it were, through and through; I have been driven from every entrenchment of self; I have been shown every cause of my spiritual gloom; and on discovering, I have been enabled to cast aside every weight and every hinderance. I trust I am now more fully than ever willing and determined to leave all for Christ. I find myself uncommonly stirred up at all the meetings, having been admitted as a visiter to those which are only for the society; and I have experienced sweets which I never tasted before. Pray for me, my dear sister, that the Lord would perfect that which concerneth me, and sanctify me wholly to himself. I need not say how loving the good people seem towards me. It is natural for persons to rejoice when those they think well of enter into their views. I have been invited to join the society, but I wish to be cautious."

Mr. Briggs was now counting the cost. Having been acquainted with the Methodists from his infancy, he could have no doubt on his mind concerning them as a religious body. His doubts were for himself; whether he could make the sacrifice attached to taking the name of Methodist; whether he might not again prove unfaithful, and disgrace his profession; whether he was determined to "follow the Lord fully." It is wise to deliberate when induced to it, not by a spirit of procrastination, but by self-distrust, and a sincere desire to take the right path. Happy would it be for the character of religious societies, if all who join them were equally cautious,-if the giving in of the name to be enrolled with the professed followers of Christ were accompanied with a deliberate and conscientious resolution faithfully to adhere to and to support the cause with which the name was thus identified. A conclusion deliberately formed, the result of thought and prayer, will have greater influence on the character than a conclusion to the same effect taken up without deliberation. If Mr. Briggs acted cautiously, he acted wisely; and the happy result was seen in the steadiness, consistency, and purity of his future course.

In April, 1805, he writes:-" On the third of last month I was received into the Methodist society by my valued friend, Mr. Samuel Taylor. I hope for the last five or six weeks I have experienced a considerable progress in the divine life. I trust the work is deepening in my soul, and I daily see more of the vanity and insufficiency of all the things of time. My happiness centres in God. The clearer views I can entertain of the loveliness of the Lord Jesus, of his all-sufficiency, of his will and power to save, and the more I can lay hold on him as mine in all his beauty, love, and power, the more I am filled with peace and joy. I must, however, confess, that I do not make the advancements that I wish. I find an uncomfortable dulness of mind frequently grows upon me, and brings me into discouragement; and, above all, I find that the great adversary is skilful in exciting perplexing reasonings, and always striving to shake my confidence: still, through the power of the Lord, I trust I shall endure to the end."

In October, 1806, Mr. Briggs appears to have been called into active service in the church, as Chapel-Steward, Prayer-Leader, ClassLeader, and as one of a company who itinerated in the surrounding villages, to hold religious services. He writes to his sister :"I have no time for trifling. I used to find time for fishing, shooting, &c.; but step by step I have been led into a more profitable employment of time. I bless God that goodness and mercy still continue to follow me. I am deeply sensible that I am an unprofitable servant, and that I every moment need the merit of my Saviour's death. I am given daily to feel that I am in an enemy's country; 'without are fightings, within are fears.' Sometimes I find it hard work to keep my confidence, and to stand my ground. Satan, ever vigilant, thrusts often sore at me, and obliges me to contend every inch of my way; but in the end I have hitherto come off more than conqueror through Him who hath loved me. Thanks be to God, I have for some time past enjoyed a measure of sweet peace in the midst of conflicts, through faith in the Redeemer's blood."

Either in this year, or the following, Mr. Briggs began to act as a regular Local Preacher in the Hull Circuit, which then included Beverley, the place of his residence. He held this important office in the society to the last, and exercised his talents with great acceptance.. His extensive information and judicious mind gave him a decided advantage in his public work; and whether in the country or in London, he was listened to with respect and attention.

The Christian character of Mr. Briggs received further refinement and strength in the furnace of affliction. He became more deeply interested personally in the truth and grace of the Gospel, by the comfort it afforded him in deep suffering, and was the better prepared thereby to declare and illustrate its sacred efficacy to others. In 1809 he was attacked with severe illness, which for a time threatened to terminate fatally. Referring to it, he writes:

"I feel unbounded cause for thankfulness: at the expense of comparatively little suffering, I have been led into the experimental knowledge of several important matters with which I had before only a theoretical and superficial acquaintance; I mean, the faithfulness of God in his promises to his people, of support and consolation in the most trying circumstances, and the substantial reality of religious truth in general. I also received a consoling and satisfactory evidence that individually I was not a self-deceiver, but as it had been my honest and sincere desire to give myself up without reserve to the Lord, so he had, notwithstanding my many short-comings, graciously accepted me in and through his beloved Son. Being entirely ignorant at first of the nature of my complaint, I expected that I was

struck with death. I felt, it is true, a sensation indescribably awful;

but at the same time

with a doubt or fear.

all was peace and assurance.

I was not troubled

I could look into the grave without emotion,

6

and beyond it with confidence and joy. As I lay musing on these things, I remembered this passage, Without holiness no man shall see the Lord;' when I was immediately encouraged by the application of another, Thou art comely through my comeliness which I have upon thee;' and looking within, I found all was peace and love. It is rather remarkable that our excellent Superintendent, Mr. Highfield, and my honoured friend, Mr. Griffith, should both think so exactlyalike on the subject of my danger; both feeling a conviction that my work was not yet done. On this ground I feel life to be of almost infinite value. A few years sooner or later out of time will not be noticed when eternity is entered upon; but if the creature be honoured with a commission from his God to do his work,—to proclaim his word, -to make known his salvation,-O how desirable to linger out even the tedious threescore years and ten! Therefore I desire patient the appointed race to run,' hoping I shall be enabled incessantly to urge my way with strength renewed.""

Another extract incidentally affords us his estimate of one peculiarity of the religious body to which he was conscientiously united :—

"We are beginning to look with great expectation to Conference. Happy system! which enables us to part with those whom we love almost as our own souls, in the hope of their being replaced with others who will be still more useful to us."

Every faithful professor of godliness will "keep his heart with all diligence." He will study his own character, that he may know himself, and give a right direction to the discipline of his own mind, and improve his capability of usefulness to others. Of Mr. Briggs's faithfulness in this respect we have the evidence of his mature grace and stability. Of the manner in which he performed this duty, we have an instance in the following extract, dated in 1811 :—

"I think particularly I am deficient in faith respecting others; that is, as to the efficacy of prayer in their behalf. Whether it is some small taint of infidelity or of predestinarianism still remaining, I cannot say; but most probably of the former, as it is generally from that quarter that the temptations of the enemy come with most power. But be it as it may, I feel little of that faith, excepting in my individual concern, which cries, 'It shall be done.' I often think those persons have in many respects the advantage whose simplicity has never been destroyed by what the world calls science;' who can take God at his word, without asking farther questions; and who receive whatever is written without feeling an objection in their minds: I say, they have an advantage, inasmuch as repose is preferable to conquest; they have not the satisfaction of repulsing their adversary, but they have the greater satisfaction of being unassailed. After all, as the trial of faith is precious, there is doubtless something to counterbalance what at first sight appears to be desirable."

Among the religious acquaintance with which Mr. Briggs was

honoured, was the late Mr. Henry Longden, of Sheffield, of blessed memory. He thus refers to him in 1812:

“O what an instance of the greatness of a dying saint has lately occurred not many miles from this place (Doncaster)! Tell any of our elder Preachers that Henry Longden, of Sheffield, is gone home, and that he died as he lived; and they will wish that they had been privileged to witness his departure. Possessing a very vigorous mind, much information, and great natural vivacity, he was, without exception, the most heavenly-minded man I ever knew. As through life he had, in a very peculiar manner, laid himself out for usefulness, and had been uncommonly successful in the blessed work of bringing souls to God, he was also uncommonly supported through the tedious decay of nature. As I have the happiness of rather an intimate acquaintance with him, it will fall to my lot to attempt an improvement of the circumstance of his removal, as he was well known to the people here, having many times, when they were at a low ebb, come over nearly twenty miles to labour to stir them up."

The powerful feeling excited in the Methodist Connexion in behalf of foreign Missions, on the announcement of the death of Dr. Coke, and the formation of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society, found ready entertainment in hearts like that of Mr. Briggs. Although long past the period of youth, he was desirous of being personally engaged in this honourable work. His attention was directed to a part of the field with which he had already some acquaintance, and for which he was peculiarly fitted by his acquaintance with the German language. His intense feeling on this subject, and the spirit of sacrifice with which he contemplated this desired employment, will be best described in his own language. His letter is dated 1815:

:

"This is the present peculiar exercise of my mind. It will be laid before those upon whose judgment I have the greatest reliance, and the event will be left with Him who is God over all, blessed for evermore. Ever since I began to preach, I have felt a strong desire to visit Germany as a Methodist Preacher. If the storm on the Continent blow over, an opening into Germany is probable. Then a clear call and an effectual door, and I lay the labours of my eleventh hour at my Master's feet.”

This ardent desire of his heart was never indulged. There are political difficulties in the way of any Minister, not a native, preaching the Gospel in the German states. Divine Providence has in this respect also graciously interfered. A German, for some years resident in England, and a member of the Methodist society, has been made the instrument of introducing Methodism into Germany, where it has taken root, and spread beyond the most sanguine expectation.

The last extract with which we are furnished from Mr. Briggs's correspondence with his sister is dated 1818:

"I have the consolation to believe that my usefulness increases: not

indeed that it has ever been such as to endanger my humility; but as I trust my own experience has deepened, my preaching has been of a nature more edifying to mature Christians, and more rousing to the careless or lukewarm. I have a tolerably large and thriving class, in which many seem determined not to rest satisfied short of the whole mind that was in Christ; and so I travel on, not sorry to reflect that every day brings me nearer to my journey's end, and that I shall soon receive a summons to put off mortality, and to appear before my Lord."

The spirit of this paragraph he maintained to the close of life; and though not permitted to go abroad as a Missionary, he became intimately connected with the Mission cause, and held a useful and responsible station in the Mission establishment in Hatton-Garden.

He was accustomed to speak of it as one of the greatest blessings of his life, that he had been associated with excellent and eminent men in the business department of the Wesleyan Mission-House. For his introduction to this establishment he was indebted to the influence of the late Thomas Thompson, Esq., of Hull, M. P., who had married Mr. Briggs's sister, and whose name is inseparably connected with the rise and early enlargement of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. In the course of his official duties he was thrown much into the society of the late Rev. Messrs. Watson and James, and Dr. Townley, Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and others now living, who were endued with much of the Christian spirit and temper, and whose enlarged philanthropy found its best and widest sphere in forming and directing plans for the diffusion of a saving knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. The wisdom and love, the liberality and zeal, manifest in the character and labours of these devoted servants of Christ, whilst exerting a beneficial influence which was felt in some of the remotest parts of the heathen world, created an atmosphere in their immediate society which it was delightful to breathe, and which had an ennobling and sanctifying tendency on those who stood in immediate connexion with them. Of this Mr. Briggs was deeply sensible: and as he was thus morally, he was also mentally, qualified for the office he filled; his ardent love of Methodism, and his confidential character, being connected with a knowledge of business and habits of application, which rendered his services highly valuable. He was past middle age when he entered on this office, and some have supposed that his application to the engagements thus devolving on him was more than his declining strength could bear. He was deeply affected in mind, and perhaps in health, by the death of Mr. James, (which took place in November, 1833,) to whom he was greatly attached. For the last twelve months of his engagement at the Mission-House he was relieved from some of his duties, and was often recommended to retire, if he thought it necessary; but he appeared to find comfort in activity, and only about two months before his death dil he finally and fully retire