virtues appear to have accompanied him through the whole of his life.

This eminent and virtuous man possessed uninterrupted health till near the sixty-sixth year of his age. At this period he was affected with an indisposition, which, in a short time, greatly impaired his strength; and he found himself so unfit to discharge the duty of justice of the king's bench that he was obliged to resign the office. "He continued, however," says Bishop Burnet, "to retire frequently for his devotions and studies. As long as he could go himself he went regularly to his retirement; and when his infirmities increased, so that he was not able to walk to the place, he made his servants carry him thither in a chair. At last, as the winter came on, he saw, with great joy, his deliverance approaching; for besides his being weary of the world, and his longings for the blessedness of another state, his pains increased so much that no patience inferior to his could have borne them without great uneasiness of mind. Yet he expressed, to the last, such submission to the will of God, and so equal a temper, that the powerful effects of Christianity were evident in the support which he derived from it under so heavy a load.

"He continued to enjoy the free use of his reason and senses to the latest moment of life. This he had often and earnestly prayed for during his last sickness. When his voice was so sunk that he could not be heard, his friends perceived, by the almost constant lifting up of his eyes and hands, that he was still aspiring toward that blessed state, of which he was now to be speedily possessed. He had no struggles, nor seemed to be in any pangs in his last moments. He breathed out his righteous and pious soul in peace."

12. JOHN LOCKE.

JOHN LOCKE, a very celebrated philosopher, and one of the greatest men that England ever produced, was born. in the year 1632. He was well educated; and applying himself with vigour to his studies, his mind became enlarged, and stored with much useful knowledge. He went abroad as secretary to the English ambassador at several of the German courts; and afterwards had the offer of being made envoy at the court of the emperor, or of any other that he chose; but he declined the proposal on account of the infirm state of his health. He was a commissioner of trade and plantations, in which station he very honourably distinguished himself. Notwithstanding his public employments, he found leisure to write much for the benefit of mankind. His "Essay on Human Understanding," his "Discourses on Government," and his "Letters on Toleration," are justly held in high estimation.

This enlightened man, and profound reasoner, was most firmly attached to the Christian religion. His zeal to promote it appeared, first, in his middle age, by publishing a discourse to demonstrate the reasonableness of believing Jesus to be the promised Messiah, and afterward, in the latter part of his life, by a very judicious Commentary on several of the Epistles of the apostle Paul. The sacred Scriptures are everywhere mentioned by him with the greatest reverence; and he exhorts Christians "to betake themselves in earnest to the study of the way to salvation in those holy writings, wherein God has revealed it from heaven, and proposed it to the world, seeking our religion where we are sure it is in truth to be found, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

In a letter, written the year before his death, to a person who asked this question, "What is the shortest and surest way for a young man to attain the true knowledge of the Christian religion?" he says, "Let him study the Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Therein are contained the words of eternal life. It has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter." This advice was conformable to his own practice. "For fourteen or fifteen years he applied himself, in an especial manner, to the study of the Scriptures, and employed the last years of his life hardly in anything else. He was never weary of admiring the great views of that sacred book, and the just relation of all its parts; he every day made discoveries in it, that gave him fresh cause of admiration."

The summer before his death he began to be very sensible of his approaching dissolution. He often spoke of it, and always with great composure. A short time before his decease he declared to a friend that "he was in the sentiments of perfect charity towards all men, and of a sincere union with the Church of Christ, under whatever name distinguished."

The day before his death, Lady Masham being alone with him, and sitting by his bedside, he exhorted her to regard this world only as a state of preparation for a better, adding, that "he had lived long enough, and thanked God for having passed his days so comfortably; but that this life appeared to him mere vanity."

Being told that, if he chose it, the whole family should be with him in his chamber, he said he should be very glad to have it so if it would not give too much trouble; and an occasion offering to speak of the goodness of God, he especially exalted the care which God showed to man in justifying him by faith in Jesus Christ; and, in particular, returned God thanks for having

blessed him with the knowledge of the Divine Sa

viour.

About two months before his death he wrote a letter to his friend, Anthony Collins, and left this direction upon it: "To be delivered to him after my decease." It concludes with the following remarkable words:

"May you live long and happy in the enjoyment of health, freedom, content, and all those blessings which Providence has bestowed on you, and to which your virtue entitles you! You loved me living, and will preserve my memory when I am dead. All the use to be made of it is, that this life is a scene of vanity, which soon passes away, and affords no solid satisfaction but in the consciousness of doing well, and in the hopes of another life. This is what I can say upon experience, and what you will find to be true when you come to make up the account. Adieu."

The following extract from a letter written by Lady Masham, deserves a place among the testimonies respecting this distinguished and excellent man:

"You will not, perhaps, dislike to know that the last scene of Mr. Locke's life was not less admirable than anything else concerning him. All the faculties of his mind were perfect to the last. His weakness, of which only he died, made such gradual and visible advances, that few people, I think, do so sensibly see death approach them as he did. During all this time, no one could observe the least alteration in his humour-always cheerful, conversable, civil; to the last day thoughtful of all the concerns of his friends, and omitting no fit occasion of giving Christian advice to all about him. In short, his death was, like his life, truly pious; yet natural, easy, and unaffected. Time, I think, can never produce a more eminent example of reason and religion than he was, both living and dying."

C

13. JOSEPH HARDCASTLE.

THE name of Joseph Hardcastle is well known to the friends of missions, in consequence of his having been, for many years, treasurer of the London Missionary Society. Divine grace led him to embrace religion in early life; and he died cheered by its supports, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. The venerable minister who preached his funeral sermon, records the following expressions, which dropped from his dying lips, in the concluding scene of a life of benevolence and piety :—

"Lord Jesus, thou hast said, 'He that believeth in me shall never die; and he that believeth, though he were dead, yet shall he live.' I believe this; I believe I shall never know what death is, but pass into life.

"Thou hast said, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' I come to thee; thou wilt not cast me out.

"Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I am going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I am infinitely indebted to Him for his conduct of me from infancy to the end of my life. He took me by the hand in a wonderful manner, and brought me into connexion with the excellent of the earth. Most gracious God, I commit my offspring to thee; and I charge my children to walk in thy fear and love.

66

He has drawn me with the cords of mercy from my earliest days. He gave me very early impressions of religion, and enabled me to devote myself to Him in early life; and this God is my God forever and everforever and ever. I said to him, when a young man, "Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.' Whom have I in heaven but