Nor did he, according to the usual method, inflict his sickness upon those about him, by peevishness disquieting his attendants; but was pleased with every thing that was done, and liked every thing that was brought, condescending to all proposals, and obeying with all readiness every advice of his physicians. In his own greatest desolations he administered reliefs to those about him, mixing advices with his prayers, and twisting the tenderness of a friend to that of the Christian. He then dispensed his best of legacies, his blessings; most passionately exhorting the young growing hopes of his family, whose first innocence and bashful shame of doing ill he above all things laboured to have preserved, "To be just to the advantage of their education, and maintain inviolate their first baptismal vows. Then he more generally commended unto all the great advantage of mutual friendly admonitions. On which occasion, when one asked him what more special rule he would recommend for the whole life, he briefly replied, "Uniform obedience" whereby (if we may take a comment from himself at other times) he meant, not only a sincere reception of duty as such, because commanded, and not because it is this or that, pleasant or honourable, or perchance cheap or easy duty; but withal the very condition of obeying; the lot of not being to choose for one's self; the being determined in all proposals by human or divine command, and, where those were left at large, by the guidance of God's providence, or the assistance of a friend. But, amidst these most Christian occupations, these happiest anodynes of sickness, the 25th of April fatally drew on. About three o'clock in the afternoon, becoming very weak and dispirited, and cold in his extreme parts, he had strength only continued to persevere in his devotions, which he did unto the last moment of his life; a few minutes before his death breathing out those words which best became his Christian life: "Lord, make haste." On the morrow, in the evening (the 26th day of the same month) he was, according to his desire, without ostentation or pomp, though with all becoming decency, buried at the neighbouring church of Hampton, with the whole office and usual rites of the church of England; several of the gentry and clergy of the county, and affectionate multitudes of persons of less quality, attending on his obsequies; the clergy with ambition offering themselves to bear him on their shoulders; which accordingly they did, and laid that sacred burden in the burial-place of the generous family which with such friendship had entertained him when alive: where now he rests in peace, and full assurance of a glorious resurrec tion. They that had the happiness of a personal acquaintance with this best of men, this saint, who seems in our decays of ancient virtue lent us by special providence even for this end and purpose, that we might not disbelieve the faith of history delivering the excellency of primitive Christians, know with what thirst and eagerness of soul he sought the spiritual advantage of any single man, how humble soever, with what enjoyment he beheld the recovery of any such from an evil course and habit. And whatever apprehension other men may have, they will be easily induced to aink that, if blessed spirits have commerce with earth (as surely we have reason to believe it somewhat more than possible), they, I say, will consider it a connatural and highly agreeable accession unto his fruitions, that, when there is joy in the presence of the angels of God for a sinner that repents, he may be an immediate accessory to that blessed triumph, and be concerned beyond the rate of a mere spectator. Persuasions to piety, now-a-days, are usually in scorn called preaching; but it is to be hoped that this, how contemned an office soever it be grown, will not be without its use in this instance; that it will not be without its benefit, if his history, who deservedly was reckoned among the best of preachers, whose life was the best of sermons, should bear a correspondence to its subject, and professedly close with an application. This example exhorts all persons to be what they promised God Almighty they would be in their baptismal vows; what they see the glorious saints and wartyrs and confessors, and, in particular, this holy man has been before them; that they be what is most honourable, most easy and advantageous to be at present; and, in a word, to render themselves such as they desire to be upon their deathbeds, before they leave the world, and then would wish to be for ever. Which blessed work, as it was the great design of this excellent doctor, both in words and writings, his thoughts and actions, is also the only aim of this imperfect, but yet affectionate and well-meant account; and may Almighty God, by the assistance of his grace, give all of these this their most earnestly desired effect and issue*. NARRATIVE.-When a gentleman of no very laudable life had in his sickness desired to speak with doctor Hammond, which message, through the negligence of the person employed, was not delivered till he that sent it was in the last agonies of death, the doctor was very much affected at it, complaining of those that had so little sense of a soul in that sad state; and, pouring out h most fervent prayers in his behalf, requested farther that by this example others, and in par ticular the companion of that unhappy person's vice, might learn how improper a season the time of sickness, and how unfit a place the death-bed is, for that one great work of penitence which was intended by Almighty God the one commensurate work of the whole lifet. REFLECTION BY DR. HENRY HAMMOND.It is the supreme privilege of Christianity to con vert the saddest evils into the most medicinal advantages, the valley of Achor into the door of hope, the blackest tempest into the most perfect and fair sky. OBSERVATION BY DR. HAMMOND.-The time of sickness, or any other affliction, is like the cool of the day to Adam: a season of peculiar pro priety for the voice of God to be heard. NARRATIVE AND REFLECTION.-Dr. Haшmond endured not only extreme pain, but great poverty. The editor has in his possession a copy of Dr. Hammond's "Annotations on the New Testament," which belonged to, and contains the ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge. *Life of Hammond, by dean Fell, published by the So † Dean Fell. t MSS. notes of dean Prideaux; in the title-page of which, and against the name of Dr. Hammond, this remark is written: "It is a pity so learned and reverend a man had so much too little to live on.-WILLIAM EVANS." To which dean Pri=deaux has subjoined a Greek quotation from the letters of Photius, to this effect: "He has known little of Christ's church and its members, and can form no right judgment of the afflictions to which they are subject, or of the uses and ends to which they are designed, who does not consider that there - will be an ἀποκατάστασις, α 6 day of restitution of all things'; when the seeming inequalities of this life will be rectified according to infinite justice, wisdom, and love." This remark must never be forgotten; for it is applicable not only to a state of poverty, but to that of adversity, pain, and =affliction of every kind, suffered by the followers of Christ; and it supplies the most refreshing of all those consolations which are revealed in the holy scriptures. "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (Rom. viii. 18); and again: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). The Cabinet. SOBRIETY OF MIND.-What a privilege it is in these days to be seeking a city, and not building one! What a privilege to feel one's soul so nourished and refreshed by the simple virtues of the gospel as to have no need to run after novelties to produce excitement.-Rev. Dr. Mayo. HOW TO PREACH.-When you preach, be real. Set your people before you in their numbers, their dangers, their capacities. Choose a subject, not to show yourself off, but to benefit them; and then speak straight to them, as you would beg your life, or counsel your son, or call your dearest friend from a burning house, in plain, strong, earnest words.=Bishop of Oxford's Ordination Charge, 1846. Irenæus, lit. iii., cap. 37, says, that "God excluded Adam from the tree of life, not out of envy, but from compassion, lest his evil should be immortal; and he has interposed death, that he might cause sin to cease, putting an end to it through the dissolution of the flesh. Irenæus, therefore, plainly lays it down, that sin dwells in every man, until it be wholly absorbed by death itself.-Bp. Davenant de Justitia. Poetry. JESUS ALONE. "And of the people there was none with me."-ISA. Ixiii. 3 AND didst thou bleed for me, Unpitied and alone; And did they nail thee to the tree, And mock thy dying groan? Alas! no pains or care of mine Could ere requite such love as thine. * From "Poems illustrative of Grace, Creation, Suffering;" by the rev. R. S. Brooke, B.A. Dublin: McGlashan. 1852. A volume we have before noticed.-ED. HYMNS FOR THE SUNDAYS IN THE YEAR. BY JOSEPH FEARN. (SUGGESTED BY SOME PORTION OF THE SERVICE FOR THE DAY). (For the Church of England Magazine). FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."-GALAT. vi. 16 (the epistle). O, WHAT a blessed thing is peace! I felt it on this sabbath morn: My spirit gained a brief release From earth, and thought was heavenward borne. Then Jesus came, with sovereign love, To bless the souls that sought his face, And breathed upon them from above Mercy and peace and glorious grace. Upon the Israel of God These promised blessings will descend; Their sins and cares-a heavy load Are known to Christ, the sinner's friend. But only those who feel their sin, And glory in their Saviour's cross, Which makes all other gain but loss. O Lamb of God, who tak'st away THE BLOODY MURDER*. (A DIALOGUE FOR YOUNG READERS). BY COLONEL BLACKER. Tommy and Papa. T.-COME, dear papa, some story tell : You know you promised me and Bill: Merry or grave, which shall it be? "Once on a time-" T. Of course 'twas night, And not a single starlet shone The darkness of that hour upon; Rode brightly on his golden way. And all was freshness, fragrance, bloom. The original idea on which the above is grounded is Mrs. Barbauld's. The silver lake undimpled slept, The summer streamlet slowly crept. A band of men- T. With stealthy pace: No doubt a mask on every face? Or else a set of horrid features Proclaim'd their baseness, savage creatures? P.--Far from it, boy: their manly tread Show'd neither caution, care, nor dread. And all this time, in solemn prattle, NESS. Miscellaneous. KNOWLEDGE CONDUCIVE TO HUMBLEMINDE -To illustrate the truth, that the wider man' knowledge becomes, the deeper should be his b mility, for the more he knows the more he sees of whe remains unknown, Dr. Chalmers took the board, which the village children learnt their lessons a arithmetic, and drew upon it a circle. "Let the circle," he said, "represent the extent, or compas of a man's knowledge; the region of light, which be has conquered and made his own out of the surround ing kingdom of darkness. Each point in this circu ference represents a question about that which beyond and without, to which the man finds he c give no answer. Enlarge the circle, and you mu tiply the number of such points. The more, there fore, the man enlarges his circle of light, he sees br the more of the darkness that lies all around; th wider the diameter of light, the larger the circ ference of darkness."-Memoirs of Rev. Dr. Cha mers. London: Published for the Proprietors, by JOEN HUGHES, 12, Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. PRINTED BY ROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 246, STRAND, LONDON. DEATHS OF EMINENT CHRISTIANS. No. XXXII. BISHOP SANDERSON*. Died 1662. Aged 65. DR. Robert Sanderson was an eminent scholar and divine. He was appointed chaplain to King Charles I. and afterwards made bishop of Lincoln. About three weeks before his death, finding his strength to decay, by reason of his constant infirmity, and a consumptive cough added to it, he retired to his chamber, expressing a desire to enjoy his last thoughts to himself in private, without disturbance or care, especially of what might concern this world. Thus as his natural life decayed, his spiritual life seemed more strong, and his faith more confirmed; still labour=ing to attain that holiness and purity, without I which none shall see God. In this time of retirement, which was wholly spent in devotion, he longed for his dissolution, and when some that loved him prayed for his recovery, if he at any time found an amendment, he seemed to be displeased, by saying, "his friends said their prayers backwards for him." He rejoiced much that he had so lived, as never to cause an hour's sorrow to his good father, and that he hoped he should die without an enemy. He, in this retirement, had the church prayers read in his chamber twice every day; and at nine at night some prayers read to him, and a part of his family, out of "The Whole Duty of Man." The day before he took his bed, (which was three days before his death), he, that he might receive a new assurance for the pardon of his sins past, and be strengthened in his way to the new Jerusalem, took the blessed sacrament of the body and blood of his and our blessed Jesus, from the hands of his chaplain, Mr. Pullen, accompanied with his wife, children, and a friend, in as awful, humble, and ardent a manner as outward reverence could express. After the praise and thanksgiving for this blessing was ended, he spake to this purpose; "I have now, to the great joy of my soul, tasted of the all-saving sacrifice of my Saviour's death and passion; and with it received a spiritual assurance that my sins past are pardoned, and my God is at peace with me: and that I shall never have a will or power to do any thing that may separate my soul from the love of my dear Saviour. Lord! confirm this belief in me, and make me still to remember, that it is Thou, O God, that tookest me out of my mother's womb, and hast been the powerful protector of me to this present moment of my life: thou hast neither forsaken me now I am become greyheaded, nor suffered me to forsake Thee in the late days of temptation, and sacrifice my conscience, for the preservation of my liberty or estate. It was not of myself, but grace, that I have stood when others have fallen under my trials, and these mercies I now remember with joy and thankfulness; and my hope and desire is, that I may die remembering this; and praising Thee, my merciful God." per After this, taking his bed, and about a day before his death, he desired his chaplain, Mr. Pullen, to give him absolution: and at his forming that office, he pulled off his cap, that Mr. Pullen might lay his hand upon his bare head. After this desire of his was satisfied, his body seemed to be more at ease, and his mind more cheerful; and he said often, "Lord, forsake me not now my strength faileth me, but continue thy mercy, and let my mouth be ever filled with thy praise." He continued the remaining night and day very patient and thankful for any of the little offices that were performed for his ease and refreshment; and during that time did often say to himself the 103rd Psalm (a psalm that is composed of praise and consolation fitted for a dying soul), and say also to himself these words, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed where true joy is to be found." And now his thoughts seemed to be wholly of death, for which he was so prepared, that the King of Terrors could not surprise him as a thief in the night, for he had often said, "he was prepared and longed for it." And as this desire seemed to come from heaven, so it left him not till his soul ascended to that region of blessed spirits, whose employments are to join in concert with his, and sing praise and glory to that God who hath brought him and them to that place into which sin and sorrow cannot enter. Thus this pattern of meekness changed this for a better life it is now too late that mine may be like his (for I am in the 85th year of my age, and God knows that it hath not), but I most humbly beseech Almighty God that my death may; and 1 do as earnestly beg, that if any reader'shall receive any satisfaction from this very plain, and as true relation, he will be so charitable as to say, "Amen*." THE SIN-OFFERING-LEVIT. IV.* As it was needful that the offending nature should Having thus noticed the victim, we proceed to notice the actions to be performed with it. In the fourth verse we read, "He shall bring the bul lock to the door of the tabernacle of the congre gation;" that is, to the altar which stood in the court of the tabernacle. Outram says "the: the reason for mentioning the door of the taber nacle, rather than the altar, was to guard against a notion that victims might lawfully be offered in other places, and that naming the tabernacle be offered to God only, and not to any strang afforded a plain intimation that sacrifices were to gods't. This court was the place of meeting be tween God and the people themselves. God had excluded from the tabernacle itself, on account of promised to meet with them; but, as they were sin, this place for meeting was provided for them. But, as they were sinful, and their King was holy, they could still only meet in peace at a place where sins could be forgiven, and propitiation be made. There was an altar, therefore, in this court, even at the entrance of it. This altar wa to be made either of earth or stone: if of stone, it was to be just as nature had formed it: "no tool was to be lifted up upon it,” in order to point out to men that in such an altar no human art nor *Life of Dr. Robert Sanderson, by Izaak Walton, in power had place, that God alone was its provider. Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog., vol. iv. REFLECTION. The higher a Christian ascends above this sinful world, the more that religion prevails within, the more evidently shall he then find himself in a clear heaven, in a region that is calm and serene, and the more will those dark affections of fear and despair vanish away, and those clear and bright affections of love and joy, of hope and peace, break forth in strength and lustre upon the soul. It was to be overlaid with brass; whence its name, "the brazen altar." To this altar alone the Jews were to bring all their offerings for acceptance. That which made them to be accepted was the propitiatory work connected with the altar, and for which it was principally designed. To this * From "Lectures on the Typical Character of the Jewish Tabernacles, Priesthood, and Sacrifices." By the rev. F. G Simpson, B.A., curate of Ickworth, Suffolk. A work we have before commmended.-ED. † Outram on Sacr. book i. c. xv. sec, iii, Allen's Trans. |