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what it is; and every one that bdies, after having filled his station in society, however humble, leaves the world: something different from what it would have been had he never existed. Not one of us knows how far our personal influence extends over those around us a much less how remotely what we have been, and done, and said, may affect those that come after, when we are dead, and forgotten like the cedars of Lebanon that flourished before the days of David and Solomon, which, though felled and wrought for ten thousand common uses, were yet the progenitors of trees from whose timbers the temple of God was framed and beautified. We have, therefore, not only each our own, but each the welfare of others to care for not to do them evil, at any rate; and by all means possible to do them good. How then ought we to act and speak before men, that we be not condemned before God! One talent well employed (as in the case of the excellent person whose Memoirs we are recommending,) may be made eternally beneficial to the souls of those whom, though we never knew them as contemporaries, we may be glad to know and to) love-in that world where there is no succession of coming and going generations, but all who live shall live for ever there.

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In the volume before us, there are many brief sentences, which will find their way into prepared bosoms, with a power and a glory only short of revelation; and these will be made blessings inestimable to those who receive them. From the entrance of one or another of these into the heart, many a sinner here, or at the ends of the earth, in

the present age, or a century to come, may remember the moment of awakening that led to conversion-conversion, that saved his soul from death, and covered his multitude of sins. The hand that is penning this paragraph on the 5th of June, 1828, belongs to a human being, in health and strength, who yet knows not that he shall live to finish it. Eyes which have never looked on him will assuredly read what he is now writing; and though but a few moments remain before this Essay must be concluded, or left unfinished for ever, it is possible for those moments to be so well employed, in transcribing a "word in season," that the soul of an immortal may hence date the turning point in its career, when for itself it decided in the affirmative, the question which Mrs. Huntington, after "a solemn consultation," in her own mind, at the age of three years, decided in the negative, (but happily afterwards reversed the false judgment,) whether is it best to be a Christian now, or not yet?" What then shall the "word in season" be, which may thus influence the everlasting destiny of some living or unborn individual? Surely it must be one that shall establish the wisdom of this most exemplary woman's better choice. Then let it be that which was selected for the text of her funeral sermon; the truth of which was proved by her whole experience, and testified by her lips, in life and in death-" ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD.".

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SHEFFIELD, June 5, 1828.

J. M.

YES; "all things work together for their good!" How can that glorious truth be understood? 'Tis like Jehovah's throne, where marvellous light Hides in thick darkness from created sight; The first-born seraph, trembling while he sings, Views its veil'd lustre through his shadowy wings; Or, if he meets, by unexpected grace,

The beatific vision, face to face,

Shrinks from perfection which no eye can see,
Entranced in the abyss of Deity.

Yes; "all things work together for their good!" How shall the mystery be understood?⠀ From man's primeval curse are these set free, f Sin slain, death swallow'd up in victory ?en The body from corruption so refined, 'Tis but the immortal vesture of the mind? The mind from folly, so to wisdom won, 'Tis but a sun-beam of the Eternal Sun?

Ah, no, no;-all that troubles life is theirs; Hard toil, sharp suffering, slow-consuming cares; To mourn and weep; want raiment, food, and rest, Brood o'er the unutter'd anguish of the breast; To love, to hope, desire, possess in vain, Wrestle with weakness, weariness, and pain, Struggle with fell disease from breath to breath, And every moment die a moment's death!

This is their portion, this the common lot; But they have sorrows which the world knows not: -Their conflicts with that world, its fair false joys, Insnaring riches, and delusive toys;

Its love, its hatred, its neglect and scorn,

And self-abhorrence, harder to be borne ;

The pangs of conscience, when God's holy law, Through Sinai's thunders, strikes them dumb with awe; Passions disorder'd, when insane desires.

Blow the dark embers of unhallow'd fires;

Evils that lurk at ambush in the heart,

And shoot their arrows thence through every part;
Harsh roots of bitterness, light seeds of sin,
Oft springing up, and stirring strife within;
Pride, like the serpent, vaunting to deceive,
As with his subtlety beguiling Eve;

Ambition, like the great red dragon, hurl'd
With all his host, from heaven to this low world,
Boundless in wrath, as limited in power,

Ramping abroad, and roaring to devour:

These, which blithe sinners laugh at and contemn, Are worse than famine, sword, and fire to them.

Nor these alone;-for neither few nor small
The trials rising from their holy call;

-The Spirit's searching, proving, cleansing flames;
Duty's demands, the Gospel's sovereign claims;
Meek self-denial, counting all things loss
For Christ, and daily taking up his cross;
The broken heart, or heart that will not break,
That aches not, or that cannot cease to ache;
Doubts and misgivings, lest, when storms are past,
They make sad shipwreck of their faith at last :
—These, and a thousand forms of fear and shame,
Bosom temptations, which have not a name,

But have a nature, felt through flesh and bone,
Through soul and spirit-felt by them alone:
These, these, the Christian pilgrims sore distress,
Like thorns and briers of the wilderness;
These keep them humble, keep them in the path,
As those who flee from everlasting wrath j
Yet, while their hearts and hopes are fix'd above,
As those who lean on everlasting love,
On faithfulness, which, though heaven's pillars bend,
And earth's base fail, upholds them to the end.

By these, by these alone, 'tis understood, How "all things work together for their good." Wouldst thou too understand ?-Behold, I show The perfect way-LOVE GOD, AND THOU SHALT KNOW. J. M.