We once offered on the cross. had nothing in ourselves, we told her, wherewith to propitiate our offended Creator; and he himself had provided, in the person of his Son, a mean of reconciliation. We then showed her how the benefit of this oblation was to be appropriated, by believing the record which God hath given;' and that, as in herself dwelt no good thing, so she must pray that the Holy Spirit would regenerate and purify her infant heart. O how sweet it was to train up our beauteous babe! With her it was indeed an animating, a 'Delightful task, to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea how to shoot, mind!' "But a few years had elapsed from this time, when I married a lady by birth a Swiss, a native of the canton of Bâsle. She was, indeed, of the Lord's providing; and a help meet for me she proved. And how her bright blue eyes We had an only daughter, who would sparkle, though suffused at grew up the lovely image of her intervals with tears, when we spoke mother. Of this dear pledge of of that good Shepherd,' who gaour affection, we were possibly too thers the lambs with his arms and enamoured; and He who lent it to carries them in his bosom,' and ús for a short and sweet season, who tends with such affectionate early withdrew it from our view. anxiety even the least of the little It was a gourd of his own pre- ones of his fold, lest it should go paring,' and we sat beneath its astray and be lost.' Thus, shadow with inexpressible delight. vine brought indeed out of Egypt, But there was a worm at its root; but with a gentle hand watered and soon, O how soon! it wither- with the softest dews of heaven, ed and died. and protected by the assiduous watchfulness of parental fondness, lest the boar out of the wood should waste it, or the wild beast of the field devour it,' she grew, and sent forth her branches,' and 'trees were covered with the' pleasant shade.' "As we were unwilling to part with her even for a moment, and found it difficult to procure such instructors for her as we desired, my beloved wife, who was every way qualified for the office, undertook to be her preceptress. Our first care, however, was to endeavour, trusting that our little labour would be countenanced from above, to instil into her mind a love for that God who made and redeemed her. We taught her, and exemplified the mournful truth from the indications of it in herself, that we were all born in sin,' and by nature the children of wrath.' From this we led her, as her childish years could receive it, to the sacrifice 6 Our as a "While occupations at once so profitable and pleasing were granted to us in our domestic circle, limited though it was, it will easily be believed that we had not a wish beyond it. Yet the duties of religion and humanity often called us to minister to the temporal and spiritual necessities of our tenantry and others; and it was to us a subject of thankfulness and gratitude, that we were permitted the high privilege of relieving the wants of our fellow-creatures, and pouring balm into their wounds. The poorest outcast at our door was still a human being with passions and feelings similar to our own, and we considered nothing that regarded him as foreign to ourselves *. While we beheld him, therefore, we could say, and sympathize with him accordingly, Is he not man, by sin and suffering tried? Is he not man, for whom the Saviour died?' 66 6 Thus, in one even, uninterrupted stream of happiness-of happiness such as falls to the lot of few-time advanced, until our Emily had completed her seventeenth year. But if He who knows our frame, and provides what is best for us, occasionally allow us consolations in our pilgrimage, he yet seldom lets his children remain long without some memorial that they are strangers in the earth.' He sees it requisite that we should oftentimes go mourning as we journey to the heavenly Canaan, lest we should be too much inclined to take up our residence in this waste, howling wilderness.' My amiable partner, it is true, with that mixture of reproof and affection which she could employ with such inimitable delicacy, frequently reminded me, when I spoke of the felicity which was the portion of my cup, that this was not my rest. Remember, Claude,' she would mildly say to me, the hand that bestows our comforts, when we lean on them with too ardent an attachment, generally withdraws them, lest they should prove detrimental to our eternal interests. Did not God remove the best-beloved of the wives of Jacob, and deprive him, at least for a long and painful season, of his favourite son? No, dearest Claude, set not your heart too much on me and on your child.' * Homo sum; et humanum nihil a me alienum puto. --TER. "At this period our daughter was almost too fair, too perfect, to be human; and we more than once expressed our mutual apprehensions (and, O may a fond and bereaved father be pardoned for calling them apprehensions!) that she was ripening too fast for a better world to be permitted to sojourn much longer in this. We felt as if the Lord was preparing her for himself. But it was the appointment of Him who doeth all things well."" Here the eyes of the venerable sufferer filled. He stopped for a moment, wiped the tears as they flowed along his furrowed cheeks; and, with a sigh that excited the deepest commiseration, resumed his narrative. "Sorrow, it has been observed, seldom comes unattended. Yet, if the truth of the remark has been justified, too forcibly justified, in me, should I not bow in submission to the will of Him, without whom not even a sparrow falleth to the ground?' If my affections were too closely entwined around created things, they were soon to be torn away from me, and I was to be left without a support, without a refuge to cling to, but the hand which held the rod that bruised me. "It was towards the end of that autumn in which, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,' we had commemorated the seventeenth return of the day which had brought us such an augmentation to our happiness, and such an addition also to our anxieties, that my wife and daughter, invited by the serenity of the evening, wandered to a considerable distance from our abode. That department of the province in which the mansion of my fathers stood, was peculiarly beautiful. Diversified with wood and water, hill and dale, it was a spot almost where angels, 'Sent down on errand of supernal love,' might not refuse to dwell; and in perhaps the fairest part of it my domain was situated, Upon the banks of a river which bounded it in that direction, and rolled its clear wave peacefully along, my Amelia, who had much taste for rural improvements, had had a walk constructed which commanded a view of some of the most picturesque scenery in Alsace; and here it was that she and my child lingered on that memorable night. Their conversation, as they mutually told me afterwards, was so interesting, and their meditations so sweet, in looking forward to a world where nothing that is carnal shall enter, where the intercourse of the redeemed shall be unbroken as unalloyed, and where the pang of parting shall never more be felt, that they forgot the dews were falling heavily, and that they were already far from home. O, the recollection harrows up this icy heart! But was it not needful, and shall I repine? Before they reached our dwelling, the star of evening had long sunk beneath the horizon, and the chill damps of night, whitening about their path, were reflected in the moon-beam, whose peculiar paleness seemed to presage some impending calamity. "On their arrival we put Emily to bed, and administered such simple medicines as were beside us, and had before been found effectual as preventives. For some days no unpleasant symptoms appeared, and we were willing to flatter ourselves that no injurious consequences would result; but it had been otherwise ordained. Shortly after, she complained of a pain in her breast, which was attended with a cough. Her breathing became difficult, and a hectic flush overspread her fair cheek. But it is unnecessary to detail the particulars of her advancing disorder. Enough to say, it baffled the skill of her physicians; and we were compelled, however reluctantly, to think our beauteous blossom drooping to the grave. As a gentle flower, she was rifled by the unseasonable blast, and fading when its loveliness was only beginning to expand. Her meek humility, her pious resignation, and her lively hope, were indeed edifying to us all; and constrained us, in the midst of our affliction, to glorify God on her behalf. Not a murmur ever escaped her lips; and we were aware of her sufferings only by the remedies which she requested might be applied at intervals for momentary relief. And, O how often would she try to comfort us, pointing our anticipations to a scene where we should ere long be reunited, never to part again! 66 а Scarcely had we beheld the sun of her morning (and it was morning without clouds') when her day declined, and went down -still serene indeed, but O how soon! In a few months, our Emily was no more. Her life had been one of early and singular devotedness to her heavenly Master; and her death was truly peace. Consoled we were by the assurance that we should go to her, though she would not return to us; yet the stroke could not but be severe which bereft us of the delight of our eyes, and the centre of all our earthly attractions. But I was still further to be made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Her mother, she who through nineteen fleeting years had shared alike my sorrows and my joys-she whose tender affection had brightened many a gloomy moment, whose converse had so often cheered me in seasons of despondency, and whose counsel I had found so sweet-my Amelia was soon to be taken from me also. ternal solicitude. The seeds of decline were laid; and hardly had we followed Emily to the tomb, when my beloved wife was attacked in a similar manner. The symptoms, from the first, were of the most alarming nature, and we mutually foresaw that the hour of our separation was at hand. O these were the billows! the floods of great waters!' But I had an arm to lean on which was able to sustain me, else they had assuredly gone over my soul! "As the winter was approaching, I proposed removing with her to a milder climate. Not that I had any expectation she would derive material benefit from the change; but I was willing to do whatever was recommended as affording the distant possibility of her restoration to health. No pérsuasions, however, could induce her to consent to leave a spot which had been so deeply endeared to her. It had been the witness of her most delightful enjoyments, as of her bitterest sorrows; and she wished, with submission to the divine will, to die where her Emily had died, and to sleep beside her in the same grave. She was conscious, indeed, that there was no prospect of her recovery, and that all human aid was vain. The journey, besides, alarmed her; and she was afraid that she might either sink under the fatigue, or be obliged to stop by the way, where she might want many comforts which she had at home, and whịch her situation so much required. But, to be brief, I soon lost my last tie to a miserable world. All my fondest hopes had been withered in the bud; and I was left as a blasted oak, which still lifts its riven head to the 'stormy wind and tempest,' amid the surrounding desolation of the forest. I stood in solitude, and alone. I had none to sympathize with me-none to weep over my distress-no friendly hand to uphold my tottering steps. And this"-here the old man raised his -a 66 6 eyes, bedewed with tender recollections-"this, if memory do not fail me, is the anniversary of that mournful event, which deprived me of her I loved in life and lament in death. It was on this day day, such has been the will of Heaven, I shall always honour, and account sacred to regret *; it was on this day my Amelia died! O, the iron entered into my soul!' My home now became insupportable. Though enabled, I trust, to adore in humility the Power which had winged the arrows that stuck fast in me,' I could no longer endure the scenes among which I had passed so many happy hours. I left them accordingly, and purchased a small estate in a part of the Confederacy where every thing was in unison with my feelings. My change of sentiments had already created me numerous enemies, who hated me without a cause; and though sincerely attached to my ill-fated King, and my still more unhappy country, I was marked by one and all for destruction. No sooner, consequently, was it rumoured that I had withdrawn from France than my domains were confiscated; and the revolution breaking out shortly after, I was pursued by the unrelenting malice of my persecutors even to my Alpine retreat. "In the secrecy of this lonely retirement, I had hoped to be permitted to end my days in peace. What I had saved from the wreck of my property I had laid out in little embellishments suitable to the place; and it had gradually become, under my fostering care, all that a pilgrim, fast approaching the confines of the everlasting habitations, could desire. But it was the good pleasure of my heavenly Father's will that I should again be a wanderer; and I was driven homeless and helpless, bending beneath Jamque dies, ni fallor, adest; quem the accumulating pressure of years and sorrows, on a cruel and unpitying world." Here his emotion for an instant prevented articulation; but quickly recovering himself, he proceeded: "And now I am poor, and an exile, without a shelter, and without a friend. But if this sinking pulse does not deceive me, my trials are hastening to a long, an eternal close. O, in this hour, I would bless that mercy which has followed me, and kiss the rod that has chastened me so sore! A gracious and faithful Creator saw I required to be weaned from the things of time, and he did not withhold correction. And now 'I know that my Redeemer liveth,' and that I shall soon be beyond the reach of affliction. Yea, I know in whom I have believed, and". but he could no more. His eyes uplifted, and the sweet serenity of his furrowed visage, told them what he would have added. So lively had been the interest which the family had felt in the affecting story of their guest, that it was some time before they could persuade themselves it was concluded. Still accompanying in imagination the aged sufferer through his joys and griefs, they thought the tale yet vibrating on their ears. But they were soon awakened from the mournfullypleasing dream by a sudden alteration in his countenance. They had perceived his voice frequently falter during the course of his narrative, and had been uneasy lest he should be overcome by the recital; but they could not prevail upon themselves to interrupt him, so warmly had they participated in the sad reality of his misfortunes. He had not long ceased to speak, however, when they were alarmed by a striking change in his appearance; and while their eyes were fixed on him in anxious expectation, he fell back in his chair, as if the vital spark had fled. Every thing that the most tender sympathy could dic tate, was done to minister to his relief; but the powers of nature were exhausted, and it quickly became apparent that the tide of life was ebbing, never to set in again. Mary, from the first moment of his arrival, had been unremitting in her attentions to the venerable stranger, and, particularly attracting his observation, had more than once received from him a grateful acknowledgment of her assiduous though unassuming kindness. Desirous of testifying his regard, he now called her over to him as he lay breathing with difficulty on the bed, and, putting into her hand a When small parcel, said, "Let its precepts dwell in thee richly. thou goest, they shalt lead thee; when thou sleepest, they shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, they shall talk with thee.' He would have continued, but his lips quivered, unable to articulate; and he swooned away in the arms of Du Blesne. Though he could never speak very audibly afterwards, they heard him ejaculate at intervals, Lord, remember me!" 66 66 My flesh and my heart are failing; but thou-my portion for ever." "Washed in the blood of the Lamb, I will fear no evil!"-" Redeemed by thee, what do I not owe thee, thou Saviour of sinners?" "In thy presence is fulness of joy." And, just before he bade adieu to a world, where he seemed to have drunk of the bitter portion of his Master's cup-" Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!" after which his features settled into a placid smile, and his spirit returned to Him who gave it. So deep was the impression which this solemn scene had left on the minds of all who witnessed it, that they remained kneeling beside the bed on which the pale corpse of their now-sainted visitor was stretched, until the rising sun, breaking into the room, and tinging that blanched cheek which was never again to be moistened with a |