ON THE DEATH OF A CHRISTIAN. 459 shall see my Saviour in the flesh, who is exalted at the right hand of the Father, and there I shall bless him for all the blessings I have received from him. Thou wilt also set a guard over this body, even thy holy angels, to keep my dust and bones, which were, and shall be, even for ever, the dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost; for it is impossible that this flesh, which hath been quickened by a participation and communion of the Spirit, and thus ingrafted into the body of Christ, should ever be annihilated, or for ever continued in the state of death. But thou, who art the Fountain of Life, shalt require from the earth this thine own image; and by sending forth thy Spirit afresh, thou wilt again build it up as a glorious living body, that it may there become for ever a dwelling for thy Spirit to inhabit: there we shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, O glorious and divine Leader! and there we shall sing the new song, Let us rejoice! Hallelujah! O come let us go forth to meet our Redeemer! Our conversation is in Heaven; even in this life we must begin to know an eternal life, and follow in that order which Christ hath appointed. We shall be clothed upon and not found naked; and he who is the beloved Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, shall lead us to the fountain of living waters, and wipe alf tears from our eyes. "What the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath entered into the hearts of men," is prepared for them that love God. This earthly life is but death; but that is life indeed which Christ hath begun in my soul. And now, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; therefore, I will praise him." O blessed soul where Jesus hath his seat, who doth lead and bear well in all our motions and actions." Those who were witnesses of his last moments, inform us, that these were but a small part of the ardent breathings of the soul of this blessed man, after the enjoyment of God in eternal life. Just before he expired, he was heard to say, "Now I die, and have gained admission; like old Simeon, I die testifying to the truth of the prophets and apostles; blessing the Lord that he hath made the light of the gospel, in his marvellous goodness, again to return after a season of such darkness." Having uttered these words, he shortly after sweetly feel asleep in Jesus. On reading this account, my mind was naturally led to reflect on the infinite value of real experimental religion. Contrast the death of Hume and Voltaire, the Apostles of Infidelity, with the expiring moments of Joachim Curaus; and what an advantage has Christianity over Deism! O! who will any longer contemn the Scriptures! While the Infidel, filled with dread uncertainty, stands shivering on the brink of an awful eternity, the Christian is calm, nay he is not merely resigned, but sometimes even eager to depart; he has a good hope through grace, and this hope is worth millions of worlds. But there is vain, fallacious hope, the hope of the hypocrite, that shall perish mere nominal Christianity is a broken reed: that religion will only stand the test of the dying hour which is the fruit of the Spirit; which commences in deep conviction of the dreadful nature of sin; and which proceeds in repentance, faith, and holiness. To die triumphantly, it is not enough that we possess grace; all Christians are not alike honoured to bear a dying testimony to the glory of Jesus. To die well is to die daily. A heart inflamed with love to Christ, which cannot rest but in communion with the Father, and fellowship with his Son, is surely the most fit to depart to be with Christ, and is the most likely to enjoy the light of his countenance, and the support of his arm in the dark valley of the shadow of death. 66 "O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heav'nly frame, Cowes. J. S. A MINISTER'S WIFE'S PLAN OF VISITING. Mr. Editor, Ar a conversation which took place in a social circle, this question was started, "In what manner should a minister's wife conduct her plan of visiting?" As is usually the case with me, through diffidence in my own manners and opinions, I heard all that was offered, but said very little; nevertheless, my views of the subject were different from those which were generally adopted. Conviction was not produced in my mind, that it is the indispensable duty of a minister's wife to visit in general the congregation of her husband: and, for the reasons which are subjoined. I dissent from such a sentiment : 1. If she be the mother of a rising family, she is almost constantly required at home, to care for the tender bodies and souls of her young children; and as ministers are not commonly in circumstances to keep a great number of servants, the mistress must herself take an active part, and must be a kind of principal wheel in moving the house-machine. Very frequent absence from home seems quite inconsistent with these obligations of a female; and would make me think that I did not obey the injunction given to young wives by Paul, "That they be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, that the word of God be not blasphemed." 2. The great end of a minister's visiting his people should be to improve them in spiritual things; and if his wife feel her incompetence to be an help-meet in this part of his work, she is warranted, if she choose it, to retreat from, rather than live in, company. PLAN OF A MINISTER'S WIFE. — ANECDOTE. 461. 3. Though I make no pretensions to extraordinary penetration, yet I have discernment enough to perceive, that a minister's wife is frequently asked to visit, merely out of compliment to her husband. 4. Ministers' wives should certainly be examples to others. If they become general visitants, though in a few instances their good sense and piety will defend them from the common evils, yet they may be instrumental in injuring others by a pattern that is not so correctly copied as it ought to have been. I must wish to avoid being the occasion of bringing any under the reproof of the Apostle, "They learn to be idle, wandering from house to house; and not only idle, but tatlers also and busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not." 5. Though I am aware that, if she visit some persons and not others, she will be charged with partiality; yet I will coufess that this partiality cannot be avoided. Possibly such levity and inconsistency have been observed in some members of the congregation, that while it is the duty of a minister to visit with all the mildness of pastoral reproof, it is equally that of his wife to retreat from their society. Among the female disciples of our Lord, a few seem to have been strongly attached to each other; and I can see no reason why similar friendship may not be prudently established at present. Perhaps it will be suggested, that the authoress of the above does not feel the warm attractions of general company. To the person who affirms this, she would answer, "Thou hast rightly said." She would remind those who are extremely fond of it, that the snare is so much the more dangerous. But in selecting her associates, and in declining others, she is not conscious of being actuated by unscriptural partiality and sinful pride. A MINISTER'S WIFE. ANECDOTE. I KNEW a man (says the Rev. J. Macgowan in his Professor's Looking Glass) who once received one of the most severe reproofs he ever met with from his own child, an infant of three years old -Family prayer had been, by some means, neglected one morning, and the child was, as it were, out of his element. At length, he came to his father as he sat, and just as the family were going to dinner, the little reprover leaning on her father's knee, said, with a sigh," Pa, you were used to go to prayer with us, but you did not to-day." No, my dear,' said the parent, I did not." "But, pa, you ought: Why did you not ?” In short, the father had not a word to reply, and the child's rebuke was as appropriate and effectual, as if it had been administered by the most able minister in the land; and, it may be added, had as permanent an influence. Obituary. MRS. SIN GLETON. MRS. SINGLETON was favoured with a religious education, which had a great restraint upon her outward deportment. When arrived at years of maturity, she was, however, convinced that mere morality of conduct could not secure her eternal salvation: she then became more diligent in the means of grace; and under the ministry of the late Rev. W. Whitaker, of Leeds, she was brought to an experimental acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus. She was now much affected with a sense of the depravity of her nature; and was also favoured with clear discoveries of her personal interest in Christ. At this time she derived peculiar comfort from Isaiah iii. 53,lle was wounded for our transgressions," &c.; and was favoured with such a sense of divine love, that her "joy was unspeakable and full of glory." The Lord was thus preparing her for the severe and tedious afflictions which continued to the end of her mortal pilgrimage. For twenty years she was afflicted with a violent asthmatic complaint, by which she was deprived, during a great part of that period, of the advantages of public worship. The disorder at length terminated in a confirmed dropsy, which confined her to the house fifteen months; eleven of which she sat in her chair night and day. Her patience and cheerfulness in this state were such, that she did not murmur at the severest pains; her resignation was evident when her trials were the heaviest, and her looks, as well as her language, expressed that all-divine sentiment, Even so Father, for it seemeth good in thy sight." The followers of Jesus of all denominations delighted in her company, and seldom was she found alone. in her conversation she ever kept in view the glory of her Redeemer, and being familiar with the sacred records, she had just and clear cou ceptions of those doctrines which were adorned by her pious life. During the last stages of her disorder she was much troubled with drowsiness, and often said, “Had I salvation to seek now, I should be, of all women, the most miserable.' Some symptomatic circumstances, which threatened mortification, occasioned her at times considerable uneasiness; which, however, soon subsided when she recollected this passage, “Though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." She would often repeat with great composure, "Corruption, earth, and worms Will but refine this flesh," &c. Though the period of her dissolution was approaching with great rapidity, she did not appear to be harrassed with doubts or fears, and her faith being firmly fixed on the covenant of grace, she “rejoiced in hope of the glory of God." On the day which preceded her dissolution, a friend was speaking to her of her sufferings, when she exclaimed, "What are all my sufferings here, If, Lord, thou count me meet," &c. Her last night was unusually rest. less; but in the morning she was calin and easy, and about noon she fell into a gentle sleep, in which she departed without a sigh or a groan, of her age. She desired the Rev. E. on January 5, 1805, in the 68th year Parsons, of whose church she was a member, to preach her funeral discourse from 2 Samuel xxiii. 5, with God, yet he hath made with Although my house be not so me an everlasting covenant," &c. "Tell the people," said she to her pastor, "if you think me worthy to be mentioned, that this covenant was all my salvation, all my trust, and all my desire;" and she added, Say nothing in praise of me; let Christ alone be exalted." OBITUARY. thumberland; and after his marriage, was settled at Stublock, within two miles of his native place; he was steward of that colliery, and viewer of the others belonging to Greenwich Hospital. In 1787 he was induced to hear the Rev. T. Robinson, late of Hexham; and the Lord blessed the word to his soul and Mrs. T's. After which he was zealous for the glory of Jesus; and though he lived seven miles from Hexham, he was a constant attendant and worthy member, till some shyness took place concerning a minister, after Mr. Robinson's leaving them. In this the enemy designed evil; but God overruled it for good. Mr. T. encouraged the ministers to preach at his house and in the neighbourhood; and when he could not have preach ing he read sermons; which has been nseful in advancing God's glory. When I have been preaching, I have often admired his humility and readiness to accommodate those who attended; and ever found him a discerning, yet humble hearer of the fruth. He often stopped people on the road, and invited them to go with us. In the spring of 1804 he bad a strong invitation to go to Clough Hill Colliery, Staffordshire; to which, after consultation, he consented, and went about midsummer. The parting was trying, for he was much oppressed with the idea, that the removal was not of God. H's friends here, encouraged with the idea that it might be for God's glory, though some with himself had a presentiment, that his death was near. On his arrival he saw it necessary to begin the reading of sermons (viz. Burder's, Romaine's, and Erskine's) which service of love the Lord appeared to own; so that a woman, who had persecuted her husband for attending, gave evidence of a change, as do others of which Mrs. T. had information by letters; in which the writer says, There are some people happy in the love of God who were awakened under Mr. T's. reading, which is mentioned as a stimulus to others so situated to do the same. A house was built for him; but his mind was so exercised with the thought that he had left the place where he was useful to the widow, 463 the fatherless, and those brought up with him, that he never looked on it with pleasure. He had only entered it two days before he was seized with a pleuritic fever, which he viewed as God's messenger to remove him to an eternal house. When he was told he would get better, he said he thought not; but if so, he hoped it would be for God's glory; he was resigned to the will of God. There was a turn of his dis order, and the doctor was very positive that he would get better; he said, "O doctor, it is like telling a weather-beaten mariner, when within sight of his port, he must put back to sea." Those who came to see him he exhorted to prepare for an eternal state, and not to put it off till they came to a death-bed, for he found the affliction so great, that, had not the work been begun before, he should have been afraid to die. When very weak, he prayed with great fervency with those who sat up with him: he lay two days speechless; and before his eyes were closed to open no more, he looked around and then died without a struggle on Sabbath, April 21, 1805, aged 46. When the news came to Allendale, it caused much grief; and on the second Sabbath in May, Mr. Robertson, of Hexham, preached a funeral sermon at Catton. Before Mr. T. left this neighbourhood he subscribed 41. per annum, and got others to join, to make some compensation for the expences incurred by the minister's going nine miles from home twice a month, and sometimes oftener. His subscription died with him; and tho' the pecuniary supply is small, yet, from a desire to do good, the preaching is continued, and the people seem to have an increasing desire to know the truth. Hexham. W. R. RECENT DEATHS. From a Philadelphia News-paper. On Saturday, July 21s', 1800, died Dr. Elijah Perkins, of this city (formerly of New Loudon, Connecticut) much esteemed when living, and much lamented in his death. His departure was extremely sudden and auecting: He had, in the |