"Have you any doubts, then, my dear friend?" asked Mrs. Chrystie. "O, no," replied Mrs. Graham; and looking at Mr. and Mrs. B as they wept. "My dear children, I have no more doubt of going to my Saviour than if I were already in his arms; my guilt is all transferred; he has cancelled all I owed. Yet I could weep for sins against so good a God: it seems to me as if there must be weeping even in heaven for sin." She was now surrounded by many of her dear Christian friends, who watched her dying bed with affection and solicitude. On Tuesday afternoon she slept with little intermission. This, said Dr. Mason, may be truly called "falling asleep in Jesus." It was remarked by those who attended her, that all terror was taken away, and that death seemed here as an entrance into life. Her countenance was placid, and looked younger than before her illness. At a quarter past twelve o'clock, being the morning of the 27th of July, 1814, her spirit gently winged its flight from a mansion of clay to the realms of glory, while around the precious remnant of earth her family and friends stood weeping, yet elevated by the scene they were witnessing. After a silence of many minutes they kneeled by her bed, adored the goodness and the grace of God toward his departed child, and implored the Divine blessing on both the branches of her family, as well as on all the Israel of God. Thus she departed in peace, not trusting in her wisdom or virtue, like the philosophers of Greece and Rome; not even like Addison, calling on the profligate to see a good man die; but like Howard, afraid that her good works might have a wrong place in the estimate of her hope, her chief glory was that of "a sinner saved by grace." 27. MRS. MARY FRANCIS. "My God, my Father, and my Friend, Do not forsake me in my end."-ROSCOMMON. IN the commencement of her illness, this godly woman was exercised with great darkness and distress of mind, and was very earnest, in her inquiries and prayers, for the assurance of salvation. The enemy taking advantage of the weakness of her body, and some trying circumstances in her connexions, brought her into great heaviness. The corruptions of her nature, more fully appeared in their awful extent and malignity; the fountains of this great deep burst forth with such impetuosity, as made her fear she should be ingulfed in the vortex of destruction. In this frame of mind she would often exclaim, "O that I knew I were a child of God! O that I knew I were a believer in Jesus!" Being answered by a pious lady, whose visits were greatly blessed to her soul, "So you are;" she replied, "Satan tells me I am not, that all my religion is a delusion that I am nothing but a hypocrite, and that he shall have me, after all my profession." Conflicts of this distressing nature oppressed and agitated, frequently her body as well as her soul, in the most alarming manner. At other times the Lord applied the promises with such power and aptitude to her case, as remarkably dispelled her fears, and caused her to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. To a friend, who was in the habit of visiting her, she exclaimed, "I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. God is worthy to be trusted; he is as good as his word, I find him faithful, I feel him near me. God is love-how sweet are these words-God is love!" Being visited by her minister, he found her under great depression of mind, lamenting the loss of her comfortable views, and complaining of the hardness of her heart. She said she was greatly perplexed by the enemy, who suggested that she was a hypocrite, that all her religion was vain, and that she should go to hell. She fervently joined in prayer, was greatly relieved in it, expressed much thankfulness for the visit, and entreated her pastor to make his visits more frequent, for they were a great blessing to her soul. This happy frame was succeeded by confusion and darkness of mind, but she was enabled to rely on Christ, and trust in his promises: "I will never leave you-I will be with you. to the end." This happy frame was of short duration; in a few days she was overwhelmed with sorrow, but was delivered by the application of that promise, "I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon me, because he trusteth in me." She said she hoped her mind was stayed upon the Lord. "O!" said she, "I long for the consolations of Christ, I want more of his Holy Spirit;" and added, "I have had great consolations since you visited me last." The day following she was very low in mind, but said she knew that God had made an everlasting covenant with her, ordered in all things and sure." The next day I called on her, she was very weak, and spoke with much difficulty; but recovering a little, she broke out in expressions of exalted gratitude to Christ, "O, he has broken in upon my soul with such light! he has given me such joys, that all my doubts are removed; he says he will be with me, and stand by me in the trying moment: O how precious is Christ to my soul! O glorious hour! O blest abode ! I shall be near, and like my God; A few days before her death, she said to the lady whose visits had been very useful to her, "I have been living on the promises of a gracious God. I find Jesus Christ increasingly precious; I long to depart, I pray for patience while he delays the coming of his chariot wheels." The day previous to her departure, the glories of the eternal world were so wonderfully displayed to her view, as made her almost insensible where she was. She said: "I am not able to express half of what I feel; I know not scarcely where I am. O that I could but tell you what joy I possess! I am full of rapture; the Lord doth shine with such power upon my soul. Victory! victory! victory! 'Jesus, I know his charming name; He will not put my soul to shame, Not long before she departed, she said, "Lord, thou hast promised to be with me to the end." And then, with rapture, exclaimed, "He is come! he is come!" Thus this blessed woman, after a painful and lingering illness of eighteen months, entered triumphantly into the joy of her Lord, March 28, 1801. SECTION V. Christian Children and Youth. 1. WILBERFORCE RICHMOND. "We miss them when the board is spread, In still and mournful fondness lies.-NEWMAN. THE interesting narrative recorded by the Rev. E. Bickersteth, of the final hours of Wilberforce Richmond, the second son of the Rev. L. Richmond, late rector of Turvey, will supply an illustration of early piety, and of its power to sustain the mind of the young in the prospect of coming dissolution. This youth afforded remarkable promise of strong intellectual power, united with a lively and playful temperament, and open and honourable dispositions. He had been early-perhaps too early-intended for the clerical profession; though, conscious himself of its deep responsibilities, he for some time rather shrunk from than sought that office. The evidences, however, of a work of God upon his soul, became increasingly clear and manifest, though, with a reserve which was extremely painful to his father, he shrunk from conversing freely upon subjects of experimental piety. Pulmonary symptoms became soon apparent, and Wilberforce took a journey to Scotland, for the benefit of medical advice on the state of his health. A small cottage was engaged for him at Rothsay, in the isle of Bute. His residence here, however, seemed to develop rather than to check his unfavourable symptoms, and he returned to Turvey, to die. All reserve was now |