Near the close of life, he was often heard to pray fervently. He rejoiced in the comfortable persuasion of acceptance with God. A few days before his decease, he said: "I shall now die. But O, what unspeakable glories do I see! What joys, beyond thought or expression, am I sensible of! I am assured of God's mercy to me, through Jesus Christ. O! how I long to die, and to be with my Saviour!"

Thus died, in the thirty-third year of his age, the celebrated earl of Rochester; a memorable instance of the goodness and mercy of God, and of the power of his grace to purify and redeem the most corrupt and obdurate offender. From this case, and from many other instances, the truly penitent sinner, though his sins have been as scarlet or as crimson, may derive hope that God will, even in his greatest extremity, hear his prayers, and accept his repentance: but none should presume on the Divine Mercy, by deferring their amendment till they are brought to the bed of sickness and death. They may suddenly be taken away; they may not have their understanding in the time of illness; they may be deceived with false hopes of recovery; their pains of body may not admit of that state of mind which is proper for the great work of repentance; or, they may have become so hardened by the habits of sin, that they may die, as many have died, without a proper sense of their condition. May the goodness and

forbearance of God lead to repentance and amendment of life, in the time of health! We shall then, at the approach of death, have no guilty tumults of mind: no dismal forebodings of the future. We shall bear our affliction with patience and resignation: and, with joyful hope, commit our spirits into the hands of a faithful and merciful Creator.

For a further account of Lord Rochester, we refer the reader to a small volume published by Dr. Burnet, entitled, "Some Passages of the Life and Death of John, Earl of Rochester;" "a book, which," as Dr. Johnson says, "the critic ought to read for its elegance, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint for its piety."

CHAPTER VII.

QUEEN MARY-HERMAN BOERHAAVE-JOSEPH ADDISON-ANN BAYNARD-ELIZABETH ROWE-DOCTOR WATTS.

SECTION I.

QUEEN MARY.

MARY, queen of Great Britain, and consort of King William the Third, was the daughter of James the Second, and was born in the year 1661. She appeared to be happily disposed from very early life, being good and gentle before she was capable of knowing that it was her duty to be so. This temper continued with her through the whole progress of her childhood. She might need instruction, but she wanted no persuasion. And it is said, that she never once, in the whole course of her education, gave occasion for reproof. Besides a most amiable sweetness of temper, she possessed great understanding, and a mind cultivated with useful learning and knowledge.

She was married in the sixteenth year

of her age,

to the prince of Orange, and went to reside in Holland, where she conducted herself with so much wisdom and goodness, as to gain universal esteem and affection. But that which was, beyond all comparison, her greatest ornament and possession, was a truly devout and religious temper; which made her look with indifference on the honors and splendor with which she was surrounded, and seek for her highest enjoyment in doing good, in peace of mind, and in the hope of a better life.

In proof of her uncommon merit, we shall here insert a short declaration concerning her, made by her husband, king William, whom she tenderly loved, and who best knew her excellence, and his own great loss in being deprived of her. To Doctor Tenison, who endeavored to comfort him after her death, he observed: "I cannot but grieve, since I have lost a wife, who in seventeen years, never was guilty of an indiscretion. During the whole course of our marriage, I never perceived the least fault in her. She possessed a worth that nobody thoroughly knew but myself."

In the character of lady Russel, we have seen the power and operation of religion on the mind, under some of the darkest clouds of affliction and distress in the present instance of queen Mary, the virtue and preserving nature of the same Divine principle, is evidenced amidst the magnificence of a court, and the sunshine of worldly prosperity. It is, indeed, a principle of universal agency; adapt

ed to all ranks of men, and to every allotment of Providence; a sure preservative when things are smiling around us, and a sovereign remedy for, or support under, all the calamities of life.

This good queen spent a great part of her time in perusing the holy Scriptures, and other religious books. By a letter to her father, written in early life, in support of the Protestant faith, she appears to have been thoroughly grounded and established in the principles of the Reformation. Bishop Burnet says, that "although he had a high opinion of the princess's good understanding, before he saw this letter, yet the letter surprised him, and gave him an astonishing joy, to see so young a person, all on a sudden, without consulting any one, able to write in so solid and learned a manner."

Her talents and abilities were very conspicuous in all her concerns, and particularly, in the important charge of government. Doctor Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, said, that "he was in great admiration at the proofs he knew the queen gave of her knowledge, in the weighty affairs of state, in the king's absence, when the executive part of the government was in her hands."

Her compassion and bounty to the poor and af flicted, and those who stood in need of her liberality, were very eminent, and such as corresponded with her exalted station, and the abundant sources of relief to which she had access. She took care to have a just account both of the worthiness and the