66 might be lost, the salvation of one soul was so great. On the Sabbath day previous to his death, he spoke of the blessed and glorified state of happy spirits, in language never to be forgotten; the tears chasing each other down his cheeks, praying with great earnestness, that God would send forth faithful labourers into his vineyard, and scatter them not thinly but plentifully, and sweep off the cumberers and unfaithful;" and pressed upon his father the necessity of vigorously labouring in the Lord's vineyard, exhorting him to go on as he had been wont, and to do more if he could. Then with streaming and uplifted eyes, seeing, like Stephen the Martyr, the opening heavens, and Jesus waiting to receive him; he exclaimed, "Oh death, destroy this body, and let my soul go with Christ." Even in his wanderings of mind, his thoughts were occupied about heaven and heavenly things, which shewed clearly what were the workings of his soul in his sensible moments. In one of his wanderings he fancied before him a number of excellent living characters whom he knew; afterwards spoke of beholding "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob clothed in glorious robes," and of "Elijah's presence ascending into heaven;" and next, the man with the star on his head," whom he recognized as Christ by the wounds in his hands and in his side," and which he said he had "often enlarged by his sins." The wounds in his feet he could not perceive, for the "glorious flowing robe which concealed them.' At another time he remarked, that there appeared "the apostles of Christ, and Hezekiah, the martyrs, Cranmer with a Bible under his arm, and Martin Luther in the most clean and spotless robe;" upon which he observed, that "if our garments are at all defiled by sin, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And now were it possible that he could break the bindings of death, and stand in our presence, would he not tell us that all his hopes were realized, that not one of all the promises of God had failed? Would he not encourage the humble follower of Jesus to persevere in his heavenward path, assuring him that the sufferings of this present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory which he shall shortly enjoy. His bereaved parents used all the means in their power for the recovery of their dear son, and attended him to the banks of the dark flowing Jordan-here they had to stop, and could render no more assistance; they shook hands, bade farewell; and he entered, in peaceful confidence, on Zion's shores, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.” May your latter end be like his! 2 His sickness commenced on the 12th day of last March, and his happy spirit took its flight from the earthly tabernacle on the 30th day of the same month. (Some particulars of his brother Alfred in our next.) ON SLEEP. Extracted from a letter from a Christian friend. They are all gone to bed; and some, no doubt, have already found tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy Sleep." When I think on this wondrous property of our nature, I am struck with admiration. I could hardly believe, were I to receive the fact only from human lips, and had no actual experience of the truth, that in a few hours, or a few minutes, the head that composes, and the will that dictates, and the hand that executes, should alike be silent, powerless, and to all external objects, dead. And yet how many times has my body undergone that wondrous change; and soon again I shall lay it down once more, in the confidence that I shall again pass through the same mysterious and reviving process. Sleep seems to me the more extraordinary, as it partakes of two most opposite qualities-life and death. Of death, for to outward things it is absolutely senseless and unheeding; and moreover many functions of the body, when wrapt in its embrace, for a time cease and are lost. Of life, because in its effects it invigorates, refreshes, and new-strings the nerves, and puts fresh life into the limbs; and because ofttimes in sleep, the soul, or thinking part of man, has seemed to rise superior to its fallen, degraded state; and it has pleased its High and Gracious Author, to disclose to it high thoughts and noble aspirations, bright visions of the heavenly world, and revelations of his holy will. These last designs, 'tis true, have passed away, and it is no part of God's present economy that we should "see visions of the night," and "dream dreams: but such things have been, we know, for he has testified it. "Oh that man would praise the Lord for his goodness" in this, as in all other his wondrous works; and that each, for himself, would thankfully acknowledge, "I laid me down and slept; I awaked: for the Lord sustained me." May this be my feeling now, while I wish you, though absent, a good night; and lay me on that couch, from which I know not that I may ever rise, but by the strength of others, to be carried to my more narrow bed, the home of the generations past, present, and to come-THE GRAVE! PROVERBS xxiii. 26. "My son, give me thine heart." My Creator, my Redeemer, my Prophet, Priest, and King, Yet, Lord, thou hast demanded it, all worthless tho' it be; Subdue my proud self-righteousness, and let each tow'ring thought Into the blest captivity of Jesus Christ be brought; And while I feel that in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing, And when with black ingratitude my conscience is defil'd, Oh! then when fightings are without, and anxious fears within, My God! hast thou not promis'd to supply our ev'ry need, Thus weak and sinful in myself, but strengthen'd by thy might, Till life and all its vanities shall vanish quite away, And death conduct my spirit to the realms of endless day. THE PILGRIM'S SONG F. "And he led them through the wilderness with a mighty hand an stretched-out arm.' Through the world's weary wilderness Oh Lord! be thou my guide; In doubt, in danger, in distress, Upheld, I stand, Oh! lead me safely home, through this unfriendly land. If darkness hang around my path, And by its light, Still lead me right, That so my way may be approved in thy sight And if, of earthly joy a ray Should ever fall on me, Oh! guide me, keep me, lest I stray, By thee alone The heart is known, And nought of good I find to trust to in my own. Frail am I as the withered leaf, I trust, oh Lord! And thou dost help and strength in all my need afford. Thus, while on thy strong arm I lean, Will changeless prove, And firm in this my hope, my footsteps onward move. Easter Monday M 8 Easter Tuesday To S 7 Ps. 121. 7,8 Ps. 65. 4 9 Is. 55. 1 Heb. 2.9 Eph. 2. 4, 5 Phil. 2. 12 1 John 2. 10 1 Tim. 5. 22 Rom. 4.21 Col. 1. 10 1 Peter 3. 12 2 Cor. 4.7 James 1. 17 Rom. 11. 29 Heb. 2. 18 1 Thess. 5. 10 1 Cor. 13. 2 1 John 3. 16 1 Peter 2. 20 1 John 1.7 2 Tim. 1. 12 FOSTER, PRINTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. THE FRIENDLY VISITOR. EDITED BY THE REV. W. CARUS WILSON, M. A. (Preached in St. Cuthbert's Church, Carlisle, January 20, 1833, by John Fawcett, M. A) "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.' Genesis ii. 3. The institution of the Sabbath may be considered in two lights. It may be looked upon either as a duty commanded, or as a privilege conferred; either as an observance which God requires of us, or as a privilege which he grants us. It is not easy to say in which point of view the obligation to observe it is most binding, the sin of disregarding it most provoking. To violate the Sabbath-day when God has commanded us to keep it holy, is rebellion against his authority; to slight an ordinance so fraught with benefits to ourselves, is a contempt of his goodness. Thus in one view of it, the breach of the Sabbath is a total defiance; in the other, the foulest ingratitude; in. either way bringing great guilt on the transgressor, and provoking the wrath and displeasure of Almighty God. In pursuance of these ideas, I would wish to set before you the Sabbath in the two points of view already mentioned, and after calling your attention to the Sabbath, 1. As a duty commanded; 2. As a privilege conferred; In the third place, to point out to the obligation to its observance resulting from both views. If the command of God can render any practice binding upon men, perhaps there is not any which is more clearly and repeatedly commanded than the observance of the Sabbath. E |