THE INFLUENCE OF A GODLY LIFE : 
 
 txmm, 
 
 PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. Js.. W^A^LLA.CE, ^.B., 
 
 HUNTINGDON, QUEBEC, 
 BY THE 
 
 KEY. W. C. CLARKE, A.B., 
 
 OKMSTOWN, QUEBEC. 
 
 Printed for Private Circuiation. 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 
 
 1870. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 "27ie memory of the just is hlessedr — Prov. x. 7. 
 
 The term just, as applied to persons in the Old Testament 
 
 Scriptures, means tliose -who fear God,^godlike or godly 
 
 persons ; those who acknowledge Him in all their ways, and 
 
 are circumspect, and consistent in their lives, and upright in 
 
 their conduct towards both God and man. Not that there 
 
 is one of God's children on earth of whom it may be said, 
 
 he is absolutely and perfectly just, but the term is applied to 
 
 those who are relatively so ; their aim is to be just ; they make 
 
 it their first and highest object, to walk with God and keep His 
 
 commandments. They acknowledge Him as their Creator, 
 
 their Supreme Ruler and Law giver, and adore Him as the 
 
 Author of life and Giver of all good. They love Him as the 
 
 God of their salvation ; they feel their sins and confess them ; 
 
 they repent of these and forsake them ; they go to Him daily, 
 
 through faith in the Redeemer, for pardon and grace to help 
 
 them in their need. They trust in His free and sovereign 
 
 mercy, and rejoice in the Great Salvation. God is in all 
 
 their thoughts. He is the portion of their inheritance ; 
 
 their support under all the burdens and trials of life, and 
 
 their hope and comfort in the trying and solemn hour of 
 
 death. They endure all, as beholding Him who is invisible. 
 
Under the more full and complete light of the gospel, 
 those \iho believe in and love the Saviour, who confess Him 
 before men, and believe in their hearts the truth of His 
 hicarnation, suiferings for sin, death on the cross, resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, ascension to glory, and His mediatorial 
 intercession in heaven, are said to be just, because to such 
 Christ is the end of the Law unto Righteousness, and to such 
 because thus just in Christ Jesus before God, there is there- 
 fore no condemnation, for they walk not after the flesh but 
 after the spirit. They know their Saviour and believe in 
 Him ; they serve Him as their Master, they live in His 
 love and feel its power ; for them to live is Christ, and to 
 die, is gain. These are perfect in Christ Jesus and in this 
 sense are just ones. 
 
 The Evangelists and Apostles acknowledge the correctness 
 of designating those who are eminently consistent in the 
 faith as just. Joseph, the husband of Mary, is said to be 
 just. He feared God in having strict regard for the Divine 
 Law and the amenities of private life. The nature of the 
 goodness of his heart comes out very touchingly in his 
 resolve to send his wife away privately^ not wishing to expose 
 her for what, had he been correct in his surmises, was a 
 wrong ; but being a good man, he could not add public 
 insult to the personal pain arising, as he supposed, from a 
 private wrong act. Joseph of Arimathea is likewise called a 
 just man, being guided always by a strict regard for what was 
 true and right. Hence we find him acting a noble part at 
 the trial of Christ, he being one of the noble two who did 
 not consent to, but opposed and condemned, the sentence of 
 the Sanhedrim ; and subsequently, the real excellency of his 
 character is seen in openly demanding the body of Jesus, 
 after he failed to persuade His enemies to spare His life, and 
 giving it an honourable burial, thus showing by his out- 
 ward act the inward rectitude of his mind. 
 
 Again, the term jui^t is applied to Cornelius, a Roman 
 
nobleman, holding a military appointment under Coesar in 
 Judea, at that time a colony of the Roman Empire. From 
 his long residence among the Jews, and his acquaintance with 
 their Scriptures, he came to the knowledge of the true God ; 
 he believed in Him, and worshipped Him in his family, and 
 no doubt also in the synagogue. In all probability this was 
 that centurion who was present at the Crucifixion, and who, 
 after beholding the supernatural manifestations of Divine dis- 
 pleasure and divinity which accompanied that awful and 
 thrilling scene, exclaimed, " truly this was the Son of God," 
 and, no doubt, in consequence, was led to examine more 
 fully than ever those rites and oracles which pointed forward 
 to a suffering Redeemer; but be that as it may, Cornelius 
 was a devout man, one who feared God and gave alms, 
 and who recognised God's claims upon him by daily offering 
 prayers at the appointed hour for such devotions in his family. 
 And those of liis household knew that he did thus acknowledge 
 and worship the God of the Jews ; he did not hide his religion > 
 with him, it was the chief duty of life ; he professed it openly, 
 and acted according to his profession, and hence he was called 
 a just man. 
 
 Once more Lot is called fijust man by Peter, because he 
 discountenanced and condemned vice, and was grieved 
 at the wicked conduct of his countrymen, as being contrary 
 to the laws of Jehovah, and offensively opposed to his holy 
 and pure nature. He kept himself unspotted from the impure 
 society in which he lived, and remained uncontarainated by 
 their gross sins : and hence he is called a juat man whose 
 righteous soul was daily vexed with the wickedness and irre- 
 ligion of those around him. 
 
 From these examples and illustrations you will easily per- 
 ceive the sense in which I use the term just^ as employed in 
 the text, which says, that " the memory of the just is blessed,'* 
 and in this sense I shall endeavour to illustrate the influence 
 which such a life exerts on mankind. 
 
6 
 
 The memory of the just is blessed to the living by inspiring 
 them to prosecute the same noble life. Every man who lives 
 a holy and upright life and dies in the faith adds another link 
 to the chain of evidence which proves the reality of the pre- 
 sent as -Nvell as the certainty of the future. Such a life 
 proves the divinity of our holy religion, and its completeness 
 and universal sufficiency to guide us through the responsi- 
 bilities, duties and trials of this life, and to secure for us the 
 rewards and blessings of the life to come, as well as its power 
 to mould the character and mature the soul for its h'liAi 
 duties and endless glory. 
 
 Those who live the life of the righteous are so many 
 rational, sympathizing and living witnesses for the existence 
 of God, for His being and perfections. They are the visible 
 representatives of His moral nature and the exponents of Ilis 
 holy and pure character, for they are godly or godlike ; and 
 men will study the Divine nature through the character of 
 those who claim to exemplify that nature ; and the result will 
 be that the world Avill glorify God through them. The 
 memory of the life and death of such does more to awaken 
 the careless, to interest the indifferent, to shake the citadel of 
 error, and to convince a sceptical and irreligious world of the 
 truth of a future life, human responsibility, the necessity of a 
 revealed religion, the need of holiness and faith in a Re- 
 deemer, than ten thousand volumes of speculative theology 
 and finely-spun theories concerning personal responsibility 
 and sentimental religion. Disputations, theories and fancy 
 sketches may amuse the mind, and serve as a pretext or a 
 pleasant pastime, but a living embodiment of religion in actual 
 life alone can convince the conscience and lead to imitation. 
 
 Christians are living epistles, read and known by all men ; 
 and God is pleased to use faith, thus exemplified, as a means 
 for convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment 
 to come. Who can estimate aright the silent yet powerful 
 influence which a consistent godly life exerts over the dispo- 
 
sitions and feeling?, the faith and conduct of others ? "Who 
 can measure its influence to restrain from vice, and lead to 
 virtue many who yield to no other power ? Example is ever 
 more powerful than precept, for it carries with it a weight of 
 convincing evidence and an influence which no speculative 
 teaching, however pure and correct it may be, can exercise. 
 Even positive teaching is weak in comparison with the 
 living exhibition of the truth. What gave pre-eminent force 
 and power to the Saviour's teaching and doctrine was, that 
 He went about doing good. There may be delusion and 
 insincerity in teaching, but none in doing good. This is the 
 grand secret of all effectual teaching, to illustrate dogma by 
 deeds. In this respect our Lord stands out in convincing 
 contrast with all other expounders of religion. He illustrates 
 religion in His own person ; and shows that it consists in a 
 life of godliness, in which He proclaims the completeness 
 and correctness of His precepts, and the divinity of His doc- 
 trine, work and person. The closer the believer imitates 
 Christ in this, the higher does he stand as a Christian, and 
 the more will he influence others for good. Chief among the 
 instrumental causes which aided the propagation and wide 
 spread of the gospel, during the first ages of the Christian 
 Church, stands out in well-defined prominence, the disinter- 
 ested life, the holy and pure character, of the Apostles, of 
 their co-labourers and their successors. This was then one 
 agency which the Holy Spirit acknowledged and blessed in 
 the glorious work of reclaiming a- world sunk in Jewish 
 intolerance, heathen idolatry, and soul-destroying super- 
 stition, and this is still an agency which the same Spirit 
 acknowledges and blesses, in sanctifying and maturing the 
 individual character, and for commending the Truth to the 
 indifferent and the ungodly. The world may withstand pre- 
 cept, and resist doctrine, but acknowledges and yields to 
 the silent force and influence of a disinterested, a sympathiz- 
 ing, and a holy life ; if not at once, yet gradually and im- 
 
8 
 
 perceptibly : and thus is often led to acknowledge the divi- 
 nity of the precept, and the correctness of the doctrine. In 
 order to give 'greater prominence to this principle, let me 
 further observe that, under the present order and law of 
 things, the tendency of the human mind is to overlook and 
 undervalue what is present. Not that distance in this case 
 lends enchantment ; but, that while the gift is in our posses- 
 sion, we seem to dwell more on the gift itself Widm upon the 
 object for which it is given. We learn to prize our mercies 
 and advantages when they are gone ; and we frequently dis- 
 cover virtues and graces when they are no longer exercised ; 
 and hence, the disinterested, pure and holy life is often 
 unnoticed, or observed only by the few ; so that the just man 
 never begins to be appreciated, and to exert the full influence 
 of his life upon the livmg, till after his death. The force 
 and example of such life are more powerful in their influence 
 after the removal than during the presence of the indivi- 
 dual, which tends to show that while the individual is human, 
 a holy hfe is the gift and power of God. 
 
 Thus it was with the great leading minds of history. In 
 many instances they were obscure men, but little known, and 
 less respected, during life. It requires an appreciative future 
 to unlock the life of such, and display its charms, and to 
 resolve these into ensamples for others to copy. It would 
 seem that often the presence of the person is a clog, to some 
 extent, on the influence of the mind. The presence of the 
 individual seems to divert the mind of the observer from the 
 invisible but more real, because more lasting, agent, which 
 uses the body as its instrument, because the mind is frequent- 
 ly more taken up with the material and the seen, than with 
 the immaterial and the unseen. 
 
 The influence of Moses was more powerfully felt after 
 his death than during his lifetime. God saw that this would 
 be so, and hence his grave was not, nor is now, known to any 
 man. The body of the great law giver and legislator was 
 
n 
 
 revoro his memory, and read his Epistles. Though once 
 called a madman and a babbler, he now lives as tlic peerless 
 master of Theology, the delineator of truth, and the expounder 
 of saving grace. God will honour, and have His servants 
 honoured, if not in the body, yet assuredly in the spirit ; for 
 their memory shall be held in reverence, and the remember- 
 ancG of their goodness of life will ever lead to God and to 
 duty, while the memory of their persecutors and detractors, 
 of the voluptuous and the wicked, " shall rot." The spirit of 
 the holy and loving John, though, while in life, expatriated to 
 inhospitable Patmos, without a companion save the unseen 
 one, and no pleasure save that which grows out of grief, to 
 spend the years of old age amid the solemn silence of solitari- 
 ness, broken only by the spectral sound of the Argean 
 waves, now lives in memory, to influence in holiness, and to 
 lead to active usefulness, the disciples of Jesus beneath 
 every clime. So that of these and thousands of others, it 
 may be truly said, though dead they still speak. 
 
 And is not this the most marked and distinguishing fea- 
 ture of Christ and him crucified ? In life He was despised and 
 rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, malign- 
 ed, betrayed, crucified and slain ; and even in the agonies of 
 death, when the most abandoned should be restrained from 
 outrage. He was cruelly insulted ; but now His name is the 
 ark of refuge from Divine wrath, the only place of safety, 
 and the tower of strength, for the weary and sin-laden 
 sons of men. His life of holiness and active goodness con- 
 strains scoffers and infidels, sceptics and unbelievers, to con- 
 fess that He was the embodiment of human perfection, the 
 loving and the loved. 
 
 Now with these, it is not the power he displayed in per- 
 forming miracles that arrests their attention and calls forth 
 their respect, for these miracles many of them reject and 
 deny, but it is his holy and pure life, so inexplicably disin- 
 terested, and the blessed and purifying influence which that 
 
12 
 
 life subsequently exerted on mankind. This, and this alone, 
 constrains them to admire Him and to acknowledge His 
 worth. Who can read that most eloquent, most sceptical, and 
 most paradoxical writer, Rousseau, on the life of Christ, with- 
 out being particularly impressed with th^s view of the subject ? 
 Napoleon the Great said that Alexander, Caesar and himself 
 could lead armies, conquer nations and be the idols of their 
 soldiers, but after all that they were soon forgotten, and 
 exerted little or no influence on posterity,^ nor were they held 
 in sweet memory ; while the influence of the name of Jesus 
 was increasing with time, and becoming more precious, the 
 better known ; though while on earth, few would defend Him, 
 yet that now, and ever since His death, thousands would not 
 only defend Him, but even cheerfully die for Him, illustrat- 
 ing with irresistible force that the memory of the just is 
 blessed, that the good will never die, but Hve as a force of 
 daily increasing momentum, and, that after all, the world will 
 cherish the name of the good, while the name of the wicked 
 shall exist only to be despised. There is a power in the 
 sympathy established between a life of goodness and those 
 who hear of it. We never read or hear of a noble deed but 
 our , rts bound in sympathy with the hero, and experience 
 an impetus and an influence for good. There can be no doubt 
 but that it is the life of the man Christ Jesus which exercises 
 this wide-spread and hallowed influence over the lives of His 
 followers. It is as our kinsman, bone of our bone and flesh of our 
 flesh, he is held in] such sacred remembrance by us ; and it 
 is because He still retains in His mediatorial relationship to 
 us " a fellow feeling " with us that we love Him, and are 
 influenced by His life. It is this tender relationship, com- 
 bined with the endearing remembrance of His holy life on 
 earth, while finishing our redemption, in our nature, that is 
 blessed in our estimation, and that draws forth our love 
 towards Him, and that influences our conduct in His 
 service. 
 
9 
 
 buried in obscurity ; his memory and life alone remained 
 But the memory of Moses was, and still is, more powerful 
 than ever his presence was. Among Mahomedans, Jews, 
 and Christians, the name of Moses will be held in greater 
 reverence than that of any other man, alike, both for his 
 own goodness, and for his labours in the service of God and 
 of his fellowmen. 
 
 It is pre-eminently so with holy David. During his life- 
 time he was the object of envy ; the victim of hollow friend- 
 ship and designing intrigues. Many of his people, nay 
 even some of his own family, were anxious to be rid of him, 
 and even resorted to the foulest means in order to accom- 
 plish that end ; but who can measure the influence which his 
 life, and more especially that life as dehneated in the Book 
 of Psalms, exerts over the faitk and lives of the millions, who 
 read those never dying embodiments of real life ? Do not the 
 hearts of countless multitudes now beat in sacred unison with 
 his deep and holy longings after the living God ? And with 
 him in spirit, do they not wander in the green pastures, and 
 beside the still waters of faith and love, as they wistfully 
 look beyond the Jordan of death, in the delightful expecta- 
 tion of dwelling in ihe house of the Lord for ever ? 
 
 The memory of the just is blessed. 
 
 It is likewise so with all the worthies, whose lives are 
 referred to in the Scriptures, with Abraham, the father of the 
 faithful and the friend of God ; with Joseph, the pure and 
 chaste, whose life and memory ought to be a model and a 
 stimulous to every young man. It was so with Joshua, the 
 noble warrior and wise statesman ; with Job the model of 
 patience, and integrity ; with Jonathan, the sincere and dis- 
 interested friend ; with Daniel, the consistent upholder of true 
 religion and wise councillor ; and with Nehemiah, the zealous 
 and brave restorer of lost nationality ; men whose lives and 
 actions have been moulding mankind ever since t^'^y lived. 
 And the same thing is true in kind, though, from circum- 
 
 1* 
 
10 
 
 stances unattributable to themselves and over which they 
 had no control, not in degree, of those noble men, who, 
 under the palpable darkness of Heathendom, spent their 
 lives labouring to evolve the universally lelt need of, but 
 not then seen, light of truth from the finish d volume of 
 human error ; who struggled with ignorance, superstition, vice 
 and irreligion, with a zeal worthy of the noblest cause, in 
 endeavouring to lay before mankind a rule of conduct and 
 an object of faith : and also, the best method for ascertaining 
 that rule, and for enjoying the sought for object. Such men 
 as Zeno, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, among the Greeks, 
 and the Sybeline authors among the Romans, as well as 
 many other teachers and leaders of thought among the 
 nations of antiquity ; teaching future ages by their hvcs, that 
 to search for the Truth, and to love it, is worthy of the noblest 
 minds, and of the deepest reverence. ; to these the world is 
 much indebted. 
 
 It is true that during their lifetime they were often 
 scoffed at, despised, persecuted, and slain by those whose 
 highest good they sought to obtain ; but after their toil worn 
 bodies were consigned to the dust their spirits rose from the 
 dead, and in calm triumph soared above the chaos of human 
 passion, exerting an influence on posterity which eternity 
 alone can reveal, and thus the spirit of the dead, the noble 
 dead, inspires the living, and leads them onwards and upwards 
 to glory and immortality. 
 
 Paul's life was misunderstood through human passion and 
 prejudice ; his motives and actions were misconstrued, and 
 his character maligned ; he was persecuted, beaten with 
 stripes, unjustly tried, and cruelly imprisoned, and was com- 
 pelled to spend the last two years of his eventful life under 
 the surveillance of a Roman guard. But now, that Paul is 
 dead, that his dust mingles with the classic Tiber, his spirit 
 and life, like a system of profound and irresistible truth, 
 sway and enlighten the multitudes who know his name, 
 
15 
 
 like streams dashing ami leaping over precipices down the 
 mountain side to their rest in the ocean, brilliant for the 
 present, but soon lost amid the waters of the mighty deep. 
 But your late pastor belongs to that rarer class, whose 
 quiet, earnest lives and spotless characters imperceptibly 
 stamp a lasting impression on others without their being con- 
 scious of it until the authors of it are removed. He was one 
 of those whose influence is only begun to be felt in all its 
 power for good when they themselves are no more. They 
 are amiable, kind and ready to communicate, and strive to 
 make others feel easy and happy in their presence ; and in 
 this respect our departed brother, pastor and friend was very 
 eminent ; his piety was not gloomy and morose but cheerful 
 and attractive, and of it it may, with special propriety, be 
 said, his memory is blessed, and should be held in remem- 
 brance by those who knew him, and more especially by the 
 members of his family and of his congregation ; for them all 
 he laboured, for them he lived, for their highest welfare his 
 prayers were fervent and abundant, and them he dearly 
 loved. 
 
 We should often make mention of the good that are gone ,- 
 and dwell upon their graces, that we ourselves may imitate 
 their spirit, and, learn to practice their virtues ; we should 
 praise God for these examples of christian goodness, and 
 acknowledge His gifts and graces in them, and especially be 
 followers of them, in that which is good and Christlike. This 
 is no mere affectation nor sickly sentimentahsm, nor yet, is it 
 stamping too highly the Christian character, nor awarding the 
 dead undue praise. 
 
 We read that in apostolic times when Dorcas, an eminent 
 and useful Christian, died, her friends and co-laborers assem- 
 bled around her lifeless body, and soothed their grief by 
 recounting her many virtues, and exhibiting to the Apostle 
 Peter " the coats and the garments which she made while she 
 was with them," as evidences of her active worth and real 
 
16 
 
 piety, and, no doubt, as fresh incentives to their own hearts 
 to follow her example. 
 
 And even David speaks well of the many virtues of Saul 
 and Jonathan. Though the former persecuted him through 
 envy, he forgets the faults of the royal monarch, and dwells 
 on his virtues, recognizing this to be a debt which he owed 
 to thcv public character of the mighty dead ; and thus the 
 remembramce of the worthy dead may be profitably cherished 
 as models and inspirations to the living. This is one of the 
 means which God employs for elevating and maturing human 
 character on earth, being a powerful, and congenial influence 
 to lead to glory and to virtue. 
 
 From Avhat has been said thus far it is evident that the 
 remembrance of the just is not only blessed when reviewed 
 and studied in the personal endowments, the gifts, and graces, 
 of the individual possessing them, but also in the active 
 influence exerted during life in the reproduction of these in 
 the character of those who come under such influence. If 
 this be true in a general sense, it must be especially true 
 those who come under the official influence of a good and 
 faithful pastor. 
 
 A minister's congregation are supposed to come directly 
 under such influence, and are expected to exhibit to the world 
 its blessed effects. It would be contrary to history and obser- 
 vation, to expect, that all should reproduce the example set 
 before them ; there was a Judas among the disciples of Christ, 
 Ananias and Sapphira, were among the fruits vi Pentecost, 
 and a Simon Magas among the early followers of the Apostles ; 
 yet, it is reasonable, after a quarter of a century of such 
 teaching and example as you have been privileged to enjoy, 
 to look for the evidence of the truth that has just now passed 
 in review before your minds; and it will be for you, my 
 bereaved Christian friends, to show in the future how far you 
 have availed yourselves of, and have been benefited by, such 
 teaching and example. That you will show that the memory 
 
13 
 
 And so it is th e remembrance of the holy saint on earth 
 that is blessed to us, and that exerts such happy influence in 
 our own lives, as we review, study, and contemplate His. 
 
 What we have stated is eminently true of those reformers, 
 confessors and martyrs, who, during the dark ages of the 
 Church, fought the good fight of faith under difficulties and 
 against oppositions of no ordinary nature ; their lives, their 
 struggles, and their labours, in the cause of Truth, and in 
 the service of humanity, rise now before the mind of the 
 Christian, in all their faithfulness and beauty, and he blesses 
 God for the courage and faith He gave them, and for the 
 gifts and graces with which they were endowed. 
 
 Where is the Christian, the intelligent Christian, who does 
 not bless God, as he recalls to memory the names of Huss, 
 Jerome and Wickliffe, of Martin Luther and John Calvin, 
 of Zinglius, Bucer, Latimer and Knox. These men, now, 
 through the memory of their labours and holy lives, exert an 
 influence on the world that will never die until the angel of 
 duration shall declare that time is no more. Although their 
 bodies lie in the dust, mouldering in some quiet grave yard, 
 or mingle with the sands of the ocean, their spirits, clad 
 with the memory of their works, move onwards and onwards 
 with the force of an invisible power towards the great con- 
 summation, and the final triumph of the Redeemer's King- 
 dom. Calvin was tempest tossed, and driven from city to 
 city, little known and less rewarded by men, for his great 
 and godlike work of reform ; but now multitudes of the most 
 intelligent and advanced Christians honour and bless the 
 name of the great Frenchman. The real Christian, the 
 devout pastor, the worker for God, only begins to live for 
 good, when he dies. Then he enters on his deathless exist- 
 ness, and begins the great work of influencing minds and 
 moulding characters. This is an immortality that is worthy 
 of being sought after ; this is the imperishable monument 
 that points upwards. Influence never dies, the good though 
 
14 
 
 dead for ever speak, and speak for God and for man. Ah ! 
 how awfullj solemn, and how thrillinglj awful is the thought 
 that your influence, the influence of your life, never dies ! 
 It will never be arrested in its endless progress ! It will for 
 ever tend down, downwards, to the lowest depths of end- 
 less woe, or up, upwards to the highest heavens, and the 
 remotest ages of eternity. This is the true transmigration 
 of souls, the indestructibility of deeds, and the imperishable 
 nature of the good. " The memory of the just is blessed." 
 Now my Christian friends, I know that all of you -who 
 have been acquainted with the late Reverend Alexander 
 Wallace, minister of this church, whose mortal remains were 
 the other day laid in the cold and silent grave, amid ex- 
 pressions of deep and universal sorrow and of every token 
 of regard from all classes in the community, will concur 
 with me in saying that the term just, as thus exhibited 
 and illustrated, may with singular propriety be applied to 
 him, not only in its theological sense, but also in its more 
 practical and vicarious meaning, for I need scarcely say, 
 that he was singularly eminent in his deep desire to glorify 
 God, and to serve and do good to his fellowmen, and we 
 predict that his memory, like that of the worthy dead, 
 will exerjb an influence for good that will never die, and for 
 which many in this community will bless God. Were we to 
 review his private and public life, and enter into his social 
 and pastoral relationships, weigh his qualities of mind and 
 heart, and examine his conduct, as a citizen and a minister 
 of the Gospel, but more especially, and above all, as a 
 Christian, as a man of faith and prayer, we would find that 
 he was one of those whose real worth and goodness can only 
 be understood and appreciated after they have left the scene 
 of their labours. There are some men whose lives are com- 
 manding, attractive and captivating, and full of charm, on 
 account of their abrupt brilliancy and the immediate suc- 
 cesses of their lives. They are as meteors in a dark sky, or 
 
17 
 
 of your late pastor is thus blessed, I can entertain no doubt. 
 You will now, more than ever, begin to ponder well the lessons 
 of the past, and endeavour to copy the unoflfensive, amiable, 
 and uniformly kind and christian disposition, as well as the 
 laborious habits, and earnest, and devoted piety, of your 
 departed pastor and personal friend. Though absent in the 
 body let him be present with you in the spirit, and though 
 removed from the sphere of his earthly labours let him work 
 aye, let him still work, in your future christian conduct, and 
 thus let his absence be more powerful than his presence, so 
 that this bereavement may be turned to your good and the 
 glory of God, namely, your everlasting salvation and exceed- 
 ing great reward. 
 
 It is no aflfectation or vain eulogy to say that if ever a 
 pastor deserved to be held in the aflfectionate remembrance of 
 his people, that pastor was yours ; for he loved you, and 
 labored for your good ; you were the burden of his prayers, 
 and your salvation was the object of his life. And I believe, 
 that every one in this large assemblage will agree with me in 
 saying, that but few men are known to us, whose life of deep 
 devoted piety, and constant and endearing friendship, deserves 
 to be copied more closely. 
 
 As a minister, he was faithful and diligent in the discharge 
 of the varied and arduous duties of his holy calling. He did 
 what he could to serve his Master, and angels could do no 
 more, and thus fulfilled the measure of his obligation, and 
 reached the limits of his responsibility. 
 
 He was eminently a successful minister, the evidence of 
 which is found in the universal esteem in which he was 
 held not only by his own congregation but by all other 
 congregations in this valley, and also, by all classes in 
 the community, and the healthy and highly satisfactory 
 condition of this and the neighbouring congregation, in 
 both of which he laboured until very recently, when under 
 his fostering case they were erected by the Presbytery into 
 only made the more manifest through these ; for affliction 
 
18 . . 
 
 two self-sustaining congregations. Now, in this age of change, 
 and of Athenianism, when old ties and associations are held 
 but lightly by, this is no small evidence of success. Few, vory 
 few, alas, succeed to labour with the same amount of success 
 for so long a time, in the same field, as he has done. And 
 as a further evidence of his growing success and of the attach- 
 ment of his people, were such evidence necessary, I am in a 
 position to state, that during the last year or more, and up to 
 the very close of his ministry, tokens of special regard were 
 multiplying, alike creditable to him, and to you his people. 
 He has been heard to say on the last day of his communion 
 services, the last day of his life, that he never felt so happy 
 in his work, so sati>jfied with the condition of this congregation, 
 and so well pleased with his people, and it is said by those 
 present on the last Sabbath of his ministry, his last commu- 
 nion on earth, that he was peculiarly happy on that solemn 
 occasion. His remarks regarding the clianges which have 
 occurred during the twenty-five years of his ministry, the 
 number of well-known faces that disappeared the Avay of all 
 flesh, and the uncertainty as to whether all then present 
 would be permitted to meet again at a communion table, will 
 now be cherished with much interest. 
 
 On the Friday preceding, it was my happiness to preach 
 to this congregation, and I then experienced a foreshadowing 
 of that holy and happy spirit which prevailed during the 
 whole occasion. I remarked it on the following Monday to a 
 father in the church for whom I was preaching. But ah ! 
 before the sweet remembrance of that occasion had time to 
 form itself into a definite shape in my mind, he who was the 
 occasion of it passed into a holier and purer sphere ! 
 
 Those trials and diflBculties, which every faithful servant of 
 Christ must occasionally meet in the honest discharge of 
 his duty, disappeared, and as they disappeared, you, his 
 people, more than ever appreciated his worth, for that was 
 only serves to unfold and bring more prominently to view the 
 good qualities of the just man. 
 
19 
 
 An unclouded sky was serenely shining over him, a ■warm 
 ly attached congregation was around him, he rejoiced in this 
 and acknowledged the good hand of God in it, much comfort 
 and usefulness appeared in the future, and beckoned him on 
 to work for God and for his people, when lo ! in an instant, 
 in the twinkling of an eye, without warning, while manifest- 
 ing his usual interest in that of others, he was called away ;* 
 without a thought, without a pang and without a sigh; his sun 
 went down at noon day ; in the middle of life, success, useful- 
 ness and peace, God sent for him ! IIow mysterious ! IIow 
 inscrutable ! It was the will of that God without whose 
 notice not a sparrow falls. His work was done, and well 
 done. His labours were over ! God had need of him else- 
 where ! His place was ready for him ! He sent His mes- 
 senger and called him home. The curtain falls ! his life and 
 memory alone remain; he is numbered with the past, but the 
 memory of the just shall live and be forever blessed. 
 
 His was a useful life, a life of prayer and close walk with 
 God. Was it not like the path of the just shining more and 
 more unto the perfect day ? Need I refer to that life better 
 known to you than to me ? Need I refer to his many amiable 
 qualities as a neighbour and friend, as a husband and father ? 
 So universally kind and always agreeable, warm hearted and 
 constant in his friendship, generous and forgiving even to a 
 fault, cherishing anger to no man, having a kind " good day '* 
 to every one he met ; so lovely and constant was his friend- 
 ship that all who have enjoyed it will bless his memory, and 
 while standing at his grave may repeat the epitaph composed 
 by his great countryman on a reverend father; 
 
 ye whose cheek the tear of pity stains ; 
 
 Draw near with pious rev'rence and attend. 
 Here lie the loving husband's dear remains, 
 
 The tender father and the generous friend, 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Wallace was killed while with others engaged in 
 arresting the progress of the fire which destroyed the mills in Huuting- 
 don, July 4th, 1870. 
 
20 
 
 The pitying heart that felt for human woe, 
 The dauntless heart thut feared no human pride, 
 
 The friend of man, to vice above a foe 
 For even his failings leau'dto virtue's side. 
 
 He not only feared God, but like all good men he honoured 
 the King. His prayers for his Queen and country ever min- 
 gled with those for his church and people. And many will 
 remember his fervent and confident prayers upon those trying 
 occasions, when our country, lives and liberties were threat- 
 ened by hordes of godless and wicked men. He was ever 
 indefatigable in inculcating high principles of loyalty, both by 
 word and deed. On the last occasion of these attempts, as 
 the commanding officer of the volunteers of this vicinity 
 informed me, when he and his brave men were returning 
 covered with the dust of battle, after driving back the 
 foe, but still on the field, nearly the first man he met 
 was your late pastor, and he further stated that he 
 shall never forget the fervent prayer which he there and 
 then offered up to the God of battles, for the victory He had 
 vouchsafed, and for His mercy in covering our soldiers so 
 that none of them fell, or were even touched, by the missiles 
 bf death hurled at them in the action. This little incident, 
 beautiful in itself, serves to shew the character of the man. 
 God, to his mind, was all in all ; to Him alone he ascribed the 
 deliverance and victory ; but, nevertheless, he did not fail to 
 honour those brave men through whom God effected a mar- 
 vellous deliverance. And that same officer did himself honour, 
 on a subsequent interesting occasion, in selecting the Rev. 
 Mr. Wallace to consecrate those Colours presented by the 
 hand of Royalty to the. 60th Battalion. This was opportune, 
 and a dehcate though well-merited mark of his esteem and 
 regard for the deceased. And may the remembrance thereof, 
 now a sacred relic of the past, give courage and confidence 
 to those who carry them, should they ever be called on, in 
 the hour of danger, to defend the right ; and may that devout 
 
21 
 
 prayer bo heard and remembered for their protection in the 
 service of their country and their Hbcrties. 
 
 Brethren, we have done. To occupy your time any longer, 
 is uncalled for. Nothing that I can say can endear his 
 memory to your hearts more than it already is. I only ask 
 you to join with me in solemn prayer to that God who, for 
 wise and gracious reasons, ordered all things as they are, that 
 He may bless this dispensation to his bereaved family, and to 
 you his people. The future alone is ours, let that future be 
 such as to prove that we appreciate the past. The most 
 eifective way in which you can show your appreciation of his 
 christian worth and many virtues, is to be united and active 
 in carrying out to completion the work which he has so well 
 begun, and which was so dear unto his heart and so fervently 
 remembered in his prayers. 
 
 Be true and faithful to your Church, and love one another, 
 and God will provide you another shepherd, who shall feed 
 you with the bread of life, and lead you in the way of holi- 
 ness. The command of the Great Head of the Church to 
 you is perfect that which remains, occupy till I come, and 
 then I will receive you to myself, that where I am, there 
 ye may be also. Bury not your hope of future good with the 
 remains of your departed minister, but with his spirit rise to 
 faith and virtue, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Feel, 
 oh feel, that your work is not done ; that the contest of life is 
 not over; the crown is not yet won. Oh ! then fight the good 
 fight of faith, run with patience the race that is set before 
 you, ever looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your 
 faith, for wisdom and for grace, to help you in this the time 
 of your need. Buoyed with the hope that when, 
 
 A few more years of evil past, 
 We reach the happy shore 
 Where death-divided friends at last 
 Shall meet to part no more ; 
 
22 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 when husband and wife, parent and children, pastor and 
 people, shall unite in the everlasting song, " unto Him that 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and 
 hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to 
 Him be glorj and dominioui for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 * 
 
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