assuring me, that he had not the shadow of a doubt as to his future happiness.

"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 sinuer'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 Son 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

was." (John xvii. 5.) Nor was he destitute of glory even at the time when he disrobed himself, and "laid his glory by." For then, men "beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John i. 14.) But if he possessed such glory during all the time in which he tabernacled with men, he enjoyed an unusual degree of it in the Holy Mount, where he was transfigured. For then "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." And then it was that "he received honour and glory from God the FATHER, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Sox, in

whom I am well pleased.'" (2 Pet. ii. 17.) But all the glory which he ever had on earth, before his sufferings, was greatly to be surpassed by that which was to "follow" them. But if asked, how any glory could exceed that which he received when he was sent forth from the bosom of the FATHER, as perfectly qualified and authorized to reveal his character, and his purposes of mercy to mankind,—or that which he had, when, by the finger of God, he wrought the most stupendous miracles, in confirmation of his mission, and furnished other such tokens of his FATHER's favour as were perfectly unprecedented, to these questions we reply, that after he had actually offered up his life for the world, he had more striking marks of the approbation and delight of his FATHER afforded to him than ever he had before, and was placed in a condition to furnish the most astonishing and triumphant displays of wisdom, mercy, love, and power. The glory which was to recompense his cross and passion, was not the glory of worldly heroes, such as that of acquiring the dominion of this world by artifice, aggression, and every other species of political injustice;-nor yet that of enslaving the world by cruelty and bloodshed. Such glory he leaves to your NIMRODS, your NEBUCHADNEZZARS, your ALEXANDERS, your CESARS, your MAHOMMEDS, or your NAPOLEONS! Such glory may be, and certainly is, well calculated to suit their grovelling and infernal taste. But by an understanding, a benevolence, and a moral excellence so perfect as his, no glory save that which "Gop the FATHER almighty," all gracious and all perfect, hath stipulated to secure for him, can be held in any estimation whatever. This is the glory to which his undivided attention is turned. On this his holy heart is fixed :—and for this he is looking, or, as the HOLY SPIRIT phrases it, "is henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (Heb. x. 12, 13.)

Having said thus much, were this branch of our subject one of minor interest, or one on which bare hints would yield sufficient satisfaction, we might close our remarks upon it. But as it is a topic of pre-eminent importance, we must therefore dwell on it more at large. And we observe,

1. That the Glory which the HOLY GHOST predicted, as following

the SAVIOUR'S sufferings, was that of a most triumphant vindication of his character from those vile aspersions which his rejection and crucifixion by the Jews had brought upon it. To that people were committed those divine writings, the end of whose inspiration was to testify of CHRIST, and to prepare the world for his reception in the flesh. Of course, the world was naturally led to expect that the first manifestation of the MESSIAH would be made unto the Jews, and that they would most joyfully receive him. Judge, then, what must have been the public disappointment, when, instead of giving him this kind and hearty reception, the Jews rejected and crucified him. Having sunk in the opinion of his own people, it was to be expected that he would sink in the opinion of others; and nothing but a solemn vindication of his character could have preserved his cause from total ruin. Nor was it more necessary to vindicate his character, than to foretell that vindication; that the faith of his people, at the time of his death, might be preserved from utterly failing, and that the public attention might be directed to his resurrection, as an event which was to form the most important sanction of his mission and labours that had ever been given to the world For these reasons, the SPIRIT of Prophecy, in DAVID, when speaking in the person of MESSIAH, said, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm xvi. 10, 11.) How much JESUS CHRIST felt at the prospect of this stain upon his character, and of this successful vindication from it, may be gathered from his own words in his valedictory address to his disciples. For, after promising to send the COMFORTER to them, he adds, (John xvi. 8-11,) "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me," which they are required to do; "of righteousness," that is, of my rectitude, "because I go to my FATHER," who certainly would not give me any countenance, were I a sinner, “and ye see me no more; of judgment," that is, of my victory and power to judge, "because the prince of this world is judged," and his authority is falling.-And how complete this vindication proved, we are informed by ST. PAUL, who assures us, (Rom. i. 4,) that he "was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the SPIRIT of Holiness, by his resurrection from the dead." Thus his resurrection from the dead by the SPIRIT of Holiness, was God's voice to those who rejected and crucified him. And what said that voice unto them? Why, that though they had condemned him as an impostor, and put him to death as such; yet was he JEHOVAH'S favourite, and would be upheld by him in his glorious undertaking But while his resurrection greatly added to his glory, it was not intended to be the limit of it. For,

2. The Glory which was to follow his sufferings, was to embrace his elevation to the throne of glory by the right hand of God. That he was to attain to the throne, the HOLY GHOST predicted by David, when he said, "The LORD said unto my LORD, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Ps. cx. 1.) And that this was not to be a merely temporary piece of pageantry, but a substantial and a perpetual elevation to the dignities of the throne of glory, we learn from the same SPIRIT of Prophecy, who, when congratulating the MESSIAH on his ascent to the throne, saith by DAVID, (Ps. xlv. 6, 7,) "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest rightcousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy GOD, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." This rite of anointing was always used at the inauguration of the Kings of Israel and of Judah, and was used as an emblem of joy and prosperity Hence resulted the propriety of its peculiar application to the MESSIAH, on his exaltation to the throne. This advancement to the splendour of JEHOVAH's throne, was a boon placed directly in the view of the SAVIOUR, as a part of the joy which was covenanted to him. And, as such, he expected it to be the immediate result and recompense of his completed labours. We therefore hear him saying, (John xiii. 31, 32,) just as his work was drawing to a close, "Now is the SON OF MAN glorified; and GoD is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, GoD shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him." Nor was he in any wise disappointed. For, within seven weeks after his resurrection, we find PETER affirming, "that GOD had made that same JESUS, whom the Jews had crucified, both LORD and CHRIST." (Acts ii. 36.) This was what ST. PAUL phrases "highly exalting" him, (Phil. ii. 9,) and “giving him a name which is above every name; that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of GOD the FATHER." And what we are to understand by this peerless name which he has received, and by his being made both LORD and CHRIST, we learn from PETER, who, when defending himself before the great Council of the Jewish nation, said, "Him hath GoD exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins." (Acts v. 31.) And that he might be able to act in a manner corresponding to these titles, it was requisite that he should possess unlimited power. Accordingly we hear him saying, "Thou hast given him (the Son OF MAN) power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." (John xvii. 2.) Nor was this power limited to his control over men; but extended to every intelligent being, whether man or angel, and to every event, circumstance,