conversation of my friend altered! His motto now seemed to be that of the apostle: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." No longer did I hear of Josephus, and Rollin, and Rapin; nor any allusion to the old legends which he had carefully collected from numberless sources, and had ever on his tongue: all his theme was now what Christ had done, and what Christ would do. Often would he take the words out of my lips when I endeavoured, at the side of his bed, to present his prayers to the mercy seat; and frequently at the midnight hour was he heard to utter the humble sigh and the heaven-sent aspiration. Alluding to his own rapidly declining strength and frequent sufferings, but following his own characteristic vein, he said to me, in reply to an expression of condolence, “Ah, sir, it is far better to go with Elijah in Jacob's rough waggon to heaven, than it would be to ride with Dives in Elijah's bright chariot to hell." Standing near his bed not long before his death, he stretched out to me his feeble hand, already beginning to tremble under the final conflict, and grasping mine with all his remaining strength, he affectionately exclaimed, "Oh! sir, I have loved you very tenderly on earth, and I think I shall not lose sight of you in heaven. If it be permitted the saints to look down upon the things below, I know what my employment will particularly be till you join me; it will be that of the mother of Sisera, to look out of heaven's window, and say, 'Why are his chariots so long in coming?" He then with great fervour joined me in repeating those stanzas of Doddridge: When death o'er nature shall prevail Much to my regret, I was prevented from being present at the closing scene; but delighted was I to hear perfume. No one could help admiring the expanded intellect, and the leafy memory, so unusual in such a situation; but alas, neither heavenly-mindedness, nor fervent charity, nor any other bird of paradise, was found building its nest in the character of our precentor. Contemplating our demi-clerical friend, an observer would have seen the altar erected, the trench dug around, the wood laid in order, and even the victim bound; but where, would he ask, is the enkindling fire, or where the flame to cover the sacrifice, consume the wood and lick up the water? Nor more certainly from heaven came the fire on Mount Carmel, than from heaven came the grace which, after long delay, melted, humbled, and refined the heart of James Croker. Never would I forget my surprise and delight when, on hearing of my poor neighbour being confined by the same epidemic that had for some time detained myself from visiting him, I called at his cottage, and heard him utter, with godly sorrow and lively emotion, the long looked for words, "Oh! sir, I am a poor miserable sinner. I have had a dark, dark time (he went on to say) since I saw you; the mighty hand of the Lord has been upon me, and I have been brought nigh unto death. Like the Psalmist, I can truly say all thy waves and storms have gone over me." 6 Lost in admiration at God's own gracious dealings, I said little at this interview; but finding on the following day that the depression of his mind continued, I ventured to whisper a word or two of comfort; and rejoiced to learn, on my next visit, that the Spirit of peace, following the deep conviction which had prepared its way, had taken up his abode in the now contrite heart. Never before have I beheld so striking a display of the difference between self-confidence, and gospel peace; the one the dazzling gleam, suffused from the impending cloud and foretelling the coming storm, the other the calm serenity of the summer's evening, with the sky clear, the air elastic, and the horizon radiant, with full orbed glory descending into the bosom of the waiting believer. From this time, how wonderfully was the manner and conversation of my friend altered! His motto now seemed to be that of the apostle: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." No longer did I hear of Josephus, and Rollin, and Rapin; nor any allusion to the old legends which he had carefully collected from numberless sources, and had ever on his tongue: all his theme was now what Christ had done, and what Christ would do. Often would he take the words out of my lips when I endeavoured, at the side of his bed, to present his prayers to the mercy seat; and frequently at the midnight hour was he heard to utter the humble sigh and the heaven-sent aspiration. Alluding to his own rapidly declining strength and frequent sufferings, but following his own characteristic vein, he said to me, in reply to an expression of condolence, "Ah, sir, it is far better to go with Elijah in Jacob's rough waggon to heaven, than it would be to ride with Dives in Elijah's bright chariot to hell." Standing near his bed not long before his death, he stretched out to me his feeble hand, already beginning to tremble under the final conflict, and grasping mine with all his remaining strength, he affectionately exclaimed, "Oh! sir, I have loved you very tenderly on earth, and I think I shall not lose sight of you in heaven. If it be permitted the saints to look down upon the things below, I know what my employment will particularly be till you join me; it will be that of the mother of Sisera, to look out of heaven's window, and say, 'Why are his chariots so long in coming ?" He then with great fervour joined me in repeating those stanzas of Doddridge: When death o'er nature shall prevail Much to my regret, I was prevented from being present at the closing scene; but delighted was I to hear that he summoned many of his neighbours around him, and conversed with them with as much affectionate earnestness as his ebbing strength would permit, concerning their eternal prospects. On his weeping partner saying, "O my dear husband, what shall I do when you are gone ?" He exclaimed, "Do, Mary, do as I have done; do as the dying thief did; say, Lord, remember me! My Saviour has remembered me, and oh! fear not, he will remember you." These were the last words which ever fell from his lips. It seemed as if the Saviour had responded and said, "To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise." But a few moments after, and mortality was for ever laid aside, and death swallowed up of life. I entered just as the final struggle had ceased. How heavenly the smile which still lingered on the time-worn countenance. It seemed to say, "the last enemy is vanquished, and now, (like the beloved disciple,) I sleep on my master's bosom." The morning of the event was one of unusual brilliancy for the season of the year, and the unclouded sun, as it gilded the prospect from the window of the chamber of death, afforded a faint emblem of that heavenly lustre which had now commenced shining upon the glorified spirit. Assembling the attendants around the placid remains, I expressed our common sentiment of thanksgiving to Him who had constituted his servant more than conqueror, and commended the widow and the fatherless to the God who never leaves, and much less ever forsakes. Rising from our knees, the voice, once respondent at the close of every prayer, was silent; but as I drew after me the door of the house of mourning, I heard the deep toned passing bell from the neighbouring steeple taking up the answer for him, and announcing to the villages that he, who for many a long year, had sustained their public devotion, was adding another amen to the anthem of the redeemed in the church triumphant. Should this short narrative encourage any parish clerk to rise above the routine of his office, or encourage any faithful clergyman, mourning over the formality of his subaltern, to persevere in private prayer for him, as in public prayer with him, you, dear sir, will be abun dantly rewarded for its insertion in your much-blessed periodical; and the sovereignty of God's grace be magnified. Permit me to subscribe myself, with much respect, Yours very faithfully, J. H. S. CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE. He that contemplates with a composed and devout mind, the life and conduct of Jesus Christ, from the manger to his death on the cross, will find impressed and expressed in it, the steps which we are to follow, in a very lively and perfect manner. We will briefly notice them. He, the Saviour Jesus, who might, without sin, have lived in this world in honour, wealth, joy, and pleasures, refused to do so, in order that he might give us an example; but chose rather reproach, poverty, and affliction. He left Herod and the Pharisees in possession of their state, dignity, wealth, and conveniences, and lived the most of his time, with his mean and despised parents in Nazareth, a very despicable and miserable place, as an insignificant mechanic, so entirely hidden and quiet, that it was almost unknown to the world, that an individual resided at Nazareth, whose name was Jesus. He could have shone in every thing; he was not wanting in understanding, wisdom, gifts, and divine power. He could have written the most excellent works upon every spiritual and natural science, which all the world would have admired, and by which, many thousands, as it appears to us, would have been converted. But it was not intended that he should shine, neither would he. Even in his public life, he sought, as much as possible, to keep his miracles, his divine dignity and glory concealed, and fled wherever and whenever he was praised and honoured. He regarded his life here on earth as a passage through it. "I am come into the world," said he; "again I leave the world, and go to the Father," (John xvi. 28.) His sole concern was to be about his Father's work, without troubling himself about other matters, for which he did not come into the world. And even as during the |