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WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE.

OCTOBER, 1873.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. THOMAS EDWARDS:

BY THE REV. JOHN HAY.

"THE righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." So we thought, as, in his later years, we looked at the subject of this memoir, witnessed the undeviating rectitude of his course, and heard of some of the characteristic actions of his life.

Born in the parsonage of Walton-on-Trent, February 18th, 1781, the principles of righteousness were taught MR. EDWARDS from his earliest childhood, and were impressed upon him by the godly discipline, as well as example, of his father, a minister of the Established Church. At the age of ten a sermon on "The wages of sin is death," wrought on him deep, though transient, convictions of sin. Afterwards, in Liverpool, where he had been sent to business, a minister who had been a clergyman of the Established Church was attracting great crowds to his services, and with an eager and earnest heart Thomas Edwards went to hear him, the result being that his convictions were renewed, and he became deeply conscious of the need of a Divine Saviour from guilt and sin. In this state, "waiting for light, but beholding obscurity," struggling vainly with the law of sin in his members, and, in intervals of self-despair, looking beyond himself, and crying, "Who shall deliver me?" he became a hearer of the Methodist preachers. Dr. Adam Clarke was the first whom he heard, and the ministry of that eminent man encouraged him to hope for Divine mercy. Others followed, to whom he earnestly listened, and his heart gradually opened to the truth as it is in Jesus. Of this time he writes, "I could not give a Scriptural account of my conversion till I began to meet in class, and enjoyed the benefit of band-meetings. Being more fully awakened, I was more sensible of the deliverance when it came; and I think I would as soon have doubted of my existence as of my pardon and acceptance with God." This "deliverance" came to him on a Christmas day, and the minister whom, as the chief instrument in this change, he styled his "father in Methodism," was the Rev. Thomas Cooper and the one who spoke to him in his first

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class-meeting, and to whose instructions he was afterwards greatly indebted, was the Rev. John James. These two and Dr. Clarke, and a member who had been the most intimate of his "class" companions, all died within a few weeks of each other,—a coincidence which deeply affected him.

Earnestness of spirit, resoluteness of will, energy of character, were all elements of Mr. Edwards' original nature; and when "the powers of the world to come "laid hold on his heart, they directed and sanctified them all, enduing him with rightness of motive, and engaging his whole service for God. He unhesitatingly testified for his Saviour everywhere, and held forth the righteousness as well as the grace of the Gospel. Arrangements having been made, soon after the termination of his apprenticeship, for his entering into business on his own account, he proceeded to make the requisite preparations with the full purpose of glorifying God in all things. At that time the fiscal customs were oppressive, temptations to smuggling numerous and strong, and commercial morality generally so low that trading with uncustomed goods had become almost universal. On this understanding were the principal profits calculated; and men excused themselves by saying, "They must live." But Mr. Edwards' soul could not live, and do this; and he resolved to be an honest tradesman in the fear of God, "rendering unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's." On the eve of opening his establishment he made a close inspection of the premises and fittings, and was soon surprised by the discovery of a departuro from his plans, and still more by the explanation from the principal person he had engaged to execute them,-that it had been done under his instructions, and in order to the safe transaction of the illegal usages of the trade. He immediately repudiated the act, and ordered a return to the original plan, declaring that, whatever might be the cost, he would never violate his conscience by the wages of unrighteousness; and on this principle he acted, a witness of the righteousness inculcated by the Gospel, and ready to suffer for it to his temporal damage. A year's experience made known to him that, as things then were, it would not "pay;" and so the business was honourably resigned, his liabilities discharged, and he went forth with his conscience unscathed and his heart all the better for the discipline. A wealthy firm, in which honour reigned, and the members of which stood high in Liverpool Methodism, had witnessed the high-toned principle of the young man, and at once offered him a place in their establishment, which he gladly accepted, and in which he remained until a higher vocation claimed him.

He entered the ministry in 1808, and continued in its full work

until the Conference of 1852. In 1825 he succeeded the Rev. Valentine Ward in the office of Superintendent of the Irish Schools; and for five years, as the Minutes of the several Conferences testify, fulfilled his duties "with eminent faithfulness, uniting the wisdom of experience with active zeal and steady perseverance," abounding in labours, and "endearing" himself to all concerned by the "parental" character of his attention to the schools, and by his "fidelity and wisdom," calling forth an eulogium declaring him to have been to the Irish ministers "a brother, a fellow-labourer, and a blessing." What he witnessed of the arduous nature of the work of his Irish brethren, and of the noble spirit of endurance and of self-denying zeal which they almost universally showed, excited his admiration, and was ever after the subject of high praise. On his return to England he succeeded the Rev. George Morley as resident secretary to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and occupied the then well-known house and office, "77, Hatton Garden." Mission-House work, however, was not suited to him; and at the end of a year, at his own request, he was appointed to a Circuit; and returning to this more congenial sphere, he entered on a course of indefatigable industry, uncompromising fidelity, and loving zeal.

The few memoranda relating to himself which he has left indicate a deep and whole-hearted religiousness,-an unceasing aim at rightness of principle and life as before God and man, and at faithfulness and usefulness in his ministerial work. For several years he fasted once a week, consecrating the day to special devotional exercises. It was truly a means of grace to him. When about engaging a servant, soon after his marriage, he makes the following entry :-"Began to feel the obligation we are laid under to give ourselves to prayer, and to feel for the girl's salvation." He frequently refers to his struggles with his inner nature, and his endeavours to altogether lay aside his besetting sin, and every other evil within him. On December 31st, 1810, he writes, "May I possess a greater degree of zeal and love! May my perseverance to the end be marked with more self-denial, circumspection, and watchfulness; so that I may finish my course with joy, die well, and reign with God through a glorious eternity! Now, Lord, again wash me in Thy atoning blood, and seal me by Thy Spirit unto the day of eternal redemption." February 8th, 1837. —“ Disturbed”—by the unkindness of others: "when in prayer, called to mind the turning of Job's captivity, and his praying for his friends. Determined I would pray for My mind, I thought, greatly relieved." May 6th, 1837, having been annoyed by the offensive conduct of another, and having spoken warmly to him, he says, "Was sorry that I should have felt so much, and

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