MILES ODDY was born in the month of February, 1756, near Shipley, in the parish of Bradford, Yorkshire. His parents were in humble circumstances, and accustomed to attend the baptist meeting house in that village. Miles, their son, was, in tender years, put to manual labour, and thereby necessarily deprived of opportunities of regular instruction in the common branches of learning. He was, however, trained up from infancy to a regular attendance on the public ordinances of religion. This, even in his youthful years, he esteemed a great privilege, and powerful impressions were made on his mind. The sinful propensities of his nature were restrained; convictions of the evil of sin, and of the painful consequences in which it must inevitably result, were again and again revived; so that he could not give the reins to his youthful passions, nor enter on a career of open rebellion and avowed unbelief. Though, in subsequent years, he did not consider himself as having experienced at this time a decisive change of heart, yet he was conscious of a great regard for religion, and a desire that at some future period he might be a Christian.

VOL. V.-FOURTH SERIES.

It was in the eighteenth or nineteenth year of his age, that a radical transformation of his heart and character was developed. In describing this crisis of his religious history, he said that the truths of holy scripture were presented to his mind in an extremely vivid and clear light. The immaculate purity and rectitude of the Divine Being, the malignity and depravity of the human heart, and especially of his own, were so unveiled, that he was convinced his situation and character as a sinner claimed his utmost anxiety and care. His conscience was aroused; his mind intensely engaged in the inquiry, "What must I do to be saved?" And yet, he would say, there was no appalling terror, no despair; he had such apprehensions of the divine mercy as sustained him amidst his most distressing fears. Like many young inquirers in similar circumstances, he could not understand how mercy could be dispensed to him, in consistency with the infinite righteousness and rectitude which he now acknowledged to be essential attributes of the divine nature. He believed that God must be glorified in his salvation, and it seemed essential to his own happiness that this should be the case.

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From this time he attended on the means of religious instruction, and read the word of God, with altered views and feelings. "I heard," he remarks, "as one who expected to appear before my righteous Judge, and with an earnest desire to understand and obey the will of God." While thus waiting on the Divine Being in his appointed ordinances, the method of reconciliation which he has provided and exhibited to mankind, through the atonement and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, was understood and cordially received by this youthful disciple. In the sacrifice of the Redeemer his most anxious inquiries met with a solution. Here he found a substantial basis of hope-motives to penitence, love, and Christian obedience. The Saviour claimed and won his heart. He perceived where the strength and resources of a pardoned sinner were deposited. United by faith to the Son of God, he had the secret of obtaining the victory over all his spiritual adversaries, and of securing whatever was requisite for his perfect and eternal salvation. He went on his way rejoicing.

The church at Shipley was at this time under the pastoral care of Mr. G. Haynes, a worthy and excellent man, to whose ministrations of divine truth Mr. Oddy was greatly indebted, and by whom he was baptized and introduced to the Christian society over which he presided. Deeply commiserating the unhappy condition of the unconverted, experiencing in a high degree the peace of conscience and other inestimable advantages resulting from true piety, and fully assured that the gospel of Jesus Christ presents the only antidote to the miseries and vices of our fallen nature, the reader will not be surprised to learn that this pious youth cherished a desire to become a minister of divine truth. His deep-toned piety, steady and consistent deportment, ardour in the pursuit of divine knowledge, and general maturity

of character, had not escaped the notice of his Christian brethren; and the church ultimately gave him their sanction and approval as a candidate for the public ministration of the gospel.

The late Dr. Fawcett, pastor of the church at Hebden Bridge, and then resident at Brearley Hall, undertook the superintendence of the studies of individuals recommended by the respective communities to which they belonged, as gifted by the Head of the church for the sacred work. It was, if I am correctly informed, in the year 1783, that Mr. Oddy was placed under the care of this tutor. I have no definite information as to the extent of his acquirements, but his virtuous and consistent character, his exemplary piety, his ardent admiration and study of our most distinguished theological writers, have been left on record. He never recurred to this period of life in intercourse with his friends, without expressing his gratitude to the Divine Being for the privileges with which he was favoured. His time was profitably employed. He acquired a more extensive acquaintance with mankind. He saw in his tutor a model of the Christian and pastoral character; and it was easy for those who were acquainted with both parties, to recognize in Mr. Oddy the effects of this association on his habits and deportment in subsequent life.

The baptist church at Haworth, which had been for many years favoured with the valuable ministry of the Rev. James Hartley, being destitute of a pastor, gave a unanimous invitation to the subject of this memoir to assume the pastorate. At the termination of his studies, in the year 1785, he removed to this sphere of labour, with the express sanction, and in compliance with the advice of his tutor, and other ministers of the denomination. The meeting-house in which the church assembled was small, and situated in a remote and exposed locality, bordering

The baptist church consisting principally of individuals aroused to a concern for their spiritual interests, by the fervid appeals and unremitting exertions of this apostolical minister, had the high privilege of enjoying the ministry of Mr. Hartley, who was in all respects admirably qualified to promote the improvement of these youthful disciples. Calm in his temperament, discriminating in his views of divine truth, singularly prudent and discreet in the conduct of affairs, profoundly acquainted with the human heart and the oracles of heaven, he was wise to win souls to practical piety and personal holiness. At the termination of his ministry his congregation contained a number of pious persons, who may be described as "first fruits to God and the Lamb," the fairest fruits of that spiritual culture which had been expended on this once neglected district; individuals who stood forth as characterized by enlightened piety, and the best and purest evidences of genuine Christianity. On this interesting charge Mr. Oddy entered with pleasing prospects of comfort and usefulness. During the first year of his residence he married Miss Sarah Bland, a worthy person, but of delicate health, and removed by consumption four years after their union. A son survived, in whose welfare the subject of this memoir was deeply interested. He, too, faded like a flower, and fell a victim to the malady which

excited by this afflictive event, was most effectually allayed by satisfactory evidence of his meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light; and I recollect, with deep interest, the mingled feelings of satisfaction and grief-Christian hope brightening the tender regrets of the parental heart-elicited while the bereaved father spoke of this mournful loss.

A few years subsequent to the removal of his first wife, he was directed to enter on the same relation with a most exemplary individual, Mrs. Thornton of Bradford; who, for more than thirty years, was the associate of his joys and sorrows. To his son, while living, she was all that could be desired in the maternal relation. She rendered home to her husband a scene of order, placid enjoyment, and intimate delight. Her temper was singularly amiable, and her demeanour to all affable and obliging. She was literally a peace-maker, and saw every thing through the medium of that charity which covers a multitude of sins. If an observer marked a failing, it was the extreme solicitude and tenderness with which she provided for the comfort of her husband.

Mr. Oddy's pastoral career, though extending over a period of forty-five years, was diversified by few remarkable incidents. He pursued a uniform course, steadily adhering to his principles, preserving the attachment of his friends, and his health and capacity for labour, to a protracted age. It was, in the review of life, a matter of regret to himself that he had not received more numerous accessions to the church from the unconverted; but he was favoured until near the close of his ministry with a happy exemption from those bitter sources of anguish, which occasionally arise in conducting the affairs of a Christian church.

Some years previous to his resignation,

several individuals in his church and congregation withdrew from his ministry. A distinct and separate society was formed, a meeting-house erected, and active efforts made for the furtherance of the gospel. With this movement our departed friend did not sympathize, and his brethren in the ministry and other Christian connexions differing generally with him in his views on this point, unhappy and painful feelings were excited in his mind; and, after labouring for some time in conjunction with the Rev. John Winterbotham as his assistant in the ministry, he removed his residence from the village with which he had been so long associated, and spent the evening of his days in Bingley, a small town in the same county. He had so far husbanded his resources, by strict economy and exemption from many charges incident to other pastors, that, after making every requisite provision for his own wants and comforts, he found himself in circumstances to administer relief to the necessitous. Continuing the occasional exercise of his ministry, he enjoyed a green and unusually vigorous old age. During the last two years, it became evident to himself and others, that the final crisis was approaching; by repeated attacks of indisposition the vital functions were debilitated. I saw him during the severe weather of last winter, and found him perfectly aware of his approaching dissolution. Having expressed, with the greatest composure, his wishes as to the religious services connected with his interment, he said, his conscience bore him witness, that he had been honest and sincere in his Christian profession; that he did not recollect one occasion or state of feeling in which he had cherished a serious thought of departing from God; that he had a firm and unwavering conviction of the validity and security of the foundation of his hope; that he now had the satisfaction of be

lieving that he was in the hands of the wisest and best of all beings, and could trust his soul with all its interests to that Redeemer whom he had long known and served. There was no rapture, no triumph, nor was there the expression of much emotion. Such continued to be the state of his mind till a short time before his death; when it appears, from the statements of his friends, his composure was impaired, and more perturbation of feeling expressed, whether arising from physical causes or a cloud of darkness gathering on his mind, I have not been able to ascertain. He died in March, 1841, in the 86th year of his age, and his remains were interred in the burial-ground adjoining the meetinghouse at Haworth.

The reader will be prepared to hear that this venerable servant of Jesus Christ was a man of inflexible integrity and high principle, and resolute in the assertion of his opinions. Many of his friends, admiring his decision and unwavering stability, could not fo.bear the impression that these virtues would have been at once more lovely and practically beneficial, if they had been united with a deeper sensibility of his own liability to error, and a more candid and liberal construction of the motives and conduct of others.

Singularly grave and exact in his deportment, he observed the utmost decorum and precision in his dress, domestic arrangements, and the general economy of life. His habits, like his principles, were fixed, nor could he patiently suffer those incursions and taxes on his time and ordinary movements, which are inevitable in human life: yet he was not self-indulgent, in the ordinary sense of the word, being strictly temperate, and moderate in his expenditure.

His tone of mind and cast of character were formed for strong, rather than general and indiscriminate attachments, and hence his circle of friends was limit