of fate." No; it is the righteous that have hope in their death. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of THAT man is peace. Psalm xxxvii, 37. This character produced the charming composure of good old Jacob: Behold! I die. And, it is with pleasing confidence I assert, that our pious departed friend, Mrs. Hoffman, met the stroke of death without a groan, and cheerfully submitted to the will of her God, in prospect of an endless state of felicity.-Do you inquire, “whence it is, that such composure in death is produced? why some meet death with terror, and others with a solemn smile?" Let me turn to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there we shall find the desired information. While, therefore, I shall attempt to direct your attention to these sacred pages, may the God of truth and mercy succeed my effort, so as to instruct your minds, and enrich you with that grace which is indispensably necessary to lead you to your graves peace.

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It is necessary for me to premise by saying-that our justly offended God, as the result of his counsel and everlasting love, through the sacrifice and merits of his Son Jesus Christ; and by the influences of his most blessed Spirit, produces that great change in the heart and life of man, which not only creates the most substantial peace and joy while in this vale of tears, but habitually prepares him to meet death with the most delightful composure. With this clue to our inquiry, I shall name the sources from whence are obtained victory over death.

I. A persuasion of INTEREST IN CHRIST, who hath made an atonement for sin, and who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel. This is easy to be perceived; for, as by sin came death, and the curse of the law arming death with its sting so it was imperiously requisite, that adequate and full atonement be made to divine justice, and death, the mortal foe, be disarmed of his sting. Both these, Jesus the Son of God hath accomplished by the shedding of his blood, thereby putting away sin, by the sacrifice of himself; and by becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. God, to prove to us the completeness of this great work, raised him up from the grave, having loosed from him the pains, the bands of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of them. The result of this most important work of Christ, is most admirably expressed in Romans, iii, 25, 26-Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. This is the grand feature of the gospel! And, this at once displays, both the rationality and the divinity of a sinner's salvation. On this rock alone, you and I must stand to contemplate death with serenity. For, as there is no medium between a sinner condemned for sin, and a sinner saved by Christ; so there is no medium to look at death, whether as an enemy or as a friend, but by this pure glass of the gospel. With such believing views of Christ, the quality of death will

pear astonishingly changed. His penal power is destroyed, and the venom of his sting is lost. Christ exalted in glory, our true Sun of Righteousness, shines upon death, and leaves nothing but his shadow to pass through; and who then need be afraid of a shadow? It was this view of death, which so charmingly composed the spirit of David, when in the near prospect of mortality, as to say-yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm xxiii, 4. And, permit to say, that such views of redemption in Christ, and such views of death, inspired the hope of Mrs. Hoffman, and produced in her breast the most charming consolation, when flesh and heart failed.

II. One of the greatest antidotes against the fear of death, and which produces the most desirable composure when about to penetrate the gloomy shades of the grave, is, COMMUNION WITH GOD. It was indeed for this moral felicity, that man was originally created; but by transgression he revolted from his God, and the privilege was lost. Christ, therefore, as the gift of the Father, assumed our nature, and suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God, and thus restore the forfeited privilege. And it is equally true, that the spirit of Christ is granted to open the heart of a sinner, apply to him the virtues of the Saviour, and lead him by faith and prayer to enjoy peace and communion with God, in the new relation of an everlasting Father in Christ Jesus the Lord. Happy that man who possesses the influence of this blessed spirit!

While performing the duties, and passing through the multiplied changes of life, this divine inspirer will carry him forward in this delightful intercourse with his God, until he arrives at its consummation in endless felicity above! We cannot therefore hesitate in saying, that communion with God constitutes the very soul of religion. Elevated upon this sacred mount, in fellowship with God, the christian can best behold the glorious inheritance in heaven, although the Jordan of death glides between. His bosom, warmed with the rays of divine love at the throne of mercy, he cannot but cheerfully smile upon conquered death, and wait with composure for the destined period when he shall be dismissed from the body, to enjoy a full and undisturbed communion with his God in glory, and thus be absorbed in the bliss of eternity! Indeed, thousands of such persons, so far from meeting death with reluctance, have desired to depart and to be with Christ, which they esteemed far better than to dwell in tabernacles of clay, or even to enjoy an incomplete fellowship with him on earth. This great privilege was not unknown to Mrs. Hoffman. It was her happiness to draw near to her God. Under the pressure of her successive afflictions, she could here repose all her cares; and from thence derive fresh animation to pursue the rugged path of life. The nearer she approached to her journey's end, the more anxious was her soul to attain nearer and more sensible communion with her heavenly Father, which created in her breast a devout resignation to his will, 'till at length the period of her departure arrived, when she hid adieu to the scenes of mortals, to enjoy those uninterrupted pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore.

III. THE RECTITUDE, AND HABITUAL STATE of a MAN'S CONSCIENCE, will certainly be acknowledged to produce extraordinary feeling, when he is in near prospect of his latter end. Its index will then certainly point to its God, to death, and to judgment, whatever may be the character of the person. In the breast of a good man, one whose conscience has been renewed by the grace of his God, and which by the blood of Christ has been purged from dead works, to serve the living and true God; even in such a man this faithful monitor will perform its office. The general confession of all such persons has been, that, in proportion to the dictates of conscience, whether accusing or excusing, in whatever way it may be right or wrong; so, in proportion, is either the pleasure of hope for a peaceful end, or a doubt which produces a cloud over his anticipated moment of dissolution. While therefore our ACTUAL preparation for death and eternity is found in Christ alone; our HABITUAL meetness consists in the exercise of faith, and in the rectitude of conscience. This our Lord has significantly described-Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Luke, xii, 35, 36. What more charmingly than this can describe the attitude, the strength of mind, and the active graces of a servant of the Lord, in waiting with composure and readiness for the unfolding doors of death? Indeed the more a person is acquainted with the deceitfulness of the human heart, the secret avenues of sin, the multiplied snares of the world, and the