His lot was cast in a somewhat obscure village, where there existed considerable prejudice against "the truth as it is in Jesus." He was here called to the exercise of all his courage, patience, and piety, while he constantly" in meekness instructed those who opposed themselves," and who, in return for his kindness, for a long season, manifested little else than ingratitude. He had, however, been taught by the good Spirit of God to "covet earnestly the best gifts;" and hence he felt more than a common share of holy affection to the souls of his people. Among the more intelligent of his congregation, prejudice in a short period began to decline; ignorance too, was soon driven from the cottage of the poor; and the whole neighborhood began to consider him as a common friend. Had the amiable Cowper known him, he would have fully justified the application to him of his own language :—

"He was a man among the few,

Sincere on Virtue's side;

And all his strength from Scripture drew,

To hourly use applied."

But how mysterious are the ways of Jehovah! When my friend had just overcome the principal obstacles to his success, and formed his plans of labor for coming years,--in the very midst of his usefulness, he was seized with a painful illness, which, in a few months conveyed him to his grave, before he had fully attained the age of thirty years.

My readers will perhaps pardon me, if I here occupy another moment or two, in delineating the character of my friend. When suffering under the disease which terminated in his death, and which previously for some months, çonfined him to his room, if a murmuring thought was ever for a moment harbored in his breast, it was that he was unable to attend to the beloved work, from which he had been accustomed in his latter years to derive his happiness. He earnestly desired the salvation of sinners, and would, if he could, have continued to exalt the Saviour before them, with a view to attract their hearts to his service. Sabbath after Sabbath was the sick chamber crowded with his weeping hearers, who, while they hoped and prayed that his valuable life might be yet spared, could but experience the liveliest feelings on the subject, and they could have even wished to detain him for a season from his eternal rest and reward. "Oh !" said he to some young persons who surrounded his bed on the last Sabbath but one of his life, when they had been expressing their fears that he would soon leave them; "Oh! I fear not death, but I fear for your salvation; to promote that object was the only thing for which I wished to live. Remember, I charge you, in the name of that God before whom I am about to appear, remember that your pastor

told you, both living and dying, that without love to Christ, you would be unhappy, both in this world and that which is to come! Oh! my young friends," added he, with indescribable earnestness, "as you wish to meet me at the last great day, on the right hand of God, believe in the Lord Jesus for the salvation of your souls. See to it that you‘remember your Creator in the days of your youth.' Ah! what should I have done had I neglected religion till now!"

But time would fail me to relate all that on this and similar occasions fell from his lips, on the importance of an early and immediate attention to the great concerns of the soul. At length the last day of his earthly existence dawned, and fully aware that he was very near that country," from whose bourne no traveler returns," he called the beloved partner of his life and their three lovely children to his bed-side, and summoning the little strength he had left, he addressed his dying prayer to the God of his mercies on their behalf. How earnestly did he plead the promises which the blessed God has made to the widow and the fatherless. "I felt," said his widow, when once mentioning the circumstance to an intimate and esteemed friend, "I felt that with all my sorrows, God had conferred a high honor on me and my children, in making such gracious promises to us." The good man having nearly exhausted himself by his exertion, affectionately pressed the lips of each of his beloved children, the eldest of whom was not yet five years old, and bidding them a last farewell, requested their removal from the room. Left alone with his endeared companion, and throwing himself on her bosom, he said, in tones of the warmest affection, " And thou, my dearest, we have walked together in love; but our heavenly Father, all whose conduct is right, now calls us for a season to separate :-Yes, I must leave thee; and I can leave thee in the hands of my God. I can trust him; and I hope, my dearest Ann, that thou canst. We shall meet again—to part no more. O God! grant that our children may meet us in the world of glory. My dear, bring them up for God." The scene was too affect ing to be long endured. The nurse returning into the room, conveyed away the almost exhausted wife, and having recovered something of his composure, he said, 66 Now, nurse, I can die in peace; I have endured the last pang this heart can suffer. past.' My Lord is the Father of the Judge of the widow." Wiping the cold nurse enquired, " But do you not suppose, sir, that at the last you will have a struggle with death itself?" "No, Sarah," he replied, "dying is easy work; I once thought it dreadful indeed; but I now find that as my day, so is my strength.' Death is but walking through a valley

The bitterness of death is fatherless, and the God and sweat from his face, his pious

from earth to heaven. My Jesus leads me, and I am almost in glory." All this was said with a smile, which indicated the holy placidity of his soul, and that his language was not the result of a disordered imagination. In less than an hour after this conversation his disembodied spirit departed to the regions of eternal day.

I was present when his remains were committed to the silent tomb. The grief of the beloved people of his charge was sincere and deep. Many a tear bedewed the grave, over which the blessed Redeemer shall watch, till the day arrives when he shall summon the people for whom he died from the dust, and when "their mortal bodies shall put on immortality."

Did my reader ever direct his attention to that striking language of the Lord Jesus, where, speaking of the believer in him, he says, " AndI will raise him up at the last day ?" Does not this mode of expression intimate that a peculiar honor shall be shewn to the Christian in the manner of his resurrection? It is no where said, at least that I am aware of, that Christ will raise the bodies of the wicked. It is true that divine power shall bring them out of their graves, but Jesus, in an especial manner, has the charge of the bodies of his people. He redeems their souls now, and he shall be the "redemption " of their bodies (1. Cor. 1: 30) at the last day. It is surely a source of holy delight to the Christian, that both his body and his soul are in the care of the blessed Redeemer.

It will not be expected that I should attempt a delineation of the feelings of the widow of my friend, when she had committed to the grave all that remained on earth of the man, in whom, under God, all her happiness had centred. Perhaps she had expected too large a share of present comforts, and leaned with too much confidence on an arm of flesh; if so, that Great Being who was more intent on her real happiness than she was herself, took this method of showing his sovereignty, his wisdom, and his love, to draw her nearer to his throne. What were the exercises of her mind, when on looking round on her children, one asked, "Mamma, when will papa come back?" and heard another reply, "Pa's dead and buried, and will not come to us again!" But, on the whole, she breathed a spirit of resignation, and often endeavored to say with Eli, It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth him good." She looked forward with fond expectation to the period when she hoped again to meet her deceased partner in the temple above, to "go no more out for ever." It is to the honor of the different departments of the Christian church, that the widows and orphans of its ministers are not permitted to pine away in a state of want and neglect. It is felt to be but just, when a holy man has spent his energies and his life in the welfare of Zion, and

falls in the warfare with its enemies, that his widow and children should receive tokens of Christian gratitude and esteem. It has often happened that those who live and die pastors of some of the most obscure and the poorest of our churches, have made many sacrifices to promote the glory of Christ, and the welfare of immortal souls. Had many of these good men devoted their lives to the study of the sciences, or to the pursuits of commerce, they might have filled stations of eminence in society, and realized considerable fortunes; but when all is voluntarily relinquished to labor for the church, it is no unreasonable thing that those whom the good man served, should serve his family in return. The kindness which the widow of my friend received from her fellow-Christians after the removal of her husband, was great, and made an impression on her heart which was never erased. Even on her dying bed she more than once alluded to the fact, that her friends were endeared to her, both "for the truth's sake which dwelt in them," and for the kindness they had shown to her and her fatherless children.

THE SWEEP AND THE CLERGYMAN.

"Passing down Hudson-Street in New-York, one day," says a clergyman, “a sooty, noisy chimney-sweep crossed my path. I had often noticed this class of persons before; and as I heard their hideous cries and marked their filthy dress and the sooty implements of their calling, I had thought their lot among the most miserable of our race. Pity and curiosity prompted me, as this chimney-sweep was now passing, to address a few kind words. After a salutation, I said, 'My friend, this must be a hard life that you live?' 'O, no,' said he, and his eye kindled as he spoke; 'it's not a hard life; it will soon be over, and then we shall have rest.' I was silent for a moment; but recovering from my surprise, I replied,—' Yes, indeed, we shall have rest in heaven, if we love and serve the Saviour on earth. Do you love him?' 'I do not wish to presume,' said he, ‘but I trust I do love the Saviour.' What was my gratification to learn that he was a professor of religion, and had been for years a member of a church of the same denomination with myself. And when I told him who I was—a minister of Christ, and one of his own brethren—he was full of joy. O, happy man,' thought I; 'happier in hope of heaven than the kings of the earth without it. Is not such a hope like an anchor to the soul?' ”

C. M. R. A.

"THE GOOD MAN HATH HOPE IN HIS DEATH."

Solomon.

MR. GEORGE P. DAY was born in Portland more than half a century ago. He first became seriously interested in this glorious hope spoken of by Solomon, under the preaching of that excellent man, who was the means of the salvation of so many souls,-Dr. Payson.

He first joined a Congregational Church; but, by a diligent perusal of the Bible, became satisfied that he had not been scripturally baptized. Accordingly he was immersed; and, after a few years, joined the Baptist Church in Belfast. Here he continued a faithful member, deeply interested in the prosperity of the church to the last hour of his life.

He not only spoke of his interest in the prosperity of Zio but he felt deeply for her welfare; this he manifested in his prayers, his exhortations, his presence in the house of God, always, when it was possible, and by liberally contributing of his property, when it was needed.

Our brother blended faith and works: some are all works, and some would be all faith. He did not belong to either of these classes, but harmoniously connected the two in his own character, making the consistent and useful Christian. In the church he was of the number who bore "the burden and heat of the day." He was one of the oldest members of the church in Belfast, and connected himself with it when it was small and feeble, and when it held but few inducements for any person to join himself with it, unless it was from principle and for the glory of God.

He lived to see most of those who first constituted the church, pass away, and a new company of disciples gather around him. He lived also to see some of the watchmen from the walls of Zion pass into eternity, and others remove to other fields of labor. To all these he was the constant friend and supporter.

He loved the gospel, and those who preached it. He will long be remembered for his alms, his impressive exhortations, his counsels and cautions; and for his presence in the church, in the conference-room, and meetings for prayer and social conversation. On the Sabbath he was always present in the sanctuary, if it were possible. We always expected to meet Bro. Day there. Having a good hope himself, he desired that others should possess the same; and long will many remember the voice of warning, and the calls to repentance, which fell from his lips. And in eternity, they who heard them, will meet him, and