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ted unto his care unto that day. For nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, and hath this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. I stand not on yielding sand, or on a rotten soil; but on the Rock of ages:

'Give me the wings of faith to rise

Within the veil, and see

The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.'

"Righteous God! thou art righteous in every thing-righteous in visiting me with this present affliction. I think I can see the distant land, and the King in his glory: I know that my Redeemer liveth. His wife asked him, Is it your wish to leave us?' Oh, yes,yes; for it is better for me to die and be with Christ-it is far better. It is a hard thing to die but I have a treasure- -a great and precious treasure in my possession. My Lord has taken away the sting of death. I rest on the great atoning sacrifice.' To his friends he said I see nothing on earth of any value; but there is a precious pearl, and that pearl is Christ: seek him-lay hold of him against you come to the strait of death. There is a treasure that can support you, even in that trying hour-a better country--a better country-a better country, where none of the inhabitants shall say, I am sick. My light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for me an eternal weight of glory. Pain and sorrow will flee away: oh! for the sabbath of everlasting rest:

'Tis one eternal sabbath with the Lamb

Where sorrow,

pain, affliction, never come.'

"But what shall I say of the multitude that have already forded the river, come out of the great tribulation, and robed with the fulness of God. They behold, without a glass between, him that was once des pised on Calvary, with all the rays of the Godhead shining around him and I shall be there shortly:

'No friend like Christ was ever found,
No earthly parent half so dear,
In darkest trials ever near,
Scattering his light and joy around.

Sin and transgression he'll forgive,
And of his own most gracious will,
Inclined to shew his mercy still,
And bid unworthy sinners live.'

Thanks, thanks for a friend that sticketh closer than a brother' he spoke faultering. 'I am dying;' and raising his eyes toward heaven, he said distinctly, Blessed be God for Christ, a firm rock in every tempest. I am satisfied-I am satisfiedI am satisfied. The Lord God Almighty is with me: he is sufficient.' He closed his eyes, and his soul fled beyond the veil; and, as there is every reason to believe, to the realms of everlasting joy, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. It was his privilege to have lived in the house of the Lord, as a member of his Church, forty-four years; and to have laboured, in a public capacity in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, thirty-one years. He left behind him, to mourn his loss, a widow and ten children.”*

*This widow is a widow indeed, who has received with gra titude the contributions which have been sent her; and the Author takes this opportunity, as the last which will be offered to him, of thanking his unknown correspondents for their kindness; and to assure them, that it has afforded some alleviation to the sufferings of a necessitous and worthy family.

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"They will give their annual guinea towards destroying the idols of paganism, which are made of wood or of stone; but do they not give decisive proof that they make gold their hope, and say to fine gold, Thou art our confidence?" Page 7.

London:

PRINTED FOR FRANCIS WESTLEY, 10, STATIONERS' COURT, AND AVE-MARIA-LANE,

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THE AUTHOR'S REPLIES, TO SOME OF HIS

CORRESPONDENTS.

PART III.

"It is altogether false, that godliness is a virtue of such a lofty and monastic order, as to hold its dominion only over the solemnities of worship, or over the solitudes of prayer and spiritual contemplation. If it be substantially a grace within us at all, it will give a direction and a colour to the whole of our path in society. There is not one conceivable transaction amongst all the manifold varieties of human employment, which it is not fitted to animate by its spirit."

CHALMERS.

SINCE the publication of the former letters, I have received several from my unknown correspondents, censuring me in very severe terms for withholding their communications from the public, which, they say, would prove more interesting and more useful than those which have been given. In reply to these general charges and complaints, I may be permitted to observe, that the Rambler was never intended to become the medium through which anonymous writers should pour forth their sentiments and opinions on the ear of the public, but to serve as the vehicle by which the author should convey his own; and though he does not arrogate to himself the infallibility of papal domination, yet he considers himself justly entitled to the prerogative of determining what papers shall be incorporated with the productions of his own pen. And if, in the exercise of this trifling prerogative, he should cast into the shades of oblivion some essays and epistles, on which their respective writers have bestowed great pains, and which were composed for the purpose of correcting the evils which abound in society, and give circulation to others which they may deem less valuable and important; he requests that they will rather impeach the solidity of his judgment than his disposition to please. In justification of the selection which he has made, he wishes to remark, that in his rambles, he has often had occasion to deplore the

evils which his judicious correspondents point out and condemn; and as his own sentiments so perfectly accord with theirs, he is willing to take upon himself the responsibility of the advice and censures which they have given.

"SIR,

"If an apology be deemed necessary for obtruding myself on your notice, I presume I have only to state, that I am equally desirous with yourself to see the consistency of the Christian character preserved by all who sustain it: but have to regret that so little care is bestowed on it by many professors. It is now about five years ago since I turned my attention to religious subjects; and the circumstance which first induced me to do it, was the death of a young friend, of high intellectual and moral attainments, who could derive no hope of future happiness but from the atonement of Jesus Christ. When first afflicted, he felt the bitterness of being cut off from life at such an early period, and when surrounded by such a fine prospect of earthly felicity; but towards the last, his mind was deeply affected by the remembrance of his sins, especially his not having devoted his talents to the glory of God; and then it was that his imaginary excellencies, on which he had placed all his dependence for acceptance with his Maker, proved the sandy basis of presumptuous hope, and he transferred his confidence to Christ the foundation on which the guilty and the unworthy place their trust. He spoke with great humility of himself with great caution of his future felicity; and entreated me, only a few hours before his departure, to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. His dying words produced a deep impression at the time they were uttered, but this impression soon went off, and I became as volatile as in the early days of my vanity; but it having pleased God to afflict me, and to bring me in my own apprehension near the tomb, my anxieties for my salvation were again awakened, and are still strong and abiding. Not having any friend or acquaintance who could give me any religious instruction, I devoted a great portion of

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