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 \ N A D K 
 
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 A SERMON 
 
 IIV THB 
 
 REV. VV. MORLEY PUNSIION, M.A, 
 
 IN MEMORY 
 
 OF THE I.ATE 
 
 Rev. Robert Watson Ferrier, M.A. 
 
 PREACHED IN T H e' WESLEYAN CHURCH, 
 Gkeat St. James Street, Montkeal, 
 
 ;•■ SUNDAY, i grn^J U NE, 4% o ; 
 
 TOCETHKR WITH AN 
 
 OiJiTUARY Notice nv the Rev. George Douglas, LL.D. 
 
 ANU A 
 
 MINUTE OF THE MONTREAL DISTRICT MEFiTlNG. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 Printed nv the Montreal Printing and Publkhing Company. 
 
 1870. 
 
 "% 
 
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mmumi^^mn 
 
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 A SERMON 
 
 IIY THE 
 
 REV. W. MORLEY PUNSHON, M.A, 
 
 IN MEMORY 
 
 OK TIIK LATE 
 
 Rev. Robert Watson Ferrier, M.A. 
 
 PREACHED IN THE WFSLEYAN CHURCH, 
 
 Great St. James Street, Montreal, 
 
 SUNDAY, I9TH JUNE, 1^*707 
 
 -» ■ 
 -, together with an , 
 
 Obituary Notice t.y the Rev. George Douglas, LL.D. 
 
 AND A 
 
 MINUTE OF THE MONTREAL DISTRICT MEETING. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 Printed by the Montreal Printing and Puulishing Company. 
 
 1870. 
 
Ff 
 
 ' 
 

 "THE LIVELY HOPE." 
 
 .♦ 
 
 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jcsiis Christ, which accord-ing 
 to his abuiulant mercy hath Legotteu us again unto a lively hope, by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and 
 undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." — i Peter, 
 chap, i., 3, 4. 
 
 We hardly needed to have announced the epistle out of 
 which these words are taken — the words themselves, reveal 
 the man of whom they are the characteristic expression. 
 As in the time of his cowardice, so in the time of his loyal 
 and self-denying labour for Christ, the "speech" of Peter 
 "bewrayeth" him. There is a warmth in his full heart, 
 and a freshness in his rapid utterance, which become con- 
 tagious in hearts which are partakers of " like precious 
 faith ;" and it is difficult to read his ascriptions of gratitude, 
 and refrain the while from our own. He has sat down to 
 address words of comfort and counsel to the banished ones, 
 who had been driven by persecution from their homes, but 
 who preserved in their exile their steadfastness and faith ; 
 and immediately after the salutation he breaks out in tones 
 which stir the heart like a clarion, in the words of the text. 
 How could they faint or be discouraged with such a hope to 
 hearten them ? How could they but keep the precepts 
 
with all dilipjcncc, lest they should embarrass the eertainty 
 of their inheritanee, and forfeit the claim which the " lively 
 hope" prefif;ured. What a vvcll-spriiif; of comfort would be 
 opened up within them by the rememberance, that hunted 
 as they were, outcasts from the friend's presence, and from 
 the temple's privilege, they had yet a dowry and a home. 
 Born in the pilgrim path which we are all called to travel 
 — we become *'ac<|uainlod with grief," as did our Master — 
 there arc long hours of loneliness and struggle — hours of 
 " the power of darkness," where to the eye of sense there 
 is but an utter cloud, and where even the eye of taith can 
 scarcely pierce the shadows. It behoves us, that in these 
 sad beaten days of life, we should glimpse an Kaster beyond 
 them, or we were " of all men most miserable." I*"or us, 
 therefore, it is a brightening thought that we have a " lively 
 hope ;" and if it be but assured and warrantable, we may 
 console ourselves in the darkest of our experience by the 
 remembrance of this hope of our calling. And of this hope, 
 let us ask ourselves : — 
 
 /. Whence doth it spring ? II. How is it certified? III. 
 Unto what is it tending ? 
 
 Hope is popularly defined to be the expectation of future 
 good ; but to render the definition complete, the good 
 should be an object which the mind affects and which the 
 heart desires. It has been implanted in the breast of 
 universal man, and is one of the chiefest displays of the 
 loving kindness of the Lord. Without it the world were a 
 sepulchre, and the conscience a hell. There is hardly a 
 condition of human adversity which it cannot soothe and 
 sweeten. It has strung the courage of the warrior to 
 achieve his deeds of daring ; the mariner has felt its inspira- 
 tion when the spirit of the hurricane sat upon the rattling 
 shrouds ; it has aroused from their sullen lethargy the 
 trader of ruined fortunes, and the man upon whose shattered 
 heart has fallen the pitiless hail of sorrow ; it has kindled 
 in the eye of the be ushed one, strained eagerly across the 
 waters where rose the hill which hung over his home ; the 
 
poor captive, at the base of whose prison the wild waters 
 have dashed in chainless play, has yielded to its spell, in 
 slumber, and at least has di earned of freedom ; and, piercing 
 down to the most hapless lot of man, it has beat feebly in 
 the heart of the slave, and redeemed him from uttermost 
 despair. Surely there was truth in the conception of old 
 classic times, in the fable of Pandora's box, which, fdled 
 with all evils, by the displeasure of the gods, had yet a 
 preponderanf'c of blessings, because hope lurked at the 
 bottom. 
 
 But the hope to which the text refers is not an instinct, 
 but a gift, and is not, therefore, the common heritage 
 of all mankind. It is a hope of heaven, of which the 
 world knoweth not, and to which the sinner is, of necessity, 
 a stranger. Men tell you, indeed, that they have a hope of 
 heaven, but, resolved into its elements, it is but a vague 
 anticipation of future* blessedness, resting upon no sure 
 foundation, and working no beneficent results. Those who 
 have not believed in Jesus are excluded from this hope, 
 both by their prevalent unbelief and by the declared word 
 of God: "The hope of the unjust man perisheth." "The 
 hope of the wicked shall be as the giving up of the ghost." 
 " They are without God, and consequently without hope in 
 the world." In contrast to this delusive expectation, which 
 can only ruin those who cherish it, the apostle refers to the 
 " lively hope " of the Christian, into which, by Divine power, 
 he has been " begotten again." That to which he had no 
 native claim has been wrought in his soul by the free grace 
 of God. It is a " lively hope ;" that is, it is living, not a 
 cruel mockery, nor a distempered dream, but a warranted 
 assurance, resting upon sanctions which are Divinely 
 authenticated, and upon a Word which cannot lie. It is 
 a "lively hope;" that is, active, a mighty energy, influential 
 to the very depths of the being. The hope which the 
 worldling professes leaves his heart untouched, stimulates 
 him to no spiritual action, does not prompt him to the 
 faintest measure of preparation for the heaven into which he 
 
hopes to be received ; but "every man that hath t/iis hope in 
 him purifieth himself, even as God is pure." It i)rompts the 
 man to quahfy himself for the possession of his inheritance. 
 It makes him feel that the heir to royal honours should 
 have a royal soul — and that though sweet were the min- 
 strelsy and glorious the companionship of heaven, there 
 would be discord and solitude to the heart that was 
 defiled by sin — .so while it joys in the prospect, it fails not 
 in its endeavour to word the meetness within. It is a 
 " lively hope ;" that is, it maketh not ashamed — the man 
 does not blush to confess it in the gate — he can talk of it 
 to the princes of his people. It gives him courage amid 
 the lowering clouds, or in the day of battle ; through the 
 dark night-watches it teaches him the patience which 
 anticipates the morning, and it fills him with a joy unspeak- 
 able, which makes all the present radiant, and which li^' :s 
 up the yet untrodden future with an ever crescent glory. 
 Yes, it maketh not ashamed. With it in his bosom, the 
 man can stand up amid his heart's ruins, erect and undis- 
 mayed ; he can lie down camly on the death-couch, defiant 
 of the gaunt shadow that passes up the stair ; he can exalt 
 in seraph-friends, ere yet the emaciate frame has ceased its 
 mortal breathing ; he can breast the furious wave of the 
 dark river — a brave swimmer in the swelling of Jordan — 
 and there, at the heaven-gate, the good hope will die, happy^ 
 like a proud mother in her pangs, that, from its dying, an 
 everlasting fruition will be born. It is manifest that such a 
 hope can only be of Divine bestowment — it is at once too 
 lofty and too lasting to come from meaner hands. And it 
 is the gift of God to those who receive the Gospel of His 
 Son. Faith in Christ produces it, and in proportion to the 
 intensity of the faith does the hope increase and brighten. 
 We must never forget that, like every other spiritual bless- 
 ing, it, is "not of debt but of grace." It is not of our 
 prescription or unforfeited right, but "according to His 
 abundant mercy." None of those who have realized the 
 hope will deny that its source is thus divine. Their concep- 
 
tions of vileiK'ss arc too deep. Tlioy are too cnlij^litciied 
 upon the ma;;iiilti(lo of their sin and of liicir deliverance to 
 hesitate ujjon the matter for a nii>nicni. The l)ro\v of the 
 sceptic may darken, and tlie pride of the carnal may rebel, 
 but if you interrogate the ^odly you will liiul that his will is 
 submissive and his heart is full. The penitent, who has 
 but recently believed, who yet shudders as if he felt the 
 sliding C'l'lh and ncaring flame, "a blasphemer, a perse- 
 cutor, injurious," telLs you. amid grateful tears — " But I 
 obtained mercy." The white-haired saint, as just ready to 
 depart, he surveys froni ;lie Nebo-summit the whole path 
 of his difficult clindiing, gasps out his latest testimony — 
 " By the grace of Go ! I a'ti.what I am." l\Tay the blessed 
 ones, whose long ex'iierience of the golden streets lias made 
 them at home in heaven, I'ing down upon us without ceas- 
 ing the melody of the saine eternal song : — 
 
 "Unto him thai hatli k)vc(l us, aiul was! d nm sins in his own blood." 
 
 " ''I'is nuTcy all. let earth adore. 
 Let angel minds enfjiiirc no inoic.'' 
 
 II. What is the mtjJium by which this hope is certified 
 to us ? The Apostle says that it is " by the resurrection of 
 Jesus from the dead ; " and this calls us to the contemplation 
 of the glorious triumph by which our Savour has abolished 
 death, and has been " declared to be the Son of God, with 
 power." There is no part of the history of Jesus which 
 is cither unimportant in itself or iminteresting to those 
 whom He shed His heart's blood to redeem. Matters which 
 are seemingly trivial have couched in them a grave signifi- 
 cance, and bear directly and impressively upon the great 
 purpose for which He came into the world. And yet — save 
 that death which is the foundation of our hopes of life, — 
 there is no sjjot more hallowed to the affections of the 
 believer, more sacred to His pilgrim fee*., than the garden 
 in which there was a sepulchre, where, amid the flowers of 
 the opening spring, the body of Jesus was laid. Oh ! surely 
 the heart will kindle, as we visit it, with thoughts of triumph, 
 
not of terror f • 
 
 •^'-nor, /or jt snoni- 
 
 share it. ^ '"'="' "« compJefe unlcirr" '' ^'-''''^"er, 
 ■ "Ves.e™,, ,. '" '^ ■■'^J--^'"? people 
 
 ^■"^' SCO C'u ■""•''"• ^-V 
 
 ''"P^" for^an. Hot ^'>"«' there could h 
 
 ^^e-- beneficent the "' 'P°"<=-'-^ the chi "" "''^'^'y 
 
 °'^"'-"ce, and tie ";'"^'^^' '"-»'b the ,r'"' '"' "»- 
 
 f f-*"dene/tottn ''"■ ^"ythin! tt": /"'^ the ^,,,/, 
 "^"^ be grateful to ? °' "'^ ^-^'■•t;^^^ -"'ch has 
 "^' ^n^i the sun of °"'' ""^trusts' ' ' ^'^"'' «""ot 
 
 ^"'' 3hado.v. Now th" ''"P'^ ''^ '-"Pt o 4 ,"'"'" "^^fer 
 .^«^^y- I say sn,aH ^''"^' "'^d t ereV "' '" ''"rm 
 
 -"^ perpetuated the 
 
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estroyer, 
 
 Deliverer, 
 '"g people 
 
 low- 
 irfect 
 
 are 
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 has 
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 great inposturc which has commanded the belief of the 
 world. It needs not to waste time in an answer to such an 
 allegation, which you perceive, impugns the spotlessncss of 
 that life, whose pure morality kindled even the selfish heart 
 of Rousseau into an admiration of enthusiasm. God has 
 taken care to fence round the death of Christ with evidences 
 which no sceptic can gainsay. The cross was reared in the 
 very midst of the ages, — when men with sharpened intellects 
 had begun to weigh evidence, and to guard against fraud, — 
 v;hcn the schools had fostered an inquisitive spirit, and 
 when there was a general avarice for knowledge. There 
 was history when Christ was crucified, and that history 
 records the fact from the pens of writers who were unfriendly 
 to Messiah's claims. Even men's evil passions were made 
 to subser\'e the purposes of divine attestation. The imperi- 
 ous Roman and the jealous and cruel Jew were equally 
 interested in the frustration of imposture, and they join 
 with swarth Cyrenian and cultured Greek in witness of the 
 death of Jesus. The soldier who pierced Him bears testi- 
 mony as important as if Providence and not Malignity had 
 poised his spear ; — and the sepulchre hewn out of the rock, 
 with its quiet clay and rich embalmcnts, — with its imperial 
 signet and its pomps of guards, authenticates so that all the 
 world may receive it that Christ did actually die. The 
 Resurrection rests upon evidence equally and if possible 
 more convincing. Sophistry itself might well be silenced 
 before the vase accumulation of testimony which crowds 
 around the forsaken tomb. It is right, therefore, that we 
 should comfort ourselves as we stand by the grave of Jesus, 
 — a grave now emptied of its tenant, — with the expectation 
 of the blessings which His death was undertaken to procure. 
 During the time of His innocent life, His announcement of 
 His coming fate, and of the purpose of expiation which it 
 involved, fell often upon the ears of His disciples, like a 
 startling rain ; and on several occasions He taught them to 
 anticipate His resurrection as the completion of His work, 
 and that which was to vindicate His character, and approve 
 
Spnt, and from the fulfilment """ ""^ "-scent of the 
 ."'e, too, may rejoice in this Eal r f """'"•^'""S years,- 
 l°y- Jesus is risen !-then ther 1 ' '"'" '""^ '^^■"^""'g 
 '"- o'den curse, and th I. , r™"^/ '"^'^"-1 "Pon 
 «ase in the tomb from a„ e"l ' " . ""'"^ ^''••'" "»' 
 whose resources it will but ustllr "'""'^ ^^P^"^« '■•"" 
 n^en l-then that ten-ible'stj^ Tu u" '"=*='• J^- '-^ 
 and kept the soul in bondage 1 '"' '''' <^'°"''"1 "fc, 
 ■-•n" the stronger than he th' 7 '"^'"^""e as I feared, 
 spoiled his goods, is my s;;! a T ™7""''=' '^'•"^ -'" 
 nsen !-then the fear which haT t ."'T '^'"='"'- J«"^ '« 
 the mortal fai„t„ess about the ffe'' '''" ™^ "<=»«.!*« 
 "'^ed be my master no Ion4r j'~'P'"'S^ "^ the dying, 
 H.S tomb, into whose .Zt, J"7 '^ "*" ' «"" 0"t o 
 despairs,-those raise fo me at ":"'''" ' '''' "^r o'" 
 blessing, as the young li^htrninlr'' ,"''= '"'' comfort and 
 "ess of the cIot^,_r,bre , a^ ^ 'T","" "'"''^ '^'^'^k- 
 "ented mercy,_r wali. fre Ion "? ' ''"'"^* '''' """ 
 '-ely hope by the resurrec L "f n °°"? '»'""■" ""'» ^ 
 But the Resurrection of Jesus "m?;"'' '^°'" 'he dead." 
 acceptance of His offerings on hi' r """=' '°'^'^" "^ 'he 
 -der to assure the heartf of "hosfw, "", '"'=^^^'-"-^- "' 
 H's name, that the prevalent f u "'»''' '^<=heve on 
 should be publicly dedarf^.f "^\Saviour's sacrifiee 
 'vhen in the agonies of the crof ' »T "l"' " ''''' '"=<^P^^^^ 
 ^Wds, "It is finished," so cW \'"°'"' '^""^ ""waning 
 hetween the Son and ;h Fathn.f: "-"-"^ of counsel 
 n'fested to the worid,-to the he 'df,! ^°" '''' ''"""^ ™a. 
 ■n wondering suspense the isslo . u""'''^^ "''" ^"aited 
 who had ventured on Him a f"!^'" . 'f ^ ^^^ 'rue-hearted 
 wonder and the common seofn-'ol'h' T ''^ ^°'""«'" • 
 down their hopes in obloouvTn 7 ''""'^''''^ «ho laid 
 
 held their Master's body -ITo' the ""' ''""''^'^^^ ^^''-h > 
 was to secure, and whose hones >"■' ""='"' ^''^"^^ '"'st it 
 heaven > To these the only attttnV ""' '" '^"'^"'^"e for 
 
 onjy attestation could be by the 
 
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11 
 
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 resurrection from the dead. Without this there would ha\'C 
 been absolute uncertainty, — unendin*.^ conflict of Faith with 
 feeling, a blank earth, and a frowning heaven ; and even the 
 most loyal of the adherents of the Nazarene might be ex- 
 cused, if he spoke of the trust regretfully as a dear relic of 
 the past, upon which the hateful tomb had closed, " We 
 trusted that it had been He who should have delivered 
 Israel." 13ut the great triumph of the Resurrection chased 
 all doubts away, and the three days' suspense for the 
 fortunes of the world was broken by an achievement of 
 wondrous victory, which exceeded the loftiest thought and 
 fondest dream of men. Hence the Apostle, in the exulting 
 consciousness of privilege, asks — " Who is He that con- 
 demneth .-' It is Christ that died, yea rat/wr, that is risen 
 again." The argument in the fifteenth chapter of Corin- 
 thians goes even further. In that magnificent burst of 
 mingled logic and eloquence, which has been selected by 
 the Church as the requiem, in those words they express — in 
 their last, fond lingering by their dead, — at once their 
 triumph and their sorrow, the Apostle says : — " If Christ be 
 not risen, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain, 
 ye are yev in your sins." It would seem from this that we 
 are shut up to the Resurrection of Christ as a necessary 
 preliminary to our salvation. And so it is : if Death had 
 triumphed over our Champion, our doom must have been 
 sealed for ever. Dark, indeed, would have been the destiny 
 of a world of sinners if the Second Adam had lain powerless 
 in the sepulchre which had entombed the first. "But now is 
 Christ risen from the dead." The chains of the olden bondage 
 snapped when it was sought to bind them upon Jehovah's 
 fellow, — ^just as the withs, which would have fettered com- 
 mon men, — were as gossamer when Samson woke and tried 
 them. ** Now is Christ risen," and therefore there is hope 
 for the sinner. Our preaching is not vain ; there is a power 
 in it which stirs the souls of the listeners. Sonietimes 
 gentle as the snow-fall, and sometimes resistless as the 
 cataract, its influence descends, but it is the influence of 
 
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I 
 
 m 
 
 Jesus and tho p« 
 
 in your sin i :j, 7" -'i -aited Sa C, y '? "'•^'- ^ 
 ha" purged their evervtf, ^ ""^ '"^"'e' of His riV 
 
 and Hie whole harvest nf ti, ''^'^'' before the r „ / 
 
 ">« are Christ's, at h.^^^ '^ ■™"'°«-l «hali fo,low "^r ' 
 
 .^-3 whieh^a^i, - : r,: t -^^^^stz 
 
 •t'^^ ^>^is h:;':,'^™%f-e at the reeo^pense in 
 
 >nherita«ce." The word at ''™ '^ ''"'''"ed -- ' „ , 
 
 ^»««.- and humblest tL°"'' ""'^^^ *<^ "essin. to it 
 human nride a ,' "^ °"tset, all th» ° "* 
 
 nor meed of f " '"''^"'^"ce is nei he' rl T""""^'* "^ 
 meed of valour. In ,>» „ '^'^ '^^*ard of indust.-,, 
 
 "Pon those who inheri at « "'°" ^'^^eptation, it '!'{ 
 
 z y '^^'^ -^ed"^pe ::;?"' °^ '"- ^'«'^- - 
 
 and there have been . ^""^.^^"al consciousness of K«- 
 f « \as died befSrh s "h";" ''''l'' ^'^ «/ r^r/af 
 
 saT^^'^!:^''^^°-H:;or„e:!lanT~^"'' ^™^'"-^' 
 
 b i vt°:. ! 'f "' of an ho: . ui Tt "^"■'^ "^ 
 ^'^^ enter heaven Tf. ^"^ ^s by a Jike title f-h.f 
 
 ™^y not win its honours l/u '"!""' ^^^''^'^'^ it Vhev 
 
 ^ts own decay. This is the 
 
P'» ; it rests 
 Bravely 
 ^s it pierce 
 e familiar ; 
 ^e are not 
 -for the 
 ^is rising, 
 ave fallen 
 ^derousJy 
 ^e Lord', 
 w " they 
 ansomed 
 well the 
 ation in 
 ^g from 
 tion, — 
 
 •nse in 
 'to an 
 : to its 
 igs of 
 'ustry 
 ^omes 
 — ere 
 
 !ing ; 
 
 'oyaJ 
 inds 
 has 
 that 
 hey 
 Jry. 
 3n- 
 nd 
 
 IS 
 
 e 
 
 13 
 
 first point of contrast between earth and heaven. Here all 
 things arc fleeting. Enjoyment, even of the keenest, wears 
 itself out by its own continuity. Wealth brings a curse to 
 those who hoard it. Renown pines in the lofty loneliness 
 to which it has climbed. Pleasure palls upon the sense, 
 even of her maddest slaves; the vile body itself — the 
 vehicle of all enjoyment — falls away to corruption and the 
 worm. But everything in heaven is of a nature that is 
 fitted to survive. It is of the essence of celestial joy that 
 it is changeless. This corruptible shall put on incorruption 
 that it may be f *" to enter upon it ; there is no mixture, as 
 here, of elements which chasten its raptures — there are 
 no disturbing forces nor warring legions — nor crafty or 
 vigilant foes. 
 
 " No slightest touch of pain, etc." 
 
 It is undcfilcd. Herein the reason of its incorruptibility 
 is found. It is earth's defilement which induces earth's 
 putresence. It may be, as some affirm, that there is no 
 provision in the human anatomy for eternal existence ; but 
 death, in a sinless world, would have been but a chrysalis 
 sleep — to be reproduced in a brighter and more glorious 
 being. Death — a curse and a penalty — came only by sin. 
 Banish sin from the world, and from the heart, and you 
 have burnt out the seeds of the plague. But in heaven 
 there is no sin ; and where there is nothing which defileth, 
 there can be nothing which decays. Listen to this, ye 
 Christian warriors, struggling manfully against the evil of 
 your ov/n hearts, and longing for the time when you shall 
 have full deliverance from its power. Yonder, in heaven — 
 that heaven of which you have the lively hope in Christ — 
 your highest ambition shall be realized. There shall be a 
 world without a tempter, and a soul without a stain. The 
 long night-watch of the soul shall be over. The morning 
 cometh, and it broadens and brightens into a noon, whose 
 sun shall never go down. 
 
 This inheritance '"fadeth not away." Then comes upon 
 it rare enjoyments — no whisper of a change. Here we walk 
 
14 
 
 amid the tombs of i 
 
 so vve SCO, ' > ''''"■'«' ''■<--«• " Vankv r ' """""^ 
 ever j! ''""f '^ "^ '"e inheritance an.^^"^ ''"''■ ^nce 
 
 0^ joy and pleasure for etr^o" -" "^ ''^-"^ - ^"".Ss 
 
 Dear Friends - Th"^"'"""" •"=""•" ' ' 
 
 f «>ered us, and' there'!!! ' '"'""'" "^^^sion which hn. 
 ««;n»-iy iearn. To "'"f™:"^ '<^"°"« which we 1 ^ 
 
 ^« two short years hTv" e, ' sr/"""'-""^ -'"-i^ 
 "American soiJ • i . • ^^^psed since J «A^ r . ■'^* 
 
 o^ the wor/d. trs:res~ -"'f -^^"^ ^^ -S' 
 
 How should the no..„. „ ^ ■>''' ^^o ready i " 
 
 -■> or the behe e~ l:^ *^ "^^'^ '>°i- "Pbear the ^ 
 The mheritance is not „owt """'""' ^'^P'^rience oftrilp 
 
 heaven. The Christian s"'"''''""' '' '' ^^-^edl, 
 tations of sorrow hA ^'^empted from nresenf 
 
 was his Master. It fsn!"™" "^^''-'"^'^d wi™ "!" 
 
 J' -neeessary for his discipline!:!; 4' 
 
 i 
 
 H I W Wi | [ MWlill iiltanBiig»i-, 
 
^hem ; how 
 -how speedy 
 ht the World 
 
 od-ordered, 
 but how We 
 ^^sy turf on 
 - a broken 
 
 us where 
 
 canities" 
 
 vanity "^ 
 there will 
 '•s. Once 
 ' safe for 
 bange or 
 s always 
 ws — its 
 Jts God 
 dullness 
 
 'ch has 
 should 
 nitory. 
 
 upon 
 2d the 
 d has 
 ; and 
 from 
 -day. 
 mult 
 
 the 
 iai ? 
 1 in 
 isi- 
 
 as 
 his 
 
 I 
 
 15 
 
 growth of soul — for the evolution of his perfect character — 
 that it should be so ; not as an arbitrary allotment, but as 
 an arrangement, benign and effectual, it is " through much 
 tribulation "' that \vc enter the kingdom. In the haste and 
 eagerness of spiritual youth, this necessity comes upon us 
 as a new disappointment ; but experience chastens our 
 impetuosity, and we feel that whe!i we have companied with 
 stronger trials, we have, like Abraham, been entertaining 
 angels unawares. Oh ! there is many a grateful spirit 
 which has learned to sing — 
 
 "I thought that the course of the pilgrim to heaveu 
 
 Would be bright as the summer and glad as the morn ;" 
 God sh(j\ved me the path, it was ilark and uneven, 
 
 All rugged with rock and all tangled with thurn. 
 I dreamed of celestial reward and renown ; 
 
 I asked for the triiunph which blesses th.e brave ; 
 I asked for the paln\-branch, the robe, the crown ; 
 
 I asked, and 'I'hou showedst me a cross and a grave. 
 Subdued and instructed, at length, to Thy will, 
 
 My hopes and my longings I fain would resign. 
 Oh, give me the heart that can wait and be still. 
 
 Nor know of a wish or a pleasure but Thine. 
 
 The lively hope ! How it should comfort the mourners, 
 even in the time of their intensest sorrow. It is no sin 
 to weep for the loss of friends. Rather it were sin not 
 to weep, when God himself has scooped out the channel 
 for our toars. Religion does not rest herself upon the 
 ruins of nature. She looks upon a Rachael weeping for 
 her children, refusing to be comforted in Ramah, and she 
 has no word of rebuke for the mourning mother. She 
 bids you listen to a bereaved father, sitting in all the 
 majestic loneliness of sorrow, — " Would God I had died 
 for thee, O Absaloni, my son, my son !" — and then she takes 
 you to the tomb of Lazarus, and, in the touching poetry 
 in which St. John has painted that interesting scene, she 
 tells you that "Jesus wept." But the Christian must not 
 be conformed to the world, " even in his grief He must 
 not sorrow as those that have no hope." We have not 
 
16 
 
 'ookcti our h^t „ 
 
 "'^ a case m whinU "^"cs tue years t u 
 
 suWimitv to """a'-and yet the hope ,„«f , '°""-a 
 
 :a?:.r - --0^^^ 
 
 love fcr"V° y"" ^"d dutiful to r?"-' ^'''■" 'vho 
 
 ;«: ="rr--t»S"*"« 
 
■ them again, 
 cbJc, ])Iaguc- 
 <-'«s and un- 
 ^s. I have 
 her son—a 
 ■^' her, gave 
 '"^yers, and 
 ^'egeneracy 
 o hoJd on 
 '"ch sharp 
 ' Religion 
 s of con- 
 •putation ; 
 ife;" who' 
 ^hom the 
 'ur dvveJt 
 ncl never 
 ii dyings 
 
 passed 
 friends, 
 h these 
 
 O IH T U A R Y NOTICE 
 
 REV. ROBERT WATSON FERRIER, M.A. 
 By Riiv. Georc.k Douglas, LL.I). 
 
 After the presentation of the touching and tender 
 truth to which we have listened, it now only remains that 
 wc gather up a few of the fragrant and sacred flowers of 
 memory, and bind them into a precious and fadeless souvenir 
 of the departed. 
 
 The late Rev. Robert Watson Ferrier was born in 
 this city on the 26th of September, 1838. It wa3 his price- 
 less privilege to be the son of a pious parentage, who made 
 the sanctities of religion the laws of the household. By 
 their Godly culture it may be truly said, that from a child 
 he knew the Scriptures, and was nurtured under the sweet 
 persuading influence of a holy example. 
 
 From his earliest years he gave evidence of considerable 
 mental activity, and was animated by a strong thirst for 
 knowledge, which gave promise of that ripe scholarship to 
 which he ultimately attained. 
 
 Like many of those who, with high honor and signal 
 success, have ministered at the altars of God the desire to 
 become a servant of the sanctuary and a minister of Christ 
 early took possession of his mind, and, even prior to his 
 entrance on the spiritual life, began to influence and direct 
 his thoughts for the future. 
 
 It was the happiness of our departed brother to become 
 savingly converted to God at the early age of twelve ; and 
 
VI 
 
 18 
 
 excellence which kindle .?" , '""^" ^'xcelle,,,-,. 4n 
 ■^^ncl now thf» fii-of . 
 
 •'^ -"n.e. wi.htr;;:;;:::'''^^''- ^0.. -•"■■-ena, 
 
 a 'Icep personal experienr,. h . ""'^ "•<-' a/Hnence nf 
 
 ;o Proclain, the love oTj^^.'^^J^ «-' -ith a holy ,„',;/ 
 '^^^; .. was the ntaster n^l^ "f '^:';''/"^' ""-->■ This.hence 
 
 Jiehevnig that a liberal -.n,! , ' 
 
 ^ valuable handmaid i', 1 ' °T^^ «'"'^'-«ion wouW be 
 -f . Oe entered and ^ , ;™"":''-''""'--" of this, h,s hfc 
 -d subsequently repaired to Fd„f 'T "'^G'" Universitt 
 '^ges which a resiSence in a"/'' ,'" "'^"^ ""-> -^"van-' 
 su,.phe.s. "'at famed seat of lca„i„„ 
 
 in the attainment of a ,„ , ■ 
 rare privilege to sit at the fct T'" ''"'"''"& ''' was his 
 theological learning vvl^eh M ,, "T °^ ">*= "^^^ masters 
 Church of Christ, vi^, D ]!:' '°'''^"' ''■-'« given to he 
 
 -'"d as on a rock, fro" ':',^' "■"'" "'-^ e-stablisl d J" 
 spccous theories o the ao! 1 ,?""" °^ '^'^ «"btle and 
 -- to him a rest and jl „ ™: , 7,- '"'"' ''"' *" "h 
 
 The result of a mental stra " ^ '''^' ""''"ed. 
 years, began to tell on a som whlf/'l ''^"■»^'' ^ ^'--es of 
 ■■ecuperate his impaired e„e"2, ?^''^ eonstitution. To 
 "ess of mental outfit which I '' '"'' '"'"'' '^^' eomplete 
 Onental lands is belTeved ^ 3""?' ^^<^' '" lassie aid 
 parents to Egypt.^tb^ cradle of ';^' ^^ ^^^""-Panied h"s 
 and spent some months tvfsil "f"""""'' eivili^atio„.-l 
 wiHch grace the wondrous laTey of h ^f "^ ^"'''^"'"es ^ 
 And now we comp ^^ "^ ^^^ ^^^e. 
 
 ~oapo.nti„hi3bistorywhereweea„ 
 
10 
 
 ^vas at once 
 which was 
 ^'s change, 
 '<-'nce,~-an 
 ^^^10 came 
 
 ^i'»isterial 
 ^'I'cncc of 
 ^nibitioii 
 "s, hcnce- 
 
 wouJd be 
 ■ 'lis li fe- 
 ll vcrsity, 
 - ad van- 
 '(-'ani ing 
 
 was his 
 
 tasters 
 
 to the 
 
 which 
 
 e man 
 i fuJJ- 
 -cl his 
 and 
 ^hich 
 
 :is of 
 To 
 ete- 
 and 
 his 
 
 f 
 
 only stand and say of God's dealings, *' How unsearchable 
 are Thy ju(i<;nients, and Thy ways past findinf; out." Just 
 at the moment when he seemed about to enter on the holy 
 vocation, for which he had been arduously jireparing, he was 
 seized by an Kgy[)tian fever, which prostrated, and smote, as 
 with a paralysis, the ener;^ies of his constitution, castinjjj 
 the shadows of debility over the entire of his subsecpient 
 life. 
 
 Throuj^h a period of weakness and deep depression he 
 walked for a time wearily. This was the most tryinf? 
 passage of his life, and nowhere was the hour and power 
 of darkness more severely felt than during his sojourn at 
 Mentona. 
 
 Gradually recovering, in i)art, his strength, he freely spent 
 it in the service of his Master ; and after fulfilling his pro- 
 bation, he was, in this church, solemnly ordained to the 
 office and work of the ministry in the spring of 1865. 
 
 In various fields of the church he rendered ministerial 
 service, and the memory of his faithful and affectionate 
 expositions of divine truth, combined with a painstaking 
 pastoral oversight of those amongst whom he labored, 
 lingers still in many o;rateful hearts. 
 
 Nearly eighteen months ago his ministry was suddenly 
 closed by an attack of hemorrhage from the lungs. Hence- 
 forth his way was one of silent suffering and a beautiful 
 acceptance of the will of God. 
 
 Like the autumnal leaves of our northern forests that put 
 on their most warm and beautiful tints immediately before 
 their death and sepulchre, so the experience of our deceased 
 brother ripened into a moral beauty which was the assurance 
 of hope and the true meetness for the beatific vision of God. 
 
 By medical advice he was led to seek a residence in Scot- 
 land. And now the stricken Benjamin of the household, 
 separated from those who loved with a love stronger than 
 death, and who, by that royalty of our common nature which 
 clings all the more strongly to the feeble and failing, — 
 separated from all, he entered into a covenant of prayer with 
 
20 
 
 her who now mourns a sainted son. Throufjh the earlier 
 parts of his home correspondence we find constant allusions 
 to this plighted hour of prayer. Thus, on Novendjer the 
 fifteenth, he writes : " 1 could not account for some blessed 
 thoughts and feelings which come over me again and again, 
 I could not help saying to a friend that I felt as if they 
 wer, praying for me al home. I rise into the assurance 
 that God is over all and with me, ordering all things 
 right, and I am in peace. Mother's hour is not forgotten." 
 Again and again does he allude to this blessed covenant of 
 devotion with his mother, which was .seven here and mid- 
 night in Scotland. Another instance may suffice: "Tell 
 mother whenever I hear the midnight strike, and I do so 
 pretty often. I think that it is her exact hour, and a tear 
 and a prayer are seen and heard by the Omniscient." 
 
 And now, it is touching and blessed to record that, as the 
 weary pilgrim came towards the end of his pilgrimage, he, 
 too, found the delectable mountains and the Beulah land, 
 where no shadows of darkness or of doubt crossed his 
 vision, but the " Lord was his light, and the days of his 
 mourning were ended." Let him here speak for himself. 
 Having alluded to his temporal condition, he says : " 13ut 
 these are small matters compared with what I have to 
 write you to-day. How freely, fully, firmly, sweetly I have 
 yielded to that love which I can withstand no longer. I 
 cannot otherwise express the change of last night than by 
 saying the power from above came over me suddenly, 
 reviving every motion within me for God. I looked up 
 and said, * It is the Lortl,' and, ever since, I have felt so 
 sweetly resigned to the will of God, and so full of love to 
 everybody and everything, that all former unpleasant feel- 
 ings are gone, it seems, never to return. I cannot write ; 
 my heart has scarcely let my hand get through thus far, and 
 my tears of joy are coming so plentifully, that they must 
 have been noticed. No matter, I shall rejoice to confess.^ 
 what they mean." 
 
 The fruit, rare and precious, of this baptism of the Spirit, 
 
 h 
 m 
 hi 
 
 w 
 til 
 
21 
 
 at once "♦ ncars. Intellij;cncc comes U> the clyinpj one of 
 spiritual revival, and he resjionds, " I am ((iaddened to hear 
 of a ^ood movement in the church, ami believe I have bene- 
 fitted t'roni transatlantic prayers." A{;ain. when he heard of 
 some he knew cominj; to the Saviour, he exclaimed. " I am 
 rejoiced at the news, truly I am full of joy, foram^I not like 
 Israel myself coming to Zion, returning and weeping, — 1 
 feel how very close must be the watch over self and clinging 
 to Jesus, if one would walk wholly pure." 
 
 And thus was it with our brother through all his mortal 
 affliction. The last sentence which he i)enned, only five 
 days ere the hand that wrote it was paL^ied in death, was 
 this : " I am very weak ; but hovvev^.T these things be, my 
 heart is fixed, and the Lord is with me by night and by day." 
 
 In this spirit he entered the " valley of shadows, fearing 
 no evil." His last utterance was one of confidence, " I am 
 in the Lord's hands, resigned to His will," after which he 
 sweetly fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 In the midst of those who knew his manner of life from 
 youth upwards, it is unnecessary to dwell on those features 
 of character which were manifest to all. It is enough to say 
 that he was generous, independent, and gentle in si)irit, 
 dutiful and affectionate as a son, true as a friend, and faith- 
 ful to God, 
 
 To the young men of this congregation. he stands as an 
 example of consecration to a noble work. Seldom has the 
 world ofTered greater attractions to the youthful heart. 
 By social status, and by the resources of enjoyment which 
 wealth always supply, life opened before the departed with 
 a rare brilliancy. Yet he gladly renounced all, and made 
 his election for the Christian ministry, and to that election 
 he was faithful unto death. Would that many young men 
 might catch the fallen mantle of the ascended one, and, like 
 him, offer all of life a sacrifice to God. 
 
 To the suffering he presents an example of that patience 
 which, through years of debility, accepted the will of God, 
 till finally it had its perfect work. And, though dead, his 
 
22 
 
 triumphant death shall speak of the sufficiency of that 
 grace which made him more than conqueror through the 
 blood of the Lamb. Standing, as by that silent tomb, 
 where to-night the weeping willow and the shadowy cypress 
 sing their mournful requiem to the sunset breeze, we can 
 say,— 
 
 " Rejoice for a brother deceased ; 
 Our loss is his infinite gain." 
 
 For 
 
 " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord— they rest from their labors." 
 
 ' I ( 
 
 
/ 
 
 
 MINUTE OF Thlj, ,,^ 
 
 THE MONTREAL 
 
 MEETING, 
 Presented at //„^ -r 
 
 E>rSTRlCT 
 
 ere,ice of 1870. 
 Robert Watsom .v 
 
 recovered R;. /^""''^"^"^ in the Ea.f h ' ^'^^' 
 
 "'^ss. A year ago he 
 
 ■ k 
 
x\* 
 
 24 
 
 retired as a Supernumerary, and spent most of the time 
 abroad in order to recruit his health, but without success. A 
 letter written home, and dated i6th February last, touchingly 
 describes his spiritual condi<"ion : — " I cannot otherwise ex- 
 press the change of last night than by saying, the power 
 from above came over me suddenly reviving every motion 
 within me for good. I looked up and said, it is the Lord, 
 and ever since I have felt sweetly resigned to every pain 
 and full of love to everybody. My heart has scarcely let my 
 hand get through thus far, my tears of joy are coming 
 plentifully — no matter, I shall rejoice to confess what they 
 mean." From the mojiient of this baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit until death he was unusually happy in th' .^ord. 
 The last lines penned by our departed brother, which were 
 received by his father and mother in Montreal after his 
 decease, were : " My heart keeps fixed, and the Lord is with 
 me by night and by day." On the evening of his death he 
 retired at eight o'clock, and in about an hour he was away 
 to his Father in Heaven. 
 

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