ? Could tribula- tion ? No. Could distress ? No. Could 32 THE FAITIIFL'L MINISTEU. persecution ? No. Could famine ? No. Could nakedness? No. Could peril? No. Could sword and battle ? No. He endured them all, and in the midst of all he kept the faith ; holding fast the confi- dence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. ' ' - ' '•' >- Paul's endurance earned for him a joy- ful Triumph. < ...^>. .Mi ^ The fight was fought. There was not another blow to be struck. The world was overcome ; Satan w^as vanquished ; sin was destroyed ; and as to Death, '' I am now ready to be offered," was the daring challenge which he gave to this, his last surviving foe. "I desire to de- part and to be with Christ." " death, where is thy sting ?" This is the scornful language with which he defied the king of terrors. " Where is thy sting ?" show it if you still possess it ; do your worst. But the monster stood before him sting- less and powerless. This is not romance, but stern reality. There is no fiction THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 3.3 f "No. peril ? I. He of all 1 confi- e firm J, . . Li i fell •■J* a joy- as not world islied ; th, ''• I is the 3 this, to de- death, 3ornful Q king show worst, sting- nance, fiction here. We have seen it with our own eyes. We have seen a Christian as fear- less of death as is a child of sleep in the shades of evening ; aye, and as anxious for it too. We have seen it during the last week, in the instance of a private member of the Church ; and we saw it a fortnight since in the case of our venerated and now glorified friend. Let the sceptic doubt as he please ; let him cast at this phase, also, of Christianity, his wonted sneer ; there is a power in the religion of Jesus to extract from the human heart even the fear of death. The course was finished. There was not another step to be taken ; everything but Jesus, and the crown of righteousness, and a glorious eternity, was behind him ; the goal was reached, and the sanctified apostle was found looking unto Jesus, calmly awaiting the moment in which the Lord, the righteous judge, should place upon his brow the never-fading wreath of glory. Happy apostle ! Every weight had been laid aside, every besetting sin »^ a4 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. had been surrendered and left behind, ev- ery difficulty had been overcome, every (.'ompetitor had been distanced ; the whole course had been fulfilled, from the first step of timid trust in Christ to the last step of full assurance, the full assurance of faith and hope, and the entire sanctifi- eation of spirit and soul and body. You remember that, years before, his whole Roul was bent upon this consummation : " I count not my Hfe dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy ;" and his holy desire is granted to the very letter, for he is enabled to say with tri- umph : " I have finished my course." But not only did he finish his course, that is, his religious course, with joy ; he also finished the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus to testify the jyospel of the grace of God. The faith, the truth of this gospel, was intrusted tc his keeping as a sacred deposit for the benefit of the world; and he faithfully kept it, and employed it for the glory of God in the salvation of sinners. He had THE FAITIiriL MIXISTKK. ; he had many temptations to abandon it, but de- spite his early prejudi' os, and his Jewish associations, and his philosophic tenden- cies, he kept it. No enemy was strong enough or subtle enough to remove him from the pillar and ground of the faith ; he kept it faithfully until his ministry, like his course, was discharged and fin- ished. How astonishingly successful was the official course of this primitive Chris- tian preacher. Sinners heard the truth from his eloquent lips, and were saved. Wherever he went ho dispensed the gos- pel faith, and he reaped a glorious harvest of immortal souls. His triumph as a Christian was victoriously great;, but it did not exceed his triumph as a minister of the gospel. Indeed, the upostolic prog- ress of Paul might be fitly compared with the triumphal progress of some mighty conqueror, some ancient or modern Alex- ander. Wherever our apostle trod he lefl behind him trophies of victory. The scenes of his triumphs were not circum- scribed bv the w^nlls of towns and cities. vw THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. I III I in:i:l! or by the boundaries of countries; the whole world felt the influence of this mighty moral conqueror — Ephesus and Antioch, Athens and Corinth, Phrygia and Galatia, Philippi and Colosse, Malta and Sicily, Italy and Spain. "Ye are my glory and joy ; the crown of my re- joicing are ye in the Lord ; ye are our epistles, written on our heart, known and read of all men ; the seals of my apostle- ship are ye in the Lord. Our gospel came unto you in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance." Such was the language of this evangelical victor, who, in winning souls to Christ, may be said to have been even " more than conqueror." And now, whether you regard Paul as sus- taining to Christ the character of a disci- ple or as sustaining the office of an am- bassador, sent forth by Christ to beseech men in his stead to be reconciled to God, or as sustaining the office of an apostle, conserving for the benefit of the Church and of the world the truths of Christianity : — whether you view him as a Christian THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 31 the this and >? soldier, clothed in the gospel arniour, fighting the battles of the Captain of our salvation, combatting the world and sin and death and hell; or as an agonizing wrestler, contending with flesh and blood, and not with these alone, but also with the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of dis- obedience ; or as a competitor in the race of faith, overcoming all hindrances, out- stripping all opponents, and pressing to- w^ard the goal, you are constrained to acknowledge that such were his successes and his triumphs that he did not without foundation exclaim : " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." , ,, Paul's triumphs were followed by a glorious Reward. » » .1 ^ ..t i "Henceforth there is laid u^: for me a crown of righteousness." The reward, therefore, he had not yet received ; but he speaks with as much confidence as though it were now in his possession — as though M ^ 38 TUE FAITHFUL MINISTEK. he had been akeady crowned. Such is the power of faith — that faith which is "the evidence of things not seen." To Paul it was " the evidence " of this glori- ous prize. The eye of faith penetrated the veil which hangs between this outer court and that " holy of holies " above, and he saw laid up in the heavenly ark a crown, bright, pure, glorious, more bril- liant than diamonds, more precious than rubies, finer than gold, '' a crown of glory that fadeth not away ;" a crown prepared for him, Paul the persecutor, Paul who consented to the murder of Stephen. the mystery, the fulness of the grace of God ! " Henceforth there is laid up for ME a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day." The day of reward, then, to the faithful minister is at hand : now he is borne down by trials, and harassed by temptations, and worn out by conflicts ; but the crown is "laid up," — laid up in heaven, in the safe-keeping of the chief Shepherd. It is laid up, and none shall i: THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 30 usurp its prerogatives ; it is laid up, but only to that clay of righteous reward. Then shall it be worn; then shall the Lord, the righteous judge, remove it from the heavenly jewel-house, and adorn with it the brow of Stephen and Paul, of Barry and Lusher, of Strong and Rin- TOUL, of Lang and Squire.* '' There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." '. But what is this doctrine of ministerial reward to you? What have my hearers to do with a minister's crown? Listen, and you will see that there is not one of you who has not an intimate interest in this delightful theme. " And not to me ONLY." Others, then, are concerned in the reception of this blessedness ; and who are they ? Apostles only ? No. Min- isters only ? No. " Not to me only, but unto ALL them also that love his appear- ing." There is not, therefore, in this sanc- tuary one faithful Christian who may not '^ Six ministers of the city of Montreal and its neigh- bourhood, who have "finished their course'' within a comparatively few years. 40 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. say with Pauline confidence : " Hence- forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Yes! the promise is to thee, thou tried and tempted follower of the Lamb ! " Blessed is the man that en- dureth temptation, for when he is tried [being approved] he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath prom- ised to them that love him." " Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." Let your faith, then, raise you abo^e all doubt, until you are enabled to say : — i-'-i ir:. " The glorious crown of righteousness To me reach'd out I view ; Conqu'ror through Him, I soon shall seize, And wear it as my due." \i-i I dare not close this delightful subject without demanding from every one of you : "Are you fighting this good fight — this fight of faith?" Do not deceive your- selves : this prize is not for the worldly- minded professor, nor for the unstable Church-member; nor for those who. De- mas-like, forsake the truth, having loved L_„^_ THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 41 this present world. This crown of right- eousness is for those who fight and con- quer — who fight against the world and overcome it — who struggle with sin and vanquish it — who contend against Satan and quench the fiery darts of that wicked one. This crown is for those who run with patience the race which is set before them, laying aside every weight of worldly care, and renouncing pride, and selfishness, and lust, and covetousness, and every other easily-besetting sin. This crown is for those who endure to the end, regard- less of opposition, of suffering, of tempta- tion, of deaths. This crown is for those who keep the fliith, the pure saving faith of Christ, not denying the Lord that bought them, but holding faith and a good conscience ; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. This crown is for those who, like our apostle, are faithful unto death. % i " To patient faith the prize is sure, And all that to the end endure The cross, shall wear the crown." 42 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. !i Christian professors ! I urge you to fidel- ity — unflinching fidelity to the cause and truth of Christ. I urge you to fight against sin — sin within you and sin around you. I urge you to resist every tempta- tion to evil, and to follow the example of this noble apostle, who never wavered, but always and steadfastly adhered to the truth and purity of the gospel. How greatly does Christ's Church need ju t now to be both inviolate and inviolable ! Christian brethren ! in view of the coming day of the Lord, the righteous judge, and of the eternal future which lies before you, and to which you are rapidly hastening, vow perpetual allegiance to that Master whose cause you have espoused and whose name you bear; and be urged to this course by the memory of that great and good man whose lucid instructions and powerful warnings and earnest entreaties have been often sounded in your ears, and whose fearfully sudden death has been taken to heart by this whole community. How frequently have you heard him mourn I THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 43 over the instability of Christian professors, their departures from strict integrity, their love of the world, their pursuit of pleasure, their cold-hearted indifference to the pros- perity of the Church. that he could once more speak to you with his own pe- culiar energy on the want in the Church of greater attachment to the interests of religion, and of greater self-denial in ad- vancing the benign work of human salva- tion ! But you will hear him no more ! his lips are silent, his work is done, his course is finished, his foes are vanquished, and he is safe ! it) •J ^r.v /*» 'P V.-; .'^ •' may I triumph so, When all my warfare 's past ; And, dying, find my latest foe Under my feet at last 1" j( '• Many in this vast multitude are " fight- ing a fight ;" but it is against God — it is on the side of sin. Satan, the god of this world, the father of lies, the devouring lion, that old dragon the devil, is their leader ; heathens, and idolaters, and scof- fers, and blasphemers, and infidels, and 44 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. backbiters, and inventors of evil thinojs, are their associates ; to supplant the au- thority of the Eternal, to establish through- out the world a reign of terror and of ini- quity, to efface from the earth every remnant of purity, to hand over to a wicked and unprincipled usurper the do- minion of Jehovah, is their aim. Ah sin- ner ! recoil as you may from this descrip- tion of your character and your aims, it is nevertheless full of truth. There is not an impenitent rebel now before me who is not linked with the powers of hell against the authority and majesty of Je- hovah ; and how long, let me ask, do you intend to fight against God ? How long is this wicked conflict, this fight of sin, to last ? Throw down, I implore you, this very night, the weapons of your rebellion, desert the cause of the usurping fiend, sue for pardon at the feet of your lawful king, and in a determined onslaught upon the sins of your nature, strike now the first blow in the good fight of faith. There is mercy with God even for the rebel, and THE FAITHFUL MIXTSTER. 45 with him there is plenteous redemption. God, your offended God, is love. How then can you continue to fight against this loving God ? May you now feel that *• His love is mighty to compel." May you now have grace to heed the ex- hortation to which you have often listened : *' His conquering love consent to feel ; Yield to his love's resistless power, And fight against your God no more," "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye RECONCILED TO GOD." " FiGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE. >» *. w I » • ■ » <• Wm '^^ .•>.^»^w«' .^^ ?:>mci^ >c ^ A SKETCH OK TIIK X\i(, labours, ani Clratlj OF THB REV. WILLIAM SQUIRE. 1 ago 80. u. J-. •.-. ' 'f vv;f;-i/- >ii ^V ■•fc! ■I '■■; ^-ift- *t-t \- ft^ .» ♦ .M ^lutrlj. i w h INTRODUCTORY. A PRINCE has fallen in Israel ! A Church has been left in a state of orphanage ! A hundred Christian congregations, in vari- ous parts of the colony, mourn the loss of their ecclesiastical " overseer !" The mysterious providence under which we are thus called to bow, has produced a profound impression upon our whole com- munity. It has been suggested that per- manency may be given to this impression, by the presentation of a condensed sketch of our deceased friend's character and la- bours. The sudden death of a minister, especially of one so able, and devoted, and useful, as was he, ought to teach many a profitable lesson to us who remain behind. 1 T '' 1 52 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. To his coadjutors in the ministry, it is a loud call to increased activity and more persevering labours in the work of Christ ; to his fellow-disciples, it is a no less pow- erful summons to be ready for the appear- ing of their Lord ; and to the unconverted, chiefly those among them who have been warned and entreated by his voice, now, alas ! silent in the grave, it appeals as in tones of thunder, crying : " Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead." ' How mysterious are the ways of Him unto whom it is given " to be the Head over all things to the Church," that one from whose uniform piety and matured experience we hoped so much — one who seldom or never laboured unsuccessfully, whose converts indeed might be num- bered by hundreds — one whose counsels were always so full of wisdom and of weight, should be cut down in the midst of his years, his labours, his usefulness, his influence ! We imagine that there would have been less interruption to the progress of the Lord's work if his services THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 53 in the vineyard had been continued, and some other labourer had been removed ; we think that many might have been spared better than this accomplished and faithful workman ; tve see not how his place can be supplied, or by what agency, within our reach at least, his work can be carried on ; — but the Lord's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways his ways ; '■ f i' as the heavens are higher than the ea; aith the Lord, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We cast ourselves, therefore, at the feet of our di- vine Head and King, feeling that nothing is now left for us but to learn those lessons of submission and dependence, as well also of renewed activity, which events so solemn and mysterious are calculated to impart. We trust in Him who "buries his workmen" and vet "carries on his work." > Some of the incidents mentioned in the following pages were read to the thou- sands who, out of res|)Oot to the memory THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. of the deceased, crowded the house of God to hear the preceding sermon. It is rath- er by way of explanation than of apology, that regret is now expressed at the im- perfectness of the "Sketch" which was i-hen presented to the audience. The pe- culiarly trying circumstances in which the bereaved family was placed; the im- possibility, consequently, without invading \ the sacred sanctuary of grief, of eliciting more than two or three fragments of in- formation, together with the facts that even these fragments were furnished only a few hours before the occasion, and that no papers or letters of the deceased were put into the hands of the writer until af- terwards, will be reasons sufficient to every candid mind for the meagerness of the biographical portion of the funeral dis- course. It is hoped that the account which follows, though brief, will effect- ually supply the deficiency thus occa- gioned. ■ I THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 55 EARLY LIFE — REDEMPTION THROUGH I m . V. " CHRIST. v. . . ; . Many a glorified spirit, we doubt not, has already rejoiced over the birth, on July 26th, 1795, of William Squire. Bruton, a small Somersetshire town in the west of England, and a few miles only from the celebrated city of Bath, was the scene of his birth and boyhood. In- trusted, in the order of a gracious Provi- dence, to the care of parents who feared God and loved righteousness, he was by them brought up in the nurture and disci- pline of the Lord. Often has their de- voted son been heard to praise God for the privilege and honour of his descent from a Christian ancestry. They were faithful to their trust ; God was faithful to his promise. They laboured to bring their household and their children after them ; God honoured their etforts with immortal success. With what encourage- ment should parents, and especially moth- ers, to whose principal care are intrusted 56 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. the moulding of the future character and the direction of the future pursuits of their children, regard the fact, that by far the larger portion of those who have distin- guished themselves for piety and benevo- lence and usefulness in the world, have been mainly indebted for this distinction to a christianly domestic education. It was not for naught that Lois and Eunice taught Timothy those lessons of Scripture truth which were able to make him wise unto salvation ; or that the mother of the Wesleys expended her energies in the moral, intellectual, and physical training of her children; or that the mother of Doddridge employed her influence and tjilents in conducting her youthful son to the fountain of truth and salvation. Bona- parte was once asked what was the great- est need of France, and his brief but ex- pressive reply was : " Mothers." Is not this the want of the Church ? -i? The scepticism that has prevailed re- specting the influence of the grace of God upon the hearts of very young children is THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 67 : and their p the . istin- Qevo- have Lction . It unice \\ pture wise >f the I the ining iv of and on to 3ona- ^reat- t ex- not d re- ^God 'en is completely exploded by fact. William Squire, like hundreds more whom we have known, was from childhood the subject of strong religious impressions. Though not savingly converted to God until the age of fourteen, he was for some time previously even to this early period of his life, strictly observant of ordinary religious duties, and evinced that strong respect for Christianity and its divinely appointed ordinances, as well also for the ministry by which they were dispensed, which was ever afterwards a prominent characteristic of his life. With such influ- ences around him, and cultivating such feelings of attachment for rehgion, he was restrained, in a great measure at least, from the sins and folHes of youth. His parents were Wesleyan Methodists — not of that numerous class who content themselves with a place merely in the congregation, and who regard association with the Church as unimportant. They felt it to be their duty and their privilege to connect them- selves with the Lord's people in Christian THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. fellowship ; and their son seems to have inherited, or at least to have acquired from them a deep attachment to this par- ticular form of Christianity. There was too much right-mindedness and integrity of purpose and settledness of view in William Squire to permit him to disre- gard for one moment the Church of his parents. We have heard children of Meth- odists speak slightingly, if not contemptu- ously, of that communion through whose instrumentality their fathers and their mothers have been washed and sanctified and justified, and, in many cases, glorified. Not so the subject of this memoir. He, so far from turning his back upon Meth- odism, loved it in his youth, loved it more in his manhood, and loved it most in his death. No sincere Christian of another Church will blame him for his attachment to his own. • * .It was at the age of thirteen that our young friend was convinced of his moral position as a sinner before God. Con- scious of guilt, he felt his need of pardon- THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 59 have aired 3 par- was gnty w in iisre- f his leth- ii rtptu- rhose their tified ified. He, tfeth- more n his other ment our noral Con- 'don- ing mercy ; conscious of the depravity of his nature, and of the enmity against God of his wicked heart, he felt his need of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. At this time he dehghted in the society of a youth who, though generally moral, was a stranger to the power of religion. This association was a snare to him, and seri- ously retarded his religious progress. He felt that it was diverting his attention from the things which would make for his peace, and that he must either count it loss or give up the hope of ever attaining the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. He strove and struggled and prayed, until the Lord providentially removed him to London and beyond the sphere of the lad's influence. Encouraged by this interposition, which he could not but regard as an answer to his unworthy prayers, he entreated his Father in heaven with yet greater earnestness, and pressed forward with yet stronger determination toward the blessings of a present salva- tion. He felt that forgiveness of sins and 60 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. a new heart were necessary to him as a perishing immortal spirit ; he pleaded the merits of Jesus as the only ground of his acceptanqp with God ; urgently and inces- santly did he cry for spiritual deliverance, and waited patiently at the throne of grace until the answer came. His faith recog- nised in Christ an all-sufficient Saviour; he joyed in the light of God's countenance, .; had a blessed consciousness of adopting mercy, and went on his way rejoicing in the possession of a religion which could at once impart comfort and purity to a conscience troubled and defiled by sin. At this time he was about fourteen years old. FRUITS OF FAITH— CALL TO THE MINISTRY. ' To communicate spiritual blessings to those who are yet dead in sins is the first impulse of a soul newly-born of God. " I live by God's mercy ; let me employ my influence, my time, my energies, in seek- ing the spiritual Hfe of others," is among the first utterances of a child of God. True religion never seeks to excuse itself THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 61 from labours for Christ. He who tastes the love of Christ first in old age will not say, " I am too feeble to be a worker for God ;" neither will the convert who is but a youth say, "I am too young." There is that in true religion which impels to labours in the sacred cause of truth ; there is that in living faith which inevitably leads to the production of fruit. William Squire, young as he was, felt this impulse ; and, though constitutionally timid, could not rest in idleness, as does many a young professor in the present day. This youthful disciple sought unobtrusively to scatter that seed of the kingdom which had ripened in the soil of his own heart. We first see him moving about the streets of London with a small band of older Christians, entering with them some hum- ble room in a back street of that crowded and wicked metropolis, and fervently join- ing them in prayer for the conversion of the surrounding multitudes, who were living in the wretched debasement which the grosser sins of our nature ever induce. G2 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. He has attached himself to a company of " prayer-leaders," and with them he seeks to advance the glory of God in the salva- tion of men. In the Methodist Church it is customary, especially in large cities, for a number of its members, varying from ten to fifty, or even a hundred, to divide themselves into bands of five or six indi- viduals, for the purpose of visiting those neighbourhoods the inhabitants of which seldom or never attend the house of God. A room is hired, or perhaps gratuitously rendered ; sometimes a workhouse even is thrown open by its authorities; and at stated periods, usually on the evening of the Sabbath-day, one of these feeble and despised bands visits its appointed station, and conducts a religious service, in the midst, frequently, of a mass of filth and rags and sin. One of these pioneers of our city missionary operations announ- ces a hymn, oftentimes that commencing with the stanza — U:",' •' Weary souls, that wander wide From the central point of bliss: t'.L THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 63 Turn to Jchus orucifled ; . Fly to thoHO dcur woiiniU of bis : Sink into the purple iloo 'i'^-ii /¥ "Though we have not entirely escaped the rav- ages of cholera, our loss has been' in the proportion of only one to sixty, while that of the city has been of one to eight — so mercifully has God preserved us ! In every instance in which death has removed a member from us, grace has triumphed and shown its influence in the peaceful and joyous termination of life. The spirit of prayer continued during our most sickly state ; and after the disease had abated God was pleased, in the most gracious manner, to awaken and save the people, until at least three hundred souls obtained peace with God through faith in Christ Jesus." . 128 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. No one has moved amidst the Wesloyan community of Montreal for only a few weeks, without hearing of the devoted la- bours of Mr. Squire during this period. Hour after hour, day and night, was he found in the houses of the sick and dying, administering instruction and consolation in his own inimitable manner, and praying with a fervency and a faith which so uplifted the departing spirit that, in its passage to eternity, it seemed scarcely to touch even the surface of the flood of death. During the revival of religion which now took place, he has been known to preach to his congregation for thirty successive evenings with an intellectual power and a spiritual energy Avhich ap- peared to grow in freshness as they were called into exercise. He never, on such occasions, contented himself with the de- livery of rambling, undigested, much less rhapsodical addresses. He had too great a respect for the dignity of the pulpit, the honour of the truth, and the intelli- gence of his audience, ever to preach thus ; VI THE FAITIIFIL MINLSTKH. 120 and in periods of religious excitement be regarded it especially necessary that there should bo more than even ordinary clearness in the exhibition of sacred truth. He was right in these views; and we hesitate not to say that the Church, in seasons of revival, has suffered much from inattention to them. The opinion that a meagre class and style of exhortation will suffice is too common, but it has no foun- dation in either Scripture or philosophy. This, of all others, is the time for you to preach your well-studied, well-arranged, clear, lucid, doctrinal expositions of God's word, that the conviction may be deep- ened by the l\dit of truth, that the two- edged sword may pierce the inmost soul. We do not mean that the calm, tame, lu- nar, essay style is to be employed; far from it ; but that, rather, which shall be at once clear and ardent, bright and gloW' ing as the sun in his strength. f a i:'* (•■ 11 130 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. ANOTHER REMOVAL — A TRYING STATION—" LIGHT IN DARKNESS— AN OLD SPHERE. The British Conference had appointed Mr. Squire to labour in Montreal a third year ; but the arrival in the district of a new General Superintendent led the mis- sionary committee to alter this arrange- ment, and we find him, therefore, removing to Stanstead in the spring of 1833. This change must have been a heavy trial. He was leaving a people who had been raised from spiritual depression to great prosper- ity through his instrumentality ; and, more than this, he was leaving hundreds of souls — his spiritual children — whom he had begotten in the gospel. These he would have liked to care for and counsel and ed- ify; to watch their growth in piety, to warn them against spiritual dangers, and to extend to them a vigilant and fostering oversight. It is scarcely necessary to say that many a pang was felt by both pastor and flock at this unlooked-for sepa- ration. Nor was the affliction (to Mr. thp: faithful minister. 131 Squire at least) rendered lighter by the fact that his new station was in circum- stances of the most perplexing adversity. The following is Mr. Squire's own descrip- tion of these circumstances, in a letter written to a friend in Montreal about ten weeks after his removal : — " Staxstkad, Jug. Sth, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I was just going to write a few lines when the paper so kindly forwarded was put into my hand. ****** "I have never heard whether Mr. Crosscombe (the General Superintendent) has arrived or not. I am anxious to inform him of the state of this cir- cuit as soon as it can be done, and to obtain his opinion thereupon. I am by no means satisfied with my station ; indeed, it is in so wretched a con- dition as to render it doubtful whether it should be occupied another week. A very suitable place to break the heart of a man of my sensibility ! We have nominally twelve classes, and out of these only one in the habit of r.ieeting ; all the rest, I may say, are formally given up, * * * * I have suc- ceeded in reorganizinj^ three of the principal classes, and in them there is some promise. May God have mercy upon us, for we are fallen very low ! " To increase our misery, there is a great want of food among the people, — it is not to be had for money, — owing to the failure of the last year's crop. The coming harvest is expected to be even more deficient from the failure of Indian corn, which is the principal dependence here. (!)ur liouses are (•* 132 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. i ! i j i ; nightly searched by thieves in quest of food. I once lost all the meat I had ; and no wonder, while some of the poor people are living on the green po- tato tops. I find the greatest difficulty in procuring necessary food for my family. We cannot now get • a potato to eat, and all our flour we have had to jDrocure from Montreal, at an enormous expense foi transportation. ****** " Give me a place in your prayers, that my faith and patience may not fail. We shall, I hope, see an improvement both in temporal and spiritual af- fairs. A few lines from you will be thankfully received . by your much obliged and affectionate friend and brother, " William Squire. "Mr. John Mathewson." Painful indeed is this representation; yet more so is the report of the state of the Church which he drew up at the end of the year, and which speaks of numerous dissatisfactions and secessions and back- slidings. These things, together with the failure of the crops, which, "instead of leading to repentance, was attended with murmuring and fretfulness," reduced the members of the Church one-half. This was literally sowing in tears ; but, after a year's severe trial of his patience and fidelity, the Lord permitted his servant THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 133 d. I while m po- ' juring w get lad to ^ ise foi * y faith pe, see ual af- 1 iceived \ id and '* to reap in joy. An extensive awaken- ing was vouchsafed to the entire neigh- bourhood, and the desert rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. The following ac- count of this remarkable work is from the friend who received Mr. Squire into his house at Sherbrooke in 1825 : — " In the winter of 1835 I was living on Stanstead plain. Mr. Squire was then on the Stanstead circuit, and was a near neighbour to me. We often lamented together the low state of religion in the place, for truly sin and iniquity did abound, and the love of many waxed cold. The question, and indeed the prayer with us and a few others was, " What shall wo do for the revival of the work of God t" It was finally agreed that Mr. Squire should commence a series of meetings in the Methodist chapel on the plain, and that ministers and Christians of other denomi- nations should be invited to assist in sustaining them. The meetings commenced on Thui-sday, and the exercises were : prayer-meeting in the early morning, preaching in the forenoon, prayer in the afternoon^ and preaching in the evening, followed by another prayer-meeting. On Saturday evening, as we were assembling, Mr. S. said to me, ' I am al- most discouraged ; so few have attended these meet- ings, especially Christians, that I think of closing them to-morrow.' I replied, * Perhaps the Lord will say to you to-night, You must not close these meetings to-morrow.' He preached that evening, and his whole soui seemed to be full of the gospel of Christ. After preaching, one young female came to the altar ff I I :l 134 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. inquiring, ' What must I do to be saved V and de- siring the prayers of the Christians present. During the season of prayer the power and glory of God seemed to fill the whole house. When the meeting closed there were many kneeling around, deeply af- fected by a sense of sin. Thus commenced one of the most powerful and extensive revivals I ever wit- nessed. The series of meetings continued forty days, and the house was constantly crowded to overflowing. Sleigh load after sleigh-load of people came day after day, in stormy weather as well as fair. It was wonderful to witness the general and extensive excitement, and we had reason to believe that many souls were born into the kingdom of God. Some, as seals of the ministry of our late beloved friend, are now rejoicing before the throne of God and the Lamb ; and others, I trust, are on their way to meet them there. This work of grace was not confined to any particular class of people. The old, the middle-aged, and the young; the infidel, the sceptic, and the scoffer, were brought to yield them- selves up to the Lord Jesus Christ. One young man of more than ordinary talents, who was preju- diced against both Methodism and revivals, was brought at that time and in that house to consecrate himself to the work of the ministry. After a thor- ough course of education he entered upon t^his work, and was pastor of a Congregational Church some fifty miles from this place [Montreal]. About four years since he closed the work of his ministry on earth in the triumphs of faith. Never shall I forget that season of revival. Truly our departed friend was endeared to my heart as we knelt side by side and poured out our souls in prayer for per- ishing sinners." ^^ Ilk. THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 185 This was indeed a great work ; and we wonder not that Mr. Squire, at the Dis- trict Meeting of 1835, should have said concerning it, " This revival of religion has been to us as life from the dead." His soul exulted in so gracious a manifestation of the Lord's mercy to him and to his people. " The Lord," he said, " showed us his goodness in pouring out his awakering and converting Spirit. Astonishing dis- plays of God's power over the human heart were given to us ; the most affecting an- swers to prayer were vouchsafed ; and, in the result, two hundred and eighty souls professed to have obtained peace with God through believing in Christ. We have great simplicity, unity, and love in the society, and there are one hundred and seventy persons on probation for Church- membership." Let it not be supposed that this is an exaggerated representation from a person of sanguine temperament. We have never, in our whole experience, known a man more scrupulously cautious in his statements, especially Avhen he (( ' 1 f I! ii i^ ! P \i I I 136 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. himself was concerned, than Mr. Squire. It was rather a failing of his to underrate the amount of good accomplished on such occasions; so much so that this remark became proverbial among his friends : " If Mr. Squire says so, it is quite within the truth." He remained in Stanstead four years, and in the spring of 1837 resumed his old position at St. Armaad's. Here he was called to encounter not only the or- dinary difficulties of the work in this coun- try, but those also which arise from a state of civil war. These circumstances, ever blighting to the interests of religion, marred both his personal happiness and the prosperity of his people during nearly the entire period of his residence on the circuit — about three years. At the close of the first year he observes : — / "There were some promises of returning prosper- ity, in the conversion of a considerable number of persons, and in the exercise of a greater degree of Christian love, when the rebellion commenced which has dishonoured and afflicted our land. Placed in a situation of peculiar exposure, we were immedi- THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 13' ately involved in it, and were called upon to resist the insurgents and to defend the institutions of our country by arms. The suddenness and novelty of our position drew off the attention of the people generally from the means of grace, produced a most exciting influence upon the mind, and became the cause of many unhappy backslidings from God and from the ways of piety. As the excitement still continues, the withering influence of civil war exerts itself upon our societies and congregations, leanng us to mourn over the unsanctified character of our present affliction." At the termination of his second year's labour he still employs the language of mourning : — . v. ^.^ , ,,. , . • , / . v.; . , r! "As this circuit embraces a large proportion of the most disturbed part of the frontier, we have been called to suffer the painful consequences of the re- bellion by frequent alarms and invasions, midnight burnings, and attempted assassinations. The men- tal excitement, the constant military occupation of our people, and the harassing natiffe of the duty, have had a most unfriendly influence upon their character and our work, too plainly evinced in their frequent backsHding and general apathy in respect of religion. In only a few cases have our troubles been sanctified so as to awaken a spirit of repentance. The greater part of the people have yielded to tho almost overwhelming temptations presented to them, and there has been a distressing increase of Sabbath- breaking, drunkenness, and profanity." p f !i ll 138 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. This is a dark picture ; but, despite all the difficulties of his position, he pursued his Master's work with wonted faithful- ness — warning sinners, exhorting believers to watchfulness and prayer, compassing sea and land to bring back wanderers — and the Lord so far prospered these ef- forts of his devoted servant that during the last few weeks of his residence in St. Armand's, even in the most disturbed portion of the circuit, he was permitted to mark some improvement, manifested chiefly by an augmented attendance upon the ordinances of religion, and by the re- turn to God of several individuals who, in his estimation, had almost hopelessly fallen. More than this ; in the less exposed places the blessing of the Spirit seems to have been plentifillly vouchsafed, for Mr. Squire says : " It is, we believe, not exceeding the truth to state that nearly one hundred persons attending upon our ministry in ^ the less exposed parts of the circuit have been brought to repentance and the knowl- edge of the truth during this ecclesiastical THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 139 year." At the close of his third year he re- ported an increase to the Church of eighty- four members. The Rev. T. Campbell in 1837 and 1838, and the Rev. M. M'Donald in 1839, were his associate ministers. RETURN TO MONTREAL — SUCCESSES— QUEBEC — KINGSTON — TORONTO. Our faithful minister's return to Mont- real, in the spring of 1840, was hailed by the Church in this city with great joy. The failure of the venerable R. L. Lush- er*s health led to this appointment. Mr. Squire remained on the station for three years, during the first of which he had for his ministerial colleague the Rev. J. P. Hetherington, who was succeeded for the two remaining years by the Rev. John Borland. They were years of no ordinary success, and the Lord's work appeared unto his servants. Speaking in May, 1841, Mr. Squire thus describes the state of rehgion on his station : — "During the last four months, by the divine blessing upon our special religious services, more f ; 140 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. than two hundred persons have professed to obtain the blessing of justification through our Lord Jesus Christ, or to be reclaimed from a secret or open con- dition of backsliding. Of these a considerable num- ber were previously in the society, others were members of our congregation merely, and others again (a pleasing number) older scholars in the Sabbath-schools. Generally they give promise of steadfastness, and furnish ground for hope that they will endure to the end." A year subsequently he reviewed the la- bours of 1841-42 in the following terms : " During the last winter we held some additional services in our chapel in St. Anne's suburbs, which resulted, under the divine blessing, in the professed conversion of about fifty souls. * * * * Last year we returned one hundred and fifty-one persons * on ti'ial.' These, with some exceptions, remain with us, comforting us with the prospect of steadiness in their Christian profession and usefulness in the Church. * * * * The society has been pre- served in harmony, in piety to God, and in love one toward another; they appear to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of oiu* Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; the class-leaders appear to be of one heart and mind, faithful in attending to the mem- bers of their classes, and in turn loved for their works' sake. Six of our beloved people have been called into eternity ; they all died in peace, and have been gathered from a suftering Church beneath to a reigning and triumphant Church above. We have an increase of one hundred and fifty-four members upon the return of last year." THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 141 obtain i Jesus en con- ie num- 'S were others in the nise of lat they the la- ;erms : ditional I, which rofessed ^ Last persons ain with iness in in the len pre- ove one ig in Saviour of one e mem- 3r their ve been nd have eath to le. We fty-four It is scarcely needful to observe that Mr. Squire secured the confidence and the respect of the members of his charge wherever he went. The manifestations of love and esteem which were shown him when he left Montreal in 1843 must have been deeply grateful to his spirit. Often during his residence among them did he receive froin his people those practical to- kens of kindness, anonymous and other- wise, which are so gratifying to a minister in his toils and sorrows ; and, on the eve of his departure, the officers and members of the Church presented him with a hand- some tea and coffee service of solid silver as a substantial mark of their affection for his person, and their gratitude for his devoted and laborious services among them. At the last Church-meeting, also, which he attended, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : — "That tliis meeting cannot allow the tie which unites pastor and people to be severed, by the approaching departure of our valued superintendent, the Rev. William Squire, without recording its deep sense of the sfreat services which he has rendere» ades ia eligious rked by )se who 1 1 feel that piety is the first qualification for a minister of the gospel, and that it is the secret spring of pastoral success. He was not the man to substitute the excitement which attends the discharge of ministerial duty for personal religion ; rather was he ever and anxiously careful to examine whether he himself was "in the faith" which he preached to others. Firmness, confidence, constancy, rather than tri- umph, were the characteristics of his ex- perience. He seemed to live by faith ; to rest continually upon Christ ; to abide in fellowship with God. He ever left the conviction that he possessed great spirit- ual strength, and that this strength had been acquired in " the closet." His social and public prayers exemplified this in a remarkable degree, giving the impression that he was at home in the duty, and at home with God, and that he had acquired an unwonted familiarity with the way to the mercy-seat. For many years he was regarded by all who knew him as a ma- ture Cheistian — as one who brought forth J0 II 146 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. t:i the fruits of faith in a more than ordinary degree of perfectness. It is not pretended that Mr. Squire had no failings, that no infirmities cleaved to his nature. Imper- fections he had, or he would have been more than human; but those who best knew him will agree with the writer that many even of his failings leaned to the side of virtue. The grace of God did much for him, and accomplished much in him ; but no one was more ready than himself to ascribe to this source all that he pos- sessed as a Christian, and all that he achieved as a minister. In the summer of 1847, upon the union of the " Canada Conference " with the pa- rent Church of Methodism, Mr. Squire was transferred to Western Canada. In the city of Kingston he ministered with his usual acceptance and success for two years. During their residence here, his family were almost miraculously preserved from sudden destruction. "The parson- age" was one morning struck by light- ning ; a large stone chimney was literally THfi FAITHFUL MINISTER. 147 " . linary ended lat no mper- been ) best tr that le side much him; imself e pos- at he union e pa- !)quire In with r two , his erved iirson- light- eially \ shivered by the electric fluid, and the frag- ments scattered in every direction. Mr. Squire, who at the time was watching the progress of the storm, was violently thrown by the shock from the window to the bed, a distance of several feet ; yet, save this partial desolation of the house, and the very temporary effect of the shock upon himself, the entire family was preserved in safety to praise the Author of their deHverance. In 1848 the Missionary Committee in England manifested their confidence in their old and faithful servant by appoint- ing him to the general superintendency of the Wesieyan missions in Western Can- ada — an office which was then, and is still, filled with so great efficiency by the Rev. Enoch Wood, the President of the Canada Conference, whose removal to Montreal was at that time anticipated. This arrangement not having taken effect, Mr. Squire, as we have already intimated, remained in Kingston a second year, during which he sustained the office of chairman of the Kingston District. 148 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. "vl His removal, in 1849, was much re- gretted by the Church in Kingston; it seemed necessary, however, that he should occupy a yet more important sphere — the Toronto West Circuit. Here he was aided by faithful and affectionate col- leagues ; in the first year by the Rev. G. H. Davis, and in the second by the Rev. J. Douse. It is not too much to say that, as elsewhere and always, he displayed the characteristics of an able minister and faithfiil pastor of the Church of God. It is to be regretted that he has not left to us any record of his labours in Western Canada, or of his impressions of the work there ; but it is quite within the truth to state that large numbers, in both King- ston and Toronto, readily accord to him the most persevering diligence in the dis- charge of his duties ; and, more than this, that there are scores, and probably hun- dreds, who will rejoice throughout eternity that Mr. Squire was permitted by the Head of the Church to prosecute his successful labours in this part of His " vineyard." THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 149 r i « I THE FAITHFUL MINISTER'S LAST EARTHLY HONOUR— HIS LAST CIRCUIT— HIS LAST TRAVAIL FOR SOULS— HIS LAST DISCHARGE , OF DUTY— HIS LAST HOURS. The British Conference of 1850 showed its further confidence in Mr. Squire by conferring upon him the office of General Superintendent of their missions in East- ern Canada, and in May, 1851, he left Toronto to undertake the duties of this responsible office. The ministers of the District Meeting, of which he had been a member for twenty-three years, and over which he now presided for the first time, received their old friend with much cordi- ality. In their communications with Eng- land they thus expressed themselves on the cuhject of his appointment : — " The designation of our highly-esteemed friend and brother, the Rev. William Squire, to this re- sponsible office, meets with the cordial and unani- mous concurrence of the District Meeting. His fidelity to God and to Wesleyan Methodism, his full knowledge of every part of our work, and his persevering zeal in the ministerial office, not only entitle him to our fraternal confidence, but equally 150 THE FAITHFL'L MINISTER. distinguish him as fitted for the post to which he is called. We anticipate great spiritual benefit and pastoral assistance from his knowledge, as well as from his desire to aid us in our great work." By this meeting the city of Montreal was divided into three stations, one of which, " Montreal West," was assigned to Mr. Squire. His trials on this station were of no ordinary kind. Deep depres- sion filled his soul, chiefly because it was not given him to see more abundant fruit of his labours. Sometimes, indeed, he has been heard to say : "I would rather die than live, unless I can see souls brought to God through my instrumen- tality." Not that he was left without evidence that the Lord was with him; for at the close of the first year, though he had been contending with those diffi- culties which are always attendant upon the ministerial work on a newly-formed station, he was graciously permitted to re- port that "from thirty to forty persons have been either gathered into the Church froih the world, or recovered from a backsliding THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 151 $ state." But while he observed so many deserting the Church, or leaving the city, as to cause a diminution in the aggregate of Church-members, he could not and would not be satisfied. Frequently, es- pecially during the last few w^eeks of his life, w^ould he cry out in an agony, almost bordering on despair : " Lord, revive thy work ! Lord, save souls ! Lord, save thy Church !" With him it was not enough that his congregations remained large, or that the finances of the Church were prosperous ; he rejoiced w^hen they were so, but these alone did not satisfy his mind. He must have souls or die. Many a minister of greater intellectual and literary pretensions, of rarer genius, of more brilliant popularity than William Squire, might have sat with profit at the feet of this faithful minister and learned invalu- able lessons on this subject. Your flowing, imaginative, pathetic discourses, your strik- ing thoughts, your novel expressions, your startling figures, your lucid arguments — what are they all if souls are not saved ? I 162 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. V, I ' l'^ During the sittings of the last District Meeting over which the General Superin- tendent presided (May, 1852), he took occasion to address the ministers on this subject in the most earnest and affection- ate manner, dwelling especially on the ne- cessity of godliness in order to ministerial success. No minister who was present will forget the power of that appeal ; and, looking back at the scene which then pre- sented itself it seems now to partake of the character of a dying charge to his brethren and sons in the gospel. In turning over the minutes of the meeting, we find a reference to this circumstance couched in the following words : " The address of our devoted chairman will be long remembered, and cannot fail to leave a salutary impression on all our hearts." In the following August Mr. Squire made an episcopal visitation of the greater part of his diocese. Though only absent ifrom his station for a " minister's week," (from Monday morning to the next Sat- urday sennight) he was nevertheless ^. THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 153 enabled to leave his last benediction upon nearly all the ministers and stations in the District. Melbourne, Sherbrooke, Compton, Shefford, Stanstead, Dunham, St. Armand*s, Clarenceville, Odell-Town, Huntingdon, and Russelton shared in these, his last episcopal labours. What changes must he have observed on the face of the country and of society, since the period of his firs; visit, twenty-eight years previously ! In the course of this journey he met some who had known him in his youth, many whom he had begot- ten in the gospel, and more who were strangers to himself, but who had been brought into the fold of Christ through the instrumentality of his successors. This visitation was a great solace to the Gen- eral Superintendent's mind; he did not suppose that so much had been accom- plished since he left the townships twelve years before. "Things generally," he says, "look cheerful; the brethren are happy, and, on the whole, prosperous in their work ; our cause has greater influence f 154 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. i I upon the population than I had expected ; I went with forebodings, — I have re- turned with joy." Such are the senti- ments which he more than once expressed, and they are valuable because they are authoritative on this vexed question. Those who have heretofore doubted the success of our missionary labours in the eastern townships will not, in the face of such evidence, be disposed to doubt again, or at the very least to express the doubt. That he who by personal observation knew the state of the country in 1824, who was himself in the work until 1839, who, moreover, was never known to colour a single representation of the religious state of either places or individuals, — whose fail- ing, indeed, if failing it be, was ever to look at the less favourable side, — should have volunteered such a statement, will be sufficient to convict of misapprehension every man who has been sceptical on the subject. The chief want of this country is an extension of such labours. On the morning of Friday, October THE FAITHFUL MINISTEH. 155 \ li)th, a messenger came to Mr. Squire's residence, stating that a sick gentleman wished to see him immediately at the Ot- tawa Hotel. Ever prompt to comply with such calls, he went forthwith, and found in the last stage of Asiatic cholera Mr. Samuel Young, a merchant of West- ern Canada, and brother to the Reverends George and William Young, Wesleyan ministers. Dr. Scott was with him when he arrived. Happily, in all such circum- stcinces, Mr. Squire was entirely delivered from fear. Writing to a brother of the gentleman, he says : " I felt his wrist, but there was no pulse; the hands, and in- deed the whole body, were much discol- oured, evidencing it to be a severe form of cholera." Our pastor at once addressed himself to the ministerial duty of present- ing to the departing spirit the consolations of the gospel. With such fidelity and earnestness did he do this, that the at- tending physician remarked to a friend on the same day, " When I am dyina: I would 1 like Mr. Squire to be with me as my i 150 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. spiritual adviser and friend." Nor was he unmindful of his duty as a man. Be- ing left perfectly alone with the dying person, he assiduously ministered to his bodily necessities. Thus, like his Divine Master, he cared for both the body and the soul of his suffering fellow. Although friends and servants frequently came to look on and inquire, no one but himself remained steadily with the patient. In the letter already referred to he says : — " The doctor left me in charge, and I alone was •with him at the moment of his decease. Upon my inquiring into the state of his mind, he replied : ' I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I do rely upon the Saviour, and have a sense of safety in so doing, if the Lord be pleased to take me. I am happy.' He was then asked if there were anything for which he wished me especially to pray; to which he replied, 'That the Lord might sanctify me wholly, and, if agree- able to his will, restore me.' He was very rest- less, and complained much of being distressed in his chest, but not of much spasm, and remained so until about twenty minutes to eleven o'clock, when he quietly turned his head on the pillow, and seemed as if sinking into a sweet sleep ; but, from his more rapid respiration, I saw he was dying. He contin- ued without a sigh, groan, or struggle until the hour closed, and then he ceased to breathe ; yet, withal, or was 1. Be- dying to his Divine ly and though [ime to limself it. In ys; — one was pon my lied: 'I d Jesus have a pleased 1 asked hed me 'That t" agree- ry rest- ssed in lined so i, when seemed is more contin- he hour withal, f THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 157 so quietly and imperceptibly, that I hung over him for a quarter of an hour after all respiration ceased before I could persuade myself that life was extin- guished." Here is no ordinary scene. The con- duct of Mr. Squire on this occasion would be worthy of the brightest Christian and of the most self-denying philanthropist. How conspicuously shines forth the fidelity of this devoted pastor ! How truly noble were that benevolence and compassion which could attend not only to the spirit ual but equally to the physical wants of a stranger, and with as much delicacy and anxiety as though he had been a broth' r ! What, indeed, had he been his child, could he do more than minister with his own hands to the necessities of the languishing body, and watch its last brearu, and hang- over the lifeless clay, and at last, and alone, olose the eyes of ihe departed? Yes; there was one oiher thing which "the good Samaritan" could do, and he did it : Mr. Young had left a sorrowing widow and orphan children; his mind immediately reverted to the desirableness, I 5 ' 158 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. \i ;: :1 i: i for their sakes, of collecting the propert)' which the deceased had about him, — and he secured this object. In the same let- ter he says again : '' I remained with him about an hour after his decease. In the presence of several witnesses the pocket- book was taken from his person and ex- amined. I took charge of it, and of a small carpet-bag." There is no one Avho knew Mr. Squire that will not be ready to say : " It is just like him ; he was al- ways so." This act, indeed, truly reflects his entire pastoral course ; it is the anti- type of a hundred other offices of kindness which he discharged during his previous ministry. Strictly, perhaps even to a fault, conscientious, he allowed no duty that devolved upon him in the order of Providence to remain even partially un- discharged, at least if it were within the compass of his ability. On the following morning, Saturday, the faithful pastor conducted the funeral service at the intemient of the body. In his usual health and spirits he returned THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 150 3V10US to a duty from the lonely and solemn service and wrote the letter from which the above ex- tracts have been taken. Soon after mid- day there were strong premonitions of his having contracted the dire malady whose fatal effects he had so lately witnessed. The diarrhoetic symptoms rapidly in- creased, and at three o'clock P. M. they w^ere sufficiently serious to induce him to take a draught of "cholera mixture," which was shortly afterward repeated. At five o'clock the ftimily judged it ad- visable to procure medical aid, and the skill of- two eminent physicians was con- centrated upon the case. For sin hour or more it was thought to be but a mild form of this terrible disease ; its latent power, however, soon appeared, and for three hours the patient suffered the most tor- turing agony. At ten o'clock it was yet hoped that his naturally strong constitution would enable him to survive the shock; but at midnight it was too evident that nature was yielding to the power of the disease, and he gradually sunk until N 13^ Ml I'd I ' •«! 160 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. half-past eight on Sunday morning, Octo- ber 17, when he calmly breathed his last, and sweetly slept in Jesus. Even as early as seven o'clock on Sat- urday evening he seemed apprehensive of danger, and with some anxiety requested that immediate arrangements might be made for the disposition of his property. These being completed, the writer and the family, with two or three Christian friends, kneeled around his bed, and implored Him to whom belong the issues from death, to avert from them and from the Church the impending stroke. When we had arisen from our knees he was asked whether his soul Avas resting securely upon the atonement of Jesus ? to which he replied with emphasis : " I have no FEAR." He did not speak much during his sufferings, but what he did say abun- dantly satisfied all who heard it that the man of God was quite prepared for the appearing of his Master. To one of his " leaders " he cried out, an hour or two be- fore the spirit took its flight : — THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 161 . - • ' "Happy if with v.y latest breath ; I may but gasp his name ; Preach him to all, and cry in death, Behold, behold the Lamb I" And when speech failed him^ a question concerning his eternal prospects, put to him by his devoted wife, was answered by a look which seemed to say, "I am ready to depart; Christ is my portion; heaven is my home." Literally true in his case was the death-bed scene which the poet so graphically personates : — •* When death o'er nature shall prevail, And all the powers of language fail, Joy through my swimming eyes shall break, And mean the thanks I cannot speak." Thus departed William Squire, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and in the thirty-second year of his faithful and la- borious ministry. The scenes which were witnessed in Montreal on that solemn Sabbath will not be soon forgotten. His own congregation came up to the house of God expecting to hear again his faithful voice; but, to their dismay, they found that it had been 11 ^ 162 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. \v i ; just hushed in death. The voices of his brethren in the ministry were choked with grief when they attempted, in their own churches, to conduct the ordinary Sabbath-services ; and, when the cause of their grief was announced, desolation and woe were depicted on almost every face ; tears were wept and sighs were heaved throughout the congregations ; and many, some of them his own converts, went away to mourn in privacy the loss of their friend and spiritual father. Other Chris- tian Churches echoed back these tones of grief, and all seemed to feel that a prince and a great man had that day fallen in Israel. THE FAITHFUL PASTOR'S FUNERAL— A NEW CEMETERY CONSECRATED — TESTIMONIALS OF WORTH— CONCLUSION. " It is worth dying for to have such a funeral as this," said one friend to another, as they were returning from Mount Royal Cemetery on the evening of October 19, 1852. Crowds of people, of all ages, ranks, and sexes, surrounded the pastor's THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 163 ►f his loked their inary ise of a and face; eaved Many, went ■ their Ohris- les of prince israel. NEW NIALS uch a other, Royal jr 19, ages, istor's house ; other crowds filled the church in which he had so often and faithfully offi- ciated, and where the funeral service was solemnized ; six ministers of other evan- gelical Churches acted as pall-bearers ; his coadjutors in the sacred work and other city ministers followed the corpse of their senior and friend ; then came the officers of his own circuit, with whom he had so often laboured and taken counsel ; follow- ing these were the officers of the other Montreal circuits ; next to them the mem- bers of that Christian community with which he was more especially connected ; and last of all, citizens of every rank and class and Protestant denomination ; there were physicians, and editors, and mer- chants, and mechanics, and labourers, men of rank, men of wealth, men of poverty, the literate and the illiterate, the youth and the decrepit with age — the Episco- palian, the Presbyterian, the Congrega- tionahst, the Baptist — assembled to pay this last mark of respect to the memory of one who they all felt had merited more HI i I 164 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. V. i if r 'f than they had it in their power to bestow. Hundreds upon hundreds swelled the length of the funeral cortege ; and many said, as it passed slowly and solemnly along, "We shall never see in Montreal another such funeral." The cemetery be- ing three-and-a-half miles distant from the church, it was arranged that at a certain point in the outskirts of the city the pro- cession should be re-formed, for the pur- pose of giving to those who were not fur- nished with carriages an opportunity to retire. Many, however, pursued their way on foot, and seventy carriages were filled with mourners. It was a beautiful tribute to departed worth — such as many envied, such as few obtain. In the midst of this mass of respect the faithful minis- ter was consigned to the grave, there to rest in hope until that resurrection morn which shall usher in the glorious day of eternity. ^ ^^ The new cemetery has been well con- secrated to-day," said a gentleman to his companion, with whom he was walking to I THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. lOi his carriage after the funeral; and this seemed to be the general feeling of all who saw the inanimate body lowered into the grave, and heard the solemn words: " Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, of his great mercy, to take unto him- self the soul of our dear brother here de- parted, we therefore commit his body to the ground — earth to earth, ashes to ashes,, dust to dust — in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, who shall change our vile body that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." His lifeless clay was the first offering which Death had deposited in this, his new domain; his remains were the first-fruits of a plentiful harvest which the great scythe-bearer will gather into this threshing-floor. It is, withal, a lovely spot, situated on the side of that beautiful mountain which adorns while it overlooks the city of Montreal ; and for natural advantages the new 1 1 160 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. cemetery is not surpassed, and scarcely equalled, by either Mount Auburn or Lau- rel Hill. Here, in the place which his own dust has consecrated, lies all that is mortal of William Squire. It may perhaps be supposed that friend- ship has imparted a bolder stroke and stronger tints to this sketch than the eye of justice would have discovered in the original. If we have been thus ensnared, we have the gratification of knowing that we are not alone in the error. Hundreds think with us, and we shall expect, from those who knew the deceased best, com- plaints that the intellectual vigour and moral symmetry of the subject have not been reached, rather than that they have been exceeded. The reader will not re- gard this expectation as unfounded after he has perused the following expressions of esteem and worth, which are transcribed from the several testimonials that lie be- fore us. One of the members of his charge says : — . " I have long sat under the ministry of ti:e faithful minister. IQI the Rev. William Squire, and I always left his presence deeply impressed with the sublimity of the divine government and the strictness of the divine require- ments. I frequently had such evidence of his having beaten back the enemy of souls from his vantage-ground as led me to give thanks to God for placing in his Church such an instrument for good. I also read his trulv Christian character in his visits to my sick-bed, when he ad- vanced such views of the benignity and righteousness of the government of God, couched at the same time in such sooth- ing and instructive language, as could not fail to leave upon the mind of the afflicted the most salutary influences. In my own experience, the general results of his vis- its were, submission to the will of God, and resolutions of the firmest character to consecrate myself anew to Him." ^ ; i . li REV. JOHN TOM KINS. " I can say without hesitation, that for the eighteen years of my acquaintance 168 THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. with the Rev. William Squire I highly esteemed him as a man of God, a devoted minister of Christ, a good steward and conservator of the doctrines and discipline of our Church, and a faithful dispenser of the word of God. His pulpit discourses were plain, solemn, earnest, experimental, practical, and truly evangelical. In his deportment he was serious, unpssuming, and kind ; which mostly, if not always, gained for him the esteem and affection of all with whom he held intercourse. He seemed always to bear in mind that he was a Christian minister, and that he had to sustain himself as such ; and it may be truly said that very few men ever sus- tained this sacred character with greater dignity or propriety than Mr. Squire. In prudence he excelled, being careful not to compromise those principles that give sterling worth to the character of man. He was tender of the feelings of those with whom he had to do, and avoided giving them unnecessary pain. In the circuits which he travelled, his name will v, W THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. 1G9