Lord. I am nearly home, but not quite ready yet, or my Lord would take me; but he will make me ready:

'Tis all my hope and all my plea,

For me the Saviour died.

My voice is weak, and the sound is poor; but I can still sing. I sing here,' (putting her hand upon her heart,) often in the evening I sing.' I asked, 'Cannot you give me a morning song?' She replied, I think I can.' After cleansing her throat, she chanted with a thin tremulous voice some sweet lines, which, she said, Dr. Adam Clarke taught her when a girl, and he used to preach in her father's parlour." The lines referred to were probably the Rev. Thomas Oliver's beautiful hymn on Gen. xv. 1, which is found on page 609 of the Wesleyan Hymn-Book, "The God of Abraham praise," &c. The writer has occasionally joined with her in singing her favourite hymn, which, though long, she could repeat nearly verbatim. She sung the old and simple tune which she learned from the second race of Preachers in her youth. Whilst thus engaged, he has looked on her with admiration, as on one who would soon be with the saints in light to praise her God and Saviour “in nobler strains" on high.

Mrs. Hocking, her only surviving daughter, in an account drawn up by her for the funeral sermon," after a brief notice of her honoured mother's early conversion, says, "From that time until death she was a consistent member of the Methodist society; loving all who loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Many were her tears and prayers for the conversion of her family and neighbours. She faithfully warned them of the danger of delay, and testified from personal experience, the blessedness of true religion. As her bodily strength declined, her spiritual vigour increased. She would say, 'I wish my every breath to be prayer and praise.' In a note to her daughter, she said, 'My dear Mary, I suppose, is waiting to hear from me. Through mercy I am still able to creep about; but I cannot go out much, on account of the cold, nor can I walk far, as my knees are stiff, and my body trembles; but through the goodness of God I have scarcely any pain; a cough sometimes, and swimming in my head. I cannot write much, as my eyes fail. Thank God for the peace of mind I enjoy. I want to know nothing but Christ and him crucified; I would be more like God. A little longer, and the frail bark will get safe into the haven :

There all the ship's company meet,

Who sail'd with our Saviour beneath.

'Tis heaven below, My Jesus to know.

I shall behold his face,

I shall his power adore,

And sing the wonders of his grace
For evermore !

Delightful thought!'-She had long enjoyed the company of Wesleyan Ministers, and entertained them and the Local brethren for more than fifty years. On the last Sabbath of her life, Mr. Pote, a Local Preacher, and another friend, took tea with her. She said to them, 'You see I am very feeble, and not able to go to chapel: you must kneel down, and

both of you pray with me.' They did so, and she was exceedingly happy in God. Frequently she remarked, 'The worms will not find much to feed on, my body is so much reduced.' She lived in daily expectation of death, who was, as to her, disarmed of his sting. She said to me, Ah, my dear, I can look at the mattock, the shovel, and the grave, without dread. I long to

Clap the glad wing, and soar away,

She then feebly sang,

To mingle with the blaze of day.'

"Glory, Hallelujah! I am on my journey home.'

"The Friday preceding her death was one of her happiest days. My father being absent on business, she said, on his return, O, my dear, I am glad you are come ! I believe, had you been here, I should have died yesterday; but I prayed, that, if consistent with the divine will, I might be spared to see you once more; and you see God hath answered my prayer.' On my father inquiring whether she felt happy, she replied, Peaceful, very peaceful; but not much joy.' Immediately she repeated, 'I shall behold his face,' &c. After this she said but little. Many times had she prayed for an easy passage from earth to heaven, and in this she was remarkably favoured. She entered into the joy of her Lord, without a struggle or sigh, about six o'clock on the morning of January 25th, 1844, aged eighty-two years."

6

"*

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

When very

14. DIED, January 29th, 1842, at Bedford, aged eighty-one, Mrs. Wilkinson, late of Sheepridge, near Huddersfield. young she lost her mother; but the absence of maternal care was supplied by her father's watchful attention to her morals and education. She was taught to respect the Sabbath, and regularly to attend the services of the established Church. From her childhood she was thoughtful and serious; and as she grew up she felt and manifested a strong distaste for worldly amusements, though often invited to them by her friends. She never went to the theatre but once; and then she was so uncomfortable that she resolved she would return there no more. At twenty-one she was married to Mr. Matthew Wilkinson. She then regularly attended the ministry of the late Mr. Venn, and derived from it great spiritual benefit: occasionally, also, she went to the Wesleyan chapel. She now began to seek earnestly the salvation of her soul; as she herself afterwards said, “I wanted to be a Bible Christian." One evening, returning from worship, her mind was greatly distressed. "The remembrance of her sins," she said, was grievous to her, and the burden of them was intolerable." She prayed that God would have mercy on her, and

66

* The writer would avail himself of this opportunity to record the happy death of his beloved mother, Mrs. Sarah Henwood, who died in the same hamlet, Frogwell, January 25th, 1807. She was a Methodist for several years; and to her instrumentality the writer was indebted for his earliest religious impressions.

pardon and deliver her from all her offences. She then sat down to read the word of God; and, while reading, was enabled to believe in a sin-pardoning God, and her soul was filled with ecstasy and joy. She joined the Wesleyan society immediately afterwards, and went on her way rejoicing. It is believed that she never lost that sense of acceptance with God which she had thus received. She continually desired to grow in grace, and used all the means by which growth was to be secured. In the division occasioned by Mr. Kilham, many of the members of the society with which she was united withdrew; she, also, was strongly urged to go with them, but she steadily refused; and by means of her exertions, together with those of a few others, the Ministers maintained their station in the place, and, eventually, Methodism became even more prosperous than before. In 1800, she went to reside in her native village; and as there was not, at that time, any evangelical ministry there, she opened her own house for the visits of the Wesleyan Ministers. Numbers flocked to hear the word preached by them; many were converted; and a society was formed, in which she was for more than thirty years a faithful and useful Class-Leader. The room soon became too small for the congregation, and she then sought to accomplish the provision of a suitable erection. She gave a handsome donation herself, and obtained subscriptions from others, and soon had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful chapel, and a large congregation. In few places has religion, as connected with Methodism, flourished more than at Sheepridge. When a branch Missionary Society was formed, thirty years ago, in the Huddersfield Circuit, besides presenting a liberal sum, she became a subscriber of a guinea a year. She subscribed also to several of our institutions; and, under the name of "a Friend," frequently presented donations to a considerable amount. She was a woman of great benevolence. Few persons ever did so much good with the same means. She practised much self-denial, and was very economical in all expenses relating to herself. She literally "saved all she could," that she might "give all she could." She was also a woman of evident spiritual mindedness. Her faith was simple and unhesitating: it was therefore strong. She could always "read her title clear to mansions in the sky." Selfexamination she always performed before retiring to rest. She loved prayer, and never absented herself from the means of grace when she was able to attend them. Her conversation was a transcript of the state of her mind, pure, spiritual, and heavenly. Some years ago, on the occasion of the marriage of her daughter with a gentleman residing at Bedford, she also removed there. But the period of more active service was now past: her general deportment, however, adorned the profession which she had so long made, and obtained for her the respect of all to whom she became known. For the last two or three years of her life her physical strength declined, but her mental and spiritual vigour underwent no decay. She suffered from no active disease, but nature appeared to be gradually sinking. Death had no terrors for her she rather desired to depart, and be with Christ. Not long before her death, she said, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. I am going to rest." Soon after she quietly died in the Lord, having been a steady member of the Wesleyan society for fifty-two years. WILLIAM BACON.

:

15. Died, January 6th, 1843, at Trinity, in the Island of Newfoundland, aged thirty-four, Mary, the wife of Mr. Robert Baily, SubCollector of Her Majesty's Customs. On account of the death of her father, she was brought up, from a very early age, by her uncle and aunt, who treated her as their own child: her behaviour to them, likewise, was that of a dutiful and affectionate daughter. Her relations feared God, so that her training was decidedly religious; and its happy influence was seen even in her youthful days. She was sent to England,-home, as the islanders always say,-for her education; but the impressions previously made increased during her absence and growth. Still, she did not fully yield to the scriptural call, “Give me thy heart," till a tedious and painful affliction had brought her to the verge of the grave. The strong grasp of the world was broken, she humbled herself before God, and promised, that if she were spared, she would devote herself to his service. Immediately on her recovery she performed her vows, joined the Wesleyan society, and remained steadily attached to it, seeking to enjoy its advantages, and to promote its interests, during the continuance of her life. After seeking the pardoning mercy of God as a true penitent for about six months, she was enabled with the heart to believe unto righteousness, and received a clear sense of acceptance. From that period her course was one of increasing devotedness, characterized especially by deep humility. Indeed, she so contemplated her own unworthiness, as sometimes to be in danger of diminishing her joy in the Lord, by not equally contemplating her Almighty Redeemer; but, in the midst of all, she was often favoured with seasons of delightful spiritual communion with her heavenly Father. To the means of grace she was devoutly attentive; prayer, indeed, seemed as though it were to her not so much a duty as an invaluable privilege. In the various relations of life her conduct was exemplary: she acted in them all with affection, wisdom, and prudence. Her children, deprived of her maternal care just when they had begun most to need it, will especially lament the loss they have sustained. When the writer was called, to visit her, in her last illness, he found her peacefully resting on the atonement of Christ. She said that she had no rapture, but that she enjoyed a sacred and solid peace, and that God "sweetly manifested his love as far as her weak state could bear;" and while she was receiving the memorials of the broken body and shed blood of the Saviour, it seemed as though he were very specially made known to her in the fulness of his grace. Feeling that her end was not far distant, she called for her children, that she might bid them her last earthly farewell, and commend them to God's blessing and care. The scene was deeply affecting; and it was feared that her strength would not be equal to the exertion. But she was wonderfully supported. When they had left her, she appeared almost overcome; but she soon rallied, and thenceforth the parental tie was, in a sense, completely severed, and the divine realities, towards which she was so rapidly advancing, occupied all her thoughts. The bitterness of parting was past; and the solemnly joyful hope of being speedily with her Saviour in paradise, filled and animated her heart. Sometimes her sufferings were great, and her spirits were occasionally depressed by the operations of disease; but she soon recovered from this, and rejoiced that the Shepherd was with her in the valley through which she was passing. One night, for several hours, her pain was

such as to preclude all thought; but as soon as it had passed, and she had become recollected, she sang, evidently with great feeling,—

"For He's the Lord, supremely good;

His mercy is for ever sure:

His truth, which always firmly stood,
To endless ages shall endure."

The last day or two of her life she was completely delivered from that mental depression which had occasionally been so distressing, and filled with holy joy. It seemed almost as though the veil had been drawn aside, and the bliss beyond it displayed to her view. "O," she said to a person in the room, "I see glory opening before me." Shortly after, she exchanged mortality for life eternal. JOHN S. ADDY.

16. Died, March 6th, at Sulby, in the Ramsay Circuit, Isle of Man, aged sixty-one, Mrs. Esther Kelly. When she was about sixteen, during a gracious revival in the neighbourhood of her residence, she became deeply convinced of sin, and was brought earnestly to seek the peace and joy of a present salvation. Her immediate friends, never having themselves experienced similar feelings, not only had no sympathy with her, but endeavoured, by all the means in their power, to impede her progress; so that she had to find secret places where she might pour out her heart before God: as to the public services of the sanctuary, she could scarcely ever attend them. But these obstacles could not close the way to the throne of grace; and she continued seeking till she found. She was enabled to come to Him who called the weary and heavy laden, and she realized the truth of the promise, "I will give you rest." She had joined the Wesleyan society, and the union continued unbroken as long as she lived. Her profession was sincere and decided, and her character exemplary. Her attendance on all the means of grace was regular; and she continually sought, in more private exercises, to build herself up in her most holy faith. She read the Scriptures devoutly, often referring to Dr. Clarke's Commentary, and such other works as were within her reach, tending to spiritual edification. She made much use of her Hymn-Book; committing many hymns to memory, and meditating on the subjects to which they referred. Her views of divine things became very clear, and this was connected with a rich and growing experience of their influence and power. She served the Lord with all humility of mind, looked well to her household, and guided her affairs with such discretion, that no one could find occasion of offence in her conduct. She strictly avoided all evil-speaking, and visited the poor and sick in their affliction. She was an affectionate wife and mother, and always cherished an earnest and a practical solicitude for the spiritual welfare of her children. During the sickness which terminated her life, she calmly rested in the mercy of God, and resigned herself to his will. Her peace was undisturbed. In her last conversation with her hus-band, she said to him, "I can no longer be of any service to you. I am going home. You must let me go: yes, I am going home." adorning during life was that of a meek and quiet spirit, and her death corresponded with her life. It seemed to be not so much dying, as falling asleep. PETER PRESCOTT.

Her