married the daughter of the archdeacon of Cashel, and granddaughter of the excellent Archbishop Lawrence of Cashel. But, eager for professional advancement and employment, he purchased his majority and exchanged into the 10th Foot, then in India, which he joined at Lahore, and accompanied to Mooltan, when the disturbed aspect of affairs in that quarter, in June, 1848, rendered necessary the advance of a part of the British force. Here he appears to have been chosen, in a particular manner, to lead the regiment in the repeated conflicts with the enemy, from the 5th to the 12th of September, when he fell. On the 30th of August he wrote a full account to his friends in Quebec, of the course of events up to that date; this, his last letter, was brought to Quebec by the same mail which brought also the later letters from Lahore (where his youthful and desolate partner was living with her child under the roof of Sir Frederick and Lady Currie) announcing the fatal results of the action of the 12th of September, in which he was killed.

We cannot do better than give the circumstances of his fall, in the feeling words of the surgeon of his regiment, to Lady Currie. But while it appears that he bore himself in the "current of the heady fight" with that courage which belongs to the two gallant races whose blood was mingled in his veins; there are expressions, we learn, in all his last letters, which shew that his was not a mere animal courage, reckless of life, and unmindful of its endearing connections, but that manly and reflecting firmness, which looks up through the perils of the fight to Him who can alone" cover the soldier's head in the day of battle." The surgeon

says:

"On the night of the 10th instant, he lead four companies of the 10th Regiment, in a night attack against an outpost of the enemy, under a frightful fire, with such dauntless gallantry and coolness as to excite the admiration of all who partook the dangers with him, and to the delight of all returned uninjured. You are, I dare say, aware that the attack failed, and was renewed again yesterday morning, with a successful result. My poor friend, while bravely leading in front, was shot through the lungs, and never afterwards spoke. I was in the field and had him conveyed under cover with the least possible delay; but, alas, no art could save him! I did all in my power to revive him, if but for a few moments, without avail, he ceased to feel either pain or pleasure, and shortly after breathed his last, without suffering, I believe, and hope. I then sent him back to camp; his remains will be interred this evening by his brother officers and fellow soldiers; and if their deep and unaffected sorrow for his death, and sympathy with his widow, can soothe her mind when it becomes more calm, pray convey it to her. The very men who fell wounded near him, and were waiting to have their wounds dressed, shed tears over their

sunburnt cheeks, and refused all assistance until his fate was determined."

Monuments have been erected by his family to his memory, both over his grave in India, and in the English cathedral of his native city.

REV. JOHN COOK, D.D.

THE REVEREND JOHN COOK, D.D., the distinguished minister of St. Andrew's Church, Quebec, is a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was educated at the university of Edinburgh, where he studied under Dr. Chalmers, and came to Canada in 1836. He has ever since that time taken a most prominent part in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland. In the year 1844, when those who sympathized with the secession from the Church of Scotland in 1843, withdrew from the Canadian church in connection with the Scottish establishment, Dr. Cook was, for the second time, elected, after the departure of the Free Church party, Moderator of the Synod. He opposed the division of the Canadian church, maintaining that without regard to the divisions of the church at home, it was the duty of Canadian Presbyterians to remain united in upholding the general interests of Presbyterianism in Canada. While Dr. Cook has steadily labored to promote the extension of the old branch of the Presbyterian Church, he has always remained consistent to his opinions in 1844, and at the session of the Synod in 1861, he proposed a resolution, the effect of which was to promote the union of all the Presbyterians of the province-a union which is manifestly desirable, and which must ultimately be achieved, however long it may be retarded by mutual prejudice, and the remembrance of past differences. In connection with the church Dr. Cook was one of the delegates sent home to obtain a royal charter for the university of Queen's college, Kingston, of which he has been a trustee since its foundation. In 1855 when the clergy of the Church of Scotland in the province, nobly sacrificing their own interests for the benefit of the church, created with the proceeds of their allowances, a general endowment fund, Dr. Cook acted for his brethren, and it was through him that the commutation was effected with the government. Urgently requested by the Synod to accept the office of principal of Queen's college, he agreed in 1857, in the absence of a principal, to accept the post till a

persons hould be found to perform its duties, considered to unite the various requisites for the office, and during the session of 1857-58 he presided over the college, and taught the divinity class. Dr. Cook's great ability and energy, have enabled him to render the highest services to the church. He has had a large share in all the branches of church work, and no clergyman is better known, or more respected, throughout the province.

While zealously supporting the cause of the church of which he is a minister, Dr. Cook has been an eminently useful and public spirited citizen of Quebec-taking part not only in purely religious affairs, but in many others of a public nature. In 1845, memorable in the history of Quebec for the two great fires by which the suburb of St. Roch and the suburb of St. John were consumed, Dr. Cook, as a member of the relief committee, took an active part in the aid of the sufferers; and the masterly defence of the committee, at the close of its labours, in answer to the charges of the London committee, was from his pen. At many public meetings he has eloquently advocated what he deemed to be for the public good. But it is perhaps in the matter of education that Dr. Cook has been most useful to Quebec. The High-School, justly regarded as one of the best schools in the country, was established mainly through his exertions in 1843, and he has ever since that period, as chairman of the board of directors, identified himself with its struggles, and its success. Dr. Cook was named by the late Dr. Morrin as principal of the college, about to be established in Quebec, with the funds given by him for that purpose. His counsel will be of the greatest value to the college; and it is to be hoped that he may be long spared to render in connection with it fresh service to the cause of education.

Dr. Cook labors among a large and warmly attached congregation, the members of which feel him to be a friend to whom in all trouble or distress, they can look for sympathy, and if necessary for active exertions. His preaching accords with the straightforward energy of his character. His sermons-several of which, preached on occasions of interest, have been published-are distinguished by close adherence to the special point under consideration, by logical precision, and by practical earnestness. They contain also many passages marked by beauty, as well as power.

REV. MICHAEL WILLIS, D.D.

Dr.

THE REV. DR. WILLIS, principal of Knox's college, and professor of divinity in the same institution, has been in this province since 1847; having previously been above twenty-five years a minister of the gospel in Scotland. His professional course, combining his pastorate and his academic services, now exceeds forty years. He is the son of a worthy minister, whose faithful labors extended to near half a century, the Rev. William Willis, of Greenock, first, and latterly of Stirling. Another son of the same parents is the Rev. Jamieson Willis, of Kirkpatrick, Durham; the maternal name of the family being in him united to the common surname. Willis, now of Toronto, was educated partly under the late Professor McGill, of Glasgow, whose good opinion and favor he obtained, receiving at his hand, more than once, high prizes for distinction as a theological student. His successful course of study no doubt the more disposed that revered individual, and the other members of the faculty of the university of that city, to confer on him the degree now belonging to his name. This honor was accorded to him some time subsequently to the union of the old branch of the Scotch secession and the established church; and some years previous to his translation to Canada. His father was a leading member of the former of these bodies, and for a considerable time its professor of theology, so that the subject of this sketch had the advantage of a double training; having been brought up at the feet of a secession Gamaliel, as well as of an eminently evangelical professor of the Scotch kirk. By a unanimous vote of the Colonial Board of the Free Church of Scotland, he was offered the situation of professor of divinity in Knox's college, and his acceptance of it was especially urged by the late Dr. Bayne, whom the synod had sent to that country as a delegate on the express business of selecting a professor for their young collegiate institute. The local papers of that day record the very interesting proceedings of the presbytery of Glasgow, when Dr. Willis was loosed from his pastoral charge, and it was remarked by many present, that seldom had a more cherished tie been severed than that which united the minister and people of Renfield church. His large flock clave to him, not more for his eminence as a preacher, than for his unwearied kindness in visiting the afflicted, whether in the abodes of poverty or in dwellings on which comfort had been wont to smile. Principal Willis is the author of several valuable publications. The earliest of these is a funeral sermon, on the occasion of the death of his father, from the text, "Enoch walked with God," &c. In 1829,

he published an able discourse on the subject of popery; in 1833, a powerful work in defence of church establishments; and in 1840, a masterly pamphlet in support of the rights of a Christian people in the election of their pastors, and on other cognate matters, in reply to a tract full of gross misrepresentations, which had been issued by the dean of faculty, respecting the union of the established church with the associate synod, a body of covenanting sentiments and sympathies. He has also written a most attractive biography of "Two Brothers" But the production which perhaps more than any other has had the effect of bringing him into permanent notice, is a speech which he delivered in the General Assembly in 1845, on the case of a minister named Scott, who was ejected from the Free Church for having adopted semi-pelagian tenets. This eloquent address on a subject which Dr. Willis was so well qualified to handle with a master's tact and power, was, together with others on the same question, printed at the request of the presbytery of Glasgow. So telling an effort in the cause of a pure gospel, had no little weight in bringing about his appointment to the honorable and responsible position which he now occupies. The Rev. Dr. Guthrie, of Edinburgh, pronounced this oration magnificent. The Witness and the Scottish Guardian represented it as "universally admired for its clearness and elegance." Ministers of various evangelical denominations sent letters congratulating him on the noble stand he had made for sound doctrine. Among these was the late Rev. Dr. Marshall, of Kirkintilloch, whom he had conscientiously opposed in the course of the "voluntary controversy;" and when he was on a visit to Ayrshire, an aged pastor, taking him by the hand, thanked him ardently for his effective speech, remarking that on reading it he had said, "Dr. Willis has not forgotten the principles he learned from his good old father." Besides these monuments of his independence, energy and usefulness, many of his more transient writings and unprinted pleadings for liberty are widely remembered. Yet, he is no leveller; being on the contrary an earnest advocate of national education and religion, but not an opponent of the voluntary principle for its simply repudiating a civil endowment of the clergy, or an appropriation of public funds for the support of the religion merely of the state. He has also advocated a legislative provision for the poor, and siding with the late Professor Alison, he contended for a revision of the existing poor-law of Scotland, instead of assenting to the theory of Dr. Chalmers. He has lived to see his views carried largely into effect in the amended law; and it is not unlikely from present appearances, that he may also have the gratification of seeing his principles in favor of the abolition of slavery triumphant on this continent. With uncompromising fidelity and unwearied zeal, he has struggled for this great cause, both in his native country and in the land of his adoption; and it would be an ungenerous reserve, not to say