night; and Charles found it on the following day. He continued steadfast for a considerable time, and was remarkably vehement in prayer. Rebukes were administered to him by one or two, who disapproved of so much noise. He felt this keenly, became discouraged, and at length ceased to meet in class.* There is good reason, however, to believe that he never wholly lost the religion he had obtained; and at length, on January 30th, 1862, he again joined his father's class, and gave himself up also afresh to do his Heavenly Father's will. Speaking of this in his diary, he says, "Glory be to God, I once more enjoy His love. He has been according to His promise. He has healed my backslidings. O, how can I thank Him? I am determined by His help to press forward."

On June 29th, 1862, he began to preach; and from the first he was very favourably received wherever he went. He had excellent talents, which he employed, during the remainder of his brief career, in the service of the Saviour. On the 29th of October, 1863, he was seized with diphtheria; and, after an illness of three weeks, (in which all that medical skill and parental care could do to arrest the disease was tried, but tried in vain,) he at last expired, much lamented. His candour, his ready wit, his genial spirit, his consistent piety, had endeared him to a large circle of friends. In the course of his illness, being asked by his pastor if he had a calm trust in Christ, he said, "Yes," with a quick upward movement of his hand, "I know whom I have believed." To his mother he said,

"I the chief of sinners am,

But Jesus died for me." "That's my certificate." At another time he exclaimed, "Mother, I shall see the King in His beauty." Very shortly before his death he said, "Father, what a poor light you have. Can't you make it any better?" "No, my dear, I can't make it any better." After a pause, he resumed, "It is dark to me. Is this death? Is this death?" Then he exclaimed, with great earnestness, "O Lord, forgive my manifold imperfections and sins, through Jesus Christ; and sprinkle me with His blood." Then he said, "Lord Jesus, into Thine hands I commend my spirit ;" and, bidding good-bye to his weeping parents and brother, he fell asleep, in the twentythird year of his age. J. H.

Her

DIED, at Hammersmith, November 27th, 1863, aged sixty-seven, MRS. BRAITHWAITE. In early life she was converted to God among the Independents, and more than thirty years ago she joined the Methodist Society. She was a woman of good understanding, and of unquestionable piety. Integrity and uprightness preserved her. She looked well to the ways of her household, and the heart of her husband did safely trust in her. By her the poor were remembered. love to the means of grace was manifested by a regular and devout attendance on the ministry of the word, the communion of saints, and the meetings for united prayer. She was zealous for the cause of God, and willingly contributed to sustain the institutions of religion, both home and foreign. She was long a valuable collector for the Missions, for the Bible Society, and for the spread of the Gospel among the seed of Abraham. In acts of devotion, works of faith, and labours of love, she continued to the last, notwithstanding great weakness of body. For some months before her death, her husband was greatly afflicted with paralysis; and, finding her own strength rapidly failing, she was deeply troubled at the thought of leaving him. While she was thus anxious, the promise was powerfully applied, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." From that moment she could confidently commit him, and her all, into the hands of her Father in heaven. She set her house in order, and calmly waited her end. During the few days she was confined to her bed, her mind was kept in great peace. "I have no joys," she said, "but I have no doubts, no fears." On another occasion she exclaimed

"But O! when that last conflict's o'er, And I am chain'd to earth no more, With what glad accents shall I rise To join the music of the skies!" When the Sabbath dawned, she much desired that she might depart ere it closed. During the day a friend who called to see her began to repeat the verse,

"O, what are all my sufferings here," when she caught the strain, and continued,

"If, Lord, Thou count me meet, With that enraptured host to' appear, And worship at Thy feet!"

She desired to hear the twenty-third Psalm, and afterward the fourteenth

chapter of John; but, before the latter could be read, she entered on the eternal Sabbath, in those mansions above, to be for ever with the Lord. L. W.

DIED, on the 3d December, 1863, at Sancton, Pocklington Circuit, at the age of sixty-six, ELIZABETH, the beloved wife of Mr. Thomas MARSHALL. She was born of parents highly conscientious and upright, who walked habitually in the fear of the Lord, and trained their family accordingly, with a regular attendance on the services of the Established Church. At the age of fifteen, Mrs. Marshall suffered the irreparable loss of both parents, within a year of each other; and for the ensuing five years she resided with her two younger brothers. "The generation of the upright are blessed." In 1817, her brother William gave his heart to God, and his hand to the people of God. Thinking it not improbable but some objection might be offered by his sister to the step he had taken, how was he surprised, a few weeks after his decision, when Elizabeth asked him if there would be any objection to her attending at a class-meeting which was held on Sunday afternoon, after preaching, at StamfordBridge, some two miles from her home! The Rev. J. P. Haswell was the minister, who, in his pastoral visitation of the Society, gave her a note on trial for membership. Lydia-like, she was led to seek God's favour by the drawings of the Spirit, rather than by the terrors of the law. Willing and obedient, she was by the Comforter speedily guided to the Saviour's embrace. He witnessed with the blood, and sealed the heir of glory. "Born of the Spirit," she soon found that such around her as were "after the flesh" had no sympathy with her. They were bold enough to tell her that by joining the Methodists she had lowered herself, and would most likely be ruined! Her sincerity and faith in God were thus severely tested; but, through Divine grace and Christian counsels, her heart remained fixed, and she was enabled to hold on her way. And her position, so far from being lowered, was, at any time, equal to that of the most prosperous of her censors; whilst, in addition, she had the ineffable consolations of religion, and the bright future opening to her faith and hope. True, her piety did not exonerate her from tribulation in varied forms, but it turned all into gain. When called, within two years of her conversion, to suffer severe domestic bereavement, all-sufficient grace enabled her to acquiesce in the allotment of un

erring wisdom and kindness. Her confidence and love centered in Him who is the safe and blest dwelling-place of His people, at all times, and in all generations. Wherever her lot was cast, she showed that the Lord was her portion, and His cause was hers. Her house was the home of God's servants when duty called them to that neighbourhood, and her delight was to minister to their comfort. Rather than be deprived of this privilege, she gave proof that she was prepared to make what would be regarded by many as a considerable sacrifice. In Mr. Marshall, however, she had one who saw eye to eye with her. During the last thirty years of her life, most diligently did she discharge the various domestic duties that devolved on her, as a wife, a mother, and a mistress; and yet, though her physical strength was taxed to the uttermost, her spritual interests were never forgotten. Oft, when her bodily frailties would have furnished a plausible excuse for absence from class or chapel, or for declining to entertain God's servants, her fervent spirit rose superior to every difficulty. Her solicitude respecting the salvation of her children was great; and her pains and prayers were requited by the conversion of all but one, and by their usefulness in the church. For the last few years her health and strength gradually declined. Of this she was fully conscious, and therefore she set her house in order, and trimmed her lamp; seeking the more earnestly to do God's will, and obtain a meetness for her heavenly home. When entirely laid aside, and secluded in her chamber, her spirit calmly and sweetly reposed in the unchanging fidelity of her Saviour God, whilst she joyfully anticipated the happiness of being with Him for ever, in companionship with those whom she had loved below, and who had preceded her to the land of rest. A few days before her death, while conversing on her spiritual state, and taking a review of life, she was led to make most humble confessions before God of her unworthiness: yet, with confidence in Christ, she could say that she had not wilfully departed from Him. "Salvation through the Lamb," "Salvation by grace through faith," "Salvation for me," were the constant expressions of her rejoicing spirit. And, on being asked, she gave her husband and sons the oft-repeated assurance that it was her desire, in God's time, to depart, and be with Christ. A few hours before her spirit fled, the last utterance was an emphatic "Yes," to the question,

Was she at peace and happy? Soon after, her freed spirit peacefully left its tenement. Literally, "the weary wheels of life stood still."

WILLIAM WILSON (c).

THE late MRS. ARMES, of King's Lynn, was never what is called demonstrative; she never invited public attention to herself, but preferred the quiet duties of family life to efforts of public usefulness, which, although more adapted to engage popular attention, may not be more important.

Of her early life it may be said, that, in the family of her father, she was surrounded with religious influences; and her mind, always contemplative, was imbued also with a spirit of devotion. When a girl, she was remarkable for simplicity of dress and deportment; while, even then, that undeviating and assiduous attention to the concerns of domestic life which ever distinguished her was strikingly manifested. midst of a young and numerous family, she was a great help to her mother, who entrusted her with almost the entire care of the junior children. And she already discharged her duties under a sense of sacred obligation.

In the

In the year 1811, she joined the Methodist church, receiving her first ticket from the Rev. Thomas Pollard, of whom she often spoke with affectionate remembrance. From that time she continued a consistent member; humbly depending for her salvation on the merit of the atonement, and ever desirous to discharge her duties, both with regard to the life that now is, and to that which is to come. In reference to her conduct as a wife and a mother, a severe critic, perhaps, might say that she was too anxious about trivial things. But, if so, that anxiety arose from an everpresent desire to attend well to the ways of her household, which she always held to be a high Christian duty; and she has been heard to express a fear that by many mothers, zealously devoted to public duties, the claims of the family, and home obligations, have not been sufficiently regarded. If Mrs. Armes erred here, (and, perhaps, she did,) it was in the opposite extreme; but, at least, it must be said of her, that she was not a busy-body, running from

house to house. She was a keeper at home, and she kept her home well. She did indeed "look well to the ways of her household," and "ate not the bread of idleness."

Throughout life she was inclined to look rather at the gloomy side of things; but she often had occasion to acknowledge, with gratitude, that God had been better to her than her fears. She always felt a timidity in speaking openly of her religious experience, and undoubtedly carried this timidity to excess, when a natural backwardness overcame her: but she not unfrequently resisted this successfully.*

In the course of years she suffered severe sickness; and several times her life was despaired of. In prospect of death, she was ever fearful; and the ties of kindred and of earth appeared to bind her spirit. In former afflictions, on the mention of her children, her home, the flowers of her garden, and the society of her friends, the tear has started to her eye; and on some occasions she has freely wept. But God, who gives grace according to the day, when at last it pleased Him to give the summons to depart, supported her in a manner wonderful to herself and to all around her.

For the last two years of her life there was an evident alteration in her general conduct. She was more patient under privation of the means of grace; less anxious about little things; and less inclined to apprehend evil. At length the summons came. The stricken sufferer then found her promised support; and this frail and fearful follower of the Saviour was able to witness a good confession, and admirably to exemplify the blessedness of religion. Her mind was unclouded throughout her illness; and, from first to last, she displayed a perfectly uninterrupted resignation to the will of God. At once she bade farewell to the things of earth; and seeming to know from the very first, that her sickness would be unto death, she calmly prepared for the final conflict. So completely was she enabled to give up the world, that, when her daughters and her husband, summoned home by telegraph, stood by her bedside, she affectionately embraced them, said she was dying, expressed her pleasure at their

arrival, but displayed far less excitement than she had often done when they had left home for an ordinary journey. "I have often feared," she observed, "how I could ever give up my children; but I I can leave them in confican now. dence to their Saviour and God. I am going to heaven. I hope you will all join me there." Then, addressing them severally, she said, "You will, won't you? and you-and you? I want you all." And when her eye dimmed, and she felt the approaches of the last enemy, she called her sisters to her side, and asked, "Am I now dying? Tell me truly: I am not afraid."

Throughout her illness, her faith never faltered. She saw with mental eye the heavens opened, and was incessantly speaking of the mansion prepared for her. The servant, who attended her with true fidelity, was gratefully acknowledged. To her medical attendant also she expressed her thanks, and her hope of meeting him in heaven; and then she sent her final regards and admonitions to absent relatives and friends.

With

calm Christian fortitude she gave presents to her weeping relatives; often saying, "Weep not for me; I shall soon be better off than you all." Then she deliberately expressed her wishes as to her burial; directing-that "devout

men

lady in the town who was also near her end, but whose prospects were not so clear, she sent her more than one loving message, the burden of which was, "Tell her not to doubt."

One evening she requested her weeping daughters to go into the dining-room and sing to the piano, "A day's march nearer home." As they sang, and the sounds came to her chamber, she turned to listen, and joy beamed in her countenance, as if she could hear the heavenly harpers playing the music of the skies.

When suffering severe pain, she said, "I hope I am patient. Tell me if I am not, and I will try more." But she never complained, although she often said, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

When nature at last gave way, she But to said, "Don't talk to me now." the very close, even after the eye was dimmed to every outward object, she continued to press lovingly the hand of her husband, in a manner expressive of her continued happiness and her constant regard. Some of her last words were, "Jesus is here,

To help a soul of death afraid, And guide me through the dreary shade:"" "Not afraid of adding, emphatically, death, but of the pain of dying." Four hours before her departure all pain ceased; and at last, with all her silent and sorrowing family about her, her spirit imperceptibly left its clay tabernacle, and we saw that she had fallen asleep in Jesus. Thus she departed, on June 18th, 1864, aged sixty-four years.

The moral of her life and death, to all sincere followers of the Saviour, specially to the fearful, is best conveyed in her own words,—

"TELL THEM NOT TO DOUBT."

DEATHS.

W. A.

flicts. The last assault made upon her faith was continued for nearly two days; but she resisted the adversary in the exercise of prayer, and overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the blessed word of truth. The victory of grace was followed by perfect peace; and "the enemy was, after that, as still as a stone," until she had gone over the Н. Н. С. river.

April 20th.-At Carnarvon, North Wales, Miss Anne Titterton, in her forty-third year. She had been for many years a member of the English Wesleyan church. It is in a great measure owing to the efforts of her father