to others—but I feel so little-it is this that distresses me that amidst so much light and knowledge, and with so clear views of truth, my heart should be so little affected.' Is not this after all the point of difficulty? If so, let me assure you that you are waiting for something, and desirous of experiencing something for which you will seek in vain. It is submission that is necessary-simply trust in the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. When you read his invitations and intreaties-his expressions of love and mercy to lost sinners; remember that he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Go to Him in faith, and he will graciously receive you, and strengthen you to become all that he would have you to be.

"With regard to myself I can only say, that on the approaching Sunday I expect to profess my faith in Christ, to renounce the world as the supreme object of my affections, to take the Lord to be my God, to enter into covenant with him, and choose him as my everlasting portion.

"Solemn and awful are the transactions before me. May I ever feel them to be so. Pray much for me that I may from the heart renounce the world and its follies, and be more and more conformed to the image and temper of Him, the emblems of whose body and blood I am so soon to receive. shortly to hear that you too have found that which passeth understanding, and have come out from the world and declared yourself on the Lord's side. "Your truly affectionate cousin,

I hope

peace

Those who have noticed the development of her religious feelings, the acuteness of her sensibilities, and the cautious manner in which she was accustomed to proceed, will be interested in knowing how she was affected when her obligation to observe the ordinances of the Gospel was exhibited to her view. Ever prone to distrust herself, she would not be likely to enter thoughtlessly on the performance of sacred duty. The institutions of religion were, in her estimate, hallowed by too affecting associations and established by too high authority to be lightly regarded. But in proportion to the earnestness and sincerity with which she yielded to the sway of holy principles were the difficulties she felt in taking a decided stand on the Lord's side. When the subject was first proposed to her by her pastor, she felt that she was so liable to be deceived that it would be most prudent to delay. Having called her attention to the various considerations by which the obligation is enforced, he said to her on taking leave, "The path of duty is the path of peace—it is plainly marked before you if you neglect duty you must expect to walk in darkness." Left to her own

reflections she was greatly distressed, and knew not to what cause to ascribe her feelings, being often burdened with an oppressive load, and even tempted to relinquish all thoughts of holiness and heaven. Every thing appeared so dark within that she feared it would be presumption for her to enter into a covenant relation with God. While in this situation, at the time of morning prayer, her attention was fixed on a passage in Isaiah, "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will lead them

in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them." Striking as these words appeared, they relieved her only for a moment, when her distress recurred with increasing force.

She devoted much time to the study of the Bible, with prayer for Divine guidance, and had repeated conversations with her pastor and other christian friends, "who had proved," she says, "by many months' patience and perseverance with her, their tender regard for her eternal welfare." But much as she valued the advice of these friends, she was not unmindful of her individual accountability to the Judge of quick and dead, for the conclusions at which she arrived and the course she pursued. At one of the seasons appointed for an interview with her pastor, being disappointed of a visit by the inclemency of the weather, she thus writes, "Deprived of human consolation, I trust I was enabled to seek it from a higher and surer source, and I sought it not in vain." The path of duty became so clear, that on the next day she presented a request that her name might be enrolled among the followers of Christ.

CHAPTER IV.

Mrs. Taylor's Baptism-Obligations of the Christian CovenantPeculiar Qualifications for Instructing-Unwearied Efforts― Increase of the Circle of her Friends-Delightful SceneryImportance of Daily Studying the Bible-Correspondence— Solicitude for the Spiritual Welfare of her Relatives-Letter of Consolation-Excursion up the Hudson-Religious Enjoyment-Aged Servant of God.

On the 25th of April, Miss Foote was baptized, and on the same day received the emblems of a Saviour's dying love. Alluding to the occasion, she says, "I knelt before the altar, and took upon me the baptismal vow. Before God, angels, and men, I professed my faith in Christ, and joined myself to him in a perpetual covenant, well ordered in all things and sure. I cannot describe my feelings when that sacred ordinance was administered. It was to me a momentous and solemn hour. Most fervently do I pray that its transactions may ever be engraven on my mind and influence every action of my future life."

The writer could not pass lightly over this period of her history without doing injustice to the motives by which she was influenced and the responsible nature of the obligations she assumed. Though every human being is sacredly bound to observe the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, there is a feeling peculiarly solemn and affecting connected with the public acknowledgment of these obligations. The step is one of the most important that mortals can take during their residence on earth. Their whole future character will be affected by the feelings

they then cherish.

This will be a

This will be a point in their existence from which they will press forward with continually increasing light and knowledge, or from which they will sink into apathy and become cumberers of the ground. Entering into a new relation with God, receiving the seal of the everlasting covenant and a pledge of unnumbered blessings, they must, if they realize these things, deeply feel that the pomp of a vain world and the sinful desires. of the flesh must be renounced; that holiness to the Lord must be inscribed on all their thoughts, words, and actions. Have they entered the vineyard of Jehovah ? Shall they or can they forget whose they are and whom they are bound to serve ? Redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, adopted into the christian family, will they not deem it their inestimable privilege to walk worthy of their high vocation?

To Miss Foote these sentiments were familiar. They were associated with her holiest feelings, and seemed inwrought with all her plans and resolutions for the future. Her heart expanding with love to God, she sought to become an instrument of usefulness to others. In uniting herself with the visible company of believers, she did not cherish the delusive opinion, that thereby the great object of her existence was accomplished. She believed that God had established a church in the world for the glorious purpose of converting the world unto himself, and that all the members of the church were bound, in their respective spheres of action, to exert themselves for the salvation of souls. Hence she entered with renewed zeal upon every department of duty.