probably be a widow, she silently cast herself at the foot of the Cross, and through tears told her sorrow; yet not a word of complaint escaped her lips. When she herself was laid prostrate by fever, and her mind wandered, a calm confidence in the Divine care sustained her, and influenced all she said.

She

In the several spheres to which her husband was appointed, after returning to England, she pursued the same consistent course. never desired any particular Circuit, and never complained of any appointment. With remarkable prudence she abstained from interfering in Circuit arrangements, or betraying party feeling. During a painful season of agitation, she was loyal to Methodism; and her love for its doctrines and discipline was only confirmed by the attempts which were made to injure and uproot it. She was intensely attached to the church of her choice, while she cherished the most cordial affection towards all true disciples of the Saviour, to whatever section of the church universal they might belong.

In her habits she was orderly. She had a place for everything; and long after she was laid aside by affliction, she knew where everything could be found, unless some one had interfered with her arrangements. Punctuality, also, marked all her engagements. In the exactness of her domestic movements this was daily visible. If about to travel, there was no hurrying to catch a train or a steamer; all was prepared at least half-an-hour beforehand: she kept no one waiting for her. No minister of the Gospel was ever grieved, no congregation disturbed, by her entering the house of God after the service had commenced. Her class-leaders, while she was in health, had never to mark her as an absentee, or wait for her as a late comer. She felt that without punctuality time could not be saved, or friends pleased, or good temper preserved. Her management of her household affairs was characterized by economy, cleanliness, and comfort. She esteemed it an imperative duty to do all things "decently and in order." As a mother, the temporal and eternal interests of her children lay near her heart. Several times a day did she plead for them at the throne of grace. While they were young, she seldom permitted them to be out of her sight more than a few Lours together, whoever might have the care of them. Her fondness for them was guided by prudence and the fear of God. About a week before her death, she addressed one of her sons, who then saw her alive for the last time, in these words: "Give your heart to Christ, or you will never enter heaven; and in the day of judgment I shall be a witness against you." Her breathing became difficult, and she could only add, "I have no strength to say more; farewell."

As a wife, she was ever regarded by her husband as a rare gift

which a kind Providence had bestowed on him. A happier union has rarely or never been met with. Her excellences were so many, that her infirmities occasioned no annoyance; and now that she is where "they neither marry nor are given in marriage," her memory is very precious to him. Her unmurmuring patience under deep and long-continued suffering was very remarkable. Friends have often observed respecting her, "We visit Mrs. Samuel to witness the grace of God in her. Such perfect submission to the Divine will, such humility, patience, and even cheerful thankfulness under sufferings so severe we never saw." During the last three or four months of her life, those sufferings became almost overwhelming. Night and day she required attention; and, as her strength gave way, she frequently begged her husband to pray that the Saviour would clothe her in the wedding garment, and take her home, if consistent with His will. She constantly spoke of dying as "going home," and often repeated portions of hymns, such as, "For ever here my rest shall be;" and "Rock of Ages, cleft for me.' She went through this last beautiful hymn with deep feeling, when scarcely able to articulate.

Before undergoing a severe surgical operation, she said to her husband, "If I die under it, some good end will be answered;" and during the trial she never opened her lips, or even moved. All the while her mind was fixed on a passage in the Psalms,-" The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them."

On one occasion, during severe paroxysms of pain, she said, “It is sin that has done this."......" "What could I do without Christ in a time like this?"... ..." How gladly would I go, and yet what clinging to this suffering life!...... What pleasure I once took in attending to my household affairs! Lut now I feel as if I had no interest in anything in this world; all concern about earthly matters is gone." As she could seldom sleep in the night, she was frequent in supplication and in repeating hymns. With lively and joyous hope, chastened by lowly submission, she looked forward to her departure; and for many weeks before she died, her state of mind was that which, on July 1st, 1862, she expressed to a friend :-"I am ready to go home; I am just waiting to be called." Though her thoughts. occasionally seemed to wander, yet to the last she was generally sensible. Only a few minutes before her death, a friend said, "The Lord be with you and strengthen you." She replied, with her expiring breath, "Amen!" In the evening of July 5th, 1862, she quietly fell asleep in Jesus.

Many testimonies to her Christian worth were addressed to her husband by ministers and others who had long and intimately known her; but they need not be cited here. Her friends on every hand

united to magnify the grace of God in her; and fondly dwelt on the unostentatious piety, and the meek and gentle spirit, which had marked her career both of effort and of suffering.

THE CLASS-MEETING IN ACCORDANCE WITH

SCRIPTURE AND REASON.*

"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." (Psalm lxvi. 16.)

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name. And they shall be Mine, sith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." (Mal. iii. 16, 17.)

THE social means of grace which exist among the WesleyanMethodists under the names of Class-meetings, Lovefeasts, and Band-meetings, have occasioned much questioning, not to say controversy, ever since the formation of the "United Societies." Some have represented them as unscriptural, savouring of Popery, and tending to make men hypocritical; while others have affirmed, that they are scriptural in their character, edifying in their tendency, promotive of personal piety and church prosperity, and greatly helpful, under God, to the leavening of the world's population with the evangelizing influences of Christianity. The verses of Scripture, which stand at the head of this article, bring under our notice the general subject of meetings among the servants of God, for mutual exhortation and the relation of religious experience. That gatherings were held, for these and kindred purposes, both under the OldTestament dispensation, and among the first Christians, we hope to make manifest: only premising that as the names by which such meetings were called, and the precise mode in which they were conducted, are not specified in Scripture, they are obviously of minor importance, and do not enter into the merits of the question. Names may differ, and modes vary, according to circumstances; but the nature and obligations of those spiritual exercises which God has enjoined, and which His people have practised from the beginning, remain the same from age to age.

Twelve months ago, we had in hand two valuable articles on the Classmeeting. It seemed desirable that each of them should appear at the commencement of a year, as being likely then to secure the greater attention. Notwithstanding some coincidence, at points, with the paper which appeared in January last, the one now before the reader is an independent presentation of the subject,—a subject which, above all others, occupies the thoughts of every Methodist who is concerned for the spiritual prosperity of his own branch of the church of Christ.-Edit.

Believing that our Class-meetings, and similar assemblies, are subtantially in harmony with Scripture precedent and precept, and that their continued maintenance in our community is of vital importance to the life of God in the souls of individuals, and the extension of the kingdom of Christ at home and abroad, we direct attention,

I. TO THE PRACTICE OF WHICH DAVID, and THE GODLY IN MALACHI'S DAY, SET US AN EXAMPLE, NAMELY, THAT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD MEETING TOGETHER FOR SOCIAL WORSHIP AND RELIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP.

1. This practice is ancient and scriptural. That the worship and religious fellowship of the patriarchal ages were social, is certain, because they were domestic. Each patriarch was the priest of his own family; and that their teaching was conversational, rather than sermonic, may be inferred from their not having a written revelation. For subjects of instruction they were thrown upon the incidents of their own times, their personal experience, inspirations from on High, and the traditions received from their fathers. Surrounded by their respective family circles, they would remind their children and their children's children of the holy and happy state in which man was created, the fall with its fatal consequences, the promised Seed, and the prospective redemption of the race by His mysterious sufferings, the way of approach to God by sacrifice, and the high privileges of living in a covenant relation to the Most High. Abel's youthful piety, strong faith, and martyr's death, with Cain's pride, unbelief, fratricidal hate, and ignominious banishment, would form the grounds of many a moving appeal and solemn admonition. Enoch's holy life and translation, Noah's godly fear, faithfulness, wonderful preservation, and God's covenant with him and all flesh, were doubtless themes on which patriarchal lips dwelt in successive generations. In Abraham's day the basis of religious instruction was extended; and topics, illustrative of the character of God,-His covenant relation to His people, -the person, lineage, and work of the Redeemer,-together with the terms of acceptance with God, and the future history of the church, were introduced. Of this patriarch God said, "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." (Gen. xviii. 19.) And though we have not similar testimonies of others, it may be presumed, from the case of Job, that domestic worship, and religious fellowship, were kept up among those who "feared God and eschewed evil."

The first written account we have of conversational meetings on religious subjects, is found in connexion with the institution of the Passover. The passover was a national festival; yet connected with domestic and social worship. Each family had its lamb to eat, and its prescribed theme for religious discourse during the "feast." The

children, it was presumed, would ask, "What mean ye by this service?" And the parents were instructed to answer, by setting forth Israel's bondage in Egypt, the mission of Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, the passing of the angel over the blood-besprinkled houses of the Israelites, the slaying of Egypt's firstborn, the crossing of the Red Sea, their journey through the wilderness, and their establishment in Canaan. Thus all Israel, every time they celebrated the passover, were divided into bands of from ten to twenty persons, worshipping God, partaking of that lamb which prefigured "Christ our Passover;" and their evening hours were spent in declaring what God had done for their fathers, that they might dwell in quiet resting-places.

On various occasions Moses held private conferences with the elders of Israel, for the purpose of acquainting them with the Name and ordinances of the Lord; and, at other times, he took counsel with them how to secure the execution of the Divine will, avert God's wrath, and preserve the purity of His worship. The interview between Moses and his father-in-law affords a beautiful specimen of religious fellowship. "And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly He was above them. And Jethro, Moses' fatherin-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God." (Exod. xviii. 5-12.) Next day, Moses having "sat to judge the people...from the morning unto the evening," a second conference ensued, at which Jethro was the instructor, and Moses the learner. "And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; for this thing is too heavy for thee....Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee.... Provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness,...to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: and let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge." (Verses 13-22.) On ascertaining that the counsel given accorded with the Divine will, Moses adopted it, and it became a standing ordinance in Israel. "The secret of the Lord is with the righteous." Great as well as good thoughts are often imparted in connexion with devotional