you receive it, I fhill have put off mortality, I fhall have obtained dominion over the king of terrors, and the sting of death; I fhall be wafted to heaven, that region of unfading pleasures and endlets joys, and be exulting in the enjoyment of all the blifs which poffeffeth that verdant paradife of God, and fit under the fhadow of the tree of life tor ever,

To God and to the word of his grace, I recommend my dear fifter, her deftined huband, her honoured parents, her brothers and fifters, and her dearly beloved Charlotte C―m, and all her relations. Grace be with you. I am,

DEAR SISTER,

Your affectionate dying brother,

J. T-s.

After my dear friend had finifhed the above letter, he faid, "I am greatly fatigued with fo much writing; and think I fhall write no more in this world. I have difcharged my duty to all who are most nearly related to me; and I have done with the world, and all its concerns. My timè henceforth must be spent in meditation and prayer, with reading the word of God, which will now be my principal food, and the rejoicing of my heart. I lament that I am not better acquainted with that facred volume, which is full of God and Christ, and is a rich mine which can never be exhaufted by the most laborious digging. Lord, open my heart to understand the fcrip

tures.

Laden with guilt, and full of fears,
I fly to thee, my Lord,

And not a glimpfe of hope appears,
But in thy written word.

The

The volume of my Father's grace

Does all my grief affuage:

Here I behold my Saviour's face

Almoft in every page.

This is the field where hidden lies
The pearl of price unknown;
That merchant is divinely wife,
Who makes the pearl his own.
Here confecrated water flows,
To quench my thirst of fin:
Here the fair tree of knowledge grows,
Nor danger dwells therein.

This is the judge that ends the ftrife,
Where wit and reafon fail;
My guide to everlasting life,
Through all this gloomy vale.

Oh! may thy counfels, mighty God,
My roving feet command;
Nor I forfake the happy road

That leads to thy right hand.

Having two days before received a letter from my fteward in the country, I wrote an answer to it this afternoon, and carried it myself to the poftoffice, being glad to enjoy a little of the air, a benefit from which my clofe attendance on Mr Ts had for fome time excluded me. I did not stay abroad above half an hour. When I returned, I liftened at the room door, to fee if any body had come in to him. He then began the following prayer, which I noted down, as as he fpake fo as I could diftinctly hear him.

"O glorious and gracious Jehovah, thou art my God and Father, my Saviour and Redeemer." Vouchfafe me thy grace and Spirit, to comfort and fupport me amidst the pains and diftreffes of my body, and in the struggle I fhall foon have

with death. Time is faft flying from me, and eternity posting towards me with a fpeedy pace. Thou art the fole arbiter of times and feafons; thou haft numbered my days; and when the hour which thou haft fet to my life arrives, my foul must leave its prefent habitation, and remove into the world of eternity. When that day comes, as foon it will, may I die in the Lord; may thy angels convey my foul into Abraham's bofom; and may I be with my lovely Lord Jefus in Paradife, as he faid unto the penitent thief in the agonies of his crucifixion. There is nothing in the world to court my stay, or invite my continuance here. The world lieth in wickedness, and at beft is but a vain fhow, a valley of tears, a feat of miferies, a land of forrows and difappointments. O, difengage my heart from its vanities, and attach it to the glory and felicity of the land of joy beyond the Jordan of death. There is no happiness to be found in this foreign land; but felicity dwells in Immanuel's land, fresh and blooming, unmixed with forrow and pain, and not allayed by uneafinefs or toil. O Lord, I long to be there, that I may be ravished with thy love, and fatisfied with the light of thy countenance. But I have the deep river of death to pafs through, and natur recoils at the unknown paffage. But be thou with me in that tempeftuous ocean, and let thy comforts delight my foul. May thy prefence go with me, and thy promifes fupport me; take me by the hand; and I fhall, with joy, bid adieu to all earthly delights, and, with the utmost fatisfaction, enter into the world of fpirits; that I may be ever with the Lord, to behold his glory unvailed. I defire, O Lord my God, to wait in hope till my change comes. Till then, O my God, uphold me by thy grace; and as my outward man decays, let my inward man

be

be proportionably renewed. Let me daily receive fresh fupplies of thy grace, and new tokens of thy love. Strengthen my faith, revive my hope, increafe humility and felf-denial, give patience and fubmiffion amidst the distreffes of a confuming carcafe, and gradually prepare me for the heavenly mount Zion. Let thy word be a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path; may I love thy law, and may it be the fubject of my meditation night and day. O make thy face to fhine upon me, and deliver me from all my tranfgreffions. Weaken the power of fin and Satan, of unbelief and corruption, within me, until I ob tain a complete victory, through him that loved me. While I am in the body, enable me to glorify thy name, to keep thy commandments, and celebrate the praises of redeeming love and grace, As I have greatly difhonoured thee in the days of health, by engaging in the fervice of fin and Satan, and promoting the intereft of the prince of darkness; O, let me now be a witnefs for God, and give zeal and courage to advance thy interest. Accept graciously, through Chrift, what faint efe fays I have made for vindicating thy honour, and recommending thy good ways to the wicked and profane; and blefs my endeavours for reclaiming my once debauched companions. O Lord, thou who haft convinced me of fin, and betrothed me unto thee in righteoufnefs, convince thefe lewd and wicked young men of the evil and hazard of thofe flagitious ways in which they walk. O fhoot the sharp arrows of conviction into their fouls, and pierce them to the very quick. Pluck them as brands out of the burning, and magnify thy fovereign mercy in faving them from all their horrid trefpaffes. Quicken the dead, enlighten the blind, inftruct the ignorant, cleanfe the polluted, and render them every one wife unto falvation. I

S 2

leave

leave them in thy hand, I commit them unto thee. Save and redeem them for thy name's fake. O moft merciful Father, blefs and guide my dear friend, whom I perverted unto impiety, and whom thou haft in great mercy recovered from the fnare of the devil and his own lufts. O deal gracioufly with him, manifeft the knowledge of thy name more and more to him, and enlighten his mind with the knowledge of Chrift, May he live under the guidance of thy Spirit, growing in grace, and improving in acquaintance with thy bleffed word and ways. Let him be built on the Rock of ages, have his dwelling under the fhadow of thy wings, and receive the end of his faith, the falvation of his foul. Extend thy mercy alfo, O Lord, unto the other young man, upon whom thy word feems to have had fome effect. O let him experience a faving work indeed upon his foul, pay homage to the grace and righteousness of the adorable Redeemer, and take delight in thy word which formerly he ridiculed. May he become a Chriftian indeed; and evidence his love to the Lord Jefus, by á faithful adherence to the faith of the gofpel, and the teftimony of Chrift. Perfect what concerns him, and preferve him to thy glory.

"O Lord my God, leave me not; with-hold not the fmiles of thy countenance, nor eclipfe the light of thy bleffed face; for thou knoweft that I cannot live without thee. Rebuke the enmity, pride, and unbelief of my heart, and make me to long for thy falvation. May I, like the righteous, hold on in my way, and, with the man of clean hands, wax ftronger and ftronger. May my light be like that of the juft, which fhineth more and more unto the perfect day. O Lord, haften thy glorious appearances for extending thy kingdom and intereft in the world; enlarge