FOR OCTOBER, 1834.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF MR. JOHN JOHNSON, JUNIOR,
of Manchester :

BY THE REV. EDMUND GRINDROD.

THERE are few distinctions existing amongst men which flatter the vanity of the human heart more than that of an honourable pedigree. Those who have descended from a long line of Princes or nobles are regarded with reverence by the mass of mankind. The posterity of warriors, statesmen, and scholars, who have immortalized their names by deeds of valour, patriotism, and learning, pride themselves greatly in being able to trace their descent from men so illustrious; and the moral delinquencies with which the personal characters of many of them were tarnished cause no abatement in the glorying of their successors. But how much more highly honoured, in the estimation of wise men, are those whose progenitors were eminent for their piety and usefulness in the church of Jesus Christ! They were "burning and shining lights," dispelling by the Gospel the darkness of the age in which they lived. They were the "epistles" of Christ, known and read of all men." Their history is recorded, not in sanguinary battles, or conquered countries, but in the flourishing churches which they assisted to plant; in the pious, humane, and charitable institutions which they either founded or supported, and which will continue to bless mankind when the deeds of the proudest hero shall be forgotten or remembered with regret. The subject of this memoir could claim the honour of a pious pedigree. His immediate progenitors both on the side of his father and mother were justly respected in their day for their piety, and his maternal grandfather (the late Mr. Fildes, of this town) was among the most distinguished of the early Methodists, and fell a sacrifice to his zeal in visiting the sick in the year 1794, when an epidemic typhus fever spread its mortal ravages through most parts of this and the adjacent countries.

Mr. Johnson, junior, was born in Manchester on the 29th of September, 1803. From his childhood his mind was impressed with the fear of God, which restrained him from the commission of outward acts of sin. At a very early period he contracted habits of close thinking, and employed much of his leisure time in the study of natural philosophy, and the acquirement of general knowledge. In the year 1816 the congregations and societies in the Manchester Circuit were visited with an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit's influence, by which many sinners were converted from the error of their way, and the churches of Christ were greatly edified and enlarged. At this season

of gracious visitation Mr. Johnson was led to make a decided and unreserved surrender of himself to God; and from this decision he never swerved to the latest period of his life. He joined himself without delay to the people of God, and made profession of his faith before many witnesses. His first Class-Leader was the late Rev. John Storry, whose private exhortations and public ministry contributed in no small degree to effect the thorough conversion of his heart to God. Soon, however, he was removed to the class of James Wood, Esq.; and he gratefully acknowledged as long as he lived the great spiritual benefit which he derived from Mr. Wood's judicious and affectionate care at that critical period of his Christian warfare. After he had joined the Methodist society many months elapsed before he received a sense of peace with God; and in his case there was nothing remarkable in the circumstances attending that interesting event. He had a deep and humbling sense of his lost estate by nature, and a clear apprehension of the scripture method of believing in order to salvation; and by the exercise of a lively faith in Christ, he obtained a joyous manifestation of the paternal love of God; which, by divine grace, he retained, without interruption, to the end of his brief pilgrimage. From this time he became an eminent example of juvenile piety in his father's house. He zealously co-operated with his parents in their endeavours to impress divine truth upon the minds of the younger branches of the family; the effect of which was, that all his brothers and sisters, being six in number, became active members of the Methodist society, and are now happily walking together in the paths of peace and pleasantThis delightful result he lived to witness.

ness.

Mr. Johnson's piety was of a very decided character. There was no wavering in his principles or habits. He was the same upright Christian in the church and in the world, at home and abroad. For some time he was employed as his father's commercial traveller; a situation which is generally thought to be unfavourable to the cultivation of a devotional spirit; but he resolutely maintained his usual close and undeviating walk with God. Of this the following recorded solemn act of self-dedication to the Lord, which on one of his journeys he performed in secret, at an inn, in a distant part of the kingdom, affords pleasing evidence

"Eternal and ever blessed God! I desire to present myself before thee with the deepest humiliation and self-abasement, sensible how unworthy so sinful a worm is to appear before the holy Majesty of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and especially upon an occasion like this, even to enter into covenant with Thee. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ I do this day make a solemn surrender of myself to Thee. I renounce all former lords that have had dominion over me; and I consecrate to Thee all I am and all that I have,-the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over others; to be all used entirely for thy

glory, and resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou shalt be pleased to continue me in life; with an ardent desire that I may be thine through the ages of eternity, ever holding myself in an attentive posture, to observe the first intimations of thy will, and ready to spring forward with zeal and joy to its immediate execution. I do resolve, by thy assistance, to love Thee the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul and mind and strength, and my neighbour as myself. That I may improve my time to better purpose, I resolve to rise at an early hour; to spend one hour every morning in reading thy holy word, and meditating upon it; and, when practicable, to employ some time to the same purpose at noon-day,' and always before I lie down to rest in the evening. During the day I resolve to be diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Lord, I am weak, but thou art strong: manifest thy strength in my weakness, I beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ. Amen!

"Having carefully read over what I have now written, I do solemnly, in thy presence, O God, affix to it my name.

"Reading, Berks,

"16th day of April, 1824."

"JOHN JOHNSON."

To these solemn engagements Mr. Johnson firmly and closely adhered through the remainder of his life.

His piety was distinguished by its consistency and universality. His character was formed upon the maxims of the Gospel, by which every action of his life was regulated. He never attempted to separate the privileges from the duties of Christianity; but whilst, by a lively faith, he habitually realized the comfort of the Holy Ghost, he was most solicitous to reach, in his practice, the highest standard of scriptural morality. "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely," was one of his favourite maxims, to which he daily adverted; and "whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report," he strove to copy in his life; not merely because his heart delighted in them, but because the law of God requires them. In all his domestic and social relations he was most exemplary. He was that "wise son" who "maketh a glad father." Few parents have been blessed with a son so uniformly dutiful and affectionate as he was from his childhood to his death. His surviving brothers and sisters revered him as a spiritual father; whilst they tenderly loved him as a most kindhearted and fami liar friend and companion. As a husband, he was tender, faithful, and confiding. She who is now his bereaved widow, ever observed in him during the few short months of their happy union, an eminent pattern of every Christian excellency, giving lustre to a disposition which was naturally very amiable.

Mr. Johnson's piety was remarkable for its ardour and activity. All the time that he could command from extensive commercial pursuits was employed, either directly or indirectly, in efforts to benefit mankind, and to advance the interests of the church of Jesus Christ. He culti

vated his mind by reading and study, that he might increase his qualifi cations for general usefulness; and he improved his daily intercourse with his friends to the same important purpose. In the early part of his life he was actively engaged, first, as a Sunday-school Teacher, and then as a conductor in the same institution. In more advanced years he was called to act as Secretary to the Manchester Juvenile Missionary Society; afterwards as Treasurer to the same Society in Salford; and, subsequently, he was appointed one of the Secretaries to the Auxiliary Society for the Manchester District. And in addition to all these, he was for several years a very acceptable Local Preacher and Class-Leader. In his hands none of these offices were sinecures; he could not satisfy his conseience but by a faithful and laborious discharge of the several functions of each of them. Besides these ordinary and systematic methods of doing good, he contrived other incidental means for the exercise of his Christian zeal and benevolence. On the birth-days of some of his relations, who had not yet become decided in religion, he would address letters to them,affectionately congratulating them on the joyful occasion of the day, and then exhorting them, in the most earnest manner, to make it the day of their espousals to Jesus Christ. On the first day in the year he used to visit a distant village, at which, when very young, he had passed certain portions of his time for the improvement of his health, carrying with him a sum of money, which was partly his own benefaction, and partly what he had collected from his friends, for the purpose of distributing it among a number of destitute widows resident in the village. These acts of charity were performed without ostentation, and with as much secrecy as possible.

When the cholera began its awful progress in Manchester, he sought the sanction of his Superintendent, to adopt a plan of week-night cottage preaching in those neighbourhoods where it prevailed, and where the inhabitants are the most wretched and ignorant; and whilst their minds were alarmed by the judgment of God, he, in conjunction with several others of his brethren, rushed amongst them, exhorted them to repentance, and directed them to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The last sermon that he preached was in one of the cottages included in this plan; and his text was that appropriate saying of St. Paul," For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." These more abundant labours, however, were not allowed to intrench upon those hours which were consecrated to private communion with God and his own heart. In the evening, morning, and at noon-day, he diligently attended to the duties of the closet; and how he profited by these holy exercises, appeared in the "thousand charities which daily flowed from all his words and actions." In him was to be observed, amidst the busy scenes of life, a pure, serene, and sanctified mind, inhabiting an earthly tabernacle; a mind adorned with the most lovely graces, faith, hope, charity, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, brotherly kindness, and humility; a mind abstracted from all that is evil in the