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Wages and animates them in their work, and stimulates others to pecuniary or intercessory exertions in so good a cause. - The labours of the Religious Tract Society have excited much joy, both in Heaven and upon earth: -they have been repeatedly honoured with the smiles of Heaven in the conversion of sinners; and the following Memoir records a fresh proof of the Lord's gracious approbation of their services. Yours, &c. H.

MISS BARLOW was the daughter of Mr. Barlow, of Thames Street. She was accustomed to attend the preaching of the gospel with her mother, but without any particular impression; and for about eighteen months before her death, she discovered an increasing inclination for gaiety, and for read. ing novels. It was not till "the day of adversity" that she was brought seriously to consider. In the close of November, 1802, she caught a cold, which was attended with unfavourable symptoms; but after about a month's indisposition, she appeared to be upon the recovery; and, at that time, God was pleased to display the sovereignty and glory of his grace in a way that is worthy to be held in remembrance! -Miss Barlow's younger brother and sister returned from school, to spend the Christmas holidays. The brother brought with him a novel, which, on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Barlow found her daughter reading. She remonstrated with her upon the wickedness of such a requital of the Lord's mercy in the amendment of her health. It was laid aside; but soon after, she found her again read. ing it; and was answered, that she must go through it, and would.

On the evening just mentioned, the sister came home, and brought with her a little tract, which had been put into her hands by her governess. (It was No. 64 of the Society's Tracts, entitled, "A Letter from a Mother to her Daughter at Boarding-School;" and was written by Mr. Newman, of Old Ford.) "Here, sister," said she, "is something for you to read." She took

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it; and the first words which met her eyes were these: 14 Beware of novels and romances, for they mislead the understanding, stupify the conscience, inflame the worst passions of the heart, unfit the mind for the relish of sober and solid truth, produce a sick!y taste; and, it is to be feared, have occasioned the ruin of thousands in this world, and for ever." She could go no further; but the words were fastened like a nail in a sure place. She had no rest that night. In the morning, she mentioned her uneasi ness to her mother. "Oh!" said she, "if I had died while reading that novel, what an awful state should I have been in !" She was deeply affected. Her bodily afflic tion increased, and her distress of mind increased with it. Her Bible now was her companion; she would not part with it, though for a while she could get no consolation from its contents. She seemed left to see the depravity of her heart, and to be thoroughly convinced that she was indeed a sinner. She would often read in Watts's Psalms and Hymns, apparently in great distress. About this time, it is supposed that she wrote in a bocket-book, which she carried in her pocket, these words:

"That awful day will surely come,

"Th' appointed hour makes haste,
"When I must stand before my Judge,

"And pass the solemn test.
"How could I bear to hear thy voice

"Pronounce the sound, Depart ?”
She omitted the two first lines of
the second stanza, which run thus:

"Thou lovely Chief of all my joys,

"Thou Sov'reign of my heart," Fearing that she had no right to call Jesus the Sovereign of her heart, but rather her Judge, about to judge her, and that he would then say to her, " Depart," she suffered great distress of soul; but God did not leave her there; for when asked by her mother, Where she first got comfort? she answered, "From the word of God;" and since her death, when her Bible was examined, the following passages were found, marked by her with a pencil: Isaiah xli. 10. Jer. xxxiii.

Rom.

3. Luke ix. 26, and xi. 7. viii. 28. James i. 12; and now, concerned about her own salvation, she began to be concerned for those about her, as appears from the following letter, written to a particular friend who went into the country about this time:

"My dear Friend,

When your father called at our house, I bade him tell you, that when I had a little more strength I would write to you. I then thought that I should gain it daily; but, my dear girl, instead of gaining strength, it pleased God, who does all things for the best, that I should relapse; and I was confined again to my room; but I must not repine at that, for it was God who laid his hand upon me. I may say it has been good for me to be afflicted; for before, my thoughts were only on the pleasures and vanities of this world, which are but for a season; but when affliction comes, and Death seems to make his approach, the world is no comfort to a poor guilty soul; but God will heal our diseases, and forgive our sins, if we do but call upon him; and if he be with us, we want no other pleasure or comfort; and it is my sincere wish that you may be always kept from the immorality of reading novels, plays, or other vain books; for they certainly corrupt our morals, and totally unfit our minds for every thing that is good; they fill our minds with the worst of thoughts; because we are not only reading falsehoods, which cannot be of any edification, but they ruin our souls; for they certainly have occasioned the ruin of thousands for ever and ever! I can now see how fearful we ought to be of gay acquaintances;-they are the forerunners of every vice; and we

are

soon ensnared, for one gay friend leads us to another; then they must take us to a play, or a ball, or some place of amusement, else we are thought ignorant, and of no conversation in their eyes. We are not so thought in God's eyes. My dear young friend, I hope your eyes will be opened, that you may see the vanity of the

world with disgust, and never more ewr into what they call Amusę, ments."

She one day said, that she felt some comfort from these words, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast out." And again, from these,-"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

--

Assurance was now the earnest desire of her soul. "O that I knew what it is to be interested in Christ! O for assurance!" A friend ob served to her, that assurance is not essential; - that a dependence on Christ is sufficient to encourage our hope; aud it ought. This seemed greatly to relieve her mind. She often expressed a deep concern that she had neglected her Bible; espe cially when prevented reading it, by a violent pain which she fre quently had in her head.

About ten days before her death, she was very sensible that her departure was at hand. Her mother.

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said to her, My dear, I hope you are going to a better world." "Ah!" said she, "that is what I fear. Many people think better

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There was read to her one even

ing, a chapter upon the sufferings. of the Saviour, before she went to rest. In the night she was very restless, coughed much, and had very little sleep; yet it proved a night in which she enjoyed large foretastes of celestial blessedness. Reflecting upon the chapter she had heard read in the evening, she said, "What are my sufferings to the sufferings of Christ! He sweat great drops of blood for my sins;" and added, "He will not lay upon me more than I am able to bear. The assurance which she panted after, seemed to continue from this time to the end. When asked, in the morning, how she found herself, she answered, "Happy !" It was said, 'I hope you now see your interest in Christ?' "Yes," said she;"none but God could make me so happy as I now feel!"

On the Saturday before her death, she said to her brothers and sister, "I am dying; but I hope

shall meet you all in Heaven. It would be an awful thing for us to be found, one at the right hand of Christ, and the other at the left, in the judgment ! O pray, pray, read your Bible; and don't neglect it, as I have done! I did not know that I was a sinner till last Christmas-Eve; and then it was by reading a novel. Who can tell, but that it may be given you to see that you are sinners?" She soon after raised herself in her chair, and said, "I think I can see Jesus Christ standing with open arms, ready to receive me." It was observed, what a mercy it was that she was led to see herself a sinner! "Ah," said she, and a sinner now, sinner now!"

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On the Lord's Day, she said to an aunt who called upon her, "I am dying; but I hope to meet you in Heaven. O, to think that Jesus Christ should die for such a vile sinner as I have been, running on in sin! that he should stop me in my mad career! I shall soon be in Heaven, with my dear friends who are gone before me" (alluding to some relations who died in the Lord). She also said,

"When I can read my title clear

To mansions in the skies,
I bid farewell to ev'ry fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes!"

After a pause, she added, "I
think I can see my tale clear."
When her mother observed, that
she had often wished to see her
children called by grace,
"Who
knows," said she, "but you may
live to see them all called!"

On Monday she was seized with a violent fit, from which it was not supposed she could recover. Mrs.

Barlow, some time before, begged her, when she found death approaching, to tell her, if she saw her interest in the Saviour; and if past speaking, to squeeze her hand as a signal. During the fit, she gave her mother the signal; and, upon recovering a little, seemed disappointed; and said, "I am not gone yet." She now desired her duty might be given to her father, love to brothers and sister, and other relatives, whom she mens

tioned in order; adding, that she
hoped to meet them all in Heavea;
and then said,

"Jesus can make a dying bed
"Feel soit as downy pillows are."

On Tuesday she remarked to her
father and mother, "I am loath to
leave you; but it is better to go to
Jesus; and I think he loves me."
About ten minutes before she died,
she asked, "Where is my mam-
ma?" Mrs. Barlow (who seldom
quitted her) was sitting by her, and,
surprized at the question, she look-
ed at her, and found that she had
entered the shadowy vale;
eyes had refused any longer to per-
form their office, death had
quenched their lustre. She asked,
What do you wish for, my dear?
"To bid you good bye.".
Barlow enquired for two young
friends, who had called to see her.

-

- her

Miss

Do you wish to see them? "No; I have done with them all." Her mother said, My dear, if you see your interest in Jesus clear, do tell me?" She answered, "Yes;" and never spoke again,-but presently after expired, leaving behind her strong encouragement to be always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we see, in her case, that such labour is not in vaia in the Lord.

Sir,

MR. M. P——.
To the Editor.

As a counterpart to the above article, I send you the following narrative; and am the more desirous that you should publish it, because, Sir, I know (I speak with certainty, I know) young persons, under whose view this account will come, who are now walking in the very same steps in which this youth trod, and who are placing their happiness in the very same object, a release from parental or other restraint; and opportunity for doing that which seemeth good in their own eyes. O that before the bubble breaks, they may see it to be a bubble! while in the way, may they see the end in its true co.

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MR. M. P. was amiable and accomplished; but as parental restraint was early taken off by death, his depravity, and the example of his connections, soon led him into sad excesses. Yet, amid his excess, he marked the conduct of a serious friend, and often wished to resemble him; but having no power in himself to effect the change, nor inclination to go to the Saviour to effect it for him, his wishes were fruitless. He would ask for spiritnal advice of that friend, and begged him to select him a library; but the advice was not attended to; nor the books recommended, ever read. He would make appointments to go with him to worship, desirous that such people might be his people, and their God his God; but a slight temptation would break such appointments, and hurry him away into Sabbath profanation.

-

A lingering consumption seized him, and brought him to the grave in the flower of youth. His friend watched its progress, and warned him of the issue; but without apparent advantage. Miss Barlow's Memoir was read to him, and impressed his mind, particularly an observation of hers upon gay company; which he felt to be true, and declared it to have been his bane. Three days before his death, the person before alluded to, called upon him he was evidently in a dying state, the powers of speech had nearly failed, · when he said, that few worldly friends came near him now; and that he told those who came, that he was very ill, and could not speak much; upon which they would leave him. At parting, he roused himself, and collecting together all his strength, he said, in a loud hollow voice, with an emphasis never to be forgotten by the hearer, while the bed trembled under him as he spoke," God bless you, H. God bless you for this visit; and for all the comforts which I might have enjoyed, had I followed your advice before; *is now too late (alluding to an at

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tendance upon public ordinances}. If you will believe me, H. I can not lift my arm above my head, if you would give me the world. I have been a wicked sinner, · wicked, wicked, wicked sinner! I knew my duty; yes, H. I knew my duty, but did it not. I have no excuse there was nothing to prevent my attending to my duty; but I did it not. I did not before see things in the light in which I do now. But there is a good and gracious God; and I still hope that 1 shall be saved. Write down a prayer for me; such expressions as you think most suitable for me, and I will use it with all the earnestness of which I am capable. I will indeed! I really am sincere, →→ I do not feign: the tears which rold down my cheeks bear witness to my sincerity. Pray for me, and put up prayers in the good meetings you go to. Ah! you go to none but good meetings." He was exhausted, and they parted. He soon after left the world, earnestly desiring an interest in the Redeemer. "There is such a thing," said he to a friend,

as a token, -a token that we belong to him; and I pray that I may not leave the world till I know that I am interested in him."

O that some poor trifler would attend to this voice from the mouth of the gravel O that they would hear, fear, and do no more wickedly! Why leave the all-import ant point to that hour, when no in dubitable proof of sincerity can be given? A life of faith upon the Son of God, would disarm all those enemies which harrass man in his departing hour; for thus saith infinite love, "O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned mine hand against their adversaries!" Whoso is wise will consider these things, and he shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.

MR. JOSEPH ASHBY.

On Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1803, died at Warwick, greatly lamented, Mr. J. Ashby, aged seventy; by whose removal, many poor have

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the church flight. Thus ended the conflicts -and the pastor of a good man! For the church of God's sake, it is to be regretted that his death was so sudden, as it deprived him of accomplishing a wish he had recently expressed, of making some alteration in his will friendly to the public concerns of Zion. Mr. Ashby was a bachelor, possessed of a handsome fortune, which he has liberally divided among his poor relations, without regard to sect or denomination. At the same time, he has bequeathed a handsome legacy to the church, of which he had been, nearly forty years, an honourable member. Warwick.

What is said of Plato's furniture, that All was for use, nothing for shew," may, with equal propriety, be said of the deceased. He laboured rather to fill up his place well, and discharge his duties punctually, than make the noise of an axe, or an hammer, reverberate his own praise. Mr. Ashby's constitution inclining to melancholy, addicted him to think and reflect, rather than speak much. Like most other nervous subjects in the Christian world, he had many fears, doubts, and inward exercises, which were not unobserved by the busy adversary, who, as occasion offered, vexed and buffetted him. This, however, by a wise destina. tion of Providence, only the better qualified him to fill up an useful place in the church to which he belonged to counsel the igno. rant, to relieve the doubtful, and to comfort the feeble-minded,

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Much might be said with truth and propriety of the valuable temper and conduct of our late vener. able friend. He was steady in his attachments, modest and unas suming in society, solemn and savoury in prayer, regular and uniformn in his habits, -simple and plain in his manners, spirited and generous in his subscription towards the salary of his minister,and constantly charitable to the poor and needy. The blessing of many, who were ready to perish, came upon him!

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His death was sudden. ConstiSutional infirmities had led him at

times to express fears of his passing the valley of the shadow of death. These fears it seems were groundless, as his Lord and Master had designed for him an easy and short passage to glory! The evening on which he died, he was seized with a pain in his stomach, to which he was often subject. This, by me. dical help, was soon relieved; and he retired to rest. A very little while after, he said he was much better: then instantly turning upon his pillow, without a struggle or another word, the soul took its

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RECENT DEATHS. Nov. 22, died at Clapton, Hackney-parish, near eighty years of age, Mrs. Sarah Agace, a lady distinguished by her beneficence. She was ready to do every good work; and has left donations to several charitable institutions. She was the daughter of a worthy minister, who preached many years at the French church in Canterbury; where she was buried. She was constant in her attendance on divine worship; and was present, both parts of the Lord's Day, before her decease. Her last illness was painful, but short; and she gave ample testimony to the excellence of the gospel, and pleasing evidence of her meetness for Heaven. She often repeated that hymn,

"In ev'ry trouble sharp and strong, "My soul to Jesus flies," &c.

Sunday afternoon, Dec. 18, died the Rev. Mr. Cuthbert, joint preacher with the Rev. Mr. Foster, at Long-Acre Chapel.

On Tuesday, December 20, died Mr. Smith, of Colebrooke Row, Islington; a gentleman well known in the religious world, and respected wherever known. His piety, zeal, and suavity of manners entitled him to the esteem of a numerous acquaintance; among whom he obtained the name of Demetrius, "having a good report of all inen, and of the truth itself." He died in peace, aged seventy-six,

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