and justly expressed by him in the following

lines:

"Yet, gracious God! amid these storms of nature,
Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm
Reign through the realms of conscience: all within
Lies peaceful, all composed. 'Tis wondrous Grace
Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom;
Though stain'd with sins and follies, yet serene
In penitential peace and cheerful hope,
Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood.
Thy vital smiles, amidst this desolation,
Like heav'nly sunbeams, hid behind the clouds,
Break out in happy moments, with bright radiance
Cleaving the gloom; the fair celestial light
Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm,
And richest cordials to the heart conveys.

"O glorious solace of immense distress,
A conscience and a God! This is my rock
Of firm support, my shield of sure defence
Against infernal arrows. Rise, my soul!
Put on thy courage: here's the living spring
Of joys divinely sweet and ever new,
A peaceful conscience, and a smiling Heav'n.

"My God, permit a creeping worm to say,
Thy Spirit knows I love thee !-Worthless wretek,
To dare to love a God!-But grace requires,
And grace accepts. Thou seest my lab'ring soul.
Weak as my zeal is, yet my zeal is true;

It bears the trying furnace.

Constrains me: I am thine.

Love divine
Incarnate Love

Has seized, and holds me in almighty arms!

Here's my salvation, my eternal hope-
Amidst the wreck of worlds and dying nature,

I am the Lord's, and he's for ever mine !"

When his sufferings were, in some degree, alleviated, what excellent effects were produced in his mind! How was his heart enlarged with love and gratitude to God! and in what pathetic language did he pour out his spirit!

'Almighty Power, I love thee! blissful name,
My healer God! and may my inmost heart
Love and adore for ever! O 'tis good
To wait submissive at thy holy throne,
To leave petitions at thy feet, and bear
Thy frowns and silence with a patient soul!
The hand of mercy is not short to save,
Nor is the ear of heavenly pity deaf

To mortal cries. It noticed all my groans,
And sighs, and long complaints, with wise delay,
Though painful to the suff'rer; and thy hand
In proper moment brought desired relief.”

And now, how amiable does he appear, when the shadows of the evening were stretching over him! Two or three years before his decease, the active and sprightly powers of his nature gradually failed; yet his trust in God, through Jesus the Mediator, remained unshaken to the last. He was heard to say: "I bless God I can lie down with comfort at night, not being solicitous whether I awake in this world or another." And again: "I should be glad to read more; yet not in order to be further confirmed in the truth of the Christian religion, or in the truth of its promises; for I believe them enough to venture an eternity upon them."

When he was almost worn out, and broken down

by his infirmities, he said, in conversation with a friend; "I remember an aged minister used to observe, that the most learned and knowing Christians, when they come to die, have only the same plain promises of the gospel for their support, as the common and unlearned:' and so, I find it. It is the plain promises of the gospel that are my support; and, I bless God, they are plain promises, that do not require much labor and pains to understand them."

At times, when he found his spirit tending to impatience, and ready to complain that he could only lead a mere animal life, he would check himself thus: "The business of a Christian is, to bear the will of God, as well as to do it. If I were in health, I ought to be doing it, and now it is my duty to bear it. The best thing in obedience, is a regard to the will of God; and the way to that is, to have our inclinations and aversions as much mortified as we can."

With so calm and peaceful a mind, so blessed and lively a hope, did the resigned servant of Christ wait for his Master's summons. He quietly expired in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

11

CHAPTER VIII.

LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS-H. HOUSMAN-DOCTOR

DODDRIDGE.

SECTION I.

LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS.

IN the life, sufferings, and death, of Lady Elizabeth Hastings, we have a lively instance of the power and support of religion.

An ingenuous temper, a quickness of understanding, a benevolent spirit, a flexibility of nature, and a solemn sense of Divine things, were observable in her tender age; and, in the dangerous ascent of life, her feet were guided and preserved in the paths of rectitude and goodness; so that she was not only free from the stain of vice in her rising years, but superior to the world, and its vain and trifling amusements. Through the whole course of her time, her lamp shone brightly; and in mature age, diffused its light and influence in a wide extent around her.

It appears that the great aim of her life was, to promote the glory of God, and the welfare of men, keeping her talents, extensive fortune, and other means of doing good, continually employed for the benefit of her fellow-creatures. Of all her cares, a most especial one was that of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; the needy, and him that had no helper; the lame, the halt, and the blind. These objects excited her most tender compassion. She participated in their sufferings; she often conversed with them; and inquired into their history, with great condescension. She studied their particular cases, and put them in the way of improving their condition. She often visited them in sickness, bore the expenses of it; and, no doubt, endeavored to cheer and encourage them under all the apparent hardships of their allotment.

The following character of this noble-minded woman, was drawn by the hand of an eminent writer: "Her countenance was the lively picture of her mind, which was the seat of honor, truth, compassion, knowledge, and innocence. In the midst of the most ample fortune, and the veneration of all that beheld and knew her, without the least affectation she devoted herself to retirement, to the contemplation of her own being, and of that Supreme Power which bestowed it. Without the learning of schools, or knowledge of a long course of arguments, she went on in an uninterrupted course of piety and virtue; and added to the se