Almighty, or been permitted to read thy destiny, that while thou beholdest the ravages of death all around thee,—the multitudes which fall at thy right hand and at thy left, the young and the old, the feeble and the strong, hurried into eternity, thou shouldst suppose thyself alone firm and immoveable amid this flux and succession of being? Wouldst thou wish to surmount the fear of death? Acquaint thyself with him who is the resurrection and the life; with that Saviour who

is its author, its revealer, and its pattern. "Take his yoke upon you, and learn of him.". Attend to his instructions, and yield yourself up to his guidance. You will then be able to converse familiarly with death. You will feel no terror in the prospect of future judgment, but will wait for its approach, and be able to stand before the Son of God at his coming. "Finally, let us who are of the light and of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." Instead of murmuring at such afflictive dispensations as separate us from those we esteem and love, let us employ them as inducements to set our affections on a better world, where we shall shortly join them; remembering, that whatever ties of affection are broken by death are taken from the enjoyments of time to enrich the prospect of eternity.

SKETCH

OF THE

CHARACTER OF MRS. M. CARRYER.

[Written in 1812.]

most.

It is not my intention to attempt a laboured eulogium on our departed sister, but justice compels me briefly to notice some of the distinguishing traits of her character. I regret that, partly owing to the natural reserve of the deceased, and partly owing to my own unsocial humour, my acquaintance with her was so limited. I knew enough of her, however, to convince me that she was a person of no ordinary worth; and, from the testimony of all who were favoured with her intimacy, I am fully persuaded her piety was of the most solid kind, not evaporating in talk, nor obtruding itself in an ostentatious profession, but operating in a constant and exemplary discharge of every private and social duty. She was a pattern of diligence, as well in her attention to domestic engagements as in the constancy with which she applied herself to the means of grace, in the closet and in the sanctuary. As a wife, a mother, and a member of a Christian church, her behaviour was such that it is impossible to say which character she adorned Averse from every kind of display, her religion was of a retired nature; planted by the rivers of water, and fed by a secret spring, its leaf never withered, and it brought forth its fruit in its season. Her faith was such as purified the heart, and manifested itself in a series of wise and holy actions. Her hope was an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, entering into that within the veil. In the former part of her experience, she was sometimes considerably agitated by doubts and fears; but during the progress of the malady which terminated her dissolution, her painful apprehensions gradually subsided, and although she sowed in tears, she reaped in joy. Her dying testimony to the excellence of religion, and to the power and grace of the Redeemer, was most affecting; and will, it is humbly hoped, leave a lasting impression on survivors. She often expressed her gratitude to Providence for directing her choice to a companion in life, from whose example, and from whose prayers, she derived important assistance in her walk with God; so that the change of situation, which to many females becomes a temptation and a snare, became to her a great means of spiritual improvement. The virtues which

adorn a single state she exhibited, not only unimpaired, but with increasing lustre, in her conjugal capacity. The essential benefit she derived from her obedience to the Scriptural injunction to " marry in the Lord,” conveys an impressive admonition to the youth of both sexes. Let such as attach any importance to the cultivation of piety, and whose first solicitude it is to be prepared for eternity, avoid taking to their bosoms a domestic enemy, with whom it will be requisite to live in a state either of perpetual counteraction or of sinful compliance; and from whom, without the interposition of Divine grace, they must anticipate an eternal separation. Our dear departed sister made a wise choice, and determined to select as a companion for life one with whom she could indulge a confident hope of sharing a blessed eternity. Her rapid advancement in every Christian grace was manifest to every one except to herself: for she often expressed the deep sense she entertained of her manifest imperfections, while others beheld nothing in her but what was "pure, lovely, and of good report." As she was clothed with humility, so she was eminently sober-minded, at the utmost distance from indulging in the levities, follies, and vain competitions of the age. She was chaste, a keeper at home, a lover of her husband, a lover of her children, and one who guided her house with discretion. Kindness to the indigent entered deeply into her character; she delighted "to do good to all men, especially to such as are of the household of faith." She was perfectly superior to the vanity of dress; her attire was suited to her station, neither mean nor splendid, but such as became a woman professing godliness. Her conviction of the nothingness of the world was profound, and she longed, would her modesty have permitted, to admonish her young friends from her dying bed to be on their guard against its fascinations and its snares. To her relations she often exclaimed, almost with her dying breath, "The world! the world!" intending to warn them of what she conceived to form their chief danger.

On the whole, among the numerous losses which this church has recently sustained I know of none more entitled to lasting lamentation than the present; nor has there been a member removed during the period of my ministry whose life has been more exemplary, or whose memory will be more precious.

THE CHARACTER

OF THE LATE

REV. THOMAS ROBINSON,

VICAR OF ST. MARY'S, LEICESTER;

As exhibited in a Speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Leicester Auxiliary Bible Society, April, 1813.

It is with a melancholy satisfaction I rise to express my entire approbation of the sentiments contained in the resolution just read.

It would, in my opinion, have been unnatural to usher our annual report into the world without noticing that solemn and affecting dispensation which has deprived this society, this town, and this county of its principal ornament. We are weakened this day by the falling of a pious and a great man in Israel. In the formation of this society our incomparable friend had a principal share; and through every stage he gave it an unremitted attention, and watched over its interests with a parental solicitude. The idea of instituting an auxiliary society in Leicester was no sooner suggested to him than it engaged his most cordial good wishes; he lent to its support the vigour of his masculine understanding, the energies of his capacious heart; and to him, beyond any other individual, it is indebted for the patronage and the maturity it has attained. He was indeed the father of this institution.-But of what institution formed for the promotion of the temporal and spiritual welfare of mankind in this place was he not the father? We can look nowhere throughout this large and populous town without perceiving the vestiges of his unwearied solicitude for the advancement of the happiness of his fellow-creatures. He has inscribed his history in the numerous charitable and religious foundations which owe their existence or their prosperity to his influence. Our jails, our hospitals, our schools, our churches, are replete with monuments of his worth, and with the effects of his energetic benevolence.

It is recorded of the great Hannibal, that when an infant his father conducted him to an altar, and made him vow eternal hostility to the Roman republic. Our venerable friend, when he first entered Leicester, appears with an ardour not less intense to have devoted himself to its interests. From the moment he entered the place he appears to have relinquished all selfish pursuits, all idea of private gratification,

and to have formed that system of conduct from which he never departed, which had the most immediate tendency to meliorate the state of its inhabitants. He became altogether a public character; he meditated, he wrote, he preached, he breathed, only for the public. Rarely, if ever, was there a mind more perfectly purified from every tincture of selfishness or vanity. He made the most extensive sacrifices of his time and of his repose, with a spontaneity and alacrity which implied an almost total oblivion of his existence as an individual. Endowed with a capacity for high attainments in science, and distinguished at the university by the honours assigned to superior merit, he generously declined the pursuit of literary eminence for the sole purpose of doing good. It is but few who are capable of adequately appreciating the magnitude of such a sacrifice. Dr. Paley was certainly one of those few and I had it from the lips of our venerable friend, that in addicting himself to the duties of a parish-priest he had, in the opinion of that great man, chosen the better part; a choice which it is evident Heaven singularly sanctioned and approved. In fixing his system of life he had unquestionably a view to a future account, and formed his determination on the assured persuasion of his appearing before the judgment-seat of Christ, where the salvation of one soul will cause a more glorious distinction than the greatest literary attainments; where all greatness of a merely intellectual nature will disappear, and nothing endure the scrutiny but active and disinterested virtue.

In the mean time, how narrow the bounds of his influence, how confined the ascendency of his character, had he been only the solitary student instead of being the zealous and exemplary pastor and the active citizen! On the former supposition, he had inscribed his memorial in books; on the present, he inscribed it on hearts; and instead of his being an object of the admiration of the few, he was the man of the people.

In separate parts of his character it were not impossible to find some who equalled, and others who excelled him; but in that rare combination of qualities which fitted him for such extensive usefulness he stands unrivalled. As a pastor and public instructer it may be possible to meet with some who have attained the same eminence; as a public man he may have been equalled; but where shall we look in modern times for such an example of the union of the highest endowments as a pastor and preacher, with the qualifications adapted to the functions of civil life? It is this rare union which appears to me to give the character of our venerable friend its decided pre-eminence. It is not necessary to recall to your recollection the talents of Mr. Robinson as a public instructer; you have most, if not all of you, witnessed his pulpit exertions on that spot where he was accustomed to retain a listening throng hanging upon his lips, awed, penetrated, delighted, and instructed by his manly, unaffected eloquence. Who ever heard him without feeling a persuasion that it was the man of God who ad dressed him; or without being struck with the perspicuity of his statements, the solidity of his thoughts, and the rich unction of his spirit? It was the harp of David which, struck by his powerful hands, sent forth more than mortal sounds, and produced an impression far more