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epistolary correspondence. The letters which she penned are forcibly expressive of the sentiments of her own mind, and the feelings of her own heart. With artless simplicity, and, at the same time, with an eminent degree of matured wisdom, they furnish many a beautiful representation of the Christian character and conduct. To the friends of the departed, who personally knew what she was, extracts yet more copious would doubtless have been acceptable. But a due regard should be paid to the limits within which these memorials of departed worth must be confined.-It may be proper to add, that the earlier extracts in the following series are made from letters addressed to William Henry Loxdale Eden, Mrs. Hill's nephew, and the son of her eldest sister, confided by his dying mother, as already noted, to her affectionate care. The correspondents to whom the subsequent passages were addressed will be severally mentioned when the extracts are introduced.

"December 23d, 1812. My mind is graciously supported under an affliction as severe as any I have ever passed through. How true those words,-'As thy days, so shall thy strength be!' How kind, how gracious, is our God! O may I learn wisdom and obedience, and 'die daily!' Eternity is all. May we, my dearest William, be

always prepared!

66

September 16th, 1813. Tell me how I may attain all the mind that was in Christ. I cannot express how very ardently I long to be lost in God, to have the blessed experience of what it is to live, and move, and have my being' in Him. I think the Lord will surely bless me with a baptism of His Spirit: I feel so encouraged to hope for it.

"June 3d, 1814.

How can you and I be sufficiently thankful! How can we do enough for Him who hath done so great things for us! For my own part, I see that all the love, and gratitude, and obedience I can possibly render to God, falls so far short of what I owe, that I truly long for that period when I shall have nobler powers, and be enabled worthily to praise and magnify His name.

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'June 26th, 1814. I believe when souls are conflicting with the remains of the carnal mind,-when a wrong temper fills them with holy shame and contrition,-when even a wrong thought is their grief, and often fills them with unutterable distress,-God is peculiarly near to them, and infinitely willing to deliver them. He sees their tears; He is a witness to their groans; and waits to bring them into glorious liberty.-I have just returned from the lovefeast. I felt sweetly constrained to witness that God is love;' that Jesus had 'washed me from my sins in His own blood;' and that I was happy not only last year, and last quarter, but now.

"February 2d, 1815. O the glorious hope of meeting in our Father's house above! This lifts the fainting spirits up.' I have been much engaged since you left us in the old routine of classes, bunds, and Committees, besides visiting the sick and afflicted. I have not half time enough, but gladly devote all I have and am to Him to whom my more than all is due. I heard of one precious woman at

Leeds, who, being taken suddenly ill, said, 'If my Lord is about to send for me, I am quite ready,-quite ready. All my affairs are settled. I have nothing to do but to die.' Soon after, she said, 'O, He is come! He is come! Angels are with Him. Do you not see them?' and in this triumphant manner departed. May my life be-like hers-holy and useful, and then I know my end will be alike triumphant.

"January 11th, 1816. Yesterday I led my morning class for the first time in six weeks, during which I was confined with a severe cold, and under the necessity of giving up all my delightful vocations. But, glory be to my heavenly Lord! I have found it equally precious to suffer as to do His will; and I believe I shall have cause for ever to praise Him for the affliction. He did indeed cause 'His goodness to pass before me;' and He has truly brought me into a closer walk with Him, a sweeter fellowship, in which I trust I shall grow to all eternity. Now that He has raised me up again, I purpose to be more unreservedly devoted to Him. Time appears to me increasingly valuable, and the duty of improving it more important than ever. 0 with what heart-felt satisfaction did I renew my covenant with God on Sunday in the great congregation! "October 17th, 1816. The mercies of the Lord' are 'new every morning great is His faithfulness.' May it be our delight to 'speak good of His name,' and daily to be telling of His salvation!' To me He is, I am sure, increasingly good and gracious. Every day and hour adds to the immense weight of obligation which I feel to Him. He keeps my soul in peace: He preserves my life from destruction: He crowneth me with lovingkindness:' He spreads 'a table' for me 'in the wilderness,' and says, 'Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved:' He brings me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me is love.'

"February 7th, 1817. May your soul prosper even as we wish! Then will you be even as the tall cedar of Libanus, and bring forth all the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.' I trust we are ripening for a blessed eternity, looking beyond the bounds of time and space to things that are invisible to mortal eye. O sweet eternity! My soul gasps after it, and exults in the glorious hope. Let us live for it more than

ever.

"October 27th, 1817. What can equal it-this transcendent goodness of the Lord? My soul seems laid under renewed obligation to love and praise Him; and He does so manifest Himself to me, that my heart exults, and is ready to break through the prison of the clay tenement, and join the blest above, who praise Him in nobler strains. I do abide under His shadow,' 'in the secret place of the Most High.' I am safe under His feathers.' His faithfulness and

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'truth' are as my 'shield and buckler.'

'There, in the place beside His throne,

Where all that find acceptance stand,'

there I continually place you, my dear William: there, as in a place

of safety, I leare you under His protecting love and guardian care who alone can keep you from falling; and O the sweet peace and power which He imparts to my soul in so doing!

In

"October 6th, 1819. I hope you will look to the Lord for the daily baptisms of His blessed Spirit, that you may be established in every good word and work.' Seek a crucifixion to the world. 'Look not at the things which are seen' and 'temporal,' 'but at the things which are not seen' and 'eternal.' 'Endure, as seeing Him who is invisible.' Study' to 'approve' yourself only to Him, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.' Continually declare all the counsel of God,' and insist on the necessity of Christian holiness in every sermon. It is not only Christ for us, but Christ in us, that gives the earnest and foretaste of the glorious inheritance. preaching this precious doctrine, you will find your own heart affected, and your desires stirred up after the attainment of the blessing. Do not rest short of this, lest you become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.' And what is it but the love that 'beareth, believeth, hopeth,' and 'endureth all things;' that is 'gentle, and easy to be intreated;' that never faileth,' but is 'full of mercy and good fruits?' This, reigning in the heart, is Christian. perfection. O be a witness for God, that He is not only faithful and just to forgive us our sins,' but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'

"November 12th, 1819. May you go forward, and attain to all the heights and depths of love and holiness! I am certain of this, that the further we proceed, so much the more delightful will the path be. I have been thinking, this morning, what will be our sensations when

'faith is sweetly lost in sight, And hope in full supreme delight;'

when all the ship's company meet' on the blissful shore. What, think you, will be our employment in those happy regions? How very low must be all our present ideas! how far short of the blessed realities must be all our conceptions of the eternal world! At best, we can but think of them negatively: no pain, sorrow, or parting; no sin; no weariness; no deep sense of unprofitableness and unfaithfulness. What a state! and what a place! May we be animated by the glorious hope of everlasting life to endure hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,' and to fight our passage through!'

"January 8th, 1820. Having once more been privileged with an opportunity of solemnly renewing our covenant with God, I hope we shall remember that His vows are upon us, learn wisdom and obcdience by all that is past, and get into a closer and more abiding union with Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.' Be as much as possible in private with the Lord. and meditation. Be sure to gather up the no moment, but in purchase of its worth.' in Him whom you have received. He will

Give yourself to prayer fragments of time. Pay Still learn to live to and manifest His truth, His

power and faithfulness, while you continue to follow Him in simplicity; and will, in every trial, save you to the uttermost,' and to the end. O how little do we know of what is comprehended in that uttermost!'-what heights, what depths, and lengths, and breadths!"

"October 5th, 1819," she writes to Mr. Henry Eden,-"I hope you have related to those of your own house His mighty acts, the wonders of His grace and love which you have experienced; and that you are enabled to show forth the fruits of that grace to all around. This will preach even more effectually than a thousand sermons. A young lady told me last night that she dated her first serious impressions from observing the conduct of her brother, who had just been converted. The change which she saw in him convinced her that there was a Divine reality in religion, and determined her to seek it. She is now a truly pious girl. May your dear sister 'go and do likewise!' I trust you hold fast your confidence, and are going on to 'comprehend with all saints' the heights and depths of that 'love' which passeth knowledge,' and to experience all the 'unsearchable riches of Christ.' Think not, dear Henry, though you have received so liberally of these precious treasures of grace and mercy, that the Divine treasury is exhausted. O, no! you have been taught of God, and I am persuaded you have frequently had enlivening prospects of what still lies before you. Let it be your

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care to follow after holiness; and rest not till the remains of unbelief are utterly destroyed, and all the meek and loving mind of Christ is brought into your soul. Remember it is written,- What He hath promised, He is able also to perform.' Only scek diligently, perseveringly, and in faith, and you shall prove His faithfulness. Obe not faithless, but believing,' and you shall see the glory of God."

“July 7th, 1820," she writes to the same,-"The way to hold fast what you have attained is to grasp after more. 'Forgetting those things that are behind,' says the Apostle, 'I press toward the mark.' This mark is holiness,—a meek, submissive, resigned will, -affections closely united to Jesus,-an indwelling Christ. Strive for this. Let your soul go out after this precious salvation; that, whether in the fields or at home, in your daily vocations or in your closet, you may feel that He has your heart, and reigns unrivalled. Do not think that this blessing is out of your reach, or that you must do some great thing to purchase it. It is free as the air you breathe it is provided for you by blood Divine. The word is nigh thee.' 'If thou canst believe,' thou shalt see the great salvation. When you were a. sinner, Christ died for you; and you know that He did. How much more, now you are His by adoption and selfdedication, will He give you the blessed Spirit to inhabit and rule your heart! I hope you will seek this: nay, I believe you are seeking and desiring it more than even life itself. But you are seeking it by works, and not by faith,-though you are not aware of it. Works, dear Henry, are the fruits; but faith is the root. Get this greater measure of faith; and you will find that all the mountains will fall,

and become a plain before it. Hath He who is the Fountain of truth said, From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, I will cleanse you;' and will He not do it? Believe me, there is no hinderance but unbelief; and, when you are fully willing, even that shall be soon destroyed."

"October 13th, 1820," she writes to Mrs. Sarah Hawkes,*—" My ever dear friend will believe me, when I say it gave me the truest pleasure to hear once more from her. And, O, how sweet it is to find that, amidst all the vicissitudes of life, our faces are Zionward, and our hearts surely fixed where true joys are to be found! Blessed for ever be the name of our gracious Lord, that He has brought us to a saving acquaintance with Himself, and so revealed to our admiring eyes the glories of His nature and attributes as to constitute Ilim to us the chiefest among ten thousand,' and 'altogether lovely!'And so our dear sister Jones has escaped to her Father's house above. Having endured to the end in the obedience of faith and patience of hope, no doubt to her would be administered an abundant entrance' into the everlasting mansions. May we follow her as far as she followed Christ, and be found in Him living, dying, and eternally! I most truly sympathise with you in the great bereavement you sustain by her removal, and sincerely implore the Father of mercies to pour into your heart the gracious consolations of His Spirit. May this painful dispensation be greatly sanctified to you; and, while passing through the watery deep of afflictive providences, may you see the wonders of His grace and love, and feel your mind always supported by His presence, and strengthened by His Divine communications! When a dear friend is removed from earth to Abraham's bosom, it seems to me as if so much treasure were laid up in heaven, bidding us love the place where now they dwell, and scorn this wretched world they leave so poor."

The following passages occur in letters to Mr. Eden :

"November 9th, 1820. I was thinking lately of those words of the Evangelist's concerning our Lord's agony and passion in the garden: And His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.' The vesture must have been completely dyed. I felt, I think, as I had never before done, the entire depravity and corruption of my nature,-my wretchedness and guiltiness, in the sight of a pure and holy God, both from original and actual sin. But, at the same time that I had this soul-humbling view and feeling, I saw by faith the garment dyed with the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, and a power was given me to wrap myself, as it were, therein; so that I rejoiced with sacred, humble joy, and could confidently say, 'THY blood was shed for me.' I have all the benefit of the atonement. Blessed be God, the vesture' still keeps its bloody hue:' the atonement is available for all the ruined race.-Bless the Lord, I have a comfortable walk with Him. I am saved from all fear that

* This excellent person, whose Memoirs have been published by Miss Cecil, was related by affinity to Mrs. Hill.

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