occasion; and that assistance was imparted both to body and soul. She took a tender leave of the several branches of her family, not omitting the servants; and urged them, in the most emphatic terms and manner, to devote themselves wholly to the Lord,-to cleave to him with all their hearts, and to prepare for a final meeting with her in heaven. When she had finished her admonitions, she fervently blessed God, saying, " I have desired to see this hour; and I thank God that he has strengthened and assisted me. I have now done." It cannot be remembered that, after this memorable period, any remark of a worldly kind escaped her lips. All was prayer, praise, and spiritual conversation. "Heaven-ward her every wish aspired." The severity of her sufferings prevented her from conversing largely with her sorrowful attendants. Yet she gave sufficient evidence, from time to time, that her mind was at peace, and that she was waiting in meek and quiet submission for her release. "Come, Lord Jesus," she was often heard to say; "come quickly." In the midst of excruciating pain, she expressed a fear lest she should betray impatience; but on being told that the grace of God had hitherto been sufficient for her, and that he would continue to assist her, as long as she remained in the furnace, she gratefully replied, “He will; and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."" Sometimes her "adversary, the devil," was permitted to harass her. About three days before her death, she appears to have had her last conflict with him: it was severe, but it ended in triumph. A member of her family recited the passage, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The application of this good word foiled the enemy. After a short pause, she cried, “This is the victory! This is the victory!" repeating it several times with a voice of holy exultation. And here her Christian testimony closed. From this time she rapidly sank under the weight of mortality; and on Tuesday evening, October 23d, breathed her soul into the hands of her Redeemer, with a serene composure rather like sleep than death. A correct estimate of the character of the deceased will be best formed by those who, like her, cultivate the salutary influences of benign and unobtrusive piety. All who knew her will give a ready testimony to her humility, meekness, and gentleness,-to her "faith, hope, and charity." Regular in all her plans, punctual in her attendance on religious ordinances, kind and affable in her demeanour, happy in her temper, and solicitous for the happiness of all with whom she had any intercourse, she moved through the walks of society, "blessed and blessing;" and raising the warmest affections of her heart to heaven, she obtained, what she most ardently desired, holy spirituality of purpose, and intimate communion with God. She "chose the good part,' and enjoyed its pure and permanent advantages. Her Christian life was not like the turbid and impetuous rush of a mountain-torrent, but like the tranquil flow of a refreshing stream, which silently pursues its course of beauty and blessing, until at last it gently expands into the ocean, while the light of heaven falls upon its bosom, and all around is calm. MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS GREEN, BY THE REV. FRANCIS A. WEST. THOMAS GREEN was born at Carville, in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Circuit, January 2d, 1806, of pious parents, who early instructed him in the fear of the Lord. He was thus in a good measure preserved from those gross immoralities to which youth are so much prone. At six years of age he was admitted the first scholar in the Sunday-school, after the building of the Carville chapel. The instructions which he received at school, seconded by parental admonition, were productive of serious impressions; and these were fostered by his meeting in a select class of the more serious scholars. His diligence and general good conduct procured for him the first Bible that was given as a reward in that school. He remained a scholar until he was about fourteen years of age; when he became an active Teacher, in which office he continued till he was called to become a Local Preacher. Notwithstanding his generally correct outward deportment, he remained a stranger to the vital power of godliness until the nineteenth year of his age. The manner of his conversion was this: While passing the door of a house where a class was meeting, and upon which there was a blessed divine influence, his attention was arrested, and he listened to what was going on. His mind became powerfully affected, and he ventured to join them. But he met in class six months before he obtained mercy of the Lord. One evening he attended a society meeting, where three or four persons were in great distress on account of sin. From the language they used, and the earnestness of their manner, he concluded that his own soul was not in a safe state. and his belief in the Wesleyan views of the made him determine to secure for himself a full persuasion of his acceptance with God. When reading that part of Mr. Wesley's sermon on Justification by Faith, where justifying faith is said to be " a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins; that he loved me, and gave himself for me;" his chains fell off, and he felt the Spirit itself to bear witness with his spirit that he was now a child of God. Thus was he prepared to proclaim to others "the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins." His convictions of sin, doctrine of assurance, From this time there was a decided change in Mr. Green's character and conduct. He no longer trimmed between the world and religion; but "followed the Lord fully." His "conversation" was "as it becometh the Gospel of Christ." He had such humbling views of himself and his attainments, that he often wrote bitter things against himself. In the early part of his Christian career he was powerfully tempted to dis believe the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the reality of religion. From this circumstance his Leader had been heard to say, that either he would fall by the temptation, or the Lord was permitting it in order to prepare him for some special work. The temptation was overruled for good. He began seriously to consider the evidences of our holy religion, and to make a close examination of what had passed in his own heart. The result was a more firm and unwavering belief of the divinity of the Scriptures, and of his own personal interest in the blessed truths they contain. Having tasted that the Lord is gracious, and felt the Gospel to be the power of God to his own salvation, he longed to make known the Friend of sinners to all mankind. For a considerable time before he made known his convictions to any of his brethren, he had a powerful impression that he was called to preach the Gospel. At length, some circumstance led a Local Preacher to urge him to take an appointment, and with much fear and trembling he ventured to accept the invitation, and began to call sinners to repentance. From his earliest years Thomas Green was remarkable for his thoughtfulness and love of reading. After his conversion, and especially after he began to preach, his application to reading and study was intense. The Bible was his daily meditation. He wished to understand its meaning, enjoy its promises, and publish its glad tidings. With the works of Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher he was intimately acquainted; he had also read with care such of the best works on theology as he could procure. Thus was he furnished like "the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season." His preaching was calculated, not to please the fancy, or to amuse his bearers, but to convince and draw them to the Saviour; and sometimes his heart has been so much engaged in his work, that he could have fallen upon his knees in beseeching sinners to be reconciled to God. His attachment to Methodism was the result of a careful examination of its doctrines and discipline, which he was convinced were in accordance with the word of God. How mysterious are the ways of God to man! "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" How often does He disappoint even the cherished hopes of his church; and yet shows that such disappointment is in the most tender love and compassion! A youth so devoted, and so earnest in his public duties, would necessarily attract attention. His Superintendent recommended him to the Missionary Committee, as a fit candidate for the Missionary work. This opened to the mind of our young friend a field of such extensive usefulness, that, believing the hand of the Lord to be in it, his whole soul glowed with an intense desire to make known to the Heathen "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Every mountain of difficulty, in the eye of his imagination, became a plain. But the all-wise Ruler saw good to shut up these prospects; and often did Thomas in his last affliction rejoice that his heavenly Father had permitted him to enjoy the sympathy and attentions of his dearest relatives, rather than to feel the heart of a stranger in a strange land. About nine or ten months after this disappointment of his hopes, Mr. Green's health became seriously affected; and that fell disease, consumption, marked him for a prey. "With slow and silent, but resistless sap, In his pale progress gently gaining ground, During the whole of his affliction he was graciously supported and resigned. His mind was sweetly stayed upon God; and if at any moment clouds seemed to rest upon it, it was under a deep sense of his own unworthiness, and of the feebleness of his efforts for God and his cause. An intimate friend once asked him if he felt any comfort in the reflection, that, in a measure, he had been useful in the church of Christ : “Ah,” said he, "that is just what I was meditating upon; my want of zeal for God, and love to souls! How differently would I now labour, were I spared! But pray for me, my dear Sir, that God would powerfully manifest himself to me." They engaged in prayer; and God vouchsafed such an abundant effusion of his Holy Spirit, that all present were deeply affected; and our dear friend was enabled to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. His anxiety for the conversion of his relatives and friends greatly increased during his affliction. At one time of great exhaustion, when his friends thought that all was nearly over, after recovering a little, he looked up, and said, "O I thought I was going to heaven! What a sweet glimpse of glory I have had! O, mother, give me up, and let me go!" Soon after, feeling himself much relieved, and judging this to be a fit opportunity, he inquired if all the members of the family were present. Upon their being separately called, he gave to each of them an earnest exhortation to seek the Lord, to prepare for death, and to meet him in heaven; observing, "What should I have done in a dying hour, but for Christ in me the hope of glory?"" A few days before his death, the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah having been read to him, he referred particularly to the twenty-second verse; and observed to his sister-in-law, "Here I am; my strength gone; every nerve unstrung; but how pleasing is the thought, that by the eye of faith steadily fixed on Jesus, I can look myself to heaven!" " The day before his death, his sister was reading to him that part of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which contains the passage, "I am thine, save me." He said, That is my last text. I have been studying it upon my death-bed." She asked if he had written any notes upon it. "Don't mind that," said he; "it is engraved upon my heart." His strength rapidly declined, and it was evident the closing scene In was drawing nigh. He was unable to move himself in the least, and his faint whisper could only just be heard. On the morning of the last day of his life he said, "The last night has been one of extreme suffering, but of great rejoicing. I could sing of Jesus all the night long. 'O that all his salvation might see!' I have been praying that sinners may see the hand of God in this dispensation of his providence;" alluding to the cholera. During the whole day, his soul was all praise; exulting in the prospect of "going home," to be for ever with the Lord. "O how pleasing the thought," he would say, "to be safely housed!" the evening he was attacked with great difficulty of breathing, which lasted for some time, and then suddenly ceased. Seeing his friends weeping around him, he said, "O cannot you give me up? O give me up, and let me go." Unable to bear more, they left the room; when, beckoning to his sister-in-law to remain with him, he lay a few moments quite composed, sweetly breathing out, "Precious Jesus! precious Jesus!" then, as if having received supernatural strength, he turned himself upon his bed, and earnestly requested his sister-in-law, to pray. He then said, "This is the last struggle: call my brother John, and you must pray me away." His sister prayed a few words; when it seemed as if " "Prayer ardent open'd heaven; let down a stream Of glory on the consecrated hour Of man, in audience with the Deity." Throwing out his arms, and clapping his hands, he said, "Look! He is come! Jesus is come! and waits with out-stretched arms to receive me!" His father and mother coming in, he said, "O, father, pray me away! pray me away!" His father and another prayed; and they were 'quite on the verge of heaven." Turning soon after to his brother, he said, "This is the last struggle! I am just going! Victory is mine! victory is mine!" Prayer was soon turned into praise. Summoning all his strength, he shouted, "Hallelujah! hallelujah." For a few moments he was still. Heaven was reflected into his soul. It was “all the silent heaven of love." At length, folding his arms, he said, "He is come! He calls! I must go ;" and, closing his eyes, he sweetly fell asleep in Jesus, January 4th, 1832, aged twenty-six years. HUMILITY. WISDOM is that perfection which is necessary to the Christian's understanding; and it consists in the knowledge and approbation of divine truth. Now there is no access to truth in divine things, but only through faith. Faith is all the security we have against deception. And what is faith, but the humbling of reason; the beating down of imagination; the bringing of thoughts into captivity? a professed enemy to the opinionative and the disputer, and utterly inconsistent with the pride of understanding. We cannot so much as approach to truth, |
