of heart; of the excellence and substance of His righteousness "which is unto all and upon all them that believe; " of the power and sufficiency of the grace of God to support the fainting spirit under all the trials of life and all the sufferings of death.

Nor can I forget that in the balance of Him who weigheth all things, not as they seem, but as they are, every believer's life is not only not unimportant but most important, that while foolish, thoughtless, gay, and giddy man, seeing through a wrong medium, the medium of time and not of eternity, views objects as they are not, and is deceived, He who can never be deceived, beholding everything as it is, with whom millions of ages to come are as the passing moment, and the boundless expanse of eternity future, as an instant ever present, seeth not as they see; with Him the tear that falls in secret for sin, for sin, it may be, unknown and unnoticed by any eye but the eye of the Omniscient, even of Himself, falls not unobserved. "Thou tellest my wanderings, put thou my tears into Thy bottle, are they not in Thy book?" (Ps. Ivi. 8.) The sighings of real repentance, the desires of those that be sorrowful He will not despise. David felt this; "Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee." (Ps. xxxviii. 9.) While the tinsel and the glare with Him are nothing but the exhibition of man's rebellion, pride, and folly, the humble, the poor in spirit, the broken and contrite in heart, are they in whom He taketh pleasure, on whom his eye delighteth to dwell. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isa. lxvi. 2.) With Him the desire to do His will, to walk with Himself in His own appointed way of justification and sanctification, to aim at His glory, to love His presence, to submit to His will; this is everything, and all the rest is as nothing.

It is here, my dear friends, we discern the nature of the real importance of life. Principle is everything with God! It is motive that dignifies action. It is not so much what is done, as why it is done, that gives a lustre to the conduct of the child of God; and in this point of view the life of my beloved Caroline

assumes a character, I might almost add, a dignity, which nothing of a mere earthly nature could ever give it. Such is, at least, my own decided opinion, and under this conviction, under the constraint of higher motives than of affection however tender, of remembrance however endearing, I have arranged this little tribute to the memory of a dearly-beloved wife, or rather let me say, I present this feeble acknowledgment of lowly gratitude to Him whose grace and whose goodness made her what she was to me a precious loan entrusted to my care, and that for good, for a period of within a few weeks of one and twenty years.

I will confess that the drawing up of this brief memoir appears to me in the light of a solemn and important duty, convinced as I am that it was my great mercy to have been united to a Christian of no ordinary character. I cannot but indulge the cheering hope, that as it pleased the Father of all mercies to make her in life no little blessing to numbers, so He may graciously condescend to own her also in death, and to render this narrative of her unpretending career a channel of real, lasting good to many more, for His great name and dear Son's sake!

LETTER II.

My dear wife was the second daughter of the late Thomas Joyce, Esq., of Freshford House, in the county of Somerset, a magistrate and one of the deputy-lieutenants of that county. The village in which she passed her youth is situated in the neighbourhood of Bath, and is remarkable for its picturesque and beautiful scenery.

She was born May 6, 1787, at Bradford, Wilts.

When very young, it appears that she was sent to a large and highly respectable school at Corsham, under the care of Miss Whittaker.

From this place she was removed in 1794 to Stapleton, near Bristol, where she remained till 1802-the commencement of her sixteenth year, when she left school altogether.

Of her residence at Stapleton she always delighted to speak in terms of the warmest affection and gratitude. With the

advantages of solid instruction she experienced a kindness and tenderness only inferior to what she found at home. While there was a strictness of discipline maintained, the conductors of the school, Miss Booth and Miss Willcox, seem to have been fully aware that the basis of real discipline, the discipline of the heart, is love.

In this school she acquired those habits of redeeming the time, of diligent application and persevering industry, which so peculiarly marked her after-life, and which, when guided and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, rendered her in so many points of view an active, laborious, and patient servant of Christ.

But it was also here that the first impressions of Divine truth were made upon her heart by the secret but effectual energy of the Holy Ghost.

By what little and apparently insignificant means does the allwise Disposer of events fulfil His own will, and effect His own purposes! How little does He stand in need of mighty instruments to accomplish that which He has appointed! He speaketh but the word and it is done, "He commandeth and it standeth fast."

A maiden lady, of the name of Counsell, who, from a situation of the greatest affluence, was reduced to the humbler but respectable one of giving instruction in drawing, was the high and honoured instrument of communicating lasting good to her young pupil.

It was her practice (oh, that it were more generally and hopefully pursued by all who themselves see and feel the real importance of eternity and eternal things,) to drop some word during the lesson or after it, calculated to impress the mind of her young and tender charge with the consideration of the great things of another world. Nor was it in vain. He who stirred up the heart of his servant to make the attempt, blessed the endeavour, and made it effectual. During our last visit to Bristol, in January, 1828, we called on Miss Counsell together, and she then most thankfully acknowledged the tender mercies. of God communicated to her mind in that early period of her life through her instrumentality; and never can I forget the

Never may I

interesting visit to that dear and holy woman. lose the sweet savour of that affecting interview. It was not at the first Miss C. retraced the features of her former pupil-so long an interval had occurred since they had seen each otherbut as the remembrance of them returned, and she was told of the days that were gone, and of the goodness and tender pity of the Lord, what heartfelt acknowledgments came from her lips! what confessions of His unutterable mercy to her on this behalf! It was, indeed, a solemn meeting, ever to be remembered. They met then no longer as instructress and pupil. Time had silvered the forehead of the former, and an interval of nearly six and twenty years must have left no little impression on the features of the latter; but their countenances beamed with joy. They greeted each other as fellow-heirs of the Kingdom-as partakers of the grace of God-as travellers together in the same eventful journey-as looking forward to the same happy home; and they met, little as we then suspected it, never to meet again, till as pure and perfect spirits they were to be united before the throne of God and of the Lamb, to be separated no more for

ever.

During her stay at Stapleton, occasional visits to a lady of the name of Heath-a relation of her mother's, then residing in Cumberland-street, Bristol, a person of deep and unaffected piety-were also made highly useful to her, and were the means, in the hands of a gracious God, of confirming and strengthening her previous impressions. The holy conduct of this valued friend, more than what she said, left a strong effect upon her mind, and my dear wife often reverted to it in the after-years of her life.

I believe, my beloved friends, we are but little aware of the influence of a really consistent example. Often have I had cause to remark its overcoming power upon others, in the instance of my dear departed wife. It steals upon the mind, in the hands of the Eternal Spirit, with an energy at times mighty and irresistible. When we perceive a certain effect from avowed principles not to be accounted for by any other-an effect, plain, obvious, certain, undeniable-when we discern a devout

spirit, an unaffected humility, ardent earnestness in the things of God, attended by benevolence and denying of self, laborious exertions in promoting the good of others,-and much of all this my beloved Caroline discerned in the character and conduct of Mrs. Heath-no wonder it left, by the Divine blessing, a powerful impression upon her already-awakened and susceptible mind. It is as the silent flake, that makes but little noise, and yet we see the mightiest tenant of the forest fall prostrate before its continued falling.

About this period, and very possibly as an effect resulting from these serious impressions on her mind, Law's "Serious Call to a devout and holy Life" was read by her with lively interest. Whatever may be esteemed defective or erroneous in that book (and I have never read it), it was the means of deepening the work which was already begun in her heart. Death and judgment, fleeting time and ever-during eternity, heaven and hell, were now felt to be subjects of most grave and solemn moment. Her conscience was evidently awake, and although her judgment, it is more than probable, was but little informed as to the freeness, fulness, and glory of the Gospel plan of salvation, yet was she no stranger to the fear of God or the throne of grace. She now became more watchful over herself as to principle and practice.

It was in this state of mind she spent many years of her life. In the bosom of her family, in the quiet enjoyment of that retirement and domestic privacy which she loved, her days passed quietly along. Her mind, however, was during this period advancing gradually, but slowly, in the Divine life. Although destitute of almost all outward spiritual advantages, yet was there still some progress in the reception of the great verities of Gospel truth. In that all-important one, the article of a sinner's justification before God through the imputed righteousness of Christ, often have I heard her say that "Cooper's Doctrinal Sermons" were made to her of essential benefit.

[Note in the original.-In which, her acknowledgment, it is but candour for me to join, and confess how great a blessing they proved to myself also.]