authority to save me from what they call the delirium of religion. They tell him, that his honour, that his peace, that his influence, are all in jeopardy; and that if I am permitted to go on in my present course, nothing but inevitable ruin awaits me. By such stratagems they have beguiled him, and induced him to act a part, which I know is repugnant to the generous feelings of his nature, because he told me, at an early stage of my religious impressions, that if I found mental peace from my religious opinions, he would not presume to interfere."

"This trial," said Mrs. Stevens," is not joyous but grievous; nevertheless, it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Though it comes through a medium which invests it with a peculiar poignancy, and may desolate all your hopes of future comfort, yet the Redeemer says, My grace shall be sufficient for thee, my strength shall be made perfect in thy weakness. You have only to act wisely, and with decision; keep your conscience. void of offence towards God and man; demonstrate, by the meekness and urbanity of your dispositions, that your religion is not the religion of fancy or of passion; but of principle; rise above the visible agents who are employed in conducting the machinery of Providence, to meditate on Him, who sits behind the cloud that conceals Him from our sight, working all things after the counsel of his own will." "I have known, I remarked, some young Christians commence their religious profession under auspicious influences. They have been hailed by pious parents, and pious friends, with acclamations of joy; the spring-time of their spiritual existence has been free from the rude blasts of persecution; and they have advanced from stage to stage, with unobstructed and undiverted steps. I have known others rocked in the whirlwind, and cradled in the storm. They have had to contend with the principalities and powers of evil in their high places. They have been despised and rejected; and the reproaches of men have fallen upon them. But I generally find that opposition at the commencement of a profession has a good effect.

It forces religious principles deeper into the mind. It consolidates them. It gives to them an energy which ultimately rises superior to resistance; a bloom of healthful vigour, which they rarely attain when nourished by the fostering hand of parental solicitude, and brings them forth into such splendid manifestations, that compel even the enemies of our common faith to feel

"Yes, Sir;" observed Mrs. Stevens, " and we should remember, that those who oppose religion, when it takes possession of an individual mind, and exerts its influence over the visible actions of the life, often do it ignorantly. If they knew, that they were attempting to resist the work of God in the new creation of the human soul, they would cease their opposition. But they do not. They have no conception of such a thing. They ridicule it as visionary; and if a person offer to prove by sober arguments taken from the Scriptures, or from the Articles and Homilies of the Church, that such a new creation of the soul is a reality, and that it will manifest itself precisely in that exterior form which they see exhibited in the conduct of those whom they oppose, they will refuse to hear. Their unfairness to meet the arguments in support of the reality of the thing, I grant is very censurable; but it must be attributed to that judicial moral blindness, which is one of the consequences of our apostasy from God, and which calls for the exercise of our forbearance, and our tenderest pity. Hence, when we are reviled for our religion, we should not revile again; when we suffer, we should forbear to reproach; but commit our cause to Him who judgeth righteously.”

J. S. Hughes, Printer, 66, Paternoster-row,

"I left the villa with Mr. Stevens and Mr. Lewellin about five o'clock, the eighth day after her decease; and just as we reached the cottage, the corpse was brought out and placed on two stools, which stood in the centre walk of the garden."

London:

VILLAGE FUNERAL.

"Funerals in the country are solemnly impressive. The stroke of death makes a wide space in the village circle, and is an awful event in the tranquil uniformity of rural life. The passing bell tolls its knell in every ear; it steals with its per vading melancholy over every hill and vale, and saddens all the landscape. Sketch Book.

DEATH is a solemn subject of meditation; but it is one which presents stronger claims on our attention than any other, because we must die. If to die were a mere cessation of being; if, when the mantle of mortality falls, we lie down in the tomb to rise no more; if, when the intellect ceases to think, the passions cease to glow; the active virtues cease to display their moral beauty; and the human soul live only in the recollection of surviving friends; we would forbear to pass a heavy censure on the general indifference which is manifested towards this solemn theme. But has not the Sacred Volume revealed life and immortality? Do we not there read, that "the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John v. 28, 29.

Death spares neither age nor rank, talent nor piety. He, as the king of terrors, sways the sceptre of absolute authority over all the living; none can elude his attack, nor resist his power. What a scene is presented to the fancy where he has achieved a conquest! The sparkling eye is become dim, the instructive lips are sealed in perpetual silence. The ear is deaf to the voice of friendship and the song of mirth; and the tabernacle of bliss is changed into the house of mourning. The preparations which are necessary for the interment keep the mind in a state of constant agitation; but when these are all adjusted, and the mournful hour of departure is come, the passions usually burst forth, and proclaim, amidst sobs, and tears, and groans, the sadness of the desolation.

It was on a fine summer evening, as we sat conversing together, on the immortality of the soul, and

on that state of purity and of blessedness, which the righteous will enjoy in the heavenly world, that we received intelligence of the approaching dissolution of Mrs. Allen. Mrs. Stevens expressed a desire to go and see her once more before her decease; and having accepted my offer to accompany her, the chaise was immediately got ready to convey us to her humble dwelling.

I have often observed in my intercourse with society, that the benevolent affections are not exclusively cherished by any individual class of its members, but glow in the breasts of all; yet they are invariably most delicate, when refined by the hallowed fire of devotional sentiment and feeling. On some occasions, we see in the walks of humble life, even where religion has not distilled her sweetest influences, the tributary tear paid to departing worth: yet in general there is a degree of insensibility which excites astonishment, if not disgust. But as we entered this lonely retreat, we felt conscious that we were in the house of mourning. The husband, who had just returned from his hard day's labour, sat in the window-seat, with his mug of ale, and bread and cheese on the table by his side, untouched; his hand, spanning his forehead, concealed his eyes, as his little boy stood near him, pensive and sad. No voice spoke, no noise was heard, nor did our entrance disturb the mourner in his musings of grief. We felt a momentary tremor under an apprehension, that death had come, and borne off his captive. At length Mrs. Stevens said, "Well, Robert, is your wife still in the body, or in glory?" He startled from a deep pensiveness, and, as the silent tear fell on his sun-burned face, he replied, "She is still with us; but she will soon be gone. She has been discoursing much about you, Ma'am, all day; and it will give her pleasure to see you again before she enters the joy of her Lord."

We walked up stairs, and as we drew near, she expressed great delight at seeing us. She sat up in her bed, being supported by pillows; her face glowed with the hectic flush; her eyes shone with radiant brightness; her voice was clear, though not strong and her mind soon discovered all its native sprightliness and vigour." Here I am," she observed," in the last