The Rev. Dr. Adam Cairns preached the funeral sermon in connection with the recent decease of this much lamented minister. He took for his text the memorable exclamation of Balaam, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." At the close of his discourse he paid the following tribute to the memory of the deceased: -

"These reflections have been suggested by the removal, from the scene of his ministry on earth to the rest that remaineth, of your late pastor, my valued friend and brother, Mr. Tait. While the sorrow is fresh which his departure occasioned, we cannot command our thoughts sufficiently to delineate his character in its just proportions, and to color it with the varied hues which adorned his devoted life. But however inadequately the duty may be performed, duty to ourselves and to you the members of the congregation which he dearly loved, requires that we endeavour at least to remember him, who, "though dead yet speaketh" - and the fruit of whose labors concerns your eternity, not less than his own."

"I can say little of his early history, beyond mentioning the fact, that he was one of the most distinguished of the students of his own time, and by his great proficiency in the various branches of a university education, gave promise of future eminence in any profession which offers encouragement to talent. He chose the ministry of the Gospel of Christ, as the calling that claimed the devotion of his heart, and drew him to the service of the sanctuary with the irresistable impulse of a fervent love."

"There were, we think, four very prominent attributes in the mental constitution of our lamented brother. The first was the vigor and clearness of his intellect. Few men had a robuster, more thoughtful, or more exact judgement. His understanding was so solid and perspicacious that he at once threw aside all that was irrelevant and seized upon the essential merits of the case, as alone entitled to consideration. As a logician, therefore, he stood in the foremost rank. His reasoning was strong, because true and satisfying - because, like the sunbeam, it gave immediate light. He never trifled with his subject, nor perplexed his audience. He addressed the mind through its deepest convictions, and gained his object by establishing a great truth, or by exposing and refuting an error."

"A second very conspicuous virtue was his singular honesty and uprightness. This feature of his character gave a certain complexion to the whole man. I am sure I never knew a more thoroughly honest, truthful mind than that of Mr. Tait. He was just as incapable of subtlety or of evasion as he was of the grosser immoralities of the wicked. Clear it was that he made conscience the ground of all his actions and of all his words. If ever there was an incorruptible member of society it was our brother. If ever sincerity of purpose animated a preacher of the truth, it was in the case of your honored pastor."

"A third very shining attribute was his disinterestedness - his singleness of eye or aim, as a minister of the Lord Jesus. Again citing myself as a witness, I solemnly affirm that I never met with any brother who manifested less of a selfish or self-seeking spirit, and more of a self-sacrificing and self denying spirit than did my departed friend in all his dealings with others on his own account. He could at any time have stood up in the presence of his people, and said with freedom, "I have sought not yours but you.""

"But there is a fourth element in the composition of his character, which is our duty to remark, and that is his unwearied diligence - his unrelaxing and concentrated attention to the duties of his place or office. This patience of labor, - this determined assiduity, was beyond doubt one of the brightest attributes which clothed with energy his self-reliant and comprehensive mind. His attainments were not the embellishments of fancy, or the short-lived glitter of excitement, but the substantial acquisitions of a mental workman, who earned all he got by an industry that never languished and never failed."

"Thus richly endowed, what department of life would he not have risen to deserved pre-eminence! Had he, for example, chosen the law, instead of the church, it is certain that the talents we have enumerated would have placed him at the head of that profession, secured public honors to his own name, and wealth as well as influence to his family. But his choice was Christ, and in the arduous service of his heavenly Master he lived and toiled, he suffered and died."

"It was quite in keeping with the outlines of his character, as we have attempted to draw them, that he should choose a distant colony for the sphere of his usefulness, in preference to the home field with its abounding attractions to a warm Scottish heart. So instead of waiting as his compeers did, until provision was made for them in the church and land of their fathers, he set himself apart as an evangelist, or missionary, to work the Lord's gracious work in the most distant region of the earth."

"It is now twenty-three years since he commenced his ministry in this Southern Hemisphere, and I believe I am speaking the simple truth when I say, that although he had his comforts and his encouragements, yet my brother had a cross, at times a heavy and bitter cross, to bear in keeping the faith, and in defending the glory of our Lord and King. His life was not as a bed of roses, nor his ministry as a joyful song. But he had battles to fight, because he loved the Lord; he had trials to endure, because the word of Christ was more precious to him than the wisdom, or rather the foolishness, of men. His career since his settlement in this colony has been equally chequered with lights and shadows. As a pastor, indeed, he has had, I presume, a quiet and peaceful lot amongst you, interspersed no doubt with such vexations and troubles as are the usual accompaniments of a pastoral charge."

"But on the open arena of our ecclesiastical affairs, he had a painful controversy to maintain and much anxiety to suffer. There was first the disruption movement, a cup of bitterness so repugnant to the feeling heart that nothing but a strong conviction that Christ demanded the sacrifice could have induced him to put it to his lips, far less to drain the bowl as many of us did."

"Then there was, the negotiation for the union of the scattered branches of the Presbyterian Church - the reuniting into one of the several members of the body of Christ, which lay bleeding and mutilated on the streets of this expanding commonwealth, For many years did this negotiation drag its slow length along, and its progress was often marked by interruptions that created indescribable pain, and threatened the entire ruin of the cause. From the commencement to the close of this protracted discussion, Mr. Tait held the chief place as a counsellor. He was selected to prepare the articles of Union, and to guide the deliberations of the committee, because in the opinion of the brethren he was the best qualified to occupy so difficult a position. I can only allude to the fluctuations of this critical effort. It ebbed and flowed as a surging tide - and there did occur once and again incidents, that tried grace to the uttermost, and lacerated the sensibilities of nature. I mention this for the purpose of expressing my own belief that these exciting interludes - these seasons of mortification and despondency - made serious inroads upon the nervous strength of Mr. Tait, and gave a shock to his delicate constitution which accelerated its decay. But God spared him to witness the consummation of a Union to which he looked, and with reason, as essential, not only to the enlargement, but to the continued preservation of our church; spared him to revisit his early homes and our beloved fatherland; and to receive from the General Assembly of the Free Church that cordial welcome and that honorable notice which at once attested their appreciation of his personal merits, and of the cause which he was deputed in represent."

"I need not expatiate to you on his labors as your minister in Christ, and of the various works of Christian wisdom and love, over which he presided. I need not say how faithfully and how earnestly be broke to you the bread of life. He held forth Christ crucified, and unfolded to you the mysteries of redemption. With what untiring forbearance he waited on his ministry, and watched over your souls as one who knew he must by-and-by give his account. How he studied, how he strove, to feed you with the truth, to provide a word in season for every member of his flock, to win and instruct the young, to improve and establish the mature, to fit every one for service - and all for Heaven. He was a noble witness for the Lord of the Temple; he was a fearless standard bearer, - one who never shrunk from the task of declaring the whole counseIs of God; and never did human lips publish the message of salvation with greater fulness, with greater distinctness, or with greater solemnity."

"And then he was a man of power. He did not travel much abroad; he was a keeper at home, and he was so because he found that the closet and the study were his congenial localities. He must walk very closely with God; be much alone with the Searcher of hearts; be often sitting in those heavenly places with Christ, from whence he brought to you a weekly feast of divine thought. There he and the Lord took counsel together for our eternal benefit. Up there, in that height of holy coummunion, was obtained the message that was faithfully delivered, and the unction that sent that message hence. Would to God that we had more minsters of this type, and more preaching thus prepared!"

"Neither need I dilate, as I might on his plans for the education of the young; but it is right to say that the Sabbath Schools have, under his pastorate, grown into a system admirable for its efficiency, and that the Day Schools have become institutions of incomparable value to the inhabitants of the town. Of a ministry so consecrated as this - a savor of a sweet smell throughout - the appropriate close was peace: was victory. There was neither surprise nor hurry in the finishing of the course. In the sight of every one the race was run. If ever a worthy man completed the work assigned him, it was our brother, as the willing servant of Jesus."

"And considerately did the Lord loosen the joints of nature. Harbingers were sent, like angels of light, to warn him that the end was near, and that the prize was ready. The process of dissolution went gently forwards - a loving hand temporising the pain of it. And well did he understand the Lord's meaning. While on his voyage to England, his disease revived with great severity, and he was impressed with the idea that death was at hand, and that he was to take his departure from that little cabin, far away from the objects of his love. Well, my friends, it is hard to be severed in such circumstances from wife and children - to be obliged to give them up without seeing them or bidding them farewell, and to think of the ocean as your tomb - that your body instead of resting in the dust, amid kindred or neighbors, will be cast into the deep sea, and sink into its watery abyss. Nature shudders and revolts at the bare idea of so dismal an end. This end, my brother was forced to contemplate, as the end appointed for him."

"But in this conflict faith triumphed. He was heard in that he feared; grace was made sufficient for the temptation; so that he resigned life as a weaned child into the hand of the Lord, saying "Do with me, Lord, what seems good in thy sight, as thou wilt, O my Father: even so, come, Lord Jesus." That experience was needed, therefore it was acquired: needed by others - needed by us, perhaps more than him. But at last he heard the cry - Prepare to meet thy God. He could no longer mistake the indications of Providence, and he felt, if he did not speak, in the words of the hymn: -

The hour of my departure's come,
I hear the voice that calls me home!

"Ere the change came, he had finished his service - was in every way ready for the transition to the world of spirits; his soul was already on the wing; the light of the approaching vision was dawning on his mental eye. To one friend he said "My dear Sir, we should so live as to leave a savor of Christ upon everything that we do." To another "I know I am on the right foundation. Christ is my all." At times he would sing a hymn, and his favorite hymn was one that celebrated the glory of Christ: -

Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious;
See the man of sorrows now
From the fight returned victorious -
Every knee to him shall bow.
Crown him - crown him - crowns become the victor's brow.

Crown the Saviour - angels crown him,
Rich the trophies Jesus brings,
In the seat of power enthrone him
While the vault of heaven rings.
Crown him - crown him - crown the Saviour King of Kings.

Sinners in derision crowned him,
Mocking thus the Saviour's claim,
Saints and angels crowd around him,
Own his title - praise his name.
Crown him - crown him - spread abroad the victor's fame.

Hark, these bursts of acclamatlon -
Hark, these loud triumphant chords;
Jesus takes the highest station -
O, what joy the sight affords.
Crown him - crown him - King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

"He was now looking forward to that sight. He was on the eve of ascending to the celestial paradise, to join the Lord, and see him face to face, and to take his place among the redeemed, crowned as they, and blessed as they. He is gone from us, but not for ever. We will meet again. Once more we shall see him; and if we have his faith, we will have his inheritance; but if we believe not, our next meeting will be the last; thereafter our distance will be as great as infinity; our portion not his victory, but the burnings of hell. His preaching of Christ and his earnest labors will have their fruit either in your salvation or in your perdition. In the coming day, he will be your witness, and hail your entrance into heaven as the arrival of friends - as his crown of rejoicing; or he will be your accuser, and his word will condemn you as a reprobate for ever."

"I too have my interest in this striking providence. As this day I am preaching the funeral sermon of my departed friend. I have in my heart the thought that my own hour is coming: and how then will it fare with me? With mingled feelings I gazed on the stiffening corpse of my friend. Thou art at rest, I said, already in Heaven, seeing the Lord, and like him! Oh, what a change, and what a gain! To the believer meditating this vast subject in a hopeful and devout spirit, the terrors of death vanish quite away."

Jesus can make a dying head,
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast, I Iean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there.

"How consolatory are the words of the Lord? "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others who have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." That glorious spectacle will illustrate the coming of the Lord at the end of all things. But we look for an earlier reunion with those whom we love, and in whose fellowship we found our sweetest pleasure. In a few years we will join the ransomed of the Lord. They who died in Christ will meet again never more to part. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

He who died in Christ is blest,
Ours be then no thought of grieving;
Sweetly with his God at rest,
All his toils and troubles leaving.
So be ours the faith that saveth,
Hope that every trial braveth,
Love that to the end endureth,
And through Christ the crown secureth.