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Popery, which we have great reason to fear is considerably on the increase. The agents of that pernicious persuasion display much zeal, and are unwearied in their endeavours to gain proselytes, in which they are frequently successful. This fact rests on undeniable evidence, and therefore demands from the servants of the Lord redoubled efforts of care and zeal to resist the increase of error by preoccupying the space with truth. For our encouragement, let us remember, that as we sow so like

wise shall we reap; and that in due season, with the blessing of God, our eyes will be gladdened at the prospect of an exuberant harvest, if we in the mean time faint not.

Hoping that some of your enlightened readers, to whose view this exhortation to abound in the work of the Lord may be presented, will direct their zealous regards to the above-named emissaries of reform and truth, is the sincere wish and prayer of

A.FRIEND.

ON THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE
IRISH READERS.

FROM THE PAMPHLET LATELY PUBLISHED BY MR. R. STEVEN.

"WHEN we glance at the number of parishes wherein there are no churches, and where there is no public worship, no reading of the word of God in the daily service, and where copies of the Scriptures are extremely scarce, the importance of this class of men is incalculably great. Their ability to read the Scriptures in both lan-guages, draws crowds to hear them at their different stations, the regular periods of their visitation being well known; and so eager are the poor people to hear the contents of this book, about which there has been such a stir of late, that they are sometimes unwilling to break up before midnight, and many of them have three or four miles to walk afterwards. And could our friends see the attention paid while the word is reading, and hear the pertinent and interesting questions put by one and another as the reader proceeds, their hearts would overflow with gratitude to the Father of mercies, who directed to the adoption of this part of our plan. At the close of one of these meetings, an old man, upward of ninety years of age, came forward with hands

clasped and eyes streaming, blessing God that his life had been spared till that book had come into their country. The simple reading of the Scriptures, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, appears to have reached his heart."

It might not be improper to impress upon the Hibernian, Irish, or other societies formed for the benefit of the sister country, whether a room could not be opened, and a reader, if not a minister, appointed to read the Scriptures and perform divine service, in some of those parts of the metropolis which are especially inhabited by the Irish. Many of these persons know very little of the English language. Their strong national and religious prejudices exclude them from our churches, and consequently the Sunday is spent by them in the most grievous idleness and intemperance. Whether the schoolrooms in George, or Dyot Street, St. Giles's, could be appropriated to such a purpose, I know not; but such a plan would, if practicable, obviously and unquestionably be of great importance and utility.

HIBERNIA.

THOUGHTS ON A DYING BED.

To the Editor of the Christian

SIR,

Guardian.

HAVING recently been called to attend the dying bed of a dear young friend, I beg leave (through the medium of this publication) to offer a few remarks, with a view to awaken some of your readers to the necessity of being prepared for the final change that awaits them, as well as to console others under similar bereavements. A few more fleeting years, perhaps months or days, may pass away, and the writer, or some of those who peruse these pages, may be called hence to be no more seen. The subject is of vast importance, and claims the serious attention of every individual. How frequently does it happen that an indisposition, which on its first appearance is thought to be trifling, proves ultimately a sickness unto death;" and it is by no means uncommon for individuals to be summoned to the bar of God without any previous warning. Where such an event takes place, it must act as an electric shock upon those around them; but if, like Enoch, they have walked with God, sudden death is to such sudden glory. Although the illness of the friend above alluded to was severe, it

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was not of that nature as to lead us to suppose her state would have been so soon decided. It was only within a few hours previous to her departure, that we were aware death was approaching; and her dismissal was so gentle and easy, that we could scarcely believe the spirit had quitted its frail tabernacle. It brought to my mind those beautiful lines,

"One gentle sigh their fetters breaks, We scarce can say, They 're gone." I cannot help thinking, that departing saints have an insight into the glory that awaits them; and although my dear friend gave no evidence of this by words, for she

T

had been for some time quite insensible to those about her; for a quarter of an hour previous to her dissolution, her right hand was gradually raised, and her fore finger pointing upwards; a happy signal, we trust, of her reception into the heavenly mansions prepared for them that love God. The nature of the disorder was such as to preclude much conversation during her short illness; but even under aberration of mind, she spoke of another and a better world, where there is'no sin, exclaiming, "There is my blessed Saviour! O how delightful!" Two days before her decease, several hymns were read to her; also part of the fourteenth chapter of St. John. She seemed to derive great comfort, and she dwelt with peculiar energy on that verse in the seventeenth Psalm, by Dr. Watts,

"O glorious hour! O blest abode," &c.

As we silently commended her departing spirit into the hands of her gracious Redeemer, I was much impressed with the solemnity of the scene before me. Ah! thought I, what is this world, with its pursuits and interests, its cares and sorrows? When contrasted with eternity, it sinks low indeed. One thing is needful. May we, like Mary, choose that better part, which cannot be taken from us! It will then be well both for time and eternity.

Since the removal of my dear friend, I have experienced great comfort in the pleasing evidence she gave during her life, of her interest in Christ. We had frequently taken sweet counsel together, and walked into the house of God in company. She commemorated the dying love of her Saviour in apparent health and spirits but three weeks before she entered her eternal rest; and, like a wise virgin, her lamp was trimmed ready to meet the bridegroom.

How consoling is the thought,

that the separation from Christian friends is but of short duration! Death does not dissolve the union, nor are we called to sorrow as they without hope; yet a little while, and we shall meet again our beloved friends and kindred in the realms of bliss; there to unite our praises with the redeemed of the earth through the countless ages of eternity! There is a beautiful and strong allusion to the resurrection in Isaiah, xxvi. 19: Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body, shall they arise. Awake, and sing ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." It is scarcely possible to read this passage without being deeply impressed with the consolation it affords to the true Christian. In conclusion, I beg leave ear

nestly to exhort my fellow sinners seriously to examine how they stand as candidates for an eternal world; what are their hopes and prospects for the future; whether they have fled for refuge to the hope set before them in the Gospel, and realized an interest in the blood of a crucified Redeemer. Time is short! The hand of death may possibly be upon them ere these important questions can be decided. Youth and health are no security for life; the brittle thread of existence may be snapped in a moment. There is no repentance in the grave, whither we are fast hastening. As the tree falls, so will it lie; as death leaves us, judgment finds us. Behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation!

ANNA.

LINES SUGGESTED BY ONE OF MOORE'S SACRED

MELODIES.

O SAY no more, there's nought but heaven

That's calm, and bright, and true;

Say not, our only portion 's care,
That man is ever doom'd to wear

The cypress wreath of woe.
Are there not pleasures of the soul
To feeble mortals given;
Feelings so pregnant with delight;
Joy so serene, so calm, and bright,
So near allied to heaven;

That the rapt spirit has forgot

Its tenement of clay,

And fondly thought its woes were o'er,
The conflict past, and gain'd the shore
Of never-ending day!

O say no more, there's nothing true
But the bright scenes of heaven ;
Yes, there is truth in mercy's page,
Directing youth, consoling age,
Declaring sin forgiven.

O say no more, there's nought but heaven
That's calm, or true, or bright:
Bright are the beams the Saviour sheds,
The radiance that his Gospel spreads,

Amid this realm of night.

Though loud the blast, though dark the day,

We oft have peace at even';

If earth can yield such pure delight,

A bliss so sacred and so bright,

How calm, how true, how bright is heaven!

LYDIA.

REVIEW OF BOOKS.

Essays on the Recollections which are to subsist between earthly Friends reunited in the World to come; and other Subjects connected with Religion, and in Part with Prophecy. By Thos. Gisborne, M. A. Čadell. 1822. THERE are, probably, few persons of warm hearts and reflecting minds who have not, at some period of their lives, felt more than ordinary anxiety on the subject of the mutual recognition of friends in a future state of existence. And even pious characters, of a subdued and chastened curiosity as to the objects of research, while they would shrink from any approach to that rashness, which seeks to pry into those things which are not revealed, may be supposed to feel a pardonable solicitude on a topic so nearly connected with their best affections and tenderest sensibilities. It is, however, a theme on which divines of a sober and judicious cast have touched very lightly; partly from a dread of the spirit of speculation, which has been the great bane of religious inquiry, from the ancient Gnostic to the modern Unitarian; partly from the difficult nature of the subject itself, whose subtilty eludes their grasp at every turn; and partly from the want of any data in Scripture on which to found a theory. They seem, indeed, to have felt, that the utmost which can be collected from the page of revelation, is a slight presumption on the affirmative side of the question.

Notwithstanding the salutary caution, which has kept theological writers from publicly committing themselves on this delicate subject, the fact we believe would turn out to be, that most Christians have cherished the idea in their confidential correspondence; have found solace in the reflection, that separation on earth, from providential causes, would be abundantly compensated by particular intercourse NOVEMBER 1822.

in heaven; and, above all, in the prospect of eternity, have so expressed themselves to their dearest connexions, as to leave an impression on the minds of survivors, that for their own parts they have felt little doubt, that with identity of person, at the general resurrection, there would be recognition of peculiar relation. They have regarded their course of affection as the conflu ence of streams which, however divided for a moment by the pier of a bridge, have naturally reunited their waters on the opposite side. At the same time, we do not deny that there have been wise and solid believers, who imagined such an absorption of affection in the person of Christ awaiting the redeemed in glory, as would be incompatible with distinguishing regards to fellow saints, and consequently with the remembrance of earthly ties. We feel a respect for both opinions; considering, that, on such a questionable point, each party may be allowed to retain his persuasion, without any impeachment either of his understanding or piety: and if the author, whose work now lies before us, has failed to produce any argument sufficiently cogent to convince those who maintain the negative, we can readily allow him to feel all possible satisfaction in the anticipation, which, no doubt, gave wings to his pen, that in the world of bliss he shall recognise that friend to whom his work is dedicated; and for whom he must feel more than ordinary regard, on account of the similarity in the constitution of their minds, in their opinions on matters of taste, and in their views on certain speculative points in the Christian system.

The doctrine of mutual recognition is interesting in its nature, but indifferent in its character; nor can ever be required to be re

*Mrs. Hannah More. 31

ceived as an article of belief, because it is grounded on probable conjecture rather than moral certainty. Mr. G. has therefore done wisely in not pushing his theory beyond what the argument will bear. He divides his inquiry into two distinct branches: 1. The presumptions which reason, whether by its natural powers, or as enlightened by the general truths of the Christian revelation, may suggest. 2. The conclusions which may appear to be incidentally involved in passages of Scripture remotely bearing on the subject; or to be implied or affirmed in passages, of which the bearing is close and direct upon it." In his second chapter he argues, that the concurrence of mankind, from the philosophers of Greece and Rome down to the Gentoo widow and North American savage, in the persuasion that the personal and mutual knowledge of individuals will be extended into a future world, is a presumption suggested by reason in support of the opinion; and he considers it as analogous to the general persuasion of the existence of a Deity, which is usually brought forward by divines in defence of that fundamental article of natural religion. We confess we do not attach much importance to the supposed analogy. It may be fair reasoning, to deduce the existence of the Supreme Being from general consent; because, though unenlightened men have judged him too much such an one as themselves, yet all have argued à posteriori, and looked through nature up to nature's God, till they arrived at a First Cause. The process has been uniform, and the conclusion has been concordant. But the general persuasion assumed in the present case, would be alleged with greater effect as an argument in favour of the immortality of the soul, and the disposition to believe in a future state. That Cicero should rejoice in the prospect of saluting Cato under such circumstances, is per

fectly natural. Indeed, before life and immortality were brought to light by the Gospel, those who believed in a future state at all could only have, so to speak, carnalized views on the subject. They could but regard futurity as a change in the mode of existence, to which they transferred the same passions, prejudices, feelings, and pursuits. But the state of the question before us is, not so much whether friendships will be remembered as such, or whether there will be a recognition of the pastoral, parental, and conjugal relations; but whether there will be a distinct and particular remembrance of the instances in which certain individuals have been made to each other instruments of spiritual benefit? And whether, connected with the doctrine of the communion of saints, there may not be in fact such a connexion between endeared parties in the visible and invisible world, as that a departed believer shall feel an interest in, and become a channel in the conveyance of blessing to, his friend yet remaining in this sublunary sphere? And whether, on their reunion on the other side the grave, such spiritual connexion may not be the subject of mutual congratulation to all eternity? Such inquiries as these are not incompatible with the purest religious profession; nor do they necessarily tend to unlawful inquisitiveness, though it must be allowed, and lamented while allowed, that Talmudists, and Papists, and injudicious Protestants, have indulged in idle and unprofitable speculations on these metaphysical abstractions.

Passing by, however, the difficulties of the subject, we certainly feel that there is something which recommends itself, as it were, to our notice and approbation, in the persuasion (innocent, at least, even if groundless), that persons who have worshipped in the same congregation, edified through a long life under the same

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