SIR ISAAC NEWTON has by general consent been considered the greatest of all philosophers in ancient or modern times. Sir Isaac was also well known by the appellation of an "excellent divine." That he who among all the individuals of his race possessed the highest intellectual powers, was not only a learned and profound divine, but a firm believer in the doctrines of religion, is one of the proudest triumphs of the Christian faith. Had he distinguished himself only by an external respect for the offices and duties of religion; and had he left merely in his last words an acknowledgment of his faith, his piety might have been ascribed by the enemies of religion to a prudent submission unto popular feeling. But he had been a Christian from his youth.

Towards the close of life the reading of religious books had become one of his most habitual occupations, and after he had performed the duties of his office, they formed, along with the conversation of

his friends, his principal amusement, and no doubt his chief ground of comfort also; for he cherished its doctrines and leant upon its promises. By the help of great precautions, which, except towards the decline of life he never had occasion for, he procured great intervals of ease; yet he was not free from some severe paroxysms, which even occasioned large drops of sweat to run down his face. In these circumstances he was never heard to utter the least complaint, nor express the least impatience; and as soon as he had a moment's ease, he would smile and talk with his usual cheerfulness. A little before his death he observed, "I do not know what I seem to the world, but to myself I appear to have been only like a boy playing upon the sea-shore, and diverting myself by now and then finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay before me all undiscovered." He died at the advanced age of eighty-four, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monument has been erected, which, after recording some of his greatest discoveries, proceeds to state, that he was

"An assiduous, sagacious, and faithful Interpreter of

Nature, Antiquity, and the Holy Scriptures.

He asserted in his Philosophy the Majesty of God, And exhibited in his conduct the simplicity of the Gospel"."

A PROMISE FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE."The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory 3."

8

7 Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton, and Biog. Brit.
8 Is. lx. 19.

DR. THOMAS WILSON was Bishop of Sodor and Man. His residence was in the Isle of Man, where he dedicated his time to works of active benevolence, and to the composition of treatises which have been greatly valued for their warm and earnest piety, and their enforcement of Christian duty, as springing from Christian principles.

He had attained his ninety-third year, when, in consequence of a cold caught by walking in his garden in very cold weather, after reading evening prayers in his own chapel, he was confined to his bed. His pious and useful life was now drawing to a close. He saw the evening shades advancing; he felt his earthly tabernacle decaying; he beheld the messengers of death near at hand, and welcomed their approach. The scenes which lie beyond the valley of the shadow of death grew brighter the nearer he approached them. Whilst walking thoughtfully along the shore of eternity, he seemed to hear seraphic sounds from the harps

of ministering angels, and to behold with the martyr Stephen the heavens open, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Bishop Wilson stood like a pilgrim, with his staff in his hand, ready to depart. Whilst thus waiting for his summons, and in hourly expectation of going forth to meet the bridegroom, he appeared more like an inhabitant of the world of glory, on which he was about to enter, than a sojourner in this vale of tears. His last days were his best days. He was ripening fast for heaven. A candidate for the ministry, who at that time resided in his house, and continued with him till his death, delighted to relate the scenes which he then witnessed. He used to tell, with joy in his countenance, of the benignity in the Bishop's behaviour, the heavenliness of his discourse, and the fervour of his prayers. This student, who slept in a room adjoining the Bishop's bedchamber, frequently overheard, at midnight, the orisons of the holy man. He could distinguish his whispering voice pouring forth supplications and thanksgivings to the great Preserver of men, who "never slumbers nor sleeps." Sometimes the words of the pious psalmist were indistinctly heard; "I will arise at midnight and give thanks unto thee. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me praise his holy name!" Sometimes passages from the Te Deum: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth." Thus did God give his beloved servant songs in the night-season.

But few wearisome nights or unprofitable days were allotted to this advanced Christian. He was now almost in view of the heavenly world, his heart and his flesh gradually failing him, till the pulse of life stood still, and his spirit returned unto God who gave it.

He was interred in the church-yard of KirkMichael, almost the whole population of the island attending the funeral, and lamenting their loss. The coffin in which his body was placed was made from one of the elm trees which the Bishop planted soon after his coming to the Isle of Man. A few years before his death, he ordered the tree to be cut down and sawed into planks, to be in a state of readiness to receive his remains, and probably to answer the further end of a Memento mori 9.

REFLECTION BY BISHOP WILSON.-God be praised, unless Christians are very much wanting to themselves, they may suffer, but if they keep in their eye the rewards of a future life, and live like men that do so, they cannot be miserable.

9 Life of Bishop Wilson, by Stowell.