About the close of the last year his bodily vigour began to decline, and he found himself compelled to intermit those labours in which his soul delighted. By the advice of his medical friends he visited Bath, in the hope of deriving benefit from its far-famed waters, but in vain. Dis. ease made a silent and rapid progress upon his once athletic and vigorous frame; and after remaining some weeks that the experiment might be fully made, and spending a few days with his friends at Bratton on his return, he came back to his own habitation, whence his spirit was destined to wing her joyful flight to the mansions of glory.

The state of his mind, during the whole course of his affliction, was such as every Christian might desire for himself; and the whole scene was so instructive, that I re joice to learn that the world is likely to be favoured with a larger account from the press than can be compressed within the limits of a sermon. He felt, and rejoiced to acknowledge, that the gospel, which had been the theme of his ministry, was now the support, the all-sufficient support of his soul. "The hand of God," said he, "is upon

me,

but underneath me are the everlasting arms." Amidst the dreadful pain and great depression of animal spirits, consequent upon his disorder, which led him to remark to a near relative, “You see death in perfection here;" his mind was stayed upon God, and a dignified and joyful serenity was, with scarcely any intermission, the frame of his spirit. He took leave of his weeping family, and of the deacons of the church assembled at his request in his dying chamber, with expressions of unabated love and concern for them, and humble thanksgiving for the mercy vouchsafed to himself; and it was observed that, to all who approached him, he had a word in

season. For myself, I desire to thank God that I arrived in time to witness the elevated and holy triumphs of that dying bed. "I have no doubt" said he to me when he perceived me at his side, "I am going to heaven-the Saviour whom I have served so imperfectly, and whose glory I have feebly attempted to promote, is with me. How can I sink with such a prop as my eternal God?" The next day, the last of his life, was spent almost wholly in ejaculatory prayer, uttered as though there were none but his God to hear. In the evening he said to a friend, who was waiting upon him, "The battle is fought, the victory is won"-but, as if to check any suspicion of vain glory, immediately added" through the atonement Christ has done it;" and, not long after, when he appeared incapable of recognizing any of us who surrounded the bed of death, he distinctly repeated that beautiful expression of holy Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Through the night, he was observed to be much in prayer, and, about four o'clock on Wednesday morning, he calmly placed his hands across his breast, feebly uttered "Lord, grant me thy salvation;" and almost immediately his request was granted, and he quietly breathed out his soul into the hands of his Redeemer!

Letters on the Evidences of Christianity. Addressed to a young Person of Sceptical Opinions. LETTER I.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

IT is with feelings of no common anxiety, that I set down to write to you on this occasion. Our correspondence has always been of so

pleasing á nature, that I know not how to write under the influence of an event which has excited the deepest regret. But my concern for your happiness constrains me, without delay, to communicate a few remarks on a subject of the highest importance, which, I trust, you will candidly and seriously consider.

You will not be surprised to learn that your esteemed relatives have acquainted me with your last letter, and wished me to answer its contents. Though unable to conceal my own surprise and sorrow, I was the more anxious to sooth their distress, and to suggest the most favourable view of your expressions, and of the unhappy state of mind into which you have fallen. And I fondly hope your next letter will tend to assuage their fears, and to heal the wound, deep and severe as it is, which their peace of mind and parental affection, are now suffering.

Having no doubts myself respecting the divine origin of the gospel, and thinking highly of your good sense and piety, I scarcely deemed it necessary, my dear friend, before you left home, to caution you against the sophistries of unbelievers. But I am now ready to blame myself on this point, and fear the means used for your Christian instruction were insufficient to prepare you for the dangers of a bold and speculative age. But, I trust, you will take a calm and solemn review of the process and evidences of the Christian revelation, as maintained by the ablest writers, before you resign your faith, and hope, and happiness, to the delusive and fatal influence of unbelief.

In adverting to the claims of Christianity, it is needless for me to remind you, my dear Sir, that I do not mean any of those peculiar modifications of it which prevail in Christian churches, but the entire

system itself as contained in the New Testament. If you receive the scriptures as the word of God, and with an humble dependence on divine teaching, endeavour rightly to understand and observe them; the modes of faith and forms of worship which occasion diversity of sentiment, will, for the most part, be found comparatively of little consequence. The doctrine to be believed is most clearly expressed by St. Paul, in the first chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." The claims of this doctrine are likewise expressed with equal perspicuity and force in the following chapter. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For, if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? which, at the first, began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.”

Let me, then, entreat you, my beloved friend, to consider the de

sirableness and necessity of such a revelation, both to make known the true God, and to restore mankind to virtue and happiness. Let me entreat you, also, calmly to consider the evidences which prove the credibility of the Christian faith, as transmitted to us in the Holy Scriptures. And, if the inquiry be properly pursued, I trust you will soon come to a satisfactory conclusion.

If you wished to obtain the knowledge of some distinguished person age, so as to form a true estimate of his character, there are, obviously, but two ways of obtaining it; namely, by his general conduct and works, or by a voluntary and specific declaration of his own views. the person were removed from your immediate observation, the ideas formed of his character, merely from what you have seen and heard of his conduct, would be very partial, and liable to mistakes. But, when a person communicates to the world a true portrait of his own character, describing the habitual state of his feelings; the knowledge we desire may be easily acquired, faithfully preserved, and universally disseminated.

To a certain extent, therefore, "the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and godhead, may be clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things which are made." But, as the divine nature and mode of operation infinitely transcend the narrow comprehension of finite thought, the ideas we can form of the Deity, by his works alone, must be very limited and obscure. But, from the revelation of himself, gradually discovered and properly authenticated, we may derive just views of the moral relations subsisting between us and God, the designs of mercy he has formed towards man, and the medium through which his fa

Whether or not such a revelation from the Divine Spirit, in the proceedings of his moral government, be, in itself abstractedly considered, a probable event; is an inquiry which it would be neither improper nor useless to examine. But, in judging of this point, no person could possibly judge wisely, unless he had first formed a distinct idea of the divine perfections and government, the design for which mankind were formed, and the actual necessity or desirableness of greater knowledge than appears to be discoverable by the light of nature. If God be infinitely wise, and if, in making the human race, he designed them, "by a patient continuance in well-doing, to seek for glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life;" the manifest insufficiency of natural reason to secure these attainments, renders it, in the highest degree, probable, that an immediate revelation of his designs was fore-ordained in the divine counsels, and has, in fact, been communicated to the world.

The doctrines affirmed, in the verses before cited, certainly imply something supernatural; a deviation from the common course of human

experience, the nature and operation of which were inconceivably different from any thing known or felt by ourselves. But, my dear Sir, the simple fact that we ourselves have not been favoured with supernatural communications from the Spirit of God, is no proof that others have not received them; any more than the circumstance of our not having seen the eruptions of a volcano, or the ravages of an earthquake, may be adduced to prove, that such phenomena never happened, or were never witnessed by any one. To reject the credibility of a miracle, because nothing like it takes place in the common course of nature, would be egregious folly; since its occurrence, however won derful, if frequent and regular, would cease to be miraculous; and could no longer be appealed to as a special proof of the divine interposition and authority. But miraculous as the nature and evidences of divine revelation may be to us, let me remind you, my esteemed friend, that its communication, "at sundry times and in divers manners," is not to be considered as a deviation from the first arrangements of Divine Providence, any more than the appearance of a comet in the heavens can be called a derangement of the solar system; but it was originally fixed with as much foresight and adaptation to moral purposes, as the laws of nature in the ordinary revolutions and events of the material world.

The chief inquiry, then, which demands our attention is, whether the scriptures of the Old and New Testament do, in fact, contain a revelation from the Spirit of God, designed for man's happiness, and should, therefore, be received by us with corresponding affection, as the ground of our hopes and fears, and the rule of our faith and con

duct. The subject, my friend, is one of the greatest possible interest. It has received the sanction of wise and good men in all ages. Nothing, indeed, can be more desirable in itself, or more conducive to the dignity and happiness of our nature, than correct views of truth, and a well-founded confidence. And if Christianity be true, its claims are infinitely important, and its belief or its rejection must involve the most serious and lasting conse quences.

Let me, therefore, again urge you, my friend, to take a calm and deliberate view of the arguments, from which the truth and divine authority of the Christian revelation are clearly inferred. The authenticity of its records, the credibility of its facts, the character of its agents, the harmony of its dispensations, the excellence of its principles, the grandeur of its discoveries, the sufficiency of its credentials, and the perpetuity of its influence, are subjects of inquiry which I entreat you more especially to consider. Each of these particulars, indeed, opens a wide and interesting field of inquiry, and deserves all the attention you can give. But the slightest view you can take of these faets, in the spirit of an humble and serious inquirer after truth, will convince you, if, indeed, you need such conviction, that our faith in the gospel rests on a firmer basis than the opinions of our forefathers, or the institutions of the country to which we belong. This has been found to be the case through a series of ages, in the estimation of many wise and good men, whose mental superiority entitles them to respect, and whose love of truth cannot be questioned. And, as you advance in these interesting inquiries, I trust, unreasonable and distressing doubts will be removed; and your faith as a Christian be at