ing. These dispositions naturally led his parents to form great hopes of his future usefulness, and to look forward to him as the joy of their old age, should his life be spared. But, alas! how soon were these fond hopes blighted. Towards the latter end of last year, on account of some slight indisposition, he was obliged to absent himself from his class; which seemed at first to be a great privation to him, but afterwards he became more reconciled to it. Little did he think that when he left school in October he would never again return to receive sabbath-school instruction, or that ere long he would be mouldering in the dust. The indisposition before mentioned gradually assumed a more serious aspect; but never, till April, did his parents, or even the doctor who attended him himself, think that the disease which was preying upon his mortal frame was anything more than a slight cold, and that as soon as the weather became warmer he would be restored to health. All possible means were used for his restoration; but "God's ways are not as our ways, neither are his thoughts as our thoughts." He still grew worse, and, towards the beginning of April, as no symptoms of recovery showed themselves, fears were entertained that soon he would be numbered with the dead; which fears were afterwards confirmed when the physician informed his friends that all his skill was in vain, and that soon their child would be no more, unless an unseen Providence preserved his life. When his parents heard the painful intelligence they seemed to be overwhelmed in silent grief; more especially (though he was a child who exhibited some of the loveliest features human nature ever possessed) because they thought that he was still destitute of the principles of vital godliness. Their neighbours endeavoured to persuade them, that a child of such pleasing dispositions and innocent desires as their son possessed would be sure to attain the crown of glory which awaits the followers of Jesus Christ; but with such conclusions they were not by any means satisfied, and never was their grief at all assuaged until they had decisive evidence that he was a child of God. When first Joseph was informed that there were no hopes of his restoration to health, he appeared to be much perplexed; and when asked the reason of his discontentment, he replied that he was sorry to leave his dear parents and friends. The day-school which he used to frequent was immediately opposite the house where he lived, and often he would sit in his chamber, and anxiously looking at the scholars while at play, he would exclaim, "O that I was with them." But shortly after he became quite resigned to the will of God, and, if not in words, at least in spirit, to say with our dear Redeemer, Thy will be done." About this time he was often observed to be engaged in fervent prayer; and never were his parents so much delighted as when they heard him say that he was not at all afraid to die, at the same time assigning as a reason that he felt assured that his prayers were heard, and that his sins were washed away : "There is a fountain fill'd with blood Drawn from Immanuel's veins, And sinners plung'd beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains." On one occasion, observing his mother weeping, he asked her why she wept? She answered that she was sorry to lose her dear son; whereupon he replied, in the most tender yet solemn manner, "Do not weep for me, dear mother, I shall soon be in heaven to join in singing praises to the Lamb of God, where I hope you all will meet me never to part any more." On the Saturday before he died, when the physician examined him, his mother asked the doctor his opinion; when he replied, that he believed one side of his lungs was completely gone, which greatly afflicted her, but her son remained quite composed. At another time he called to his mother and said, "Mother, bring my brothers and sisters, and let us pray." And when she had collected them together, she engaged in prayer; and when she had concluded, she asked him if he liked to hear her pray, and he said, "Yes, mother; but when you pray you always cry, and that distresses me. Why do on the same morning his father asked you cry, mother? You need not cry, him if he should go to his work, and but rather rejoice on my account: I he said, "Yes, father-I shall not die shall soon be in heaven, and then I till afternoon;" and, in truth, his word shall be far happier than I am now." was verified,-for about two o'clock on In the evening of this day he expressed the same day he peacefully fell asleep a strong desire to see Mr. S the (we trust) in Jesus, in the arms of his Thus died Josephi pastor of College Chapel; and on the afflicted mother. following day (Sunday) he called upon Drake, an example of youthful devoand him, and had some most pleasing and tion, aged nine years a few interesting conversation with him, the months; but "being dead he yet particulars of which we cannot how-speaketh" in the voice of encourageever give. On the same day I, with ment to sabbath-school teachers to persome other fellow-teachers, visited him, severe in their labours, and as an exand asked him several questions, which ample to Sunday-school scholars. he answered in a most satisfactory July, 1846. manner. We asked him then if he should like to see any of his classmates, to which he replied that they were so rough. "One of them," said he, mentioning his name, "swears." Soon after, however, he named two whom he wished to call upon him; and on the following day, when they went to see him, he began to propose to them questions of the greatest importance. Addressing himself to one of them, he said, "Are you afraid to die ?" and with such solemnity, yet tenderness, he uttered these words, that the boy immediately burst into tears. In the evening of the same day, whilst his sister was sitting beside him, she heard him singing to himself the following beautiful lines : "Then in a sweeter, nobler song I'll sing thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue Lies silent in the grave." On Tuesday morning, the day on which he died, about four o'clock in the morning, he called upon his mother and expressed a desire to get up; but she told him he had far better remain in bed and then he requested his father to pray, which he accordingly did; and when he had concluded, Joseph attempted to sing the following verse of Dr. Watts: "There is a land of pure delight But before he could finish his strength S. LAYCOCK. "WHAT IS LIFE?" How swiftly flies the shooting star! And such is human life—it is A path as short and trod as fast, But short as is that meteor's course, It sparkles bright and clear; Have sweets that never cloy, One course of love and joy. That star, as it did upward rise, More and more brilliant grew, And pass'd beyond our view: To tell the glorious form you'll take Your brow so glorious as to make Your crown less radiant seem: For ever shine sublime. H. M. GUNN. Cabinet of Things New and Old. REALITY OF THE RELIGION OF THE CROSS. I LATELY attended the funeral obsequies of the beloved wife of my dear brother in the gospel, the Rev. W. Brewis, of Penrith, Cumberland; and hoping that a few reflections on the dying scene and what I witnessed in the house of mourning may be of service to some of the readers of THE CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE, I venture to transmit the following thoughts. Being officially engaged at the request of the deceased both in interring the remains and preaching the funeral sermon, one prominent idea pervaded my mind on the mournful occasion-the reality of the religion of Jesus, and its power to sanctify the soul and to administer support in the trying hour. As in life so at the approach of death one among many features of the Christian character was prominent in the experience of the late Mrs. Brewis,―her anxious concern for the conversion of sinners. A short time before her dissolution she desired several of her neighbours to be called into her room, and, though her strength was rapidly failing, yet, with short and interrupted breathings, she urged them to seek the things which belong to their peace before it was too late. The spiritual welfare of others was an object she much sought after in life, and this desire was strong in death. She knew and felt the preciousness of the Saviour to her own soul, and her prayer to God was that others might have the same experience. O how delightful to see a Christian just on the confines of eternity strong in the hope of the gospel, and exhorting all around to come to that dear Saviour "who is rich unto all that call upon him!" Let Christians be careful to live according to their holy profession, that their end may be peace, and their dying testimony to the grace of Jesus convincing and edifying. Her medical attendants were the objects of her deep solicitude. Besides speaking to them respectfully but faithfully of the way of salvation through faith in a crucified Redeemer, she requested that a copy should be presented to each of them of Jay's "Morning Exercises," a work from which she herself had derived great profit and pleasure. Her prayers for the prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom were most earnest and affectionate. She said she would pray for the church as long as she could; she had always been an ardent friend of the cause of Christ both at home and abroad, and in the near prospect of joining the blissful society above she poured out her supplications for the prosperity of Zion. In the pangs of "the dying strife" she could not forget the interests of the dear Christian breth L ren with whom she had long enjoyed fellowship in the blessings of the gospel, and she prayed and wrestled for their enlargement in numbers, in spirituality, and in usefulness. Already she breathed the spirit of that region where “all the air is love,” and her soul longed that the purity and the bliss of heaven might descend on mortals here below. Let but Christians actually come to the spirits of just men made perfect through Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant," and there will be a nearer resemblance between the church on earth and the church in heaven. 66 All the conjugal and parental feelings of a Christian wife and mother appeared in her affection for her family. Her counsel and encouragement to her dear husband and children were such as long experience in the Christian life alone could furnish, and a mind richly imbued with the grace of God alone could give. The bereaved partner will be often cheered by the remembrance of her triumphant faith and living hope in the article of death; and the dear children will never forget the yearnings of a mother's love, the counsels of a mother's care, the prayers on their behalf of a mother's expiring breath. Whilst cherishing the tenderest regard for her weeping family, she "had a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better." When her sorrowing husband intimated to her that he was afraid, from the opinion which the physicians had expressed, that there was no hope, she exclaimed, "Afraid! I am delighted to hear it." She rejoiced that she was no longer to be detained in this world of sin, and that the time of her departure to her Father's house was at hand. The last words she was heard to utter were, "Farewell; I am just going-I am quite ready." The contemplation of this peaceful end of the Christian is rendered still more interesting by the humble deportment and consistent life of its subject. From her first experience of the power of Divine grace in early life to the day of her death she maintained a conversation becoming the gospel of Christ. Allowing for infirmities common in this imperfect state to the best of Christians, she was one of those who can say, "Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." In the case of death-bed conversions there is wanting one main evidence of the reality of the change-the fruits of holiness; but where the belief of the truth, as in the instance before us, has been followed by a long course of evangelical obedience, there can be no doubt that such a one is "an Israelite indeed." O that the young would decide immediately for God and heaven, and enter by Christ the door that narrow path which, though it may be sometimes rugged, is strown with a thousand sacred sweets, and at the end opens into boundless and everlasting joy! "In the way of righteousness there is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death." The writer of these lines trusts that in paying the last offices of respect to departed worth, not a few found that "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting." May the living lay it to his heart! At the interment, and in the services of the following sabbath, when the solemn event was improved, a deep and sacred solemnity seemed to rest on the minds of the worshippers, and to produce the conviction that "the righteous hath hope in his death." Even the grave appeared divested of its gloom. "There was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid." It is a piece of ground adjoining the chapel, and is sufficiently consecrated by receiving into its bosom for the first time the dust of one who died in the Lord, which dust Jesus will watch over, and at the appointed time will raise from its present state of humiliation, "that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” That is indeed a house of mourning in which the husband is deprived of a faithful wife and five children of a most affectionate mother; but it was mourning relieved by hope, moderated by resignation to the Divine will, and sanctified by the Divine presence. In the devotions of the sanctuary and the family God was the refuge and strength of the distressed, a very present help in trouble. Can anything like this be found among the children of this world? Have the thoughtless, the gay, and the vicious, any such refuge to flee to when their strength fails and an awful eternity opens to their view? O no! the world is their ALL, and when they must leave it, there is nothing before them but darkness, and fear, and trembling, a horrible tempest! Fellow-sinners, you are under the curse of God; for it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." That curse involves death temporal, spiritual, and eternal. But there is a way of deliverance, as wonderful as it is effectual, to all who embrace it: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Behold here God's unspeakable love, who gave his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Confide in the atoning sacrifice of Christ as the only and all-sufficient ransom for your souls; follow Christ in all the paths of holy obedience, and you have the promise of Him whose word is immutable truth you shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Flee for refuge to this mighty Redeemer, and you will build on a foundation which shall never be moved, obtain a hope which shall never be blasted, and joys which shall never wither. This is the Rock on which every believer rests, and from which he shall never be separated. Here, and nowhere else, are perfect security and everlasting repose. He is the tried stone, the sure foundation; he that believeth on him shall never be confounded, but all they that are far from him by wicked works and an unbelieving heart shall perish. Yield yourselves to God, through faith in the great Mediator, and death and judgment shall be no longer your dread, for "our Saviour Jesus that |