lived; for them he laboured; and great was his success. Many have had greater talents, and a wider sphere; few in our day have laid the foundations of more lasting good amongst the "pariahs" of England, than our departed friend.

He was born in 1788, the son of a clergyman residing in Worcestershire; as a child, he was lively, good-natured, and of a roving turn of mind. Even then, "consistency with him was every thing;" and in later years, speaking of the period he spent at Oxford, he said, "I knew not what party to join. The worldly party? No; they were far from God. The men who professed to fear God? No; they would say and do many things which showed they could not be Christians."

Of his disinterestedness in early life, the following is an instance :-When a young man, an advantageous living was so far within his reach, that he had but to apply for it.

"He set out to visit the party with whom the gift lay, naturally rejoicing at the bright prospect before him. On his way thither, however, he happened to fall in with a clergyman, a stranger, but who, he found, was going on the same errand, and to whom, from various circumstances, success seemed to be of the greatest importance. Looking not on his own things,' this true follower of Christ immediately relinquished all idea of asking the boon for himself, and not only so, but introduced his companion, and represented his case so successfully that it was obtained for him."

Combined with other qualities, there was always this especial feature in his addresses; namely, "an unaffected courtesy, and a loving frankness, which won their way at once to the hearts of those he spoke to; to the grey-headed alike and to the little ones, to the rich or poor, was he always the same." He was a man, too, of a well-regulated mind; "he knew God's place in the work of creation, of providence, and of grace; and he knew his own place. In saying this, we say a great deal." His own views of Scripture truth were very simple;-those of a little child. His view of himself was, that he was a sinner, lost and helpless; and the lowliness of his mien and manner showed he felt it; whilst the joy of his ever-beaming countenance told unhesitatingly of the happiness of a pardoned sinner-a reconciled and adopted one in Christ. His eye was ever fixed, and his heart reposing upon the character of God.

In 1816 he was presented to the living of St. Clement's, Worcester, and he soon after married a daughter of the late William Wilson, Esq., of Lower Worton, Oxon. Mr. Davies experienced at first some difficulty in the discharge of his pastoral duties: "the old parish church of St. Clement was a small, damp building, situated upon the east side of the river Severn, supposed to have been built inside the city walls for safety. The tower of the church had been pulled down, together with the city walls, by Oliver Cromwell's army during the Civil Wars;" and,

"by the overflowing of the Severn, as the snows melted, or the rains poured down from the Welsh mountains, not only did the water often surround it for a length of time, but, not unfrequently, the church itself was full of water, even up to the very seats in the pews. For no less than two months did this state of things coutinue in the year 1821; and the well-known story of the worthy rector's rowing up the middle aisle in a boat was both a feat and a fact, which he never wearied in after life of recounting far and near." However, after a few years of toil, a new church was, to the great joy of the zealous rector, erected upon a better site. Having thus at length got his own parish into a more satisfactory condition, his generous sympathy and love for the souls of his fellow men induced him to spend the remainder of his life in unceasing exertions to spread the knowledge of Jesus more especially amongst the watermen on our inland rivers and canals,-a depraved and hitherto shamefully neglected class of men. His labours amongst them justly gained for him the title of "The Apostle of the Watermen." Mr. Davies soon discovered that one source from which their sin and consequent misery sprang was the cruel tyranny of their employers, who compelled them to lead a life of unremitted toil, forcing them, much against their will, to desecrate God's holy day; and the masters reaped the fruit of this policy, in a notoriously degraded, drunken, and dishonest class of men. Of their degraded character, we have the following instances :-" Some years ago, a waterman belonging to one of the navigations in this county was executed at Chester for murder. Before his death, he solemnly declared he never heard that there was a place of reward or punishment in another world till after he had entered the prison. He said he had never offered up a prayer in his whole life." A witness, in giving evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons, stated "that a respectable company of canal carriers, finding that the men, not having had proper instructions, had become so demoralized that they could not be trusted with anything, determined to give up carrying on a Sunday. He also stated, that if reproved for any sin, the men replied, What is the use of leaving off one sin? We are obliged to break the Sabbath; and if we break one commandment we will break the whole; thus yielding to a sort of desperation in wickedness." "A waterman stated one day, that for fifty years he never recollected any person ever coming to the vessel to tell them that they had souls, nor that there was a bible, or anything of the kind."

Ill health compelled Mr. Davies to retire for a time from his charge in Worcester, and take up his residence at Runcorn, on the river Mersey. Here he came into close connection with the flatmen who navigate the river craft upon the Mersey. "I was much affected," he says, "on Sunday. A poor waterman passed our lodgings, and being asked if he attended a place of worship,-'No,' replied the man; I have not been in a place of

worship for thirty years.' 'I am sorry for you,' was the reply. 'If you are sorry,' replied the man, what must I be?'"

Mr. Davies's first object was to procure for these men the enjoyment of the Lord's-day; and for this purpose numerous petitions to the various canal companies, and companies of carriers, as well as to both houses of parliament, were set on foot. One petition to parliament was signed by more than nine hundred men working on different rivers and canals. The following extract is from an affecting petition to parliament from the men employed on the river Trent :

"That your petitioners are compelled, much against their will, to break the Sabbath, by hauling and sailing upon the said river, instead of worshipping Almighty God. They humbly beg to state, that they firmly believe that they could do quite as much labour in the six days, well employed, as by adding labour on the Sabbath-day; as they are fully convinced that it is entirely in vain to expect the blessing of the Lord of the Sabbath upon the labours of those who thus dare to break His law, and profane His holy day. They, therefore, beg humbly to request that your honourable House will take their case into your consideration, and enact such laws as may prevent them and others, in the same situation, from being obliged to do that which is so great a sin against God, and consequently so great an evil to themselves."

Besides promoting these petitions, Mr. Davies was busily engaged in distributing religious books, and personally addressing the watermen; and while thus occupied, he often met with much encouragement. One man declared, "that every step he took, when at work on a Sunday, went to his very heart;" another said, "that when he was talked to about his soul, it tore him to pieces;" but added, our masters will make us work on a Sunday, and what can we do?" Upon giving a tract to a waterman one Saturday evening, the man said, "Why do you give me this? If I have a job of work offered to me to-morrow, I must take it, or be clammed"-(starved to death). On another occasion a boatman applied to him for a bible, remarking, that if they had one in their vessel, they might read it often, as they had time on their hands. The petitions, too, began gradually to meet with success. In August, 1839, he writes:

"Knowing the deep interest you take in the Sabbath cause, I am sure you will rejoice to hear that the trustees of the Weaver Navigation have granted the flatmen the Sabbath to its fullest extent. This is the most important navigation in this country."

"

He then adds,

That he had assembled a considerable number of the flatmen in their large hut at West Point, and addressed them on the duty of observing the Sabbath. Several other companies, as well as boatowners, either made some concessions, or else released their men Vol. 58.-No. 260.

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entirely from the unhallowed toil of Sunday traffic. A canal carrier on the Severn, who, when in health, was sternly opposed to the grant of the Sabbath to the bargemen, and declared, that he would navigate his vessels as long as the Queen's mail ran on the Sunday,' was seized with illness. Conscience stung him with remorse, and on the morning of the Sabbath which preceded his death, he issued an order to stop every vessel from setting sail on the day of holy rest, declaring his determination no longer to participate in the guilty system of Sabbath profanation.".

At length, scattered over about three thousand miles of canal and inland rivers, few indeed, and far between, might be seen floating chapels, or resting upon the quiet waters; while here and there a place of worship of less fragile construction presented itself to view upon the shore, its bell reverberating through the holy calm, or its roof resounding with the song of praise. One such has for some years been moored in the Severn at Worcester; and here not a few of these hardy inland sailors have both heard the glad tidings of peace, and offered that sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart, which God does not despise. It owes its existence, we need hardly say, to the exertions of Mr. Davies.

In the summer of last year Mr. Davies was taken to his rest. The last rites were performed in the presence of a crowd of ministers of almost all denominations. The corporation of Worcester followed, besides a vast assembly of parishioners, non-parishioners, and a train of children, by whom he was beloved as a father. He had lived to see the fruit of his labours among the watermen ; some of them were converted; and numbers were brought to, at least, an outward propriety of conduct quite unknown before in their class. Mr. Davies, too, had the joy of knowing, from time to time, that many died in the faith. One of these had formerly been a prize-fighter, notorious for his profane language. Mr. Davies assigned the great success of the work he undertook simply and alone to God.

"Do you know," said he, one day, "why the Floating Chapel has been so filled, and why God has been so gracious to us? It is prayer. 1 go each morning, whether it rains or not; I kneel down in that alcove, (in his garden), where I see the vessel, and there I pray to God to pour His blessing on it. I have such answers to prayer, and so immediately, that I dare not name them; it appears like enthusiasm, and yet I must acknowledge God in it all: it is such ingratitude not to do it."

We must ascribe his success also, in some measure, to his diligence, and to his cheerful temper and thankful mind, which made him always to work happily. He could not imagine, he said sometimes, how any one could doubt that faith would not agree with works; the more faith he had, the more he longed to labour for the Saviour. He once remarked, "There is a peace which the Christian

has not self-righteousness, not self-satisfaction, but it is a peace which the Holy Ghost puts into our hearts." In regard to his thankfulness, he said, "I have lately learned to thank God more for what He denies me than for what He gives me; I am so convinced of His wisdom and goodness." He was slow to criticize the Scriptures, or to entertain theological arguments. He held fast, and taught to others the leading truths distinctly laid down, and left the rest to God; convinced that it was impossible for a finite being to comprehend an infinite one.

Our readers are probably curious to know how the compiler of this choice memoir became possessed of the notes and memoranda which give such an insight to the true character of him who is the subject of it, more especially, as the author observes, "that he (Mr. Davies) would have shrunk from putting anything upon paper about himself, which another eye, by any possibility, might ever look upon, and was too much like a bird upon the wing, and too much engaged for others, to sit down and think much about himself." They were drawn, then, from remarks which Mr. Davies made to his beloved wife, and which were afterwards put down by her as a family record for her children. We feel, as we read, that there is something confidential—we had almost said sacredin the disclosures of every page. It is a book, the real charm of which only a true spiritual Christian can thoroughly appreciate; others may smile at what to us appears its heavenly simplicity. And let them smile; but not till they can point to triumphs such as his, gained over contempt and scorn,-over selfishness in em ployers, and dark inhuman brutality in barge-men. For those aims he gladly spent himself; for "the love of Christ constrained him." And his record is on high!

NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.

A Charge delivered to the Clergy and Churchwardens of the Arch deaconry of Worcester. By Richard Brindley Hone, M.A., Archdeacon of Worcester. Published by Request. London: J. W. Parker and Son.-The archdeacon opens his Charge with an expression of regret that on these occasions he must give so much time and attention to subjects which concern things temporal and material, and are in themselves barren of spiritual sustenance." Yet it is scarcely less necessary, in its place, that questions of church order should be discussed and determined, than that the higher work of spiritual edification should be pursued with vigour. And it is a happy circumstance when, as in this instance, matters of order are kept down, and made subordinate to the great end for which the ministry and the church