chalked on plague-stricken houses, Philip Henry would say, "If the worship of God be not within, write 'Lord have mercy upon us' on the door; for a plague, a curse is there." And as he deemed it so important, he laboured to make it instructive and engaging to all. In the morning he arranged it so that the bustle of the day should not infringe on it, and in the evening so early that no little girl should be nodding at the chapter, nor any drowsy servant yawning through the prayer. “Better one away than all sleepy," he would say, if occasionally obliged to begin before some absentee returned; but so much did the fear of God and affection for the head of the household reign, that none were wilfully missing. And with this "hem" around it the business of each successive day was effectually kept from "ravelling." It was his custom to expound a portion of Scripture, and he encouraged his children to write notes of these familiar explanations. Before they quitted the paternal roof each of them had in this way secured in manuscript, a copious commentary on the Bible, which they treasured up as a precious memorial of their happy early days, and their heavenly-minded father. In the hands of his only son these simple notes became the germ of the most popular English commentary.-It is this son's history which we ought to sketch; but as the Broad Oak family was one, and Matthew and his sisters not only loved one another tenderly, but pursued the same solid and useful studies for a long time together, we may for a few moments glance at them. Though younger than her brother, SARAH was the oldest sister. When six or seven years of age her father taught her Hebrew, and among other good customs she early began to take notes of sermons, so that before she reached her threescore and ten she had many fair-written volumes-the record of sweet Sabbaths and endeared solemnities. Married to Mr. Savage, a substantial farmer, and a pious man, in the abundance of a farm-house she found ample means for indulging her charitable disposition, and whilst blessed by the poor, to whose necessities she ministered, she was beloved by grateful friends, to whom her Christian composure and tender sympathy made her a welcome visitor in seasons of anxiety or sorrow. Through life she retained the bookish habits which she acquired at Broad Oak, and found time to read a great deal, and to copy for the use of her children many of those Christian biographies which were then circulated in manuscript, and not intended for the press. But her superior understanding and elevated tastes did not disqualify her for the more irksome duties of her station. She verified the remark that "Educated persons excel in the meanest things, and refined minds possess the most common sense." She made all the better farmer's wife for being Philip Henry's daughter; and the main difference betwixt the cultivated lady and the vulgar housewife was, that she did more things, and did them better. In the morning she visited the dairy, the kitchen, and the market, and then it seemed as if she was all day alike in the parlour and the nursery. Besides clothing her household she found time to make garments for the poor; and by lying down with a book beside her she contrived to improve her mind, and read the works of such theologians as Owen, and Flavel, and Howe. Like her father, and most of the Puritans, she possessed a serene and Under 2. Go tranquil spirit, and during the forty years of her married life was never known to lose her temper. Doubtless much of her successful industry, as well as the quiet dignity of her character, must be ascribed to this meek self-possession; for whilst her notable neighbours deemed it needful to screech commands over all the house, and follow each blundering menial in a perpetual fluster, the simplicity and forethought of Mrs. Savage's directions saved a world of trouble, and all things appeared to adjust and expedite themselves around her calm and gentle presence. Her new home was near her parents, and, besides frequent visits, she was often getting a word in season from the ready pen of her loving father. "If you would keep warm in this cold season, (January 1692,) take these four directions:-1. Get into the Sun. his blessed beams there are warmth and comfort. near the fire. 'Is not my Word like fire?' How many cheering passages are there! 3. Keep in motion and action -stirring up the grace and gift of God that is in you. 4. And seek Christian converse and communion. 'How can one be warm alone?"" Along with the piety of her father she inherited much of his observant eye and spiritual mind; and many of her remarks are not only striking in themselves, but derive a charm from the little things which first suggested them:-"Seeing other creatures clean and white in the same place where the swine were all over mire, I thought it did represent good and bad men in the same place; the one defiled by the same temptations which the other escape through the grace of God and watchfulness." "I was affected lately when I saw our newly-sown garden, which we had secured so carefully, as we thought, from fowls, and had closely covered it, yet receive as much hurt by the unseen mole, which roots up and destroys. Lord grant this be not the case of my poor soul! Many good seeds are sown. Line upon line. Daily hearing or reading some good truths. And, by the grace of God, with my good education, I have been kept from many outward sins; but I have great reason to fear the unseen mole of heart-corruption, pride, covetousness. These work secretly but dangerously; Lord, do thou undertake for me.” "The coals coming to the fire with ice upon them at first seemed as though they would put out the fire, but afterwards they made it burn more fiercely : I had this meditation, It is often so with me. That which seems against me is really for me. Have not afflictions worked for my good? Sometimes I have gone to an ordinance, as these coals to the fire, all cold and frozen, and there I have been melted. My love and desire have been inflamed. That it hath not oftener been so has been my own fault." But no extract from her journals can set in a more interesting light this admirable woman than the following lines recording the death of her only surviving son.- —“1721, Feb. 15. My dear Philip was seized with the fatal distemper, the small-pox. Many, many fervent prayers were put up for him, both in closets and congregations; but on Monday, Feb. 27, between one and two o'clock, he breathed his last ;—the blessed spirit took wing, I trust, to the world of everlasting rest and joy. The desire of our eyes, concerning whom we were ready to say, "This son shall comfort us;' once all our joy, now all our tears. Near twenty-two years of age, he was just beginning to appear in public business, sober and pious. A true lover of ... his friends, of whom he said on his death-bed, 'I lay them down as I do my body, in hope to meet again every way better.' I do not think the worse of God, or of prayer, for this dispensation; yet, sometimes I am much oppressed. I find that deceit lies in generals. How often have I in word and in tongue given up and devoted my all-yoke-fellow, children, estate-and all without mental reservation. And now, when God comes to try me in but one dear comfort, with what difficulty can I part with him! Oh this wicked heart! Lord, I am thine. Though thou shouldst strip me of all my children, and of all my comforts here, yet if thou give me thyself, and clear up to me my interest in the everlasting covenant, it is enough. That blessed covenant has enough in it to gild the most gloomy dispensation of Providence. I have condoling letters daily from my friends. Their words, indeed, do reach my case, but cannot reach my heart." The second sister was CATHARINE, who became the wife of Dr. Tylston, a pious physician in Chester; but we have failed in obtaining any farther information regarding her. The third was ELEANOR. Her gracious disposition was easily seen through all the timidity and diffidence of her retiring nature; and after her death her private papers exhibited the same anxiety to cultivate heart religion, and to grow in knowledge, which distinguished all her family. Like her youngest sister, she was married to a tradesman in Chester, and then took the name of Radford. That youngest sister was ANN. The sweetness of her temper, and her aptitude for learning, made her a special favourite with her father, and he used to call his Nancy |