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Death!" He had, for some time previous to his decease, en-. joyed the prospect of dying. A little before his removal, he said, with triumph, to his daughter, "There is deliverance for He seemed to believe that death was near, from a dream which much impressed his mind: He thought he had to cross a gulph; in order to which, he must pass by the front of a rock, by resting on which alone he could cross. Imagining this rock represented Christ, he said to his daughter, "The whole virtue was in the rock!" In the evening he spoke to many of his friends, who came to take their leave of him, with great energy and comfort. About an hour and a half before he died, he said, " Let us have prayer and a hymn;" and then, with great emphasis, gave out the first two verses of" Dearest of all the names above;" and sung several verses with great strength of voice, and evidently with delight of soul. About eleven o'clock he rose from his seat to go to bed, with more than usual ease. When he had partly ascended the stairs, being obliged to pant for breath, he said, "Weaker and weaker;" and then immediately expired, aged eighty-six.

On the following Saturday his mortal remains were interred in the presence of several thousands of spectators. Sabbathafternoon Mr. Jones, of Plymouth Dock, preached a funeralsermon (at the Tabernacle) from 2 Tim. iv. 7. In the evening, Mr. Allen preached at Castie Street Meeting, from Chron. xxix. 28. Both congregations were very numerous,

A PAIR OF PORTRAITS,

WELL KNOWN IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

MEMOSA is a single lady, between fifty and sixty, whose good opinion of her own conduct is irrefragable. She is moderately charitable; but then her ostentation is insufferable, for the wretched orphan, whose woe her money alleviates, whose heart beats high with gratitude, whose tongue pours forth blessings on her benefactress, is silenced, is overawed, by observing the averted eye, the ungenial countenance of the lady. She is constant in her attendance at the parish-church; and thinks all who pass that to enter the doors of the chapel, in a state of reprobation; for she fondly imagines, true religion and good morality are synonymous words.

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Memosa enters her pew, casts a quick glance around, to observe who are absent: the service begins. She is punctilious in her responses, devout in her confession; and, by a wellbred courtesy, attests her belief in all the articles of the Creed.

She is a great admirer of the lisping tones, the elegant atti tudes of her accommodating pastor, who never shocks the ears of his polite audience by the mention, even auricularly, of other sacrifices than those of Pomp and Vanity. Memosa returns home elated with pride and arrogance; she recounts to her maid how extremely ill-dressed one lady of her acquaint ance was; and how shockingly ill-matched another's ribbands were. From their dress she attacks their characters; and happy is the woman who escapes the venom of her tongue: yet Memosa can retire at night to her pillow, and thank her God she is not so bad as others: she feels no consciousness of the many imperfections of her heart, nor of her want of candour; but with an inordinate opinion of her importance, she begs not the mercy of Heaven, — she demands its rewards for her acts of charity and devotion !

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Think not the features here delineated are too dark; unhap pily, there are many Memosas in the religious world!

SERENA is consanguineous to Memosa; but ah! how unlike her kinswoman! Mild, benevolent, open to conviction, patient to bear, ready to forgive. With undeviating steps, Serena has walked these twenty years a widowed wife, in the perplexing paths of life, and brought up her infant train of seven children to be useful members of society, and ornaments to the church of Christ.

Serena belongs to the despised chapel. When she enters her pew she looks around, and with pleasure observes her children in their places. The affectionate address from the pulpit commands, and receives her undivided attention. At the conclusion of the service she retires to her home, to her closet; and there pours forth her soul in thankfulness for the blessings she has received; and prays that the Spirit of his Master may ever rest on him who had thus made the widow's heart to sing with joy. Does the needy, does the fatherless solicit her aid? She withholds not the hand of Charity. She does more she commiserates, she feels their woe, she warms them at her fire, she clothes them with garments of her own making; she leads them to Jesus, who rejects none for their poverty; bids them trust only on him, and look to other worlds for their happiness.

She conciliates the love of all; gains many from the paths of destruction; and when she sees the repenting prodigals in her beloved chapel, she takes them to her home, and gives them a cordial welcome to her plentiful table, while the smiles of hospitality irradiate her countenance !

Reader, it this portrait charm thee," Go thou and do likewise," for there are many Serenas in the church of Christ.

Mary-le-bone.

SOPHIA T.

No. VII.

THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER.

ON THE FIXED STARS.

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THE fixed stars are so called, because they always appear in the heavens at the same distance from each other, and do not, like the planets, change their places. Astronomers have arranged them into eighty constellations, or systems of stars, called by the names of different animals; as the Bear, the Swan, &c. The stars in each constellation are frequently denoted by a letter in the Greek alphabet, the most conspicuous being marked a, the next ß, and so on. The stars appear of different sizes, and are usually classed into six or seven magnitudes; some of them have a periodical increase and decrease. In 1596, Fabricius observed a remarkable star in the neck of the Whale, which has since been found to increase and decrease: its period is 334 days; but it does not always return with the same lustre. Other stars have been found to appear and shine with great splendor for certain periods, and then disappear. In 1572, a star equal in brightness to the planet Venus appeared in Cassiopeia; afterwards it gradually lost its lustre, and in three months became invisible.* It is certain that the distance of the stars is immense so little proportion does the diameter of the earth's orbit, which is 190,000,000 of miles, bear to this distance, that from whatever part of that orbit they are seen, they always appear in the same situation. A cannon-ball moving with a uniform velocity, would not reach the nearest of the stars in 600,000 years. It is evident that the stars shine (like the sun) by their own light, or otherwise their distance would render them invisible to the naked eye; for it is only by a telescope that we can see the satellites of Jupiter, whose distance bears no proportion to that of the stars, but who derive their light from the sun. It is highly probable, therefore, that they are suns which give light to systems of planets which revolve round them; nor is it any objection to this conjecture that we see not these planets; for if they bear the same proportion to their respective suns as the planets in our system do to our sun, their vast distance must render them invisible. There is reason to believe, that, like the sun, the stars have a rotary motion. The number of these luminaries is as surprizing as their distance; and though with the naked eye we can never discover more than 3.86, yet the telescope proves them to be innumerable. In some parts of the heavens we perceive white clouds, which, on examination, prove to be clusters of stars; those are called Nebulæ. The most remarkable of these is the Galaxy, or Milky Way.

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What an idea does this give us of the works of the great Creator! when, instead of one world and one sun, we find thousands and thousands of suns arranged around us at immence distances, attended by innumerable worlds, and these all in rapid motion, yet calm, regular, and harmonious, observing, without the slightest variation, the path marked out by Him who ruleth among the armies of Heaven,-and these worlds perhaps, peopled by myriads of intelligent beings! When we take a view of the universe, how little does the earth itself appear!

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What then is man, who, to use the words of Dr. Paley, "is 'confined to one of these heavenly bodies, yet bearing a less proportion to it than the smallest microscopic insect does to the plant it lives upon !" (Nat. Theology, p. 411.) Yet man, so mean, comparatively so insignificant, has dared to disturb the harmony that prevails through the vast universe, and to lift up his feeble arm against the great Ruler of all. How astonishing is the folly and madness of sin! yet not more astonishing than the grace and love of Jehovah. He who made the sun and moon,

"And sow'd with stars the heavens thick as a field,"

bowed his heavens and came down ! "was born of woman! lived and died!" Died, that he might make peace between weak guilty man and the Lord God omnipotent! He arose again for our justification, and ascended on high. And now he sends forth his heralds to proclaim peace, and, as the ambassadors of God, to beseech and intreat these rebels that they receive not the grace of God in vain. Yea, more, he sends forth his Spirit into the world to give effect to their labours, and, to this end, to take up his dwelling in the hearts of men.

Sov'reign of nature, all is thine;
The air, the earth, the sea;
By thee the orbs celestial shine,
And cherubs live by thee.

Rich in thine own essential store,

Thou call'st forth worlds at will;
Ten thousand, and ten thousand more
Would hear thy summons still.

What treasure wilt thou then confess,
And thine own portion call?

What by peculiar right possess,
Imperial Lord of all?

Thine Israel thou wilt stoop to claim,
Wilt mark them out for thine;
Ten thousand praises to thy name
For goodness so divine!

DODDRIDGE

THE SUPER-EXCELLENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN.

What do ye more than others? Matt. v. 47.

THIS question is just and reasonable, when applied to the Professors of Christianity in general, and to genuine Christians in particular: many are their privileges, valuable are their advantages, great are their obligations; and, the Creator of the universe, the Redeemer and Judge of mankind, the Blessed Spirit of God, the friends of Christ, and even the enemies of Religion, enquire with just authority, "What do ye more than others?" To silence the reproaches of enemies,-to confound the hopes of the hypocrite, to vindicate the character of the true believer, we shall endeavour briefly to display the super-excellency of the Christian.

In many of those pleasing accomplishments which are so highly prized in this polite age, the Christian may be safely defective; he regards the sentiments, the temper, the conduct of Christ, more than the maxims and morals of Chesterfield; he is not the mirror that can receive every colour, and reflect every passing object, but, as the epistle of Jesus Christ, he wishes to be known and read of all men.

Do the enemies of religion load the character of the Christian with the varied crimes that have been found in some who profess the religion of Jesus? we say, that it is ungenerous and unjust to reproach a man for an error in judgment, or in practice, which from his heart he abhors, of which he truly repents, and never repeats. If a true Christian should unhappily and unwarily sin like others, he does more than others; he goes out and weeps bitterly, returns to the path of duty, and walks humbly with his God.

It may often be observed, that in the externals of religion, Hypocrites may exceed real Christians. The sole object of Hypocrites is to be seen of men, and they often have more talk, more bustle, more splendid gifts than others; for this is all their salvation and all their desire; yet after all that may be conceded to every other character, the Christian is abundantly superior.

1st, He is actuated in religion by superior motives. Some are influenced by custom: they have been accustomed to the paths of Christianity, and they would feel uneasy if they were to forsake them. Others continue in a profession of religion from pride of character; they would be ashamed to neglect the du ties of Christianity as much as to appear in polite circles in dishabille. Some have friends and patrons to please; while others, with scrupulous attachment, conform to many ceremonies, that by them they may atone for indulgences they have po desire to relinquish. They will regularly fill up their places

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