were very capricious, and hard to be pleased in ministers, yet they all centered in him. He made many removes after he was ejected, but God " told his wanderings, and he had songs in the house of his pilgrimage." He was a man of great moderation; which he thought himself obliged to testify by going sometimes to church; and he would often discourse freely and amicably upon the subject of conformity, with such of his acquaintance as were otherwise minded; and yet he was many ways a sufferer for his nonconformity. He for some time preached once a fortnight at Rodenuke, where a meeting being discovered by two informers, they swore against him, upon presumption that he was the preacher, though, as it appeared, it was not his day: however he was prosecuted with much eagerness. Whereupon he and John Spadeinan, esq. (a worthy gentleman who was owner of the house where the meeting was held,) made their appeal, and gave such plain evidence of his being ten miles distant at the time, that he was cleared; and the informers, being afterwards prosecuted for perjury were found guilty. Upon which one of them ran away, and the other stood in the pillory at Derby. After the Act of Uniformity passed, before it took place, he studied his duty with all possible care as to the compliance required. He drew up, on this pccasion, a soliloquy, with the text prefixed, Eccl. vii. 14. "In the day of adversity consider." He was ejected from the living of Carsington, in Derbyshire. Mr. Oldfield spent the latter part of his life at Alfreton, from whence he took many weary steps to serve his Master, and was very useful in that neighbourhood, till his infirmities forced him to cease from his labours. He departed to his everlasting rest, June 5, 1682, aged fifty-five. He had four sons in the ministry. John, the eldest, was in the Church of England; the rest were Dissenters. Nathanael was pastor to a congregation in Southwark; and his brother, Joshua Oldfield, D. D. succeeded him there. Samuel had a small society at Ramsbury in Wilts.

He was author of, 1. "The First Last, and the Last First; against Hypocrisy."-2. "The Substance of some Lectures at Wirksworth."-3. "A Piece on Prayer," (generally esteemed as valuable as any thing on the subject.)-4. "Sermon, on Psalm Ixix. 6." in the Country Farewell Sermons.

OLIVER, PHILIP, was born at Chester, in 1763. His parents were in affluent circumstances, and designing hum for the ministry, gave him a liberal education. At the time appointed, he was sent to Oxford. When he had concluded his university studies, after obtaining the degree of M. A. he returned to Chester, and soon afterwards was ordained to the curacy of Churton Heath, about five miles from Chester. At this place, a change in his sentiments commenced, and his uniform conduct afterwards proved him to be a genuine Christian, and a sincere believer in Jesus. It is a remark, often confirmed by observation, that where the Gospel, in its purity and simplicity, is preached, there will be hearers. No sooner did Mr. Oliver preach Christ crucified, than his congregation increased. The pleasing tidings were speedily known at Chester, and more or less from that place attended his ministry, every Lord's day., After a few years he left Churton Heath, and went to Birmingham, there to be employed as an assistant to Dr. Ryland. By the lovers of evangelical truth he was generally esteemed; and many resorted to hear him with pleasure; but he was soon obliged, through indisposition, to leave Birmingham, and in about a year returned to Chester.

It was asserted by some of his friends, that when he again' returned, he expected to occupy one of the churches in Chester; not from any lucrative views, as he always possessed an independency, but that he might enjoy more opportunities of doing good, and his sphere of usefulness be extended. Not long after, an order was sent to the clergy in the diocese, forbidding them to grant Mr. Oliver the use of their pulpit; and ever after, that prohibition was strictly attended to*. Thus did his usefulness seem at an end. At this time Mr. Oliver resided with an aged mother, in a retired situation, near the city. Considering himself as excluded from the church, he resolved to be as useful as he could in a more private situation. He admitted a few individuals to family prayer in his hall, and occasionally delivered a short lecture to them. This was about 1793. In a few weeks, the attendants increased, and he opened an adjoining building, which was afterwards licensed for the

No other reason can be assigned for such a procedure against so good a man, but his zealous attachment to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel; those doctrines, which are taught throughout the articles and liturgy of the Church of England.

purpose,

1

purpose. Still the congregation continued to increase, till by several enlargements, and the erection of a gallery, the little one literally became a thousand: that number constantly attending his ministry. Owing to almost constant weakness and indisposition, Mr. Oliver seldom preached more than once a week, which was on Sabbath mornings. Sometimes he had crowded auditories. Yet he was not only a popular but an useful preacher. Those who enjoyed a relish for divine truths, seldom went away unedified. Although he did not enjoy good health, yet he was a man of a cheerful disposition; and it may, without exaggeration, be said, that he was never heard to utter an impatient sentence, but was calm and resigned to the will of God, amidst all his sufferings. For two months previous to his death, he was unable to preach. He went to Parkgate, for the benefit of the air, and his friends fondly entertained hopes of his recovery; but he was soon obliged to return to Chester, as every symptom of a speedy dissolution was visible. Though the painful tidings were unexpected by his friends, the terrific messenger was welcomed by him. The sting of death was removed, and he had nothing to do but to die. On July 10, 1800, the day of his departure, his constant language was expressive of his hope and confidence in the Lord Jesus. To a friend he said, " Trust in Jesus! trust in Jesus! he is the only Saviour." To another, he observed, "True grace, and that unmixed Gospel I have preached to others, is now my only joy and support." The nature of his disorder, which was an inflammation of the lungs, hindered his speaking much; but what he did say, evidenced the composure of his mind, and his entire resignation to the will of God. On the Wednesday after his death, he was interred in the burying ground of St. John's Church. On the Sabbath following, a funeral sermon was preached, at the chapel in Boughton, by the rev. Mr. Charles, of Bala, to a crowded audience, from Rev. iii. 3. And the mournful event was improved by a sermon on the occasion, at the Independent Chapel, in Queen Street, preached by the rev. Mr. Smith, froin Heb. i. 12. The character of Mr. Oliver was uniform and consistent. As a minister, few, if any, excelled him, in sweetness, simplicity, and purity of sentiment, which were mingled through all his discourses. The righteousness and atonement of the Lord Jesus were subjects on which he dwelt

with peculiar rapture. As a Christian, his life and conduct were, "as becometh the Gospel of Christ." He was kind, affable, and generous. The poor, in him, lost a friend and an unwearied benefactor. To do good to the souls of men, and to promote their temporal and eternal happiness, were the grand ends of his life, in subordination to the glory of God.

OWEN, JOHN, D. D. was second son of Henry Owen, esq. originally of Dolgelle, in Merionethshire, North Wales, and was born at Stadham, in Oxfordshire, where his father was minister, in the year 1616 *. He had such an extraordinary genius, and made so quick a profi ciency in his studies at school, that he was admitted into Queen's College at about twelve years of age, and when he was but nineteen, commenced M. A. 1635. He pursued his studies with incredible diligence, allowing himself for several years not above four hours sleep in a night. While he continued in the college, his whole aim was to raise himself to some eminence in the church or state, to either of which he was then indifferent. It was his own acknowledgement since, concerning himself, that being naturally of an aspiring mind, affecting popular applause, and very desirous of honour and preferment, he applied himself closely to his studies, to accomplish the ends he had in ` view; and he was ready to confess with shame and corrow, that then the honour of God, or serving his country, other wise than he might thereby serve himself, were remote from his intentions. His father having a large family, could not afford him any considerable maintenance at the university, but he was liberally supplied by an uncle, one of his father's brothers, a gentleman of good estate in Wales; who having no children of his own, designed to have made him his heir. He lived in the college till he was twenty-one years of age, from which time he met with extraordinary changes, which through the unsearchable wisdom of God, turned to his great advantage, and made way for his future advancement, and eminent usefulness. About this time Dr. Laud, abp. of Canterbury, and chancellor of Oxford, imposed several superstitious rites on the university

• Dr. Owen derived his pedigree from Llewellyn ap Gwrgan, prince of Glamorgan, lord of Cardiff; this being the last family of the five regal tribes of Wales.

upon

upon pain of expulsion. Mr. Owen had then received such light, that his conscience could not submit to those impositions; however temporal interest might plead for his compliance, yet other more weighty considerations of a religious nature prevailed; for now God was forming impres sions of grace upon his soul, which inspired him with a zeal for the purity of his worship, and what he thought to be reformation in the church. This change of his judgement soon discovered itself upon this occasion, and was observed by his friends, who thereupon forsook him as one infected with Puritanism; and upon the whole, he was become so much the object of resentment from the Laudensian party, that he was forced to leave the college.

When the wars in England broke out, he owned the parliament's cause, which his uncle, who had maintained him at the college, being a zealous royalist, so vehemently resented, that he turned him at once out of his favour, settled his estate upon another, and died without leaving him any thing. He lived then as chaplain with a person of honour, who, though he was for the king, used him with great civility; but he going at last to the king's army, Mr. Owen left his house, and came to London: he took lodgings in Charter House Yard, where he was a perfect stranger. During his abode there, he wrote his book called, "A Display of Arminianisin;" which met with such acceptance, as made way for his advancement. It ca:ne out in 1642, a very seasonable time, when those errors had spread themselves very much in this nation; so that the book was the more taken notice of, and highly approved by many. There were soine considerable persons who had a just sense of the value of this work, and did not fail to give real and particular marks of their respect to so learned an author. For, soon after its publication, the committee for purging the church of scandalous ministers, paid such a regard to it, that Mr. White, chairman of that committee, sent a special messenger to Mr. Owen, to present him the living of Fordham, in Essex; which offer he the more chearfully embraced, as it gave him an opportu nity for the stated exercise of his ministry. He continued at this place about a year and a half, where his preaching was so acceptable, that people resorted to his ministry from other parishes; and great was the success of his labours in the reformation and conversion of many. Soon after he

came