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liness, and wickedness, and forced to leave the scene of his present enjoyment for ever-He clings to the least sign of health; the least symptom of revery is talked over, as if all depended upon it: yet is there no anxiety to feel the truth of the gospel; no real heartfelt sorrow for sin-no repeated earnest prayer for grace-no willingness to meet God, nor desire for the Heaven which He hath promised. All is a dull yielding to necessity; and so bending down before a power he cannot resist, the wicked is driven away in his wickedness. Alas! "if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?!!!" 1 PET. iv, 18.

"But the righteous hath hope in his death." "He knows in whom he hath believed"-By faith "he seeth Him who is invisible"-He feels "that though he must put off this earthly Tabernacle, yet, that he has a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens." He can "bless the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven, for those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. 1 PETER, i, 3. He "knows that the only wise God our Saviour, is able to keep him from falling, and to present him faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy." JUDE, xxiv, And thus as "he enters upon the valley of the shadow of death, he fears no evil; God is with him, His rod and His staff they comfort him." "He falls asleep in Jesus. He dies blessed in the Lord; to awake at the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe." Ps. xxiii, 4. 2 THES. i, 10.

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS.

I. TRUE RELIGION MAY BE OBSCURE.

Our story is ended. And now it may probably occur to some thoughtful mind, "surely the character of this pious woman was very remarkable: how useful and delightful it would have been to hear her own words, and to behold in her the living power of practical piety: it is to be regretted that she was not generally known."

In reply to such thoughts, it may be well to observe, that it is part of the wise plan of God, towards those whom "He hath chosen," often to keep them retired and unknown. When Noah and his family, the only faithful upon earth,

were to be protected from all the calamities which sorrounded them, "God shut them in." So likewise the Psalmist, who well understood "the thoughts and ways of Jehovah," exclaims thus, "Oh! how plentiful is thy goodness, which thou has laid up, for them that fear thee; and that thou has prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men! thou shalt hide them privily, by thine own presence, from the provoking of all men; thou shalt keep them secretly in thy tabernacle, from the strife of tongues. Ps. xxxi, 19-20. It is no small mercy, if it be the will of God, for any one to be allowed calmly and peaceably to pass through this troublesome world, to the place of rest. And if a person be born in such an humble station, that it is not necessary that he should be at all conspicuous, it is a cause of thankfulness rather than regret. Real piety is not necessarily joined to a great name; the most excellent christians are often those who draw upon themselves the least observation. It is well known, that when the heart is heavily burthened with grief, the lips are silent; and so the soul, which is seriously

impressed with the great truths of salvation, of Heaven and eternity, will not be disposed to speak of them frequently, and lightly, but seldom, and with solemnity. We must not therefore, fall into the error of supposing, that if a person becomes religious, all the neighbourhood must know of it; on the contrary, a real friend will keep a young convert as quiet and retired as possible. In most cases, where persons are not required by their station in life to take a lead, or to teach others, the less they talk about their religion the better; the best way to prove that God has been gracious to them, is by "an harmless and blameless life;" by carefully and quietly performing all their duties; and then they may leave others to judge of the tree upon which such fruits flourish.

This really good woman, as observed above, "did not behave herself unseemly," she knew what became her. It never therefore occurred to her that she must make any show of religion: indeed one of the most striking features in her character, was this, that she seemed to think, she was not good at all. Surely such a state of mind

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