ISAAC SLOPER was born at Devizes, in Wiltshire, May 30th, 1779, and was baptized soon after, by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His parents, though not distinguished by rank or riches, were endowed with those honours which come from above, and died in the well-founded hope of the “crown of glory which fadeth not away.” He received his early instructions under the Rev. J. L. Fenner, the Presbyterian minister at Devizes, afterwards of Taunton, in Somersetshire, where he died in 1834, greatly advanced in life. In April, 1794, Mr. Sloper left his father’s house, and was placed as a clerk in the office of Mr. Richard Pruen, an attorney at Cheltenham. Of this period of life his private papers contain the following interesting account. “During my residence at Cheltenham the serious impressions which I had acquired from the example, instruction, and prayers of my parents, were almost entirely destroyed. Though I verified the assertion of the wise man, ‘The way of transgressors is hard,’ in process of time my conscience would more easily permit me to neglect prayer and the Scriptures, think lightly of the sabbath, and prefer the society of the gay and dissipated to that of persons religions and grave. To the brink of ruin was I hurried . . . But my destruction was prevented by an omnipotent arm, and sovereign grace. By reflection and a serious train of thought, I was convinced of my excessive folly and irreligious conduct. I was enabled to betake myself to prayer, and to pay a diligent regard to the other means of grace. At first my convictions were attended with much dejection of mind, and fears concerning the important matters of my soul, of death and eternity. But the God of all grace soon permitted me to experience that the ways of true religion are ‘ways of pleasantness,’ and that all ‘her paths are peace.’ “Brought to see the evil of sin, and to feel the importance of true religion for the present life, and for a future state, I possessed a strong desire to devote myself to the solemn and arduous work of the christian ministry, that I might labour to convince my fellow-creatures of their danger, and invite them to receive the grace of the blessed Redeemer, and seek the honours, riches, and happiness of eternity.”