Page images
PDF
EPUB

despised, 'What she must do to be saved:'then followed, a very clear and Scriptural statement of the method, in which she became personally interested in the Saviour; and of the sacred peace and joy which were the result of that simple and entire trust in the atonement. Many of her young friends, I doubt not, remember this season with great pleasure.

"The principal opportunities which I had subsequently, of witnessing the exemplification of the power of religion, in the amiable subject of your Memoir, were in scenes of deep and painful affliction. I do not remember, that I omitted any occasions of ministering to her edification, when she was confined to her house. I believe that very soon after she became the subject of continued attacks, she entertained no sanguine hopes of her recovery. There were alternations of hope and fear; an occasional fine day might bring an exhilaration of spirits, but there was a worm at the root. The withering influence of her disease often reminded me of

the poetic sentiments of Dr. Jer. Taylor; 'So have I seen a rose newly springing from the clefts of its hood, and at first it was fair as the morning, and full with the dew of Heaven, as a Lamb's fleece; but when a ruder breath had forced open its virgin modesty, and dismantled its unripe retirements, it began to put on darkness, and decline to softness; it bowed the head, and broke its stalk, and at night, having lost some of its leaves and all its beauty, it fell into the portion of weeds.' The general character of her religious experience was joyous.

"There was an occasional gloom, which sprung more from physical than spiritual causes. Her religion was sometimes seen, in most glorious triumphs. Her countenance was generally adorned with smiles, when, had it not been for the influence of religion, it would have been shrouded with gloom; and her lips often poured forth the language of praise, when, if Christ had not been precious, they had been closed in despair, or uttered only the language of

N

complaint. My visits convinced me, that her afflictions were producing a rapid maturity for the world above, and were withdrawing her affections from the world she was so soon to leave. There was invariably a steady reliance on the blood of atonement, that ‘Rock of Ages,' and she bore a blessed testimony to its strength and firmness. Her sinking frame, as well as her instructed and disciplined mind, prevented her from falling into any danger from a heated imagination, or the delusions of a mistaken enthusiasm. Her experience, even in the deepest suffering, was 'the sober certainty of waking bliss.' There was an abiding conviction that her sufferings were from God, the appointment of a Father and a Friend; she felt they were not too severe, because his love apportioned them. They were not ill-timed, though cutting her down in the morning of life, because his wisdom could make no mistakes. I often observed an anxiety, that the design of her affliction should be answered: she was fearful

lest any lesson in this school should be lost, lest after these fires, her soul should not be elevated, abstracted, purified :-and her holy communings with God, often led to the exclamations 'I glory in infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.""

Mr. F. in conclusion, very properly observes, that the piety of his friend was truly active and benevolent.-She sympathized with distress in all its forms, and she had arranged her plans for doing good in various ways, according to her limited means and state of health. Her religion was not merely contemplative, nor her fervour the effect of occasional impulse nor an enthusiastic elevation of her fancy. Her devotion was kindled at the altar of God, it had her Saviour in view and the holy women of old. It was a principle that came from God, and led her to his holy Mount. May her friends be followers of her, in her active zeal and her fortitude in distress. May their faith also like hers, triumph over death.

THE PILGRIM'S HYMN.

RISE

my

soul and stretch thy wing,

Thy better portion trace;

Rise from transitory things

Towards heaven, thy native place. Sun and moon and stars decay,

Time shall soon this earth remove; Rise my soul and haste away,

To seats prepar'd above.

Rivers to the ocean run,

Nor stay in all their course;

Fire ascending seeks the sun,
Both speed them to their source.

Thus a soul, new-born of God,
Pants to view his glorious face,
Upwards tends to his abode,

To rest in his embrace.

Cease ye pilgrims, cease to mourn,

Press forward to the prize;

Soon the Saviour will return
Triumphant in the skies:
Yet a season and ye know

Happy entrance will be given;

All your sorrows left below,

And earth exchanged for heaven.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »