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 u- 
 
 ^rief ^emotr 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. SAMUEL B. ARDAGH, 
 
 A.M., T.C.D., 
 
 Late Rector of Barrie and Incumbent of Shanty Bay, 
 Lake Simcoe, Upper Canada. 
 
 EDITED BY THE 
 
 REV. SA.MUEL J. BODDY, M.A. 
 
 £ox |)rtiiat< Circulation onlp. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 printed by ROWSELL and HUTCHISON. 
 
 1874. 
 
 » 
 
 -« 
 
if 
 
 15Xs6.:^o.A<i/36 
 
 »- 
 
 »- 
 
&' 
 
 « 
 
 ' MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. S. B. ARDAGH, 
 
 ^~ 
 
 lOME men there are so connected with 
 I the great events of the generation to 
 ^^§ which they belong, that their Hves may 
 \%)-c^ be considered historical. Whether good 
 or bad, they stand forth so conspicuously, that 
 it is impossible to overlook them. 
 
 Others again, and this is true of the great 
 mass, live and die in obscurity: their names 
 being unknown beyond the little circle of which 
 they have been the blessing or the curse. A 
 few years or months after their consignment 
 to the earth, and the memory of them has 
 passed away. 
 
 There is yet another class which lies midway 
 between these two, a class neither widely famous, 
 nor yet entirely unknown. These last were in 
 their day honoured and blessed above many ; 
 but not sufficiently so to excite any large amount 
 of public attention. They were not exactly 
 heroes, and fame therefore has little to say of 
 
 84979 
 
 W 
 
-T" 
 
 «■ 
 
 ■^ 
 
 ,. (l 
 
 2 Memoir of the 
 
 them. Still their names are treasured in the 
 hearts of many a sorrowing survivor, and affec- 
 tion, if nothing more, forbids that the grave 
 should close over their remains without some 
 effort to rescue them from oblivion. Hence the 
 publication of not a few memoirs, which, in 
 themselves, possess little to attract the notice of 
 the general reader. Such memoirs are written, 
 not in the vain hope of awakening permanent or 
 universal interest — not because they contain any 
 thing which the world cannot afford to lose — 
 but simply because they are demanded by the 
 voice of friendship. If so much goodness were 
 allowed to pass away unchronicled, many would 
 be grievously disappointed who desired to pos- 
 sess some record of it, more desirable and 
 accurate than can be supplied by their own 
 memories. 
 
 It is to a memoir of this kind that the reader's 
 attention is asked in the following pages. 
 
 Many clergymen have occupied higher posi- 
 tions in the Church than he to whom these pages 
 are devoted : many have deservedl}' won for 
 themselves a greater reputation for learning and 
 ability. But few, perhaps, have been more 
 useful or respected ; and scarcely any more 
 generally beloved. Even outside the sphere to 
 which his labours were limited for the greater 
 
 » 
 
 $^ I €( 
 
■^ 
 
 »• 
 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 3 
 
 part of his ministerial career, he was well-known 
 as a valiant champion of the Truth ; but within 
 it, by those who profited by his labours, and 
 especially within his own family circle, he was 
 loved and revered as comparatively few men are 
 when living; and mourned for, as men seldom 
 are, on his departure. It is to these loving and 
 mourning friends that the following brief sketch 
 of his life and character is offered. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Brown Ardagh, was born 
 in Fethard, in the County of Tipperary, Ireland, 
 on the 8th of April, 1803. He was the eldest 
 son of the Rev. Arthur Ardagh, A.M., for some 
 time fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and sub- 
 sequently Rector of Moyglare, County of Meath. 
 His mother was Anne, daughter of Samuel 
 Brown, of Fethard, a gentleman of independent 
 means. 
 
 In a work by the recently deceased Master of 
 the Rolls, the Right Hon. John Edward Walsh, 
 entitled " Ireland, Sixty Years ago," Arthur 
 Ardagh is spoken of as a man of profound 
 scholarship, and of wild and restless temper. 
 Being the intimate friend of the unfortunate 
 Robert Emmett, and of others who were mixed 
 up in the political troubles of the latter part of 
 the last century, he became for a time an object 
 of suspicion to the Government. At their in- 
 
 i? 
 
 «■ 
 
 
 
ffi 
 
 a 
 
 4 Memoir of the 
 
 stance he was expelled by the College autho- 
 rities, but some years later was reinstated in his 
 fellowship, with ample acquittal from the charge 
 of rebellion. 
 
 We learn by some early records that the 
 family of Ardagh, or Ardaff (the name is so 
 termed indifferently in the Herald's books), were 
 settled and possessed of lands near Tullamore, 
 in the Kings County, in the reign of Edward I. 
 The traditions of the family point to a Welsh 
 origin, and they are supposed to have made their 
 exodus from Wales in the earlier part of that 
 reign. Later on they appear on the page of 
 local history as doing homage for lands held 
 from the English Crown, and in the time of the 
 Tudors as holding positions of civil trust. The 
 extensive estates possessed by the family at an 
 early period, melted away under the successive 
 extravagance of several generations. The last 
 lands possessed by them, passed, in the time of 
 Mr. Ardagh's great-grandfather, into the hands 
 of the Earl of Charleville. The large family of 
 brothers and sisters, consisting of fourteen 
 children, of whom the subject of this memoir 
 was the eldest, were born to no inheritance but 
 what they could win for themselves. 
 
 Two members of his family, a brother and 
 sister, followed him to Canada. The former. 
 
 «- 
 
 « ICK 
 
& 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 Rev. S. B, Ardagh. 
 
 5 
 
 John Russell, practised as a medical man, for 
 many years, in the town of Barrie, where he was 
 universally esteemed, and died in 1868. The 
 latter, Ellen Power, married Thomas, the eldest 
 son of the late respected James Dallas, Esquire, 
 of Orillia, and has rested for many years in the 
 cemetery there. 
 
 No papers remain to shew in what year Mr. 
 Ardagh entered Trinity College ; but at the age 
 of nineteen he resolved to relieve his father from 
 the cost of his support and education. From this 
 time, till he entered the Church, he supported 
 himself by tuition ; having, before he became 
 Tutor of his College, been engaged in that capa- 
 city in a private family. He graduated in Feb- 
 ruary, 1827, and in the month of June, the same 
 year, was admitted to the Diaconate by the 
 Bishop of Meath. J mmediately afterwards he 
 was appointed Curate assistant to his father, and 
 a year later was ordained Priest by the same 
 Prelate. With regard to his character at this 
 time, it was in many respects most attractive. 
 While passing through College he was one of 
 the gayest and brightest members of a society 
 which even then retained the prestige of the 
 earlier brilliance which characterized it before 
 the union of the Kingdoms. Gifted with a 
 handsome person, and with graceful and genial 
 
 » 
 
 »- 
 
 SS 
 
9- 
 
 -)» 
 
 6 Memoir of the 
 
 manners, a geniality which survived even to his 
 latpst days, with more than ordinary conver- 
 sational talent, a clever raconteur, accomplished 
 in manly exercises, particularly distinguished for 
 his daring horsemanship, a man to whom physical 
 fear or moral cowardice was unknown, enthu- 
 siastic in conception, and impetuous in action, 
 we can well believe the statements of his con- 
 temporaries that he was a favorite in society. 
 There is, however, reason to fear that although 
 realising to a certain extent the responsibility 
 of the solemn office which he was about to enter, 
 he was still very far from that earnest desire to 
 win souls for Christ, which should be the highest 
 aspiration of a Christian minister. 
 
 It pleased God, however, to give him the 
 inestimable advantage of an earnest and Chris- 
 tian woman for a wife ; one whose graces of 
 intellect and character were recognized by all 
 with whom she came in contact, and in whose 
 loving and gentle companionship his character, 
 as years went on, underwent a decided change 
 for the better. Of her whose influence extended 
 over his whole life, it is fitting that a few words 
 should be spoken here. • ' . 
 
 Shortly after he was ordained Priest, he mar- 
 ried Martha, the youngest daughter of the late 
 Richard Anderson, Esquire, County Cavan^ for- 
 
 «- 
 
 -« 
 
-» 
 
 i9 
 
 la 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. y 
 
 merly an officer in the 22nd Regiment of Light 
 Dragoons, who had retired on half-pay, on his 
 early marriage. Mr. Anderson was a man of 
 honorable character and unsullied integrity, of a 
 most amiable disposition, and above all a true 
 Christian. Although an invalid for the last fifteen 
 years of his life, his influence on his daughter's 
 character was deep and lasting, though perhaps 
 she was mainly indebted for an admirable 
 training to her mother, a woman of singular 
 ability and masculine force of character ; as well 
 as to her uncle, Col. John Anderson, of the 4th 
 Light Dragoon Guards, A. D. C. to H. R. H. 
 the Duke of York, then Commander-in-Chief. 
 Col. Anderson combined the qualities of a brave 
 and distinguished soldier with a Christian excel- 
 lence and stainless repute — in those days but 
 rarely to be met with in military circles. Being 
 himself childless he was able to devote much 
 attention, during the leisure of his later life, to 
 the education of his brother's children. For 
 some years this uncle resided in the same neigh- 
 bourhood, and later on the deep anxiety he felt 
 for these children is amply evinced in the nume- 
 rous letters of precept and guidance, still extant, 
 which they received from him. Nor was the 
 influence of his bright example and earnest 
 admonitions exerted in vain. To this, in a great 
 
 -® 
 
 » 
 
 •iSf 
 
«- 
 
 <> 
 
 8 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 degree, his niece, Mrs. Ardagh, was undoubtedly- 
 indebted for the excellent principles she uniformly 
 displayed through life. 
 
 Mr. Ardagh's first acquaintance with his 
 future wife, was at Killesandra, where he was 
 spending a summer vacation with his college 
 friend, her cousin, afterwards the Rev. Arthur 
 Moneypeny. Three years later they were mar- 
 ried, in October, 1828, in Dublin, and immediately 
 proceeded to Waterford, where he had been 
 appointed to the Curacy of St. Patrick's, in 
 that city. 
 
 The ancient city of Waterford, made memo- 
 rable in old time by the fierce conflicts of the 
 aboriginal Irish with the Danes, who have left, as 
 a memorial of their supremacy, a Round Tower 
 on the Quay, built by Reginald the Dane, and 
 called by his name, and later still, the scene of 
 Strongbow's landing, and marriage to Eva, 
 daughter of the King of Leinster, and the tem- 
 porary residence of two English sovereigns — 
 was for fourteen years the home of Mr. Ardagh, 
 and the birthplace of his children. 
 
 The early days of his ministry were days 
 when party spirit ran hir^h in the South of 
 Ireland ; and very oftcii at this period Mr. 
 Ardagh risked his life by his outspoken attach- 
 ment to Protestant truths. One of the objects 
 
 »- 
 
 )» 
 
o 
 
 Hk 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 9 
 
 he had most at' heart was the conversion of the 
 Roman Catholics, and he was greatly interested 
 in the Irish Home Mission. The main object of 
 this Society was the introduction of the Irish 
 language, by the Clergy, in their preaching and 
 ministry amongst the peasantry. This scheme 
 would seem to have been one which, if carried 
 out with patient energy, would have done as much 
 to evangelize and redeem the Church in Ireland, 
 as church rates and wealthy endowments have 
 done to smother it. While engaged in this work 
 Mr. Ardagh travelled through the Counties of 
 Limerick and Kerry, and gained experience 
 which in another country was of great use to 
 him. He always bitterly lamented that this 
 Missionary work vvas given up. 
 
 While zealous for the conversion of his Roman 
 Catholic fellow countrymen, and fearless in 
 denouncing the errors of their religion, he was 
 always to them personally a kind friend, ever 
 desirous of ministering to their temporal as well 
 as spiritual wants. 
 
 He was the chief promoter and active worker 
 in an association for the relief of the destitute, 
 the majority of those aided being Roman 
 Catholics. On several recent occasions members 
 of his family visiting the neighbourhood of his 
 old home, heard with joy, after so many years. 
 
 » 
 
 ^ 
 
^- 
 
 ft 
 
 10 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 his name still spoken of by persons of that faith, 
 with affection and respect, they even recalling 
 with gratitude special acts of kindness done 
 them. 
 
 Many will remem.ber 1832 as the year of the 
 cholera. This terrible disease raged with special 
 vehemence in Ireland, and Mr. Ardagh was 
 often called upon to minister to the bodily no 
 less than the spiritual necessities of those who 
 were stricken by it. The cholera hospitals were 
 crowded, and from them the dead were carried 
 by hundreds. Nurses fled in dismay, but Mr. 
 Ardagh, not confining himself to their spiritual 
 needs, performed every office, even the most 
 repulsive, for the dying and the dead, and 
 scarcely left his post night or day. Among the 
 many ministers who distinguished themselves at 
 this time of trial, he was one of the most 
 devoted. 
 
 Though his life, during his long residence in 
 Waterford, was comparatively uneventful, we 
 may hope that his many plans for the spiritual 
 good of his people were not unblessed. In con- 
 nection with these we must speak of the Rev. 
 Richard Ryland, his life-long friend, who, like 
 the subject of this memoir, though occupying no 
 honoured or prominent place in the world's 
 esteem, yet amongst the many faithful clergymen 
 
 ifi- 
 
 ■» 
 
Lf 
 
 «- 
 
 Si 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 II 
 
 then in Wdterford, was one of the most self- 
 denying servants of Christ. 
 
 The Sunday School was to them an object of 
 great and prayerful interest. It /was charac- 
 terized by this peculiar feature : children belong- 
 ing to the different Established Churches of the 
 city met under one roof, subject to the super- 
 intendence of all: the clergy. The number who 
 'attended it (at this time upwards of 700) 
 was remarkably large in proportion to the small 
 Protestant population, and its efficiency was great, 
 as none but Christian men and women were 
 selected for the office of teachers. To secure 
 this end, weekly teachers' meetings were held 
 for the earnest study of the Holy Scriptures, 
 with fervent prayer for a blessing on their work. 
 
 An interesting feature of Christian society in 
 Waterford was the Monday evening meetings, 
 held in the New Room, Mall. The first Monday 
 evening in the month was devoted to the dis- 
 cussion of Missionary work all over the world ; 
 the second, to the spiritual advancement of 
 soldiers and sailors ; the third, to Sunday School 
 progress ; the fourth, to the furtherance of Evan- 
 gelical truth on the continent of Europe ; and 
 the fifth, to the promotion of Christianity among 
 the Jews. All these subjects were considered in 
 a spirit of fervent prayer, and strangers from a 
 
 »- 
 
 -^ 
 
' '"FW^T" 
 
 
 -» 
 
 12 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 distance were often invited to speak on these 
 and kindred matters, and were always listened 
 to by crowded and interested audiences. A 
 volume of hymns was selected and published for 
 the use of these assemblies. 
 
 At the close of the year 1832, Mr. Ardagh 
 went to Dubhn and took his degree of A. M., 
 with which honor he was content, declining to 
 accept the nominally higher title of D. C. L., 
 which was afterwards more than once tendered 
 to him by a Canadian University. 
 
 Among the causes which led Mr. Ardagh to 
 entertain the idea of leaving his native country, 
 the principal was his exposure to various out- 
 rages, as the following incidents will tend to 
 illustrate. 
 
 He had been the means of converting a 
 young woman in humble life from the errors of 
 Romanism. She was suffering from a lingering 
 disease, and as the time of her death approached, 
 the persecutions of her relatives induced him to 
 comply with her request, to remove her to a place 
 where she could die in peace. Late that night, 
 while dining with some friends, intelligence 
 reached him that she had been removed with 
 violence. After some search he found her in a 
 wretched room at the top of a four-storey house, 
 in the worst part of the town. The room was 
 
 « 
 
 -» 
 
«- 
 
 ■^ 
 
 ReiK S. j3. Ardagh. 
 
 13 
 
 crowded with women; and some priests were 
 endeavouring to induce her to recant. He was 
 with difficulty allowed to approach the bed, 
 when she implored him not to leave her. He was 
 thereupon hustled to the window by the women, 
 and half thrust out. He appealed to the priests 
 present to save him from being murdered, and, 
 owing to their interference, was allowed to descend 
 the stairs, being several times struck from behind, 
 and narrowly escaping with his life. He re- 
 mained on the watch for some time, and found 
 her towards morning left perfectly alone. Sum- 
 moning the assistance of some friends, he 
 removed her to her former place of shelter, 
 where she died calmly, in a few hours, in the 
 faith of Christ. Whilst officiating at her funeral, 
 Mr. Ardagh was assailed with stones and mis- 
 siles, and was finally himself thrust into the 
 grave, which the crowd hastily commenced to 
 fill up. He was again Providentially rescued, 
 and only escaped by running off at his utmost 
 speed, and leaping over the churchyard-wall. 
 
 At this time Mr. Ardagh lived at Kingville, 
 more than a mile from the city, and was con- 
 stantly in the habit of returning home at a late 
 hour. Threats were'not wanting that the lone- 
 liness of the road would be taken advantage of 
 by his enemies to do him bodily injury; and in 
 
 ■0 I <!(- 
 
 -« 
 
«- 
 
 » 
 
 14 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 ,11 
 
 I 
 
 proof that this was not mere Idle talk, a gentle- 
 man was found one morning, on the 'direct road 
 to Mr. Ardagh's house, nearly beaten lo death : 
 the circumstances clearly pointing to an attempt 
 on the life of the fearless clergyman. 
 
 At those times, in Waterford, elections were 
 always the occasion of riotous outbreaks — reli- 
 gious and political differences being inextricably 
 blended. 
 
 During one of these stormy periods, Mr. 
 Ardagh happened to be returning to town from 
 some distance in the country. He was driving 
 in a gig, accompanied by his cousin, the late 
 Dr. John Ardagh, of Orillia. His route was 
 along the Quay, where the infuriated mob with 
 a wild yell rushed upon him, and having taken 
 down the chain which guarded it, backed his 
 horse towards the river. The wheels were already 
 slipping over the edge of the stone work, when 
 the powerful hv^i se which he drove, maddened by 
 the shouts and pressure of the crowd, reared and 
 plunged violently forward, scattering his assail- 
 ants. Thus, by the Providence of God, he was 
 once again saved from death. In the spring of 
 1842 he received a final warning. His mother- 
 in-law found, one morning, near the house, a 
 child's head, lately exhumed, to which was 
 attached a notice threatening him with a similar 
 
 
 
 «l 
 
» 
 
 o 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 15 
 
 fate, if he did not desist from speaking against 
 the Roman Catholic religion. 
 
 The anxiety consequent upon this state of 
 affairs so preyed upon the delicate health of hiy 
 wife, that he decided upon the important step of 
 leaving his native country. The call, at this 
 time, of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel for Missionary labour in Canada, turned 
 his attention in that direction, and through the 
 medium of this Society he entered into corres- 
 pondence with Col. O'Brien, of "The Woods," 
 County of Simcoe, with reference to the extensive 
 missionary field, of which Shanty Bay was the 
 head-quarters. As the result of this commu- 
 nication, Mr. Ardagh, in faith, and after much 
 prayer, decided on entering upon this large and 
 unknown sphere of labour. 
 
 Before he set sail he was waited on by a depu- 
 tation, headed by the Mayor of Waterford, who, 
 in the name of the Protestant congregation of 
 the Union of St. Patrick, and other friends, lay 
 and clerical, residing in Waterford and its 
 vicinity, presented him with the following very 
 kind and laudatory address, together with a 
 substantial mark of their esteem, in the shape 
 of a purse, containing the sum of ;^I30 sterling, 
 and a very fine copy of the Holy Scriptures : — 
 
 ^ 
 
 » 
 
0- 
 
 -« 
 
 i6 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 "Rev. and Dear Sir, — We, the Protestant 
 Congregation of the Union of St. Patrick, toge- 
 ther with your fellow labourers in Christ's vine- 
 yard, and others connected with you by the tics 
 of friendship and esteem, resident in this city 
 and its vicinity, having heard of your intended 
 removal to Canada, unite in expressing to you 
 our sense of the loss which we, in common with 
 the Church in this City and neighborhood, must 
 sustain by your proposed departure from the 
 scene of your past labors. 
 
 " We cannot permit your ministry among us 
 to close without recording the high opinion which 
 we unanimously entertain of the manner in 
 which, during a period of fourteen years, you 
 have discharged the duties of your arduous 
 calling : for, whether we regard you as the bold 
 and uncompromising preacher of the gospel, or 
 exhibiting in private life the meekness and 
 humility of the Christian pastor, as the kind 
 and assiduous instructor of infancy in the early 
 lessons of truth and holiness, or ministering 
 spiritual consolation beside the couch of suffer- 
 ing humanity, your conduct has uniformly given 
 evidence of ardent and entire devotion to the 
 cause of Him under whose banner you have 
 enlisted. 
 
 " But, however deep and heartfelt our regret 
 at your departure, we have at least the consola- 
 tion of reflecting that your removal will intro- 
 duce you into a new and wider sphere of 
 Christian duty, and afford you further oppor- 
 tunity and more extended means of usefulness ; 
 
 91 
 
 « 
 
^ 
 
 tt 
 
 ReiK S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 17 
 
 and wc humbly pray that wherever your services 
 shall hereafter be employed, you may, through 
 Divine grace, be enabled so to feed the flocR 
 committed to your charge, that when the Chief 
 Shepherd shall appear, you may obtain a crown 
 of glory that fadeth not away. 
 
 "Wj entreat your acceptance of the gift 
 which accompanies this declaration of our feel- 
 ings, in further testimony of the sentiments to 
 which we have endeavoured to give expression : 
 And assuring you with great sincerity that we 
 shall never cease to take a lively interest in all 
 that concerns your future happiness and welfare. 
 
 " Believe us to remain, > 
 
 Reverend and Dear Sir, 
 Your faithful and attached Friends." 
 
 Nor was this the only testimonial which Mr. 
 Ardagh received at this time. Another flatter- 
 ing address, engrossed on parchment, and under 
 the Episcopal seal of the Diocese, w^as presented 
 to him in the name of the Dean and Chapter, 
 and Clergy, of the Diocese of Waterford, who, 
 in the summer of 1842, were assembled in the 
 Cathedral Church, on the occasion of the Bishop's 
 visitation. From the language of that address^ 
 which we give below, it will be seen that Mr. 
 Ardagh had won for himself a high place in 
 the opinion of his brother clergymen, many of 
 whom must have had ample opportunity of 
 
 «- 
 
 8 
 
 *u 
 

 
 i8 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 knowing his character ; and this testimony to his 
 worth, is the more valuable because it is com- 
 paratively seldom that anything of the kind is 
 given to a clergyman on his leaving one Diocese 
 for another. 
 
 " We, the Dean and Chapter, and Clergy, of 
 the Diocese of Watcrford, ass mbled at the 
 Bishop's visitation, held in the Ca.licdral Church, 
 on Tuesday, 5th July, 1842, cannot let pass this 
 last occasion of meetmg you officially without 
 an expression of our affectionate esteem for you 
 as a brother, minister, and friend, and of our 
 sincere and conscientious regret that you are 
 about to leave our Diocese. It is not for us to 
 offer an opinion upon your conduct, during the 
 period of fifteen years that you have been a 
 curate amongst us. It v/ould be unsuitable for 
 us to assume the chair of judgment — and hap- 
 pily the unanimous testimony of those among 
 whom you ministered renders it unnecessary ; 
 but we may be permitted to tender you our 
 warmest wishes for your health and prosperity, 
 both spiritual and temporal, and our unaffected 
 assurance that, in your departure, we lose the 
 sympathy, counsel, and co-operation of a kind 
 and affectionate friend. Accept our heartfelt 
 prayers, and remember us in a distant land as 
 brothers "with whom you took sweet counsel, 
 and walked to the House of God in company." 
 
 -» *•* *- 
 
 s? 
 
 ■» 
 
O' 
 
 Rn). S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 19 
 
 In the month of August, 1842, he sailed, with 
 his family, from the port of Waterford, in the 
 brig "Thistle," a timber ship trading between 
 that port and Quebec (those were not the days 
 of ocean steamers), and forty-six days elapsed 
 before they reached their destination. Though 
 a long voyage, it was full of sunshine and calm^ 
 and a time of both mental and physical rest, 
 after the wearing anxiety of the past few years. 
 
 w 
 
 •« 
 
 The first time they touched the shores of the 
 new country was at the Quarantine Station of 
 Grosse Isle. Those green fields and pretty 
 white French houses, were a refreshing rest to 
 the eye, which had so long wandered over a 
 waste of waters. Mr. Ardagh and his wife, true 
 lovers of scenery, appreciated to the full the 
 magnificence of the broad St. Lawrence ; and 
 the thousands who have looked upon Quebec 
 for the first time, can understand the effect 
 produced upon the voyagers, as rounditig the 
 Isle of Orleans, the city, in the picturesque 
 beauty of its commanding position, with its 
 ancient citadel, glittering spires and roofs, re- 
 flected back the brilliance of the autumn sunshine. 
 At Quebec they were welcomed by Mrs. Ardagh's 
 brother, the Rev. Richard Anderson, who had 
 been for some time missionary in a remote 
 
 « 
 
 ^ 
 
o 
 
 ■» 
 
 20 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 parish in that Diocese, and whose clerical friends 
 there tendered to Mr. Ardagh and his family 
 kind hospitality during their short stay. 
 
 In those primitive times the journey from 
 Quebec to Toronto occupied a fortnight, as the 
 only water route to the Upper Province was by 
 the Rideau Canal, passing through By town, 
 then a green and secluded village, now Ottawa, 
 the capital of the Dominion. 
 
 On leaving Toronto, Mr. Ardagh's family 
 proceeded on their journey in a more simple 
 fashion. There being but one small stage-coach, 
 the greater number of the party were conveyed 
 up Yonge Street on baggage waggons, to Hol- 
 land Landing, and thence across Lake Simcoe 
 in the Steamer " Simcoe," to Shanty Bay, where 
 they arrived on the 7th October, i(S42. Here 
 the party were received and hospitably enter- 
 tained for some time by Col. and Mrs. O'Brien. 
 During this pleasant visit was laid the foun- 
 dation of that warm and abiding friendship 
 between the families, which has lasted through 
 so many years of change and trial. 
 
 The extraordinary loveliness of the autumn 
 of 1842, has been chronicled by the pen of 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne. Never had the vivid 
 colouring of the woods, the slumberous atmos- 
 
 »- 
 
 fc> 
 
a 
 
 .0 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardajr/i. 
 
 21 
 
 phere, and the unruffled waters peculiar to the 
 Indian summer, been more beautiful than on the 
 October day when Mr. Ardagh first saw the 
 spot which was to be his home for so many years. 
 The parsonage house, which had been occu- 
 pied by his predecessor, Mr. Bartlett, consisting 
 as it did of only three small rooms, was quite 
 inadec^uate to the requirements of Mr. Ardagh's 
 family, consisting of his wife, his mother-in-law, 
 seven children, governess, and servants : one 
 other member, Miss Anderson, having remained 
 in Quebec, with her brother. Under these 
 circumstances, Mr. John Whitley, a single gentle- 
 man in the neighborhood, kindly placed his 
 house at their disposal, and into it, as winter 
 approached, they removed, and there remained 
 till the following June, when the parsonage 
 house, to which Mr. Ardagh had made a sub- 
 stantial addition at his own expense, was ready 
 for their reception. 
 
 fc> 
 
 «- 
 
 We subjoin a reminiscence from the pen of a 
 member of the party who accompanied Mr. 
 Ardagh to Canada : — 
 
 "How vividly upon my memory are photo- 
 graphed the recollections of those days of travel. 
 The sluggish Holland River, whose pale marsh 
 grasses undulated with the movement of the 
 
 1 
 I 
 
f! I 
 
 »- 
 
 © 
 
 '?'> 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 paddle-wheels; the broad bright lake, the noble 
 estuary of Kempenfeldt Bay, whose far-stretching 
 shores, broken in outline by bay and headland, 
 were vestured and crowned with the glory of the 
 autumn woods. Four miles from the entrance, 
 on the north shore, we steamed up to the wharf 
 at Shanty Bay, a rude wooden pier, the fore- 
 ground of a sylvan recess surrounded by wooded 
 heights. The face of these low cliffs was clothed 
 with the luxuriant foliage of wild raspberry and 
 vine, and through their tangled bloom rocky 
 paths led to the road above, a road by courtesy 
 only, it being a chaos of mud holes, dry in hot 
 weather, and bridged over by 'corduroys' in 
 hopelessly miry places. Here we always found 
 the earliest wild violets and hepaticas of spring, 
 and its picturesque woodland scenery atoned for 
 the marshy condition of the pathway. Two 
 days later, in company with our kind host and 
 hostess, and their children, we attended our first 
 service in the church at Shanty Bay, embarking 
 at the same rustic wharf, in order to avoid the 
 worst half of the road to the church, then almost 
 impassable from recent rains. The affluence of 
 light and color which characterized that Indian 
 summer, made a vivid impression on those fresh 
 from a paler and less glowing atmosphere. Here 
 we saw, in all their beauty, the brilliant clearness 
 
 <St — 
 
 •» 
 
 lllli 1 
 
e— 
 
 ■t> 
 
 Rro. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 23 
 
 of the inland waters, the circhng ring of green 
 woods surrounding the 'clearing' where we landed, 
 where, from the sombre hues of the ancient pine 
 forests, and the brighter tints of later growth, 
 gleamed out the crimson and gold, the russet and 
 purple of a Canadian autumn. In the back- 
 ground of the clearing the little white church 
 seemed to nestle in the bosom of the woods ; 
 whilst in the foreground the tiny rustic par- 
 sonage, surrounded by debris, fallen timber, and 
 stumps of trees, indicative of a new clearing, 
 and itself half veiled by low shrubbery, trailing 
 Virginia creeper, and tall rank grasses, was not 
 out of unison with the wildness of the surround- 
 ing landscape. Many will remember this sunny 
 spot at a later time, when, in a still rustic, but 
 more ample habitation, with long, low, vine- 
 covered verandah, a host of friends were gene- 
 rally found and always welcome. The surround- 
 ings had then more the aspect of lawn and 
 garden ; and at the foot of the green-sloping 
 land the water chimed and murmured through 
 the summer days, or broke in louder resonance 
 on ciutumn nights. The little point of silvery 
 pebbles which stretched into the blue water to 
 the right of The Parsonage, was called by the 
 little ones 'Rosy' Point, because of the bloom of 
 wild roses, which blended with the emerald foliage 
 
 »- 
 
 -» 
 
«>■ 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 24 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 of early summer. Towards this, and along the 
 shore, ran a shady, woodland walk, so close to 
 the lake that in spring, when the waters were 
 high, the waves often broke over the pathway." 
 
 Six miles from this quiet habitation, at the 
 head of Kempenfeldt Bay, was situated the 
 town of Barrie, in those early days a mere 
 hamlet, although possessing the public build- 
 ings, which were essential to its position as chief 
 town of the then District of Simcoe. At the 
 Spring and Fall Assizes held here, the Judge 
 was often accompanied by members of the 
 Toronto bar : the local bar being, at that time, 
 very limited in numbers. Occasionally, both 
 bench and bar were entertained at The Parsonage 
 after a fashion which combined many of the 
 accessories of aboriginal simplicity with the 
 amenities of cultivated society. This odd com- 
 bination of surroundings was not unusual at 
 those times.* 
 
 ** On one occasion when Mr, Ardagli was journeying through the 
 woods, searching out the far-scattered habitations of his parish- 
 ioners, lie came upon a small log house in a very lonely situation. 
 As he entered, the mistress of the house rose to meet him, from 
 scrubbing the floor. Iler dress, and the furniture of the cabin, 
 were of the humblest description ; but on a rude side-board was 
 piled an array of glittering silver plate, with a heraldic blazon 
 which spoke of an ancient name and better days. 
 
 «- 
 
 O 
 
«- 
 
 -» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 25 
 
 In the same month the late lamented Bishop 
 Strachan paid his first visit to Shanty Bay, to 
 hold a confirmation ; and the gentlemen of the 
 neighbourhood were invited to meet him at The 
 Parsonage. The house was built of logs, and 
 the I 'ifinished condition of the interior may be 
 inferred from the fact, that the walls of the room 
 in which they dined were roughly hewn by the 
 woodman's axe, the rafters being visible over 
 head. This visit of the Bishop, though often 
 repeated in after years, made a deep impression 
 on the children, whose hearts were quite won by 
 his kindly genial manner ; and in the published 
 account of his visitation tour that year, he makes 
 a pleasant reference to his visit to Shanty Bay. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that in the course 
 of years the original tenement fell to decay, and 
 Mr. Ardagh, a second time, made a large outlay 
 in providing a suitable dwelling for his family. 
 On this occasion, with very little extraneous 
 help, he managed to erect the present complete 
 and comfortable residence, in which he spent the 
 remainder of his days. 
 
 The mission in connection with Shanty Bay 
 was very extensive, so much so that but little 
 more than occasional services could possibly 
 be held anywhere. It embraced an area of over 
 
 0(- 
 
 ■» 
 

 » 
 
 -i» 
 
 26 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 1 10 miles by 50 miles, and consisted of the town- 
 ships of Oro, Medonte, Flos, Innisfil, Vespra, 
 Mono, Essa, Euphrasia, Sunnidale, Nottawasaga, 
 and St. Vincent. This field of labour extended 
 over what is now divided into twelve parishes. 
 Soon after his arrival he was appointed first 
 Rector of Barrie, the county town, much more 
 considerable than Shanty Bay, and distant 
 from it six miles. To many persons it was 
 matter of regret that he did not live in Barrie 
 rather than at Shanty Bay. But in this latter 
 place alone was there any provision for a clergy- 
 man. Through the exertions of Col. O'Brien 
 and his English friends, a sum was raised suffi- 
 cient for a small endowment of about £fo a 
 year, and a substantial mud-brick church was 
 built, in architectural appearance vastly superior 
 to the barn-like edifices of the period. The 
 church at Barrie was a frame building, erected 
 by Admiral Robert O'Brien, through whose 
 influence it was endowed as a Rectory, by his 
 friend Sir John Colborne, afterwards Lord 
 Seaton. The Clergy Reserve lands which 
 formed the endowment, were, at the time, of 
 nominal value, and being unoccupied, yielded 
 little, if any return. 
 
 After Mr. Ardagh's appointment to Barrie, 
 he began to realize the arduous character of the 
 
 » 
 
 O^ 
 
« 
 
 ■fi^ 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 27 
 
 work assigned to a missionary in a new country. 
 He had now to hold three full services every 
 Sunday, travelling never less than twelve miles, 
 in all kinds of weather ; while during the week 
 he held four services at distant stations. Period- 
 ically, his duties were of a still more laborious 
 nature. The roads in the County of Simcoe, were 
 at that time among the worst in Upper Canada, 
 and were often only passable on horseback. He 
 made at least two rounds during the year to the 
 more distant settlements, proclaiming His Mas- 
 ter's message. He was a man of great powers of 
 endurance, and on one of these occasions, being 
 in company with the resident Judge, who was on 
 circuit, he travelled over i(X) miles in the saddle, 
 within eight days, having fourteen full services, 
 and preaching or lecturing twenty times within 
 that period. On many occasions in the course 
 of his circuits, he administered the rites of the 
 Church to many who had been without Christian 
 ministrations for many years, often baptizing 
 whole families. 
 
 Few but those who have had practical expe- 
 rience can realize the labour and the danger 
 incident to a missionary life in Canada, or can 
 appreciate the nature and extent of the hard- 
 ship to be endured in the performance of such 
 
 «•- 
 
 '» 
 
«- 
 
 ■» 
 
 28 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 duties. The wretched accommodation, the 
 scanty and far from nourishing diet, common 
 among the earlier settlers,* coupled with great 
 responsibility and fatigue, which weighed heavily 
 on mind and body, injured Mr. Ardagh's con- 
 stitution, and sowed the seeds of a subsequently 
 mortal disease. 
 
 On one occasion he lost his way in the woods, 
 during a heavy snow storm, and only suc- 
 ceeded, under Providence, in extricating himself 
 from so desperate a position, by tying his horse 
 to a tree, and then proceeding on foot, taking 
 the precaution to mark all the trees he passed in 
 a direct line. When, at length, he reached a 
 shanty, he was almost fainting from exhaustion ; 
 and his horse, when discovered by means of 
 the marked trees, was well nigh buried in 
 snow. On another occasion he was precipitated, 
 along with his horse, into a deep gravel pit, 
 which had been left unmarked. Though severely 
 shaken, he managed after some time to remount, 
 having yet more than thirty miles to go. His 
 horse accomplished this long distance without 
 much apparent effort, but dropped dead when 
 
 * As a beverage, tea being almost unattainable, the early settlers 
 used an infusion of the leaves of the hemlock tree ; having, as tie 
 staple article of food, salt pork and cakes made of flour and water, 
 known by the name of "dampers." 
 
 O 
 
 -« 
 
«- 
 
 <k 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 29 
 
 the journey was over, having sustained some 
 internal injury. On another occasion he had 
 to ride for his life through burning forests, 
 and not seldom was he compelled to swim his 
 horse through swollen streams. 
 
 Those who have lived in the back townships 
 of Canada, in the neighbourhood of the smaller 
 lakes, will remember the extent to which per- 
 sons travelled over their frozen surface, and 
 especially when the spring rains and melting 
 of the snow had rendered the mud roads almost 
 impassable. This mode of travelling, though 
 it had its advantages, was often very danger- 
 ous, and many lives were lost in consequence. 
 One Sunday morning, having taken to the ice 
 of Kempenfeldt Bay, in preference to the road, 
 to attend service in Barrie, the treacherous 
 surface gave way under him, he having left his 
 cutter to ascertain whether a crack could be 
 safely crossed by his horse. Fortunately, no 
 worse results followed than the discomfort of 
 frozen clothing, and the inconvenience of having 
 to continue his journey in another way. On a 
 similar occasion, when on horseback, his horse 
 broke through the edge of one of the cracks, 
 and precipitated them into the water, and for 
 two hours Mr. Ardagh struggled to extricate 
 himself. When nearly exhausted with exposure 
 
 IK- 
 
 -» 
 
^ 
 
 «» 
 
 30 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 and fatigue, assistance arrived in answer to his 
 calls, and relieved him from his difficulties. 
 
 Many such hair-breadth escapes might be 
 mentioned. Mr. Ardagh's courage and nerve 
 were unflinching. He was careless of danger, 
 even to recklessness ; and neither danger nor 
 difficulties ever deterred him from the perform- 
 ance of his duty ; and so cheerful and elastic 
 was his disposition, that on his return home 
 he would recount his adventures with smiles, 
 never even seeming to recognize the hardships 
 he had undergone. 
 
 The following extracts from his Diary bear 
 the date of 1842, and will give some idea of his 
 labours, from the time of his arrival in Canada : 
 
 " Oct. 7th — Arrived at Shanty Bay, where I 
 am to be located. No house ready to receive my 
 large family. Was hospitably taken into the 
 house of Col. O'Brien. 
 
 Oct. 9th — Commenced my ministry by hold- 
 ing Divine Service at Shanty Bay, at 1 1 o'clock, 
 a.m., and 3 o'clock, at Barrie Church, six miles 
 distant. Was occupied partly in visiting from 
 house to house in Barrie and various parts of 
 the neighbourhood, and partly in endeavouring 
 to get persons to undertake to build an addition 
 to The Parsonage. 
 
 -» 
 
«- 
 
 » 
 
 ReiK S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 31 
 
 Dec. 8th — To-day proceeded to Innisfil, and 
 taking a neighbour (though it was a severe snow 
 storm) who kindly volunteered to act as my 
 guide into the backwoods, where I could not 
 have found my way. Visited eleven families, 
 who all received me with much apparent joy. 
 I returned thirteen miles, after dark, in a snow 
 storm. I am encouraged : the harvest is plen- 
 teous, but the labourers are few in this land. 
 
 Dec. 9th — Rode to-day sixteen miles through 
 the bush, — the track being so full of mud-holes, 
 it took me five hours to accomplish it, — to Mr. 
 Ryall's, Oro, where I held Divine Service, and 
 preached to about twenty-five persons. Slept 
 there. Left, after breakfast, for Mrs. Hall's, four 
 miles distant, where I had service, and preached 
 to about forty. Proceeded home by Penetan- 
 guishene Road, a circuitous route of twenty- 
 four miles, in order to determine on a central 
 place to have meeting. Visited several persons 
 on the way home, where I arrived about an hour 
 after nightfall. Congregation at Barrie has 
 increased from forty to upwards of a hundred. 
 
 Dec. 19th — Rode this morning to Henry's 
 School House, at Essa, a distance of sixteen 
 miles, where I held service at eleven o'clock. 
 Congregation about fifty. 
 
 Dec. 2 1st — Rode five miles into the bush to 
 
 iS- 
 
 » 
 
! 
 
 I 
 
 (I 
 
 I 1 
 
 I' i 
 
 ■ ri. • 
 
 in 
 
 «- 
 
 11 i , 
 iiii 
 
 !i:i!! 
 
 ! 
 
 32 
 
 Mcfuoir of tJic 
 
 meet a small settlement of coloured people ; 
 the only poor I have yet met with. They pro- 
 mised to attend the church at Shanty Bay. 
 
 Dec. 22nd — Went to Barrio , to visit. 
 
 Dec. 25th — Large congregation at Barrie to- 
 day. About thirty at the Lord's Supper. Con- 
 gregation at Shanty Bay, forty-six. 
 
 Dec. 26th — Rode to Barrie. Had an appli- 
 cation, by letter, from friends of the Union 
 Sabbath School, to preach a sermon in aid of 
 their funds. My answer was, that before I could 
 do so I should first see whether the friends of 
 the school could so arrange that I should have 
 the superintendence. Received another letter 
 requesting me to meet the friends and teachers 
 of the school, in order to come to an under- 
 standing. 
 
 Dec. 28th — Met the friends of the Union Sab- 
 bath School, of which a worthy man, an ope- 
 rative tanner, was President. After some discus- 
 sion, in which I claimed control as Minister of 
 Barrie, which they would not permit, I determined 
 to organize one of my own. 
 
 Dec. 30th — Rode to Innisfil to-day. Visited 
 eleven families. ' 
 
 Jan. 1st. 1843 — Congregation at Barrie num- 
 bered one hundred and fifty : at Shanty Bay, 
 fifty, and ten communicants. 
 
 »- 
 
 » 
 
0- 
 
 -)» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 33 
 
 Jan. 3rd — Divine Service at Innisfil, at the 
 School House : thirty present. A heavy snow 
 storm previous night kept some away. 
 
 Jan. loth — Held service at the School House, 
 twelve miles off, on the Penetanguishene Road. 
 Present, about thirty. Went from there to 
 Barrie to meet some persons who offered them- 
 selves as teachers in the Sunday School about to 
 be opened. It was arranged that the school be 
 opened on Sunday week, in the church, solely 
 under my superintendence. 
 
 Jan. 1 2th — Divine Service on the Lake Shore, 
 in an unoccupied house, about thirteen miles off. 
 Fifty present. Baptized nine children. 
 
 Jan. 13th — Service at Mrs. Hall's. Congre- 
 gation about forty. Baptized two children. 
 Missed my way coming home, and lost eight 
 miles. 
 
 Jan. 1 6th — Service at Essa. The congregation 
 increasing, and very attentive. Number to-day, 
 sixty. On to Mr. Osier's : from thence to Geor- 
 gina, to attend the Quarterly Clerical Meeting. 
 Arrived at the Rev. Mr. Gibson's late in the 
 evening of 17th, together with Rev. Messrs. 
 Meyerhoffer, Street, Townley, and McGeorge. 
 
 Jan. 1 8th — Held our meeting at 10 o'clock. 
 Commenced with prayer. Had the service for 
 the Ordaining of Priests. Read loth chapter of 
 
 » 
 
 )S 
 
i» 
 
 -«> 
 
 llil. 
 
 ^1,1! i!' 
 
 I' li ' 
 
 m 
 
 34 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 Hebrews, and examined it verse by verse, till 
 two o'clock. At three o'clock we went to the 
 church, and held service. 
 
 Jan. 19th — Left next morning for Newmarket, 
 where a public meeting was to be held to form a 
 Church Society. I read prayers : Mr. Osier 
 preached. Was much gratified by the large, 
 attentive, and respectable congregation. This is 
 a very useful addition and improvement of our 
 clerical meetings in the old country, as it 
 interests the laity in our proceedings. All my 
 brethren remained for the meeting, but owing to 
 a previous arrangement to hold Divine Service 
 at Innisfil, nearly thirty miles from here, on my 
 way home, I reluctantly left, and proceeded on 
 to Bradford, eight miles, after dark, where I slept 
 at the inn. 
 
 Jan. 20th — Reached Innisfil in good time. 
 Held Divine Service, and preached to fifty 
 people. 
 
 Jan. 22nd — Good congregation at Barrie. 
 Opened a Sunday School in the church for the 
 first time. Twenty-five children attended. A 
 Sunday School has been at Shanty Bay since 
 my arrival. 
 
 Jan. 24th — Walked on the ice across the Bay, 
 a distance of two miles, to visit the settlers there 
 A snow storm so dreadful that it took me off my 
 
 » 
 
 — » 
 
fif 
 
 Rev, S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 35 
 
 legs several times, and drove me a considerable 
 distance along the smooth ice. Visited six 
 families. The storm somewhat abated about 
 five o'clock, but it was with much difficulty I 
 was enabled to return, as the wind was against 
 me, and the ice quite smooth, being swept com- 
 pletely by the wind. 
 
 Jan. 30th — Service at White's School House, 
 Penetanguishene Road. Proceeded to Mr. Alley's, 
 in the coloured settlement, but owing to his not 
 having sent to the Post Office, thirteen miles off, 
 he had not known of my going. I stopped there 
 that night, and returned next day, riding sixteen 
 miles in a severe storm of snow and rain. 
 
 Feb. 2nd — Walked across the Bay to visit a 
 man who had had a severe fall from a ladder. 
 Read and prayed with him. 
 
 Under the date of February 12th, he writes: 
 — It is a cause of much thankfulness to me that 
 the Church at Barrie is making rapid progress. 
 Its state when I came was most melancholy. 
 Almost all the members had joined other bodies, 
 in consequence of the absence of a minister ; 
 but they are coming back. The Head of the 
 Church is blessing my feeble exertions among 
 them, and I have the best hopes. 
 
 March 6th — Held Divine Service at Essa 
 School House, which was too small to hold the 
 
 55- 
 
 iS 
 
» 
 
 » 
 
 
 i|!' 
 
 36 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 % 
 
 l'Mi;l 
 
 m 
 
 i:ii' 
 
 congregation, being abov ; eighty. I have a hope 
 that in some future time a church may be built 
 in this township. 
 
 March 7th — After a funeral service at Barrie, 
 I went to visit a sick man Hving a distance of 
 fifteen miles, the rest of whose family were 
 Romanists. Found him deplorably ignorant of 
 the way of salvation. Read the 3rd of St. John's 
 Gospel, and explained the only way for a sinner 
 to be saved : concluded with prayer, in which 
 the rest of the family joined. He was most 
 anxious to receive the Holy Communion, but I 
 declined administering it, as I saw he thought it 
 would save him. On my way to Mr. Henry's, 
 where I slept, visited a Scotch family, very 
 respectable ; read and prayed with them. They 
 pressed me to appoint a service to be held in the 
 school house near ; but I fear I have too many 
 on hand already. I purpose rnaking some of my 
 fortnightly meetings monthly ones, in order to 
 occupy more stations. 
 
 March 8th— Left Mr. Alley's after breakfast, 
 and took a circuit through Vespra ; visited sev- 
 eral ; returned home late at night. My horse 
 was so fagged with continual ':ravelling, that I 
 must give him a few days lest, which indeed 
 I require for myself too. 
 
 March 13 — Divine Service at Lake Shore. 
 
 » 
 
 -J9I 
 
ft 
 
 -^ 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 37 
 
 March 14 — Service at Mrs. Hall's, four miles 
 further on. Held another service in the midst of 
 a Scotch settlement, where I had a large con- 
 gregation, I went there at the request of several 
 persons. Did not intend keeping this up, as the 
 place was within five miles of Orillia, where 
 there was a missionary ; however, afterwards 
 arranged to hold service there monthly. 
 
 March 31 — Held service at Innisfil : the day 
 dreadful. Did not expect to meet any one ; but 
 was agreeably surprised with a congregation of 
 twenty. 
 
 April 10 — In consequence of the breaking up 
 of the roads, took four hours to go eight miles to 
 Lake Shore service. 
 
 April 1 1 — Service at Campbell's, for first time. 
 Intend, God willing, to continue it regularly. 
 
 April 17 — Held a Vestry at Barrier it was 
 numerously attended. Very pleasing to see 
 such an interest taken in the Church. Resolved 
 to let sittings : about seventy were taken on the 
 spot. Opened a subscription for repairs of 
 church, and enclosing burial ground. 
 
 April 28 — Did not arrive at Innisfil for an 
 hour after time named for service, in consequence 
 of the bad state of the roads. 
 
 Jan. 1st, 1844 — The different services have 
 been carried on regularly, but in consequence of 
 
 i i 
 
 Xf 
 
 <» 
 
 ■» 
 
'Iliii' 
 
 Ml. 
 
 I'.l'il 
 
 life 
 iii' 
 
 ;lii.'i 
 
 m 
 
 « 
 
 » 
 
 liilii 
 
 
 !I!E '111 
 ill 
 
 .■I 
 111,11 :r 
 
 1 'I 
 
 ii 
 
 iSk 
 
 38 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 being ir» an unsettled state, living in a very small 
 house, and endeavouring to get The Parsonage 
 forward, I have been obliged to discontinue 
 my journal. We are now settled in The Par- 
 sonage. Went to Toronto : attended a meeting 
 of the Church Society, and obtained from this 
 Society a bible and two prayer books for the 
 church at Barrie. 
 
 Jan. 16 — Proceeded this day to attend the 
 Quarterly Clerical Meeting at Mr. Osier's. Much 
 profitable discussion on the 5th Hebrews : after- 
 wards a long conversation on " Baptismal Re- 
 generation"; its advocates much discomfited, and 
 on the whole I think it was profitable, being 
 conducted in a Christian spirit. I moved a reso- 
 lution condemnatory of the Oxford principles of 
 the " Church'' newspaper, which was carried by 
 the casting vote of the Chairman. 
 
 Jan. 2 1st — Started early for Barrie to address 
 the children of the Sunday School, on dis- 
 the premiums for attendance and 
 
 anniversary of the 
 opening of the school. Gave thirteen nice 
 books to as many children, who seemed much 
 gratified. The school has gone on very favour- 
 ably, thank God, for the past year. Attendance 
 here, and at Shanty Bay, small, in consequence 
 of the severity of weather. 
 
 tributing 
 
 attention, this being the 
 
 » 
 
<» 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 39 
 
 Jan. 22nd — Service at White's School House, 
 afterwards at Mr. Craig's, Medonte. 
 
 Jan. 23rd — Left Mr. Craig's, and reached 
 Mr. Raymond's School House.. Had a large 
 congregation. 
 
 Jan. 28th — Congregation at Shanty Bay, up- 
 wards of sixty. 
 
 Jan. 30th — Left Barrie early, in company with 
 Judge Gowan. Arrived a^Nottawasaga about two. 
 Rested at a small tavern where the Judge held his 
 Court, awaiting the erection of a suitable building, 
 at which I gave notice of service next day at eleven. 
 
 Jan. 31st — Held service at a very neat build- 
 ing belonging to the Congregationalists ; preached 
 to a crowded congregation. 
 
 Feb. 18 — Large congregations in Barrie and 
 Shanty Bay ; in the latter, seventy persons. 
 
 Feb. 24th — Service at Jemby's School House. 
 Very large congregation. May His Spirit go 
 with my humble addresses." 
 
 In September, 1844, M^. Ardagh writes to a 
 friend : " My time is so occupied that I have not 
 a moment, and have to entrench on my sleeping 
 
 hours for correspondence In addition to my 
 
 stations, I have been inspecting schools 
 
 I regret to say that I am in debt ; but hope, 
 before a year, to be clear. Am obliged to bor- 
 row, to keep afloat." 
 
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 -«? 
 
Vr' 1 
 
 |i n. 
 
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 I1,MIII| 
 
 dm 
 
 In i.'"U 
 
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 40 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 For upwards of twenty-five years he held 
 the position of Chairman of the Board of 
 Grammar School Trustees, as well as a member 
 and examiner of the Board of Public Instruction 
 for the County ; a body in connection with the 
 Common School system of Upper Canada. 
 
 The following extract from his Diary will tell 
 of his appointment as Superintendent of Schools: 
 
 "After Divine Service at Myers's School 
 House, at Innisfil, the house being quite full, 
 spoke to them about Schools, and gave some 
 advice, as I was lately appointed by the unani- 
 mous vote of the Municipal Council, Superin- 
 tendent of Schools for the whole County. A 
 most responsible office. May God give me grace 
 to discharge the duty with fidelity." 
 
 No wonder that he so acquitted himself as to 
 become identified with the spread of education 
 in that part of the country, and that after his 
 death resolutions expressive of their deep sense 
 of the value of his services should be unani- 
 mously passed, as well by the Standing Com- 
 mittee on Education, for the County of Simcoe, 
 as by the Board of Public Instruction for the 
 Northern Circuit of the same County, and by 
 the Board of Grammar School Trustees in 
 Barrie. 
 
 «- 
 
 » 
 
•■A ■! 
 
 « 
 
 ^ 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 41 
 
 Mr. Ardagh neglected no means by which 
 the reHgious and moral welfare of his flock 
 might be forwarded. The desecration of the 
 Sabbath openly by Sunday traffic, travelling, 
 &c., was so lamented by him that he addressed 
 the late Chief Justice on the subject, begging 
 his advice and opinion as to whether the law 
 might interfere to secure at all events its out- 
 ward observance. An old newspaper of many 
 years since reports a meeting assembled to con- 
 sider the subject of temperance, at which his 
 earnest anxiety on the subject is evident by his 
 words. His jealousy for the honor of God in 
 His word was fervent and strong. He even 
 upheld that the Bible should have a foremost 
 place in all teaching, and be its foundation- 
 stone, and he contended zealously that the 
 young in schools should associate their earliest 
 remembrances with it. He also felt strongly 
 that the Scripture should not be dishonoured by 
 being cast out of the Common Schools, it being 
 in his opinion a painful anomaly and disgrace 
 that in a Christian land its schools should be 
 deprived of God's blessed word. 
 
 § 
 
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 III! I 
 
 42 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 Here it will be well to give a brief sketch of 
 the progress of the Church in Mr. Ardagh's 
 mission. 
 
 The Church Society of the Diocese of Toronto 
 having been recently organized, Mr. Ardagh lost 
 no time in forming a branch in Barrie, and for this 
 purpose called a meeting on the 19th of March, 
 1844, which was heartily responded to by his 
 parishioners. A committee was at once formed, 
 and a subscription list open;'d. So much zeal 
 did he infuse into his people, that for many 
 years this continued a most prosperous branch ; 
 the amount raised each year generally exceed- 
 ing that of other places of even larger size : 
 the second year the amount of subscription was 
 nearly sixty dollars. 
 
 Mr. Ardagh's arduous labours were lightened 
 in the autumn of 1845, by the appointment by 
 the Bishop of a travelling missionary for the 
 County of Simcoe, the " Parochial Association of 
 the Simcoe District " having contributed to the 
 funds so liberally that one-half of the stipend 
 of a miooionary (;^50 sterling) could be paid 
 from those funds." It was supplemented by 
 ^50 more from the Society itself. This formed 
 the salary of the Rev. George Bourne, who 
 laboured successfully for two years ; but the 
 strain proving too great for his strength, he was 
 
 0' 
 
 « 
 
 'lih''" 
 
«- 
 
 -« 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 43 
 
 obliged to retire from this field of labour. He 
 thus wrote to the Society : " I pray that the 
 Church Society will soon be able to find a 
 missionary who is better able to stand the fatigue 
 of travelling, under which the strength of your 
 first missionary is giving way." 
 
 Mr. Bourne was succeeded, in October, 1847, 
 by the Rev. John Fletcher, who filled the same 
 position for the next three years, and until 
 appointed by the Bishop to an independent 
 mission at Mono. 
 
 These clergymen were on the warmest terms 
 of friendship with Mr. Ardagh, and ever found 
 a home at The Parsonage. 
 
 1 ' ;' 
 
 During all these years the country was becom- 
 ing rapidly settled, so that Mr. Ardagh found 
 himself quite unable to attend to the spiritual 
 wants of his ever increasing flock. Under these 
 circumstances he applied for assistance to the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and 
 received an able and valued coadjutor in the 
 person of the Rev. Garrett Nugent, who arrived 
 in May, 185 1. Mr. Nugent was beloved and 
 respected by all, and his departure was much 
 regretted, when, in 1854, he returned to his 
 native country. 
 
 «- 
 
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 lp 
 
 li:;ii 
 
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 44 
 
 Mc7noir of the 
 
 The following is a letter from Mr. Ardagh to 
 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
 which has been copied from their published 
 Quarterly Report, which thus introduces it : — 
 
 " The Society has recently received the fol- 
 lowing letter from a zealous clergyman in the 
 Diocese of Toronto : 
 
 ' Barrie, Canada West, March 26, 1852. 
 
 *Rev. and Dear Sir, — I regret not having 
 been able hitherto to comply with your request 
 — to report as to the state of my mission of 
 " Barrie, Shanty Bay, and parts adjacent,'' as 
 defined . in my license from the Bishop of 
 Toronto. It is only reasonable that the vene- 
 rable Society should desire to have an account 
 of the progress made during upwards of nine 
 years, in which I have occupied this post of 
 duty. 
 
 * It is difficult to give even a short report 
 without bringing the instrument into too promi- 
 nent a position. On my arrival here in October, 
 1842, I found matters in an exceedingly dis- 
 couraging state. In this district, comprising 
 twenty-one townships, each containing an area 
 of twelve miles square, there were but three 
 clergymen, two of them twenty-six miles south, 
 and east, and the third, forty miles north ; while 
 to the west all was a spiritual desert. The pros- 
 pect, in every point of view, would have been 
 disheartening, if I depended upon my own 
 
 «> 
 
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 •fel 
 
 ^•y 
 
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 » 
 
 iK- 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 45 
 
 strength. There were two churches in an unfin- 
 ished state, Shanty Bay and Barrie. I com- 
 menced service in them every Sunday, and 
 selected seven stations throughout, from six to 
 ten miles apart, where I had service once a 
 month or fortnight. I selected them generally 
 at a cross road or path, and in the centre of a 
 scattered settlement. I had previously visited 
 the people around, and enquired whether I might 
 expect a congregation. The reply I generally 
 received was, that if I had reference to the mem- 
 bers of the Church, it would not be worth while 
 to come so far, but that the people would assem- 
 ble to hear any one who came as a preacher. 
 Indeed, they were satisfied if he took his text 
 from the Bible, and was a " smart " man ; they 
 were not particular about the doctrine. How- 
 ever, I continued regular services, and the con- 
 gregations steadily increased ; until, by degrees, 
 many came back to the church who had left it, 
 and expressed a wish for more frequent minis- 
 trations. In conjunction with the Rev. F. Osier, 
 I had a resolution passed at our annual meet- 
 ing of the Church Society, that our subscription 
 should be applied toward the support of a 
 travelling missionary, who laboured for a few 
 years, and gave an additional monthly service to 
 each of my stations. The desire still increased, 
 and, in 1848, the people of my own mission 
 offered to subscribe towards an assistant min- 
 ister, to be confined within the bounds of the 
 mission. After many difficulties in procuring 
 one, and the disappointment by Rev. Mr. Shaw, 
 
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 1 
 
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 4 
 
if t'' 
 
 I " 
 
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 11 i 
 
 J i! r, ' 111 
 
 
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 46 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 at length Rev. G. Nugent, sent out by you, 
 arrived here in last May. He labours most 
 diligently, and is most acceptable to the people. 
 
 ' I refrain, in this brief report, to give an 
 account of the difficulties, trials, and hardships, 
 inseparable from a new and bush mission. I 
 have few instances of real conversion to relate ; 
 but the outward conformity is as great as could 
 be expected, and God alone can, in his own good 
 time, give the increase. 
 
 ' I shall, in conclusion, merely draw the com- 
 parison between the state of the mission as I 
 found it, and as it is at present. There are now 
 five churches in the mission, in which Divine 
 Service is regularly performed, besides five 
 stations. There are three more new churches in 
 course of erection, which, I expect, will be ready 
 for opening before next winter. All the churches 
 opened are furnished with books, communion plate, 
 surplices, printed registry books, &c. In three 
 of them there is an average congregation of from 
 ninety to one hundred. The communicants are 
 nearly one hundred, and increasing. A large and 
 commodious school house has been erected in 
 Barrie, which cost about i^200, and upon which 
 there is a debt of £^0. A bell, which cost near 
 £SOj has been put up in Barrie church. When 
 I first came, I found it difficult to raise a few 
 pounds for church purposes ; for instance, it 
 took three years to pay for the painting of the 
 outside of Barrie church. In the last year the 
 sum of ;^I33 was raised in that village alone for 
 church purposes. The mission subscribes £'j^ 
 
 » 
 
 «i- 
 
 -iS 
 
 :lll; 
 
« 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 47 
 
 per annum for the assistant minister, besides 
 what is sent to the Church Society. The ;{;"ioo 
 generously granted to my mission, and the £i6 
 which came through your Society, 1 have divided 
 between four churches and the school house in 
 Barrie. This school house has been used for 
 Divine Service, by the Bishop's permission, on 
 Sunday nights, during the winter, as the church 
 being situated on the top of a steep hill, it was 
 impracticable for old persons and children to go 
 up there after night, by reason of snow and ice. 
 This evening service in Barrie, makes five full 
 services in the mission every Sunday. Besides 
 the stations I have mentioned, the travelling 
 missionary and I held an occasional service in 
 the township of St. Vincent, eighty miles from 
 this, for the more particular purpose of baptizing 
 the children of the new settlers, and keeping our 
 people from straying ; and on one occasion I 
 went as far as Owen Sound, one hundred and 
 twenty miles distant. A clergyman having been 
 settled in this latter place in 1849, he has taken 
 that distant part of the mission off my hands. 
 Another station to the east has, by the Bishop's 
 arrangement, been handed over to the clergy- 
 man at- Orillia, so that this mission is now 
 reduced to about thirty miles square. I should 
 observe that the new churches are only exter- 
 nally completed, but they present a neat eccle- 
 siastical appearance, with Gothic windows, &c. 
 Some English gentlemen, in travelling through 
 my mission, expressed their agreeable surprise 
 in meeting such in so remote and wild a country. 
 
 
 J ( 
 
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I 
 
 fil- 
 
 48 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 ■»! 
 
 ^%i 
 
 li'l 
 
 
 ■ it'll) 
 ''.I' III I 
 jiij' jj 
 
 They still want pulpit, reading desk, and sittings. 
 At present we arc satisfied with a table borrowed 
 from a neighbouring house as a substitute for the 
 former, and are contented with planks set on 
 blocks of wood for the latter. We were forced 
 to occupy them thus early, as the school house 
 had become too small for the congregations; and 
 we were occasionally interfered with by others 
 who had an equal right to their use. The re- 
 sources of the people have been well nigh 
 exhausted in getting the churches thus far ; 
 and being now obliged to subscribe towards a 
 minister's stipend, they require a little breathing 
 time. If those friends at home who may read 
 this imperfect, sketch, would contribute some- 
 thing to their completion, it would be. most 
 gratefully accepted. I should like to have them 
 all completed before I remove to a more settled 
 place, as it is probable that I shall have to apply 
 to the Bishop before long for this favour. I find 
 my physical powers failing, and am unable to 
 take those long rides on horseback which I have 
 hitherto done. 
 
 " My health broke down in 1849, '^^'^^1 I had to 
 go to England to seek for its renewal, as well as 
 to transact some private affairs. I suffered from 
 rheumatism in the head, contracted from sleeping 
 in shanties imperfectly protected from the wea- 
 ther. My visit home has considerably restored 
 me, but I yet feel the increase of years by stiff- 
 ness of the limbs, &c. 
 
 " I hope that this imperfect outline will satisfy 
 the venerable Society that some progress has 
 
 
 •0- 
 
 ^ 
 
»- 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 49 
 
 been made. I have reason to think that my 
 venerable and enerf^etic Bishop is s isficd with 
 me. All I can say is, that I have endeavoured 
 to set forth Christian truth before the people, as 
 is contained in the articles, homilies, and offices 
 of our beloved Church. 
 
 " In fine, I trust it is my highest object to 
 look forward to the time, when, through Divine 
 grace, I may be permitted to hear from the 
 lips of the Chief Shepherd, * Well done, thou 
 faithful servant ; enter, thou into the joy of 
 thy Lord.' 
 
 " Yours in the best bonds, 
 
 " S. B. Ardagii." 
 
 In the summer of 1847, M^- Ardagh was much 
 affected by hearing of the death of his wife's 
 brother, the Rev. Richard Anderson, Incumbent 
 of New Ireland, Province of Quebec. This 
 devoted clergyman had been sent by the Bishop 
 to take a week's duty, in rotation with other 
 clergymen, in ministering to the wants of the 
 poor emigrants in the Quarantine sheds of 
 Grosse Isle. The emigrant fever was sweeping 
 them off by hundreds, and nurses could not be 
 obtained, so he remained for five wrecks longer, 
 doing his Master's work, and, finally at His feet, 
 laid down his life, in obedience to the Divine 
 command, "Ye ought also to lay down your 
 lives for the brethren." 
 
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 50 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 • His constitution had been already undermined 
 by grief for the death of his young wife, the 
 preceding year ; and his strength was so com- 
 pletely prostrated by these six weeks of arduous 
 labour, that he returned to Quebec stricken with 
 the fever, to which he succumbed. 
 
 His mortal remains now lie with those of two 
 more devoted fellow labourers* in the same 
 work, in the Cemetery at Quebec. 
 
 Mr. Ardagh at once proceeded to the Lower 
 Province, to bring back with him his two little 
 orphan nephews, and Miss Anderson, who had 
 been supplying the place of mother to them. 
 From this time they were to him as his own 
 children. The elder, Richard, met with a sad 
 fate, being drowned by falling through the ice on 
 Kempenfeldt Bay, when only nine years old. 
 The younger, James, survived his adopted father 
 but three months. Always exemplary in his 
 life, and of remarkable sweetness of character, 
 he had before him a happy prospect for this 
 world — having been but three months married 
 to an amiable and affectionate wife. But it 
 pleased Providence that it should be otherwise ; 
 for after a short and painful illness he entered 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Morris and Rev. Mr. Cbatterton. The wife of 
 the latter generously erected a handsome iron railing, enclosing the 
 three graves. ■ , 
 
 -iS> 
 
 -^ 
 
»- 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 SI 
 
 with peace and hope into the kingdom of His 
 Father, on the 13th January, 1870. 
 
 -« 
 
 -* «•> •- 
 
 Tlie winter of 1847-48. brought Mr. Ardagh 
 the heaviest trouble of his Hfe. His beloved 
 wife, after many years of patient suffering, was 
 nearing the end of her earthly pilgrimage. The 
 great influence she exercised over him, in every 
 way, has already been noticed. To the graces 
 of her intellect and character ample testimony 
 has been borne, as well by the friends of her 
 early youth, as by those of her later life. She 
 was one of those whose memory is blessed by 
 her children. The late revered Bishop of To- 
 ronto, Dr. Strachan, a man of great penetration, 
 to whom she was well known, said of her many 
 years after her departure hence, that "one equally 
 good and gifted he had never met." One who 
 met her for the first time, after her arrival in this 
 country, writes of her thus : " His gifted and 
 .sainted wife was to her husband a tower of 
 strength, and few persons had more to struggle 
 against ; great delicacy of health, difficulties in 
 a new country which can be easily imagined, 
 a large family, and very limited means. Not- 
 withstanding this, a generous hospitality and a 
 
 i»- 
 
 » 
 
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 I'? 
 
 I 
 
 ih' 
 
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 IM: 
 
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 II :| 
 
 
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 52 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 kindly welcome greeted as well the chance 
 visitor as the intimate friend ; and in the domes- 
 tic circle her cares were unceasing for those 
 whose stay and comfort she ever was ; she 
 lived hardly six years after her arrival in Canada, 
 but it was long enough to surround her with an 
 atmosphere of love." 
 
 Under her loving influence the impetuous, 
 and, at times, unconsidered judgment of her 
 husband, became sobered and matured — a more 
 than ordinary tact supplied that which was lack- 
 ing in him. His later sermons were filled with 
 more spiritual earnestness than those of his 
 earlier years ; and he learned to look forward, 
 with assurance of hope, to that better country 
 where the Christian course is marked by no 
 deviation, and where the peace which passes 
 understanding is realised in the unclouded bright- 
 ness of the Saviour's presence. 
 
 For many months her mind was filled with 
 unutterable anguish at the thought of her hus- 
 band left desolate by the loss of her love and 
 prayerful counsel, and of her seven children 
 bereft in early youth of a mother's watchful 
 guidance ; at the last, however, she was enabled 
 to cast the burden of her anxieties on Him, 
 whom, from her youth up, she had earnestly 
 endeavoured to serve. 
 
 » 
 
 <Sf 
 
 u 
 
«- 
 
 •» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 53 
 
 She entered into rest on the 4th March, 1848, 
 without a cloud — except her bodily suffering — 
 to mar the brightness of her departure.* 
 
 At this time Mr. Ardagh's ministerial duties 
 were of such an arduous and absorbing nature as 
 to leave him but small leisure for painful thought. 
 He felt for a time, with exceeding anxiety, the 
 great weight of. responsibility which devolved 
 upon him as father of a young and motherless 
 family, to whom he could give but comparatively 
 small care, on account of the all-engrossing work 
 of his sacred profession. 
 
 His simple faith overcame this pressing trou- 
 ble. He prayed for them earnestly and unceas- 
 ingly, assembling, at times, the elder ones for 
 special appeals to the Throne of Grace ; and 
 confided them altogether to the care of Him 
 who is the great bearer of burdens. Towards 
 the close of his life he often spoke with deep 
 gratitude of his answered prayers, inasmuch 
 as none of his children had ever caused him 
 anxiety or distress of mind on their account. 
 
 * It is desired here to record au act of faithful friendship on the 
 part of Mrs. O'Brien, of "The Woods," tlien residing in Toronto, 
 who hastened, in inclement weather and almost impassable roads, 
 to aid and comfort the family of her departed friend, by whom she 
 was always beloved and revered. 
 
 ■ <»» ■ 
 
 »- 
 
 » 
 

 : i 
 
 «- 
 
 54 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 -fil 
 
 art ill 
 
 '^'^i'll! 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 Reference has just been made to the character 
 of Mr. Ardagh's work at this time. He was 
 strenuously exerting himself to extend the 
 Church's influence in the neighborhood of 
 Barrie. A circular on this subject, bearing his 
 signature, was published in a local newspaper, 
 and will show how deeply he felt his responsi- 
 bility as a minister in a new country, and how 
 anxious he was to provide for the spiritual 
 wants of those who were perishing for lack of 
 knowledge. 
 
 This letter appeared in a Barrie newspaper, 
 under date of January 7th, 1848 : — 
 
 " To the Members of the United Church of Eng- 
 land and Ireland, in the neighbonrJiood of 
 Barrie : 
 
 ** My Dear Brethren, — From conversations 
 I have had with several persons, I find that much 
 misunderstanding prevails with respect to the 
 project lately put forth at our public meetings, 
 for increasing the ministrations of the Church 
 in the neighbourhood of Barrie, I purpose to 
 address some more meetings on the same sub- 
 ject, shortly, and should have done so before 
 this, but for a melancholy event in my family. 
 
 "Allow me, therefore, through the medium of 
 our local press, to explain an object which I 
 have much at heart, and which I trust will com- 
 mend itself to every true member of the Church 
 to which it is our happiness to belong. 
 
 «(- 
 
 i« 
 
» 
 
 -» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 55 
 
 "When I came to this country, about five 
 years since, I found that extensive spiritual 
 destitution prevailed, and that but for the occa- 
 sional preaching of the ministers of other bodies 
 of Christians, the benefits of which I here most 
 readily acknowledge, a state of things bordering 
 upon heathenism must soon have pervaded the 
 mass of the community. 
 
 "■ I immediately commenced religious services 
 on week days, at as many convenient places as 
 my time permitted ; the Sundays being occupied 
 by two services. But the more I did, the more 
 I found necessary to be done. At length the 
 Rev. Mr. Osier, with a similar feeling, joined me 
 in making application to the Church Society for 
 assistance towards the support of a travelling 
 missionary for the entire district, and we pledged 
 ourselves to raise by subscription a certain sum. 
 We succeeded, and many of you can testify to 
 the great usefulness of that missionary. But 
 what could one clergyman effect in so extensive 
 a field .'* His duties were so onerous, that he 
 was, after a short time, as you are aware, obliged 
 to give up. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, and finding that 
 the increasing population of Barric began to 
 occupy more of my time, I thought it advisable 
 to take another step in advance, namely, to 
 recommend to my flock to subscribe towards the 
 maintenance of an assistant minister for this 
 immediate neighbourhood, one of us to reside 
 in Barrie. 
 
 " My object is simply to form, as it were, a large 
 
 ®- 
 
 ■$i 
 
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 ''■^'11'. 
 
 m 
 
 mi' 
 
 
 » 
 
 -» 
 
 56 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 parish, say from twelve to fifteen miles around 
 the town of Barrie, and in that to have about 
 six regular stations, two of which might be 
 occupied every Sunday, and thus to give each 
 a Sunday service every third week, as also an 
 intervening service on the week-day, when the 
 minister could visit from house to house, an 
 important duty, which is now, from necessity, 
 almost neglected. 
 
 From the assurances of support I have already 
 received, I have taken upon me the responsibility 
 of inviting a clergyman from the old country. 
 I therefore call upon you to relieve me from the 
 anxiety which that responsibility involves. 
 
 The members of my congregation in Barrie 
 have set a good example : so cordially did they 
 enter into my views, that they have already 
 pledged themselves to give upwards of forty 
 pounds a year, and this in addition to a contri- 
 bution towards my own support, in the shape of 
 pew rents. I beg to impress upon you a (qw 
 facts: — 1st. That more than one-half of your 
 present minister's support is derived from the 
 voluntary subscriptions of the people of Eng- 
 land. 2nd. That our Church receives no sup- 
 port from Government. 31'd. That the Clergy 
 Reserves are only sufficient as yet to support 
 a few clergymen, in the entire Province. 4th. 
 That even under these circumstances, I have 
 never yet asked or received any support from 
 you. I am therefore emboldened to lay upon 
 you a conscientious duty, — that of supplying 
 yourselves with the ministrations of religion, 
 
 : l|! 
 
 »- 
 
 -^ 
 
 !8l"r li! 
 
i» 
 
 -« 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 S7 
 
 without which no blessing can rest upon you or 
 your families. It is indeed gratifying to observe 
 an anxiety to build churches to assemble in, but 
 of what use is this, if the sound of the gospel is 
 not to be heard in them ? All that is wanting is 
 the will and a united effort, as I know that the 
 numhor of professing members is sufficient to 
 accoinpHsh much more. 
 
 Adopting, then, the language of the Bishop of 
 Montreal, I would say — " It is time for you to 
 recognize the principles, and practically to own 
 the claims of your church. Scattered as you are 
 among other religious denominations, and incor- 
 porated in the civil relations of life, that, surely, 
 is no reason why you should yourselves be back- 
 ward in zeal for your church. Breathing the 
 spirit of love to all around you, you must trust 
 that those who do not agree with you, will never 
 quarrel with you for being attached to your own 
 principles ; and even if they would, you must 
 remember that you have a cause to support, a 
 faith for which to contend, a sacred and treasured 
 system of religion to transmit to the "generations 
 to come — that your posterity may know it, and 
 the children which are yet unborn, to the intent 
 that when they come up, they may teach their 
 children the same." The day has arrived in 
 which the growing wants of the church can no 
 longer be supplied exclusively by drawing from 
 sources which lie at a distance : the supply must 
 spring forth, and that freely, from the soil, or 
 much of the rising growth will wither at the root. 
 It is impossible to suppose that we can go on for 
 
 J ' 
 
 
 «!■ 
 
 8 
 
 
 
Ill 
 
 m 
 
 iJJ^si 
 
 »- 
 
 -» 
 
 58 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 I 
 
 
 ever in this dependent condition, adding burden 
 to burden, year after year, to those already under- 
 taken by 'our generous friends on the other side 
 of the Atlantic. In fact, it is now distinctly ex- 
 pected from us, in that quarter, that we should 
 make some vigorous effort for ourselves. Look, 
 then, and with an unshrinking eye, at yuur posi- 
 tion. Consider the responsibilities which devolve 
 upon you. Assume your task with hope and 
 gladness of mind. Confide it to God in the 
 name of his blessed Son. Remember with thank- 
 fulness to Him how dear your church ought to 
 be to your hearts, and how imperative is her 
 claim upon your undivided allegiance and sup- 
 port. A church who builds her faith upon the 
 pure word of God, . ad is behind no body of 
 believers in the proclamation of Christ crucified, 
 as the sole hope of sinners, and the strenuous 
 assertion in all points, of " the truth as it is in 
 Jesus ;" a church in our own day extending far 
 and wide over the world, — carrying the lamp of 
 the gospel, not only to the limits of the empire, 
 but also into the darkened abodes of heathens 
 and Jews ; spreading also with an almost unpar- 
 alleled rapidity in that branch which subsists in 
 a neighbouring Republic. 
 
 God forbid, that in thus speaking, we should 
 mean to promote a hollow reliance upon external 
 privileges alone, or a disdain of other Christian 
 bodies. We do not mean to say that the church 
 has no imperfections, or that her light has never 
 waxed dull ; and as for ourselves, clerical and 
 lay members, we have faults and sins enough 
 
 
 Gc 
 
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«- 
 
 -^ 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 59 
 
 among us to keep the lessons of humility and 
 fear before our eyes. What I speak of is, our 
 duty to our church, — a duty arising from our 
 privileges, — the calls upon us in proportion to 
 our blessings ; and truly I fear it must humble 
 rather than exalt us in our own sight, if we ask 
 whether we have fully responded to these calls. 
 This church is planted among us — shall we keep 
 and shall we cherish our religious inheritance, 
 and seek to pass it down to our children } — or 
 shall we suffer it to languish and decay } These 
 are questions which must be answered by our 
 deeds as well as by our professions ; and, God 
 be praised, we have made a bcgimiing. Here, 
 then, let me call upon you as Christians and as 
 churchmen — admitting no thought of failure in 
 my appeal — to come forward and do your part ; 
 remembering the command laid upon you "to 
 honor the Lord with your substance, and with 
 the first fruits of all your increase — as persons 
 owing a debt of gratitute to the church in the 
 mother country ; stimulated by her example, to 
 remember the words of the Lord Jesus — " Freely 
 ye have received, freely give," and that question 
 of the Apostle, — " If we have sown unto you 
 spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap 
 your carnal things .''" I might add much more, 
 but I forbear ; and though I might be bold in 
 Christ to enjoin that which is convenient, yet for" 
 love's sake I rather beseech your co-operation in 
 this import; it matter. I have consecrated this 
 the first day of the new year to this solemn 
 appeal. God grant that it may have its due 
 
 » 
 
 « 
 
IT 
 
 ^' 
 
 » 
 
 i 
 
 60 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 effect ; and that the year we have been graciously 
 permitted to commence, may teem with spiritual 
 and temporal blessings on you all, is the sincere 
 prayer of your affectionate servant in Christ, 
 
 S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 P.S. — I here subjoin a heading for the sub- 
 scription list, in the hope that some will under- 
 take to have it filled up in each locality. 
 
 We, the undersigned, do pledge ourselves to 
 pay annually the sums attached to our names, 
 to the church-wardens of Barrie, for the time 
 being, for the support of an Assistant Minister 
 to the Rev. S. B. Ardagh, and to continue the 
 same for at least three years : the first payment 
 to be made on the ist January, 1849. 
 
 -4*^ 
 
 In his doctrinal views Mr. Ardagh, belonged 
 to that school which is commonly called Evan- 
 gelical : in other words, he accepted and inter- 
 preted the articles of our church in the same 
 sense as those who had framed them. Of him 
 it may be truly said that he preached in all their 
 fulness those great truths for which our reformers 
 did not think their lives too -^ear a price, for the 
 sake of which alone it was worth either effecting 
 or preserving a reformation. But while strenu- 
 
 •»- 
 
 ■« 
 
«- 
 
 -» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 6i 
 
 ously opposing all tendency to Romish error, he 
 was staunch in his attachment to the catholic 
 ritual and primitive constitution of the church 
 to which he belonged. In every consistent Chris- 
 tian he recognized a brother, but his charity never 
 for one moment rendered him disloyal to his own 
 principles as a churchman. As a champion of 
 all that he believed true he was bold and fearless. 
 No motives of policy or expediency, no fear of 
 man deterred him for a moment from expressing 
 himself as the occasion required. Being in a 
 minority, or even single-handed, made no differ- 
 ence to him when on the side of what he felt to 
 be right, — and hence, in a large degree, may be 
 explained the high respect which was entertained 
 for him by men of all varieties of religious opin- 
 ion. The Echo, a paper devoted to the spread 
 of evangelical truth, and following in the footsteps 
 of the BercaUy (a Christian journal long published 
 in the diocese of Quebec, but then no longer ex- 
 tant,) was originated by him in conjunction with 
 his deeply valued friends, the Very Rev. Dean 
 Grasett, the Rev. Canon Baldwin, and others. 
 He supported this publication with his pen and 
 his purse to the utmost of his ability. In this, 
 as in other matters, he asked continually for 
 the blessing and assistance of his Heavenly 
 Master. i 
 
 
 ill 
 I 
 
 <|Q' 
 
 
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 iS 
 
9 
 
 -» 
 
 62 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 4 
 
 It has been intimated that the subject of this 
 memoir was accustomed to take an active part in 
 the proceedings of Synod. In that assembly, 
 the views of Mr. Ardagh were, unfortunately, 
 as the writer thinks, by no means popular : 
 and occasionally it happened that on ques- 
 tions which he deemed of great importance he 
 found himself in a small minority. That under 
 such circumstances he always acted with a sound 
 discretion is more perhaps than can be said with 
 truth. His feelings being deeply interested he 
 could not invariably express himself with the 
 calmness and moderation to be observed in some. 
 But while he never hesitated, sometimes with 
 undue impetuosity, to speak out his mind, it was 
 so evident that he spoke from his heart and 
 without bitterness, that he always managed to 
 avoid giving offence. Though there was no 
 man perhaps in the Synod whose outspoken 
 sentiments were more opposed to those of the 
 clergy in general, it may be safely said that there 
 was no one who was so general a favourite witK 
 all parties. , 
 
 11 
 
 , mi 
 
 'If'llili; 
 
 » 
 
 As a speaker, Mr. Ardagh possessed con- 
 siderable power, and never failed to convey 
 his meaning to all around, though it may be that 
 he was wantinsr in some of the attractions which 
 
 ia 
 
& 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 63 
 
 at once arrest the attention of a popular assembly. 
 He never electrified his hearers by sudden flashes 
 of eloquence, or carried them away in a torrent 
 of impassioned declamation. But, on the other 
 hand, he never startled them by paradox, or 
 offended them by bombast. On one occasion 
 only did the writer of these lines enjoy the pri- 
 vilege of hearing him preach ; and it is scarcely 
 fair to judge from a single sermon. He has, 
 however, no hesitation in saying that that parti- 
 cular sermon was one of the best he ever listened 
 to ; and from what he has heard from others he 
 has little doubt that, as a preacher, Mr. Ardagh 
 was even more distinguished than as a speaker. 
 The newspaper report of him, after his death, 
 speaks of his preaching as being marked by that 
 simple yet expressive style, which found its way 
 to the heart, which is perhaps the best praise 
 which can possibly be given to any pulpit oratory. 
 
 The following anonymous letter, received 
 by Mr. Ardagh, in March, 1869, cheered him 
 much, and encouraged him to the hope that the 
 words of life had not been spoken in vain : — 
 
 "Rev. Sir. — Since hearing that on account of 
 declining health, you are prohibited by your 
 medical advisers from preaching to us any more, 
 I cannot resist an inclination I feel to address you. 
 Although, sir, I know that as your afflictions 
 
 », 
 
 0' 
 
 -» 
 
9i- 
 
 -iS 
 
 «- 
 
 64 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 abound, your consolation must also abound ; still, 
 sir, I think that after a long life spent in preach- 
 ing the gospel it must be cheering to find that 
 you have not spent your strength for nought. 
 Such, dear sir, is my apology for writing you a 
 few lines. I consider it to be my duty, having for 
 some time sat under your ministry, to bear my 
 humble testimony in the fear of God to your 
 unceasing — and especially of late, as you no 
 doubt felt the day approaching — earnestness to 
 declare unto us the whole counsel of God, and 
 that so plainly that even the weakest comprehen- 
 sion amongst us could not by any means mistake 
 you. 
 
 " You ha^^e faithfully given forth no uncertain 
 sound, but have preached to us none but Jesus. 
 You have told us that there is no salvation in 
 any other, none but Christ, no unnecessary rites 
 of man's invention, nothing in short but the sim- 
 ple faith of the Bible; and, sir, I can testify — after 
 closely following you — that if any of your hearers 
 are lost, their blood will be upon their own heads ; 
 for you have at all times declared unto us that 
 unless we believe, and rest entirely upon the 
 merits of Christ, we cannot be saved. 
 
 "Praying that the consolations you so well 
 expressed in a sermon 'Even to your old age I 
 am He ; and to hoar hairs I will carry you,' may 
 be richly experienced by yourself, 
 
 *' I beg to subscribe myself, 
 
 " a benefited hearer in ' / 
 Trinity Church, Barrie." 
 
 « 
 
IS 
 
 ■^ 
 
 Rev. S. B. Afdagh. 
 
 65 
 
 As years went on Mr. Ardagh found his 
 strenp^th for the work of visiting his people gradu- 
 ally diminishing, and his distance from most of 
 them was always a serious hindrance in the way 
 of seeing them. He did, however, what he could 
 in tliis direction, feeling deeply the immense 
 importance of confirming in private what he 
 taught in public, and there is good reason for 
 believing that his visits were always greatly 
 appreciated, and very especially by the sick. 
 It may be asserted that very few clergymen 
 could shew as much work done in a similar space 
 of time. Mr. Ardagh, coming to this country in 
 the prime of life, full of vigor, filled with zeal, 
 sanguine as to results, pursued his missionary 
 labours with such utter disregard of health and 
 personal comfort that after a few years his strength 
 succumbed. Long attacks of fainting and subse- 
 quent exhaustion compelled him to cease 
 from work for a time, and in 1849 he returned to 
 his native country, accompanied by his eldest 
 daughter, to recruit his health. 
 
 While there he acted as one of a church depu- 
 tation in the interests of a religious society, 
 travelling and holding meetings throughout the 
 North of Ireland. Setting sail from Liverpool 
 to return home after an absence of seven months 
 they encountered such severe gales, as narrowly 
 
 
 « 
 
 <» 
 
 9 
 
 ■^ 
 
^r 
 
 » 
 
 66 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 to escape shipwreck, the ship being driven under 
 bare poles four hundred miles back to Cork, 
 where the vessel put in to refit. They eventually 
 reached home in February, 1850. 
 
 During his absence death had again visited his 
 household, his mother-in-law having, at the ad- 
 vanced age of upwards of ninety years, joyfully 
 accepted her emancipation from the bondage of 
 age and infirmity. This venerable woman who 
 had survived her own large family, with the 
 exception of one unmarried daughter, had resided 
 with him during the entire period of his married 
 life. The relation between them had always been 
 characterized by perfect harmony of opinion and 
 warmth of affection. Sh died on ist June, 1849. 
 
 From the time of Mr. Nugent's departure in 
 1854, for a period of about eighteen months, Mr. 
 Ardagh was without assistance. 
 
 Rev. Edward Morgan visited Canada in 1854 
 to recruit his health, impaired by years of minis- 
 terial labour in the West Indies. The result of 
 this visit was his decision to accept the post of 
 assistant minister at Barrie. He returned from 
 the island of St. Vincent with his family in the 
 autumn of 1855 ^^ settle finally in Barrie. Mr. 
 Morgan's opinions in the matter of faith and 
 
 ^ 
 
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 Ul. 
 
o 
 
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 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 67 
 
 doctrine were identical with those of Mr. Ardagh, 
 and, during the fourteen years in which they 
 labored together, they were in perfect accord 
 and unity. Mr. Ardagh found in Mr. Morgan 
 a faithful friend and earnest co-adjutor, and spoke 
 of him to the last hours of his life with affection 
 and respect. 
 
 Mr. Ardagh had before this time been con- 
 vinced that Barrie, as the centre of his labours, 
 should be his place of residence. Barrie was the 
 county town, ►and had increased greatly in popu- 
 lation, and was obviously the place to which, 
 apart from its being the rectory, the ministra- 
 trations of a clergyman should be confined. 
 
 We have stated the reasons why Shanty Bay 
 became Mr. Ardagh's home. Having spent all 
 the means he had upon the parsonage there, it 
 was not in his power to build another house. 
 His diary mentions the letting of sittings in 
 Barrie church. The first receipts from these, Mr. 
 Ardagh returned as a contribution towards paint- 
 ing and repairing the church, then much in need 
 of renovation. The church, being built upon 
 glebe lands, the pew rents formed part of the 
 endowment. After some years these lands 
 gradually acquired value, the income for the last 
 two years being probably as much as for the first 
 ten years of his incumbency. Just before the 
 
 « 
 
 S» 
 
& 
 
 ^ 
 
 68 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 last serious illness of Mr. Ardagh he had made up 
 his mind to come to Barrie, as he more and more 
 felt his inability to visit his flock in and around 
 Barrie as often as he wished. This step was not 
 contemplated without a pang at the prospect of 
 leaving the quiet and pretty home, the scene of 
 so many joys and sorrows. To this old place the 
 attachment of himself and his children was very 
 great. During these years the fund attached to 
 the Shanty Bay mission gradually diminished, 
 and in the end was wholly lost by reason of the 
 failure of the Bank of Upper Canada, in the 
 stock of which institution the fund was invested. 
 
 -* « » ■ 
 
 lli,;a) ii'«'lB 
 
 ■ I 
 
 We have to record here another sad incident 
 connected with this period of Mr. Ardagh's life : 
 the death of Arthur, the youngest of his twin 
 sons. He was a young man of much promise, 
 and had chosen the lav/ for his profession, of 
 which he was a diligent and devoted student. 
 
 Naturally of a delicate constitution, but of 
 indefatigable industry, he pursued his legal and 
 other studies to the serious injury of his health. 
 In the spring of 1854 he ruptured a blood vessel, 
 the alarming symptom of an insidious disease, 
 the fatal tendency of which became evident as 
 •autumn approached. His anxious father felt it 
 
 ^^ 
 
 -^- 
 
«- 
 
 -Sk 
 
 ii! mm 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 69 
 
 his duty to accede to the advice of his physician 
 to send the invalid to a warmer climate, in the 
 vain hope of prolonging a valued life. The 
 latter patiently acquiesced in what was thought 
 best for him, and reluctantly left the loved and 
 loving home he was never to see again. 
 
 He was accompanied by his eldest sister as 
 nurse and companion, their destination being 
 Aiken, South Carolina, a secluded village situated 
 in a pine forest, considered a salubrious resort for 
 invalids. Arriving as strangers they made many 
 friends among these warm-hearted southern peo- 
 ple, and were the recipients of numberless acts of 
 kindness and sympathy. Three months after- 
 wards he was attacked by the last fatal symptoms ; 
 and, with perfect calmness, he received the intima- 
 tion that his days were numbered. His faith and 
 trust were on a sure foundation; and, throughout 
 his illness, no murmur or complaint ever passed 
 his lips. His love and gratitude to the sister who 
 never left him were unbounded. On the morn- 
 ing of his death — having dressed p.s carefully as 
 if he were going for a walk — he turned to her 
 and said : " Dear E.. will you come with me .?" 
 "Where, love.?" "Through the dark valley." 
 "I cannot, darling ; but Jesus will." She then 
 repeated the 23rd Psalm, in which he fervently 
 joined. Then he said : " I think I'll lie down ;" 
 
 ill 
 
 iSI 
 
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 iK- 
 
 70 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 which he did, and fell into a quiet slumber, from 
 which he never woke. Without even a sigh, his 
 happy spirit left the worn-out body, for the ever- 
 lasting rest above, on the 12th January, 1855. 
 
 Truly the prayers of the good father and 
 mother were answered ; and the end of their 
 son was perfect peace. With them he now 
 worships around the Throne. The sorrowing 
 sister found a temporary home with her kind and 
 Christian friends, the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Cornish. 
 He had been unremitting in his ministerial visits 
 to the invalid, and did everything that Christian 
 sympathy could suggest to mitigate the sorrow 
 of such a time. 
 
 The sorrow-stricken father proceeded at once 
 to bring home his daughter, left lonely in a 
 strange land. They left all that was mortal of the 
 beloved son and brother in the peaceful church- 
 yard of Aiken, nearly a thousand miles from 
 home. 
 
 -» «■» «- 
 
 « 
 
 Early in the year 1857, Mr. Ardagh again 
 crossed the Atlantic in search of health, and at 
 this time visited the Continent of Europe, as 
 well as England, Scotland, and Ireland. 
 
 His love for the beautiful was amply gratified 
 during this prolonged course of travel, and is 
 
 KH 
 
 iS 
 
» 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 ■ 71 
 
 recorded in many sparkling descriptions touching 
 upon the old glories and sacred associations of 
 Rome, the sunny beauty of the Bay of Naples, 
 and the blended loveliness and sublimity of Swiss 
 mountains and lakes. 
 
 Any extracts from his letters would be out of 
 place here, touching, as they do, on subjects made 
 familiar by the eloquent pens of many tourists. 
 
 » * mw » 
 
 The next incident which demands notice in 
 this brief record is Mr. Ardagh's second marriage ; 
 which took place on the 9th December, 1859. 
 
 He had been a widower for a period of nearly 
 twelve years, during which time his three eldest 
 daughters had married and left the paternal home. 
 The lady upon whom his choice fell was Helena, 
 fourth daughter of William Durie, Esq., K. H., 
 sometime of the Ordnance Medical Department. 
 Well, indeed, did she justify the prudence of a 
 step which, in the case of a clergyman, has so 
 great an effect upon his usefulness. 
 
 Her Christian deportment and congenial and 
 affectionate disposition added much brightness 
 to his declining years. " Often," says one who 
 ki :w Mrs. Ardagh well, " have I heard him speak 
 in his last illness of the happiness of his married 
 life, saying that never was man so blessed in 
 
 -^ 
 
 »■ 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ■ I 
 
 ^W:- 
 
 III 
 
 lil 
 
 -, IK'- ,13 
 
»- 
 
 72 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 companions, for the equals of his first and second 
 wives could scarcely be met with, and so," he 
 adds, " think those who knew them both." 
 
 That she was beloved and appreciated by all 
 his family was a source of great happiness to him. 
 For this, as for all other blessings which sur- 
 rounded his path in his later years, he was 
 devoutly and unceasingly thankful. 
 
 For many years a Grammar School had been 
 flourishing at Barrie under the care of the Rev. 
 William F. Checkley, B. A., a gentlemen whose 
 rare and distinguished scholarship was surpassed, 
 if possible, by anxiety to do all the good within 
 his power. 
 
 From him Mr. Ardagh was accustomed to 
 receive much valuable help, which he appreciated 
 the more as Mr. Checkley's theological views 
 coincided with his own. It so happened, how- 
 ever, that, in 1861, Mr. Checkley was appointed 
 rector of the Model Grammar School, Toronto ; 
 but at the end of two years he was again occupy- 
 ing his old position at Barrie, the Government 
 grant for the support of the school at Toronto 
 having been suddenly withdrawn. It was for- 
 tunate for Mr. Ardagh that at the time he most 
 needed help it was again generously supplied to 
 
 « 
 
 -0 
 
a 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 73 
 
 him by his old friend. In the summer of 1861 
 he was reminded, by a serious attack of illness, 
 that he was no longer equal to the severe labours 
 which had distinguished his earlier years ; and 
 though, after a time, he recovered so far as to take 
 an active part in the working of his parish, yet 
 from this time he was compelled to moderate his 
 exertions, and to be more careful of his health. 
 
 
 In 1864 a new and much larger church was 
 built at Barrie, the old structure having become 
 altogether inadequate to the wants of that 
 thriving town. Nor were church matters at 
 Shanty Bay at this time stationary. The inte- 
 rior arrangements had been altered to afford 
 increased accommodation; and, in 1854, Mr. 
 Ardagh's younger daughters (who always took 
 a most loving interest in this church) collected 
 a large sum, with which a fine bell, costing 
 about $400, was purchased, also complete new 
 hangings, matting, blinds, &c. One member of 
 the congregation gave a carpet for the chancel ; 
 others also contributed liberally to the furnish- 
 ing of the church. 
 
 Greater exertions daily became necessary for 
 the due discharge of his ministerial functions, 
 and these were times when a sense of his growing 
 weakness occasioned him no little uneasiness. 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 » 
 
^- 
 
 » 
 
 74 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 But faith in God was one of Mr. Ardagh's 
 characteristics ; and now, as always, did he "cp"* 
 his burden upon the Lord." 
 
 To some extent his lack of service was sup- 
 plied by his assistant the Rev. E. Morgan (now 
 his worthy successor as Rector of Barrie.) 
 
 The sphere of this gentleman's duties lay out- 
 side of Barrie ; but, in addition, he undertook 
 others in the town itself where he resided, and 
 thus afforded to Mr. Ardagh a grateful and almost 
 necessary relief from labours which, year by year, 
 were pressing upon him more heavily. 
 
 In 1867, he accepted the Rural Deanery of 
 Simcoe, the offer of which was made to him by 
 the Bishop, as he was the senior clergyman, and 
 on account of the *' zeal and activity" he had 
 shewn as Chairman of the branch of the Society 
 in that district. 
 
 « 
 
 We here append a portion of a letter written 
 since his death by an old friend and brother 
 clergyman. Dr. O'Meara, Rector of Port Hope : — 
 
 " I have," writes the Doctor, "the most pleasant 
 recollections of a missionary journey that Mr. A. 
 and myself made some years ago to the Muskoka 
 tei ritory. He was at the time in very bad health, 
 and the weather was more than usuallly inclem- 
 ent. Many younger men would have pleaded 
 ill health as a reason for not fulfilling the arduous 
 
 »■ 
 
 ■» 
 
 «- 
 
1 
 
 id 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 75 
 
 duties which the authorities of the Diocese had 
 laid on him ; but he refused to avail himself of 
 that plea, and completed the whole programme 
 of meetings and services, preaching and speaking 
 with all the fervor and earnestness that had 
 marked him when a much younger and quite 
 healthy man. 
 
 " On that tour a very delicate task fell to him 
 quite unexpectedly. He was called on after a 
 Sunday service to mediate between a clergyman 
 of his rural deanery and a discontented and com- 
 plaining congregation ; and I remember being 
 much pleased with the tact and faithfulness which 
 he manifested in dealing with the difficulty." 
 
 )S 
 
 But the time now was fast approaching when 
 his term of service would be over ; nor could the 
 utmost efforts of affection prevail to put it off. 
 In the summer of 1868 a return of acute suffering, 
 caused by a complicated disorder of the liver, 
 obliged him once more to place himself under 
 medical treatment, and he was advised that the 
 only thing to save his life, even through the ap- 
 proaching winter, was a sea voyage, followed by 
 entire cessation from labour. When this sad 
 announcement was made to his congregation at 
 Barrie, they lost no time in presenting him with 
 a handsome purse to defray the expenses. 
 
 «- 
 
 ■® 
 
«- 
 
 -% 
 
 76 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 The following letter from his old and esteemed 
 parishioner Edmund S. Lally, Esq., accompanied 
 the purse : — 
 
 My dear Sir. — The late hour at which Mrs. 
 Lally has returned from her collecting lour (11 
 p.m.), and the necessity for mailing this to-night, 
 is the only apology I can offer for its not being 
 accompanied by a suitable address to you on 
 your departure. Your own kind heart will, I am 
 sure, suggest all that we would have desired to 
 say on such an occasion. 
 
 With our united kind remembrances to Mrs. 
 Ardagh, and sincere wishes for your speedy and 
 complete restoration to health, 
 
 I remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours very truly. 
 
 Edmund S. Lally. 
 
 Hasty arrangements were made with regard to 
 Mr. Ardagh's duty ; and once more he crossed 
 the Atlantic in the spring of 1868. The sea 
 voyage and the subsequent care and devoted 
 watchfulness of his brother-in-law. Dr. Edward 
 Long, of Dublin, tended for a time to the tempo- 
 rary amelioration of his malady, and the great 
 increase of his bodily ease. 
 
 It was the opinion of Dr. Long, however, cor- 
 roborated by Dr. Hudson, of Dublin, and after- 
 wards confirmed by Dr. Gull, of London, that 
 
 « 
 
 is 
 
-» 
 
 » 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 f7 
 
 the constitution was completely broken up, and 
 that his life could not be much prolonged. His 
 beloved wife, who ministered to him with untir- 
 ing affection, could not bring herself to believe 
 that such was the case, his sufferings being so 
 much abated, and in consequence all his natural 
 brightness of spirit having returned to him. He, 
 however, was not deceived. In October of that 
 year he thus wrote to one of his children in allu- 
 sion to the death of a little grandson : '* I can in 
 imagination see the four carrying the little coffin 
 up the hill, and the vault opening again to receive 
 another. It will not be long till I add to the 
 number already there. I wish my coffin to be 
 placed over that of your dear mother." 
 
 After leaving Dublin Mr. Ardagh visited his 
 youngest daughter, wife of Capt. E. C. C. Foster, 
 of the 1 2th regiment, then stationed at Plymouth, 
 where he spent some very happy days, rambling 
 about Mount Edgecumbe, visiting Torquay and 
 the many objects of interest in the neighbourhood. 
 His daughter, in recalling this time, spoke of the 
 great shock which she experienced in noticing 
 his altered appearance and increased feebleness, 
 notwithstanding which his chivalrous and unsel- 
 fish devotion always manifested to his wife ..nd 
 daughters, had not in any degree relaxed. 
 
 »• 
 
 -^ 
 
«- 
 
 o 
 
 78 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 Some months later he made a long and 
 fatiguing voyage in very stormy weather from 
 Dublin to Plymouth for the purpose of baptizing 
 her first-born child. 
 
 When in London Mr. Ardagh was frequently 
 and hospitably entertained by the Rev. Henry 
 Stebbing, D.D., Rector of St. James's, Hamp- 
 stead Road, and his accomplished wife. This 
 gentleman, who was a connection of Mr. Ardagh's 
 first wife, and in whose society he had passed 
 many happy days in his earlier life, found leisure 
 from engrossing literary work to amuse and 
 cheer his invalid friend during his short residence 
 in London. 
 
 During this summer he had the pleasure of 
 spending a few days with Lady Brydges, of 
 Boultibrooke, Radnorshire, a friend and former 
 parishioner of his, and also with Lady Wetherall, 
 a cousin of his wife's, whose distinguished husband 
 met with so untimely an end some months later. 
 He also visited his venerable uncle. Col. Ardagh, 
 of Taunton, Somersetshire, who has since passed 
 away. 
 
 At Coolaghmore House, Kilkenny, the resi- 
 dence of Mr. and Mrs. Weld, where he spent 
 some happy days, he had the great pleasure of 
 meeting another aged uncle, Stephen Russell 
 Ardagh, of Callan, the last surviving brother 
 
 ^• 
 
 -» 
 
 \ 
 
5> 
 
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 i 
 
 Rev. S. B, Ardagh. 
 
 79 
 
 of his father, and the father of Mrs. Weld and 
 of his son-in-law, William D. Ardagh. 
 
 His letters also speak of thj hospitality and 
 kindness of many other friends and relatives : 
 his beloved friend of early days, Rev. Arthur 
 Moneypeny, Vicar of Bally-James-Duff, Rev. 
 Henry Stewart, son-in-law of his old friend 
 Archdeacon Palmer, of Guelph, Rev. Mr. Greene, 
 Rector of Granard, whose wife is sister of one 
 whom he warmly valued, Judge Gwynne, of 
 Toronto, his brother-in-law. At Pouldrcw House, 
 County Waterford, he was cordially welcomed 
 by the family of Richard Power, I£sq.. who was 
 then in Canada, and who has lately inadc this 
 country his home. 
 
 At this time, though separated from his 
 people, he was with them in spirit, as was 
 apparent by frequent allusions to them in his 
 letters. On one occasion he writes : " The only 
 trouble I have is, about my services at home. 
 I must leave this in God's hands. He knows 
 how anxious I am about them." An effort 
 was made to induce him to spend the winter 
 in England ; but his heart yearned after his 
 family and his people ; and feeling that his 
 days were numbered, he longed earnestly to 
 return, and die amongst them. 
 
 -i» 
 
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m 
 
 
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 80 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 Mr. Ardagh returned to Canada in November; 
 but from that time he was never able to do more 
 than take an occasional service, and even that 
 sorely tried his failing strength. 
 
 It was said of him, "the darkest shadow 
 which dimmed his bright spirit, arose from the 
 thought of his uselessness in his Master's service, 
 and throughout his long illness, when he felt 
 at all able, nothing could prevent his using 
 his slight accession of strength in the exercise of 
 his duty." One who can best testify, knows that 
 in the quiet of his chamber his prayers were con- 
 stantly offered up for his people. 
 
 Mr. Ardagh's only unmarried daughter, of 
 whom he said that her faithful love and tenderness 
 were an inexpressible solace to him, thus writes 
 of her father : " For many years past he had been 
 accustomed to assemble round his table every 
 New Year's day his numerous family connections. 
 This always afforded him extreme pleasure, he 
 was never happier than when surrounded by those 
 • he loved, and seemed to find his own enjoyment 
 in the quiet contemplation of the happiness of 
 others. On the last New Year's day of his life, 
 he desired that there should be no departure from 
 this custom ; but there seemed many obstacles 
 in the way — the feebleness of his health, the 
 severity of the weather, and other circumstances 
 
 <9 
 
 id 
 
«- 
 
 -« 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 8i 
 
 seemed to combine to render it difficult for all to 
 meet. Those of his family still left at home 
 tried by every means to dissuade him from 
 thinking of it, fearing that he was unequal to 
 the exertion, but he would not listen to the sug- 
 ges tion of any difficulties. He said .cheerfully, 
 tliju[;h a little sadly, that it would be his last 
 New Year's day on earth, and it would be a 
 great disappointment to him if he could not have 
 the pleasure of seeing those he loved so fondly 
 once more gathered round him. To others he 
 said he was sure they would not disappoint him 
 when he had set his heart on it ; his wish was 
 gratified, and those who saw him that day will 
 not soon forget the sweet and happy expression 
 of his patient face. He took his usual place at 
 the dinner table, and though he could not eat a 
 morsel of food, he by no sign betrayed that he 
 was weak and suffering ; but was, as always, 
 watchful and anxious that every one should be 
 well attended to ; he expressed his pleasure at 
 seeing the circle assembled once more ; and 
 spoke in loving terms of the only absent one, 
 who was divided from him by the wide Atlantic. 
 During the whole evening his face and manner 
 showed to us, who watched him, that he was be- 
 coming daily more chastened and purified from 
 earthly dross. We fancied we could already see 
 
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 82 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 the bright reflection of the Father's face, that 
 even then he had in view the glorious inheritance 
 of the saints in light."* 
 
 In June, 1869, he attended Synod for the last 
 time, but though he listened with interest to 
 
 * The circumstances ot that evening suggested il.e following 
 verses to one of his sons-in-law. When written they were rea ' 
 aloud to the group assembled. He for whom they were pennetl 
 listening with grateful look of happy assent : 
 
 "The evening hour glides softly towards me, 
 
 In blended lines of light and shade, 
 Fair as a morn of mist and gladness. 
 
 Albeit in solemn carb ai'rayed. 
 
 AH perfumed by the love around rac. 
 
 The twilight deepens into night ; 
 Morn's colors brightly still surround me, 
 
 The reflex of departed light. 
 
 While tender arms are round me twining, 
 
 The vesper calm glides sweetly by. 
 In deepest peace my soul enshrining. 
 
 As closes Life's brief history. 
 
 And yet though heort and strength are failing. 
 
 With earthly beauty, love, and light. 
 No doubt of Him my soul assailing 
 
 Hath added darkness to the night. 
 
 Is there not love, and light, and beauty 
 Where blackness broods with ebon plume ; 
 
 A morning star, a dawning glory, 
 To light the shadows of the tomb. 
 
 Yes, in the lore of sacred story 
 
 Are found the records of that shore, 
 To which the Lamb's love and His glory, 
 
 Doth light the path for evermore. 
 
 And so may twilight blend with darkness, 
 
 For living love in deathless band, 
 My Saviour s love is cast around me. ' 
 
 And naught can snatch me from His liand." 
 
 i 
 
 -is 
 
« 
 
 ■r3t 
 
 Rtv. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 83 
 
 some of the debates, he made no attempt to take 
 any part in them, a fact itself significant of fail- 
 ing powers, if the same thing were not sadly 
 apparent to his brethren from his strangely 
 altered appearance. Probably there were few 
 wh> met him on that occasion who did not feel 
 that his kind and venerable face would never 
 be seen among them again. Speedily, indeed, 
 were the forebodings realized of those who were 
 most shocked at beholding him a mere wreck of 
 his former self; for within a month he, with 
 difficulty, managed to preach his last sermon. 
 "The nth of July," writes Mrs. Ardagh, "was 
 the last Sunday he proclaimed the everlasting 
 Gospel to his congregation at Shanty Bay, v. here 
 he had faithfully preached it for nearly 27 years. 
 The Rev. Mr. Morgan being obliged to be 
 absent on that day, he undertook the whole 
 service, but being unequal to the delivery of a 
 sermon, he made a few observations extempore, 
 in the reading desk, from the 2nd lesson of the 
 day : i Thess. 3rd chap. A feeling of extreme 
 nervousness was experienced through the church 
 when he commenced, all knowing how unequal 
 he was to the exertion. But it seemed as if he 
 felt that his days here were but few, and that the 
 place wherein he stood would soon know him no 
 more, for with all his heart's en nest breathings, 
 
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 84 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 as if with the Spirit's power, he spoke of the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ, and of the full 
 pardon promised to all sinners believing in his 
 blessed name ; praying his hearers to remember 
 all he had said to them, and to accept the offer 
 of salvation while it was called to-day, ** building 
 up themselves in their most holy faith, praying 
 in the Holy Ghost, and looking for the mercy of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 He was much affected, his voice, at times, 
 betraying his emotion. While in the church the 
 same feeling was audibly manifested by his 
 hearers. 
 
 The writer adds, " May they with God's 
 blessing, during his long ministry of holy 
 things, have turned many feet into the path of 
 peace, proving to them a well of life. May he 
 not have labored in vain ; that at the coming of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, with all His saints, we 
 might meet and dwell together, an acceptable 
 people, for ever with the Lord, in the joys of 
 immortality. He has often said that he never 
 preached a sermon without saying, even in a few 
 words, that which might, by the grace of God, 
 save a soul — 'Jesus is the way, the truth, and 
 the life.' This was the substance of his advice, 
 as regards preaching, to many a young brother 
 in the ministry. Oh ! may many souls be given 
 
 -«( 
 
©- 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 85 
 
 to him as his rejoicing in that day when God 
 shall make up his jewels." 
 
 In the same month, also, he preached his last 
 sermon in Barrie. Knowing that his friends would 
 oppose this effort, he had on this occasion kept 
 his intention secret, only revealing it to a single 
 member of his family, and not allowing himself 
 to be dissuaded, though earnestly entreated not 
 to overtask his little strength. It appeared after- 
 wards that he had an idea, amounting to a 
 conviction, that this would be his last message to 
 the people whom he had for so long a time 
 faithfully borne in his heart before God, and he 
 could not lose the opportunity of speaking to 
 them once again, knowing how powerful, through 
 God's grace, the words of a dying man are often 
 found to be. Accordingly, he addressed his 
 people from the Saviour's last request, " Do this 
 in remembrance of me"; speaking with the power 
 and energy of health, but with the pathetic 
 earnestness of one whose voice would soon be 
 hushed ; and especially, most earnestly and 
 lovingly, he called on the young to lose no time 
 before attending to their Lord's call. The ser- 
 mon over, he was driven back to Shanty Bay, 
 and from this time his strength steadily declined, 
 though he hoped, almost to the last, to be per- 
 mitted to speak once more in his Master's name. 
 
 O 
 
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i 
 
 
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 86 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 His public work, however, was now done, and 
 it only remained that he should so meet the last 
 enemy as to illustrate the sustaining power of 
 God's grace, to the affectionate circle of friends 
 and relations who had access to him in his 
 home. 
 
 o 
 
 The first violent attack of haemorrhage — writes 
 a member of his family — that hastened his end, 
 occurred on August 8th, as he was feeling 
 unusually well, and preparing to take part in 
 the Church Service at Shanty Bay. The pros- 
 tration which ensued lasted a fortnight. When 
 able to leave his bed, his days were chiefly 
 spent in an easy chair on the verandah. 
 
 Through the cool, mellow autumn days, his 
 gentle spirit was in perfect harmony with the 
 peaceful country life, and deeply he loved God 
 in the loveliness of his works. The tender, quiet 
 beauty of the landscape, as seen from the rustic 
 Parsonage, was a never failing pleasure. The 
 brightness of the sunshine found corresponding 
 rays in his own heart. When his strength was 
 very low, and a few steps wearied him, he still 
 sought his accustomed place to breathe and enjoy 
 God's sweet air ; a gentle, resigned expression 
 on his face, an expression even of pleasure, as 
 
 » 
 
 ^ 
 
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 -» 
 
 o 
 
 ReiK S. B. Ardagh, 
 
 87 
 
 his eye rested upon some fresh loveHness in the 
 sky, and ever varying water. His affectionate 
 heart, too, found much solace during the long 
 afternoons in having his beloved ones about him, 
 and genuine joy beamed on his fine expressive 
 face, as he welcomed the arrival of those of his 
 relatives who, from other ties, could not always 
 have the happiness of being near him. In 
 thankful patience he waited for many successive 
 days and weeks, until God should call him to 
 that place where all is perfect, where his eyes 
 should behold the King in his beauty. 
 
 " His character, always childlike in its fresh- 
 ness," writes another member of his family, "the 
 warmth of his affections, his impulsiveness, his 
 sanguine temperament, and above all, his humil- 
 it}^ became more and more saint-like as he 
 neared the border of the promised land. He 
 bore with the sweetest patience his weakness, 
 and at times his great suffering. Remarkably 
 unselfish, he ever thought more of others than of 
 himself Long after he was unable to taste more 
 than one morsel, he sat at his table, well pleased 
 to see others partaking with appetite of what he 
 could not put to his lips. If those about him 
 saw his face shadowed by pain, he hastened to 
 assure them it was nothing, and at once put on 
 a bright expression. So after attacks of painful 
 
 
 IS 
 
 -^ 
 
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 » 
 
 88 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 weakness, his chief wish was to allay the anxiety 
 depicted in the faces of those around him, and 
 the first moment he could articulate he would 
 faintly utter, *! feel better now.' Me became 
 truly, almost perfected for heaven ; Divine Grace 
 shone so brightly in all his words and thoughts. 
 One trait was, in his last days, remarkably 
 developed. With extreme self-diffidence he 
 listened with increased respect to the suggestions 
 of those about him ; not hesitating even to 
 submit himself to the guidance of his children. 
 Gratitude, also, was another striking charac- 
 teristic of him at this season. Very appreciative 
 of aiiy kindness from his fellow men, he was 
 never tired of recounting God's mercies and 
 blessings. He thanked his Father for every 
 thing, never murmuring at any part of his deal- 
 ings, and coupling every wish for prolonged life, 
 for strength in weakness, for alleviation from 
 pains, with the pious ejaculation, ' If it be God's 
 will.' " 
 
 A few weeks before his death, he said to one 
 of his children, " If it was the Lord's will to 
 spare me a little longer to my family, I should 
 be thankful ; but He knows best ! He knows 
 best !" He often said, " I am almost too happy ; 
 I wonder why the Lord makes me so happy." 
 One thought seemed to give him unceasing 
 
 ■» 
 
s> 
 
 «k 
 
 RciK S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 89 
 
 pleasure ; the realization of his being clothed in 
 Christ's righteousness. Many times would he 
 lay down his hook, exclaiming, " It is a wonderful 
 thought ! " 
 
 The second attack of ha:morrhai.{e returned at 
 the end of September. The last week he was 
 unable to leave his bed. A friend who saw 
 him a few days before his death, was struck 
 with his look of "heavenly contentment and 
 peace." When he grew too weak even to hear 
 one speaking, his heart and soul were still sus- 
 tained by the one theme. On his last Sunday 
 he said, " I feel too weak to talk or hear any 
 thing. It does not seem like Sunday : but you 
 can all pray for me." 
 
 To the last he was very grateful for the kind 
 enquiries of his people, as also for the delicate, 
 thoughtful attentions shewn by so many of 
 them. His anxiety for the welfare of souls 
 outweighing and outlasting all interest in purely 
 worldly happiness, was remarkably evinced by 
 an incident occurring two days before his 
 release. He had written to a friend, to whom 
 he was much attached, on the all-important 
 question of his soul's salvation. Each time 
 letters were brought into the house, he would 
 enquire for the reply he so eagerly looked 
 for. At last it came, and with this letter, one 
 
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 from his tenderly loved absent daughter, whose 
 letters always rejoiced him. 
 
 At this time he had become so painfully weak 
 that he could scarcely bear the sound of a voice. 
 He expressed no wish to hear his daughter's 
 letter, but simply asked how it was with her, and 
 being told that it bore affectionate messages to 
 him, and that she was in good health, he gently 
 said, "That is well." The other letter it was 
 feared might excite him, and therefore its con- 
 tents were only alluded to ; but he begged so 
 earnestly to hear it, that it was read to him. 
 He listened with a look of happy thankfulness, 
 which his feeble voice could not express, and 
 seemed qitite satisfied. 
 
 The last portion of Scripture read to him, was, 
 by his own request, the 51st Psalm. . . 
 
 The scene at his death-bed was one not 
 often witnessed, and most touching. All his 
 children surrounded it save one. God saw fit 
 that his servant should suffer much, but He 
 sent peace and calm before the end. When 
 the power of utterance was almost gone, one 
 of his family, who desired to hear from his 
 own lips a few assuring words, put the ques- 
 tion, " Do you feel your Saviour near you now, 
 in the dark valley.^" The answer came in 
 laboured, broken whispers, "Yes, dear ! yes, dear ! 
 
 0. 
 
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 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 91 
 
 I am a poor sinner, but Jesus died for mc ; the 
 just for the unjust ; to save to the uttermost- 
 I do not feel, as I ought, my sinfulness and His 
 righteousness. I want to feel more my need of 
 Him." Then after a {q.\\ words, which were lost, 
 "He has poured his blessings upon me ; sur- 
 rounded by my darling wife, and darling children." 
 No more could be heard ; but soon after he 
 murmured, "Pray!" and with those he loved 
 kneeling around the bed, prayers being offered 
 by each in turn, and sweet comforting promises 
 of scripture repeated amid suppressed sobs and 
 tears, his spirit passed away, so calmly, sweetly, 
 gently, that none could say at what moment the 
 angel had been there to bear it aloft. 
 
 It was two hours after midnight when he 
 departed. All that night the waves had broken 
 heavily and loudly on the shore. How often he 
 had listened to their murmurs in sunny days of 
 health, and been soothed by their lulling voices 
 through weary nights of pain. The autumn 
 wind, sweeping in through the open windows, 
 sighed mournfully through the room ^\hich for 
 so many years had been the gathering place of a 
 happy circle. His Bible lay open at the last 
 words on which his mortal eyes had rested. 
 Looking at the still and peaceful face, it sounded 
 like a voice from the unknown world, " Let all 
 
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 92 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, 
 and evil speaking, be put away from you, with 
 all malice, and be yc kind one to another, tender- 
 hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for 
 Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 
 
 )S 
 
 His beloved people paid every possible tribute 
 of respect to his memory. Two days after his 
 decease (October 7th) his mortal remains were 
 followed to his last resting place, the family 
 vault at Barrie, by an immense concourse. 
 Ministers of all denominations were present in 
 the procession ; an evidence of the large and 
 loving charity which he manifested to all who 
 were called by the name of Christ. It is remark- 
 able that he was borne away from the home 
 which had known him so long, on the twenty- 
 seventh anniversary of the day on which he first 
 beheld it. That far-off day, serene, and glowing 
 with sunny radiance, had ushered in the longest 
 period of his life's work. Under such an 
 unclouded sky was he carried to his rest. The 
 loveliness of the outer world was in sad contrast 
 to the darkened home, yet not discordant ; a type 
 of the brightness of the land beyond the river, 
 speaking of peace to the hearts of the mourners, 
 
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 & 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 93 
 
 and of comforting assurance that it was indeed 
 well with him for whom they wept. 
 
 The mortuary chapel was hung with black, 
 also the pulpit and the chancel rails of the 
 church, where his voice had so long been heard ; 
 which mourning garb it continued to wear for its 
 departed pastor during the eleven weeks which 
 preceded Christmas. 
 
 The solemn funeral hynnis of the succeeding 
 Sunday awakened much painful emotion on the 
 part of many, and the sombre dress of the con- 
 gregation, showed how deep was their sense of 
 the loss they had sustained. 
 
 There was no lack of feeling in the church a*; 
 Barrie ; but it w\is at Shanty Bay, more espe- 
 cially, that the blank left by the dear departed 
 minister seemed most fully realized. This was 
 only natural, since it was at the latter place that 
 Mr. Ardagh had lived ; and the people there 
 being few in number had lived together almost 
 like one large family. Mere, on the Sunday 
 after the funeral, the Rev. Mr. Morgan officiated, 
 and when he gave out the hymns, which his 
 emotion almost prevented him from doing, the 
 people did not so much sing, as sob forth the 
 sorrowful words ; and, at other parts of the 
 service, loud and continuous weeping was heard 
 distinctly through the little sanctuary. So 
 
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 94 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 evidently and deeply was it felt that a kind 
 friend, no less than a faithful pastor, was gone 
 from them for ever. 
 
 At the meeting of Synod, in the same summer, 
 Bishop Bethune, in lamenting the death of Mr. 
 Ardagh, speaks of him as "a clergyman of 
 singleness of purpose and blameless life, who for 
 years devoted himself with energy and success 
 to his work." 
 
 A number of resolutions were passed by 
 various public bodies in his County, expressive 
 of the loss sustained, and of sympathy with his 
 family. They will be found in another place. 
 
 « 
 
 «- 
 
 As a private Christian, Mr. Ardagh shone with 
 peculiar brightness. *'My impressions of his 
 social character," writes one who knew him well 
 and intimately for many years, "are all that is 
 pleasing. His hospitality was unbounded ; per- 
 haps carried to a fault. Whoever went to The 
 Parsonage was received with true Christian 
 cordiality, and it was evidently a great pleasure 
 to him to see not only friends but strangers 
 seated at his table. His genial happy spirit, 
 combined with the polish of the gentleman, and 
 
 » 
 
 
 
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I'll 
 
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 Rev. S. B. Ardag/i. 
 
 95 
 
 the sincerity of the Christian, made his guests 
 ever feel at home. His manner was pecuHarly 
 cordial ; indeed, he seemed to possess in a 
 singular degree the power of drawing hearts 
 towards him." 
 
 His love for literature was always to him an 
 unfailing source of pleasure ; the occupation of 
 his few leisure hours in health, the solace and 
 alleviation of days of weakness and suffering. 
 All who knew him will remember the arm-chair 
 in which he sat in the drawing-room of The Par- 
 sonage in winter, and on the verandah in summer ; 
 and the book or paper which was the invariable 
 accompaniment of the short periods of recreation 
 which diversified his busy life. The number and 
 variety of the books which he read, will suffi- 
 ciently explain what was obvious to those who 
 conversed with him, his intimate acquaintance 
 with the graver forms of modern thought. The 
 solid periodical literature of the day, found 
 in him a constant reader. The great Quarter- 
 lies, Blackivood, Evangelical CJiristendom, the 
 organ of the " Alliance," and TJic Record news- 
 paper, the exponent of Evangelical principles 
 in England, were always to be found on his 
 table. 
 
 Naturally of a sanguine temperament, he was 
 ever looking on the bright side of things, and 
 
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 96 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
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 his faith and trust were very great. No matter 
 what dark clouds loomed above him, his eye 
 seemed directed beyond. He truly carried out 
 our Saviour's lesson, to " take no thought for the 
 morrow." When those near him would some- 
 times feel anxious, he would reply, " Why fret 
 for what may never come 1 Let us leave the 
 future in God's hands." In his case this trust 
 was remiarkably justified. In his younger days, 
 with only a Curate's salary, and an increasing 
 family, he was often left without a shilling. But 
 invariabl}', through some source — often an unex- 
 pected one — sufficient came to cover present 
 wants. This, the writer had from Mr. Ardagh's 
 own lips ; and in later days he loved to tell of 
 God's goodness to him in this respect. His own 
 means were never large, though his generous 
 heart, and manner of acting, often led people to 
 suppose the contrary ; and never did he refuse 
 to answer a call of want from any quarter, 
 though it drew the last dollar from his purse. 
 In later years (his children each inheriting from 
 their mother a share of a legacy left her by her 
 uncle, the late Col. Anderson,) he was enabled to 
 carry out to a greater extent his desires in this 
 respect. 
 
 Of a singularly forgiving spirit, the adverse 
 criticism, or unkind remarks of others left no 
 
 la- 
 
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 Re:'. S. B. Ardagh. 
 
 97 
 
 abiding trace of annoyance. Possessed of true 
 charity, he bore ill-will to none, and was only 
 too willing to forgive and forget. 
 
 He was very impulsive and quick to utter 
 what was in his mind at the moment, with littk 
 of the worldly wisdom of reticence, and opinions 
 hastily spoken may, on some occasions, have 
 re-acted against him. But by any who knew 
 him, they could not be resented ; for there lay 
 still below the large kindly heart, and any heat 
 which he felt at the moment was soon forgotten. 
 
 " By those who knew him best," writes a 
 member of his family, '* he was loved the best." 
 No higher tribute could be paid to true worth. 
 He was peculiarly beloved and respected by his 
 family ; and never did a father better merit his 
 children's love. 
 
 Among the many letters of sympathy received 
 by his mourning family after his death was one 
 written by a warm and stcdfast friend of the 
 family, who has for many years occupied a 
 prominent position in Canada, and whose sterling 
 worth and charms of person and manner are 
 known far and wide. The following is an extract 
 from her letter : — 
 
 "The news of your good and kind father's 
 departure was a fresh reminder of the time that 
 
 13 
 
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 98 
 
 Mofioir of the 
 
 is getting every year further away from our own 
 family party ; the time, I mean, when two of my 
 dear brothers, now gone, used to- partake with 
 us of the ever kind hospitahty of Shanty Bay. 
 And now so many of the old voices that used to 
 sound so cheerfully then, are silent to us for 
 ever ! Ah ! believe me, I am very, very sorry 
 to think of the blank there will be among my 
 kind friends, now that the loving and tender old 
 father has been called to his rest — for myself, 
 too, for I know that I have lost one whose 
 interest was genuine and sincere, and whom I can 
 ever remember as having been most kind to me 
 and mine, when we came as strangers to the 
 country. How many pleasant days spent at his 
 house, your father's name must have brought to 
 the memories of those who had been there, and 
 who will remember his unaffected, simple hos- 
 pitality, and the special power he seemed to 
 possess of making every one at home who par- 
 took of it." 
 
 The following are extracts from other letters, 
 
 the writers of which were clergymen : — 
 
 ,,,_.- ,. ^ ■ , .....■/ 
 
 "Regards to all your circle, with a loving 
 centre like you, that may well be of large, and 
 yet well defined circumference." 
 
 « 
 
 » 
 
 \m 
 
& 
 
 Rev. S. B. Ardagh, 
 
 99 
 
 Another, writing after his death, says : " Of all 
 men living he held, uninterruptedly, the first 
 place in my esteem, from the day we first knew 
 each other, May 20th, 1824, till he entered into 
 his rest. We were pleasant in our lives, and 
 though in death separated, we shall be restored 
 to each other in the bonds of everlasting love." 
 
 " My intimacy with your dear father was more 
 during our college than our clerical life. Yet 
 even then I saw in him, in embryo, the qualities 
 which, matured by experience and sanctified by 
 Divine Grace, made him what he was in after 
 life, upright, just, and exemplary, in every 
 respect." 
 
 ** His missionary work was indeed a work of 
 faith and labour of love, and one in which to 
 persevere would demand the constant realizing 
 of the Master's and Father's voice, * Son, go work 
 to-day in my vineyard.' One of the most 
 striking features in Mr. Ardagh's character, was 
 simplicity : to me, he ever seemed to be guileless. 
 His indifference to money was almost a fault ; 
 he was ever ready to give equally with his means, 
 and this generous disposition he retained to the 
 last, if I may judge from his kind consideration 
 of my little church, at a time when the demands 
 of expiring nature would have occupied most 
 
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 Manoir of the 
 
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 »- 
 
 minds, to the exclusion of all else How- 
 ever much those nearest and dearest to my late 
 brother in Christ mourn his absence, they cannot 
 but rejoice that he is where the strife is over, 
 where the joy of their Lord is their strength. 
 May the hope of a happy re-union stimulate us 
 all to double our diligence in glorifying God and 
 serving our day and generation." 
 
 An absent daughter wrote of him : " What 
 principally remains in my mind is, the remem- 
 brance of his indulgent love for his children, his 
 blindness towards their faults, his impartiality in 
 judging the shortcomings of those who had no 
 claim on his regard. Above all, his simple faith. 
 I also remember how, when an opportunity 
 occurred of engaging his offices of brotherly 
 kindness or charity, he never paused to reflect 
 how far he would be the loser, before holding out 
 a loving, helping hand." 
 
 The following extracts from his letters, at 
 different periods, may serve, in some measure, to 
 illustrate his character : — 
 
 "February, 1849. — ^ have every confidence 
 that you will not be led away by the fashionable 
 follies of the time. I trust that after your 
 sojourn in Toronto, you will be content with this 
 
 '» 
 
 ^:;i 
 
» 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. /). Ardag/i. 
 
 lOI 
 
 lonely place. Remember your duty is here, and 
 looking up to God, Me will make any place 
 agreeable. It is, at all events, sanctified by the 
 glorious departure of your beloved mother." 
 
 "May, 1849: Off Waterford. — Only three 
 weeks from Toronto, without steam ! How 
 thankful we ought to be for such a splendid 
 passage. A great care, my dear child, rests 
 upon your young shoulders ; but I am free from 
 anxiety. Do all you can to make the last days 
 of the mother of our dear departed happy. 
 Indeed, I love her for her own sake, as the 
 world docs not produce a more disinterested or 
 unselfish, or more loving mother. 
 
 " You are all upon my heart, and I would be, 
 if possible, a mother to you all, as well as a 
 father. My happiness is intimately bound up 
 with that of my dear children, for whom I never 
 cease to thank God that they are what they are. 
 I hope that your hearts, as well as voices, will be 
 lifted up morning and evening for us and your- 
 selves. We have prayers on board every day, 
 and remember you all. Kiss all for me, not 
 forgetting the little nephews, whom I hope to 
 treat as my own children. May our Gracious 
 God take you all into His protection, and shield 
 you from every harm. Tell 'Aunt Bessie' I love 
 her as a sister, and more than a sister." 
 
 CI 
 
 fe* 
 
f 
 
 «- 
 
 102 
 
 Memoir of the 
 
 "July, 1849. — As for dear M , I shall never 
 
 forget her deep attachment and devotion to her 
 dying mother, to whom she was an unceasing 
 nurse and companion. I can see her now, as 
 I have often seen her, beside the sofa on which 
 her languid frame was stretched. She is an 
 affectionate, dear child. I love my dear boys 
 also, and hope they will not disappoint my 
 
 expectations.* I think that I have secured 
 
 the services of an excellent clergyman. They 
 are six in family. I think you must make room 
 
 for them till I go out Invite whom you 
 
 please, and as long as you like, to the house, and 
 provide every thing comfortable." 
 
 In allusion to the loss of the steamship Cana- 
 dian, in 1 861, at which time two of his daughters 
 and a son-in-law narrowly escaped death, he 
 writes : — 
 
 " When I heard you were all safe, I attri- 
 buted it to a mother's prayers offered up long 
 since at a throne of grace. I firmly believe 
 it. May God preserve you, and bring you back 
 to a loving parent's heart." 
 
 * One of the blessings for which he constantly was grateful, was 
 the grave character and filial devotion of his only surviving son. 
 
 -^ 
 
 <«- 
 
 -ia 
 
 ill 
 
» 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 103 
 
 " 1867. — A house full. Eighteen slept under 
 our roof last night. E. is coming to honor your 
 birthday ; from a father's heart I wish you many 
 happy ones after I have been mingled with the 
 dust. I have a confidence that the union which 
 exists on earth, shall be renewed in Heaven, and 
 that we shall meet at God's right hand. I 
 always believed that there will be a thorough 
 
 recognition hereafter It is a consolation to 
 
 have you all settled before I go hence and be no 
 more seen, and my time is fast drawing to a 
 close. I feel the shadows of evening closing 
 around me, but 1 have every prospect of my 
 sun setting without a cloud." 
 
 "March, 1868. — I have not been a single day 
 well, and suffer from total loss of appetite. 
 I think, sometimes, I am breaking up. I confess 
 that I should wi.sh to live a little longer, sur- 
 rounded, as I am, with a dear, affectionate wife 
 and children. I hope I shall be prepared when 
 called for, trusting in the finished work of Jesus. 
 
 Although I have been so ill, I have not 
 
 missed one Sunday in Church, but Mr. Checkley 
 most kindly takes the entire service at Barrie, 
 leaving me nothing but the sermon. With con- 
 centrated love, believe me, your affectionate 
 father." 
 
 -« 
 
Q 
 
 -» 
 
 <X 
 
 104 
 
 ATcjuoir of the 
 
 "Steamship N'ova Scotian, June, 1868. — Give 
 my most fond and aftectionatc love to my other 
 dear children and their husbands, whose tender 
 sympathy, since the beginning of my illness, has 
 been such a solace to me. I cannot think of my 
 children's affection for me without deep emotion. 
 I have the delightful anticipation of meeting 
 them all in Heaven, where sorrow shall for ever 
 pass away 
 
 *' It is an inexpressible comfort to me to have 
 my dear wife with me, who is so devoted to my 
 welfare in every wa}'. For this I am indebted 
 to the dear Judge. If the reflection of having 
 made two people entirely happy, can be any 
 recompense to him, he may enjoy it. I do feel 
 now that the voyage was the only thing to 
 restore me. God grant that it may continue 
 after I leave the sea. I was perfectly astonished 
 at myself, being able to have full service on 
 board on Sunday, and again yesterday ; two full 
 services, one in the morning in the saloon, and 
 another in the evening in the steerage, but went 
 to bed dreadfully fatigued, and with the impres- 
 sion that I had acted imprudently. However, 
 I found this morning, after a good sleep, that 
 God was better than my fears, and did not allow 
 me to suffer in His service. May God have you 
 all in his holy keeping." 
 
 « 
 
 ■» 
 
 55— 
 

 
 •» 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 105 
 
 "August, 1868. — Your letter has just come to 
 hand, with the expected intelligence of my dear 
 brother's happy removal from all his sufferings 
 here below. I have felt very thankful that he 
 passed away so peacefully. I had before I left, 
 the comforting assurance that his hopes of Eter- 
 nity were placed on the Rock of Ages. May we 
 all be found thus when called for. How happy 
 to think that we are in the hands of a reconciled 
 
 Father, who orders all our steps .1 feel that 
 
 the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. 
 Oh ! what reason I have to be thankful for all 
 His goodness and mercy, which have followed 
 me all the days of my life, and I have been so 
 unworthy of the very least of His blessings. It 
 is refreshing to hear that all things are going on 
 well in the Parish. I hope to re-enter on my 
 work with renewed energy, and work on to the 
 end." 
 
 The next extract will show how, on the least 
 amendment in his health, his thoughts were still 
 fixed on his ivork and the prosperity of his 
 mission : — 
 
 "October, 1868. — I have applied to the Colo- 
 nial Church Society for a grant for £^^0 for Essa, 
 and also asked them to place a few hundreds a 
 year at our disposal there for similar purposes. 
 
 »- 
 
 14 
 
 JW 
 
.«■ 
 
 •» 
 
 io6 
 
 Memoir of tJie 
 
 I am to meet the Board on Thursday, to advo- 
 cate this request in person, and I have every 
 hope of succeeding, as I found from a talk with 
 the Secretary that they are in a pleasant mood 
 to help us there, on account of the resolution 
 passed at the Provincial Synod against Ritualism." 
 
 In a letter dated October, 1868, he says: — 
 " I cannot tell you how thankful I am to my, 
 I trust, reconciled God, for His mercies to me, 
 and for the prospect of a return to the bosom of 
 my dear family, which I suppose I shall never 
 leave again, except for a better home." 
 
 Mr. Ardagh took a deep interest in the many 
 societies actively engaged in spreading the truths 
 of the gospel. He was especially devoted to 
 the welfare of the Bible Society, in which so 
 many could meet on common ground ; and it 
 was his boast that he had been a member of it 
 for forty years. Amongst others that he assisted 
 by his means and example, were the Foreign 
 Missions Society, and that for the Promotion of 
 Christianity among the Jews. 
 
 -» «•» ♦- 
 
 » 
 
 « 
 
•» 
 
 » 
 
 Rev. S. B. ArdagJi. 
 
 107 
 
 Such, in few words, were the Hfc and character 
 of him to wliom these sheets are devoted. 
 Who can read even the imperfect record without 
 subscribing to the sentiment expressed in a letter 
 from one of his daughters : ** I wish there were 
 a few more Hkc him in my world ! But it seems 
 right, even to us, that the good should be taken 
 away from trouble to their glorious inheritance ! 
 Who would wish to keep it from them ?" 
 
 0C1 
 
 <^j 
 
 00 
 
 » 
 
«- 
 
 <k — 
 

 
 iS 
 
 S 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The children of the Rev. Arthur Ardagh were 
 as follows : — 
 
 Samuel Brown, the subject of this memoir. 
 
 Thomas llceves, who attained a high position 
 in the Civil Service of the East India Com- 
 pany, and died in 1870. 
 
 Anne Brown, unmarried. 
 
 John Russell, already spoken of. 
 
 Marianne, married Col. Fish, R.A. 
 
 Arthur, who entered the medical profession, and 
 practised in the North of Ireland. He died in 
 1861. 
 
 Rebecca, died unmarried. 
 
 Vernon, also in the profession of medicine. He 
 went to India early in life. 
 
 Ellen, already spoken of. 
 
 Susan, who married Edward Long, Esq., M. D., 
 of Dublin, and died in 1861. 
 
 William, who holds a situation in the General 
 Post Office, in Dublin. 
 
 Two died in childhood. 
 
 The Rev. Arthur Ardagh himself died in 
 May, 1846, and his wife in 1855. He was a 
 most successful student, and the prizes taken by 
 him during his University career were very 
 numerous and valuable. 
 
 jih 
 
 iv 
 
f& 
 
 &t 
 
 no 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 The surviving children of the Rev. S. B. 
 Ardagh are : — 
 
 Elizabeth : married Henry O'Brien, Barrister- 
 at-law. 
 
 Anna : married James Robert Gowan, Senior 
 Judge of the Judicial District of Simcoe. 
 
 Martha Letitia : married William D, Ardagh, 
 Barrister-at-law, M.P.P. 
 
 John Anderson Ardagh, now junior Judge of 
 the County of Simcoe : married Annie Maria, 
 daughter of Edward A. Walker, Esq. 
 
 Naomi Emma : unmarried. 
 
 Marian Isabella : married Edward C. C. Foster, 
 Capt. 1 2th Regiment. 
 
 James Anderson, his nephew and adopted son : 
 married Amelia, daughter of John Power, Esq., 
 of Glen Mills, County Cork. 
 
 I <■» » 
 
 jK- 
 
 9 
 
«■ 
 
 su 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The following are the resolutions hereinbefore 
 referred to as having been passed by various 
 bodies, after the death of the Rev. S. B. 
 Ardagh : — 
 
 By the Clergy of the County of Simcoc : — 
 
 ^^ Resolved — That at this, their first meeting 
 after the lamented death of the late Reverend 
 Samuel Brown Ardagh, MA., (for seven and 
 twenty years Rector of the Parish of Barrie), 
 the clergy of the county do hereby express their 
 deep regret at his removal from amongst them ; 
 believing, nevertheless, that their present loss is 
 his eternal gain. 
 
 "They would also tender to his bereaved 
 widow and sorrowing family, their deepest sym- 
 pathies in their affliction ; trusting that He who 
 inflicted the blow will also apply the balm. 
 
 By the Board of Grammar School Trustees, 
 Barrie : — 
 
 "Moved by Rev. M. Frascr, seconded by Mr. 
 William Boys, and 
 
 " Resolved — That the Board of Grammar 
 School Trustees take this opportunity of express- 
 ing the great loss which they, as well as the 
 cause of education in this county, have sustained 
 in the lamented demise of their respected chair- 
 man, the Reverend S. B. Ardagh, M.A. 
 
 K ;i 
 
 »- 
 
 ' 
 
 
 J'. 
 
 |: ' 
 
 
 
«■ 
 
 •-W 
 
 112 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 "His Christian conduct, his courteous man- 
 ners, and his gentlemanly demeanour in presiding 
 over this Board, greatly facilitated the trans- 
 action of business. His earnestness and anxiety 
 about the furtherance of superior education 
 throughout the county, and his watchful care 
 over the moral interests of the school, were of 
 great service for many years in fostering and 
 encouraging the educational interests of the 
 town and surrounding country. While deeply 
 deploring the loss of his services, this Board 
 hope that they may not be deemed intrusive, 
 if they respectfully and earnestly tender their 
 sympathy to the family and widow of their de- 
 parted friend." 
 
 By the Standing Committee on Education of 
 the County Council of the County of Simcoe, 
 and which, being submitted to the Council, was 
 adopted unanimously : — 
 
 " In this connection your Committee desire 
 to express the deep regret which they, and, as 
 they believe, your Council feel, in the loss of one 
 who, for more than a quarter of a century, so 
 ably, earnestly, and assiduously, laboured in this 
 county as a minister of the gospel, and for the 
 advancement of education. 
 
 '* They believe that in the death of Mr. Ardagh 
 the community has sustained a most serious loss, 
 and your Committee feel justified in expressing. 
 
 SX 
 
 'Si 
 
»- 
 
 — » 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 "3 
 
 on behalf of your Council, deep sympathy with 
 the family of the deceased in their bereavement. 
 
 " All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 "A. J. Alport, Chairman. 
 
 " Committee Room, 
 
 "Barric, Oct. 20, 1869." 
 
 By the Board of Public Instruction for the 
 Northern Circuit of the County of Simcoe : — 
 
 " Resolved — That this Board desire to express 
 their most sincere regret at the death of one of 
 their oldest and most respected members, the 
 Reverend S. B. Ardagh, M.A. They also deem 
 it due to his memory to state, that for several 
 years, when education in the county stood at a 
 low ebb, Mr. Ardagh endeavoured, with great 
 energy and activity, to promote the educational 
 interests of the district, and gave efficient aid in 
 placing them in their present more favourable 
 position. 
 
 " The Board at the same time take this oppor- 
 tunity of respectfully tendering their cordial 
 sympathy to Mrs. Ardagh, and the family, under 
 the severe trial to which they have been sub- 
 jected." 
 
 ^ 
 
 15 
 
 ^ 
 
SK- 
 
 114 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ia 
 
 Early in the year 1870, the congregation of 
 Trinity Church, l^arric, erected in the chancel 
 a handsome Tablet of white marble, bearing the 
 following inscription : — 
 
 SACRED 
 
 TO Tin-: MEMORY OF 
 
 SAMUEL BROWN ARDAGII, M.A., 
 
 WHO FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS WAS 
 
 RECTOR OF BARRIE. 
 
 A more cautious zeal and a more accommo- 
 dating creed might have made his work easier, 
 but he never placed either expediency or popu- 
 larity in competition with truth and right. 
 Constant and fearless, while youth and strength 
 permitted, in the performance of the work his 
 Saviour had given him to do, he yet acquiesced 
 cheerfully in the wisdom which compelled him 
 at length, through illness and pain, to cease 
 working. * Having done what he could,' when 
 his strength was entirely spent, the worn-out 
 laborer leaned on his Divine Master's arm, and 
 passed into his rest. 
 
 He died October 5th, 1869; 
 
 Aged 66 years. 
 
 The inhabitants of this Parish have erected 
 this tablet to his memory. 
 
 1870. 
 
 M 
 
 » <»» « 
 
 »- 
 
 -»■ 
 
!» 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 115 
 
 » 
 
 A Memorial House, for the reception of 
 Indigent Women, has recently been erected in 
 the town of l^arrie, and bears the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 SAMUEL B. ARDAGII, A.M., 
 
 RECTOR OF BARRIE FROM 1 842 TO 1S69, 
 
 AND MARTHA, HIS WIFE. 
 
 In honour of God, and grateful remembrance of 
 
 Christian Parents, this House is erected 
 
 by their Children. 
 
 1873- 
 
 i ; 
 
 '—-'^'-'^i 
 
 r^JM^'Mp. 
 
 «■ 
 
 ^ 
 
m 
 
 ^■ 
 
 Ii6 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 •» 
 
 A FEW of the sermons of the late Mr. Ardagh 
 conclude this Memoir ; given more for the sake 
 of showing the character of those he was in the 
 habit of addressing to his parishioners, than as 
 examples of eloquence or polished diction. 
 
 To preach the gospel was his chief object ; 
 justification by faith only, his constant subject. 
 His language, such that the most uneducated of 
 his hearers could understand him : his doctrine, 
 such that "the wayfaring man" could not mis- 
 apprehend, inasmuch as it was founded solely 
 on that Book, in reading which, "though a fool," 
 he could " not err." 
 
 i 
 
 ■S^ 
 
«- 
 
 » 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 117 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 " TJiis do in remembrance of MeT — i Cor. xi. 25 ; 
 
 Luke xxii. 19. 
 
 From these words of our Lord, I intend to 
 bring before you that great Christian institution 
 which is to be celebrated this day. It is a sub- 
 ject on all accounts highly important and inter- 
 esting, but one which seems to require a frequent 
 and particular discussion, because of the igno- 
 rance, error, and superstition, with which it is 
 so often accompanied. No institution in itself 
 can be more plain and simple nor more obvious 
 in its tendency and design, yet there is none 
 which has been more generally perverted, mis- 
 represented, and abused. What in itself is plain, 
 has been involved in mystery ; what is inviting, 
 has been made forbidding ; what is designed to 
 soothe and pacify the conscience, has been 
 employed to harass and alarm it ; what is calcu- 
 lated to break men off from sin, has been used 
 to make them easy under the practice of it. It 
 is not, however, my intention to dwell upon these 
 errors and misstatements, nor should I deem this 
 the most profitable way of discussing the subject. 
 
 I 
 
 -X> 
 
** f;.. 
 
 ^- 
 
 — ^ 
 
 Ii8 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 The best way of refuting error, Is to establish 
 the truth. What I shall endeavour then, in this 
 discourse, is, in humble dependence on the 
 Divine blessing and teaching, to state, in as 
 plain and simple a manner as J can, 
 
 1st. The nature and design of the Sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 2nd. Our obligation to attend on this holy 
 institution, and our sin in neglecting it. 
 
 3rd. The preparation necessary for a suitable 
 partaking of it. 
 
 1st. With respect to the nature and design of 
 the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, I would 
 begin with reminding you of the time, and mode, 
 and circumstances of its institution. It was insti- 
 tuted by Christ himself in the 
 
 same 
 
 night 
 
 m 
 
 which He was betrayed, a few hours before He 
 was crucified, immediately after having eaten the 
 Passover, with His disciples, for the last time. 
 Then it was stated that He took bread : i Cor. xi. 
 23. Such was the institution of this sacrament. 
 On reading this account of it, there is one 
 reflection which forces itself strongly on our 
 minds. Whatever might be the particular object 
 of this institution, it was surely designed for the 
 benefit of those for whose use it was prescribed. 
 Can we suppose that our kind and gracious 
 Redeemer, whose heart was ever full of love to 
 His people, would appoint any ordinance for 
 their use which would not be for their good ^ 
 Would He especially, at such a time, when He 
 was on the point of suffering the most cruel 
 torments, and shedding His blood for them, 
 
 «( 
 
 » 
 
ia 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 119 
 
 would He then enjoin on them the observance of 
 a ceremony which would not be highly useful 
 and salutary to them ? Would He then have 
 said to them, " Do this," if the thing to be 
 done had not been one, which He well knew it 
 would be for their comfort and happiness to do ? 
 I dwell the longer on this point, because it is one 
 which so directly meets the fears, and scruples, 
 and apprehensions, of many persons who seem 
 to regard this blessed institution with a degree of 
 jealousy and suspicion, as if our merciful Saviour, 
 in appointing this ordinance, had laid a trap and 
 a snare by which they might be entangled and 
 injured ; as if, when He had invited them to eat 
 of His bread, and drink of His wine. He had 
 called them to do that uhich it would be safer 
 and more prudent for them to leave undone. 
 What an ungenerous sentiment is this ! How 
 unworthy of our Divine Redeemer ! Does He 
 deserve to be thus suspected by us ? Is this a 
 suitable return for all His tenderness and care, 
 to tell Him when He calls us to His table, that 
 He is only calling us to our Jiurt, and that it will 
 be better for us to stay away ? My brethren, 
 have you ever been deterred from coming to the 
 Sacrament by any apprehension of this kind ? 
 Let me beseech you to have more just and hon- 
 ourable thoughts of Him who loved you and 
 gave Himself for you, instead of regarding with 
 a groundless suspicion those symbols which He 
 gives you of His body and blood. Oh ! receive 
 them as pledges of His love, to your great and 
 endless comfort. 
 
 % 
 
 \m\ 
 
 '■'! 
 
 <;i 
 
 IS 
 
SI 
 
 <k 
 
 120 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 I now proceed to state : 2nd. Our obligation to 
 attend on this holy institution, and our sin in 
 neglecting it. 
 
 Let us consider in the first place by whom 
 this ordinance was appointed ; who it was that 
 has said, ''Do tJiisy It was Christ himself. 
 It was He whom we profess to believe in, to 
 belong to, and to obey ; whom we acknowledge 
 as our Saviour, whom we expect to meet as our 
 Judge. 
 
 Let us consider, in the second place, that 
 by 'absenting ourselves from the Lord's table, 
 we seem in a manner to deny Him, and to 
 intimate that we do not really belong to Him. 
 Communion with Him in the ordinance of 
 His own appointing, is a sign and badge of 
 our attachment and relation to Him. By what 
 mark is the Christian peculiarly distinguished, 
 but by his profession of faith, and hope in Jesus 
 Christ. At baptism he takes upon himself this 
 profession, and he is signed with the sign of the 
 cross, in token that he shall not hereafter be 
 ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified. 
 But if he regularly turn his back upon the Holy 
 Communion, does it not seem as if he were 
 ashamed to confess this faith 1 My brethren, 
 when you have been going out of the church on 
 a Sacrament Sunday, has your conscience never 
 smote you with the thought that you were fleeing 
 from your post, and deserting the colours under 
 which you had engaged to fight manfully .•* 
 Have you never heard a voice in your ear saying, 
 *' Wilt thou also go away ?" 
 
 «- 
 
 ■^ 
 
C5 
 
 ill 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 121 
 
 Let us consider, lastly, the loss which we are 
 sustaining, and the injury which we are doing to 
 our own souls, by not frequenting the Holy 
 Communion. That it is an institution designed 
 for the benefit of those who rightly partake of it, 
 we cannot doubt, when we reflect on the power 
 and cluaracter of Him who appointed it. As an 
 act of faith and obedience, when performed as 
 such, and accompanied with a grateful recollec- 
 tion of the mercies and promises of the gospel, 
 it must have a very salutary and beneficial effect 
 on all who are engaged in it. The very circum- 
 stances of having the pledges of our Saviour's 
 love, and the emblems of His body and blood 
 literally placed before our eyes, sensibly remind- 
 ing us of His grace and mercy, of His death 
 and sacrifice, and visibly assuring us of the truth 
 and certainty of all that He hath done and 
 suffered for our salvation, cannot but have a 
 very strong tendency to increase our faith and 
 confidence in Him, and to strengthen our reso- 
 lutions of henceforth living more faithfully and 
 closely to Him. I tru.st that many here can 
 testify to the peace and consolation, and even 
 joy, which they have thus felt while partaking of 
 this heavenly feast, and can declare how deeply 
 their hearts have been affected, and their souls 
 strengthened and refreshed at this sacred ordi- 
 nance. Besides, every exercise of faith is an 
 act of communion with Christ. It is by faith 
 that union with him first is formed ; it is by the 
 same faith that it is afterwards maintained, and 
 while we ascend to Christ in faith, He descends 
 
 »- 
 
 16 
 
 -» 
 
»■ 
 
 ■■R 
 
 122 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 O 
 
 to us by his Spirit, and thus \vc have fellowship 
 with Him and with the Father. 
 
 If Christ delights to meet and make glad his 
 people in His ordinances, in what ordinance may 
 they so certainly hope that He will visit and 
 refresh them, will impart to them spiritual bless- 
 ings and make them glad with t 'ic light of His 
 countenance, as in that ordinan: 'vhich he has 
 especially appointed them to use lor the express 
 purpose of remembering Him and the blessings 
 which he has purchased for them, for testifying 
 their faith in Him, and for solemnly renewing, 
 as it were, their covenant with Him. But all 
 these blessings we are voluntarily losing by 
 absenting ourselves from this Holy Communion — 
 neglecting the Lord's table, we are throwing 
 away our own mercies. We are criminally 
 depriving our own .souls of that spiritual food 
 which is provided for them, and consequently 
 of spiritual health and growth, and strength, 
 which cannot be but sensibly affected by such 
 privation. 
 
 I come now to speak of the preparation 
 necessary for a suitable partaking of the Lord's 
 Supper ; by preparation do I mean any particular 
 mode or course of preparation which is to be 
 performed previously to the act of communi- 
 cating } Do I mean that formal, superstitious 
 service, which consists in going through their 
 week's preparation } No ! The preparation of 
 which I am speaking is the preparation of the 
 heart ; that state of heart which the true Chris- 
 tian habitually possesses, which does not consi.st 
 
 S( 
 
 •^ 
 
if 
 
 « 
 
 o 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ^-^-l 
 
 in fancy and feelinq^s, and which quaHfics him at 
 afiy time for a profitalDlc partakinj^ of the Lord's 
 Supper. Are persons really humbled under a 
 sense of their sins, of their sinful nature and 
 sinful life ? Do they sincerely desire to be freed 
 from the practice and pollution of sin ? Do they 
 look to Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice for sin, 
 by whose blood alone their sin can be washed 
 away, and their soul cleansed ? Do they enter- 
 tain a devout and thankful remembrance of what 
 He has done and suffered for them ? If such be 
 their desires, they have that preparation of heart 
 with which they may partake, and ought to par- 
 take of the Holy Communion, whenever an 
 opportunity may offer. 
 
 But there is one excuse, so very generally 
 urged, that I am constrained to notice it. 
 When invited to communicate persons justify 
 a refusal, either openly or secretly, upon the 
 grounds of their junvorf/iijicss. Now, my breth- 
 ren, if the person who pleads this excuse, 
 really pleads it under a deep feeling of genuine 
 humility, if he is so truly sensible of the burden 
 and defiling nature of his sins as to condemn 
 himself on account of them, and with the 
 publican to stand afar off, and cry for mercy — 
 I can only say that of all persons in the world, 
 such a one is most fitted to draw near with faith, 
 and to take this Holy Sacrament to his comfort. 
 If, however, those who plead their own unwor- 
 thiness urge this plea on the suoposition that 
 they must bring \v\t\\ them to the table of the 
 Lord some merit or goodness of their own, some- 
 
 ^■ 
 
 a 
 
» 
 
 va 
 
 124 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 thing belonging to themselves, which will make 
 them worthy guests at His table, I must tell such 
 plainly that they know not the first principles of 
 Christianity. No man ever can have any merit, 
 goodness, or worthiness of his own. If any one 
 thinks that he has, or can have anything of this 
 kind, he is vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind, 
 and knoweth nothing as he ought to know. My 
 brethren, trust only in the great and manifold 
 mercies of the Lord ; draw near to him with an 
 humble spirit, and he will in no wise cast you 
 out. 
 
 But those who use this plea of unworthiness 
 have sometimes another meaning. Conscious 
 that they are living in the allowed indulgence of 
 some sinful practices, or some unchristian tem- 
 pers, which they have at present no intention to 
 discontinue and subdue, they know that they are 
 not fit for communicating at the Lord's table. 
 They have light enough to see that a course of 
 sin is incompatible with receiving the Sacrament, 
 but determined to continue in it, and therefore 
 they plead that they are not fit, &c. And they 
 plead aright, they are not jit for this sacred 
 ordinance. And for what religious duty are 
 they yf/ ? Are theyyf/ to join the service of the 
 Church } Can they take part in its confessions, 
 petitions, and thanksgivings.-* Are they fit to 
 say the Lord's Prayer ) Can they say to God, 
 '• Our Father" } No ! the devil is their father, 
 for by their own confession they are workers of 
 iniquity, and consequently children of the devil. 
 Oh, my brethren, if there should be any of you 
 
 ^- 
 
 ^ 
 
-» 
 
 o 
 
 -» 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 125 
 
 whose hearts at this moment tell you that this is 
 your present state, think, I beseech you, how awful 
 and perilous it is, acknowledging yourselves unfit 
 to come to the blessed Saviour of sinners for 
 pardon and life ! Are you fit to die ? You 
 intend to repent hereafter, but you will not do it 
 now. No ! So you will go on in sin against 
 light and knowledge, against conscience and con- 
 viction. Now, when invited to Christ, you 
 refuse to come ; Oh, beware, lest when you may 
 desire to come, you find the door shut against 
 you. " Now is the accepted time, now is the day 
 of salvation." May the Lord, in His mercy, 
 grant you repentance, to the acknowledging of 
 the truth, that you may recover yourselves out 
 of the snare of the devil, who are thus taken 
 captive by him at his will. 
 
 ' ': i^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 -j» 
 
<a 
 
 ft 
 
 126 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 " For I have received of the Lord that zvhich 
 also I delivered nnto yon, that the Lord !/esns, the 
 same night in ii'hieh he was betrayed, took bread : 
 and when he had given thanks he brake it and 
 said, Take, eat ; this is my body, zuhieh is broken 
 for yon : this do in remembranee of me. After 
 the same manner also he took the cnp, ivhen he had 
 snppcd, saying, This cnp is the neiv testament in 
 my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in 
 remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cnp, ye do shew the Lord's 
 death till he come. Wherefore, wJiosoever shall 
 eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, 
 nnzvurthily, shall be gnilty of the body and blood 
 of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, 
 and so let him cat of that bread, and drink of 
 that cup. For lie that eateth and drinketh univor- 
 thily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, 
 not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause 
 many are zueak and sickly a mo Jig you, and many 
 sleep. L^'or if we ivonld judge ourselves, zve should 
 not be judged.'' — I Cor. xi., 23 to 31. 
 
 My intention this morning is to give (under 
 the Divine blessing) a concise view of the nature 
 and importance of the Lord's Supper. The 
 expression contained in Jilie 27th verse, and again 
 in the 29th verse, gives to the consideration of 
 the subject a vast practical importance. Laden, 
 as we are by nature, with guilt, it concerns us to 
 beware that we do not, in addition, become 
 
 •>! 
 
 » 
 
 -^ 
 
-rj( 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 127 
 
 i^uilty of the body and blood of Christ. Coming 
 into this world, as we do, under sentence of con- 
 demnation, we may well dread to eat and drink 
 an increased measure of it to our souls. We 
 shall therefore endeavour to state the nature of 
 that Sacrament, in which we are to-day invited 
 to participate. The passage I have read to )-ou 
 contains the fullest account of its institution to 
 be found in the Scriptures, and by taking;" it in 
 connection with what is written in other places, 
 we learn that there are five important purposes 
 for which the ordinance was desicrned. It was 
 designed as a memorial of Christ's death, as a 
 representation of the benefits which believers 
 derive from it, as a means whereby we become 
 partakers of its benefits, as a pledp-*^ to assure us 
 of still greater blessings in a fut- e state; and 
 lastly, it was designed as a token of the union 
 which subsists among all God's people. 
 
 Firstly. I observe it was intended to serve as 
 a memorial of Christ's death. This was undoubt- 
 edly the first and great end, " Do this in remem- 
 brance of me." That it was a memorial of his 
 deatJi and suffering, is quite plain from the 26th 
 verse. Under the Jewish dispensation there was 
 an ordinance which corresponded to this, and for 
 which it was substituted. The passover was to 
 the Jews, what the sacrament is to us. When 
 that wonderful deliverance had been vouchsafed 
 to Israel by God's causing the destroying angel 
 to pass over their houses, at the same time that 
 he destroyed all the first-born of Egypt, he com- 
 manded a feast to be observed in memorial of 
 
 «- 
 
 •» 
 
<k 
 
 rt 
 
 128 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 this deliverance, which was scrupulously regarded 
 by the Jews in after ages ; and it appears that 
 at every returning celebration of that ordinance, 
 the reason of its institution was declared. It 
 was instituted in order that the remembrance of 
 God's mercy might be transmitted to the latest 
 posterity. We have the following account of its 
 institution, in Exodus xii. 24 to 27. Thus it is 
 God's intention that the remembrance of that 
 infinitely greater deliverance which Christ has 
 wrought out for us, should be handed down 
 through all ages, "till He comes again." And 
 the ordinance as instituted by our Lord, is admi- 
 rably calculated for this end. The breaking of 
 the bread, represents the breaking of the body 
 of Jesus on the cross. The pouring out of the 
 wine, represents the spilling of His blood ; that 
 '* blood which was shed for many, for the remis- 
 sion of sins." In the ordinance, Christ is 
 evidently set forth crucified among us. 
 
 Secondly. The ordinance serves as a repre- 
 sentation of the benefits ivJiich believers are daily 
 deriving from Christ's death. The benefits are 
 twofold : (ist.) Those which have been exter- 
 nally wrought out for us, such as the atonement 
 which Christ made for our sins, removing guilt, 
 procuring justifying righteousness, and securing 
 for his people all those things which pertain to 
 life and godliness ; all this is included in the 
 25th verse : " This cup is the New Testament in 
 my blood." There was a covenant between the 
 Father and the Son. The Son engaged to make 
 His soul an offering for sin, and the Father en- 
 
 «- 
 
 -» 
 
I 
 
 6> 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 129 
 
 gaged that when tliis was effected, His Son 
 sliould sec His seed: Isaiah Hii. lO, 12 verses." 
 By the sheckling of Christ's blood, this covenant 
 was confirmed, and tlie cup was to be adminis- 
 istered in remembrance of it, and was to be to 
 all mankind a memorial and a sign, that on the 
 Redeemer's part every thing was effected for the 
 i;alvat.!on of men ; and that all who would em- 
 brace the covenant so ratified, should be saved. 
 It represented that blood which confirmed the 
 covenant, by virtue of which '* all things pertain- 
 ing to life and godliness" are secured to us. 
 " This cup is the New Testament in my blood," 
 is perhaps the fullest and most precious declara- 
 tion connected with the whole subject to be met 
 with in Scripture. 
 
 (2nd.) There are also benefits resulting from 
 the death of Christ, which have been internally 
 wrought in us ; .such is the implantation, main- 
 tenance, and improvement of spiritual life. These 
 also are represented in the Lord's Supper ; Christ 
 represents himself therein as the preserver of 
 that spiritual life, which He originally purchased 
 for us on the cross, and infused into our souls by 
 His Spirit at the time of our conversion. In 
 the ordinance he spread a table for us, by the 
 side of the altar on which He died, and there 
 signified His intention of feeding and nourishing 
 our souls to the day of redemption, as surely and 
 really as His minister hands to us the bread and 
 wine, those ordinary means of sustaining our 
 temporal existence. This is a common mode of 
 God's dealing. When He promises to bestow 
 
 -« 
 
 » 
 
 17 
 
 -» 
 
IK- 
 
 '^ 
 
 130 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 any great blessing, He confirms the promise by 
 some outward sign: Genesis ix, 13, 17 verses. 
 Again, when God would satisfy Moses that His 
 people should not perish nor even be diminished 
 by that thraldom in which they were in Egypt, 
 He shewed him a bush, a dry bush, remaining 
 whole and entire in the fire. It was a significant 
 emblem of God's purpose ; so Christ, for the same 
 purpose, instituted and ordained i;oly sacraments 
 in His chu'ch, to represent to His people the 
 benefits He confers. An in the baptism, the 
 washing away of sins is represented, so in the 
 Lord's Supper is represented the refreshment of 
 our souls by the body and blood of Christ, as our 
 bodies are by bread and wine. If it would not 
 be straining the figure, we might observe a pe- 
 culiar fitness in the elements of bread and wine 
 to answer the purpose, not only because they are 
 the most nourishing food, but because of the cir- 
 cumstances which render them so. To what 
 process is it that bread and wine owe their grate- 
 ful and nutritious qualities ? is it not to th^ir 
 being broken, britised, and crushed by the hands of 
 men .-* And it is to the very same thing which 
 gives to ^he body of Jesus the value, the saving 
 efficacy which it now possesses. It was His being 
 bruised to death by the hands of men, which 
 made Him txie bread of life .'' The best wheat, 
 while it remains standing in the field, is not 
 bread ; and Jesus might have lived in Gallilee 
 for ever ; He might have taught in the temple 
 for ever ; He might have exacted obedience 
 from the winds and waves for ever, and never 
 
 «- 
 
 '^ 
 
«— 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 131 
 
 fa 
 
 been a SAVIOUR. Had He proceeded no further, 
 He never could have been the bread of life. It 
 was the cross, the wounds, the death of Jesus, 
 that made of God's dear Son the Saviour. Not 
 only does the ordinance represent the benefits 
 we receive, but also the mode in which we must 
 become partakers of tJicm. Food will not nourish 
 the body except it be eaten. Nor will Christ's 
 death be available for our salvation, unless we 
 feed on Him by faith ; we must " eat the flesh :" 
 John vi, 49th verse. We must feed on Him by 
 faith, we must extract spiritual nourishment from 
 Jesus by the habitual exercise of faith. It was 
 not sufficient for the safety of the Israelites to 
 kill the paschal lamb ; it was to be eaten by 
 those who were to be saved thereby. ' 
 
 Thirdly. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper 
 serves further, as a means tvhereby ive become par- 
 takers of the benefits of Christ's death. We are 
 not to consider the ordinance as a bare memo- 
 rial of the death of Christ ; nor are we to view 
 it merely as a sipi of the benefits we derive from 
 Christ, but as aji instrument zvhereby those benefits 
 are conveyed to us, and in this respect, that defini- 
 tion of a sacrament ^iven in our catechism Is 
 most just, " an outward and visible sign of an 
 inward and spiritual grace given unto us, &c., 
 and a means whereby we receive the same." It 
 may appear extraordinary that such a simple 
 means should be used by God for conveying 
 grace to the souls of his people. But the 
 means being simple, and apparently in no way 
 connected with the end, is no reason for God's 
 
 )» 
 
 » 
 
o 
 
 jR^ 
 
 n2 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 not using them. Is it asked what connection 
 there can be between partaking of bread and 
 wine, and receiving grace into the soul ? We an- 
 swer just as much as between the stroke of 
 Aaron's rod and the dividing of the red sea. 
 Just as much is between Naaman's washing in 
 Jordan, and the cleansing of His leprosy. In 
 all these instances God was pleased to make 
 trifling instruments effect great things ; and He 
 takes precisely the same course in dispensing 
 His grace through those ordinances which He 
 himself has appointed. What is preaching in 
 the estimation of the world, but foolishness } 
 Yet it saves those who believe, and God delights 
 to use " things that are not," in effecting His 
 wonders. 
 
 The real efficacy of this ordinance to com- 
 municate grace to the soul when worthily re- 
 ceived, is quite plain from the language used in 
 I Cor. X, l6 verse: "The cup of blessing, which 
 we bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
 of Christ } The bread which we break, is it not 
 the communion of the body of Christ ? " 
 
 Again, if it conveys a curse to him who 
 receives it unworthily, as we arc informed in 
 the strongest terms, that it does, asuredly it 
 must communicate a blessing to others for this 
 simple reason, that if the benefit to be obtained 
 by the ordinance, when partaken of duly, be 
 not proportionate with the evil, which is sus- 
 tained under other circumstances, we had been 
 better without it altogether, as we then should 
 be liable to lose more than we could gain. But 
 
 «' 
 
 -i« 
 
?3 
 
 « 
 
 ;'fl 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 133 
 
 the benefit of the ordinance when worthily 
 received, is more than proportionate to the loss 
 where unworthily received. And we may apply, 
 to this subject the language of the Apostle on 
 another occasion, and say that, if by offence in 
 the matter of this sacrament, judgment comes to 
 condemnation, so by obedience in this matter 
 abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness 
 will flow into the soul by Jesus Christ. If we 
 only recollect that Jesus " came into the world 
 not to destroy but to save," we may be as fully 
 assured that it diffuses " a savour of life" to the 
 life of those who worthily receive it, as that it 
 does the savour of death and condemnation to 
 those who profane it. , 
 
 Fourthly. The Lord's Supper is a pledge to 
 assure us of still greater blessings in a future 
 state. When first instituted, it was manifestly 
 intended as a pledge of some future communion 
 with His disciples : Math xxvi, 292 ; Luke xxii, 
 18. By this, He evidently intimated that a 
 period would arrive when He would again hold 
 communion with them in that blessed ordinance. 
 That future communion is now partially realized. 
 What St. Luke calls the '* Kingdom of God," and 
 St. Matthew, His " Father's Kingdom," is now 
 partially come, and has been ever since the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of 
 Pentecost. Since that period Christ has been 
 drinking it new, i. e., under a new dispensation 
 with His people, spiritually and really, though 
 not corporeally. He has been among His peo- 
 ple " sup^:ing with them, and they with Him." 
 
 Ill 
 
 «t 
 
 I 
 
&■ 
 
 -« 
 
 134 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 But never will the Redeemer's promise be fully 
 realized until it is completed in the eternal world. 
 Then shall believers spiritually renew this feast : 
 Luke xxii, 29, 30. Indeed, we read that Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, are already seated at that 
 table, and there Lazarus is described as leaning 
 on Ajraham's bosom, as the beloved disciple 
 leaned on the bosom of Jesus at the Paschal 
 feast. There shall all the redeemed of the Lord 
 in due time be assembled, and then will the won- 
 ders of redemption occupy their minds as it does 
 now when they surround the table of the Lord. 
 
 My brethren, will Christ himself again partake 
 of it with us } Assuredly he will ! " The Lamb 
 which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us." 
 Did he not break the bread and administer the 
 cup to his disciples on earth, and will he not do 
 as much, or more, for them in heaven .'' Mark 
 that wonderful declaration in Luke xii., 37, 
 " Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord 
 when he cometh shall find watching : verily, I 
 say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and 
 matce them to sit down to meat, and will come 
 forth and serve them." Well may we say, *' Blessed 
 is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God." 
 My brethren, survey the glories which will then 
 surround you on every side, and view the ordi- 
 nance as a pledge of a better feast and purer joys 
 in a more glorious kingdom ; and though we 
 are even now drinking it new^ yet the time is 
 approaching when the promise will be fulfilled 
 in a far more complete and perfect manner. If 
 I might use the illustration, I would say, regard 
 
 <»■ 
 
 « 
 
a^ 
 
 • » 
 
 # Appmdix. 
 
 135 
 
 it as a kind of title deed by which the heavenly 
 inheritance is handed over to you, and your right 
 to it secured ; just as estates are handed over 
 from one person to another, by a piece of parch- 
 ment, signed and sealed by the original pro- 
 prietor. So does our blessed Lord, our best 
 benefactor, by the gift of the bread and wine, 
 sensibly and visibly hand over to us a title to 
 heaven. It was but a few drops of oil poured 
 on David's head by Samuel, which transferred to 
 him the whole kingdom of Israel ; and in the 
 same sense may we regard this ordinance as 
 conferring future benefits on us. It was not the 
 oil that gave to David a right to the kingdom of 
 Israel, that was the gift of God, neither is it a 
 participation in this ordinance which can, pro- 
 perly speaking, give a title to heaven, for that 
 also is the very freest gift of God ; but just as 
 the anointing oil was a token and pledge that 
 thenceforth the kingdom was his, so is this ordi- 
 nance a token to the believer that heaven is his, 
 and that all that Christ has to bestow in heaven, 
 yea, even Christ himself, is, and shall be, his 
 portion for ever. 
 
 Fifthly. I observe in the last 'place that the 
 Lord's Supper is a token of the tmion which sub- 
 sists bctivccn God's people. A union exists between 
 Christ and his people. They dwell in Christ, 
 and Christ with them. But there is another union 
 signified in the ordinance, namely, that which 
 exists among his folloivers : i Cor. x. 16, 17. It 
 is a communion between the members them- 
 selves, as well as between the members and the 
 
 rill! 
 
 «- 
 
 -« 
 
6 
 
 136 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 til 
 
 head. We eat of the same loaf, and drink of 
 the same cup, in token that we derive our spiri- 
 tual life and sustenance from one common source, 
 and are indeed members one of another. The 
 first Christians, we know, partook of the ordi- 
 nance with that object in view; and it appears 
 to be placed very prominently in that light in 
 Acts ii. 42, 46 : " They continued .stedfastly in 
 the Apostles doctrine and fclloivship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers." " Continuing 
 daily, with one accord in the temple, and break- 
 ing bread from house to' house, did eat their 
 meat with gladness, and singleness of heart." 
 
 » — 
 
 
 
ffli 
 
 ■ie> 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 m 
 
 " Wilt tJwii be made ivJiolcT' — John v., 6. 
 
 Suppose the question to be addressed to a 
 man whose body is disabled, and that the person 
 who proposes it is a skilful and experienced 
 physician — could there be any doubt as to the 
 answer ? Would the patient slight the proposal ? 
 We may conceive certain circumstances under 
 which he might do so. Perhaps he might not be 
 aware that there was anything amiss with him. 
 There arc some complaints of such a flattering 
 kind, that whilst they are gradually preying on 
 the constitution, the person who is their victim 
 thinks himself in tolerable health. What then 
 would be his reply to the question in my text .'* 
 He would answer, " 1 am whole already — nothing, 
 of consequence, is the matter with me — only a 
 little discomfort now and then ; but I have no 
 need of medicine." Or, perhaps a man may be 
 aware that he is ill — he may feel the necessity 
 of taking something for the restoration of his 
 health — but then he may be possessed with the 
 notion that he can cure himself. He puts faith 
 in some medicine of his own, or in something 
 which is recommended to him by a neighbour, 
 and "where is the necessity," he may think, "of 
 the physician" } " I can manage my own case 
 well enough without resorting to professional 
 advice." We may anticipate his answer — " No, 
 I can heal myself." 
 
 
 i» 
 
 18 
 
 -i» 
 
« 
 
 ■<!V 
 
 138 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 But suppose the man is both aware of his 
 disease — apprized of its deadly nature — convinced 
 that he cannot cure himself, and very anxious to 
 be cured. What then would be his answer to the 
 question, " Wilt thou be made whole" ? There 
 cojild be but one, " Oh ! can you doubt it ; only 
 tell me the remedy, and let it be what it may, I 
 am readj^ to make use of it." 
 
 The mt.n to whom the question in my text was 
 put, was the victim of a most distressing malady 
 of thirty- eight years' continuance, during all which 
 time he had lain a helpless cripple ; hoping, but in 
 vain, to avail himself of the waters of Bethesda 
 for a cure. He did not think it necessary to tell 
 the Lord that he was ivilliiig. He was rather 
 anxious to explain why he had lain so long before 
 that healing pool without plunging into its waters 
 — why he had a means of remedy before him and 
 had never yet applied it. Our Lord knew that 
 he was more than zvillivg. He spoke the word 
 therefore, and accomplished the poor man's desire. 
 
 We have considered the question in my text 
 in its literal sense as addressed to one whose body 
 is diseased, and we found that it might receive 
 several answers. Some might think themselves 
 so well that they had no need to be made whole, 
 others might think that they could make them- 
 selves whole without having recourse to the 
 physician. 
 
 Now spiritualize the question. Consider it 
 put with reference to the soul, as proposed by 
 the Great Spiritual Physician to those who lie 
 under the disease of sin, '* Sinner, wilt thou be 
 
 ^■ 
 
 1? 
 
<» 
 
 o 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 139 
 
 made whole ? Wilt thou put thy soul into my 
 hands, that I may heal and save thee ? " Such is, 
 in fact, the tender, gracious question which Jesus 
 puts to every sinner. And what answer dod*^ he 
 receive to it ? Just what wc imagined it would 
 be, when we spoke of a cure proposed for a 
 bodily sickness. 
 
 Sin is a very flattering disease. There arc 
 some men who are sorely sick with it, yet without 
 being aware — men that are living without God 
 in the world — neither loving, nor seeking, nor 
 caring for, nor thinking of Him. Yet deluded 
 into the idea that all is well with them, having 
 never looked into their own hearts, or searched 
 in the Bible, and having maintained perhaps what 
 the world calls an honest character, they are in 
 their own estimation righteous men. So far from 
 thinking that their souls are in any danger, they 
 deem themselves to have a claim on the Almighty 
 for the recompense of His reward. They talk 
 confidently of their merits and good works, expect 
 the praises of their fellow sinners as their right- 
 ful due, and never doubt for a moment that such 
 as they shall go to heaven after death. With 
 lives so respected, with hearts so good, with so 
 many duties done, or sins avoided, who think 
 they can fail of a reward hereafter .'' Sad, indeed, 
 is their delusion ! Alas ! these self-complacent, 
 self-admiring men, what are they } Wretched, 
 ruined sinners — their goodness an outward show, 
 their hearts full of evil and corruption. Whilst 
 they are saying " We are rich, and increased in 
 goods, and have need of nothing." He is saying, 
 
 i 
 
 :!■: 
 
 « 
 
 -» 
 
<>■ 
 
 -)» 
 
 140 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ** Ye arc wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and 
 naked." But the god of this world has blinded 
 their minds. Their delusion is so pleasing that 
 they will not be disturbed in it, and they go on 
 quietly to their graves, saying, "Peace, peace, 
 when there is no peace." They may, indeed, 
 call themselves sinners, as a matter of course or 
 custom, but sinners they do not really think 
 themselves to be. What answer can they give 
 to the question which Jesus puts, "Wilt thou be 
 made whole } " 
 
 But these are not the only persons to turn a 
 deaf ear to the proposal of my text. There are 
 men who know and feel that they are sinners, 
 and yet cannot relish the question " Wilt thou be 
 made whole.''" They are like those sick persons 
 who think that they can cure themselves, and 
 w^ho will not for that reason resort to medical 
 advice. Conscience tells them that they have 
 sinned against the Lord, but pride tells them 
 they have the power in themselves to make the 
 Lordamends. Priderefers hem to actsof charity 
 and professions of repentance as sure and certain 
 means of blotting out the guilt of sin. Never will 
 proud sinners stoop to have salvation ^/W;/ them, 
 whilst they think that they can purchase it. Are 
 not "Abana and Pharpar better than all the 
 waters of Israel: may I not wash in them and be 
 clean .^" NeverjWill the sinner wash in Jesus' 
 blood for pardon, whilst he has anything of his 
 own which he thinks will serve the purpose. He 
 will rather " go about to establish his own 
 righteousness." 
 
 fil 
 
 iSf 
 
a 
 
 » 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 141 
 
 Alas ! then, how many arc there on whom this 
 kind proposal of my text is thrown utterly away. 
 How many who give cause for the upbraiding 
 question of Jeremiah " Woe unto thee — wilt thou 
 not be made clean?" Jesus offers himself as 
 their physician. He stretches forth His hands ; 
 but they, although ready to perish in their sins, 
 will rather perish than resort to Him. 
 
 But is this the case with all .■* Is the Great 
 Physician without pat.ents } No, for there arc 
 some whose sentiments and feelings are widely 
 different from those we have described. Such a 
 man has been taught to see that the law of God 
 is spiritual, but that he is carnal, sold under sin. 
 He looks with horror on the life which he has 
 lived, of vanity and worldlines.^, and alienation 
 from his God, comparing himself with the holy 
 rule of Scripture, he finds that all which he had 
 done has been polluted, that unworthy motives 
 have tarnished all his fairest actions, that " the 
 whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." 
 
 He is convinced, too, of his utter inability to 
 heal himself. In vain has he used many medi- 
 cines of his own, for he has not been cured. His 
 vows and resolutions of amendment have been 
 all to no effect; and as for his sclf-righ .eous efforts 
 to atone for his past guilt, they have ended in 
 bitter disappointment. They have not restored 
 peacetohistroubled mind and alarmed conscience. 
 Every fresh attempt to satisfy the wrath of 
 God has convinced him of his utter inability to 
 do so. Every day's examination of his heart 
 serves resistlessly to prove to him that if he be 
 
 i» 
 
 ^a 
 
o 
 
 4> 
 
 142 
 
 '\ppcndix. 
 
 saved at all, he must be saved by grace, by a free 
 and unconditional salvation. 
 
 Yet it is not from the guilt of sin only that he 
 longs to hz set free. He desires to have its 
 poivcr also broken and destroyed. " O wretched 
 man that I am, who shall deliver me from the 
 body of this death .-* " Glad would he be to tear 
 out of his bosom this filthy and defiling inmate, 
 to gain the victory over his corruptions, and to 
 give the Lord that room which has been occupied 
 by Satan. " Tell me," .says he, " if there be any 
 means within my reach, whereby I may be 
 delivered from the bondage of corruption, and 
 admitted to the glorious liberty of the children 
 of God > " 
 
 To such a man as this, how refreshing are the 
 words, " Wilt thou be made whole } " How dif- 
 ferently do they sound in his ears and in those of 
 other men ! To the proud and the self-righteous, 
 they are uncalled-for and offensive — to him, they 
 are the savour of life unto life." 
 
 " Wilt thou be made whole .'' " is, in a spiritual 
 sense, Wilt thou have salvation } And oh, how 
 welcome is salvation to a soul that feels itself 
 undone and lost ! How joyful when that soul 
 has brooded long over its guilt and wretchedness, 
 and has seen its case deplorable and desperate, 
 to hear that there is hope, that there is pardon 
 even for its worst transejressions ; that God's 
 redeeming love has planned, performed, com- 
 pleted, an atonement ; that " He hath so loved the 
 world, as to give His only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever belie veth in Him should not perish^ 
 
 «- 
 
 15 
 
A 
 
 tt 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 143 
 
 but have everlasting life" ; that this isa "faithful 
 saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 
 But the question, " Wilt thou be made whole ? " 
 implies also this further truth, a truth so comfor- 
 table to the self-despairing penitent, that salva- 
 tion is the work of God alone. " Wilt thou be 
 made" — a quiet, humble, and submissive patient in 
 the hand of Jesus, not adopting any self-invented 
 remedies, but committing all the cure to Him, 
 making Him thy sole physician .-^ 
 
 Such is the proposal of the gospel. How dis- 
 tasteful to the sinner, who fancies that he has the 
 power of himself to help himself; but how 
 unspeakably refreshing to him, who knows by 
 experience his entire corruption, his miserable 
 helplessness, to be told "You must contribute 
 something of your own towards the work, you 
 must complete the cure yourself, when Jesus has 
 begun it." This, to a man who is willing to be 
 cured, but who has a humbling sense of his own 
 impotency, would be to make salvation void, and 
 to place it out of his reach. But when he is 
 assured that salvation is, from beginning to end, 
 the work of Jesus, offered fully and freely to him 
 who is willing to receive it — this is good news 
 indeed, " Glad tidings of great joy." This is 
 bringing near salvation, laying it in the sinner's 
 way, placing it in the sinner's hand. 
 
 The poor cripple at Bethesda would have been 
 told in vain to cure himself, but when it was 
 simply, " Wilt thou be made whole 1 " the man felt 
 that nothing more was looked for from him than 
 
 C 
 
 — » 
 
-iS 
 
 144 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 his very helplessness could undertake, for willing 
 he was, and willingness was all that was asked 
 of him. 
 
 Viewing, however, this enquiry as partly in 
 reference to the soul, it may be considered as 
 implying much more than the pardon of past 
 sin, when Jesus asks the sinner, " Wilt thou be 
 made whole ? " it not only means " Wilt thou be 
 forgiven past iniquity?" but, "Wilt thou have thy 
 heart sanctified, its thoughts and affections 
 cleansed, the love of sin destroyed in it, the love 
 of God established ? Wilt thou be made a temple 
 of the Holy Ghost, that He may dwelt within 
 thee, and regulate thy life and conduct ? " To this 
 the awakened penitent returns a glad reply, 
 " Willing, Lord, most willing, am I that Thou 
 shouidst rule and reign within me, and enable 
 me to overcome this body of sin and death. 
 Thanks be to God who giveth me the victory 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 We have been considering what might be the 
 sentiments of others in reference to the proposal 
 in my text; but now, brethren, let us bring the 
 question home — What answer are we ready to 
 give to it .-^ "Wilt thou be made whole .-*" says 
 Jesus, at the present moment, to every sinner in 
 this Church. 
 
 There are some of you, 1 fear, who care not to 
 answer it at all, or rather by your conduct 
 you are giving Christ a flat refusal, saying, " I 
 will go on froward^y in the way of my own 
 heart." But let me beseech you, brethren, to con- 
 sider this great question once more. Let me call 
 
 <?■ 
 
 •"^ 
 
^ 
 
 o 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 145 
 
 for a few moments, your solemn, serious attention 
 to it. Sec how your case stands. You are in 
 the Lord's sight just what you have con- 
 fessed this day, sinners, " who have no health in 
 you"; as such, the law of God declares your con- 
 demnation, the Lord Himself tells you in His 
 word what you are to look for at His hands 
 " Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish 
 upon eyery soul of man that docth evil." But He 
 tells you at the same time what He has been doing 
 for your souls. He tells you of His agony and 
 bloody sv/eat upon the cross, informing you 
 that they were all suffered for your sakes; 
 that His love for you persuaded Him to undergo 
 them ; that they are the ransom for your souls, 
 and that by If is ..tripes you may be healed. He 
 asks you then if you Vv'ill accept of His good 
 offices, whether you will come to Him for heal- 
 ing. He assures you there is no other way, that 
 " No man cometh unto the Father but by Him." 
 But that if you believe in Him you shall not 
 perish, you shall pass from death unto life. All 
 that he asks on your part is willingness to be 
 redeemed — all that he requires you to bring is a 
 humble, contrite spirit. " Wilt thou then be 
 made whole.''" Oh let not this most gracious 
 question meet one more denial ! Go, humble 
 yourselves before the Saviour of lost sinners, and 
 may that Saviour give you grace to say to Him, 
 "I am willing. Jesus, thou Son of David, have 
 mercy upon me." 
 
 There are those, I trust, among my hearers who 
 feel thus minded at the present moment, thor- 
 
 S& 
 
 1» 
 
 o 
 

 
 -ft 
 
 146 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 oughly convinced of sin, deeply humbled under 
 a sense of their own helplessness, anxious to 
 place themselves in the healing hands of Jesus, 
 yet you hesitate perhaps upon the point whether 
 Jesus will receive you. Oh fear not this ! dismiss 
 every such apprehension from your minds — look 
 at my text, and review it as a particular invitation 
 to yourself. It was actually, indeed, addressed 
 to another individual ; but it is the style in which 
 the Saviour speaks to every poor sinner. Couple 
 it with other passages of His word, with "Who- 
 soever will, let him take the water of life freely," 
 and you need not hesitate to think that Jesus 
 calls you in this passage to be healed by Him. 
 Arise then, "be of good cheer, behold He calleth 
 thee." Come with humble confidence to the 
 throne of grace ; and assuredly, as He restored 
 health of body to the cripple of Bethcsda, He 
 will restore soul's health to you. 
 
 -■»•«-- 
 
 » 
 
 JCf 
 
iK- 
 
 ^ 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 H7 
 
 ''Behold, He prayeihr— Ads ix., ii. 
 
 This is God's account of a newly converted 
 sinner. It is the way in which Our Lord Jesus 
 Christ describes to His servant Ananias, the 
 change which had taken place in the persecutor 
 Saul. How short, and yet how significant and 
 comprehensive. Let us consider what are the 
 inferences to be drawn from them. And may 
 the Lord bless and sanctify our meditations. 
 
 One inference they suggest to us is this, that a 
 sinner's praying is a strange occurrence — " Behold, 
 he praycth." Behold is a word of wonder, and 
 men use it when something strange and remark- 
 able has taken place. It expresses commonly 
 the emotion of a person who sees what is a very 
 unusual sight. And what was the remarkable 
 occurrence here ? A sinner humbled in the dust 
 — A sinner pouring cut his heart in prayer. " Be- 
 hold, he prayeth," says the Lord, as if He were 
 Himself astonished at the circumstance. Brethren, 
 how sad a tale it tells for human nature ! Man 
 calling upon God is a wonder : it leads the Lord 
 to say, " Behold" ! And why ^ Because the carnal 
 mind is enmity with God. Prayer is a strange 
 language to it, unsuited to its pride, offensive to 
 its lusts, a burden more than it can bear. The 
 natural man can use entreaty with his neighbours, 
 he can ask, and seek, and knock at the door of a 
 fellow creature ; but to come with his wants and 
 his entreaties to the throne of grace, to be a 
 
 » 
 
 fSt 
 
Cf 
 
 ■^ 
 
 148 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 petitioner for mercy at the door of heaven, this 
 he cannot be, he will sooner do without the 
 Lord's blessings all his life, than go and pray for 
 them. Ignorance always keeps him from the 
 throne of Grace. He knows not what he is to 
 pray for. He is wholly ignorant of his own 
 spiritual wants, and of what God has to give 
 him. He may be aware, indeed, that to pray is 
 an incumbent duty, that every man ought to 
 open and close the day with it ; but as he feels 
 no sense of want, it is irksome to him to wait 
 thus upon the Lord. Hence it is a wonder when 
 the prayerless sinner first begins to pray. " Behold, 
 he prayeth," he that never knew the meaning of 
 a prayer — that w^orldly, godless man! Surely 
 some strange revolution must have taken place 
 within him ere he would thus of his own accord, 
 and with all the powers of his soul, have called 
 upon his God. Nothing but converting grace — 
 the all-subduing power of the Spirit could have 
 wrought this mighty change. 
 
 Another lesson which my text teaches us is 
 this, that real prayer is quite another thing from 
 that which generally goes under that name. 
 Brethren, you might suppose from the Lord's 
 exclamation at the prayer of Saul, that he had 
 never said a prayer before ; that then was the 
 very first time he bowed the knee, or offered up 
 the language of devotion. But think what this 
 Apostle was before the day of his conversion — 
 a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee — a man of 
 the strictest sect among the Jews : a sect who, 
 however hypocritical, valued themselves upon 
 
 »- 
 
 ^ 
 
» 
 
 IR 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 149 
 
 their long and frequent prayers. It could be no 
 new thing to him that he knelt upon his knees 
 at the time to which my text relates. Saul had, 
 many a time, prayed before he took that famous 
 journey to Damascus. And why then did the 
 Lord so remark upon the prayer which he offered 
 at that journey's end.'* "Behold, he prayeth!" 
 Just as if he had never prayed before ! Brethren, 
 you will, many of you, anticipate the answer: you 
 will say, it was because the prayer he uttered at 
 Damascus was the first spiritual prayer which 
 had ever passed out of his lips. You are right. 
 Saul had often prayed as the Pharisees did, but 
 never till the hour of his conversion did he pray 
 as an awakened sinner. Instead of the proud 
 and formal carlessness of his unenlightened days, 
 he came in the brokenness of his heart, out of 
 the abundance of his complaint and grief, before 
 his God. He came, not to tell God his merits, 
 but to supplicate His mercies. He came, not to 
 perform an irksome task, but to relieve a troubled 
 mind. He came in earnest ! — convinced of sin — 
 humbled to the dust — deeply anxious for the 
 salvation of his soul, and seeking it through the 
 merits of the Saviour whom he had hitherto 
 rejected. Now, mark this, brethren ! it cannot 
 be too deeply impressed upon our minds: God 
 never heard Saul's prayer i til he prayed in 
 spirit and in truth. All his Pharisee prayers, 
 however long, loud, frequent, went for nothing; 
 but directly his heart prayed, my text was 
 uttered — *' Behold, he prayeth ! " There are two 
 different ways of coming before God ! Most 
 
 <> 
 
 .» 
 
»- 
 
 Si 
 
 150 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 men only say their prayers. It is a bodily not a 
 spiritual exercise — the knee and lip only are em- 
 ployed in it, God docs not call this a prayer. He 
 does not say of such a man, "Behold, he prayeth !" 
 but "Behold, he trifleth ! he mocketh Me! he 
 deceiveth his own soul !" And this, however warm 
 the language, however spiritual ai 1 fluent the 
 petitions. But when the sinner, whose heart aches 
 under a sense of guilt, brings his sad case before 
 his God, anxious to obtain a hearing, trusting for 
 mercy and for pardon, and seeking that pardon- 
 ing mercy through a Saviour's blood ; this is 
 prayer, and what the Lord acknowleges as prayer. 
 
 The language may be rude and broken — the 
 lips may be unable to express what the heart 
 feels — but still it is prayer. The heart-searching 
 God calls it prayer. 
 
 But look again at my text. Does it not teach 
 us something further } Yes, that God notices 
 and gives an attentive ear to prayer such as I 
 have described. What is the spectacle on earth, 
 above all others, which His all-seeing eye is 
 pleased to dwell upon .'' A praying sinner. And 
 what the sound by which His ear is most engaged } 
 " The sighing of a contrite heart, and the desire 
 of such as besorrowful." Letuscall to mind some 
 other instances of the Lord's attention to the 
 sinner's prayer. Look at the case of Cornelius. 
 That poor soldier on his knees gained as much 
 notice from the Lord as he would have gained 
 from him had he been the conqueror of the 
 world. "Cornelius, thy prayers and thine alms 
 are come up for a memorial before God." Yes, 
 
 «- 
 
 ttl 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 151 
 
 sincere and fervent prayer, let it come from whom 
 it may, is to the Lord's eye the chief of all events 
 v/hich happen on this earth. The poor, humble 
 cottager crying to him for pardon, is an object 
 more important in His sight, than events which 
 agitate a kingdom and fill the world with wonder. 
 Come to Him, sinner, with the sacrifice of a 
 contrite spirit, in the all-prevailing name of Jesus, 
 and you may be sure that the Lord of heaven 
 and earth has his fixed attention drawn to you. 
 His eyes are over you. His ears arc open to 
 your prayers. 
 
 I must call your attention again to my text. 
 These are the words not only of a God wdio hears 
 prayer, but of one who answers speedily. " Be- 
 hold, he prayeth !" And what may we suppose, 
 brethren, to have been the subject of that awak- 
 ened sinner's prayer "l We cannot doubt. He 
 prayed to be led into the path of pardon and 
 salvation, to be told what the Lord would have 
 him do. Well, while he is in the very act of 
 offering his prayer, the Lord is in the very act of 
 granting it. While Saul is still upon his knees, 
 begging light and direction from above, the Lord 
 is answering his prayer by sending Ananias to 
 direct and comfort him. And here then is one 
 memorable instance of the fulfilment of that pre- 
 cious promise : " And it shall come to pass that 
 before they call I will answer, and while they are 
 yet speaking I will hear." Let any sinner here 
 seek grace and guidance as Saul did on the day 
 of his conversion, and behold, God's answer to 
 
 
 
 « 
 
iS 
 
 -» 
 
 152 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 that prayer is at the door ! The Lord is waitirg 
 to be gracious. " Ask, and ye shall have." 
 
 But again, brethren, learn another lesson from 
 my text. It is the mark of a real Christian to 
 feel a tender interest in the conversion of a soul 
 to God. Yes, and in the earliest symptoms of 
 that blessed change. It was to Ananias, a faith- 
 ful servant and disciple, that the Lord announced 
 the tidings in my text, " Behold, he prayeth." 
 And what does this imply, but that Ananias would 
 rejoice in the intelligence, that he would share 
 in his Lord's joy at the conversion of so great a 
 sinner.'* " Behold, he prayeth !" As much as to 
 intimate, " here is news that will delight your ears, 
 in vvhich you will feel a lively interest and satis- 
 faction. There is a sinner praying, a fresh soul 
 is being added to my flock." Yes, if a man's 
 own heart is right with God, there will be no 
 happier news for him than to hear that other 
 hearts have been touched and softened. To hear 
 of some hardened sinner that, "Behold, he priyeth," 
 prayeth in sincerity and truth, will be music to 
 such a person's ears, words that will fill his heart 
 with gladness, and his lips with praise. How 
 glad was poor Barnabas when " he saw the grace 
 of God" at Antioch ! How did Paul rejoice over 
 Onesimus; and John over the children of the 
 elect lady. You, brethren, that profess godli- 
 ness, have you this mark .'' Can you rejoice with 
 your good Shepherd over a returning sheep ? 
 Can you enter into such a feeling as dictated the 
 words of my text, " Behold, he prayeth .''" ^ 
 
 But it was not only to refresh the heart of 
 
 »- 
 
 » 
 
» 
 
 s> 
 
 Appcndiw 
 
 153 
 
 Ananias, that the Lord communicated to him 
 these happy tidings. The intelHgence " Behold, 
 he praycth !" was followed immediately by a call 
 on Ananias to water what the Lord had planted. 
 " He prayeth," and therefore there is a call upon 
 your charity, there is an opportunity, an occasion, 
 a demand for your offices of Christian love. Learn 
 then. Christian brethren, that as soon as any un- 
 godly neighbour shows any symptoms of a sof- 
 tened heart, as soon as it can be said of him that 
 "Behold, he praycth!" you have duties to fulfil 
 towards him, you must hold out to him the hand 
 of fellowship. You must endeavour, as ability 
 and opportunity arc given you, to strengthen 
 him in the Lord. It is your part to comfort and 
 encourage him — to speak to him of Jesus — to 
 recommend his case to God, and especially to sec 
 to it that you put no stumbling block, no occasion 
 of falling in your weak brother's way. 
 
 I have endeavoured, brethren, to draw many 
 profitable inferences from a very short text. And 
 I would fain hope that there may be some amongst 
 the unconverted part of my congregation to 
 whom, under God's blessing, I may have spoken 
 words in season. O ! if you could be drawn to 
 pray, if, in place of the poor formal lip language 
 which you give to God at present, prayer did 
 begin to flow out of your hearts, what a fund of 
 consolation and encouragement might you draw 
 out of our subject ! O ! sleepers awake, and call 
 upon your God ! make the case of Saul your 
 pattern and encouragement. Humble yourselves 
 this day. Seek the Lord whilst he may be found, 
 
 » 
 
 O 
 
 20 
 
 -» 
 
o 
 
 » 
 
 154 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 call upon him whilst he is near, cry mightily for 
 pardon and acceptance through a Saviour's blood. 
 That gracious, precious Saviour, stands nigh at 
 hand to catch your earliest words of unfeigned 
 supplication. And when it can be testified of 
 you " Behold, he prayeth !" that prayer shall gain 
 a ready answer from the courts of heaven. You 
 shall be what Saul was iJicn, and in a little while 
 you shall be what he is noiv. 
 
 How happy if there be any souls amongst you 
 who are beginning to feel what it is to pray out 
 of the heart, whose prayer is no longer a dry 
 form, but is beginning now to be a real act of 
 crying to the Lord ! Dear brethren, the Lord no 
 longer hides His eyes from you. He hears you 
 now. Your prayers enter into His presence. He 
 inclines His ears unto your calling. He is ex- 
 claiming over you, as over Saul, " Behold, he 
 prayeth !" O ! avail yourselves of this. Improve 
 your privilege. Pour into the Lord's listening 
 ear your wants and your desires. Plead for 
 Saul's mercies. Pray that his Saviour may be 
 yours; that you may learn as he did to glory in 
 the cross of Jesus; *'to count all things but dung 
 that you may win Christ," and be found in Him; 
 to be constrained by the power of His love to 
 " live not unto yourselves, but unto Him who 
 died for you '" 
 
 -»-*»► *- 
 
 « 
 
 i»' 
 
«:- 
 
 » 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 155 
 
 ^^ Likewise, I say unto you, tJierc is joy in the 
 presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
 rcpentethy — Luke xv. 10. 
 
 Wc know very little of the angels, but what 
 little is revealed gives us a glorious idea of them. 
 They are creatures made by the same God, but 
 infinitely raised above us in dignity and 
 excellence. Let us consider the fact stated here 
 by Jesus Christ — a fact interesting and remark- 
 able — worth considering and which will, I trust, 
 under grace, affect us as it ought to do. 
 
 Let us consider (i) Who the man is who attracts 
 the notice of the blessed angels. (2) What their 
 feelings are who contemplate this man. 
 
 First, then, who is the man spoken of in my 
 text } He may be a man of any nation, of any 
 country ; he may be high or low, rich or poor, a 
 king upon the throne, or a beggar on the dung- 
 hill. These are differences and distinctions which, 
 in the eyes of holy angels, are as nothing. The 
 thing they look upon, the thing which draws their 
 notice to the man, is his spiritual condition — he 
 is " a sinner that repentcth." A sinner, one who 
 hath done what he ought not to have done, and 
 hath left undone what he ought to have done, 
 who hath no health in him, and hath gone astray 
 like a sheep that is lost — a sinner — one who has 
 lived in sin, loved it, gloried in it, pleaded for it, 
 committed it perhaps in every variety of way, 
 multiplied it, perhaps, as the hairs of his head — 
 
 «;- 
 
 « 
 
156 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 a sinner — one who has spent years, it may be, in 
 the prosecution of his sins, "without Christ, with- 
 out God in the world," but now, through God's 
 grace, a ** sinner tJiat repcfitcth!' He is bi*. ;ight 
 to a stand, he is come to himself, he is ashamed, 
 yea, confounded for the sins which he has com- 
 mitted. 
 
 In whatever way this blessed change was 
 brought about, in respect of outward means — 
 whether through the word preached or read, 
 whether through public ordinances or private 
 admonitions — in one way or other the spirit of 
 God has touched his heart, and he is now a 
 penitent, his sins are a burden and a grief to him, 
 and his Saviour is his refuge, he has returned to 
 his Father in heaven, and is saying, " I have 
 sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am 
 no more worthy to be called Thy son." His 
 heavenly Father has graciously run forth to meet 
 him, hath embraced him with the arms of His 
 mercy, hath clothed him with the garments of 
 salvation, hath covered him with the robe of 
 righteousness, hath shod him with the prepara- 
 tion of the gospel of peace, and hath said " This, 
 my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost 
 and is found." He is now, therefore, become a 
 changed man, "turned from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan unto God." This 
 is the "sinner that repcntcth." His case is little 
 noticed, probably, by those around him, and few 
 see it with an eye of approval, most of them, 
 perhaps, are ready to exclaim, " The man was 
 better as he was !" 
 
 O 
 
V, -- 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 157 
 
 But now let us mark, by the liclp of our Lord's 
 words in the text, how the augcls arc afifected by 
 a change Hke this! One might have thought, 
 judging humanly upon the subject, *' It is an event 
 too small for angels to take notice of, they have 
 higher objects to contemplate amidst the glories 
 and splendors of that world ; it is not to be sup- 
 posed that they should look upon an act of peni- 
 tence which is taking place on earth, or if they 
 do, that they should feel any interest in what 
 they see." But what says our Lord ? He, who 
 knows all that is done or said, or felt, in the 
 heavenly courts. He tells us, that at the repent- 
 ance of a sinner here on earth, the whole angelic 
 company arc filled with joy, and mark His words, 
 *' over one sinner." One might have thought, 
 that if an event of such a nature could attract 
 the notice of angels, it could only be when it 
 happened on a large scale, as at the day of 
 Pentecost, when three thousand sinners were at 
 once awakened to repentance. But no, says our 
 Lord, let there be only one sinner that repenteth 
 and it is just the same. And observe, also, he says 
 nothing of the sinner's rank or importance here 
 on earth. It is not only when a royal sinner, or 
 a noble sinner repenteth, but any sinner, let his 
 rank be what it may. If it be a pauper, if it be 
 the poorest and meanest of mankind, yet when 
 that sinner repenteth, '* there is joy in the pre- 
 sence of the angels of God." They are at all 
 times a rejoicing company, ahvays happy and 
 triumphant, but then, it seems their joys rise 
 higher. It adds fresh relish to their happiness, 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 IS 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 158 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 it makes their joy mo4'e glorious and more rap- 
 turous than ever, when they see one " sinner that 
 repenteth !" 
 
 And observe, again, it is not one only, or a 
 few only of those blessed ones, who thus rejoice 
 over the repentant sinner, our Lord speaks as if 
 the joy were universal, as if the whole innumer- 
 able company of angels, who are " ten thousand 
 times ten thousand," all joyed alike over one 
 sinner's repentance. His language leads us to 
 believe that there is not one single instance of a 
 true conversion here on earth, but it sends a thrill 
 of joy through all the heavenly courts — that, if 
 there could be seen in the meanest dwelling a 
 sinful man or woman, yea, or a sinful child, upon 
 his knees, humbling himself for his iniquities and 
 seeking mercy through a Saviour, then there is joy 
 in heaven at the sight, then all those grand and 
 noble beings, who live high in glory, are trans- 
 ported at beholding it, and rejoice over it as a 
 glorious event. What shall we think when we 
 hear this } What meditations and what inferences 
 should it lead us to } 
 
 Surely we cannot help exclaiming, in the first 
 place, what an amiable and lovely spirit must 
 pervade these holy angels, that they should take 
 so deep an interest in man ! Man is not akin to 
 them — he is not of the same mould or frame — 
 there is no brotherhood or membership between 
 their holy nature and our sinful one. How then 
 is it that they feel for us so strongly, and 
 rejoice over our good } For the very reason, I 
 may say, that they arc made so unlike us. Had 
 
 » 
 
 «t 
 
«(- 
 
 » 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 159 
 
 they passions such as ours, they might grudge at 
 our improvement, and grieve at every mercy that 
 was shewn to us. Had they anything within 
 their bosoms of our envy and mahgnity, they 
 might be glad rather to see us hardened and con- 
 demned than penitent and pardoned, or were they 
 selfish like ourselves, they would be wholly taken 
 up with their own exalted happiness, and care 
 nothing about other beings, dwelling in another 
 world. But having no such passions in their 
 bosoms, being full of heavenly Jove, the case is 
 otherwise. They can look upon our world with 
 something like the feelings of their Lord, and as 
 He delights in the repentance of a sinner, so do 
 they. He, indeed, so loved poor sinners as to die 
 for them, and is so well pleased when they are 
 penitent and contrite, as to forgive them their 
 iniquities. The angels cannot go so far as this. 
 They cannot save or pardon us, or intercede for 
 us above, but they can and do partake of the 
 Shepherd's joy, when he fetches home the stray- 
 ing sheep. They can and do, gather round Him, 
 as it were, and rejoice that His sheep is found, 
 which was lost. 
 
 But again, let us learn from our text, what an 
 all-important thing is true repentance } Is it so, 
 that when a man repents of his sins, there is joy 
 in heaven } And why then, is there this joy } 
 Because it is not until a sinner repents that he is 
 in the way of pardon and acceptance. For an 
 impenitent sinner, Christ is crucified in vain. He 
 is yet in his sins, notwithstanding all that has been 
 done for him. It is not till a man truly repents 
 
 « 
 
 ■«JI 
 
« 
 
 UK 
 
 1 60 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 that the blood of Christ is available. Till then 
 it is as a spring shut up, as a fountain sealed. 
 The man may talk of himself as a partaker in 
 Christ's mercies, but he, in fact, knows nothing of 
 them. He is still in the far country, still in the 
 broad road, still erring and straying like a lost 
 sheep, still dead in trespasses and sins. But true 
 and genuine repentance is the turning point. It 
 is when the leper feels that he is vile, knows that 
 he is lost, is sensible he cannot save Jiimself^ and 
 is distressed at his wretched state, it is then that 
 he comes to himself, and begins in truth to seek 
 his Saviour. Then, therefore, and not before, do 
 the angels joy over his case. It is not when they 
 see him baptized into Christ's name ; it is 
 not when they sec him tread God's courts, fre- 
 quen' God's ordinances, and offer up with formal 
 heart the language of devotion, but it is when 
 they see his hard heart softened, his haughty 
 spirit humbled, his high imaginations brought 
 down, and hear that prayer of penitence arising 
 from his heart, " God be merciful to me, a sinner." 
 And do they rejoice ni the first turning of man's 
 heart to the God of his salvation } What, then, 
 must they feel as he advances in his course, as he 
 adds faith to his repentance, holiness to his faith, 
 "growing up unto Him in all things, who is the 
 Head even Christ." What must they feel when 
 they see him finishing his course with joy, and 
 when they arc sent to carry his departing spirit 
 into Abraham's bosom ! What joy when they 
 welcome him into their innumerable company, 
 and greet him as their equal and companion in 
 
 
 
 <* 
 
« 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 i6i 
 
 O 
 
 the glories of eternity. Surely it will be their 
 highest joy of all, when they see him numbered 
 with themselves, and when he sings in a higher 
 strain than they, his obligations to the Lamb of 
 God. 
 
 But, my brethren, this joy among the angels 
 over a repentant sinner ought surely to suggest 
 some questions — questions to propose to our own 
 hearts and consciences. Let me suggest two im- 
 portant enquiries of this nature — the first of them 
 is this. Have you and /occasioned joy to holy 
 angels.-* Kx^ yon and /repentant sinners.'* The 
 answer must not be too hastily returned. Re- 
 pentance, in the Scripture acceptation of it, is 
 not just what the world means by such a term. 
 Repentance, in the world's idea, is little more 
 then saying with the lips, " I am sorry for my 
 sins," or adopting, like the Romanists, some out- 
 ward acts of self-abasement ; but the repentance 
 of the gospel is a change in a man's heart, occa- 
 sioned by a real sight and sense of his iniquities. 
 A sinner is said in Scripture to repent, when he 
 feels himself a worthless creature, and is con- 
 vinced that all his works and ways have been 
 guilty before God ; and when, abhorring himself 
 for his iniquities, and acknowledging himself to 
 be worthy of damnation, he casts himself upon a 
 Saviour's grace, for the entire salvation of his 
 soul, from first to last. And this repentance, 
 which implies a change of hearty effected by the 
 Holy Spirit, is sure to issue in a change of life. 
 The real penitent cannot live on in sin, for which 
 he has now a heartfelt hatred and abhorrence ; 
 
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 s> 
 
 162 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 but he manifests his real sorrow for the past by 
 an earnest effort, under grace, to mortify the sins 
 he has committed, and to Hve a new and holy 
 life, for the time to come. Now, has such a good 
 work taken place in you ? Have you ever been 
 grieved and wearied with the burden of your sins, 
 and have you really thrown yourselves on Christ to 
 be washed and sanctified ? If not, then there has 
 been no joy on your account in the presence of the 
 angels, but rather joy among the evil spirits, that 
 you have never sorrowed to repentance. But will 
 you say, "There is no cause for any repenting .'' 
 none, at least for such deep and humiliating feel- 
 ings as have been just described .''" Hold up then 
 the mirror of God's word before your souls. 
 Measure yourself by His commandments, by 
 Christ's sermon on the mount, or any other por- 
 tion of His word in which your duties are 
 summed up, and sec how your life looks by 
 it. See, whether on a serious perusal, it does 
 not force you to exclaim, "If these be my duties, 
 then I have never done tnem, if these be the 
 sins I was to shun, then I have been guilty of 
 many of them all my life." But above all, judge 
 of yourself by your treatment of your Saviour. 
 See how you have neglected and forgotten Him, 
 who shed His blood for your salvation, and then 
 say whether your ill returns to such a Saviour, do 
 not constitute a sufficient reason for the deepest 
 self-abhorrence. If these considerations do not 
 affect you, then pray earnestly for a penitent and 
 contrite heart, remembering that except you 
 repent, you must perish everlastingly. Oh ! there 
 
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 Appendix. 
 
 163 
 
 is no time to lose ! To-day, repentance is accept- 
 able, and a Saviour's mercies are before you, to- 
 morrow you may find yourselves within a world 
 where repentance would be unavaiUng, where 
 indeed it is impossible, where they despair but 
 repent not. 
 
 But there is another question which those per- 
 sons ought to ask their hearts who profess to be 
 Christian people. " There is joy" you see " in the 
 presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
 that rcpcntcth." Now is there joy in j^wr hearts 
 when you witness such a sight as that } Do you 
 rejoice to S2e a sinner turn to God } for we have 
 a nearer interest in every penitent trangressor 
 than thos3 who have never repented. He is our 
 neighbour and our brother, and we have been his 
 fellow sinners, and have partaken of the same 
 grace } surely our rejoicing should be great 
 indeed over every fellow sinner that repenteth } 
 But, not only so, if we be really those who have 
 ourselves repented and found mercy we shall be 
 anxious to promote the repentance of our fellow 
 sinners, we shall pray for them that God may 
 give them repentance, and we shall be glad to 
 assist, as we are able, those societies which are 
 sending forth preachers to benighted nations to 
 call them to repentance and to believe the Gospel. 
 Have we such a spirit as this .'* Are we earnestly 
 and actively engaged in doing all we can towards 
 the conversion of our fellowmen } if not, let us take 
 shame to ourselves for our supineness and want 
 of feeling. Look at the days in which we live ! 
 days in which sin exceedingly abounds, but days 
 
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A 
 
 164 
 
 Appendix 
 
 in which more is doing towards bringing sinners 
 to repentance than in any former days since the 
 age of the Apostles-days in which Bibles are 
 
 c' n?f ?u .''" !^^^ "'''^' '^^''^ ^^^^^^^ preachers 
 sent forth to all countries of the heathen, a bles- 
 sing extensively outpoured upon their labours 
 and a call therefore, an urgent call, addressed to 
 you by God to assist in bringing sinners to 
 repentance, and filling Heaven with%y. 
 
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 Appendix. 
 
 165 
 
 ** And he turned Jihn nnto his disciples, and said 
 privately. Blessed arc the eyes ivhich see the things 
 ivJiich ye seer — Luke x. 23. 
 
 The great end of the Christian reh'gion is to 
 restore men to a state of well-being. We are in 
 a ruined condition by nature. Amidst the general 
 flow of animal spirits, and the quick succession of 
 earthly enjoyments, in a state of external pros- 
 perity, and when our favourite passions are gra- 
 tified, it appears, indeed, as if all is well with us, 
 but it only appears so. For still thf^re is some- 
 thing in our nature which is not r lly satisfied 
 with all this — there is a void within as which all 
 these things can never fill, and which creates 
 uneasiness, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness. This 
 unhappiness of man is recognized by all the 
 religions in the world. Some promise this hap- 
 piness in the present life — others in eternity. 
 Mahomedans are assured by the Korar of an 
 abundance of sensual pleasures in a future para- 
 dise, provided they follow in this world the direc- 
 tions of their Prophet. In the Old Testament 
 various promises were given of temporal blessings 
 connected with obedience to the commandments 
 of God. But in the New Testament there is a 
 further and special blessing which was not enjoyed 
 under the old. 
 
 Now, in what does this p' ^'"\x privilege con- 
 sist ? in other words, wha*- is 1. which constitutes 
 the highest happiness o^ -^ 'Jhristian t Were I 
 
 « 
 
 ^ 
 
» 
 
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 1 65 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 to put this quc.-jtion to modern philosophising 
 speculators, who knownothinf^and believe nothing 
 concerning Christ, except what happens to fall 
 in with their pre-conceived opinions, I should 
 receive from them a variety of answers. Some 
 would say, *' The highest happiness a man can 
 enjoy is from acting the part of the good Samari- 
 tan — he carries about with him the consciousness 
 of having performed a genuine act of philanthropy, 
 and he reaps the th inks of those whom he has 
 succoured, such things will afford a happines^ 
 not to be described." Another would reply, " No . 
 such benevolence ought to be exercised in secret* 
 without expecting or anticipating any reward — 
 this would give greater pleasure to the heart, and 
 would be laying up a good store for eternity. A 
 third would reply, " The greatest happiness con- 
 sists in the faithful discharge of the duties of our, 
 station, and a man who does these must be in a 
 good state, though he has no remarkable works 
 to boast of" A fourth decides in a more general 
 way, asserting, " A good conscience is the great- 
 est happiness — feeling that we have led a 
 respectable life, have done no disgraceful action, 
 not guilty of robbcrry or violence, how quietly 
 we may fall asleep on our pillow — how peacefully 
 on a death bed with a good conscience ! " I 
 might add many others. What think jw/ of these 
 views of happiness 1 I will tell you what I think 
 of them. They are only an additional proof of 
 the blindness and folly of the human heart, and 
 of the truth of Christ's words, " I thank thee, O 
 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou 
 
 <K 
 
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 x> 
 
 /. 
 
 \ppciidix. 
 
 167 
 
 hast hid these thini;s from the wise and prudent, 
 and hast revealed them unto babes." 
 
 Wherein then consists the pecuhar blessedness 
 of the New Testament dispensation ? We answer 
 it consists in what is expressed by our Saviour 
 in the text, " Blessed are the eyes which see the 
 thincTs which ye see." This is the essential blessing" 
 of the New Testament — that the Saviour is be- 
 held. I will enlarge on this subject : 1800 years 
 ago, in Judca, the Son of God was to be seen 
 with bodily eyes, and handled with bodily hands, 
 for He walked as a real man among real men. 
 It was thus that His disciples saw him, but not 
 on account of this that He called them blessed, 
 others thus saw Him — but derived no benefit from 
 the sight. The Pharisees and a great multitude 
 saw Him, but they saw Him with eyes of indif- 
 ference or enmity ; of eyes such as theirs Christ 
 could not have said, " Blessed are the eyes which 
 see the things which ye see." 
 
 What was it then which constituted the differ- 
 ence between the sight which the disciples had of 
 Him, and the sight which others had of Him,-* 
 We answer, the disciples looked upon the Saviour 
 with spiritual as well as bodily eyes. His words. 
 His works, His life, awakened spiritual feelings 
 towards Him, through the revelation of the Father 
 vouchsafed to them, so that they could not fail 
 to regard Him with the most profound reverence 
 and love. The disciples recognized Jesus as the 
 Saviour, the Son of God, whilst others took Him 
 for a prophet, an enthusiast, an enemy, or a 
 demoniac. 
 
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 1 68 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 My brethren ! it is with spiritual eyes that we 
 must still, at the present day lold the Saviour, 
 
 if we would be the children o 
 think that if you had lived in i 
 seen His person, witnessed His h. 
 you would have been among His 
 
 ht. You may 
 
 'me, and had 
 
 id miracles, 
 
 1 >wers. But 
 
 perhaps you might have been among is enemies, 
 for you, too, might have been offenued at His 
 humble condition. Every age has its stumbling 
 blocks, mere bodily sight is not sufficient to make 
 us believers. The eyes of your mind must be 
 opened, the Satanical darkness that is in them by 
 reason of sin must be taken away, the Holy Ghost 
 must reveal and glorify the Saviour in our hearts. 
 It is this, and nothing less than this, that can 
 make any one a true follower of Jesus, and this 
 was as absolutely necessary at that time as it is 
 at the present. We must see the Saviour after 
 this spiritual manner, or we are none of His — 
 Without this, however well we may be able to 
 converse about His religion, we are no better 
 than hypocrites, or at least we know nothing of 
 the real blessedness of Christianity, for it consists 
 in spiritually seeing Jesus. This is not the utter- 
 ance of a heated imagination, I speak the 
 words of truth and soberness, yet there is a great 
 difficulty in making it plain to you. Have you 
 observed that we all have within us a kind of 
 image or notion of ourselves. The mind of every 
 one is, consciously or unconsciously, occupied in 
 regarding this inward image of himself Now 
 while we remain under the dominion of Satan 
 the father of lies, this image of ourselves is 
 
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 Appendix. 
 
 169 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 beheld in the mirror of self-love, and wc thus 
 appear to ourselves much fairer, nobler, worthier 
 than we really are. Outward and relative cir- 
 cumstances contribute in no small degec to the 
 formation of that notion of ourselves. Are we 
 rich ? Then we are apt to indulge an imagina- 
 tion that wc arc persons of consequence, who 
 have no occasion to care much what others think 
 of us, or to give ourselves much trouble about 
 others. Are wc in some place of authority .'' 
 then the imagination of ourselves will be mixed 
 up with ideas of power and importance. Are we 
 poor } then we generally indulge a secret imagina- 
 tion of ourselves as persons ill-treated and op- 
 pressed. There are very few quite independent 
 of this influence on their outward circumstances. 
 So much do men deceive themselves about their 
 real character, when they are not formed into 
 simplicity and godly sincerity, by yielding to the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 But the principal thing which I now wish you 
 clearly to understand is this, that just as we have 
 within us a secret image of ourselves, which as 
 long as we do not love the Saviour, accompanies 
 us everywhere, and just as we see ourselves in the 
 deceitful mirror of self-love, so must we get the 
 Saviour before the eye of our mind by the mirror 
 oiHis word, and in the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 and this is the blessedness of the New Testament. 
 But we have not only this image of ourselves 
 within us, but others also. Every one has some 
 besetting sin, and according to it there are found 
 imaginations in which our minds find their chief 
 
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 I/O 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 gratification. A licentious man has unchaste 
 imaginations, and fashions them according to his 
 own impure desires ; a covetous man has imag- 
 inations of possessions, gains, wealth, and the 
 soul revels in these fields of vain pleasure as long 
 as it has no experimental knowledge of Christ. 
 Now, just as this sinful imagery forms itself within 
 us, so must the image of Christ be formed, and 
 act with life and power within us. Christ, must, as 
 scripture says, be formed within us, and become 
 the supreme object of our love, accompanying us 
 wherever we go, and separate from whom, we can 
 find no rest or enjoyment. Christ must come 
 into the heart, and be present to the eye of the 
 mind. His Spirit must reveal Him to our spirit, 
 else we shall not love Him, and he who loves 
 Him not, cannot be His true disciple. 
 
 Is it thus with us ? Do we thus see Him } O 
 let us give ourselves no rest, till the Spirit of God 
 thus impresses Christ on our hearts, and inscribes 
 His name there. Then we shall stand at the foot 
 of the cross, behold His wounded body, and His 
 precious blood shed to atone for our sins, and by 
 such a sight our souls shall draw in grace and 
 mercy. How shall wc thus be drawn away from 
 worldly things, to commune with our holy, smit- 
 ten, tortured, dying Saviour and Mediator. In 
 the strength of this sight of Jesus, we can over- 
 come sin, break its power, triumph ov^r selfis/mess, 
 — that most deeply rooted plague of our hearts — 
 by its means, the imagery of sin is forced out of 
 the chambers of the heart, as Jesus gains the 
 ascendancy — yea, the idol xr// appears deformed 
 
 s? 
 
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 Appcndit. 
 
 171 
 
 by the side of the ima^e of Jesus, a new hfe, a 
 new self, a new man, Jesus Christ, arises in the 
 heart. 
 
 Behold ! this is the blessedness of the New 
 Testament, the whole economy of the Christian 
 dispensation points at this, and every ordinance 
 of the Christian Church has this one object in 
 view, namely, to brin^ Christ into the heart, to 
 make us see Him with the eyes of our under- 
 standing;. At the Lord's Supper the crucified 
 Saviour is exhibited to us with His body broken, 
 and His blood poured out, in the meat and drink 
 which is presented to us to partake of, and as for 
 the ordinance of preaching the word of God, 
 what is its main business ^ It is to set forth 
 before our eyes Jesus Christ as crucified among 
 us: it is to make us acquainted with Him who 
 died for us and rose again, and to shew forth the 
 witness of Him "Who hath called us out of 
 darkness into His marvellous light." Jesus the 
 Saviour is the centre of all religion. Him we must 
 find, possess, and behold, with the eyes of our 
 mind, otherwise we cannot behold, possess, find 
 heaven or salvation, for He is salvation. 
 
 2. I have now briefly to set before you how we 
 may attain this peculiar grace of the new covenant. 
 An intelligent thinking person who has, however, 
 no spiritual experience, hearing what I have said, 
 will be ready to regard all about spiritually be- 
 holding the Saviour, as nothing better than an 
 idle imagination, as a mere dreaming fancy of 
 my own invention — as the effusions of an over- 
 excited mind, as mere folly, or, as at the be.st, the 
 
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 S{ 
 
G 
 
 172 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 sayings of a well-meaning but useless enthusiast, 
 or as well meant ideas and notions, which are 
 however of no real use to the world. This is the 
 judgment which unrene\ved men form of spiritual 
 things in general, and of this grace and blessed- 
 ness in particular, a thing whicii they understand 
 not, which they can no more discern, than a 
 blind man, scarlet, from Oxford gray. Such a 
 man, as Newton said, is trying to light his candle 
 with the extinguisher on. But thio does not per- 
 plex or surprise us. " The natural n'an receiveth 
 not the things of the Spirit of God for they are 
 foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, 
 for they are spiritually discerned." But oh ! that 
 those who are so ready to attribute spiritual ex- 
 perience to mere fruits of imagination, would for 
 once give themselves the trouble of trying whether 
 they can attain to such experience by any stretch 
 or power of imagination, surely they would soon 
 find that they do not grow upon any soil of our 
 own. A man may, by his imagination, find his 
 way into whatever is of human origin and sub- 
 mitted to the senses, and walk abroad among the 
 sublimest objects of human knowledge, but as to 
 the Saviour and His plain matter of fact history, 
 especially as to His deep humilia * n and obedi- 
 ence unto death, even the death ot tne cross. As 
 to making Him the dearest object of his imagina- 
 tion, this is what a man without grace cannot do 
 — here there is a bairicr in his way, which mere 
 human effort or reason cannot remove. In a 
 merely natural man, Christ ran never be formed, 
 the soul will never feed upon Him, for there is an 
 
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 m.i\ii ■gfLfc-iJ ) : ;?; 
 
 •,a 
 
rt 
 
 Gt 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 173 
 
 opposing will, an hostility against Him and His 
 cross, witnin us, and this hostility we cannot grt 
 rid of, by the power of fancy or of human reason. 
 We cannot drive it away. We cannot charm it 
 away. We cannot will it away. It has grown 
 with our growth, and strengthened with our 
 strength. It is a constituent part of our very 
 nature — yes, our reason, our knowledge, our 
 intellect, the ground of our heart and the imagi- 
 nations of our thoughts are in gross darkness as 
 to spiritual things until the Spirit of God shines 
 upon us. 
 
 From what has been said, it is easy to perceive 
 how we are to become possessed of the special 
 grace and blessedness of the New Testament. It 
 must be given vis from above. Christ must be 
 revealed in us by the Holy Spirit, and we can do 
 nothing in the matter except to pra> for this dis- 
 tinguished grace, and amidst this inward suppli- 
 cr^-ion, meditate on the Holy Scriptures, which 
 throughout testify of Jesus, if, perhaps, it may 
 please the Lord, by means of His written word 
 of inspiration, to pour light upon our souls. Be 
 assured, my brethren, that the Saviour is ready 
 to make our impoverished souls partake of every 
 kind of blessedness, and to pour consolation into 
 them. The love of that adorable Redeemer with 
 which He, while on earth, so affectionately and 
 promptly comforted the weary and heavy laden 
 who resorted to Him — the love of Him whose 
 own blood, whose own life, were not counted too 
 dear to Him for the sake of making human souls 
 blessed and happy — that same love will not delay 
 
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 174 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 in manifesting to a poor penitent son or daughter 
 of Adam, all the riches of His mercy. But we 
 too often stand in His way. We do not suffer 
 His light to find its way to our hearts, sometimes 
 through some secret wickednessharboured therein, 
 and sometimes when we have good intentions in 
 the main. Thus it is that men remain poor indeed 
 in the midst of plenty, without Christ, without 
 the enjoyment of His grace, unblessed and dark. 
 To a soul that sincerely seeks Him, to a poor 
 heart which has nothing, absolutely nothing, of 
 its own righteousness any longer to look to, 
 which has completely humbled itself under the 
 condemnation of the law, and feels that it neither 
 can nor would cover its own weakness any longer. 
 To such an one Jesus reveals and manifests Him- 
 self, and this too at the very time and hour when 
 the heart falls down deepest into this loneliness 
 and humiliation. 
 
 Oh Thou great Shepherd of the once lost, but 
 now found and recovered sheep, bring it to pass 
 with us, with me, with these, that Thou mayest 
 become our one tiling needful, and our all, that 
 Thy sufferings and death. Thy love even unto 
 aeath, may be impressed upon our poor cold 
 hearts, never to be obliterated. Oh ! we have 
 long enough forgotten Thee ! We have long enough 
 taken pleasure in that which is grovelling ; but 
 now, Thou Sun of righteousness, arise upon us with 
 healing in Thy beams, and dispel the natural 
 darkness from our eyes and our hearts ! 
 
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