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Death-Bed Testimonies. COLLECTED BY THE LATE REV. WILLIAM BUTTON. No. III.

REV. RISDON DARRACOT,

WELLINGTON, SOMERSET.

In his last letter to me, dated Jan. 1, 1759, he says, after he had been ill eleven days, "I find somewhat infinitely soothing and charming in these four lines, which our dear tutor has put into the mouth of a child, If to correct me be his will, I'll bear it with submission still, A tender Father sure He proves, And but corrects because he loves.'

DODDRIDGE.

Oh! what less than a thousand arguments in that one, for the most cordial, sweet, humble submission? O my dear brother, how sweet to see our comforts and our crosses, our mournful and our joyful circumstances, our life and our death, all in the hands of such a Father; all equally under his direction, and all evidently designed by him for our good; all proceeding from his everlasting love, terminating at last in our everlasting salvation. This lays an easy foundation for that precept, which is a strange one to a carnal world, ́ ́in every thing give thanks.'

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Through a tedious illness of three months, and with intervals of excruciating pain (arising partly from five stones found in his left kidney, and partly from such an inflammation in that kidney as occasioned its total putrefaction, which extended also to many adjacent parts), nothing was heard from his lips, but continued expressions of praise and thanksgiving. This led his apothecary to declare, "Of all the death-beds I ever attended, I never saw such an instance of holy resignation and triumph."

he says,

In a paper containing the choice of his funeral text, "Before this will be communicated, I shall be gone to my Judge, and I can, and do rejoice, that he is my Saviour. I have good hope through grace, and I have once more tried the foundation of it, and I find it will stand in the prospect of eternity. I am able, blessed be God, and I would not for all the world be unable, to give a reason of the hope that is in me; and to my "SCRIPTURE MARKS" (a small tract of his, that has passed through several editions) I refer, as the solid evidence of my interest in Christ, who in point of all dependence, love, and esteem, is, and has been for more than twenty years, my all in all.

Some of his expressions a few weeks before his death, which a friend took down in writing, were these: "I am going to Jesus, whom I love, and whom I have so often preached." He then added to those that were with him, "I charge you, see to it that you meet me at the right hand of God at the great day."

At another time he said, "O what a mercy is it to have such a rock to build upon as the Lord Jesus Christ! I have found him to be a firm Rock that will never fail. What a mercy is it to have a covenant God to fly to!-a covenant that is ordered in all things and sure, which is all my desire, and all my salvation. I have found him to be a covenant-keeping God." He said to his wife, "My dear, do you speak of the goodness of God towards me, for I want a tongue to do it: I do not want a heart to praise him." At another time he said, "How good is God! He is all love, all goodness." Then added to those about him, "Hold out unto the end I trust I have begotten you in Christ Jesus; may the Lord pour down plentifully of his Spirit upon you!" He then said, "What attendants have I got! Jesus is with me, angels are my guardians, the blessed Spirit is my comforter and supporter: and

you, my dear Christian friends, waiting on me, and my dear wife." To a friend that came in, he said, “I have often sat with you at the table of the Lord here, but I am now going to sit around his board above. Those were days in which I took great delight, when I went to the house of God in company with you." He said to his wife, "I must leave you without any formality. When will the glorious day dawn, and these shadows flee away?"

The Monday before he died, he awoke very calmn, and desired to know what the Apothecary thought of him; and when he gave but very little hopes, Mr. Darracot replied, "All is well: blessed be God, I know whom I have believed, and can rely on the promises: they are all mine, especially that, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, and I am sure he will not."

The night before he died, he said, "Oh! what a good God have I, in and through Jesus Christ. I would praise him, but my lips cannot. Eternity will be too short to speak his praises." He then earnestly desired his tongue might be loosened to speak the praises of God; and the Lord heard and answered him. He was full of heavenly joy, and the faculties of his mind as strong and vigorous as ever. The apothecary coming in, he said, "O! Mr. K. what a mercy it is to be interested in the atoning blood of Jesus. You tell me I am dying. How much longer do you think it will be?" It was answered, that it was uncertain as to a few hours. "Will it be to-night?" It was answered, he might survive the night."Well," said he, "all is well, I am ready. This, Sir, is agreeably to the doctrine I have at all times preached, that I now come to the Lord as a vile sinner, trusting in the merits and precious blood of my dear Redeemer. O grace, grace, free grace!

One of his Christian friends came to see him, to whom he said, "OI am glad to see you, you are some of the first fruits of my labours. Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. O! could I tell you what I now feel! No tongue can tell what I now enjoy. I want to be gone. O! GLORY! GLORY! GLORY!" He then begged to see his dear people, to talk to them of Christ and his grace: but he was entreated to forbear, that he might not hurt himself. "Well," said he, you must sew up my lips or tie up my tongue, if I must not speak of Christ. If you will not let me see my dear people, be my trumpeters, to tell them what God has done for my soul. I told you in my Scripture Marks," that my last work on earth should be praying for my people; and now would I pour out my whole soul in ardent prayer to God for them." He then offered a few petitions, but his spirits failed.

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Upon recovering himself, he related the goodness of God to him in his sickness, and said, if he had a thousand lives to live he would live them all for Christ. He solemnly took his leave of all present, one by one, and said, "Watch your hearts, and keep them with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of life." Upon seeing his wife weeping, he said, "Weep not for me, nor yet for yourself, for you are a child of the covenant. I am going to see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all that are got to glory." He then repeated two stanzas from Watts's hymns, beginning with

"My God, and can an humble child."

The morning he died, his wife said to him, "My dear, you are just on the borders of glory." He replied, "I could not have thought it, had not the doctor and Mr. K. told me so, the passage is so easy." He then lay in a slumber, while all around thought him dying, as there was no pulsation in his wrists. About

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twenty minutes after, he awoke and asked, "Is Mr. K. come?" Being answered that he was, My dear friend (said he), did you not tell me last night that I was dying?" I did, replied Mr. K. 'Surely (said he) it cannot be, it is so easy, it is so easy; what a mercy is it to be in Christ! Oh! precious, precious Jesus! Now I am hoping, and believing, and rejoicing, and triumphing too!" There were ten or twelve Christian friends around his bed: he asked them how they did? Then wishing them all well, he added, "You see, my friends, I am now dying in the same faith I have always preached to you, and would not die any otherwise for all the world: O keep close to Christ!" Presently afterwards he said with a smile, "Come, Lord Jesus," and again asked, “Is this dying?" Being answered yes, he replied, "It cannot be, it is too good, it is too good." He then called for his wife and children, and took his leave of them with the utmost composedness, and serenity of mind. Observing them and all his friends weeping, he said to his wife, "My dearest, why do you weep? You shall rejoice. Rely on the promises. God will never leave nor forsake you. All his promises are true and sure. Well, I am going from weeping friends to congratulating angels and rejoicing saints in glory. Blessed be God, my dear friends, all is well. Mr. K., how long do you think it will be before I gain my dismission?" It was answered, not long. "Well, all is well, here I am, waiting. What a mercy it is to be in Jesus." He then threw abroad his arms, and said, "He is coming! He is coming! But surely this can't be dying! Oh! how astonishingly is the Lord softening my passage! Surely God is too good to such a worm!O speed thy chariot wheels, why are they so long in coming! I long to be gone." His last words were, "FAITH AND HOPE."

Funeral Sermon, preached by the Rev. Benjamin Fawcett, from Philip. iv, 1, Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, ny joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."

“THEY SHALL STILL BRING FORTH FRUIT IN OLD AGE.”

MANY most remarkable illustrations of this beautiful descriptive prediction might be given, to demonstrate the infinite superiority of scriptural principles above the pernicious speculations of infidelity. We make our appeal to those who may be tempted to doubt the divinity of Christianity, to compare the lives and benevo lence of "those who serve God, and those who serve him not." Christianity requires and demands the scrutiny of even its enemies; and it says of its friends, " By their fruits ye shall know them." We may refer to all the benevolent and religious institutions, formed to promote the welfare and happiness of mankind, as a proof of the divinity of their principles.

"Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to show that the Lord is upright." Psal. xcii, 13—15.

MR. JOHN HILL, who died in the hope of glory, at his house in Westminster, Nov. 12, 1832, aged 88, was a consistent professor of the Gospel for more than fifty years, illustrating the truth of the Psalmist's declaration by subscribing to most of our principal Societies during his life, and left, among others, the following legacies in his will.

To the Lock Asylum, 50. London Female Penitentiary, 100. British and Foreign Bible Society, 2007. Church Missionary Society, 2007. London Missionary Society, 100 Moravian Missionary Society, 2001. Deaf and Dumb Institution, 1007. Female Penitentiary West), 501. Religious Tract Society, 2007. Ranelagh)

Infant's Friend Society, 50. Hibernian Society, 1007. Westminster Hospital, 100/. Charles's Street Dispensary, 2007. Bristol Education Society, 1007. Baptist Missionary Society, 100. Refuge for the Destitute, 1007. Emberton Schools, 501. Aged Pilgrims, 501. For an Annual Sermon at Ranelagh Chapel on Whitsunday morning, 1001. Home Missionary Society, 1007. Indigent Blind, 1007. Infants' School, Hereford, 150/. Schools at Hereford, 150. Westminster New Charity School, 100. London Orphan Asylum, 1007. Highbury College, 1007. Islington College, 1007. Christian Instruction Society, 1007. Friendly Alms-houses, Camberwell, 501. Hans Town School, 50. Philanthropic Society, 100. Long Acre Schools, 50l. Long Acre Benevolent Society, 501. Associate Fund (Poor Ministers), 100/. Penitentiary, St. George's East, 80%. Bromyard Meeting, in trust, 100. Sunday Schools, Broadway Church, 100. Pimlico Schools, 50. Broadway Church Benevolent Society, 1007. National Benevolent, 501. &c. &c.

THE SAILOR-LAD AND HIS BIBLE.

Ar a meeting of the Aberdeen Auxiliary Bible Society, the following anecdote was related by an eye-witness of the scene.

"Last year, a vessel from Stockholm, in Sweden, was driven upon our coast, in a tremendous gale, and became a total wreck. Her condition was such, that no human aid could possibly preserve the crew. In a short time after the vessel struck, she went to pieces. The persons on shore beheld with grief the awful state of those on board, but could render them no aid. They all perished, except one lad; and he was driven by the waves upon a piece of the wreck, entwined among the ropes attached to the mast. Half naked and half drowned, he reached the shore.

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"As soon as they had rescued him, they saw a small parcel tied round his waist with a handkerchief. "Some thought it was his money; others, the ship papers; and others said it was his watch. The handkerchief was unloosed, and, to their surprise, it was his BIBLE! Bible given to the lad's father by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Upon the blank leaf was a prayer written, that the Lord might make the present gift the means of saving his son's soul. Upon the other blank leaf was an account how the Bible came into the father's hands, with expressions of gratitude to the society from which he received it. To this was added, a request to his son, that he would make it the man of his counsel; and the remark, that he could not allow him to depart from home without giving him the best pledge of his lovea Bible; although that gift deprived the other parts of the family of so great a treasure. The Bible bore evident marks of having been often read with

tears."

T. G. W. has been received, and shall be attended to at the earliest opportunity.

The first volume of the Christian's Penny Magazine, from June to December 1832, is now complote, and may be had, neatly bound in canvass, price 3s. 6d. through any Bookseller or Newsinan; and also any of the preceding Parts or Numbers. A specimen of the Embellishments in the First Volume is printed on a large Sheet, price 2d., which will be found to contain some beautiful articles for Books of Prints.

London; Printed and Published by C. WOOD AND SON, Poppin's Court, Fleet Street; to whom all Communications for the Editor (post paid) should be addressed; — and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen in the United Kingdoin.

Hawkers and Dealers Supplied on Wholesale Terms, by STEILL., Paternoster Row; BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand; F. BAISLER, 124, Oxford Street; and W. N. BAKER, 16, City Road, Finsbury.

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NOTICES OF CHINA.

CHINA, with its teeming population of idolaters, must possess a generous sympathy in every Christian bosom. Every individual in Britain is reminded every morning or evening of its fertility, while partaking of the refreshing beverage of TEA, the whole of which, to the amount of about 30,000,000 lbs. annually, is furnished by that remote but interesting country. We purpose devoting two or three articles to the illustration of the manners of that most ancient of all nations in the world; for they can trace up their history to the time of the Deluge!

Our engraving contains a representation of three of the most celebrated idols of China, copied from the splendid folio account of the Dutch Einbassy of the seventeenth century. The first idol on the left hand represents Immortality, and is twenty feet high; the other on the right hand is the image of Pleasure, of the same height; and that in the middle denotes the great King Kang, most gorgeously attired and crowned. Sacrifices of a costly kind were, at their festivals, offered to these abominable representations.

China Proper is reckoned by Pinkerton 1,330 British miles from north to south, and 1,030 miles from east VOL II.

to west.

Its population in 1794 was reported to the British Embassy, to be three hundred and thirty three millions, but Dr. Morrison, who acted as interpreter to Lord Amherst's Embassy in 1814, translated a statistical account of China, from which it appears that the population was less than half that number, being not quite one hundred and forty-six millions: still that is an immense multitude of immortal souls, living without the true knowledge of God, and of the only Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ.

Infidels have availed themselves of the Chinese clains, in relation to the antiquity of their nation, with a view to overthrow the chronology of Moses, as contained in the book of Genesis: but it has been only to show more clearly the divinity of the Scriptures. Gibbon, whom no one will commend as a friend to religion, observes, "The original seat of the nation appears to have been in the north-west of China, in the provinces of Chen-si and Chan-si. Under the two first dynasties, the principal town was still a moveable camp: the villages were thinly scattered: inore land was employed in pasture than tillage: the exercise of hunting was ordained, to clear the country from wild beasts; Peteheti (where Pekin stands) was a desert; and the southern provinces were peopled with India savages.

I

The dynasty of the Han (before Christ 206) gave the empire its actual form and extent.

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The era of the Chinese monarchy has been variously fixed, from 2952 to 2132 years before Christ; and the year 2637 has been chosen for the lawful epoch, by the authority of the present emperor. The difference arises from the uncertain duration of the two first dynasties, and the vacant space that lies beyond them, as far as the real or fabulous times of Fohi, or Hoang-ti. Sematsien dates his authentic chronology from the year 841. The thirty-six eclipses of Confucius (thirtyone of which have been verified) were observed between the years 722 and 480 before Christ. The historical period of China does not ascend above the Greek Olympiads.

"After several ages of anarchy and despotism, the dynasty of the Han (before Christ 206) was the era of the revival of learning. The fragments of ancient literature were restored; the characters were improved and fixed; and the future preservation of books was secured by the useful inventions of ink, paper, and the art of printing. Ninety-seven years before Christ, Sematsien published his first history of China. His labours were illustrated, and continued, by a series of one hundred and eighty historians. The substance of their works is still extant; and the most considerable of them are now deposited in the king of France's library."-Decline and Fall, vol. iii, p. 328.

Dr. Shuckford, in his "Sacred and Profane History of the World Connected," makes it appear all but certain, that Fohi, the founder of the Chinese empire, was no other than the Noah of the Bible. That learned author remarks, "The Chinese have been supposed to have records that reached higher than the history of Moses: but we find by the best accounts of their antiquities that this is false. Their antiquities reach no higher than the times of Noah, for Fohi was their first king. They pretend to no history or memoirs that reach up higher than his times; and by all their accounts, the age of Fohi coincides with that of Moses' Noah. Their writers in the general agree, that Fohi lived about 2952 years before Christ. The author of Mirandorum in Sina et Europa computes him to reign but 2847 years before our Saviour; and Alvarez Sevedo places his reign not so early, imagining it to be but 2060 years; and all these computations agree well enough with the times of Noah; for Noah was born, according to archbishop Usher, 2948 years, and died 2016 years before Christ; so that all the several computations about Fohi, fall pretty near within the compass of Noah's life. But we shall hereafter see many reasons to conclude Moses' Noah and the Chinese Fohi to be the saine persons." Vol. i, 26, 27. The Doctor adds,

"There are many reasons, from the Chinese traditions concerning Fohi, to think him and Noah the same person. First, They say Fohi had no father, i. e. Noah was the first man in the postdiluvian world; his ancestors perished in the flood, no tradition hereof being preserved in the Chinese annals; Noah, or Fohi, stands there as if he had no father at all. Secondly, Fohi's mother is said to have conceived him encompassed with a rainbow; a conceit very probably arising from the rainbow's first appearing to Noah, and the Chinese being willing to give some account of his original. Thirdly, Fohi is said to have carefully bred seven sorts of creatures, which he used to sacrifice to the Supreme Spirit of heaven and earth: and Moses tells us that Noah took into the ark, of every clean beast by sevens, and of the fowls of the air by sevens; and after the flood, Noah built an altar, and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings. Fourthly, The Chinese derive the name of Fohi from his oblation; and Moses gives Noah his name upon account of the grant of the creatures for

the use of man, which he obtained by his offering. Lastly, The Chinese history supposes Fohi to have settled in the province of Xeusi, which is the northwest province of China, and near Ararat, where the ark rested." Vol. i, pp. 90, 91.

(To be continued.)

THE BIRMINGHAM APPRENTICE.

His Mental Improvement, continued. WILLIAM now perceived more fully the importance of an acquaintance with the "Evidences of Christianity." Desirous of being furnished and established in mind on those subjects, he resolved on paying further attention to that branch of study. He was in a good measure convinced, from his previous reading, that it would be the most effectual means of improving his mind, and of promoting his spiritual edification.

By a happy providence he became possessed of some of the most admirable authors in that department of knowledge, in the publication of a choice collection of the most valuable works of that class. With inexpressible pleasure, as well as edification, he read that extended series, including "Paley's Evidences of Christianity;" "Grotius on the Truth of Christianity;" "Porteus's Summary of the Evidences of Christianity;' with the excellent works of Addison, Locke, Doddridge, and Soame Jenyns, on different branches of the same subject; "Littleton on the Conversion of St. Paul;" "West on the Resurrection;" 66 Sherlock's Trial of the Four Witnesses;" "Drs. Douglas and Campbell on the Miracles; "Jones's Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity;" Dr. Beattie on the "Immutability of Truth," and some others.

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These works William read with considerable attention and care; by which his mind was thoroughly confirmed in the truth of Christianity; more especially after reading the "Three Sermons of Dr. Watts on the Inward Witness of Christianity." This last appeared to him, in many respects, far more valuable than any of the others, especially in one particular, as it leads the plain, unlettered Christian to the consideration of that species of proof, which is at once the most simple and satisfactory, peculiar to the godly man, and ever ready at his command-the assurance which is derived from his own experience, in the transforming influence of the Gospel upon his own soul.

Some of the remarks of Dr. Watts, to which William refers, are the following:

"Many and glorious are the outward testinonies that God has given to our religion, both in the days when his Son Jesus Christ dwelt on earth, and in the time of the ministration of the apostles, who followed their blessed Lord. The miracles wrought, the prophecies fulfilled, and the various glories attending the ministration of the gospel, conspire to confirm our faith; each of them are evidences of the truth and divinity of this doctrine; and all of them joined together, bear such a testimony as cannot be resisted. We live now, in these latter days, at a long distance from those seasons wherein these miracles were wrought, and wherein God appeared in so immediate a manner from heaven, to witness to the gospel of his Son; but God has taken care to furnish every true believer with a sufficient witness of Christianity; we are not left void of evidence at this day. He that believeth, hath the witness in himself." There is an internal testimony given to the gospel of Christ in the heart of every one that receives it in truth.—The gospel of Christ is like a seal or signet, of such inimitable and divine graving, that no created power can counterfeit it; and when the Spirit of God has stamped this gospel on the soul,

there are so many holy and happy lines drawn or impressed thereby, so many sacred signatures and divine features stamped on the mind, that give certain evidence of a heavenly signet, and a heavenly operator.

"A Christian, who has well studied the doctrines and proofs of Christianity, can give sufficient reasons for the truth of them, and for his believing them. He finds what is sufficiently satisfactory to confirm his belief in the outward testimonies, in the miracles wrought in the world, and in the prophecies fulfilled. 'I have,' says he, in my understanding many arguments and evidences of the truth of the gospel, aud my reason is convinced that it is a divine religion. But there is a miracle wrought in my heart, that is of more efficacy than this, and it is to me a more convincing proof of the gospel of Christ-eternal life is begun in me. I find my conscience, that was disturbed with the guilt of sin, established in peace upon solid hopes of pardon. I have an interest in the love of God, and lively sensations of that love; I have a hatred of all sin; I live above the world, and have a holy contempt of the trifles, businesses, and cares of this life; I delight in the company of Him who dwells in heaven; I find in my soul that I love hin, and love those who are like him: I walk as seeing him who is invisible; and I have a zeal for his glory, and with active diligence I am employed for the honour of his name in the world. These things I find wrought in me by the gospel of Christ. I feel that I am quite altered from what I once was, I am a new creature, and the change is divine and heavenly. There is something within me, that bears witness, that my religion is from God.'

"It is a strong and powerful witness, and ever ready at hand to baffle the most learned sophisms, and the boldest temptations. It lies so near, and is always at hand, that it is a present shield against every flying arrow from the camp of infidelity. The quibbles of logic, against the sense and experience of a true Christian, are but as darts of straw and stubble against the scales of a leviathan.

"And though there are many and sufficient arguments drawn from criticism, history, and human learning, to prove the sacred authority of the Bible, and such as may give abundant evidence to an honest inquirer, and full satisfaction that it is the word of God; vet this is the chief evidence that the greatest part of Christians can ever attain, of the divine original of the Holy Scripture itself, as well as the truth of the doctrines contained in it, viz. that they have found such a holy and heavenly change passed upon them, by reading or hearing the propositions, the histories, the promises, the precepts, and threatenings of this book: and thence they are wont to infer, that the God of truth would not attest a book, which was not agreeable to his mind, with such glorious instances of his own power and grace."

Mrs. Hannah More urges upon those who have the education of ladies, to direct the attention of their pupils to the "Evidences of Christianity;" and, as one of the principal means of strengthening and improving their minds, that wise preceptress recommends Bishop Butler's Analogy of Religion."

But perhaps no one has urged this course of mental improvement with greater force than the late Rev. Mr. Orme, in his discourse on "The Advantages of an extensive acquaintance with the Evidences of Revelation." In recommending to Teachers this course of training to their pupils, Mr. Orme observes, "With the greatest safety might they put into their hands some of the best works in support and illustration of the Christian scheme, and direct their course of reading; by which they would gradually be fitted for understanding the whole subject, and enabled to per

ceive the breadth and depth of the foundation on which the entire edifice of Christianity rests. This investigation would sharpen their acuteness, and stimulate their improvement. It would lead them to examine the different kinds of testimony and evidence; to discriminate the pretensions of imposture from the claims of truth; to appreciate the value of solid argument; and to scorn the wickedness of misrepresentation, and the impiety of levity and jesting on sacred subjects. It would induce a love of truth, a reverence for its claims, a hallowed regard to its authority, with a hatred of every thing opposed to integrity and honour, which might form the basis of moral habits of the most important description. It would be impossible to promote this acquaintance with the evidences of Revelation, without extending the range of their knowledge. An uninformed or ignorant person is not capable of estimating the full strength of the Christian cause. supposes an acquaintance with many subjects, if its full amount is to be ascertained. History, criticism, science, and experience in argument, all furnish their aid in this important inquiry, and contribute their respective quotas to confirm or elucidate the claims of the word of God."

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Upon the comfort and happiness to be derived from an extensive knowledge of the "Evidences of Christianity," Mr. Orme makes these striking remarks:"The enjoyment which springs from an enlightened acquaintance with the great scheme of redemption, and from an extensive knowledge of its grand and overpowering evidence, is of the purest and sublimest order. In that divinely-accredited scheme, we perceive the infinite love of God pouring its exhaustless stores to. effect the deliverance and happiness of the world:-providing a Saviour, revealing his character, accepting his work, and attesting his claims:-appointing an order of means suited to the nature of the plan, and the. condition of the objects proposed to be benefited by it-connecting with those means a system of effective influence to ensure success, and to carry forward the design-and encouraging all who believe to labour actively, and to suffer patiently, by the promise of an inheritance of imperishable glory. To have the full satisfaction that all this is the truth of God which cannot lie, the work of God which cannot fail, the engagement of God which cannot disappoint, must afford to the heirs of salvation, who have fled to lay hold on. the hope set before them, strong and everlasting consolation. The floods of tribulation may swell around, and threaten to engulph them; but their anchor will hold fast, being fixed within the rail.' The world may seek to ensnare and allure them; but its honours and pleasures will have no glory in their estimation, by reason of the glory which so far excelleth.' The workings of unbelief may occasionally darken and bewilder their mind, and endanger their peace; but the word and oath of God, confirmed by the sacrifice of his Son, when again contemplated, will restore confidence, and reinvigorate the life of godliness. The darts of Satan may fly thick, and both annoy and wound; but the shield of faith, formed by the testimony of God, will at length successfully repel them all. Bodily strength may decay, mental vigour may decrease, death may approach clothed in all its terrors; but the deathless principle of God's implanting, fed by the means of his own appointment, and nourished by the sweetest influences of his Spirit, will even in those circumstances increase in strength, and evince its unearthly nature and origin. It will resist the progress of time, the effects of disease, and the fear of death. It will pass unhurt through the dark and cheerless valley, survive the dissolution of nature, smile over the ruins of the universe, and reign and triumph in immortality."

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