peared never to have one serious doubt respecting the safety of her spiritual state. Her cheerfulness from that time could not escape the observation of any person who saw her; but the full solution of it was not at first discovered. When her friends were at length constrained to allow, what she had uniformly wished them to believe, that her recovery was not to be expected, she declared what God had done for her soul, and expressed an assured hope of future glory. The origin of this assurance she distinctly and accurately traced. It did not arise from a sudden impulse. No passage of scripture was impressed on the mind; no voice, in her sleeping or waking moments, pronounced her character or destination. Nor was it derived from a consciousness of high attainments in Christian virtue. She uniformly expressed the deepest conviction of human de. pravity, and of her personal unwor thiness, sinfulness, and guilt; and took notice of the religious attainments of others, who, it is presumed, would gladly have received counsel from her lips, and improvement from her example. It was an assurance gradually obtained, which, in common with all her spiritual attainments, she ascribed to divine and sovereign grace. Her prevailing impression had, for several years, been that of confidence in God. She had been seeking, waiting, hoping, and trusting. Her bible was the oracle, to which she daily repaired for instruction; and this pious exercise was accompanied with prayer to the Father of Lights for divine illumination and guidance. The promise, Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, was fulfilled. By perseverance in seeking, she found the knowledge of God. The additional promise was fulfilled: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. By cherishing a conscientious desire of conformity to the will of God, she obtained a deep and extensive acquaintance with the truths of scripture, and at the same time became thoroughly furnished to all good works. Not satisfied with a general acquaintance with scriptural doctrines, she was studious to obtain a distinct knowledge of the several parts, which compose the whole; to understand them in their order and connexion; and to perceive the symmetry and beauty, the excellence and glory, of the entire system. The peculiar doctrines of the gospel were not more thoroughly understood by her, than they were cordially embraced. The doctrine of the cross was to her the To this she repaired, and to this she power of God, and the wisdom of God. adhered, as the ark of her salvation. Here it is that we are to look for the origin of that holy confidence, which rendered her triumphant in death. "Jesus Christ, having made atonement for sin, has promised that every penitent sinner, who believes in him, and becomes conformed to his example and laws, shall be pardoned, justified, and saved. But I find ev idence of my repentance, faith in JeI therefore am confident of my par sus Christ, and conformity to him. don, justification, and salvation.” Such was her method of reasoning: and her conclusion was not to be shaken. genuineness of her faith and peniTo the evidences of the tence, and of the other Christian graces,she had been sedulously attentive; and had not to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God. Having resolved every doubt concerning she confided in the faithfulness of the reality of religion in her own soul, HIM, who hath promised with truth of her own existence. much assurance as she believed the Another process of reasoning, by which she arrived at the same conclusion, was by tracing her religion to its divine origin, and then again hath, by his spirit, implanted a prinapplying the word of promise. "God ciple of holiness in my heart. God will never leave his work unfinBut ished Therefore the work, which he hath begun in me, he will perfect the great doctrines of divine election, in glory." Here she had recourse to promise, the immutability of God, regenerating grace, the covenant of the divine nature and absolute promises of Christ, and the final perseverof these truths and promises, and of ance of the saints. In the firm belief her own personal interest in them, she was confident of this very thing, that He, who had begun a good work in her, would perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. She was assured, that she should be kept by the power of God, through faith to salvation. The Christian hope being now an anchor to her soul, sure and stedfast, the winds and tempests could neither agitate nor disquiet her. This hope raised her entirely above the fear of death, whose approach she uniform ly regarded as that of a welcome messenger. Having with perfect composure, and with her usual discernment and prudence, made domestic arrangements, and adjusted all her tem poral concerns, she calmly waited to receive the summons for her departure. She had several paroxysms of severe pain and distress, but never uttered the language of complaint or impatience. After these parox. ysms, she often said, "my sufferings, I hope, will not continue to be so severe; nevertheless, Father, thy will be done." Her great concern was, that God in all things might be glorified, through Jesus Christ. On the Tuesday preceding her death, she apprehended herself about to expire and every symptom indicated approaching death. What little strength remained was exhausted in the act of giving praise and glory to God; and all vital motion apparent. ly ceased. Every person present believed that she had actually expired, but, to the astonishment of all, respiration, together with the powers of reason and speech, shortly returned. On Friday she expressed an apprehension lest she had not glorified and praised God, at that critical moment, when she considered her departure as at hand. “Did I," she importunately asked. Being answered, that she did; "Have I then," she rejoined, "any thing to do but to die?" She continued to the last to speak of death with familiarity and delight. Every step she considered as tending to the termination of her pilgrimage through the wilderness; and she dwelt with sacred pleasure on the thought of reaching the banks of Jordan, and plunging into its cold waters, that she might pass over into the land of promise.* The happiness of the redeemed was a favorite subject of her contemplation, and the nearer the view, the stronger were her anticipations. Her joy was literally unspeakable and full of glory. It pleased God to fulfil all her petitions. Her sufferings were gradually diminished, and she at length fell asleep,without a struggle. Had an infidel witnessed her exit,scarcely could he have suppressed the exclamation: Let me die the death of this Christian, and let my last end be like her's. Seldom is there a more striking proof, than her dying apartment furnished, of the truth and justness of the poet's description: The chamber where the Christian meets his fate, Is privileg'd beyond the common walk Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven : God waits not the last momentowns his friends On this side death, and points them out to men, A lecture silent, but of sovereign power. * See the lines which follow, entitled, "The Female Pilgrim." DIED. At Dedham, on the morning of the 4th July 1808, deeply lamented, that eminent statesinan, and patriot, and eloquent orator, the Hon. FISHER AMES, Esq. Character in our next. ORDAINED. In Rowley, Rev. Joseph Merrill, as an Evangelist. In Branford, (Con.) Rev. Timothy P. Gillet; sermon from Matt. xiii. 52. INSTALLATION. In Ashfield, Rev. Alvan Sanderson, over the church and congregation in that place. POETRY. THE FEMALE PILGRIM. A thought, borrowed from MRS. GANNETT, was wrought into the following poetical lines, which were presented to her in the last stage of her illness. She committed them to memory, and often repeated them with a spirit and energy truly admirable. WHITHER go'st thou, Pilgrim stran ger, Passing thro' this darksome vale ? PILGRIM, thou dost justly call me, While I'm blest with such a GUIDE. Such a guide!--no guide attends thee, If a Guardian Power befriends thee, 'Tis unseen by mortal eyes. Yes, unseen, but still, believe me, Such a Guide my steps attends; He'll in every strait relieve me, HE from every harm defends, Pilgrim! see that stream before thee, Darkly winding through the vale; No: that stream has nothing frightful, While I gaz'd-with speed surprising Gazing still, I saw her rising, TO CORRESPONDENTS. Thelesus is in type; but is necessarily deferred to the next number. As friends to free discussion, we are pleased with the ingenuity of Xenos, though we are not prepared to admit the correctness of all his reasonings and conclusions. We think his communications would have a better effect in a detached form, and together; we therefore advise him to pursue his proposed plan. We hope his ingenuous pen will be employed on other subjects, to enrich the Panoplist. Cephas came too late for this month. He shall hear from us soon on the subject of his communication. Observations on the Apocrypha by N. E. are approved. Timothy, in answer to Candidus, is received and shall have early atten tion. The author has our thanks. Erastus, Z and the author of " Pious Meditations," are requested to con. tinue their correspondence. The original letters from the late Rev. John Newton and Mrs. Niles, are received, and we shall with pleasure give them early insertions in the Panoplist. The Editors and Publishers of the Panoplist and Magazine have to apologize to their patrons, for the delay of this first number, and for some errors of inadvertence, which originated in the change of the form of the publication, and which were permitted to pass, in the multiplicity of attentions and the hurry necessarily created by the new arrangements. The larger pamphlet should have been numbered, as the smaller, No. 1. Vol. I. new series, instead of No. 37.-Vol. IV. The piece "On the name Christian" is continued from p. 507, of the Panoplist, Vol. III. MEMOIR OF THE LATE REV. JOHN NEWTON, Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, &c. Lombard Street, London. BIOGRAPHERS frequently observe, That the calm and even tenor of a clergyman's life seldom affords those remarkable incidents which render a Memoir generally interesting. Mr. Newton's, however, is a striking exception (that part of it especially which preceded his conversion and entrance into the ministry ;) and we rejoice to think that, in giving an account of it, we are not confined to those scanty and defective materials, which are with difficulty gleaned from uncertain quarters. We are favored with full and clear memorials, written by himself, and which have been long before the public. We refer to "An Authentic Narrative, &c. in a Series of Letters to the Rev. Dr. Haweis," published in the year 1764; his "Letters to a Wife," printed in 1793; his "Apologia, letters," &c.-From these and other undoubted sources, we derive the following most interesting and affecting particulars. Mr. John Newton was born in London, on the 24th of July, 1725. His father, who appears to have VOL. I. New Series. G been a sensible and moral man, His mother, who observed his mental improvement with peculiar pleasure, earnestly desired that he might become a minister of the gospel, if the Lord should so incline his heart. With this view, probably, he begun, when six years of age, to learn Latin ; but soon the intended plan of his education was entirely deranged, and he was deprived of the guide of his youth before he was seven years old. His father who was then at sea, returned to England during the following year, and soon after married again. Thus he passed into fresh hands and, though well treated in all other respects, the loss of his mother's instructions was not repaired. He mingled with profane children and learnt their ways. He was then sent to a boarding-school in Essex, where he was severely and improperly treated; but, during the latter part of the two years which he spent there, he made a considerable progress in the Latin language. When he was eleven years old his father took him to sea; and, from that time to the year 1742, he made several voyages, but with considerable intervals between them; which were chiefly spent in the country, except a few months at Alicant, in Spain, where he had a very advantageous prospect; but his unsettled disposition, and impatience of restraint, rendered the design abortive. During this period, his temper and conduct were exceedingly various. At one time, he would pray, read the Scriptures, and keep a sort of diary; then he would grow weary of religion, gradually give it up, and become worse than before. He had learned to curse and blaspheme before he was twelve years old. A narrow escape from death by the fall of a horse affected him for a time; but he soon declined again. Struggles between sin and conscience were often repeated; but, on every relapse, he sunk into greater depths of wickedness. He often saw the necessity of religion, as a mean of escaping Hell; but he loved sin too well to forsake it. One of his religious fits (if we may so term them) continued for two years. He read, fasted, prayed, and became a strict Pharisee; but it was a poor religion; it left him, in many respects, under the power of sin, and only tended to make him gloomy and useless. In this state of mind he met with a deistical book." Lord Shaftesbury's Characteristics;" this was exactly suited to his romantic turn of mind, and he read it with avidity; but was not aware of its baneful tendency. No immediate effect, indeed, followed; but it operated like a slow poison, and prepared the way for all that followed. He In the year 1742, his father, not intending to go to sea again, was desirous of settling him in business; but he was averse to the thoughts of industrious application. At length, a merchant in Liverpool proposed to send him for some years to Jamaica. consented; every thing was prepared, and he was to sail the following week. In the mean time, his father sent him on some business into Kent, a few miles from Maidstone, where he was to have staid but a few days; but this little journey gave rise to a new series of unexpected and uncommon events, which affected his whole future life. |