The Christian observer [afterw.] The Christian observer and advocate

and the first principles of action in man, but proposed Scripture to be implicitly received in its plain and obvious sense, and to be applied to the conscience, as the only and the effectual remedy for the wants and infirmities of our fallen nature.

It was this simplicity of faith and manner, united with great humility of heart and an extensive knowledge of mankind, as well as of books, that made him so acceptable and useful a preacher of the Gospel; in which work he seemed unwearied, for he would often, for months together, take the duty of a sick friend, in addition to his own, and would willingly sacrifice labour and time in manifesting the strength and constancy of his friendship, and his love for the work in which he was engaged.

It falls to the lot of few to be able to render the truths of the Gospel so acceptable to miscellaneous society, as Mr. Simpson did; but he is an instance of what may be done by kindness and gentleness of manner, accompanied by great industry in storing the mind with useful knowledge, when the whole is regulated by a spirit of genuine piety. Without any particular recommendation from fortune or family connexions, Mr. Simpson rose by an exemplary dis. charge of his ministerial duty, united with peculiar kindness of heart and suavity of manners, to respectability and distinction in his neighbourhood; and by his useful conversation in his friendly circle, his impressive preaching in public, and the uniform consistency of his conduct, he adorned the station which he filled.

With respect to those religious societies which have been somewhat unjust ly considered as designating particular parties in the church, the subject of this brief memoir openly and actively ma nifested his attachment to them all, in proportion to their intrinsic value. In speaking of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Bible and Church Missionary Societies, he always maintained their perfect compatibility and the consistency of those ministers of the Church of England who support them in common, even where, upon the whole, a preference may subsist for one or more in particular. His usual expression on this subject was-"I love the whole army of the church militant, but I like my own regiment the best."

In reference to an important question now before the public, the propriety of supplying those who are suffering under mental derangement with opportunities of attending religious duties, Mr. Simpson was, from his own experience, a

decided advocate for its usefulness. Indeed, he himself attended a highly respectable establishment for the insane in his parish, at the request of the emineut professional gentleman who conducts it, and who has a regular service on Sundays for his patients. The propriety of their conduct, and their apparent attention to the service, was so very remarkable, that Mr. Simpson himself frequently quoted it as a pattern to one of his parochial congregations, and the grateful attachment of one patient in particular, who was restored to his reason, and attributed his recovery, im a great measure, to the seasonable and prudent application of religious truth to his mind, was, to Mr. Simpson, more than a compensation for all his labour.

Much has been said of the morality of the rising generation being endangered by our late eagerness for foreign travel. Had, however, all who visit Paris, made the same use of it with our deceased friend, the danger would be much lessened. Mr. Simpson often declared, that the benefit he derived from visiting the catacombs at Paris far outweighed all the evil that the levity and frivolity of that dissipated capital might be sup posed to have produced upon his mind. The scene impressed upon him a solemn conviction of the vanity of all earthly things, which left a permanent influence on his conduct; and whenever any worldly care or. vexation oppressed him, he would say to his beloved partner, "Remember the catacombs: we shall soon be in the condition of these skulls: nothing temporal ought to distress our immortal spirits." Indeed, his frequent recurrence in private con-versation to the shortness and uncertainty of life, and our liability to sudden death, evidenced that he constantly lived in the spirit of one who expected a premature dissolution; and this feeling, though far removed from gloom or su perstition, threw a chastized and holy thoughtfulness over that habitual cheerfulness of temper which was one of his most prominent characteristics. Were the writer of this sketch to speak all he thinks on the present occasion, it would, probably be attributed to the partiality of private feeling; but he cannot refrain from applying to his deceased friend the grateful reflection made by the venerable and judicious Hooker, whose words he loved to quote, that he was one of those "who have by his grace loved God in their youth, and feared him in their age, and laboured to keep a conscience void of offence to him, and to all men.".