WE are told in the memoir of this remarkable man, that about three months before his death, perceiving in himself some inward faintness, and apprehending that his last hour was now drawing very near, he broke off abruptly from writing any further upon a subject which was then under consideration, and began to write down "Contemplations on Death," in the following words :

"The remembrance of death is very powerful to restrain us from sinning. For he who shall well consider that the day will come (and he knoweth not how soon) when he shall be laid on a sick bed, weak and faint, without ease, and almost without strength, encompassed with melancholy thoughts, and overwhelmed with anguish: when on one side, his distemper increasing upon him, the physician tells him that he is past all hope of life, and on the other, his friends urge him to dispose of his worldly goods, and share his wealth among them -that wealth which he procured with trouble and preserved with anxiety-that wealth which he now

parts from with sorrow: when again the Priest calls on him to take the preparatory measures for his departure; when he himself now begins to be assured that here he hath no abiding city; that this is no longer a world for him; that no more suns will rise and set upon him; that for him there will be no more seeing, no more hearing, no more speaking, no more touching, no more tasting, no more fancying, no more understanding, no more remembering, no more desiring, no more living, no more delights of this sort to be enjoyed by him; but that death will at one stroke deprive him of all these things; that he will speedily be carried out of the house which he had called his own, and is now become another's; that he will be put into a cold narrow grave; that earth will be consigned to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust: let any man duly and daily ponder these things, and how can it be that he should dare-" Here the strength of this good man failed him.

The third day before his death, he summoned all his family round him, and then desired his brother to go and mark out a place for his grave, according to the particular directions he then gave. When his brother returned, saying it was done as he desired, he requested them all, in the presence of each other, to take out of his study three large hampers full of books, which had been there locked up many years; and said, "They are comedies, tragedies, heroic poems, and romances. Let them be immediately burnt upon the place marked out for my grave, and when you shall have so done, come back and inform me." When information was brought him, that they were all consumed, he desired that this act might be considered as the testimony of his disapprobation of all such productions, as tending to corrupt the mind of man,

and improper for the perusal of every good and sincere Christian. On the 1st of December, 1637, he found himself declining very fast, and desired to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; after which, and taking a most affectionate farewell of all his family, without a struggle or a groan, he expired in a rapturous ecstasy of devotion. Thus lived, and thus died, Nicholas Ferrar, the best of sons, of brothers, and of friends, on Monday, December 2nd, 1637, precisely as the clock struck one, the hour at which, for many years, he constantly rose, to pay his addresses to heaven".

REFLECTION.-A consideration of death and judgment to come, should influence our thinking, reading, and indeed all our daily pursuits and occupations, and should prevail on us to devote our time and talents to His service, who lent them unto us, that we may at last render unto him a just and true account of the uses to which they have been applied. It is a plain rule of Scripture, "Do all to the glory of God".

3 99

MRS. JANE RATCLIFFE.

DIED AUG. 17, A.D. 1638.

SHE was the niece of Edward Brerewood, first Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, in London.

She had in readiness some special considerations, to be remembered at the time of her departure,

2 Dr. Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog., from Dr. Peckard.

31 Cor. x. 31.

which she left under her own hand, and which are as follow, under the two articles,-Why she desired to die; and why she did not fear death.

"First, Why I desire to die.

"I desire to die, because I want, while I live here, the glorious presence of God, which I love and long for, and the sweet fellowship of angels and saints.

"I desire to die, because, while I live, I shall want the perfection of my nature, and be as an estranged, banished person from my Father's house.

"I desire to die, because I would not live to offend so good a God, and grieve his Holy Spirit, for his loving kindness is better than life itself, and He is abundant in mercy to me; and it many times lies as a heavy load upon my heart to think of displeasing Him.

"I desire to die, because this world is generally infected with the plague of sin, and some have this plague-sore running upon them, and I myself am tainted with the same disease; so that, while I live here, I can be in no place, nor in any company, but I am still in danger of being infected, or of infecting others; and if this world hates me because I endeavour to follow goodness, how will it rejoice if my foot do but slip! and how woeful would my life be to me if I should give occasion for the world to triumph or blaspheme on my account. I cannot choose but desire to die, when I consider that sin, like a leprosy, hath so corrupted me, that there is no soundness in me: my mind, my memory, my will, and my affections, yea, my conscience, are still impure. In every faculty of my soul there is a miserable mixture of vile infection, which makes me weary of my life: and all this is the worse because it is incurable, and a constant companion of my life; so that I can go

no whither to avoid it.

There is no business that I can dispatch, that concerns my happiness, but there is a mutiny in my heart. Though the works of God be all fair, yet there are in my nature many defects, insufficiencies, mistakes, and transgressions; so that I may say innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up. I therefore desire heaven for holiness, rather than for happiness, that I might sin no more. I desire that condition in which I may most glorify God. I desire to die, because of Satan's perpetual assaults. I can stand no where before the Lord on earth, but one evil spirit or another is at my right hand, and I must of necessity enter into conflict with them and their temptations, and be buffeted by them, which is a thousand-fold worse than death. It is more easy to wrestle with flesh and blood than with principalities and powers, with spiritual wickednesses and the rulers of the darkness of this world; for they are subtle and cruel, and, like roaring lions, they go about seeking whom they may devour.

"I desire to die, because by death I shall rest from the hard labours of this life. I desire to die, because nothing in this world can give me solid and durable contentment. I am less in liking of life, and have the greater desire of death, when I consider the misery that may come both on my body and estate. Fearful alterations may come. Besides, I daily suffer the loss of my friends, who were the companions of my life, and the channels of much pleasure to me; and those whom I lose by my life, I shall find by my death, and enjoy in another world to all eternity. As for my leaving my children it doth not much trouble me, for that God who hath given them life, and breath, and all