full of pain and misery, no return of reason, except that from an aversion to me, which she had so long entertained, she called me my dear," and twice kissed me: said she "must die ;" and, "Let me die," said she, "let me die!" Between nine and ten o'clock, as there seemed no immediate sign of a change, and being very weary, I went to rest: but about eleven was called up again, just time enough to witness the convulsive pangs of death, which, in about ten minutes, carried her off.

Poor soul! What she often said is now true. She was not at home-I am not her husband-these are not her children; but she has found her home -a home, a husband, and a family better than these. It is the cup which my Father hath given me to drink, and shall I not drink it? Amidst all my afflictions I have much to be thankful for. I have reason to be thankful, that though her intellects were so deranged, yet she never uttered any ill language, nor was ever disposed to do mischief to herself or others: and when she was at the worst, if I fell on my knees to prayer, she would instantly be still and attentive. I have also to be thankful,

that though she has been generally afraid of death all her lifetime, yet that fear has been remarkably removed for the last half-year. While she retained her reason, she would sometimes express a willingness to live or to die, as it might please God; and about five or six weeks ago would now and then possess a short interval, in which she would converse freely. One of our friends, who stayed at home with her on Lord's days, says, "that her con

versation at those times would often turn on the poor and imperfect manner in which she had served the Lord, her desires to serve him better, her grief to think she had so much and so often sinned against him." On one of these occasions, she was wonderfully filled with joy on overhearing the congregation, while they were singing over the chorus, "Glory, honour, praise and power." She seemed to catch the sacred spirit of the song.

I mean to erect a stone to her memory, on which will probably be engraved the following lines:

The tender parent wails no more her loss,
Nor labours more beneath life's heavy load;
The anxious soul, released from fears and woes,
Has found her home, her children, and her God.

To all this I may add, that, perhaps, I have reason to be thankful for her removal: however the dissolution of such an union may affect my present feelings, it may be one of the greatest mercies, both to her and me. Had she continued, and continued in the same state of mind, which was not at all improbable, this, to all appearance, would have been a thousand times worse than death.

The poor little infant is yet alive, (') and we call her name Bathoni; the same name, except the difference of sex, which Rachel gave to her last-born child. Mr. West preached a funeral sermon last night, at the interment, from 2 Cor. v. 1.

I am, dear and honoured father,

Yours, in great affliction,
A. FULLER.

(1) It died about three weeks afterwards.

LETTER XXXVIII.

MISS HANNAH MORE, to her FRIENDS. Written when in daily expectation of death.

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

I have been thirteen weeks in bed, suspended between this world and the next; when, or whether I shall quit my bed, belongs to Him who governs both worlds. Happily I have nothing to do with events, but cheerfully to submit to them. Pray for me, that my faith fail not. God Almighty bless you all.

H. MORE.

LETTER XXXIX.

Rev. ROBERT HALL to the Rev. JAMES PHILLIPS.

MY DEAR PHILLIPS, Leicester, April 16, 1812. I was extremely gratified to hear once from you again and if you knew how much pleasure it yields me to receive a letter from you, I flatter myself you would indulge me oftener. I have little to communicate that will be interesting to you, but could not let so affectionate an epistle lie by long unanswered. My state of health, I need not tell you, has long been extremely ill it appears to me as if my constitution were breaking up; and I have little doubt, unless my malady takes a favourable turn, it will, ere it be long, reduce me to the dust. I am not better than my

fathers. I am deeply conscious I am corrected less, yea, infinitely less, than my iniquities deserve. I hope I am more anxious to see my heavy affliction sanctified than removed. Whether it would be best for it to be removed, may well be doubted: of the admirable benefits arising from sanctification, both in time and eternity, there can be no doubt. I presume the Lord sees I require more hammering and hewing than almost any other stone that was ever selected for his spiritual building, and that is the secret reason of his dealings with me. Let me be broken into a thousand pieces, if I may but be made up again, and formed by his hand for purposes of his mercy. I see more and more of the unspeakable blessedness of being made like God, and of becoming partaker of his holiness. I see it, I say, but I do not attain; or, at least in so unspeakably small a degree, that I have every moment reason to be abased, and "repent in dust and ashes."

I remain, my dear sir,

Your affectionate and constant friend,

ROBERT HALL.

LETTER XL.

Rev. ROBERT HALL, on the death of his child, to the Rev. JAMES PHILLIPS, in reply to a letter of condolence.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Leicester, Feb. 28, 1814.

I am greatly obliged for your kind and consolatory

letter, replete with those topics whence alone true consolation can be deduced. The stroke has been very severely felt by us both, but certainly most by dear Mrs. Hall. She was dotingly fond of our lovely boy. For my own part I was not at all aware my affection for him was so strong until he was removed from us: my anguish was then great. It seemed to me as if I felt more on this occasion than I should at the loss of either of my others. This feeling, I suspect, was delusive, and arises from our being incapable of estimating the strength of our attachment to any object till it is removed. I was disappointed in his being a boy; for, recollecting my own extreme and portentous wickedness, I fancied there was something in the constitution of boys peculiarly tending to vice, and adverse to their spiritual interests. I had also remarked that females seemed much more susceptible of religious impressions than men. On these accounts I trembled for his salvation, and did not feel that gratitude for the blessing vouchsafed me which I ought. I suspect I greatly displeased God by my distrust of his goodness, and that he saw it meet to adopt this method of chastising me. May it be sanctified as a means of making me humble, heavenly, and submissive. It is a very solemn consideration, that a part of myself is in eternity, in the presence, I trust, of the Saviour. How awful will it be, should the branch be saved, and the stock perish!

Pray for me, my dear friend, that this may not be the case; but that I may be truly sanctified, and