gerous illness, from which he recovered very slowly. But in the year 1712, he was afflicted with a violent fever that entirely broke his constitution, and left such weakness upon his nerves as continued with him, in some measure, to the day of his death. The virtue of this good man eminently appeared, in the happy state of his mind, under great pains and weakness of body, and in the improvement which he derived from them. Of those seasons of affliction, he says, with a truly elevated mind and thankful heart:"I am not afraid to let the world know, that amidst the sinkings of life and nature, Christianity and the Gospel are my support. Amidst all the violence of my distemper, and the tiresome months of it, I thank God I never lost sight of reason or religion, though sometimes I had much difficulty to preserve the machine of animal nature in such order as regularly to exercise either the man or the Christian." Two or three years before his decease the active and sprightly powers of his nature gradually failed; yet his trust in God, through Jesus the Mediator, remained unshaken to the last. He was heard to say, "I bless God I can lie down with comfort at night, not being solicitous whether I awake in this world or another." And again: "I should be glad to read more; yet not in order to be further confirmed in the truth of the Christian religion, or in the truth of its promises; for I believe them enough to venture an eternity upon them.” When he was almost worn out, and broken down by his infirmities, he said, in conversation with a friend, "I remember an aged minister used to observe, that 'the most learned and knowing Christians, when they come to die, have only the same plain promises of the Gospel for their support as the common and unlearned;' and so I find it. It is the plain promises of the Gospel that are my support; and, I bless God, they are plain promises, that do not require much labour and pains to understand them." 66 At times, when he found his spirit tending to impatience, and ready to complain that he could only lead a mere animal life, he would check himself thus: The business of a Christian is to bear the will of God, as well as to do it. If I were in health, I ought to be doing it; and now it is my duty to bear it. The best thing in obedience, is a regard to the will of God; and way to that is, to have our inclinations and aversions as much mortified as we can." the With so calm and peaceful a mind, so blessed and lively a hope, did the resigned servant of Christ wait for his Master's summons. He quietly expired in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 23. REV. CHARLES WESLEY. "Life's labour done, as sinks the clay,- How blest the righteous when he dies!"-BArbauld. THE time now began rapidly to approach," says his biographer, "when Mr. Charles Wesley perceived that he also must die. His removal into the world of spirits was not an event that came upon him unawares. To prepare for it had been the leading business of the greater part of his life. He expected it therefore, not with alarm, but with hope and desire. His treasure and his heart were already in heaven; and the abiding consciousness which he had of his title to the future inheritance, resulting. from his filial relation to God, and of his meetness for it, through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, filled him with adoring thankfulness. Deeply was he sensible that he possessed no proper merit in the sight of God; and he knew that he needed none, according to the tenor of the evangelical covenant. Hence, his self-abasement was profound; his reliance upon the sacrifice and intercession of Christ, entire; and his hope of glory was that of a sinner, who knew that he was both justified and sanctified by grace, and looked for eternal life as a gift to be gratuitously bestowed upon a believing penitent.” His physician, Dr. Whitehead, says,-"I visited him several times in his last sickness; and his body was indeed reduced to the most extreme state of weakness. He possessed that state of mind which he had been always pleased to see in others-unaffected humility, and holy resignation to the will of God. He had no transports of joy, but solid hope and unshaken confidence in Christ, which kept his mind in perfect peace." The decree, however, was gone forth, and no means could avail for the preservation of his life. While he remained in this state of extreme feebleness, having been silent and quiet for some time, he called Mrs. Wesley to him, and requested her to write the following lines at his dictation: In age and feebleness extreme, Who shall a sinful worm redeem? JESUS, my only hope thou art, Strength of my failing flesh and heart; O could I catch a smile from thee, And drop into eternity! For fifty years Christ, as the Redeemer of men, had been the subject of his effective ministry, and of his loftiest songs; and he may be said to have died with a hymn to Christ upon his lips. He lingered till the 29th of March, 1788, when he yielded up his spirit into the hands of his God and Saviour, at the advanced age of seventy-nine years and three months. 24. THE VENERABLE BEDE. "For this poor form That vests me round, I give it to destruction, As gladly as the storm-beat traveller, Who, having reach'd his destined place of shelter, Drops at the door his mantle's cumbrous weight."-BAILLIE. BEDE, surnamed the "Venerable," was born about the year 673, in the neighbourhood of Weremouth, in the bishopric of Durham. Losing both his parents at the age of seven years, he was, by his relations, placed in the monastery of Weremouth. He was educated there with much strictness; and it appears that, from his youth, he was devoted to the service of religion. He was ordained deacon in the nineteenth, and presbyter in the thirtieth, year of his age. He applied himself entirely to the study of the Holy Scriptures, the instruction of disciples, the offices of public worship, and the composition of religious and literary works. He wrote on all the branches of knowledge then cultivated in Europe. In Greek and Hebrew he attained a skill which was very uncommon in that barbarous age; and, by his instructions and example, he formed many scholars. He made all his attainments subservient to devotion. Sensible that it is by Divine grace, rather than by our natural powers or by learning, that the most profitable knowledge of the Scriptures is to be acquired, he united with his studies regular prayer to God, that he would bless and sanctify them. Perhaps no person of his time acquired so distinguished and widely-extended a reputation as Bede,—a reputation, too, entirely founded on the worth of his character and the extent of his learning. The Roman Pontiff respected him so highly that he gave him a cor dial invitation to the metropolis of the Church; but this he thought proper to decline. In the eyes of Bede, the great world had no charms. Of his numerous and important writings, the greatest and most popular was his "English Ecclesiastical History." All the knowledge which we have of the early age of Christianity in Great Britain is derived from this production. King Alfred so highly esteemed the work that he translated it from the original Latin into the Saxon language, and by this means increased its celebrity. The various merits of Bede acquire additional lustre from the general ignorance and corruptions of the time in which he lived. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, he appears to have been a man of eminent virtue, and to have possessed the happy association of learning with modesty, of devotion with liberality, and high reputation in the Church with humility and moderation. In the last sickness of this pious and learned man he was afflicted with a difficulty of breathing, which continued about two weeks. His mind was, however, serene and cheerful; his affections were heavenly; and amidst all his infirmities, he continued daily to instruct his disciples. At this period, a great part of the night was spent in prayer and thanksgiving, and the first employment of the morning was to ruminate on the Scriptures, and make supplication to God. Amidst his bodily weakness his mind was still so active that he employed himself in writing on religious subjects. His translation of the Gospel of St. John was not completed till the day of his death. When, at last, he perceived that his end was drawing near, he met the solemn event with great composure and satisfaction. "If my Maker please," said he, "who formed. me out of nothing, I am willing to leave the world, and go to him. My soul desires to see Christ, my King, |