and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ."

CHARLES WELCH.

RECENT DEATHS.

OCT. 6th, 1841.-At Cliff, in the Pocklington Circuit, Mrs. Ellen Turner, in the thirty-third year of her age. In early life it pleased the Lord, through the instrumentality of a pious female relation, to produce in her a concern for the salvation of her soul. About the same time she joined the Wesleyan society, and soon after obtained the remission of her sins by faith in Christ. Having thus been brought to God, she was greatly concerned for the spiritual welfare of her family; and her ardent prayers and solicitude for their conversion were not in vain,God making her the honoured means of leading an aged father to the cross of Christ. Some months before her death, it was evident that consumption had marked her as its victim. Her last days were days of great suffering, which she bore with Christian patience. As her end drew near, she continued to speak of Jesus, and expressed her entire confidence in him as her Saviour. Her last moments were those of peace and joy; and, yielding her spirit into the hands of Jesus, she experienced the truth of those words: "I will never leave thee; I will never forsake thee." J. K.

Nov. 22d.-In the Third Manchester Circuit, Mrs. Hargreaves, in the seventy-eighth year of her age, having been a consistent member of the Wesleyan society above sixty years; so that she was truly "an old disciple." During the whole time of her last sickness, her mind was kept in perfect peace; and, as her end approached, her confidence, resignation, and comfort increased. She died in the full triumph of faith.

J. H.

Dec. 22d.-At Oakworth, in the Keighley Circuit, Mrs. Ann Smith, wife of Mr. John Smith, in the sixtieth year of her age, forty of which she had been a member of the Methodist society. About two years after she joined the society she was made happy in receiving the knowledge of salvation by the remission of her sins, and by the grace of God she held fast her confidence. For many years she was a witness not only that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; a witness, not in profession only, but in spirit and conduct. She had deep communion with God. Her tempers were heavenly, her walk was circumspect, and her peace and joy were abounding. The work to which she especially applied herself was praise. When bowed before God, whether at home or abroad, praise was her chief language; and her holy and happy life was crowned with a triumphant end. When she became so weak that it was difficult for her to articulate, she sometimes exclaimed, in a whisper, "Glory! glory! glory!" and said, "O ye that have strength, praise the Lord!"

J. A.

Feb. 14th, 1842.-At Prixford, in the Barnstaple Circuit, aged twenty-nine years, Mrs. Mary Carder. She became a member of the Methodist society when very young, and sought the Lord earnestly till she obtained a clear manifestation of God's pardoning love. About four years before her death, especially feeling that she often grieved the Holy Spirit by a naturally irritable temper, she was stirred up to seek deliverance from the inbred foc, and her faithful Saviour heard her prayer. From this period her piety was greatly improved, and her life became more holy and more useful. Several, who are now consistent members of the church, acknowledge her to have been the instrument of their conversion. Two or three days before her last illness, she fell on her knees in the midst of her domestic engagements, and prayed for her relatives in a strain of extraordinary devotion. On her dying bed she exhibited the power of religion, not only by maintaining a blooming hope in the prospect of mortality, but also by her appropriate and earnest exhortations to all who approached her, to make religion the first object of their lives, until she fell asleep in Jesus.

B. C.

March 18th.-At Cheetham-Hill, in the Manchester First Circuit, Sarah Dutton, aged thirty-two years. She was brought under religious influence, and joined the Methodist society, when sixteen years of age; and, by her love of the means of grace, and kind attentions to her widowed mother, gave ample proof that she was born of the Spirit. For nine years previous to her decease she appeared to be dying to the world. She said but little, and seemed only anxious to do and suffer the will of her heavenly Father; believing that her stay upon earth would be short. Her death was one of peace and hope. J. T.

March 21st. At Haddenham, in the Ely Circuit, Miss Sarah Robinson, in the twentyseventh year of her age. From a child she was distinguished by her love of truth and uprightness. At an early age she became a Teacher in the Wesleyan Sunday-school, and was diligent and faithful in the discharge of the duties of that office til affliction obliged her to relinquish it. She was devoutly attached to the cause of Missions, and was a successful Collector for their support. The Wesleyan Ministers, who have been kindly accommodated in the house of her parents for many years, have experienced her affectionate attention. For twelve years she was a subject of peculiar and severe affliction; but bore it with patient resignation to God's gracious will. About five years ago she became more deeply convinced of her need of true holiness. She earnestly sought salvation through the atonement of Christ; and soon after could say,

"Tears of joy mine eyes o'erflow,

That I have any hope of heaven."

Her zeal for the house of God was evinced by her exertions to obtain funds for the erection of a projected new chapel at Haddenham; and her success was very great. In her last illness,

which confined her to her room, and principally to her bed, for fifteen weeks, she was sometimes harassed with doubts and fears; but at other times she enjoyed peace and comfort in God. In the possession of this peace and comfort she slept in Jesus. J. I.

March 26th.-At Charlbury, in the Witney Circuit, where she was on a visit for the benefit of her health, Mrs. Sarah Dowty, of Cheltenham, aged forty-nine years. She joined the Methodist society in 1835; and though she had to pass through severe trials, and likewise, during the latter part of her life, through great personal affliction, yet she continued steadfast in her Christian profession, enduring "as seeing Him who is invisible." She died, exercising an humble but firm trust in the merits of her Redeemer. J. R.

March 31st.-At Lanishan, in the Monmouth Circuit, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, Joseph Roberts. About forty-six years ago, through the instrumentality of the Wesleyan Preachers, he was brought to a consciousness of his lost state as a sinner before God. Feeling his sins to be a burden, intolerable to be borne, he sought the salvation of his soul, by faith in the crucified Redeemer. Filled with joy through believing in Christ, and wishing his neighbours to participate in the happiness which he enjoyed, he introduced Methodist preaching into Lanishan parish, and at length obtained regular preaching at his own house. Good was the result. Soon was it found necessary, from the number of persons who received the word of life gladly, that a chapel should be erected. To accomplish this desirable object he made great exertions, and was successful; so that, in the erection of the present chapel at Lanishan, he was the principal instrument. At his house he entertained the Preachers of the Gospe!; and there they always found a hospitable abode. As he lived, so he died, in the triumph of faith. He suffered much, but endured all with Christian fortitude and resignation. On the evening of his departure he said to his daughter, "I shall soon enter that rest which I have been looking for these fiveand-forty years." Trusting in the merits of his Saviour, he died, to be for ever with the Lord.

T. B.

April 10th.-At Audley, in the Newcastleunder-Lyme Circuit, Thomas Johnson, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He was brought to a knowledge of his danger through sin in 1809, and soon obtained a sense of the divine favour through faith in Christ. Afterwards he was made a Class-Leader, and has also been a Local Preacher about twenty years. In the latter end of 1841 he was disabled from following his occupation, through severe affliction, which he endured with patience. His conflicts with the powers of darkness were severe; but he obtained victory through the blood of the Lamb, and was unspeakably happy before he exchanged worlds.

H. C.

April 16th.-At New-Monkton, in the Knaresborough Circuit, after a lingering illness, aged seventy years, Mrs. Dinali Barber. She was

brought to God in early life, having joined the Methodist society about fifty years since. Her house was a home, for many years, for the Preachers who travelled in the Knaresborough and Wetherby Circuit. She longed to depart and be with Christ; sometimes exclaiming, “O when shall I be gone!" Her end was peaceful and happy. W. W.

April 16th.-At Salford, Manchester, aged seventy, Mary Pennington, who had been a member of the Wesleyan society about thirtytwo years. Her conversion was scriptural, and its fruits very apparent, both in her tempers and conduct, and in her love to the ordinances of God's house, as well as diligent attendance upon them. In February last she became confined to her chamber; but the book of God was her companion still;" and in her Hymn-book she found much comfort. When asked, "Do you now believe?" she replied, humbly, but without hesitation," Yes, I trust I do." It was added, "Then, you trust in your Saviour, in all his offices, and find that he is yours, and all in him?" She answered, "Yes, now and always. Amen and amen!" On the day of her departure, she partook of the emblems of her blessed Lord's body and blood; and though scarcely able to speak, declared that it was the happiest day of her life. She thus peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. J. H. W.

April 19th.-In the Newcastle-under-Lyme Circuit, George Brownsword, in the thirty-third year of his age. He was deeply awakened to a sense of his sin and danger in 1830; and, after much wrestling, found peace, through faith in the blood of atonement, and adorned his profession by his holy conversation. After some time he began to warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come, in the capacity of a Local Preacher. On Sunday, April 17th, he spoke in his class of his intercourse with God, in the most satisfactory manner. On the following Tuesday (being a miner) he was sinking a shaft in a mine. It was his turn to work at night, with two others, when what is usually called the fire-damp exploded, and he was suffocated in an instant. He was preparing a sermon for the following Sunday, to be preached at Madeley, on, "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ."

H. C.

April 25th.-At Goldsbrough, in the Knaresborough Circuit, Miss Sarah Matilda Knapton, in the thirtieth year of her age. She remembered her Creator in the days of her youth; gave herself to the church, by the will of God; loved the house and Ministers of Christ, and the excellent of the earth; walked worthy of her high vocation; rested her hope of eternal life on the sure foundation; patiently endured a painful and protracted affliction; and died in the Lord. P. W.

April 26th.-At Roxham, in the Downham Circuit, Mr. Michael Pattern, aged seventy-two years; who, for upwards of twenty years, had been a steady and consistent member of the Methodist society. He was warmly attached to Wesleyan Methodism, highly esteemed its Minis

ters, and generously supported its institutions. His death was sudden, but peaceful.

R. G.

April 28th.-At North-Shields, aged sixtythree, Mrs. Anne Rate; having been a member of the Methodist society about forty-three years. She was distinguished by her love for the Preachers; and with many of them was on terms of intimate friendship. A deafness, gradually increasing, till it became almost total, prevented her, for many years, from deriving profit by hearing the word; yet she regularly presented herself in the sanctuary, at the appointed seasons, to wait on God; and in private her delight was in prayer, and reading the sacred volume. A dependence on God's providential goodness strikingly marked her through life; and God honoured her confidence, enabling her to attain, though not wealth, an income which rendered her comfortable; and she delighted to employ it in ministering to the wants of the poor, whilst in various other ways she supported the cause of God; and has bequeathed £100 to the chapel she was in the habit of attending, and also £10 to the Sunday-school in Alnwick, where she received her first religious good. A severe and protracted illness she bore with great patience and resignation; whilst humility also, and other Christian graces, were in her pleasingly developed. Though her sufferings were great, her mind was supported. "I have no fear of death," was her language: "all this is removed. I have not that joy which some speak of: I feel the body presses down the spirit: but I rest on Christ."

J. E. M.

April 28th.-At Great-Yarmouth, aged fiftythree, Mrs. Charlotte Bennett, the wife of Mr. John Bennett, wine-cooper. In early life she was converted to God, and joined the Methodist society, with which she maintained a consistent and unbroken connexion to the day of her death. Her piety was scriptural and deep: it was, however, of a retiring character, and was more distinguished by the steady light it shed upon her domestic life, than by any more public movements in connexion with the church. For a length of time her health had been in a declining state; but till within a few hours of her death she was considered to be as well as usual. was overtaken by paralysis in the evening, and passed into eternity early the next morning. Her end, though painfully sudden, was doubtless peace.

She

B. F.

May 2d. At Keighley, Mrs. Hannah Barker, aged forty-two years. She has been a member of the Methodist society twenty years; and has walked consistently with her religious profession. She joined in our public worship on Sabbath evening, and afterwards in the sacrament of the Lord's supper: the next morning she was taken ill, and died in three quarters of an hour.

J. A.

May 3d.-At Chatham, aged sixty-three, Mrs. Margaret Crockford. Our deceased friend walked humbly with her God, and occupied the station in life in which his providence had placed her to the comfort of her family, and so as to have

a good report of them that are without. The affliction which terminated in her removal was exceedingly painful, and of several months' continuance; but the strength of Christ was perfected in her weakness. She sustained her sufferings with exemplary resignation, calmly awaited the approach of the last enemy, and has, no doubt, entered into the rest which remaineth for the people of God. J. B.

May 8th.-At Bolster, in the St. Agnes Circuit, in the full triumph of faith, James Stephens, in the forty-eighth year of his age, after an illness of two years, leaving a widow and five children. When a lad, he attended the Wesleyan Sunday-school as a scholar, where his mind was deeply impressed with the necessity of a change of heart and life. He was brought to God, and joined the society when young, and early became a Local Preacher; and with more than ordinary talent, he zealously proclaimed the Gospel of Christ, a work in which he greatly delighted. As a Class-Leader, he was rendered very useful, till it pleased God to lay him aside by affliction, in which, mostly confined to the house, he glorified God by cheerful submission to his will, and by an unshaken confidence in the atonement of Christ; and he greatly rejoiced in the God of his salvation.

J. F.

May 9th.-Mrs. Swale, of Octon, near LowHarrogate, in the Knaresborough Circuit, in the sixty-ninth year of her age. From an early period of life she had the fear of God before her eyes; was a consistent member of the Wesleyan society many years; and while several very unworthy means were used to draw her away, she firmly adhered to the people of her choice, and maintained a steady attachment to the scriptural doctrines and godly discipline of Wesleyan Methodism. She loved the Lord's house, and regularly attended its services; was a faithful helpmeet to her husband, an affectionate mother to her children, and looked well to the ways of her household. Having obtained help of God, she continued faithful to the end. Her long and wasting affliction was borne with Christian fortitude and cheerfulness, till she peacefully departed

"From a suffering church beneath, To a reigning church above."

P. W.

May 10th.-At Weymouth, the Rev. John Henley, of Manchester. His health had been for some years in a precarious state; but, on his removal to Manchester in August last, it appeared considerably to improve, till in the latter part of December, when extra labours in visiting and relieving the suffering poor in his neighbourhood, brought on a return of disease, which terminated his life. Mr. Henley was a man and a Minister of great worth. He became devoted to God in early life, and had with considerable diligence and success, and to the best of purposes, cultivated and improved his mind. He was a good Divine, and a truly instructive and useful Preacher. The Lord honoured his ministry in every Circuit to which he was ap.

pointed. As a Christian, he exemplified the religion he preached and recommended to others. For several years past he professed to have obtained the blessing of perfect love; and none who knew his walk before God and men would be disposed to question the truth of his profession. The tenderness of his conscience, his heavenly-mindedness, and the devotedness of his heart and life to God and his service, were apparent to all. His mind, during his last affliction, was more than supported: he was full of peace and joyful hope. Again and again he said, "Not for worlds would I have had any other death than this." His was indeed a signal triumph over the last enemy: death was swallowed up in victory! The promise of an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom was in him strikingly verified. He said he never could have believed it possible for a mortal being to contain the ecstasy he felt. As the hour of his departure approached he appeared longing to be gone. His eyes sparkled with joy, and his countenance seemed lighted up, and every feature expressed the happiness of his mind. To the last he continued praising God, and talking to those around him most delightfully of heavenly things. The last words that could be distinguished were, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"

J. T.

May 13th.-At Sandiacre, in the Ilkestone Circuit, John Raworth, aged sixty-one; after a severe and painful affliction, which he endured with exemplary patience and resignation to the divine will. He was brought to the saving knowledge of God about thirty-seven years ago, having for some time tasted of the wormwood and gall of true repentance. He entered "into the liberty of the sons of God" in a prayermeeting which was held in the house of my father, who was made the chief instrument of his conversion. It appears that he never lost a sense of his acceptance with God through Christ. He was very regular in his attendance on the means of grace, especially his classmeeting. His confidence in the mercy of God, and his prospect of future blessedness, were his constant support. His Leader, and others who visited him, were frequently much encouraged and blessed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. To them it evidently appeared, that, as he had honoured God in his youth and health, he was a man whom the Lord delighted to honour in his sickness and death. He has left a beloved wife, who had been his companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, for about thirty-three years. Z. T.

way,

force their

In thinking what thou art ; So great, so mighty in thy sway, So frail, and false of heart! I love the land my fathers trod; And scarce can I record, That thou, the favour'd one of God,

Rebell'st against his word.

Yet so it is along thy streets

The winds loud curses waft, And Vice the idle passer greets With sparkling, burning draught:

The drunkard sits within the gate,
And Christ is made his song,
While jokes and gibes upon him wait,
In careless, reckless throng.

Lady of kingdoms! doff thy crown,
And bow thee to the dust;

Thou canst not stand God's withering frown,

Thou know'st that frown is just. The plague is even now begun,

The cry is loud and deep;

O rouse thee, ere the work be done,
Shake off thy fatal sleep!

I cannot sing as poets sing,

My harp is faint and weak;
And yet the sounds within me ring,
My very soul would speak.
The levelling cry is heard around,—
More loud its thunders swell:
England! 'tis thine alarum sound;
Neglected, 'tis thy knell!

THE hands that minister'd the Sign,

Here bring the Pledge, of grace Divine ; Nor more these trembling hands may

dare,

prayer,

"the

That with "the Water" and
Word "
The "cleansing" grace may be con-
ferr'd,-

That GOD, thy covenant-GoD, may be, "In very deed," a GOD to thee.

Though prevalent through Christ alone,
And nerved by faith, the prayer I own,
Yet O! 'tis love, desiring love,
That wings it to the Courts above:
Love less to earth's than heaven's akin
Hallows, this hour, a heart of sin;
That look of thine no memory brings,
Save holiest thoughts of holiest things.
It mirrors to thy poet's eye
That holiest thing-Humanity!
The form is pure as flesh can wear,
And to mine old affection fair;
But towards the Nature, not the form,
Yearns my love's eye, my heart grows

warm,

The Nature link'd with mine, by ties
Which link-corruption to the skies!

Forget I cannot, while I feel,

The frailties, smiles but ill conceal,-
Betraying, in thy quick, soft breath,
Man from the womb betroth'd to death:
Cherub I call thee not, but child,
E'en from the fount of life defiled;
That taint nor mother's tears, each day,
Nor this day's rites, can wash away!
What then? I think, through thee, of
Him,

The Blest "Young Child," whom cherubim

The life soon lavish'd from His own!

Was Godhead born, to' amend our loss? Train'd He His manhood for a cross? With VIRTUE fraught that CANNOT fail,

Doth Human Blood for man prevail? Beats there, above all thrones and powers,

A heart in sympathy with ours?
O

sacred to seraphic eye

Be fall'n-Redeem'd humanity!

'Tis thus that, in the Festal light, Which makes our gloomier solstice bright,

While yet the tones of Angel-cheer,
And Patriarch's welcome,+ fill mine

ear,

While yet the paling Star shines on, And birth-gifts greet the virgin's Son,

'Tis thus I think with love of thee, And hail thy Christ-like infancy!

I hail thee born of earth, for heaven,
To GOD in temple-homage given,
With blessings, like thy Lord, endow'd,
And to His high alliance vow'd;
Live, child! to breathe, in years long
hence,

Thy Master's manlier innocence,
And, cleansed from stains He never
knew,

To share His Holier Nature, too!

ALEC.

'Tis a lovelier crest than the blood

stain'd sword,

Or the hand stretch'd out to slay; Than the oak-twined wreath, or the laurel braid,

Or the bird, or the beast of prey. It was proved by deed more lofty far Than the shield of war and victory

are.

"Twas nobly done to scorn at Kings,
To dare their feeble ire;

To smile at all terrestrial stings,-
The rack, the scourge, the fire.
Now to a cold, damp dungeon driven,
Then wrapp'd in thoughts on things
above,

Gazing upon a Saviour's love,
Pass through the flames to heaven.