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Elizabeth had not forgotten Jerusalem. Her breathings grew fainter and fainter; she was slightly convulsed, and at twenty minutes past two she fell asleep in Jesus."

The inscription she requested to be placed on her tomb, closed by a passage of Scripture, accurately descriptive of her life and death,-" LOOKING UNTO JESUS."

5. MRS. ELIZABETH FRY.

"But the wide arms of mercy were spread to enfold thee,
And sinners may die, for the Sinless hath died!"—Heber.

WHO that is acquainted with the events of his own times does not hail with grateful acknowledgment the name of Elizabeth Fry-not only admirable as the succourer of the oppressed, but still better known as full of pity for the guilty? Newgate, the dark abode of the infamous and the sinner, was, through her instrumental agency, visited with light and love; and many a poor wretch, who, till she knew her, had no better consolation than her own dark thoughts, became conscious, through her teaching, of a higher power above, and of a renewed and nobler nature within. Mrs. Fry, as is well known, was one of the Society of Friends. The Sunday preceding her illness was remarkable to her from the solemnity of the occasion. She had urged upon the meeting the question, "Are we all now ready? If the Master should this day call us, is the work completely finished? Have we anything left to do?"-solemnly, almost awfully reiterating the question, "Are we prepared ?"

"One morning of acute suffering, the remark was made to her, how marvellous it was that she had never seemed impatient to depart, believing, as there was good ground to do, that she had been fitted for the great

change. Her inherent fear of death had probably prevented this; for there was something in her mind which, whilst she desired 'the kingdom,' caused her to shrink from the encounter with the great enemy-the last grapple before the victory can be won. But this, too, was altered: she expressed her 'entire willingness to stay the Lord's time;' that 'whilst there was any work to do, she wished to live,' but, beyond that, expressed not the smallest wish for life. She added that she had come to an entire belief, that any remaining dread would be taken away from her when the time came; or that, in tender mercy to her timid nature,' she should be permitted to pass unconsciously through the dark valley." The concluding scene is thus described:

"Some passages of Scripture were read to her, which she appeared to comprehend, and she entirely responded to any observation made to her. This was favourable, but other symptoms were not so she lay so heavily, and the limbs appeared so wholly powerless. The morning broke at last, but it brought no comfort. About six o'clock, she said to her maid, 'O Mary, dear Mary, I am very ill!'

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'I know it, dearest ma'am, I know it.'

Pray for me-it is a strife, but I am safe.'

She continued to speak, but indistinctly, at intervals, and frequently dozed, as she had done through the night. About nine o'clock, one of her daughters, sitting on the bedside, had open in her hand that passage in Isaiah, 'I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee, fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.' Just then her mother roused a little, and in a slow distinct voice uttered these words, O, my dear Lord, help and keep thy servant!' These were the last words she spoke on earth; she never attempted to articulate again

A response was given, by reading to her the above most applicable passage; one bright glance of intelligence passed over her features—a look of recognition at the well-known sound-but it was gone as rapidly, and never returned. From this time, entire unconsciousness appeared to take possession of her; no sound disturbed her, no light affected her, the voice of affection was unheeded-a veil was drawn between her and the world about her, to be raised no more.

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Suddenly, about twenty minutes before four, there was a change in her breathing: it was but for a moment. The silver cord was loosed-a few sighs at intervals, and no sound was there! Unutterably blessed was the holy calm-the perfect stillness of the chamber of death. She saw the King in his beauty, and the land that was very far off.""

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"He that dies," says Lord Bacon, "in the prosecution of some earnest desire, is like one that is wounded in hot blood, who does not feel the blow. Therefore, a mind fixed and bent upon something that is good, steals from the pains of death."

6. ELIZABETH MORTIMER.

"Yet, Jesus, Jesus! there I'll cling,

I'll crowd beneath his sheltering wing;

I'll clasp the cross, and holding there,

Even me-O bliss!-his wrath may spare.-KIRKE WHITE.

THE parents of this eminently consistent Christian woman were attendants upon the ministry of Mr. Wesley; and from them she received a strictly religious education. In her sixteenth year she entered, with decided purpose, upon a course of Christian piety; and through all the vicissitudes of subsequent life, her biographer says, the foundation of her future excellence was

laid in deep as well as early piety, and being firmly based, the superstructure rose proportionably high. There was, in truth, a harmony of parts, a general symmetry, that struck the eye of the beholder, and produced impressions of serene and graceful beauty, hallowing and refreshing to the mind."

She was the intimate friend and correspondent of the Wesleys, of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, of Lady Maxwell, and of others distinguished in the history of Methodism, and whose letters enrich her biography.

Walking in the light and liberty of the Gospel, she endeavoured to adorn it, by the usefulness as well as the purity of her life. The sick, the poor, and the afflicted, were objects of her kind solicitude. She ministered to spiritual and temporal necessity, and often felt her sympathies excited by the destitution, misery, and ignorance which met her view. Thankfulness for higher privileges, and a sense of the responsibility incurred by their possession, impressed her mind with salutary caution, lest the deposit should be negligently held. Self-denial she accounted an essential part of Christian discipline.

In November, 1775, then twenty one years of age, she was appointed leader of a class. She was timidly conscious of her own deficiency for duties so weighty, but she dared not disobey the call of duty; and, therefore, in dependence upon heavenly succour, entered heartily into a work for which she was peculiarly adapted, by a natural ingenuous simplicity of character as well as by a lively and deep experience of the power of saving grace. Indeed, through her long Christian course, she was, in this department, eminently useful and acceptable. Clear in her own conceptions, unhesitating in her purposes, and uniformly vigilant, devout, and prayerful, she endeavoured to impress on those who sought her counsel, the same decision, earnestness, and

spirituality of mind. Her manner was attractive, lively, unembarrassed, kind, familiar; yet dignity attempered sweetness, and induced gratitude, affection, and respect. The sphere in which she moved for many years, afforded ample scope for the employment of her talents in this interesting line. How often she was made the minister of mercy, in confirming the believer, in encouraging the mourner, in directing admonition to the trifling and lukewarm, and in addressing words of wisdom to the ignorant, the records of eternity will show.

Two years later she was reduced to apparently the last stage of consumption. While in this state, Mr. Wesley visited her, and the minute he makes of his visit in his journal, at once shows her condition, and attests the high consideration in which she was held by him.

"On Friday, May 9th, 1777," he says, "I went to Malton, hoping to meet Miss Ritchie (the maiden name of Mrs. Mortimer) there; but instead of her I found a letter, which informed me that she was on the brink of the grave, but added, 'Surely my Lord will permit me to see you once more in the body.' I would not disappoint the congregation, but as soon as I had done preaching set out, and about four in the morning came to Otley. I minutely inquired into the circumstances of her illness. She is dropped suddenly into the third stage of a consumption, having one or more ulcers in her lungs, spitting blood, having a continued pain in her breast, and a constant hectic fever, which disables her either from riding on horseback, or bearing the motion of a carriage; meantime, she breathes nothing but praise and love. Short-lived flower, and ripe for a better soil!"

He writes again: "After preaching in the evening at Leeds, I pushed on to Otley. Here I found E. Ritchie weaker and happier than ever. I spent half an hour with her, to

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