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"March 28th.-I have this week been called to witness the most painful dispensation that ever fell to my lot. Yes! she who was nearest and dearest to me, next to God, is now no more! I feel my bereavement; and God would have me to feel it; but I mourn not like one without hope, being fully persuaded, that she whom I loved is now a partaker of the rest that remaineth to the people of Gon.' Here she had transient views of JESUS; but there she sees him as be is. Here she felt the powers of the world to come; but there she is fully absorbed in them. The ways of the LORD are mercy and truth, although some of them are to us dark and mysterious."

About a month afterwards, he thus expresses his desires and resolutions after a more entire and unreserved devotedness to God.

"April 25th.-It is my desire not only to be a Christian, but a prosperous one; and not only to be engaged in the work of the Ministry, but to be more abundantly useful in that great work. I have this day, with fasting and prayer, renewed my covenant with God; resolving to be entirely devoted to his pleasure, by a more careful redemption of time, and a more diligent attention to my various duties as a Christian Minister."

At the following Conference he was stationed at Maidstone in Kent; and when the term of his labours in that Circuit had expired, on the 12th of July, 1815, after much consideration and earnest prayer, he entered a second time into the marriage-state with her who is now his mournful relict.

In August, 1815, he wrote as follows:

"I have just preached my last sermon in Maidstone Chapel. Perhaps I shall never meet these dear people again until the morning of the resurrection. May we all stand acquitted in that day! On Tuesday, we intend to set out for the place of my appointment, Thetford in Norfolk. May the LORD go with us; and may it be our determination to do good and to get good, while he lends us breath."

In May, 1816, he writes thus :

"I am now in possession of new blessings. O that I may improve them to the glory of my GOD. I find that the labour of this Circuit, at times, tries my bodily strength very much; but no matter;-I have long ago made up my mind to spend and be spent in the service of my heavenly Master!"

During his second year in the Thetford Circuit, he was greatly afflicted; and, in all probability, it was then that the foundation of that disorder was laid, which eventually removed him to "the house appointed for all living." The state of his mind may be gathered from his diary :—

"March, 1817.-My soul is at this time happy in a sense of the divine presence; though in body I am much indisposed. I have not been able to preach for many weeks. I find it hard work to quit the field of action, and to be laid aside from my Master's service. But in this also I would be resigned; and when I can no longer do, would cheerfully suffer my heavenly FATHER's pleasure. We have experienced much kindness and attention from our friends in this place, particularly from that worthy

family, the F-'s. Truly they have left us nothing to wish for. May their labours of love be abundantly rewarded, both in this life and in that which is to come!"

"July.-O how can I be sufficiently thankful for the return of health and strength! The LORD has heard prayer, and has appeared in our behalf. I am now able to resume my labours; and it is with holy delight and unfeigned gratitude that I again enter upon the great work of calling sinners to repentance. LORD, make me more zealous, and more faithful, that, feeling the brevity of human life, I may work while it is day.

"August 20th.-We have this day dedicated our dear boy to the LORD in the solemn ordinance of Baptism. To-morrow we are about to leave our beloved friends in this place, and to repair to our appointment at Manningtree in Essex. Yes; we must leave them, though it be with a considerable degree of pain, having for two years experienced the most sincere friendship and esteem, which will never be obliterated from our memories. And shall we not live in reference to that period, when, if faithful to the end, we shall meet them in glory?"

At Manningtree, as well as at Thetford, he was called to discharge the arduous and important duties of a Superintendent; in which he maintained, according to the best of his views, "the meekness of wisdom." A Preacher who was with him for some time, in that Circuit, thus describes his temper and conduct :

"In point of talent, MR. BRITTAIN had many superiors; in point of concern for the cause of GoD, I believe, none: for had he been less concerned for the Circuit, and more for himself, I think he might have been living now. In the pulpit, and out of it, he seemed to be the same man. Modest in his pretensions, mild in his manners, affectionate in his disposition, he would suffer nothing to divert him from his great object."

His religious experience, during the latter part of his labours at Manningtree, MR. B. has thus recorded :

"May 8th, 1818.-Many have been my exercises of late from a variety of quarters; but I trust that I have been enabled to steer a steady course towards the celestial world. What a mercy it is, amidst all the changing scenes of this mortal life, to have the HOLY SPIRIT for our Comforter, and JESUS for our Friend!

“August 12th.—I have sometimes been as if in the very suburbs of heaven, while endeavouring to declare the blessed truths of the Gospel.-If a drop be so welcome upon earth, what will be the immense ocean before the throne of GOD!"

MR. BRITTAIN'S next appointment was to the St. Neot's Circuit, in which he laboured with diligence and faithfulness; and at the Conference in 1820 he took his last station upon earth at Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, at which place a violent cold brought on a lingering consumption, which eventually effected his removal from earth to heaven. The following are some of the last passages that appear in his Diary :

"January 14th, 1821.-0 LORD, thou hast permitted thy unworthy servant to see the beginning of another year; but perhaps it is my last.

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My health still appears to be declining, and I am almost as weak as a little child. But my confidence is strong in the LORD; and I have this morning truly felt the powers of the world to come.

"March 24th.-LORD, I am thine; save me! Yes; save me from murmuring or complaining, under the most trying dispensations. My affliction is daily increasing, and unfavourable symptoms are becoming more confirmed. My dearest wife, too, is suffering extremely; in consequence of which, our dear infant is not expected to live. In addition to this, our other three children are all ill in the measles. O my heavenly FATHER, do thou support us, until these calamities be overpast!

"May 8th. I have this day found the LORD very gracious to my soul. I can say, 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he will keep that which I have committed unto him unto that day.'”

MRS. BRITTAIN has drawn up an account of the protracted illness, and triumphant departure of her late Husband; from which the following Extracts are selected :

"During the whole of his long and severe affliction, I never knew a murmuring or an impatient expression to escape from him. All was peace and tranquillity. The fortitude and resignation which he evinced, through the whole of his sufferings, were a sufficient proof that he possessed no small share of that religion which he had so ardently desired to recommend to others. During the fourteen months of his affliction, we were alternately the subjects of many hopes and fears, respecting his recovery, until within six weeks of his dissolution, when one of his medical attendants informed me that he was going very rapidly. I was desirous that the dear sufferer should be made acquainted with the Doctor's opinion; and as there was no one present from whom I thought he would receive it better, the agonizing task appeared to devolve on me. I therefore, after much exercise of mind, informed him that DR. P. had not the least expectation of his recovery, nor even of his being many weeks an inhabitant of this world. He received the communication with great composure, and said, 'My Love, I have earnestly desired to live for your sake; but believing that the LORD is about to take me to himself, I know that he will enable me to give you up. Yes; I have an unshaken confidence in him that he will provide.'

"From this time he evidently became more dead to the things of this life, and more alive to those which are eternal. As death advanced, his prospects brightened, and his confidence in his God became stronger. Ja consequence of great debility, he was not able to converse much; but frequently observed to those who called to see him, that he had done with this world, and should very soon be an inhabitant of a better.' On the morning of November 20th, after having been down stairs for a short time, he requested to be taken up again, saying, that he felt himself going so rapidly, that he hoped in a few days, at most, to reach his everlasting rest. On entering his room, when he had a little recovered from his fatigue, he exclaimed, with a heavenly smile upon his countenance, This is the room in which I hope to die. Come, blessed JESUS; come quickly.' He then repeated part of The Dying Christian,'- The world recedes, it disappears,' &c.; and continued in an ecstasy of prayer and praise, until tired nature sunk into a slumber. He lived more than a week after that time; during which he was kept in a tranquil and heavenly frame, frequently

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"On the day previous to that of his death, he said to the REV. Mr. JARRETT, 'I am not the subject of death, but death is subject to me! O death, where is thy sting! JESUS hath perfumed and sweetened the grave by being laid in it himself.' MR. JARRETT spoke about his dependance on JESUS. He said, 'He is an immoveable Rock. Next to communion with him in my closet, it has been my greatest delight to preach his Gospel.'—The whole of his last night was spent in prayer and praise. He frequently assured me of his happiness, and what a glorious foretaste he had of heaven. -A few hours prior to his dissolution, he said to a friend, Happy, happy! Bless the LORD! I now feel and enjoy the comforts of that religion which I have endeavoured to recommend to others. I have been, for the last half-day, labouring much for breath; but the conflict is almost over, and I am prepared for my eternal rest, through the merits of my REDEEMER.'-Never shall I forget the sweet peace and holy joy which appeared in all he said during the last hours of his life. On one occasion, I asked him if he still found his joy to abound? He replied, with a heavenly smile, 'O yes, my Love; and I cannot sorrow, no, not even on your account; because I know that your heavenly FATHER will support and bless both you and the dear children. In a very little while you will follow me to glory, where there will be no sickness, no sorrow, no death! Yes, I shall soon welcome you into glory! Give my dying love to all our dear friends, and tell them how happy I am.'-Thus he continued to converse, until he became quite exhausted, and then requested me to read one of his favourite Psalms; but shortly after I had taken up the book, I perceived a change in his countenance, and even before I could call in the Nurse from the adjoining room, the vital spark had nearly become extinct. And thus, while the bereaved Writer was sinking under a weight of woe not easy to be expressed, his happy spirit had, without a struggle, winged its way to the mansions of eternal glory.

"I think no one can be more unwilling than myself to say any thing of the deceased, that will not bear the strictest scrutiny; but in justice to departed worth, I must just add, that my late dear husband possessed a sweet and amiable disposition, and was a man of a meek and quiet spirit. When injured by any one, I have known him exclaim, O my Love, it was done in ignorance; it was a misunderstanding.' As a Minister of the Gospel, next to the salvation of his own soul, it was his chief desire to be made useful to the souls of his fellow-creatures. As a Friend, he was faithful and sincere; and as a Husband, and a Father, he was most tender and affectionate. Of him I think it may be truly said, that he did justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his GOD.'"

Since MR. BRITTAIN'S decease, two of his beloved children have followed him "through the valley and shadow of death," and they have been interred in the same grave, in the burial-ground belonging to our Chapel at Ampthill.

Bedford, March 9, 1822.

THE SPIRIT'S PROPHETIC TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE SUFFERINGS AND THE GLORY OF CHRIST:

A SERMON, ON 1 PETER I. 11,

BY THE REV. JOHN BURDSALL.

(Concluded from page 705.)

II. WHEN the SPIRIT of CHRIST foretold that " Glory" would follow his sufferings, his intention was to teach us that it would follow them as an effect follows its cause, designedly and necessarily, and not casually, or by accident. Such sufferings as the Sox of God endured, could not but lead to the most glorious results. Whether we advert to the manner in which they developed the character and perfections of the DEITY, and the great moral influence which they consequently exert over the fears and feelings of men ;—or whether we refer to the powerful appeal which they make to the sinner's understanding respecting the hopelessness and peril of his state, had they not been appointed ;—we must conclude, that either of these particulars separately, and still more the two conjointly, must needs put forth an influence highly persuasive and commanding, and necessarily drawing after it the most triumphant consequences.

"Touch'd by the Cross, we live, or more than die ;
That touch which touch'd not angels; more divine
Than that which touch'd confusion into form,

And darkness into glory ;

That touch, with charm celestial, heals the soul
Diseas'd, drives pain from guilt, lights life in death,
Turns earth to heaven, to heavenly thrones transforms
The ghastly ruins of the mouldering tomb."

But, (to reason independently of these happy consequences naturally flowing from the sufferings of JESUS CHRIST,)-did not the great SIRE Covenant or decree glory to his suffering Son? What mean those words, "When thou shalt make," or rather, shalt have made, "his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied?" (Isaiah liii. 10, 11.) Unquestionably, they imply that the FATHER would give great glory to the Sox as the reward of his sufferings. We have no authority to infer from this decree, that CHRIST had no glory until after his sufferings. For he had glory with the FATHER, not only before his own existence in the flesh, but even before the being of the world itself. "And now, O FATHER," (said JESUS CHRIST, when claiming the glory covenanted to him by the FATHER,) "glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world

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