young men for the ministry, in which he gave great satisfaction, and had no little success. The following were some of his remarkable expressions upon a sick and dying bed, taken from his own mouth, at several times, in broken sentences, under the violence of agonizing pains, while his head was very clear and composed: "I have no doubt of my eternal interest.-Why will ye not let me die?-Father, help me, my heavenly Father and my GOD.-I desire to be resigned; I desire to be resigned. Why should I desire to live? GOD has made with me an everlasting covenant, well ordered in all things, and sure; which is all my salvation, and all my desire.--My Father in heaven, my covenant Father, help me; lay no more upon me than thou wilt enable me to bear. Let patience have its perfect work.-A GOD near at hand, and not afar off, a most endearing character!-I was prepared for this illness; for I have been preaching (at Haberdasher's Hall in the morning of that Lord's Day on which the fever approached that issued in his death) upon these words, Rom. viii. 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors.-These tabernacles of ours are from, and ordered by GOD himself, every pin of them; and it is fit that he should have the pulling of them down in his own way: He doth all things with weight and measure.-Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is best; yet content I am to stay, if God has any further work for me to do. I put my trust in thee, O Lord.-A preserver of hope. Let me not be ashamed. Put your trust in the Lord; pour out your hearts before him; for our GoD is a refuge for us. O Father of compassion, help me!

"As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.-I will never leave you, nor forsake you. -The Lord is supreme; he doth as he pleases in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.- All my springs are in thee.-I am in good hands; it is better to fall into the hands of Gon, than into the hands of man. A guilty, weak, helpless worm, on thy kind arms I fall, dear Jesus! in thee I trust for strength, righteousness, and acceptance. Surely every man at his best estate, is altogether vanity.-How long, O Lord, ere thou wilt come and help me! Come, Lord, come quickly. Now do it for Christ's sake. I beseech thee deliver me from my pains: I am thy humble petitioner. Now to glorify GoD in the furnace, what an honour! O for that faith which overcomes the world! It nullifies it, and shews it to be a bauble. O the excellency of faith! O now increase my

faith, and make me more than conqueror.-I beseech thee release me one way or other. Thou canst do it: O that thou wouldst! Come, Lord, and make no tarrying.Subjection to the Father of spirits." He would often say, under his grievous pains and agonies, "It is well. It is fit we should endure pain and trouble here, for we shall have none hereafter; there the inhabitants shall not say they are sick.-Man soon fell from his first covenant, but GOD made a more glorious covenant with his Son. Now let me give myself up to Christ." And then added, with a solemn pause after it, "I do, I do.-O glorify GOD! I would have all men do it.-Through him we are more than conquerors. He is all my salvation, and all my desire. Amen." After these and many other expressions of the like believing, humble, resigned, joyful, and assured strain, some of which were often repeated in the two or three last days of his illness, he said with his expiring breath, "I now give up the ghost." With these last words in his mouth, he immediately departed, on Wednesday, July the 13th, 1743, in the fifty-first year of his age, dying in the faith and comfort of those evangelical principles which he had tried and proved, and preached and lived upon for many years.

WILLIAM MOTH.

MR. WILLIAM MOTH was pastor to the dissenting congregation at Basingstoke, Hants, and departed this life 24th August 1744. Gospel doctrines, in their relation to Christ's person, and the immediate influence they have upon all practical godliness, were the constant drift of his preaching.-How holy, justly, and unblameably he behaved himself before all men, was evident to all. He was a living preacher: a burning and a shining light. His sermons were first preached to his own heart, and then wrought into his life. Such as heard and conversed with him, either by word or by letter, could not but take knowledge of him, from time to time, that he had been with Jesus. GOD was pleased to try him many ways; but, from the mount of straits and trial, he came down with his face shining, though, with Moses, he saw it not himself. The long and uncommon trial of his faith and patience, which at last put an end to his life, served

only

only to throw greater lustre on his graces. When asked how his spiritual frame stood, amidst the racks of pain and sickness, his answer was, "I never said, nor (to my knowledge) thought any thing more than, thou, GoD, art holy. I have deserved more than this from the hand of GOD in the present life." Towards the close indeed, a veil was drawn over those sweet assurances and pleasant tokens he once had of union with Christ, and interest in him; yet, in his darkest hours, this was his language: "I can go into eternity, and appear before God, leaning on a perfect righteousness, and an everlasting covenant."-A gracious covenant Gon, however, though he tries long, will not try always. The cloud brake some days before life expired, and not a doubt or fear was after that allowed to discompose. He was not only enabled comfortably to lean on Christ, but also to triumph and rejoice in him. To one whom he heard saying, He is not like to live long; he is almost gone,' he answered, "I do not desire to live; to be with Christ is far better. From rivers of pain to oceans of glory: O the riches of free grace! I am so filled, that it is ready to overcome me. Oh! taste, and see the Lord is good. Love the Lord Jesus Christ, all of you." Being asked how he did, when his last moments drew on apace, he replied, "I am almost well: I know that my Redeemer liveth. The doctrines I have preached are now a comfort to my soul. Be sure you do not depart from what you have been taught, nor from the order of the church, and GoD will take care of you, and, I hope, will provide for you. Let young ones beware of despising the hand of the Lord; if they do, GoD will make them smart for it." And having prayed with earnestness and many tears, for the church of Christ, he soon afterwards fell asleep, being first heard to say, "Into thy hands I commit my spirit."

DAVID BRAINERD.

THE excellent President Edwards wrote the Life of this gracious man more at large than it is compatible with the design of this work to follow. Though the whole be edifying, the concluding part is particularly so, and therefore it shall be submitted to the reader. We will only premise, that he was born in Connecticut, New England,

England, on the 20th of April 1718, and died at Northampton in the same province, on the 9th of October 1747, in the thirtieth year of his age.

When he was in his last sickness, his constitution being naturally weak and infirm, he was forewarned that he should not have many days, and that the course infinite wisdom had allotted him to run, though great, was but short. The thoughts of death, therefore, and eternity, were long familiar to his mind; an intimacy, which in the nearest views of both, left his soul cheerful and serene. It was in the beginning of September 1747, that his frail tabernacle began to fail him. A complication of disorders of the most obstinate nature presaged his speedy dissolution, a prospect that he never contemplated but with pleasure, sometimes even with rapture; saying often, "Oh the glorious time is now coming! I have longed to serve GOD perfectly; and now GOD will gratify these my desires.-I long to be in heaven, praising and glorifying GOD with the holy angels: All my desire is to glorify Gon. My heart goes out to the burying-place; it seems to me a desirable place; but, oh! to glorify GOD, that is above all!" The last sentence which he wrote in his Diary, was upon the 25th, and runs thus: "Oh my dear GoD, I am speedily coming to thee, I hope! Hasten the day, O Lord, if it be thy blessed will. O come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Amen." On Sunday the 27th, he said, "I was born on a Sabbath Day; I have reason to think I was new-born on a Sabbath Day; and I hope I shall die on this Sabbath Day. I shall look upon it as a favour, if it may be the will of God that it should be so. I long for the time. Oh! why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot ?" Being afterwards asked how he did, "I am almost in eternity," he answered; "I long to be there. My work is done. I have done with all my friends. All the world is now nothing to me. Oh to be in heaven, to praise and glorify GOD with his holy angels! He spoke much of his desires and hopes to see in heaven the prosperity of the church of Christ on earth; much of the importance of the work of ministers of the gospel, and prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit of GOD upon them to bless and make effectual their labours; and much of the spiritual prosperity of his own congregation of Christian Indians in New Jersey. In short, his whole conversation was the language of resignation, of trust, and of faith; full of goodly savour to all who heard it, and worthy to be trans

mitted to those who did not. In this happy frame he continued till the day before his death, when the pain of his body overpowered his reflection and reason. This was the comfort he administered to his friends who wept for or lamented him: "We part but for a while; we shall spend an happy eternity together." One coming into the room with a Bible in her hand, he cried out, "O that dear book! that lovely book! I shall soon see it opened! the mysteries that are in it, and the mysteries of God's providence, will all be unfolded." On Thursday, October 6, he lay for a considerable time, as if he were dying; and was heard, at intervals, breaking out into such whispers as these: "He will come: He will not tarry. I shall soon be in glory: Soon be with GoD and his angels." From this time his distress increased more and more; insomuch that he said, "It was another thing to die than people imagined:" explaining himself to mean, they were not aware of the bodily pain undergone before death. Yet all the while, as he could, his patience was great; the comforts and supports of grace were also great: And all of them continued unabating to the last, which was about six o'clock on Friday morning, October 9, 1747, the happy period when he joined the innumerable company of saints above, the general assembly and church of the first-born, GOD the Judge of all, the spirits of just men made perfect, and Jesus, the Mediator of that new and better covenant, which had been all his rejoicing, and all his hope.

ISAAC WATTS, D. D.

ONE great object of this compilation is, the illustration of divine grace, in its power and influence upon the hearts of men : So that, while we point out the bright examples of many eminent Christians, we would be understood not so much to set up men for mere admiration, but to shew what God hath done, in successive generations, for poor sinners like ourselves, that others may be encouraged, according to their measure of the same grace, to follow them who now through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hence, therefore, as we must abhor a mean and invidious detraction, which could only prove that we want either grace or common candour, we would be careful also to avoid the other extreme, from a mind equally devoted to

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