THE LATE MRS. MARTHA FENNER. to her. The word of God, so much perused by her, was blessed of the Lord, and proved food for her faith, which was greatly strengthened as she advanced in life; and of her experience it may be said to have been ever fresh and green. That she was a woman of many imperfections grace and her experience had led her well to know and deplore. "She was a woman of peace, and consequently for peace. She would say, 'If they go, I go; if others plant their pillows with thorns, I cannot do it; I must live above these contentions: if contention and strife be food for their souls it is none for mine.' In this spirit of peace she lived, and in this spirit she died. A short time ago, in conversation with her sister Gage she said, talking of the death of Mrs. Banks, I little thought that dear Mrs. Banks would have borne a palm before me.' "Of her end, it was sudden, laying only two weeks after the attack of paralysis. During the time one unbroken state of spiritual enjoyment was vouchsafed to her; but suffering so much of pain, she was unable to see many who called, and with whom she would gladly have conversed. The room had been left but a few minutes when it was found the spirit was just returning to God that gave it. "It is somewhat singular that on the morning of the attack it was her birthday; and she had risen earlier than usual, and called into her room the three younger children, and she prayed with them, saying that the morning altar had been cast down, and she, by the help of God, would set it up again. "About eleven o'clock the stroke, which was the instrument to bring down the tabernacle, came. It was with difficulty she could be got into the room adjoining; and when she came to she said, 'I came into the world crying, but I shall go out rejoicing.' She continued in very much pain in her head; and though she had had very severe afflictions before, she said this was worse than all. From this time she never lost her senses, but continued in one quiet state of peace and joy in God The doctor said she was going on well, and we all thought | so; and there did not appear in her own mind any fixed impression of going immediately home. So that there was no bidding farewell to those near and dear to her. She was much desirous of being left to herself; and on being left for about a quarter of an hour, she was found sweetly falling asleep without a groan, a struggle, or a sigh." For the profit of spiritual minds, and elucidatory of her Christian character, we give one or two of her letters. The following was ten on her rising from a severe affliction : 159 put a new song into my mouth, that I can bless his name with joyful lips, and declare this God is my God for ever and ever; and he shall be my guide even unto death. Oh, my dear mother, I went into this affliction in great darkness, but now my Lord has graciously dispersed the darkness, and I can say from experience, I am light in the Lord. I know my state calls for great watchfulness, for our enemy, 'the Devil, goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour,' the apostle tells us so; and our Lord exhorts us to watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation; and from experience, I know it is the only right position for a Christian to be found in; and it is often said by us, we are not our own keepers, and it is well for us we are not; yet I have found we are our own losers by so often neglecting our Lord's injunctions and invitations. He hath said, 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' And oh! it is a blessed rest when he is our rest. I know my dear mother stands in need of an experience of this in her own soul daily; it will fit, and does fit us for all we have to encounter with. Well, my dear mother, let us encourage ourselves in God, and stir up ourselves to lay hold of his strength, for we shall need it more and more; for as the outward man is decaying, we want the new man to be renewed to bear us up under every difficulty, and that we may run with patience the race set before us. You will excuse me writing more at this time; if spared, I will write again shortly. In the meantime, I wish you may be blessed with much of our Lord's presence, and be employed in drawing water out of the wells of salvation. M. F." A Faithful Reproof to a Fainting Minister Dear Sir. Since I heard you speak at brother B.'s on Wednesday evening, you have been more than ever on my mind; and that with astonishment, too, that you should stand up and declare you were God's servant-that the cause at Crosby Row was God's-that he you had gathered some of the Lord's sheep had opened the door for you-instrumentally writ-together-and they were such a sample you believed of spiritual people with you, as were rarely to be found;-and now, because the adversary, as a roaring lion, (which you say it is him), has arisen up against you, you are for running away from him; forgetting, I am sure, the exhortation of Peter, "Whom resist stedfastly in the faith." Remember, satan desired to have him, that he might sift him as wheat; and it is written, "blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive a crown of life." "My dear Mother: I promised if spared, in my last, I would write again this week, and I ought not to have deferred it until the last day, for I know you have been anxious to hear of my welfare, as I was so sadly when I wrote last; but I hope you will excuse my neglect. I know it will give you great pleasure to hear of the Lord's goodness unto me; he is not only raising me up again from affliction, but has f 160 66 MEMORIALS OF DEPARTED SAINTS. DEAR BROTHER BANKS.-In behalf of the EARTHEN VESSEL, and for the spiritual benefit of its many spiritual readers, I forward you the following copy of a letter, as sent to me by a dear brother in the vicinity of Brabourne, Kent; hoping, by the blessing of the Lord, its perusal will prove beneficial and soulcomforting. Your's, W. SKELTON, S.S. Naccolt, May 27, 1854. Head.-I feel quite ashamed of myself for not Dear Brother in our all-glorious covenant writing to you before; I can assure you it is not for want of love to you. Oh, no, blessed be our dear Lord! I believe he has lit up that Let me entreat you to stand, not give your JOHN EPPS, OF BRABOURNE. back to the enemy-not leave your fold to his malice, and for another under shepherd, lest you should be counted as an hireling, and not one who careth for the sheep, because the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep; and you would appear to your friends as one who preached to others, but was a castaway yourself. Think how the Lord delivered you, and put away sin when you had fallen, and hath kept you since in past temptations-and we trust he will yet deliver for his glory. But you must stand still, to see his salvation. Remember, God is your Judge, you said, in this matter. Then, He who is our Judge, is also our Lawgiver, and he is our King, and will save us. Now, as a Lawgiver, the Master says, "If they smite spiritual love in our hearts toward each other, you on the one cheek, turn to them the other that will never go out, either in time or also; and he that taketh away your coat, let eternity. O, my dear brother, how few there him take away your cloak also." "Feed are in these parts that I can hold sweet comyour enemy." Take not away the bread by munion with about a precious Christ. There withholding the work, is my council; and I is plenty of fleshly love and zeal-plenty of believe it is the Master's will, that we may be false fire sparks of men's own kindling, the children of our Father who is in heaven. which give neither light nor heat to a true Remember your text a week or two back-believer. Yes, there is plenty of free-will Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the preaching now-a-days-extolling man's works word of God may have free course, run, and to the very heavens, inviting the whole world be glorified." Let God's word dwell in you of dead sinners to come and believe on the richly, by standing in all his counsel. I Lord Jesus Christ for life and salvation. But address as I believe you say you are-a per- what a mercy you and I have not so learned secuted man; and if you do well, and take it Christ! and I am fully persuaded that if he patiently, this is acceptable with God. Re-in his rich, free, sovereign, unmerited mercy, member, having put your hand to the plough, looking back, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven. I know you do not wish to go out of the gospel kingdom, but to extend your labour in it. Well, I say the desire is good; and the Lord grant you your desire, for his glory. But I do not think it is the time for you to leave your present post. God, you say, opened the door; then let God open another; and not you, by fainting in the meetening for the very thing you may have desired of him. He is a wonder-working God. I trust you will stay yourself upon him, commit your cause into his hand; and if you are walking in darkness, and have no light, and are obeying the voice of his servant, and fearing the Lord, trust in him. And I will remind you of brother Allnutt's remark, which did me good when I was in great trial; it was from your pulpit: "Remember, (he said), my Christian friends, there are no bridges for God's children; they must go through the fire and through the waters." But God's promise is, he will be with them; and this must be enough for faith. I must leave you and your's with Him who orders all things after the counsel of his own will; and as a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our heavenly Father's knowledge, so he knows your standing and your trial. Let this suffice; and in patience possess ye your soul. With Christian love to you and M. F. your's, in gospel bonds. September 3rd. [This letter was of great use; we were kept enduring, and laboring-until now another and a wider door is opened. O, that our God may empower us to stand in the glorious work of gathering sinners and feeding saints.] had not come to me, I never should have gone to him. O, no; I was running down the broad road to eternal destruction as fast as I could, when he, in rich mercy, was pleased to arrest me, and shew me, by his holy law, that I was lost, ruined, and undone to all intents and purposes; yes, he cut me up, root and branch, as regards any hope of saving myself, and I was led to see and feel that if heaven could be merited by one good thought, I had no power to think that good thought. I used to strive with all my might to get better, but instead of that I got worse and worse; for he opened up to me more and more of the depths of my wicked heart, till at last I was obliged tofall at his dear feet, sink or swim, and ery, "Lord, save me, or I perish." And-blessings on his dear name!-he then shewed me that he had been stripping me of my rags, on purpose to clothe me with the beautiful garment of his righteousness; and O, how suitable did that garment become to my poor soul! why, it was just what I wanted; for it covered all my nakedness and deformity by sin. Ah, my dear brother, it is a garment without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. I was thinking, one day, of what the Bible says about our Saviour's garments when he was upon earthit says, "It was woven from top to bottom, without seam ;" and this seemed to shew to me that his all-glorious robe of righteousness is complete, without one stitch of man's doings to be put to it; for one stitch of man's supposed merit would tarnish and spoil it. Ah, how lamentable a fact it is, that this glorious robe is so much trampled under foot now-adays by the generality of professors, and man's filthy rags praised up to the skies! The great mistake is, they clothe where there has been THE LATE MR. JOHN EPPS, OF BRABOURNE. 161 cut me down as a cumberer of the ground; and often fear that my spots are not the right spots; that I have not the marks of a real, living, believing child of God; for I get so carnal, so worldly-minded, so cold and indiffermeans; but when I get into such state, the Lord sends some trouble upon me, by which he drives me to a throne of grace; and then when I go to him through their necessity, he is pleased to answer me; so that I get the blessing, and his dear name has all the glory. I wish to adore my God, and to praise him also, as a God of providence; for when I look back at the last three or four years wherein I have been married, it is wonderful how the Lord has provided for us; and particularly the past winter; for I have not known one week where my next week's work was to come from; and each week I have expected to be out of work; but I have found God to be a God, hearing and answering prayer; for when one door has been shut, he has been pleased to open another; and when I have been sworn at, and badly used, and turned off without any cause, then the Lord has enabled me, with the poet, soul-feelingly to say, "When all created streams are dried, Thy fulness is the same.' no stripping, and heal where there has been no wounding. They never knew the plague of their wicked heart; they never had the fountain of the great deep of their own wickedness opened up to them, to be a stink in their nostrils; they cry, "Peace! peace!" but berent, that I feel ready to give up the use of the hold, it is a false peace. Yes, their way is all joy and happiness, because they have no enemies to fight against-no hard heart to mourn over-no doubts and fears to distress them; therefore, it is no wonder that I can only find here and there a traveller to Zion, with whom I can hold sweet communion about a precious Christ. But-bless the Lord! -there are a few shining lights in this dark part of the earth. Yes, a short time ago, when I seemed quite starved out in hearing, on account of there being nothing but free-will preached, instead of free-grace, the Lord was pleased to send one forth into the ministry of his glorious gospel, and he preached to a few hungry souls at Ashford, in a friend's house, and I believe the Lord has a work for him to do there; for he is pleased, ofttimes, to touch his tongue with a live coal; yes, he is blessedly enabled to exalt a precious Christ, and to debase the creature. I do find at times the preached word to drop on my parched soul as rain on the new-mown grass, which causes it to revive, and spring forth in praise and thanksgiving to my dear Saviour, who hath loved me, washed me in his precious blood, and gave himself for me. Ah, sometimes, when I think of his everlasting love to me so vile, it melts my soul down in love and gratitude, and I love him because he first loved me. Yea, I love him because I cannot help loving him. When he appears to me the Chiefest among ten thousand, I can at times say with Solomon, "As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Yes, the fruit of our Redeemer's work is sweet, when with the eye of faith we can behold him spilling his precious blood for us; and sometimes, when I think of what a blessed inheritance my Saviour has purchased for me an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, how happy it makes me feel! Oh, I can then pity princes on their thrones. Yes, though I am now living in a very humble cottage, and sometimes have not two-pence to call my own, yet I am very rich, because I have an inheritance reserved in heaven for me, which I can never make off with, or spend. No-blessed be our dear Jesus!-there is an inexhaustible fulness in him. O, the heights and depths, lengths and breadths of his everlasting love! Here are mines we can never dig to the bottom of. Yes, when the streams dry up, I am driven nearer to the Fountain; and I have proved this last winter, that all men's hearts are in the hand of the Lord, and that the gold and silver are his; for many times when I could not tell where my next job of work was to come from, I have been employed by men that I never thought of; and have had sometimes a day at one place, and two days at another; always expecting to be out of work, and yet constantly employed; so that my case has been very much like the widow's barrel of meal, and cruise of oil, almost gone, yet still holding out. Ah, our God is a wonderworking God; and I believe he is leading me in this peculiar path, on purpose to cause me to live more dependent on him. Yes, mine has been a rough, in and out path; for I have moved five times in less than four years; but I still believe it to be a right path; and I can testify, to the honour of my God, that he has never forsaken me. All fleshly props have failed, but my dear Lord has never failed of one thing that he has promised; all has come to pass. I wish I could see you face to face; then I would tell you a great deal about the mercies of my dear God towards unworthy me. But I must close upon this subject. I am in possession of that sweet, soul-comforting, God-glorifying letter you wrote to our dear brother Epps. I understand you have been But, my dear brother, you must not con- informed by some friend of the remarkable clude that I am always on the mount. O, no; fact, that the same day he died, you wrote the far otherwise; for I have long winter seasons said letter. The dear Lord has been pleased to to pass through; sometimes I feel such a sink take him from his kingdom of grace, to his kingof sin bubbling up within, that I am obliged dom of glory. I was much surprised to hear of to exclaim, "Can ever grace dwell here ?" his death; for I did not know of his again being Ah, satan comes in with such a flood of temp-ill. He had been very ill last summer, but tations, such hard and rebellious thoughts had got better; saw him at chapel a few about God, that I often wonder he does not weeks before his death, and little thought that 162 THE LORD'S DEALINGS WITH ANNA WELLS. would be the last time I should see his face in this world. I should very much like to have seen him in his illness, if I had known of it. Father and I went to his funeral; and as I stood by the side of his grave, I both wept and rejoiced: I wept, to know that I should see his face no more in the flesh; but rejoiced, to know that he was gone home to take possession of his crown. Yes, he is now beyond the gun-shot of satan; there are no enemies in all the land, where he is gone. He has no more sorrow, pain, or temptation to pass through. He now bathes his weary soul in seas of heavenly rest, and not a wave of trouble rolls across his peaceful breast. Ah, he now sees the King in his glory; he now swims in the ocean of God's everlasting love. Yes, his precious soul now drinks full draughts of that Fountain of which he had only a sip while here below; and he now unceasingly sings praises unto Him that loved him and gave himself for him. thought, as I stood by the side of his grave, that he made but a poor, mean appearance, compared with the great and noble of this world; but what a grand difference now! for while they are left to perish in their sins, he, by free, sovereign grace, is raised to the heights of never-ending glory. Well, my dear brother, I trust we can say, with one of old, "He cannot come to us, but we shall one day go to him." Mr. E. Allen sends his love to you; and he-with myself wishes to know whether you would have any objection to the letter you sent to our late brother Epps, being inserted in the EARTHEN VESSEL; as we trust thereby it might be for the comfort and encouragement of some of Zion's travellers, and redound to the glory of God. never had an abiding doubt of her safety in Christ. About four days before the Lord called her home, she called me to her bedside, and said, "Father, I shall not go into the country; I am too ill I shall die. Oh, father! I should not mind leaving this world if I were prepared; but I am not fit to die;" and she burst into tears. I said, "My dear child, you must pray to the Lord to forgive you your sins." She said, "Father, I cannot pray; my heart is so hard; I do not know that I am a sinner; I am not convinced of sin; I am so dark; I have never been convinced of sin." I said, "My dear child, you know that you were born in sin, and that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Do pray that the Lord would pardon your sins, for Christ's sake." She said again, "Father, I cannot pray; I am so dark, cannot feel my sins: my heart is so hard!" 1 said, "My dear, shall I pray for you?" She said, "Yes." I then prayed at her bedside, and left her for the night. He Our brother Long, feeling much pressed to visit her, came on Friday afternoon. read to her the 51st Psalm, and pressed on her to pray to the Lord to shew her the meaning of it, and to give her to understand it; and after some suitable conversation with her, and prayer, he left her, with the Bible open at that Psalm. In that position I found her, when I came home on Friday evening. I said to her, "You have had Mr. Long to see you." She said, "Yes; and he read the 51st Psalm, and told me to pray to the Lord to shew me my sins." I said, "Well, my dear, and have you prayed?" She said, "I have tried to pray; but when pray to the Lord to forgive my sins, something says,You are only an hypocrite: what have you to do with the forgiveness of sins? Oh, I am afraid my shortness of breath will take me off before I know my sins are forgiven! I am so dark when I pray, it seems to me more like a parrot. Oh, if I should go off suddenly, before I know my sins are forgiven, I shall go to hell. I remember, four or five years ago, when I used to try to pray; but I left it all off. I am only an hypocrite." I said, "My Daughter of W. H. Wells, Minister of dear, the Lord will manifest his pardoning Father, mother, and my dear wife, join with me in kind love to you, and your dear wife and family; and believe me to remain your unworthy brother in a precious Christ, ALFRED REED. THE LORD'S GRACIOUS DEALINGS WITH Hephzibah Chapel, Mile End. ANNA WELLS, although brought up to, and always desirous of attending the means of grace, yet, up to within a few days of her death, had no knowledge of her personal interest in salvation by Jesus Christ. 66 Knowing this to be the case, I had for some time previous, during her protracted illness, been much and earnestly in prayer for her that the Lord would sanctify her afflictions to the saving of her soul; and being thus engaged, on Thursday, April 13th, the word of the Lord came very powerfully to me, Her sins, which are many, are all forgiven her !" I said, Lord, didst thou speak this? is it thy voice-thy word? Immediately the word of the Lord came again to me, "I that speak in righteousness-nighty to save." I was immediately led by the Spirit to bless and praise the name of the Lord; and from that time I love to you. He has assured me he will, in Yes; but A CONSOLATORY LETTER, but I am afraid I shall go off suddenly, without knowing my sins are forgiven." Oh, dear, what shall I do? Oh, Lord, have mercy upon me, for Christ's sake." I said, "My dear Anna, I know the Lord will make known to you the pardon of your sins." She said,"I hope he will; I wish I could say so; I wish I could believe. If I could believe so, then I should not mind parting with you all, for I should soon see you all again, it would only be a little while. I shall never see my dear sister Maria again in the flesh, but I shall see her in heaven too." Then darkness began to come over her mind again; and she said, "But I am afraid I shall never know my sins are pardoned." I said, “Have you any righteousness of your own, or any good works on which you can rest?" She said, 'Oh, no; I never did any; when I keep on praying for pardon, I am afraid I shall weary God with my prayers. I seem as if I only prayed to God to pardon my sins, for Christ's sake, because I have been told to pray so.' I then read to her that portion of the word of the Lord in Isaiah xl. 27-31; and again left her for the night. On Saturday, at noon, I was sent for home to see her, as she appeared much worse; but before I arrived home, she had revived a little. I said to her, "Well, my dear Anna, how is your mind now?" She said, "Very comfortable; very happy: the Lord has relieved me; he has thought of me in my low estate. I thought it was to be in a more systematic way; I thought I must have deep convictions of sin before I could be happy; but I am made happy without so much conviction of sin. I shall be satisfied when I see his face in righteousness-when I see the light of his countenance." She continued,"If I could but get hold of his blessed feet, I think I could hold him fast, and never let him go. I do not want to part with you all, but I shall soon see you all again. I feel impatient to be gone. Do pray for patience for me! I do not regret leaving this world." She then repeated, "There is a land of pure delight, And pleasures banish pain." "How different (she said) the hymns sound when you know the meaning of them-when you understand them. I shall praise his dear name for ever and ever." The last words she said, were to her sister, at six o'clock on Sabbath morning. She said, "I am so happy!" She then sank into an apparent state of insensibility; and about ten minutes to nine o'clock she quietly breathed out her soul into the hands of God, without a struggle or a groan, and fell asleep in Jesus on Sabbath morning, May 7th, 1854, in the 30th year of her age. WM. H. WELLS. A CONSOLATORY LETTER TO A BED-RIDDEN SAINT. MY DEAR SISTER IN THE LORD.-Grace, mercy, and peace be with you; and not with you only, but with all them that love our Lord 163 Ever Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth. And claims heaven as the seat of rest, This love abundantly confirms For all the dear Redeemer's flock. You have long been afflicted of the Lord; yet-blessed be his holy name!-have never been forsaken or forgotten of him; and though you have been bed-ridden these many years, yet how often has the dear Lover of your soul condescended to make your bed soft with his own tender hand, and your heart glad with his lovely, smiling face! Andadored be his all-triumphant name!-never has he looked in upon you, without leaving behind him some true tokens, sure signs, and precious proofs of the fulness of his heart's love towards you. Has not his kindness melted you down into very nothingness before his feet again and again, while he has marvellously and mercifully expounded and unfolded unto you the sacred Scriptures of truth concerning himself and the kingdom which he has prepared for all them that love him? Is he not your Teacher, your Leader, your Keeper, your Healer, your Helper, your Strength, your Saviour, your God? Then assuredly he shall be your everlasting Song, let satan say what he may to the contrary. Fear not, neither be dismayed; but have unshaken confidence in God-your covenant God in Christ. For, Since Jesus is thine, thou hast a true Friend, Whose goodness endures the same to the end; Our comforts may vary, our frames may de cline; We cannot miscarry; our aid is divine. Notwithstanding your privations are many and great, yet fret not, nor repine, but rather rejoice; knowing that your privileges are far exceeding more, and greater than all your believer in Jesus, to read your name in the privations. You are highly privileged, as a Lamb's book of life-to search the Scriptures for the hidden treasures therein contained-to meditate on the manifold mighty works of the Lord-to muse on the mercies of the Most High, which are new every morning, to shew that the Lord is faithful, and that all his promises are sure-to hear the welcome voice of the Lord, saying, Arise, my love, my fairest |