in the foregoing utterances of her heart? The impression on the mind of the reader must be, how real is true religion, and how earnest is its spirit! And yet there is nothing in that religion, as thus exhibited, that the lowliest subject of grace may not experience. Precious is the sentiment with which the chapter closes—"LITTLE FAITH CAN GET TO HEAVEN.”

CHAPTER XIII.

"As the sunbeams united in a burning glass to a point have greater force than when they are darted from a plain superfice, so the virtues and actions of one individual, drawn together into a single story, strike upon our minds a stronger and more lively impression than the scattered relations of many men and many actions."* It is upon this principle of concentration, for whose discovery we are indebted to the Bible, that God has condescended to reveal Himself to man. In the person of His Son He has so embodied the perfections of His nature, and has so concentrated the beams of His majesty, as to present in focal grandeur the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." In picturing the sunset of a life so prolonged and honoured of God as that which these pages record, it will be our endeavour, as that life approaches its close, thus to collect and concentrate its retiring beams, intercepting them only so far as a gentle hand may be required to guide them to the focus. It is a rich autumnal sunset we are about to contemplate. The 'sear and yellow leaf' is falling thick and fast; but in the lingering freshness and fertility, the reader will be reminded of the character appertaining to the aged godly, so beautifully delineated by the sacred penman, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright." It is the remark of an elegant writer, and the sentiment is not less true than beautiful,-"Cheerful piety in the decline of life, is like a tree which the storm has shattered, but which yet retains much of the verdure of summer, and is still the resort of the birds which sing among the branches."

* Addison.

These pleasant characteristics of religion in old age will be recognised in the extracts we proceed to make from Mrs. Winslow's diary and correspondence, indicating an extraordinary elevation of spiritual feeling, blended with a solemn yet radiant consciousness of her nearness to the glory within which she was soon to pass. Our first quotations are from the private journal which has supplied us with so much rich material, but which, alas! is soon to receive its final record of a pilgrimage from earth to heaven.

Leamington.-I could never have believed that I should have such nearness to Jesus, as I now, at times, enjoy. Read this morning the twenty-first of John, from the 4th, particularly pausing at the 12th verse, Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. His care, His forethought of His disciples, is now just what it was when this circumstance took place. He had watched the fruitless labour of His disciples through the night -they had caught nothing. Just at this juncture, when weary, discouraged, and hungry, He appeared. They needed refreshment-He was not unmindful of it. Coals were kindled-fish was laid thereon, bread was provided-nothing omitted suitable to their wants. And then they were invited to dine. They need not ask, Who art thou? The multitude of fishes they had caught at His word, the repast He had provided the invitation He had given-all proclaimed who He was their dearest friend. Is it not so with thee, O my soul? Has Jesus ever been unmindful of thy wants? Never, no never. Always ready to supply my need, He has gone before me in the wilderness, and prepared a table for me. Remembering the thorn and the briar, He has made a narrow road for my feet, saying, Follow thou me ! Had I ever need to inquire, Who art thou, Lord? Did I not know Him? Yes! Even now I feel His presence. I know the person, and I hear the voice. How sweet, how cheering, how comforting! To be with Jesus, and to know it! With such a visit have I been favoured this day. Oh, what little things do worlds appear, when so blessed! Wondrous in all His dealings has Christ been to me. Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, in due time called, justified, sanctified, and shall be soon and eternally glorified."

"The Lord does wonderfully seem to let heaven down into my soul. I have no power to describe it. Then does heaven itself seem so inviting, so attractive. I feel it but a step, and

I am in the midst of happiness, perfect and supreme. I have asked the Lord not to send the grim, pale messenger for me, unless he comes with him. I must see His own, well-known face, ere I can welcome the summons. Oh, to be in His bosom, there to rest without a fear or misgiving-to pass through that dark valley in His own loving, Almighty arms, reposing upon His very heart! May this be my case. He so condescendingly answers my poor prayers, and in a way so remarkable, that were I to tell some individuals, they would declare it a delusion. But I know otherwise. Every precious word He has spoken is true. My soul rejoices in God my Saviour, my Friend, my Father. I shall see Him-see Him as He is; be like Him; dwell with Him through eternity, in perfect knowledge, perfect purity, perfect happiness, perfect glory. Precious Jesus, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. And though, like Peter, I have often wandered from Thee, yet Thou hast never left me, nor denied Thyself. Glory be to thy dear and holy name.

"How gracious, how transcendently good has the Lord been to me this day! The 20th Psalm was made a rich blessing to my soul. How wonderfully does the Lord reveal Himself through His own word to the heart and conscience of His children! Truly is His loving ear open to the faintest cry of His feeble ones-such condescension in stooping to catch their faintest breath of prayer! Language seems to fail, when the heart is thus filled with the Spirit, to express its deep emotions-the feelings of a broken and a contrite spirit. Never, no never, does sin appear so hateful as when the Lord comes down to bless. Prostrate at His feet I fall, love and sorrow so strangely mingled that they cannot be separated. Oh, for a close walk throughout this day, my eyes and heart fixed upon Jesus-Jesus risen! He that was dead, is now alive, and reigns upon the throne above; all power on earth and in heaven is His. With Him I shall dwell throughout eternityblessed thought! Precious Jesus! heaven would be no heaven, wert Thou not there. Not all I love on earth, were I to meet them, could compensate for the loss of Thyself. Lord, help me this day to pass through its cares without contamination, upheld by the Spirit. I am all weakness; with Thee is all power. Help Thy weak one, and leave me not to myself. Take my whole heart and soul in Thy hands, and order all my goings, for Thine honour's sake.”

"Tuesday. The text this morning was from Song of Soloinon ii. 10: My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The Lord is pleased to enable me to hear without excitement. Surely He has heard my prayer, and answered it. And not only so, but in blessing the word to my soul. Every word seems to tell; and to all my heart can echo its sincere Amen. Oh, what cause for thankfulness is this! His dear name shall have all the glory."

"Wednesday Evening.-The text this evening was from Phil, iv. 19: My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. A word to the rich and the poor of the flock. We have a spiritual and a temporal need; both supplied in and by Christ Jesus, in whom God has treasured up a fulness adequate to all the wants of His bride, His beloved, His fair one, whom He invites to rise up and come away. Glory is prepared for her—a mansion suitable to her dignity and station as the bride of the Lamb and the Heir of God. Who can tell what this will be? We grovel so much here, we can hardly raise our poor ideas to that inheritance that awaits us. Oh, for an eagle's wings to mount higher toward heaven! How trifling would then everything appear here, but that which was connected with things above! Lord, help Thy creature to live more on high-more in communion with Jesus-more looking to a risen Christ.

'10th.—I have met with the following excellent observations from the pen of the Rev. Dr. Stone, Rector of Christ's Church, Brooklyn, which are in close accordance with my own views: The object of God, in the revelation of His will, and in the incarnation of His Son, is to save men from sin, and to bring them to eternal life. Every one in whom the required faith is found has a direct and personal union with Christ; so that He draws his spiritual life, not by succession from another believer, but immediately from the Saviour Himself. Nothing, however thin, intervenes between the two. By faith the believer is in Christ, and by the same faith Christ dwells in the believer's heart.* This mystic union between Christ and each individual Christian is as close and as perfect as though Christ and each individual were the only ones in all the world concerned in that union. As a foundation, Christ is as broad as

* Would it not be more correct to say, that Christ dwells in the believer's heart by the in-being of the Holy Ghost ?-EDITOR.