a pious youth, who died at the age of 19. 77 a change so manifest and remarkable as to constrain all who observed it to say, "What hath God wrought!"" This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.' The dear youth was however at this time the subject of heavy afflictions; but he discovered much patience and resignation to the will of his heavenly Father. While he was with Mr. Ford, he gave great satisfaction; and Mr Ford has since spoken highly of him to Mr. Harper, particularly noticing his piety and earnest desire to do good to the souls of others; he would often take one or two of the little boys into his room and pray with them! The letters he wrote to his mother shew the state of his mind, and his concern about the one thing needful. When he was at Thatcham at his mother's house in June, 1815, he established the important but too much neglected duty of family prayer. Nothing further occurred of a remarkable nature, until the commencement of his affliction, which recently terminated the mortal course of this young servant of Christ—an affliction which, from his own account, he felt coming upon him four months before he left London. The nature of his complaint, the violence of his pains, and the extreme state of debility into which he was brought, were known and observed by many, as well as by the writer, with grief mingled with admiration and thanksgiving to Almighty God, who has ordained for his own glory praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. During the long period of his illness, which lasted more than six months, up to the very hour of his peaceful dismissal, his soul was constantly enlivened with such joyful anticipations of approaching felicity, that the dispensation could scarcely at times be deemed afflictive. Frequently did he declare to his friends that his joys were far greater than he could express. On some occasions he appeared as one who had already put off his tabernacle of clay, and entered into the joy of his Lord; oftentimes he would break forth into grateful acknowledgments of the eternal love of God and the boundless compassion of the Saviour. He would frequently say, with an energy which formed a striking contrast to the infirmity of his exhausted frame, "I know in whom I have believed;"" He will never leave me nor forsake me ;"" [ shall depart and be with Christ, which is far better;" "for though the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a build-, ing of God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Although the frame of his mind was, upon the whole, calm and tranquil throughout his illness, yet he was not entirely divested of doubts and fears concerning his interest in Jesus; and these probably might be the effect of his extreme bodily pains, as towards the close of his painful conflict he maintained a firm confidence in the Saviour. The zeal which animated his breast for the glory of God was manifested by the manner in which he exerted himself to converse with those who visited him, and particularly with young persons. When only his mother was with him, he would say-Now, my 78 Memoir of Thomas Jacobs. dear mother, let us pray a little together. She would reply My dear, you are too ill he would answer-I am ill, but the Lord will help me. On Sabbath afternoon, May 26, he was in a delightful frame of mind, and observed that the Saviour was particularly precious to his soul, and that he could read his title clear to heaven, and mansions in the skies. In this happy state he continued till the Thursday following, when he was in the greatest ecstacy and joy, declaring he could not express the pleasure he felt. He said it was Christ in him the hope of glory who enabled him to speak by the sacred dictates of the Holy Spirit. O how greatly was this amiable youth privileged in the last days of his earthly career; as the shades of mortality were vanishing away, the dawn of an immortal day gradually burst upon his rapturous view; and sometimes he appeared as one who was completely absorbed amidst the glories of the celestial state! On the 29th he was thought to be on the point of death; and, on observing his mother and sister weep, he said, Don't make me uneasy, my dear friends, for now I am happy. He then expressed himself with energy thus, Come Lord Jesus, and come quickly!" Oh, how long for thine appearance! On the 30th he again begged his friends not to weep for him, saying, he should soon be in glory, and the conflict would then be over. He then sung a verse Begone unbelief, my Saviour is near;" and ended with Shortly, shortly, I shall be in glory!" The 6th and 14th chapters of John, and the 12th of Hebrews, with the 21st chapter of Revelation, and many of the Psalms of David, were very consolatory to him under his afflictions. On the first of June, a dear friend said to him, "What a mercy to have a well grounded hope of your interest in the divine mercy," He answered, " Yes, what a mercy!" After his friend had engaged in prayer, he exclaimed, "Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, O my soul! What a mercy! Lord, I will praise thee, for thou art worthy to be praised. A short time before he died, it was observed to him, "You are near of " 66 your Father's house :" he answered, Yes," with all the power dissolving nature could command. He was then asked if he was still holding Christ fast, when, with a smile on his countenance, he bowed his head in reply; and in a few minutes afterwards, without a sigh, or groan, he sweetly fell asleep in the Lord. The event was improved in a Sermon preached on the occasion by the Rev. Mr. Ash, pastor of the Independent Church at Thatcham, from xxi Revelation, 4 verse, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Youth's Mag. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Isa. Iv. 6. He who defers this work from day to day, Till the whole stream that stopp'd him shall be gone, Cowley. Anecdotes of Religious Tracts. Extract from the Plymouth Dock Ausiliary Tract Society. 79 We take this opportunity of informing you of some success that has attended our distribution. The tract entitled The Dairyman's Daughter happened to fall into the hands of a woman of notoriously wicked character; the title attracted her notice, and invited her perusal. She was frequently tempted to cast it from her, but "God moves in a mysterious way, She had read only three pages, when the scales dropt from her eyes, and the veil was rent from her heart; she was constrained cry aloud for the disquietude of her soul; she went on her way mourning for several weeks: but that God, who has promised to heal the broken-hearted, burst her bonds asunder, and set her soul at liberty. She is now an humble follower of Jesus, and an ornament to the Christian religion; she also bids fair for usefulness in the church of Christ. Thus, Sir, we have seen one sinner, a second Magdalene, saved by grace :-let all the glory be ascribed to the Lord. From the Helston Auxiliary Society. March 28th, 1817. I am happy to say the circulation of religious tracts in this neighbourhood has not been in vain. A pious minister being called to visit a poor aged sinner, on his death bed, after conversing and praying with him, left a few tracts for the use of the family. A lad, about seventeen years of age, who had formerly belonged to a Sunday School in Helston, but who was a wanderer from the fold of Christ, happened to take up one, entitled The History of Poor Joseph, and whilst he read, the Lord was pleased to enlighten his mind, to affect his heart, and to make him in earnest for his soul's salvation. He was led to pray for mercy, and the Lord had mercy on him. He found a refuge in Christ, and since that period has continued to adorn the gospel of God his Saviour in all things. From a Minister in the Scilly Islands. Tresco, December 6th, 1816. A child who came to the Sunday School, a shockingly depraved little creature, continued to swear for several weeks after her admission ; I gave her several Tracts, among which was THE SWEARER'S PRAYER. She took them home, when her father inquired, "What have you got there--what are they about?" The child said, "You must not swear any more, father-nor you, grandfather; for that book tells of men that were killed for swearing." The wretched old man burst into a violent fit of laughter, at the same time swearing that the book should not be read in his hearing. The child's father, however, read the Tract, and the Lord mercifully caused it to reach his heart: the next Lord's day, 80 New Auxiliaries to the American Bible Society. he went to the public worship of God, which was rendered useful to him. This excited the enmity of the old man against his son and myself, to a degree scarcely to be equalled by the most bardened sinner: he lived only fifteen days after his son's conversion, which were spent in awful blasphemy against God and his saints. His death was remarkable. He went out into the fields, in the morning, to bind sheaves of corn, where he met with one of his sinful associates, who joined him in ridiculing and abusing the converted Baptist, as they termed his son; while thus engaged, the aged sinner fell against the hedge a ghastly corpse! I made a few remarks near the coffin, which the Holy Spirit appeared to apply to the hearts of the child, the mother, and the neighbour abovementioned. Tracts are very useful here: THE DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER has been blessed in four instances. Since I have been on this island, many have believed, through grace, to the salvation of their souls !" * Extract of a letter from Rev. J. C. Supper, Missionary at Batavia, dated 17th October, 1816. "By the blessing of God, I was enabled to erect here among the Chinese a Reading Society; consisting of 60 persons, who are supplied with Tracts with the same contents 60 copies every month, which dear Mr. Milne sends to me regularly from Malacca, and when the 60 persons have read them, they give them to their brethren likewise to read them. I will not say, nor can I that the Chinese are turned Christians; but that they now already by these Tracts have become acquainted with Christianity, is a fact which no reasonable man can deny. I stick therefore to my opinion, that the Tract Society is preparing the way for the Missionary and Bible Society." AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. We have the pleasure to announce the following additional Auxiliaries to the National Society. "The Bible Society of Washington College," Virginia: Mr. James T. Piper, Secretary. "The Long Island B. S." (N. Y.) A. Vansinderen, Esq President, Newtown; Rev. David Bogert, Cor. Secr'y, Hempstead Harbour. "The Ohio B. S."-Gen. Rufus Putnam, President, Marietta ; Rev. Samuel P. Robbins, Cor. Secr'y. "The Charleston B. S." South Carolina: Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, President; Rev. Dr. A. Flinn, Cor. Secr'y, Charleston. This addition makes the number of auxiliaries now known, to be One hundred and twelve. The Female Bible Society of Charleston, have contributed two hundred Dollars to the funds of the American Bible Society. THE CHRISTIAN HERALD. Vol.. [V.] Saturday, November 1, 1817. No. 6. THE SYNOD OF NEW-YORK AND NEW-JERSEY, Met in this City on the 23d, and closed their sessions on the 27th ultimo. The following Narrative of the state of Religion within the precincts of that Judicatory of the Presbyterian Church during the past year was read at their meeting for concert of prayer, on Saturday last. and we trust will be perused with interest by all those who rejoice in the prosperity of Zion. NARRATIVE, &c. The Synod of New-York and New-Jersey, in presenting a succinct account of the state of religion within their bounds during the past year, have abundant reason to praise the Lord for the great things which he has done for the Churches under their care. The prayers of his people, and the labours of his ministering servants, have not been in vain. Through the special and powerful influence of the Holy Spirit accompanying the means of grace, several Churches within the bounds of the Presbytery of Jersey have been visited with times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. A revival of the spirit of true piety has taken place in the 1st and 2d Churches of Newark, Elizabethtown, Orange, Connecticut-farms, Bloomfield, and Paterson. This great and good work commenced in the town of Newark, about the middle of December last. In the 1st Church, the first public and decisive token of the Divine presence was given at an evening meeting for prayer. The number of those who have been hopefully brought into the knowledge of the truth, in this congregation, is about 200; 170 of whom have been received into communion. A similar work of grace commenced in the 2d Church in Newark, about the period already mentioned; the fruit of which has been 97 added to the communion of the Church. In Elizabethtown, a revival, more general than any which that congregation has ever before experienced, began to make its appearance about the 1st of February last. In this Church, 16: persons have already been received into communion, and many more are expected soon to follow their example. The revival commenced also in the Church of Orange about the beginuing of February, and continued to prevail, without any abatement of zeal, till the close of the month of June. The greatest number which appeared, at any time, to be deeply impressed, was from 250 to 300. Of this number nearly 290 entertain a hope that they have passed from death unto life, and 113 of them have been received into full communion. In Connecticut-farms, also, the revival began about the same F |