Her Fitness for Counsel and Comfort

Mrs. Wixslow was never more at home, and, we might add, never happier — for her happiness and her Lord’s glory were one and inseparable — than when administering counsel to the perplexed, or comfort to the afflicted. Her own naturally strong judgment early brought into exercise, and schooled for the greater part of her life in adversity, she was thus eminently fitted, from the rich stores of her own experience, to administer to the exio-encies of others — advisins; those whose path was intricate, and comforting those who were in any sorrow, by the comforts with which she herself had been comforted of God, Hence so many of the letters which appear in this volume are addressed to persons in circumstances of trial and affliction.

The bereavement of her pastor, by the removal of his wife, under circumstances of such painful interest, would naturally call forth the expression of her deepest and most tender sympathy. During the week which intervened between the sudden attack and its fatal termination she was scarcely absent from the scene of anxiety; and one whole night was spent in prayer with Mr. Evans, in the vestry, over which lay the suffering object of their long midnight wrestlings. We find in her journal the following references to this mournful event,

“May 5th, 1831. — Since I last wrote, the Lord has taken my dear friend, Mrs, Evans, after little more than a week’s illness. His presence was with her, and He most graciously manifested His love towards her in carrvins: her throuirh the dark valley. She died in the triumph of faith. Her dear husband was almost overwhelmed by the suddenness of the stroke, and staggered under his irreparable loss. But the Lord who spake such sweet peace to his wife, supported the bereaved husband, and enabled him to say. Thy will he done! It was a shock almost sufficient to overcome nature; but God is all-sufficient at all times for His saints.” (126)

“The last time I saw our dear departed sister, Mrs. Evans, was on the day she died. When I entered the room, she held out her hand, and, taking mine, said some most affectionate thinsrs: for her whole heart seemed dissolved into love. I never saw such a death. Her countenance was full of holy, joyful anticipation. Her soul seemed filled with Christ. She said, with uncommon energy of manner, ‘See, dear sister, how good is the Lord! Jesus is most precious. Christ has so blessedly manifested Himself to me. He has been with me through all the operations; ’ and then looking earnestly into mv face, said: ‘I have known more of Christ in this week than I have known in all my whole life put together. And now,’ she continued, with such a sweet smile, ‘I am going to Him, He has prepared a place for me.’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and He will come and receive you to himself, according to His own word.’ After a few words of prayer, I left her, with a sweet hope of meeting her at the right hand of God. Death, in her case, was divested of its stins; and the errave of its victorv, and Jesus enabled her most blessedly to triumph over both.”

In one of her letters to her family, she refers to the grace which sustained her afflicted pastor: —

“Dear Mr. Evans will be again in his pulpit on Tuesday evening. He is now in the country. I dined at Hampstead the Friday before we went; he was very much supported, but still greatly afflicted. He came to me on the Sunday night before the funeral. I heard his voice below, and ran down to meet him. Findino I was alone, he dismissed the carriage and came up. He sat down, and gave vent to his feelings. TVe had much conversation, and God did bless it to the comfort of his dear servant. I said, ‘God will restore peace to your soul.’ He replied, ‘He has done it, and within this house.’ He left me, composed and comfortable. He told me since, that he shall never forget that spot, to the day of his death.”

Soon after this event, she visited her eldest son, who was then resident at Cambridge. From thence she writes: —

“I had a pleasant journey to this place, with only two ladies inside. We had some agreeable and, I hope, profitable conversation, although they were both, I could see, but moralists, depending upon their doing and their not doing. Yet they listened very attentively while I endeavoured to show them the cobweb garment of such a profession. They gave me their respectful attention, but I could clearly perceive they did not at all understand me; so I left them as I found them. Perhaps they may think more about it some time hence. On

arriving at the house, dear E met me in the parlour, and

instantly after Mrs. C, with her good husband, in his gig,

at a little distance. And now I am seated in the sweet little drawing-room, surrounded with shrubbery, and everything looking delightfully refreshing to the eye. You might fancy vourself twentv miles in the countrv, it is so encircled with

trees. In a short time T made his appearance, in cap and

gown, looking very well. We all went, in the evening, to hear good Ir. Simeon, and my soul was sweetly refreshed

with the simple, but precious truths of the gospel. G

took me to some of the colleges; but although they are very

fine, I have but little taste for these thinors. Miss M and

Mrs. F called yesterday. To-morrow I go to Haslingfield.

Dear Mrs. C insists that my visit to Cambridge is to her.”

Of the letters written durinsr her visit to Haslingfield, where she met much that was congenial with her taste — a picturesque village, and spiritual and affectionate intercourse — only one can be found. It is addressed to her bereaved pastor; —

“Haslingfield Vicarage, Cambridge, May 24th, 1831.” .... I long to know how your mind is, and if the Lord is keeping you resting in the bosom of His love, comforting and refreshing your soul by continual draughts from the overflowing fountain of living waters. Oh, how sweet it is to be kept in such a position! Pray that I may be kept in it. I have had some taste, and that makes me long for more. I am staying a little while with those who truly love the Lord, and whose works proclaim their love sincere. I see godliness brought into daily practice, without ostentation. These dear friends do the will of God from the heart, and it is their meat and drink so to do. ]Iav God bless them more and more!

Mrs. C is a real labourer in the cause of Christ, and Mr.

C one of the kindest-hearted and most benevolent beings

I ever met with.... Oh, what a mercy to have a throne of grace, and a tender, compassionate, loving Christ to go to at all times, and under all circumstances! A larce welcome; no frown to fear; no distant look. Oh, that we all might live upon Him, moment by moment! For this reason, He takes away our props, that we might lean altogether upon Himself; and that is whv He has dealt with you, mv dear brother in affliction. God kno^Ys, I have loved you better since the Lord placed you in the same furnace with myself. My heart can feel all you felt. You will at some time or other see, as I have seen, that that was the very thing you needed, and wonder at the Lord’s goodness in delaying it so long. Blessed be His name, that He has in a measure comforted you! and be assured He will fill the void He has made, with Himself. He took your dear wife away to make room for Himself; and the place that was prepared was quite ready for her, and she was quite ready for it; so that all we have to do is to bow to His most blessed will, and fill up the little span that now remains for us here, in doing the work He has assigned us, and be ready to go home at a moment’s warning.... You have a double claim upon Him now; make good use of it, for He loves to have us argue the point with Him. We need not fear being too familiar or too troublesome. The oftener we come, the more welcome. Now I do thank God, who has blessed you with His own Spirit, or you could not permit such a poor one as I am, who have need to be taught of you, to talk to you in this way. I am persuaded you know all this, and oh, how much more! But God does often speak a word of comfort through his poor and despised ones, and sends a message of love by the mouth of a young child to an elder one; and the elder will be glad to receive it, too. May Jesus comfort your heart, and give you much of His sensible presence. Love to dear C.’’

It was durins: her visit to Cambridsre that the touchino; incident in her Christian feelings, mentioned in the following extract, took place: —

“I wrote to you yesterday; but as I was just now reading dear Mr. Simeon’s Memoir, I felt such a gush of holy love, even the love of Christ, filling my heart, that it brought afresh to my mind a circumstance, which, if you see Mr. Carus, I wish him to know. I went to hear Mr. Carus one evening when at Cambridge. My heart during the day had been cold and barren. I took my seat in the pew, in this wretched state of soul. Dear Mr. C. announced his text: / sat down under His shadow luith great delight, and his fruit luas sweet to my taste. — Song of Solomon ii. 3. His first observation was, ‘These words refer to Jesus.’ In a moment my soul was melted, my heart overflowed with love: I wept. His name was as ointment poured forth. I coiled myself up in one corner of the pew, and had the most blessed season of communion through the whole service. What he said of whom my soul loved was sweet and refreshinsr. From that time I have never seen nor heard Mr. Carus, but the Lord did, through him, send a rich blessing to my soul. Give my love to him. We shall soon meet where we shall be all of one mind, in a brighter, happier world, surrounding the throne of Him we love. Blessed be God for this prospect! It often causes the dark cloud to withdraw, and the weary soul to take fresh courage, and press onward, and look upward. Blessed is the hope of the Christian! Many may be the trials of his faith; Ijut I believe the most tried Christian knows the most lolnng heart of the Saviour. He is a tried stone. Tried by the hand of His Father; tried by the hand of justice; tried by the wicked, and tried by His saints. He tries the faith He gives. Had He not tried me in the furnace of affliction, mv loss would have been immense. I thank Him for my deep, deep cup of sorrow. Whatever draws or drives us to Christ is a blessing. We then breathe a holy, heavenly atmosphere, and see the poverty of all other things to make us happy here or hereafter.”

From her Diary. —” Returned from Cambridge. The Lord carried me out, and brought be home in safety. I have had many things to exercise my mind, and some very important ones to decide upon. May God add His blessing, and mercifully forgive my manifold infirmities and shortcomings. I have to praise His holy name for a comfortable assurance of mv adoption in His familv. I can come to Him as my Father, and find it good to draw near to Him at all times. His loving-kindness He does not take from me, nor suffer His faithfulness to fail. Blessed be God for His goodness to dear

G! From a letter received from him, it appears Christ

has mercifully at last shone in upon his soul. I rejoice over him, and pray he may be kept still going forward, until he obtains a clearer view of the loveliness of his dear Redeemer.”

“April 17th. — I have just returned from Islington church, where I heard Mr. Melville. I wished much to hear him preach on the second advent of Christ, but was disappointed, as he did not touch upon the subject; but he was very great and powerful. The text was, I am the Lord. I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. He was very excellent upon the immutability of God. I never heard a more powerful preacher, and one so completely full on every point bo

LETTEIl TO HER SON, REV. I. D. W. 131

touched. I thought, however, there was not enough of Christ; but he was more on the attributes of God, particularly on His unchangeable nature, and the impossibility of being otherwise than what he had declared Himself to be — an unchanging God.”

TO HER SOX, REV. I. D. W.

“June 15th. — .. TJie Lord has wonderfully upheld me

in ’s illness, and under great fatigue and anxiety. As thy

day is, so shall thy strength be, is a promise fulfilled afresh, as it has been a thousand times over in my experience. I have

been thinking of entering upon his new sphere of labour,

and it recalled to my recollection, as illustrating the uncertainty of life’s brightest prospects, the Lord’s mysterious dealings with two ministers, with whose cases I became acquainted in New York. The one was that of the Rev. George Duffie, minister of St. Thomas’s Episcopal church; and the other, that of the Rev. M. Bruen, minister of the Bleeker-street Presbyterian church. Their attached congregations erected for them new and beautiful sanctuaries, with handsome dwellings adjacent. Their prospects for the future were bright and promising, but soon after these edifices were completed, and they had taken possession of them, both, after a few days’ illness, were brought to the 2:rave. The circumstances made a deep impression on my mind at the time, and which I have

not yet lost. I have written to to remind him of this,

and to implore him to turn in upon his own heart, and see how matters stand between his soul and God. It is an easy thing to preach to others, and to do many things: but it is quite another matter to appear naked before a holy God, and to render an account of every idle word. True, His children are already justified, and stand complete in Christ; but even here we may be taken by surprise, and what is yet more awful, may make a fatal mistake. Therefore it is that the Lord warns us to watch for His coming. Oh, that we may go to Jesus for a fresh anointing of His Spirit! The Lord has, I hear, suddenly removed one that was committed to vour charge. Did you ever examine her as to the state of her soul? Did you personally warn her of her woful condition as a sinner? It is easy for you to warn sinners from the pulpit; but to go to them, examine their hope, and to deal faithfully, honestly, yet affectionately with them as in the sight of God, is the solemn duty of every one who stands up professedly in the name of Christ. Whatever God has given you to do, do it faithfully as in His sight, whose eye is watching all you do and all you do not. Oli, that you might feel the infinite value of one lost soul, and the responsibility that rests upon you as a professing minister of Christ! You may reply, that people will resist this personal examination. They may say so at first, and yet they may have to thank you for it to all eternity. It is not talking about religion, or assenting to all you say, that accomplishes the great object; it is a close personal investigation of the real condition of their never-dvina; soul. It is not their constant attendance at church, and taking the sacrament, and saying prayers, that will save them; you have been taught differently from this, and therefore more will be required at your hands.”

“I was glad to hear from you, and trust you are in your new habitation by this time. Be thankful for it, and look fully to the Lord, and He will supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ Only think of such an encouraging promise made to us! Why need we want any good, when the Lord has said, jno good thing will He luithhold from them that walk uprightly? And again, /, the Lord, search the heart, to give to every man according as his work shall he. Thus the Lord deals with us according to the working of the heart. How jealous, then, ought we to be over our hearts; and when we find a traitor there, how earnest should we be to bring him directly to the Saviour, that He might enable us to place our foot upon its neck, while He himself subdues the evil that He hates. How manv, alas! there are, who deem a life of external decency and order alone sufficient; who think, if they scrupulously attend religious duties, visit the poof, &c., God is well pleased, and all is well. But God has to do with the heart, and all these external things might be done, and yet everything be wrong there. He looks at the spring of all we do, not at the action only, but at the motive from whence it springs. The apostle speaks of the constraining love of Christ. Love to God, and love to His people because they are His, should be the ruling principle urging on to every good word and work. The Lord is blessing ’s ministry. Leamington is highly blest with the Gospel. Mr. Craig is faithful to

sinners, and so is dear Dr. Marsh. Lord has got the

honour he sought, but oh, what a bubble! Oh, that we might always endeavour in all things, in thought, word, and deed, to please God; setting aside everything which is not connected %vith His glory, and contemplate all things and all events more in the light of eternity! My dear children, I see myself more and more, every hour, a poor sinner, unworthy of the least crumb that falleth from the Master’s table. But I see, at the same time, Jesus a great Saviour, divinely able, and most lovingly willing, to save the chief of sinners, even me; and no one can tell how this thought fills my heart with contrition, and my eyes with tears. I have never wept so much for sin as I have done lately. Often have I put up the prayer. Search me, 0 God. The Lord has heard and answered it; and oh, iS it had not been that the fountain was still open, I should have sunk into unutterable despair. He has ploughed up the fallow ground afresh of my poor heart, and the view presented has prostrated me in the dust; and if ever I felt what a broken heart and contrite spirit was, I have of late. Oh, the evil that is there covered over by the rank weeds of self-love, self-complacency, or self in some hideous form or other, that it is not discernible until the Holy Spirit makes it known. And yet how little do we know of it even by this divine teaching! But if God is pleased to show us enough to make us cling closer to the cross, to make Jesus more precious, sin more hateful, and our prayers more of a wrestling character for the special, sanctifying, life-giving power of the Holy Ghost, shall we not have cause to praise and bless His holy name for ever and ever? But while I have thus been led of late to mourn so much for sin, I have never felt pardon so abundantly manifested. God be praised for a free-grace gospel! Oh, keep close to the cross! Look well to your own vineyard, and then will you be able to take care of the vineyards of others. Know nothing among men save Christ Jesus crucified. Take Him for an example in all things; aim to have a single eye to His glory; and that God may bless you and give you abundance of grace here, and a plenitude of glory hereafter, are the prayers of yours, &c.’’

It was in 1833 that Mrs. “Winslow paid a final visit to the L^nited States. It was at a somewhat advanced period of life that she took this step; but she was constrained to do so with the view of meeting, for the last time on earth, her aged parent, and her children who were residing there. Accompanied by her daughter she again embarked upon the ocean.

Her outward passage was attended with much personal suffering and relative anxietv. But God sustained and bore her through it all, and granted her a happy re-union with those she loved. After twelve months of sacred enjoyment, she parted from them, to meet no more until they assembled again “without fault before the throne of God and the Lamb.” The following interesting letter to her pastor. Rev. J. H. Evans, and extracts from her private journal, touchingly describe her exercises during this visit; while they present her as still maintaining the same elevated tone of spirituality, child-like trust in God, and singleness of heart in His service, which characterized her in all places and under all circumstances: —

“Beloved Brother, — New York, June 22d, 1833.

“How I have wished to write to you since mv arrival, but hitherto I have not been permitted. The Lord has carried me through manv trials and sorrows since I saw you, and He has also given me to see much of His goodness, faithfulness, and unchanging love, towards the unworthiest of all His saints — the weakest of the weak and the vilest of the vile; but so it is, and on such he loves to bestow His choicest mercies. For ever blessed be His name, mv soul can adore Him: and it is mv heart’s desire to trust him to the end. I left En2:land with a heavy heart. The parting with my dear children on the deck of the vessel, on a wet, dark, and dreary night, was dismal. When they left me, I retired to my cabin, to commit them and myself to God. [Here follow details of the severe illness of her daughter and herself] But God was with me; and, as soon as I was recovered, I lifted up my heart to Him who alone could help me in this my great time of need. I felt persuaded my dear child might in a moment be in eternity. Oh, it was a trying season. I clung to Christ — pleaded the promise that He once had made over to me, that He would be a Father to my fatherless children, and implored Him, in the dear name of Jesus, to spare her until she knew him as her reconciled Father in Christ Jesus. It was a trial of faith — naked faith, resting entirely on the faithfulness of God. The Lord heard my petition; and, although she continued more or less ill, she gradually recovered. The weather was stormy and most unpleasant during the greater part of the passage — but He brought us through all; and on the 7th of May I had the comfort, nay the joy, of seeing my three sons shedding many tears of gratitude over me, on that very spot upon the deck where my heart had been asronized with sorrow, and

from whence I had sent up so many fervent petitions. E

was alive and better; R, H, and 0 were clustering around me, in joyful gratitude to God for bringing me once more to them, I felt happy; but oh, my dear brother, none but God himself could bear with such as we are. Did my thank-offerings go up with as much fervour as my earnest wrestlings for help? Ah me! This has been my grief, and has often laid me low before God. I abhor mvself in dust and ashes on this verv account. It is mv greatest comfort that Jesus lives, and is at the right hand of God, and His precious blood cleanseth from all sin.”

“Last evening dear 0 was ordained. It was a most

interesting service. You may suppose what I felt when I saw my son kneeling, while the hands of the Presbytery were laid upon his head, and prayer was offered that God would fit him for the great work to which he was solemnly being set apart. When I saw the hands of the ministers resting upon him, my prayer was, ‘Now, Lord, lay Thy hand. Thy blessed hand upon him, and fill him with the Holy Ghost, that he may do Thy work from the heart, and be kept humbly sitting at Thy feet.’ My paper is drawing to a close, and I have not said half that is in my heart. We both said, that evening, ‘Oh, that dear Mr. Evans had been in that pulpit! We love you; and never can be sufficiently thankful to God for the rich blessing He has made your ministry to us both. Pray for us. I do value your prayers; for often have they led me nearer to Christ. Dear friend, farewell.”

From her diary at sea. —” May 1st, 1833. — Left England on the 1st of April, from Portsmouth. We are now nearly four hundred miles from New York, with a light wind. Our passage thus far has been most unpleasant. The first ten days

E was so ill I thought she would have died. I cried to

the Lord and He heard me, and has been better to me than my fears on her account. We have had unpleasant passengers, which has added much to the discomforts of a sea- voyage. My health has greatly suffered, from fatigue of mind and hodj. Oh, that the Lord may be gracious to me, and overrule all for our good and His own glory! He has been my Helper hitherto, and will he not be my Helper still? In Him is all my trust. The weather is now fine, and all on deck are enjoying it. May the Lord, who has preserved us through so manystorms and dangers, carry us in safety, and give me to see my children’s face with joy, and not with grief, and lay His cause upon all our hearts; so that we may, as with one heart, enter upon the work with a single eye to His glory, and find it our sweetest meat and drink to do His will.”

“Nevj York Sth. — The Lord has again brought me to this distant land, after passing through much sickness and anxiety on the passage, and caused me to see the faces of my three children

with joy; and has, within a few days, brought dear G

from Bermuda to join our family circle. For ever blessed be his dear name, for so many instances of His wondrous love to unworthy me.”

“19th. — I have had the comfort of seeing my three children engaged in the service of Christ, on that very spot where, seven years ago, He translated them out of Satan’s kingdom into the kingdom of His dear Son. Precious Jesus! fit them all for great usefulness, and cherish this infant church in Thy tender bosom. Carry the pastor and the Hock near Thy compassionate heart, and greatly bless with the gifts and graces of Thy Holy Spirit. My dear mother, too, in her 84th year, has arrived, accompanied by B from Cincinnati. She is confined to her room from lameness. Her memory fails her much; but, although the earthlv tabernacle seems by little and little to be dissolving, she still retains the same kind and tender feeling towards all around her. Her faith seems firm in Christ; and when she can fix her mind, she appears to rejoice in the hope set before her in the gospel. May her last days be her happiest and brightest!”

“Have had of late increasing reason to know that God’s ear is ever open to the cry of His children, and that He will send down answers of peace. I was ill, — my pain very great for some hours, — nothing appeared to give me relief. At last I fled to my stronghold: I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me. The pain abated, and in about fifteen minutes I fell asleep, and awoke in the morning, feeling only weak, and gradually recovered. Oh, that I did but always at once look up to Christ! But what a lamentable proneness to go everywhere else before we flee into the name of the Lord, which is a strong tower to the righteous. Have been helped to rejoice in His goodness of late, and feel my confidence increase while at a throne of grace. It seems, while there, as if I could not doubt. I can realize the mighty blessings of the everlasting gospel as mine, and my mind sweetly rests on the Divine faithfulness. I seldom rise from my knees without weeping; my whole heart melted with contrition in view of the wonderful love of God to one so poor and vile as I. Oh, how near does He sometimes draw me to Himself! And when I look around, and see so many mercies, so many blessings, such tender care in providing for all my wants, no good things withheld, — although my base heart has distrusted Him in the very midst of countless proofs of His love, — I abhor myself in dust and in ashes. God has forgiven, and does forgive me, but I cannot forgive myself.”

“25th. — How is it with thee, 0 mv soul? How is it between thee and God? This is a question I often need put to myself as I journey onward. I require to pause and think what I am, and what I am doinfr, and whether I reallv am going forward or not. I have been thinking with what a delusion Satan continually aims to blind the minds of men as to the brevity and uncertainty of human life. How often does he prevail, even with the real Christian! On looking back upon the past sixty years of my life, and forward to the little point that remains, what a dream! How like a vision does it appear! Oh, how little of it, if any at all, has been spent to the real glory of Him who gave it. I cannot trace a single thing I ever did in my whole life, that affords me any real pleasure to look back upon. Oh, if I had nothing more to comfort me, I should be a wretched creature indeed! And now I know and feel at times what a believer in Christ should be who is a candidate for a crown of glory, and a disciple of Him who was not of this world; but how far short do I come! Sometimes, when at a throne of grace, I can see and feel forcibly the littleness of everything around me; and when I have a glimpse of God as He is in Himself, as well as what He is to mv soul, I sink in all mv nothingness, melted into love at His feet. AVhat should I do but for Jesus? Precious Jesus! I do love Thee. Thou art the chief amono; ten thousand. I am wearied with the creature, for disappointment is written upon the dearest object here below. But in Thee there is no disappointment, thou blessed, dearest one. Oh, that I could love Thee as I wish to do, and serve Thee with all the powers of mv mind and bodv! Let not mv heart wander from Thee: keep me under the shadow of Thy wing till the storm of life be past.”

“Oct. loth, 1833. — New York. — My dear mother sailed on this day for Bermuda. I felt I never loved her so well before as I have since she left us. When I fancy her, aged, feeble, and, perhaps, ill, on a tempestuous ocean, and exposed to all the discomforts of a voyage, I can but weep and pray. Pray for her I do, and that is my only comfort. I believe the Lord loves her better than I do, and to His care I constantly commit her. She was determined to go, as she said, to lay her bones in her ovvu native place. I urged her to remain with me, but it was her wish and decided determination; and if the Lord takes her in safety, she will escape the cold winter here, and may live a few years longer for it. ]May God in His mercv carry her in safetv!”

It was again her privilege during this brief and final visit to the United States to participate in one of those showers of spiritual blessing to which reference is made in the earlier part of this volume. The following letter, addressed to her pastor, will convey some idea of the themes and the style of the pulpit addresses which generally prevail on these interesting occasions, and the mode of meeting the numerous cases of awakening: which occur: — “Beloved Bro. ik the Lord, — ^^- Y., Jan. 2Jth, 1833.

“The Lord seems to have awakened his servants here to a sense of their duty, and the vast responsibility attached to them as His ministers. ‘Protracted meetings ’ are now held in almost all the churches, and some of them are of a most interesting character. I have been for some days attendino- one: it is in a Presbyterian church, and the ministers who conduct it seem men of God, and preach as with the great white throne full in view. The grand aim in their preachino- and addresses is, to rouse the sinner — to follow him in all his refuges of lies — to knock from beneath hnn every false prop, and to show him that if he perishes, the fault is not God’s, but his olx. Next to this, their endeavour is to awaken the church itself to activity and earnestness in the cause of God. The whole day, from six o’clock in the morning until half-past nine o’clock in the evening, with intervals, is devoted to praver and preaching. After the sermon, all who fed themselves lost and undone sinners are invited to come forward and occupy pews in front of the pvilpit. The praying part of the assembly then cluster round them, and petitions are offered on their behalf. This would be a new and strange thine’ in Enfrland, but God sees fit to own this to the salvation of many souls. Last evening I felt it peculiarly solemn. I felt God was there. Seventeen individuals advanced, many young, some elderly men, deeply concerned. Oh, how my heart was drawn out towards God on their behalf! There was no excitement — no noise or enthusiasm. The feeling was deep, silent, solemn as eternity. All knelt and followed in prayer, which consisted of eight or nine short, earnest, wrestling petitions to God for their salvation. The church was earnestly exhorted to lav aside their earthlv concerns for a season, and give themselves wholly up to the Lord and to His work. While some are engaged in the prayer-meetings, others go out in the lanes and alleys to persuade men and women to come and hear the sound of the gospel. The minister visits, and receives visits at home after the meetings for prayer. I feel my heart a little revived already, and bless

God for it I should remark, that while the church is

stirred up to plead earnestly for sinners, the Lord the Spirit causes them to feel their own lack, and brines them to God in humble confession of their coldness and unbelief. Unbelief, unbelief, oh, this is our grreat crime before God! AYe vrill not take Him at His word, fully believing all that He has promised. Did we really believe that sinners will be cast into hell, should we not be more earnest both with them and with God, although we do know that salvation is of God, and that He alone can save a sinner? Oh yes, we should. But our faith is so small, and what we have we do not exercise sufficiently to obtain more. Is it not often but a mere form of words, when we pray, Lord increase our faith f It is a cold, formal duty, and we go away, and think no more of it, and so God does n3t grant the boon we so little value. May the Lord renew His precious work in our souls! If the religion of Christ is not the business of our whole life, it is nothinfr, and we are nothine, and shall be found as nothinir, or worse than nothing, when He comes to judge the world.”’

“25th. — The Lord is doinsr a srreat work here, my dear brother, and my soul rejoices in God and in the prospects of

His church “Whole families have, in the last

two weeks, been translated out of the kiuirdom of Satan mto the kingdom of God’s dear Son, The addresses yesterday were chiefly to urge Christians to increased activity and

1-iO MEMOIR OF MRS. MARY WIXSLOW.

earnestness in prayer, showing their great responsibihty, especially at such a season. It was solemn, heart-searching truth. Oh, if we did but fully believe that God will condemn the impenitent sinner to eternal perdition, we should act very differently. But we do not believe it, although Jehovah is as much bound to fulfil that promise as any other. How He bears with His redeemed ones! Why are not our children converted? Because, humanly speuking, we care so little about it. We pray for them, it is true; but it is with formality and coldness; and so we wrap it up, while they are rapidly travelling to the regions of eternal woe. Last evening, the ’ anxious seats’ were filled with those who earnestly desired the prayers of God’s people. Many have been reconciled to God through the peace-speaking blood of Christ, and many more are inquiring what they shall do to be saved. I am glad to be where Jesus is passing by. I just get a glimpse of His face now and then, and can plead with Him as a man pleadeth with his friend. Help me to praise Him. When I cannot find words, I sit and weep before Him. His name is Love. That my soul knoweth right well. Oh, that all our children might rise up and call Him blessed! A young lady in the bloom of youth and beauty, living in all the gaiety of the world, was brought under the appalling conviction of her awful state before a holy God. The world she so much loved was at once dressed in sable to her view. She was miserable, and everything else looked so. For nights she knew not scarcely what it was to sleep. Some time after this she thought she had obtained a hope in Christ, but it was soon gone, and she was left in darkness. But in a few days, while she was in prayer, and while prayer was being made for her by the church, the Lord revealed Himself to her soul, and filled it with unspeakable joy. Her eyes were now opened, and everything appeared changed. She was happy in the Lord, and her countenance was radiant. When her minister entered the parlour, and extended his hand, he said, ‘I need not ask how it is with you; I see you have been with Jesus.’ I must add that this young convert, in all the fervour of her first love, went from house to house, amongst her kinsfolk and friends, imploring them to come and hear the gospel.”

“29th. — Never did I feel my mind more solemn, and my heart more drawn out for the salvation of sinners, than at the present time. As I sat last evening in the sanctuary, and saw twenty or thirty, old and young, go forward for the prayers of God’s people, thus acknowledging that they felt their need of Christ, I raised my heart to my Father, and prayed Him, for Jesus’ sake, to have mercy upon them. Dear brother, the Lord is with us, doing a mighty work. The Baptists are much eneasred. A cloud of mercy is hoverino over this city, and the prayers of God’s people will pierce it, and bring down showers of blessing. My children are earnestly engaged in bringing sinners where the Holy Ghost is displaying His mighty power. They visit from house to house, dealing faithfully with all they meet who know not God. My own soul is greatly refreshed and drawn near to the Lord. For ever blessed be His name for this renewed token of His kind remembrance to one so unworthy of the least of His mercies.”

“30th. — There is not a country in the world where religion and religious intelligence are so constantly and prominently brought before the attention as in this. Li fact, it is, at least at the present time, one continued, interesting topic of conversation. Every one is talking about it and engaged in it some way or other. This is a delightful state of things. Our own prayer meetings are taking a deeper tone, and the members of the church are engaged each in visiting from house to house, endeavoring to induce some poor sinner to come and hear the gospel. This evening is to be spent chiefly in prayer and exhortation. The Lord is indeed doing a great work, and all seem alive to its importance, except a few who are endeavouring to justify their coldness and supineness under the plea of God’s sovereignty, and so sit still while others are reaping this rich harvest of souls to the glory of God. I think I never heard before such fervent appeals to the consciences of men, so completely divesting them of all their refuges of lies, as I have this last week. How I do love old-fashioned conversions, where sinners are brought to feel they are sinners, crying out under the conviction ‘What must I do to be saved?’ and are then led by the self-same Spirit to look to Jesus, and are at once enabled to believe and rejoice. I cannot understand this long process of months and years seeking, and seeking, and never finding, until, perhaps, at a dying hour. God is the same now that he was in the New Testament times — Christ is the same — the Spirit is the same — and the sinner is the same. Well, then, there must be a woful lack of the Spirit’s holy influence, owing to our unbelief. I will continue to give you, as

the Lord will help me, an account of His most gracious dealings with His churches on this side of the water. Oh, that the Lord might visit you in your part of the vineyard, and so revive His work that sinners may be converted, and the saints sealed and set apart under the fresh anointings of the Holy Ghost. I love poor perishing sinners more than I can express. I have been very narrow-hearted and selfish, and I hate and abhor mvself because of it. I have been lookinsr for salvation too exclusively for my own family, and the little circle about me, and have wanted more of that expansive love that brought Christ from heaven to save sinners. Dear brother, endeavour to show them their awful condition; scatter their vain excuses, and tell them they must repent and believe the gospel, or they are lost for ever. They need not be told that they have no power to repent and believe. They will soon find they are poiuerless and begin to cry for mercy to Him who will give repentance, and power to believe too. Forgive me for saying so much on this subject to you, who are so much better qualified to judge than I; but I feel more than ever the absolute necessity of awakening the sinner to see his lost condition; for Satan has ten thousand ways of deluding; and shall we not, under God, do all we can, if by any means we may save some by plucking them out of the fire? Salvation is of God, but the means are ours, and we cheerfully leave Him to give the blessino:. Mv love to the church in John Street.”

After spending a year in happy and useful intercourse with her children, in reviving the cherished friendships of other days, and in seeing her aged parent once more, and for the last time in the flesh, she re-embarked for England. Her homeward voyage and arrival are thus noted in her journal:

“May 24th, 1834. — On hoard the packet ship Philadelphia.^ I am once more upon the mighty ocean, on my return to dear England, with E. and J. R. under my care. The weather is delifrhtful, the wind fair, and evervthins; comfortable as I could possibly expect on board ship. It was a severe trial, parting with my dear children. My mind was greatly exercised, as usual, to know the path of duty. So far the Lord has prospered our voyage. I do pray He may be pleased to continue His tender mercies towards us, and grant me to see the face of my dear children, to whom I am going, with comfort, and preserve those I have been obliged to leave behind. The Lord is good, and my soul desires to praise His holy name.”

“In sight of the Lizard and of dear old Enj;:land once more, after a prosperous voyage of eighteen days from New York. The Lord has wonderfully appeared for me, and many have been the pravers offered up on my behalf, and which He has in condescending mercy deigned to answer. A pleasant captain and a line ship,”

“Landed in Portsmouth in good health, and left the next day for London, where 1 arrived at nine o’clock in the evening, and found all well and happy to see me again. The Lord has been merciful indeed to me. His name is ‘Love.’ For ever blessed be His holy name, for all His dealings towards me. My hope is in Him for all things here and hereafter. God be praised!”

The mother of Mrs. Winslow has already been introduced to the reader. The time arrived when her long and steady course should be finished, and she should enter into the joy of her Lord, Full of years, rich in grace, and ripe for glory, this venerable and beloved ladv breathed her last in her own native isle, and was buried in the sepulchre of her fathers. In her diary Mrs. Winslow thus briefly but touchingly records this event: —

“Heard of the death of mv beloved and ever-nrecious mother, the oldest and dearest friend I had in this world of sorrov.’. She has gone, I trust, to glory, and is now rejoicing with Christ and the many dear friends who have gone before her. Who can tell the glory that surrounds the saints on their entrance into that abode of bliss? Hovv* stranere that we do not more Ions: to be there! Dearest mamma, you are now freed from a body of sin and death, and a life of pain and sufferino;. I sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. I do have a hope of her that gladdens ray heart, and I trust to see her again at the right hand of Christ, and to spend a happy eternity with her, and go no more out for ever. Oh, that I may be helped to keep my garments unspotted from the world, and to be readv when the summons comes.”

On the appointment of her son, the Rev. G. E. Winslow, to the vicarage of Tugby, Leicestershire, she spent a few months thijre, from whence the foUowincr extracts are dated. Possessing, as we have already remarked, an exquisite taste for landscape beauty, and charmed with the simplicity of rural life, a picturesque country village — its ivy-mantled church and pretty vicarage, its rude hamlets and honest villagers, its simplicity find repose would harmonize with her feelings, and su]i|>ly her with rich material for reflection of an interesting and varied character. And when to her fondness for the country we add the spiritual eve with which she would contemplate the works of God — seeing, enjoying, and glorifying Him in all — we are prejiared to find her pouring forth such pious thoughts and poetic feelings, and sketching, with her holy and graphic pen, such interesting village scenes as are contained in the following extract from letters: —

TO HER SON.

‘■’’ Tughy Vicarage July 1837. — How lovely is all nature. As I sit at my window with the casement open, the beautiful lawn in front, the fine tall trees surrounding it, the hawthorn hedcjes, the o-reen fields stretchins: bevond, with the bright sun and refreshing breeze imparting life and healthfulness to the whole, truly do I feel that there is nothing like the works of God. I have just been walking round the lawn, inhaling the fragrance of the sweet roses which hang in rich clusters from the house, thrusting their heads into the parlour window. This is a sweet place. But every place where Jesus is, and which He blesses with His presence, is sweet. He can transform a dungeon into a palace, and His presence can turn darkness into light. G has just gone to Norton to preach. I

have been praying for him, that while he is preaching to others God might, through the Eternal Spirit, preach to him. And I have been praying for you too. And oh, that God might make you a real blessing, anoint you afresh for your all-important work, and keep you sitting low in a low place at the feet of Jesus. My heart is often drawn out on your behalf, that you may be more and more deeply taught of the Holy Ghost, may preach and act only to please God, losing sight of self and of everything but Christ, in a full view of the great white throne, and under a deep sense of the vast responsibility that rests upon you as a minister of Christ. I sometimes think I should have wearied out all the host of heaven with mv many thousand prayers and petitions for you all, and for myself; but God is love, and His love is never wearied with hearing.”

“At the entrance of the village is the cottage of a poor aged widow, who can with difficulty move upon her crutches from chair to chair; but she knows and loves the Lord. Her Bil)le, ‘Fox’s Book of Martyrs.’ a volume of sermons by an old diviiu-.

and the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ have been her chief means of instruction, and God has blessed them to her soul. She is greatly afflicted with bodily infirmity, but patient, submissive, and thankful. I often leave the vicarage, and bend my steps to this lonely pilgrim, where, seated in an old broken chair by her little fire of dried sticks, we talk of Christ and what he has done for us both, and of our happy prospects, till my heart is soothed and refreshed, and the dear redeemed old saint unites her praises with mine.

“The church is romantically situated on a rising ground, which looks down on the village below, and commands a beautiful prospect of the surrounding country. It is skirted with laro-e and beautiful trees, which overshadow the crraves of the many dead who sleep here until the resurrection day. It is a pleasant retreat for contemplation. I often sit here, and turn my eyes from the dead lying at my feet, to the various rural occupations of the living beyond, and some are seen milking the cows, feeding the lambs, or mowing the grass; others, in the distance, are gathering in and stacking the hay, while the sun setting in rich splendour, imparts animation and loveliness to the whole. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness! And oh, that these things did more elevate my heart to Him, the Giver of all good! And yet, after all, this is not mv rest, blessed be God.

“I have just returned from a visit to my poor pilgrim. I walked softly in, and found her with her glasses on, attentively reading a book she had upon her lap. ’ “What are you reading? ‘I inquired. ‘The Shepherd, ma’am; the Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep,’ looking up into my face with an expression of sweet peace and content. I replied, ‘Yes, and for you and for me too, if we are His sheep.’ It was one of the sermons of the good old divine I mentioned, and the dear aged saint was feasting upon the precious, sterling truths it contained. I found another excellent work in her rich library: ‘Boston’s Four-fold State.’ I said, ‘Have you dined? ’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What have you had?’ ‘Boiled milk.’ This, I found, was her chief diet; and oh, how happy she is! She says she is happier than the rich or the mighty in their palaces, and from my heart I believe it. The squire is kind to her, and has lent her a little garden in a field, which her attentive and dutiful son cultivates for her.”

“I went last evening to see another aged pilgrim; but mark T the dijSerence. This good woman for I have h“ttle doubt hut that she is one) is abounding with all the comforts of life. She is a widow, with two industrioiLS sons, and one kind daughter. She has a nice house, comfortable farm, and everything to make her happy. But she is far from being so. For although I believe her to be a child of God, she is constantly harassed with the idea that she has grieved away the Spirit, and will be lost for ever. This, I believe, has arisen from bad teaching and disease of body. I have endeavoured to cheer her up by leading her to look more fully to Christ than to herself. I sat with her last evenino- for nearlv an hour, and found it refreshing to my soul to speak of Jesus.”

“E writes me that he has had two boroughs offered to

him, but I have urged him not to stand. The country is in a state of ferment at present. The new accession to the throne involves a new Parliament, and the Tories are straining every point to secure as many Conservatives as possible. In the

evening G drove me in his phaeton to Alexton Hall,

where we took tea with Mrs. AY, who was alone. We

had a long conversation on religion and Christian experience, and stayed until a late hour. What a mercy that Jesus is everything to me! Truly in Him I live, and move, and have my being. He is around about my path by day and by night, and my soul rejoices in God my Saviour. The sun is just setting, and looks beautiful as it casts its fading beams upon the tall trees and o-reen fields ere it bids us ijood-niffht. The birds, too, are chirping their evening song before they fold their little heads beneath their wing for rest.

‘The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. ’

So I learned in younger days at school. Nearly a dozen have just passed the garden gate, each with a bundle of sticks upon his shoulders, to kindle a cheerful blaze when he gets home, ere he lays his jaded limbs to rest. The sleep of a labouring man is siueet.

“Here and there I find a humble soul in a thatched cottage, who but few know, but who are the lowly and hidden followers of the meek and despised Saviour. I rode on horseback the other day to the adjoining village; and while G

Went on some miles further, I alisrhted at a orood man’s dwelling, the front of which was covered with roses trailed up against the wall, and went in, and passed two or three hours with him and his aged wife very happily. They offered me the best their house afforded, which was a glass of cowslip wine. I seated myself on their sofa in a nice little parlour, where everything indicated neatness and industry, with a wide window in front, of small panes of glass, but tastefully ornamented with clusters of fresh-blown roses on the outside. Here I sat and talked of Christ, while the dear old man (his eyes filled with tears) echoed to his wife, who was deaf, what I had said to him from time to time. I had much profitable conversation with them. The good man said at parting, ‘Oh, ma’am, you do not know how comforting this visit has been to me.’

When G returned, I mounted my horse, promising to see

them again, and galloped home to the vicarage.”

“Yesterday was the Sabbath. G preached an excellent discourse. He took for his subject the anxiety of Zaccheus to see Jesus as he passed by. He drew some excellent

ideas from it, and the application was good. Dear E has

been greatly blessed in her labours in the school. Her thorough and effective method of discipline, blended with so much winning softness, has produced a complete revolution for the better. You can form no idea how promptly the children obey, and yet how tenderly they love her. She has, with the aid of the mistress, made the mode of instruction so interesting, that the parents could not, if they were so inclined, detain their children at home. Yesterday they were brought to the vicarage, and underwent a private examination previous to the

public one, which takes place next week. G examined

them on two chapters of the Bible; and it was pleasing to hear how well they answered, while his observations were instructive and solemn. They then sung their hymns, accompanied

by E on the piano. The chapters on which they were

questioned were the 18th and 19th of the Gospel of John: and as I sat in an adjoining room, listening to the sufferings of the Redeemer, and the njiheard-of ignominy heaped upon the matchless Son of God, the effect on my mind was such that I could not recover my spirits the whole evening.”

“G ’s ministry seems much blessed. There is in his

preaching a rich savour of the Divinity of Christ. He insists constantly and earnestly upon the Godhead of Jesus, as the ‘everlasting Father,’ as ‘the mighty God;’ and this imparts such strength and consolation to the soul, that my heart has often been refreshed in a way that I little expected”

“‘How sweet,’ as dear Mrs. Winslow* says, ’ to receive expressions of love from strangers, who show them, not for our sakes, but for Christ’s sake.’ It emanates from the fulness of His love. All the affection of Christian friends is the result of His overflowing heart — just as the beams which scatter light and warmth around us flow from the sun, the great centre. Pie inclines them to love us, and do us good for His sake. I have felt to-day much blessedness in viewing the Lord as my own and onlv Friend on earth and in heaven: and making- a renewed surrender of my whole heart to Him, desiring above all earthly good that it should be moulded according to His will, and made conformable to His likeness. I feel much of the blessedness of one who is emptied of all confidence in himself, feeling there is nothing in him of his own, but what he hates, who yet in the midst of all this poverty finds he has a store of incalculable riches in another, and that one is God in our nature — the God-man. Christ is everything to me — I could not live without Him, I could not die without Him, and heaven would be no heaven to me, if my Beloved were not there.”

“Dear, I think your trials have been sanctified to me,

as well as to yourself; for they have kept me in close contact with God, and have brought me into more of His real character, not only as to what He is to His redeemed, but also as to what He is in Himself. Is He a good God? He is goodness. Is His name love? He is love. Is He faithful? He is faithfulness. Is He the true God? He is truth, and therefore cannot lie.”

After spending thus happily and profitably some months at Tugby, she left amidst the general and affectionate regrets of the kind-hearted villagers. One of her letters thus pictures the parting scene: —

“We left Tugby, followed by a weeping tribe of the children and cottagers. You would have supposed they were parting with the dearest friend on eth. The school was let out sooner than usual, to bid us good-bye at the Vicarage; and although most of them were forbidden to follow, when we reached the turnpike-gate they were there, and

E was surrounded with tears from the young, and with

blessings from the old. There we left the girls; but at the

Mrs. Harriet Winslow, of the American Mission in Ceylon.

end of the field there was another cluster waiting to say good-bye, and the boys ran after the carriage as far as they could. I have never before seen such an exhibition of tender feeling and affection from people who but a few months ago were perfect

strangers.”

On her return to town, she was seized with the prevailing epidemic which carried off so many hundreds, but in mercy her valuable life was spared, God having yet a work to accomplish in and by her.

“Since I last wrote I have been very near eternity, but the Lord rebuked the fever, and I am able to sit up for a few minutes at a time. It was the influenza in its most powerful form. The Lord, out of His own kind heart, put kindness in all around me. My mind, during those few days and nights of suffering, was in a very peculiar state. I could not pray, or even think. I could only say, and at intervals, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me, and heal me.’ The whole power of mind seemed prostrated at once. I thought, Oh, if I had left the salvation of my soul to this moment, I should have been lost. Good Mr. D. once ventured to inquire the state of my mind. I recollect saying, ‘It is in a cloud, but my hope does not depend upon my feelings, but upon Christ, upon God.’

“While I sit writing, I see opposite to me two mutes standing at a door. It is the funeral of an individual who died of the same disease from which a gracious God has raised me up. He was a healthy man, but death had a commission, and he has appeared before the judgment-seat of Christ. I, like the barren fig-tree, have been spared a little longer, through the intercession of a precious Saviour, that I may bring forth more fruit to His glory. I have just sent a note of inquiry to dear

Mrs. R, for I feel anxious to know how they are. Every

day will appear a year to them as the time draws near for their return to Brooklyn. God grant they may find all well at home, and then it will be a happy time indeed. I think it is good sometimes to leave those we love, that we may taste the sweetness of meeting again. How many of these happy meetings have I had in my time! It is almost all over now. But, oh! the meeting in heaven! that will be the best of all. Oh, may God, in His rich mercy, grant that I may meet all, all that He has given me, and all I love on earth, at His right hand at that great day. I know you will say, Amen and

amen!”

How heart searching and solemn, yet how true and precious, are the following thoughts: —

“I have often thoufrht that, altlioucrh God did so convince you of sin as to make you flee into the very bosom of Christ, yet you have never been led much into the depth of the hidden evil. You have still to be led into the great chamber of imagery. Oh, the aboundings of sin there which no eye discerneth but God’s until He, by increasing light, declares it to us little by little! How have I to mourn and weep before Him, while He shows me to myself — poor, wretched, sinful, and yet washed and justified from all things! What can I say to these things? Love abounding, — crrace subduin<r, — blood-cleansing, — Jesus pardoning, — the Spirit renewing, — God reconciled; and all this mighty work for one so vile, so worthless, so hell-deserving! Dear, watch, as with a jealous

eye for God’s glory, every hidden spring of action. Look to your thoughts and motives; and while you do this, keep your eye upon the cross of Christ, and you need not fear to see yourself as you are. This is the Spirit’s work alone, and this onlv will make us cro softly all our davs.”

The tender and prayerful interest with which she viewed the accession of the present Sovereign to the throne, was in beautiful keeping with the benevolent feelings of her spiritual and enlarged mind. Called, in the providence of God, to a position of great responsibility, and at an age so tender, the young Queen became an object of her liveliest and holiest sympathies. Frequently has she been known to pour forth the most fervent intercessions on her behalf, especially praying that, next to her own personal interest in the salvation of God, she might have grace vouchsafed faithfully to maintain the true Protestantism of this land. She also formed one of a little circle of Christian ladies who, in different places, and at a given time, met in concert to pray for their Queen. In one of her letters, she relates this touching incident of the youthful Sovereign: —

“Just as the Princess Victoria came of age, the King was suddenly taken ill, and a few weeks after died. I heard qti interesting anecdote of the young Queen. The first death-warrant that Lord Melbourne presented for her signature, she said, ‘And must I sign it?’ and burst into tears. He replied, ‘Your Majesty has the power of mitigating the sentence to transportation for life.’ She instantly exclaimed, ‘Oh, then, let it be; and transport him.’ This looked lovely.”

Her Christianity was highly perceptive, and her religious character, consequently, singularly practical. It was the testimony of David, when referring to his own experience, “I esteem all thy precepts to be right.” Such, in truth, might have been her language of whom we speak. With an enlarered heart, she ran the wav of God’s com.mandments, findins: in their keeping great reward. But there was especially one divine precept by whose clear and hoh light she conscientiously and undeviatingly walked; the apostolic injunction, ^’ Dice no man anything,’^ was the precept to which we refer. It was her principle never to incur debt, upon any pretence or under any circumstances whatever. She would make no purchase which she was not prepared to meet, and was always uneasy in the recollection of the smallest claim undischarged. And when deprived of affluence, and combating with limited resources, a large and expensive family dependent upon her, she had the strength of character and the grace of heart never at any period to allow her expenditure to exceed her income. It was thus the grace of God enabled her to guide her affairs with discretion, and to provide things honestly, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. By a strict, conscientious observance of this divine rule, she was not only enabled to “render unto all their due,” but also to contribute liberally of her substance to the cause of God, and to the necessities of Christ’s flock. She refers to this subject in the following extract: —

“28th. was speaking to me about purchasing a;

but I really thought that, under existing circumstances, it had better not be. A thing like this, which one might do without, ought to be let alone. That sweet precept which God laid upon my heart in the commencement of my dreary widowhood, He has enabled me strictly to keep: Owe no man anything, hut to love one another. If in debt, which I never allowed myself to be, I should have thought nothing was at my own disposal until I had honestly paid that debt. I have endeavoured faithfully to impress the same upon the minds of all my children, entreatincr them rather to live on the lowliest fare than incur claims which they have no power to meet. It is as much a command of God as any other, and woe be to us if we disobey it. God will chasten us if we do; and we shall find that what is withheld, justly due to another, He is able to take from us, and make the sweetest ingredient of our cup bitter as gall. Let us walk in this holy precept of the gospel, and there is then nothing to fear. Let us often look back upon all the way our God has led us, and trace His gracious dealings at every step; and we shall not only acknowledge that He is good, but we shall aim more and more to do everything that is right and pleasing in His sight. Oh, for more grace, more uprightness of heart, and more singleness of eye! It is with God we have to do, and not with man.”

“Dec. 24th. — I have to recount the goodness and unfailing mercy of my good and gracious God, who has brought me thus far on my weary pilgrimage. I have to lament my unfaithfulness and backslidings of heart from Him. This has been a year full of especial mercies. Yet I do not feel my heart, as I could wish, going out towards God. I desire the renewed anointing of the Holy Ghost, and am looking up for this blessing. Nothing can satisfy me without it. An indwelling God; the water springing up into eternal life; the constant and abiding presence of Christ, — this is what I want, and for this I pray.”

“Jan. 26th. — Feel much nearness to God. Can tell Him all that is in my heart, — all my wants, — and feel that Jesus hears me. I am directed to carry my small as well as great things to Christ; everything that troubles, be it what it may. Satan contends with me here, so that at times I feel almost ashamed of troubling the God of heaven with such poor trifles; but I recollect that a sparrow falls not to the ground without His notice, and I am encouraged: God gives me faith, and I conquer the arch-enemy of souls.”

“The way to God has seemed to me of late so delightful, so exactly suited to a poor lost sinner, — so suited to me. A way sprinkled with atoning blood; justice and mercy as a wall of defence on either side; and this way leading to such a rich treasure-house, filled with all Ijlessing for time and for eternity. All is in Jesus the way to God, the way of holiness, the way to glory.

“Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend;
Life, and health, and peace possessing,
From the sinner’s dying Friend.”

“16th. — The dear Redeemer continues to lift up upon me the light of his countenance. But with all this matchless love,

I have been, and still am, tried with earthly wandering thoughts. While in the body we cannot escape the world; though cloistered from it, the god of this world would still follow and harass us as much as he is permitted, in order to show us our weakness, and the long-suffering patience of our God towards

us.”

“Feb. 29th. — Yesterday I completed my sixty-second year. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage. To Jacob’s words I can add this testimony, — goodness and mercy have followed me all my days, and I am longing to praise and bless His holy name, who has done great things for me and mine, although we have not returned Him according to His goodness. I look back, and sigh, and grieve, and think how many evils I could have avoided with my present experience. I think and feel more and more the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and my own weakness and inability to stand one moment without the all-upholding arm of Jehovah-Jesus. How needful are trials, and how precious then the sweet promises of the gospel!”

“It is wondrous bow God, when we wander from Him,
Our fears and afflictions can double;
And then comfort impart to the sorrowful hearty
That we never could know but in trouble.

“Thus faith in the dark, is pursuing its mark
Through many sharp trials of love,
In this sorrowful waste which the Christian must pass
To the heavenly Canaan above.”

“22nd. — God is love, and His mercy endureth forever: this my soul knows to be true. I w ould be holy, even as He is holy. My heart longs for full sanctification. I am wearied with sin; my soul loathes it, and I abhor myself in dust and in ashes. Truly, I would not live ahvay. Heaven would be greatly to be desired, were it only to have done with sin for ever. But oh, the presence of Jesus in all His glories, unveiled to our wondering eye, will make our happiness complete. 0 earth, earth! let my heart’s best affections go, and trouble me no more. 1 want this heart only for Christ! It is His by the purchase of His blood; it is His by the conquest of His grace; and I covet it all for Him. Oh, that every throb may beat with love, gratitude, and adoration to Him who has saved my soul, and redeemed me from the power of the enemy! Amen and amen.”

“I would not live alway — live alwaj below!

Oil no, ril not linger when bidden to go.

The days of our pilgrimage granted us here

Are enough for life’s woes, full enough for its cheer.

Would I shrink from the path which the prophets of God,

Apostles and Martyrs, so joyfully trod!

While brethren and friends are all hastening home,

Like a spirit uublest o’er the earth would I roam?

“I would not live alway — I ask not to stay, Where storm after storm rises dark o’er the way; Where, seeking for peace, we but hover around, Like the patriarch’s bird, and no resting is found; ^^’here hope, when she paints her gay bow in the air, Leaves its brilliance to fade in the night of despair, And joy’s fleeting angel ne’er sheds a glad ray, Save the gleam of the plumage that bears him away.

“I would not live alway — thus fettered by sin,
Temptation without and corruption within;
In a moment of strength, if I sever the chain,
Scarce the victory’s mine ere I’m captive again.
E’en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears,
And my cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears.
The festival trump calls for jubilant songs,
But my spirit her own miserere prolongs.

“I would not live alway — no, welcome the tomb!
Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom;
Where He deign’d to sleep, I’ll too bow my head;
Oh! peaceful the slumbers on that hallow’d bed.
And then the glad dawn soon to follow that night,
When the sunrise of glory shall beam on my sight,
When the full matin song, as the sleepers arise
To shout in the morning, shall peal through the skies.

“Who, who would live alway — away from his God,
Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode,
Where the rivers of pleasure flow o’er the bright plains,
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns;
Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet,
Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet;
Where the songs of salvation exultingly roll,
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul;

“That heavenly music! what is it I hear?
The notes of the harpers ring sweet in the air;
And see, soft unfolding, those portals of gold!
The King, all array’d in his beauty, behold!
Oh. give me, oh, give me the wings of a dove.
Let me hasten my flight to those mansions above,
Ay, ’tis now that my soul on swift pinions would soar,
And in ecstasy bid earth adieu evermore.”

Rey. Dr. MrnLEXBiTRG.

TO HER SON 0-

. If you can obtain the Memoir of Mrs. Hawkes, written by Miss Cecil, do so, and read it. It is republished in America, with an Introduction, I think, by Washington Irying. Miss Cecil is a delightful Christian. I had a long interyiew with her after I read the book. To-day I called on her, and was introduced in the drawino;-room, and sat in the very chair where good Mr. Cecil, Newton, and Simeon once sat. It is the same house which Mr. Cecil occupied for forty or fifty years, and around the walls are hung numerous portraits of good men, his and Mr. Newton’s among the rest. It was a treat of no ordinary kind, — a feast of the soul. These are now before the throne in glory. Once they were like us, tried, tempted, and often sorrowing; but now they are reaping the rich reward of all their labours.”

“I smiled at your idea of my arranging my thoughts on given subjects when I address my children. AVhy, I never know what I am going to write, until I take up my pen, and then I give full licence to my ideas as they flow; and, as it happens, the Lord seems to direct; for I believe in general, — at least so some of my correspondents say, — what I write comes just in season; but let that be as it may, it comes in season from my heart. Once formality shows its ugly phiz, away would go all I would wish to say. When I write to Christians in trial, I am often comforted with the comfort I am endeavouring to impart to others. The same in conversation. “Were I a minister, perhaps this would be my favourite subject. But the Lord has not called me to chat office, so you must take me just as you find me; for I am too old now to mend my ways in that respect; but I will try and bear in mind what

you say when I write to. Pray will you choose a text

for me when I next write to you f”

“I have been feasting upon the memoir of Dr. Payson. He seems, however, to have looked too much to frames and feelings, and as they ebbed and flowed, his faith did the same, and this caused him so much distress, and wore out his health. Sensible enjoyments are very desirable, but they are not Christ. Faith in the dark puts honour on God, and the more we know of His faithfulness, the more will our peace flow as a river that never changes its course. There is always something wrong when He hides His face; but after all, He remains the same, and we must come to Him again as poor sinners. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession of sin is a holj strengthening exercise, and brings a sweet blessing to the soul. Never let us keep guilt upon the conscience. The Fountain is always open to us; and we should not leave a throne of grace until we have a sense of pardon through the fresh application of his blood. Have no concealments from God,”

“25th. — Such a sermon from Mr. Evans! His mind is gigantic, and so deeply spiritual. The world to him is nothing, and God first and everything. He lives near the Lord, and cares neither for the frown nor the smile of man. His ministry has been much blessed to me of late. He has just

parted with C, who sailed for India on last Saturday.

His trial — and a great trial it was — has been sanctified to his soul; and he preaches like a man standing on the verge of eternity, and in full view of heaven. He has fled into the bosom of God for consolation, and has found it.”

“4th. — I wish you would always write on the Monday, and then I should know how the Lord dealt with you on the Sabbath. We had a feast of fat things yesterday. I think Mr. E. preaches more of late as if he looked full into eternity, and saw the great white throne. He is solemn, powerful, and often awfully true. But I must prepare for my Bible class, which I have in my room. They all seem interested, and it is quite encouraging. We are going on with the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress.’ I trust I had sweet nearness to God this morning in family worship. I was reading the history of Asa and Jehoshaphat, and could trace the character of God in His dealings with them, as well as His general conduct with the Old Testament saints, that it seemed to estabhsh my soul in the truth, enabling me to feel that He was all that ‘He says He is, and the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Oh, that we may walk uprightly before Him, and watch against the treacherous foe we carry within!”

TO HEE SOX, REV. I. D. W, OX MIXISTERIAL WORK.

“... I long to hear how you are, and whether the Lord is blessing you with His presence: without it this world is a desolate wilderness indeed. I fear you will find it lonesome where you are; but if the Lord gives you plenty of work to do for himself, He will give you a sweet reward for your labour, and a contented mind with your lot. If you feel you are put where Jesus would have you to be, how sweet will be the thought! It will repress every wish to be elsewhere. How delightful to live to please Him, and Him only, who died for you! I have been just praying for you, and the Lord blessedly drew my heart out. I have prayed that you may feel increasingly the vast responsibility that rests upon you as a messenger of the Lord of Hosts, and that you may continually have an eye to that great day when you must render up the account of your stewardship. Oh that you may hear those blessed words, Well done good and faithful servant! I asked the Lord, too, to speak to you, and to speak through you to the people. Remember, before you fix your mind upon a text, to go upon your knees and ask your Master for one. If He gives you one. He will speak by it to you and your flock. Oh, you know not what a blessing will always attend this childlike faith in your heavenly Father. Be much in searching the Scriptures, for, in so doing, you will find rich food for your own soul, and for the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseer. If you have only a dozen poor people, never let it be a temptation to be less earnest and fervent in your preaching. If you watch the wind, you will not sow; but keep your eye upon the Lord of the harvest, and do His work faithfully, and He will give you your hire. And may God bless you and make you a blessing!”

To some individuals the deep searching of heart, in which she was wont to indulge, will appear almost painful. But those searchings marked the honesty with which she ever sought to walk before God. And yet the lowliest estimate she entertained of herself was always accompanied with the most exalted views of Christ, and the clearest apprehension of her completeness in Him. She grew downward, and so brought forth fruit upward. Like the banvan-tree, whose branches first strike down into the earth and then shoot up again, she sank into a deep consciousness of her helplessness and dependence, and then, as from the lowest depths of self-humiliation, she rose strons: in faith, glowinor with love, and clineine all the more closely to the Saviour. Such would seem to be her experience, as thus portrayed: —

“A note from, inviting me to meet a minister and his

wife who were on a visit to them. But I do not feel in spirits to meet strangers. I need a refreshing myself, and blessed be God, He has melted my heart this morning with sweet contrition, blended with holy joy, and an increasing desire to live to Him and for Him, who is all and everything to my soul. Oh, if He were to turn from me, I am lost for ever. This world, with the dearest earthly creatures, could not satisfy my soul. And oh, to call the Creator, the Upholder of all worlds, mine — yes, mine, for I am His, and He is mine, and that through all eternity — is a privilege so sweet that angels might envy. And is it boasting to speak boldly of these things? And yet I have been convinced, on examination, that in what I have felt it a duty and a delight to tell of His great goodness, there was much of self — hateful self — insensibly, at the time, that has laid me low in the dust before God. For this cause I do not like to meet with strangers who have heard of me from dear friends, who themselves are willing to overlook ten thousand infirmities and imperfections, because they love me. They do not know me as I know myself, and as God knows me. And I can truly say, that it is my unspeakable comfort that He does know me altogether. I would not have one tiling hidden from Him, which He in love hides from the world. Oh, the praise due to His restraining grace!

“Last evening I heard a stranger. His text was singular. And Adam called his luifes name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. He remarked, that as soon as Adam and his wife ate the fruit, in disobedience to God’s command, they died — spiritually died. God preached the gospel to them while in this awful state, and by the light of His Spirit they were enabled to believe in the promised seed that was to bruise the serpent’s head. He first showed how much all names then had a significant meaning. Thus, God changed Abram to Abraham, because he was the father of the faithful. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, because, as a friend, he had power and prevailed with God. Eve was the mother of all living, who, like herself, were made alive in Christ Jesus. The seed of the serpent could not have been included, as they were always dead, dead in trespasses and in sins. Christ was the seed of the woman, and all the members of the body, of which He was the head, were alive in him. Of these Eve was the mother, for she was the living mother of all made alive in Christ Jesus. This sermon was full of Christ throughout.”

“Heard Mr, E on Tuesday eveninD;. Ou-ht I not to

grow in grace, and in the knovN-ledge of God my Saviour? But oh, how slowly I advance to what I ought! One thing I do know, — I feel increasingly my own vileness, and see increasing beauty in the gospel, and its suitableness to the wants of a poor sinner. God shows me more of my own sinful self, and more of that perfect righteousness in Christ Jesus, which is unto all and upon all them that believe.”

“Have you seen ‘Mammon,’ by the Rev. Mr. Harris? It is excellent. The next best essay on the subject was by a policeman, who wrote it while on his rounds in the night, and by the light of the lamp. Mr. Baptist Noel has just sent out a tract on the ‘Unity of the Church.’ It is dehghtful. There has been such a demand for it, that I could not obtain a copy from the publisher to send you. How needful both to Churchman and Nonconformist is such a work just now, when the members of Christ’s body are warring against each other, — brother against brother, and that before unbelievers. May God bless this work to His church, and raise up many such faithful heralds of the cross, to warn their brethren of their evil ways!”

TO HER SON, REV. G, E. W, ON MINISTERIAL

RESPONSIBILITY.

“... Yesterday was the Sabbath, and you, I trust, were standing up in your great Master’s name, to declare the whole truth as it is in Jesus. The more I think upon it, the more I feel the vast, the weighty responsibility that rests upon the minister of Christ. I look throuo:h a series of vears, short and uncertain, to the judgment-seat, and there behold him the first to render an account of his stewardship. Oh, the tremendous responsibihty — the care of precious and immortal souls! And when I remember that I have three now standing in this all-important position, I feel a trembling lest any of you shoidd come short at last. ‘Be faithful unto death.’ Beware lest you speak peace when God has not spoken peace. Oh, think of a poor, deceived soul, going into eternity, fancying all is well, and the minister helping on the fatal delusion from want of faithfulness and obedience to the command of his God. Shrink not from duty, however painful. Let all things be right between you and God. It would be well to make a report of each day’s work to God; and although you may have failed in many things, and have come short in al you will yet find this daily exercise sweet and profitable. I; will preserve tenderness of conscience, and have a sanctifying influence upon the heart. Never forget for one moment whose you are or whom you serve; and may the love of Christ constrain you to diligence and devotedness of heart.”

Who does not feel, as he closes the preceding extracts from her letters to her children, how powerful and deathless is the influence of a holy mother! That influence employed in planting the first seedlings of thought, in shaping the first actions of childhood, still lives to instruct, admonish, and cheer in manhood’s riper years. Honoured and privileged are they, around whose toilsome path yet lingers a spell so sacred, a power so gentle, and a charm so holy and persuasive. The sepulchre has closed in silence over her; 1jut her inspiration, vital, and balmy as the breath of spring, still floats over life’s dreary way, gladdening, moulding, and guiding. Thus is it that Christianity ennobles, sanctifies,. and immortalizes all the endeared relations of life. Beneath its embalming power the parental relation never dies. The authority to which as children we bowed so submissively, in later life, when the snow-flakes of time have frosted our brow, still lives to sway; and the maternal influence which shaped our youthful step, yet holds us in its deathless enchantment.

TO HER SOX 0.

“March 14th. — Lord L is expected in town to-morrow. He has just lost his second daughter, a most interesting and amiable girl of fifteen. She died a week ago, in Paris. I grieve and sympathize with him as a parent. He never left her bedside, and deeply feels her loss. I pray for him, and desire that his heart may be sustained, and his affliction may be sanctified. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Evans preached, in Rowland Hill’s pulpit, the annual sermon for the Baptist Missionary Society. He was most excellent. Surrey Chapel was excessively crowded. His people met at six o’clock that morning, for prayer on his behalf. Previous to his undertaking this service, he had entered with much earnestness into the missionary cause, and regrets he had so long stood aloof from it; and now it occupies much of his thoughts and labours; in fact, it has enlisted his whole heart. This evening they meet in John street, to form a missionary auxiliary.”

A reference in the foregoing extract suggests the remark, that it is always interesting to trace an important result to its cause. The strong sympathy with which the subject of Christian missions was now regarded by Mr. Evans, appears to have been in a great measure awakened by the perusal of the “Memoir of Mrs. Harriet Winslow,” the eminent and beloved American missionarv to Ceylon. Havins: received a copy from New York, Mrs. AYinslow brought it under the notice of her pastor in the following letter, addressed to the second Mrs. E.: —

“... My dear Friend, I want you to get the memoir of dear Mrs. TTinslow, the missionary who died not long ago in India. It will do you good. She was a most devoted woman, and bright example. I have read it with deep interest. She knew your dear sister in India, and corresponded with her. Your brother’s name is also mentioned. I think that, next to the Bible, the lives of God’s dear people, their Christian experience, and the dealings of God with their souls, is most profitable. It stirs one up to diligence, and to press forward to great things. I have felt more than ever, since I read the labours of this dear saint, what a poor unprofitable servant I am, and have been led to cry to the Lord for more of the mighty influence of His Holy Spirit. Mrs. Winslow mentions the Maternal Association formed in India, and God’s especial blessing upon it in answer to praying mothers. You will see, too, that revivals are not confined to America, but are wherever God gives a wrestling spirit for them, and His people are looking out for the fulfilment of His promise. It has verv irreatlv dehg-hted me to see how Christians of different denominations live and cling together when away from home, and feel they are eng-acred in one common cause. The Church of England, Presbyterians, Baptists, Wesleyan missionaries, all aiding; each other in this blessed work and labour of love. Oh, for hearts full of the love of Christ!”

She again more distinctly refers to the happy influence of this beautiful and soul-stirrinsr missionarv biogrraphv, in a letter

O v Civ/

to her daughter-in-law: —

“... I rejoice, my dear A, that you are both

comfortable and happy, and believe that you are where the Lord would have you be. Oh, that you may return according to His great goodness, and trace His dear hand in all His tender, gentle deahngs. Walk doubly close to Him m the day of prosperity, and watch over your heart with a jealous eye, lest it prove a temptation and a snare. Time is short. You have much, my dear daughter, to do for God in a little space. Eternity will be quite long enough to rest. Now is the time for honouring God; and you may be a great help to your husband in the ministrv of the blessed word. Oh, that God mav keep you both faithful to His work. Read dear Mrs, Harriet Winslow’s memoir, I am sure it will do you good. It was sent to me and I lent it to others, Mr, Evans says he cannot be thankful enough that I ever placed it in his hands. It has made him quite an ardent missionary at home, John-street is now a missionary church; and already one of their own number is going forth to carry the glad tidings of the gospel to the heathen.”

Few briffhter iewels will adorn Harriet Winslow’s crown than this.”^ To have been instrumental by her holy, self-denying labours in a foreign field, long after she had passed to that

* Among those jewels is the follovv’ing:

“A short time since, there arrived one evening in a small village in the western part of Indiana, a man in middle life, clad in the garb of a sailor. His atldetic form, dark eye. and death -like paleness, together with the peculiar bearing which a sailor alone possesses, drew around him at once a peculiar interest. He had spent his youth and early manhood on the ocean, amid the toils and perils of a sailor’s life. He had enjoyed, in one of the New England States, the blessings of an early education, and the instruction of a. pious mother. But that mother had long belbre gone down to her grave, sorrowing over the waywardness and absence of her wandering son; while he, far away from the home of his childhood, and the influence of a muthe/s prayers, had become a reckless and ungodly sailor. He mingled among the vicious and profane. He forgot his nwthers warnings, and became a swearer and an infidel. Broken down at length, by the excessive toils of seafaring life, and the influence of the burning climes he had traversed, and under the influence of an incurable disease, he was sinking rapidly to the grave. He had now turned his face to his own native shore, and on the evening I have mentioned above, had arrived at the house of an only sister to die.

“The neighbours and friends all flocked around him to see and hear a sou of the ocean. But he was melancholy and silent. He foresaw the fate that awaited him. He knew that he was doomed soon to die, and to enter upon that dark uncertain future, which he had for many years tried to believe to f)e only a phantom of the imagination. But uov.” he had no ungodly companions about him to laugh away his fears. His thoughts ran back to his early life. He remembered the warnings and counsels of his mother, now no more. He called to mind the tracts that had been given him, and how ho had slighted the faithful admonition.s he had received.

“Chri.^^tian friends now gathered around his dying bedside, and encrown, in awakening in behalf of the work to which she consecrated her youth, and in which she sacrificed her life, a deep, earnest, practical sympathy in the heart of such a Christian and such a minister, and, through him, of influencing hundreds more with a zeal for Christ, which still lives and acts, is an honour before which earth’s proudest, brightest laurels pale. Such is the deathless influence and the reward of a life devoted to God!

deavoured to point him to the Redeemer of lost mankind. He lingered on for weeks, sometimes in the agony of despair, sometimes buried in the most melancholy stupor: at length, through the pardoning mercy of Christ, he found peace in believing. Then, oh, what a change came over his whole appearance. A smile of heavenly joy now lighted up his pallid features. His tongue was now unloosed, and he was constantly conversing with those around him of the preciousness of the Saviour he had found.

“He spoke, too, with mingled feelings of sorrow and interest, of the efforts that had been made for his salvation by Christian passengers on board his ship while he was a sailor. He took particular delight in speaking of the lamented Harriet Wixslow, and of her voyage to India, on board the ‘Indus,’ in which vessel he was then an officer. ‘I well remember,’ said he, his dying eye brightening with animation, — ‘I well remember that devoted missionary band, who then sailed to their field of labour in our vessel. Mrs. Wixslow, in particular, I can never forget. She was so kind and faithful, so persevering and constant in her endeavours to arrest our attention, and le ;d us to reflect on our awful condition, that I have always wondered why I did not then become a Christian, with some others of the crew. But I stifled all my convictions, and put off the all-important concerns of my soul. Some of the tracts she gave I read, others I threw away; but I could never throw away or get rid of her faithful admonitions. They have always followed me. In the ocean storm — amid the fierce bowlings of the tempest, when a yawning eternity’ was at my feet, her sweet, kind voice of admonition was sounding on my ear, wherever I went, among my profane associates on ship-board, or in the haunts of vice on the shore. When I consider hov.- she had left for ever the home of her childhood, and her dear brother and friends behind, forsaking all the plea.sant associations of he early life, to go and spend her days among an ignorant and barbarous people. 1 could not withstand such arguments against my scepticism. There must certainly be a reality in the religion of Christ. And. then, the delightful memoir of her. prepared by her husband, I have read it many times. Oh. it is all true! She icas a Christian, and now I hope to meet her in heaven.’

“During the few last days of his life, he spoke frequently, with tears of gratitude, of Mrs. Wiusluw, and enjoined on all his friends to obtain and read the interesting memoir of her life. He died in the triumph of faith in a glorious Redeemer, whom he had, through nearly his whole life, shghted and despised.

“Dear reader, here you have an example of the wide-spread influence of Christian effort, ‘ihat same good seed which was sown twenty-eight years ago on board a ship on the ocean, we find springing up in the centre of the great Yest.”