before you. May you turn from every sin, from every false and unscriptural hope, for it is written, "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him." May this be the appointed moment for your spiritual resurrection: may eternal Mercy now say "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."

Then shall the sound and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in you be confirmed in your own experience, and before the church and the world, by the holiness of your lives. Then, whatever trials you may be called to endure, they will be employed for the establishment of your knowledge of him whilst on earth, and preparation for a heavenly state commensurate with the immortality of Jesus. "His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun.

Farewell. May we meet in heaven, and proclaim with grateful and adoring joy, to all eternity, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

Written on Sunday, June 10th, 1832.

S. MARTIN.

EXTRACTS

FROM

LETTERS AND PRISON BOOKS.

EXTRACTS from letters, written during the last five months of Sarah Martin's life, exemplifying her state of mind under great bodily pain and suffering.

MY DEAR

I thank you for kindly sending me the parcel. I hope you are yourself better in health: as for myself, my blessings, or rather the blessed Giver, is so all-sufficient, and abundant in goodness, love, and faithfulness, that I am at a loss for expression; suffice it to say, "He doeth all things well." As for my poor body, I am under the medical care of Mr. I have already, by the blessing of God, strong proof of great benefit, although, beyond being at the gaol in the middle of the day, I am generally lying down. This morning I was too ill to sit up, hence you had no answer. Oh! how happy, how peaceful it is to rest in the love of Jesus, in the bosom of blessedness, in the enjoyment of the Father's love, in the Son and the Spirit's light! Nothing else, nothing else can satisfy; self is horrible, it is frightful. I go to the gaol with great pleasure, and eat the bread of life when with them [the prisoners]; were this not granted, he would not forsake his purposes of mercy, either to me or to

I

them. Oh, how happy it is to be in his blessed hands for then outward circumstances lose their importance; the care of outward things is his,

Your kind supply for my temporal comfort met me last evening, and what can I say? the sense of your kindness is sweet, very sweet in love to Him who first loved us, you do it; "the love of Christ constraineth you;" take the comfort of His own blessed and gracious acknowledgment, "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Thus receiving the temporal blessings of my Lord and Saviour, they have a worth beyond themselves abstractedly, because the Lord careth for the body. Can it be doubted, when the apostle, adverting to it as a reason against sin in believers, asks, "What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” Yes, even these poor corruptible bodies are an habitation of God through the Spirit :" and the whole person, body, soul, and spirit, are the Lord's; "ye are not your own, ye are bought with a' price." Oh for more grace, more light, and love! oh to be more unfettered from all that stands between the soul and Jesus, and the Father, and the Spirit, that the goodness of my Father to my poor frail body may be rescued from the cold ingratitude of living at a distance from him! I am shocked at what a formalist in myself I am. To rise above, to reign over self, is the privilege to be enjoyed, according to the words, "risen with

66

Christ," "to him that overcometh." What a Saviour we have, altogether lovely! He is precious; "all in all."

MY VERY DEAR

How sincerely I thank you for your kind and affectionate note, and I shall be glad if you will give me another. How long it may please our gracious God to keep me apart, cannot at present be judged. I was not so well yesterday and the day before; to-day I have been very ill indeed. I just sit up on the sofa with my back supported, and am already overcome. But, my dear friend, all this tells what the Lord had taught you before, that the Spirit of God never leaves his children alone: oh no, 1 feel no loneliness in his blessed presence; the time seems quite short. I find the Lord deprives affliction of all power to afflict the soul; and I joyfully agree with you when you say, "Never mind a little pain," etc. I could not conscientiously keep your eggs, for this reason, it would have been encroaching on your kindness, as I had a good stock, and did not know then but I might have been from home. I am, however, by no means likely to be able to leave home at present; therefore, as I know it gives you pleasure to administer to me, for your Saviour's sake, in love, should you feel inclined to try me again, you may not have the same chance of having them returned.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

After pain and restlessness until two o'clock this morning, I had again, after my draught, a

long sweet sleep, and early in the beautiful breaking of the day, I felt refreshed by imagining myself in the midst of a fine 'field. Our blessed Redeemer was often walking, with his disciples, through the corn-fields, and they plucked the ears of corn: a most merciful Saviour he was in this world, his own world, the work of his hands, ever illustrating eternal truth by its beautiful natural figures.

I have not yet replied to what you have said by note and word, to remove pecuniary care from my mind, should my illness be long protracted. I think what you said amounted to this: were I compelled to break in upon the principal, on being restored again, my friends would make it up to me. Now if you mean, make it up, fill up the break with any money, that plan will not accord with my mind. How trifling, on the one hand, will be the difference in my income before the breach, and after: besides, the right principle before God, after affliction, must be humility, and to conform to one's means. Should it be that those means will not meet necessary support, I will tell you the way of meeting all this, and a good way too : make me presents in the shape of a nice loaf at one time, and a little cheese at another; this is the delightful plan on which my friends' bounty may best act. A bold beggar, am I not? but, my beloved one, there can be no harm in speaking freely, and very freely to you. Not that I am likely to survive for all this, but it answers what you have said. God bless you: I hope to hear from you to-day, and have my nosegay and apriEver yours, S. MARTIN.

cots.

DOLA