she was generally silent and thoughtful, listened eagerly to any religious conversation; and when she did speak, it was with great earnestness and solemnity; while at all times, she seemed to regard with sacred horror, any ap. proach to cheerfulness and gayety.

At this time, however, she enjoyed comparative tranquillity of mind; and, in religious exercises, she appears to have had considerable enjoyment. The complacency with which she regarded the righteousness she was labour. ing to frame for her justification in the sight of God, and the deceptions which a beautiful ritual of devotion and perfect formulary of holy deeds practise upon the feelings; can easily account for her temporary quietude, or the ab. sence of agonizing emotion.

She resorted, at regular seasons, to her sequestered garden, for reading, and meditation, and prayer. I have before me an interesting letter from a young divine, de. scriptive of an incident, which illustrates this habit of her life. One morning, at sunrise, in the month of May, 1824, he had walked from Garelochhead, a hamlet in the imme. diate neighbourhood; for the purpose of ascending the hill behind Fernicarry, to enjoy the glories of that scene, which contains more of the sublime and beautiful, than is to be found in many regions. As he pursued his way by the margin of the rivulet, a book, lying outside the wickerwork, which, with the rocks, formed the enclosure of Isabella's garden, attracted his eye; and, at the next glance, he saw a young female engaged in devotion. He naturally felt inclined to enter into conversation; but dreading to interrupt her by a rash intrusion, he retired softly, and ascended the mountain, in the full persuasion of meeting her on his return, as he took her for the girl tending some cattle in the contiguous field. Nearly an hour elapsed before he came back; when he found her in the same attitude, and obviously engaged in the same exercise. He

again retired to a little distance, and, in a short time, he saw her rise from her knees, and sit down to read.

He then approached, and found that she had with her the Bible and two catechisms: he learned from her that she often spent the morning, when the weather permitted, in that manner; preferring the retirement of her little garden to any other place. "She seemed," he adds, "to be duly impressed with a sense of the goodness of God, in allowing her to enjoy such a privilege; and to be more alive to the value of the soul, and the preciousness of the gospel, than any young person I have conversed with."

The agonies which she had formerly endured, were decisive of the value she attached to her soul; and how precious she estimated the gospel to be. Had she underrated either, like the careless multitudes of a dark and unre. generated world, she might, like them, have spent the days of her youth without disquietude or pain; but she had seen so much of truth as to make her restless, until she knew the whole truth needful to seal the peace of a believer's mind. The tranquillity which, at this time, she enjoyed, her subsequent experience proved, was greater, than the quantity of truth she in reality knew, could possibly

warrant.

One of those books, which she had with her Bible, must have been a sacramental catechism, which the young people of this parish study, and upon which they are examined, previous to their admission, for the first time, to the holy communion; for now Isabella had resumed, among her other holy sevices, attendance in the Sunday-school; and at the time of the interview described, must have been occupied in such exercises as were prescribed before partaking of the Lord's Supper.--Indeed, the prospect itself of this solemn act of devotion may have contributed to the temporary repose of her mind. The Saviour, as she must

have heard, has made himself known in the breaking of bread; and her hopes naturally would fix upon the altar of communion, as the place where substantial and permanent blessedness was most probably to be found in the presence of a crucified Redeemer. She had been reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul,' and examined with the deepest interest that history of the divine life. Whatever other effect resulted from the perusal of this work, it fixed her resolution, should she be found qualified according to the ordinary rules, of becoming a communicant.

Although she could not say that Christ was her Saviour, or that she had felt him to be the author of peace to her soul; she was actuated by the hope, that in this service it might at last be found, and in obeying his dying command, sin might at last be destroyed.

She prepared herself most diligently, according to the rules prescribed by Doddridge; and more particularly in devoting herself to God in the manner he enjoins. The following form of self-consecration, upon his own model, was found among her papers, which, from the date it bears, must have been constructed a day or two before the Sabbath of communion :

Fernicarry, July 11, 1824. "Eternal and ever-blessed God, I come to present myself before thee with the deepest humility and abasement of soul; sensible how unworthy such a sinful worm is to appear before the holy Majesty of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords; and es pecially on such an occasion as this, even to enter into a covenant transaction with thee. But the scheme and plan is thy own. Thine infinite condescension hath offered it by thy Son, and thy grace bath inclined my heart to accept of it. I come, therefore, acknowledging myself to be a great offender, smiting on my breast, and saying with the humble publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. I come invited by the name of thy Son, and wholly trusting in his perfect righteousness, entreating that for his sake

thou wilt be merciful to me, and wilt no more remember my sins. Receive, I beseech thee, thy revolted creature, who is now convinced of thy right to her, and desires nothing so much as that she may be thine. This day do I with the utmost solemnity surrender myself to thee. I renounce all former lords that have had dominion over me: and I consecrate to thee all that I have, the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my time, and my influence over others, to be used entirely for thy glory, and resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou continuest me in life, with an ardent desire and humble resolution to continue thine, through all the endless ages of eternity; ever holding myself in an attentive posture to observe the first intimation of thy will, and ready to spring forward with zeal and joy to the immediate execution of it. To thy direction also I resign myself, and all I am and have, to be disposed of by thee in such a manner as thou shalt, in thy infinite wisdom, judge most subservient to the purposes of thy glory. To thee I leave the management of all events, and say without reserve, not my will, but thine be done; rejoicing with a loyal heart in thine unlimited government, as what ought to be the delight of the whole creation. Use me, O Lord, I beseech thee, as an instrument of thy service: number me among thy peculiar people : let me be washed in the blood of thy dear Son; let me be clothed with his righteousness; let me be sanctified by his Spirit. Transform me more and more into his image; impart to me through him all needful influences of thy purifying, cheering, and comforting Spirit; and let my life be spent under those influences, and the light of thy gracious countenance as my Father and my God. And when the solemn hour of death comes, may I remember this my covenant, well ordered in all things and sure-all my salvation, and all my desire.

"And do thou, O Lord, remember it too. Look down with pity, O my Heavenly Father, on thy languishing, dying child; embrace me in thine everlasting arms: put strength and confidence into my departing spirit, and receive it to the abodes of them that sleep in Jesus; peacefully and joyfully to wait the accomplishment of thy great promise to all thy people, even that of a glorious resurrection, and of eternal happiness in thine heavenly presence. And if any surviving friends should, when I am in the dust, meet with this memorial of my solemn transactions with thee, may they make the engagement their own; and do thou graciously admit them to partake in all the blessings of thy covenant,

through Jesus, the great mediator of it. To whom, with thee, O Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be everlasting praise and glory.-— Amen. "ISABELLA CAMPBELL."

With such solemnity did she thus approach to pay her vows before the holy altar of God. All seemed to promise well. She had done what was deemed necessary by a wise and holy man ; and she had good hope of at last attaining what she had long so intensely desired, that her parched soul might be as a well-watered field, which the Lord had blessed. She ate, however, the body, and drank the blood of the Lord, without realizing what she had been anticipating; so that she might have said to the promises of her deceiving hope, "where is the blessedness ye spake of?" At the same time, while, from the holy sacrament itself, no essential benefit was derived, she had enjoyment in some of the accompanying services; and one sermon, in particular, she held, till the day of her death, in grateful remembrance.

During the preceding period of comparative tranquillity, she had been perplexed and harassed by other troubles than those of a spiritual nature. Her family were in the lowest and most desolate poverty; the creditors of her fa. ther having claimed whatever worldly substance he had possessed. She was, besides, extremely delicate; unable, by her own exertions, to provide for her support; and the fear of want distressed her, when her mind, somewhat re. lieved of its anxiety regarding eternal things, was more alive to worldly interests and cares. At such moments, she had not faith to lay hold of the promises of him, who is a father to the fatherless, the stay of the orphan, and who considereth the case of the destitute; in great compassion declaring, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them."