soon as she received it, she said, "O what a mercy and favour granted to me, a poor worm of the earth! I have every thing of a temporal nature given me as soon as I ask for it; but, O! how was it with my dear Redeemer? They would not so much as give him a drop of cold water to cool his tongue, when he cried out, 'I thirst,' but gave him vinegar mingled with gall to drink, even in his greatest agonies and bitterest sufferings. Blessed be his precious name!" She further said, "I wish to see none but the Lord's own dear family; they are the excellent of the earth to me, in whom is all my delight." But the whole bent of her mind seemed to be on Christ alone. "O!" she said, "Christ is become my salvation; he has redeemed my soul by shedding his most precious blood to atone for all my sins. I am quite ready and willing to go. All is right between God and my soul; there is no intervening cloud; all is peace." I replied, "Then you have the substance of this text, and that in the sweet enjoyment of it: 'The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.' She said, "Yes, I have; I have peace with God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." In speaking of the grace of faith, she said, "O what a precious gift is faith! without it, it is impossible to please God." In answer to which, I said, "And what is to be the end of faith? Let us observe what the Holy Ghost says by the mouth of his servant Peter: Whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:'-now mark-receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.' Most blessed! And do we not now at times receive the same? is not our salvation sure? is not faith the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen? Most assuredly it is. Therefore, the last act of faith is, and will be, to resign both soul and body into the hands of our dear and loving Saviour, as we read of Stephen and others: And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.' The same is said of Jesus: And after he had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' Thus will it be with every one of the Lord's redeemed family. Now,' saith Paul, abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.' And why so? Because, in that upper and better world, we shall neither want faith nor hope; for faith will then be turned into sight, and hope into full fruition; but charity, or love, shall ever last. As the poet says,

"No other change shall that sustain,

Save only to increase.'

In conclusion, I reminded her of the last dying words of our dear and loving Lord: "It is finished." She said, "Yes, finished, indeed! O! what is there contained in those sweet and precious words! More than ever can be described by men or angels; yea, more than we shall ever be able to get to the bottom of to all eternity. It is easy to repeat them with our lips; but this alone will not do; we must have the experience of them, and sweet enjoyment of them in our souls; it is then it does us good, and not till then." She then

raised herself up in bed, and embraced her dear and aged companion, Mrs. S (with whom she has lived upwards of fifty years in the strongest ties of love and Christian friendship, and who is now in her 95th year). They wept over each other for some time. She blessed her in the name of the Lord, and prayed that her end might be like hers, and said the same of us all. Afterwards, she addressed herself to Mrs. L-, and said, "My dear Mrs. L—, I have one favour to ask of you before you leave, which I am sure you will not refuse me, as my dying request,—that you will allow me to take my last affectionate farewell of your dear husband, as well as yourself, by embracing you both with a kiss of love;" which being done, we took our leave of her by saying, "When thou passest through the valley of the shadow of death, thou mayest fear no evil.' Remember, it is but the shadow of death; the sting, or substance, is gone; it is for ever quenched in the precious blood of Christ. O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' The Lord has promised that he will be with you, and his rod and staff shall both comfort you. Then, if Jesus, the great High Priest of our profession, is with you, and should only put his feet into the water at the river Jordan, (death,) you will go over dryshod. He will lead you up to the Ancient of Days; and God, even our God, will wipe away all tears for ever from your eyes. Beloved, farewell, till we shall meet again to part no more for ever. Amen."

She was not able, from this time up to the day of her death, to converse with any one. Thus our dear sister Cathery fell asleep in Jesus, in the 81st year of her

age.

Believe me to remain your sincere friend and brother in Christ Jesus,

Chichester, April 20, 1844.

J. L.

[Mrs. Cathery, the subject of the above Memoir, was called, we believe, under Jenkins, Huntington's friend, or if not called under him, was one of his attached hearers. She was also a hearer of, and much attached to Mr. Brook, and was a Christian not only much tried in grace, but also at one period of her life much exercised in providence, having had to wade through many deep trials of a temporal nature. But her end was peace, and she is safely landed in endless rest.-EDS.]

A FEW WORDS TO OUR INQUIRING

CORRESPONDENTS.

Some of our correspondents may perhaps wonder why we do not insert their inquiries. The truth is, that sometimes they are overlooked by us in the pressure of other matter; sometimes they touch upon subjects which we do not consider profitable to introduce; sometimes they are too difficult for us to answer satisfactorily; sometimes they are on topics on which we have no light nor knowledge; and sometimes to answer them would drag us into long and useless controversies.

Our object from the beginning has been to avoid and discourage

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controversy; and though we have sometimes thought that a simple answer to an inquiry might be profitable, where a doubt or difficulty arose which we or some of our correspondents might solve, yet were we to open our pages to every question that might be asked in the knotty field of divinity, we should not only manifest our own arrogance and folly in attempting replies, but should set a door wide open for perpetual jangling.

If two friends differ on a point, or a minister advance something strange or new, "Let us ask the opinion of the Standard," is sometimes said and acted upon. But we may be as ignorant as our correspondents upon the disputed point, or though we may have an opinion, it may be merely floating in our judgment, and not have been sealed upon our conscience.

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And if it be said, Why not, at any rate, insert the question, that some correspondent better taught than yourselves may answer it?” we may reply, "This we have repeatedly done, and when answers have come they have almost always been what we could not insert. Those perhaps who were best qualified to answer them would not do so; and those who perhaps thought themselves very Masters of Arts,' and Doctors of Divinity,' in their replies, have shown such want of ability or want of clearness, such ignorance of the very point in dispute, or such manifest deficiency of divine teaching upon it, that we have preferred to leave the inquiry unanswered, in all its original darkness, rather than insert answers which would only more puzzle the reader than clear up his difficulties.”

We are not Solomons nor Ahitophels, and therefore do not profess to be able to answer whatsoever questions may be asked us; but where we can throw any light on a disputed point, we shall not mind furnishing a few words of reply to an inquirer; at the same time wishing our inquiring correspondents to bear in mind that as we cannot undertake to insert every inquiry that may be sent us, so we cannot promise always to furnish a reply to such as we may insert. We hope, however, to insert and answer some " Inquiries" in our next number.-EDS.

POETRY.

"FEAR NOT; I AM WITH THEE."
Ye tempted, sin-burden'd, self-hopeless, and poor,
Who're crying and knocking at Jesus, the Door,
Now hoping, then doubting, then knocking again,
May God keep you knocking; you sha'n't knock in vain.

"Fear not," said the Master, who very well knew
The troubles and dangers which we must pass through;
"Fear not, I am with thee, thy God to the end.".
O may we, my brethren, on Jesus depend!

"Fear not, I am with thee."-Then foes are at hand;
Ah! yes, for the Canaanites dwell in the land;
And, sorely perplexed, we oftentimes say,
"We must be deceived; this can't be the way."

The world and the devil us stoutly oppose,
And, lurking within us, lie thousands of foes;
Within and without us all seem to agree,
And born of the Spirit we think we can't be.
Our inbred corruptions, in battle array,
Rise up and oppose us; we're filled with dismay.
But, led by the Spirit, to Jesus we cry.

"Fear not," Jesus answers, "Fear not, I am nigh;
"Fear not, although all things against thee appear;
Fear not, though the devil may fill thee with fear;
Fear not," saith Jehovah, "I'll bring thee through all;
Fear not, I am with thee, thy all and in all."

These "Fear nota" encourage us weaklings to fight:
We fear not the devil with Jesus in sight;
But when he hides from us the light of his face,
We're plagued with the devil and Ishmael's race.
One word of Jehovah's, spoke home to the heart,
Makes sins, hell, and devils, like lightning depart.
Look back, then, my brother; God help thee to see
The time when Jehovah appear'd thus for thee.
It may be thou'rt tempted thy God to deny;
The devil may tell thee the Bible's a lie;

But God will deliver when faith has been tried:
"Fear not," saith the Saviour, "since for you I died;
"Fear not, though the devil his fiery darts send;
Fear not, I am with thee, thy Shield, to defend;
Fear not, although weakness itself thou may'st be;
Fear not, I am with thee, thy strength is in me;
"Fear not, though thou feel'st thyself sinful and poor;
Fear not, I have loved thee, it soon will be o'er;
Fear not, though defiled within and without;

Fear not," saith the Bridegroom," thou'rt holy throughout.
"Fear not, then, ye mourners, who still, in the night,
Are longing, and panting, and crying for light;
Fear not, though benighted, you soon shall get home,
Through much tribulation, where sin cannot come.
"Fear not, ye perplexed, who're looking to me;
Fear not, ye oppressed, I will set you free;
Fear not, ye despised, ye are my delight;
Fear not, though in darkness, it soon shall be light;
"Fear not when departing from this world of woe;
Fear not, for my presence shall home with you go,
Where, freed from all sorrow, eternally blest,
For ever done fighting,in peace you shall rest."
Kent, March 6th, 1844.

SOVEREIGN GRACE.

O what a joyful day I found,
When sov'reign grace did me surround,
And all my guilt I felt depart,
Thro' Christ my bleeding Surety's heart!
Then was the law's loud thunder o'er,
And I my Saviour could adore,
That e'er he stood in my law-place,
And show'd me his dear lovely face.

A HELPLESS SINNER.

O blessed morn! O heavenly day!
When guilt and death quite fled away,
And I could sit at Jesus' feet,
To sing his love with praises sweet.
He bore me on the wings of love,
And set my heart on things above;
Nor could this world my mind employ,
For I was fill'd with heavenly joy.

Lord, let me oft think on that day,
When bondage-fears fled all away,
And I was held in thine embrace,
To sing of free and sov'reign grace..
Thy glory then I did behold,
Which far exceeds all India's gold,
To see my name upon thy heart,
Which death nor hell shall ever part.
But when my Jesus hid his face,
And I seem'd wither'd like the grass,
Then unbelief began to say,

Crosses and losses, too, I found;
And Satan's agents mock'd around,
To see me fall'n, in sad dismay,
Bound up in tribulation's way.

I look'd around, some friend to find,
But men oft change and are unkind;
In dreary paths we walk alone,
Like bears to roar, or doves to moan.
But blessed be that heav'nly Dove,
That came with words of peace and love,
And brake my bonds, and set me free,
To glory in the sacred Three.

The Three in One, and One in Three,
Engaged in cov'nant oath I see,
That all the royal chosen seed
By faith upon the Lamb should feed.
face,This faith, which purifies the heart,

"You ne'er can be in the right way."
Then sin and Satan sank me low,
And I no marks of grace could show,
But, like a barren wilderness,
That fill'd my soul with deep distress.
The clouds had veil'd my Saviour's
Nor could I his sweet beauties trace;
But view'd myself a mass of sin,
And felt its deadly plague within.
My love and joy had taken flight,
And I seem'd left in gloomy night,
To pine just like a barren heath,
And walk amid the shades of death.
I often thought I ne'er should rise,
Nor gain at last the heavenly prize :
Such was the state I then was in,
Sunk down in unbelief and sin.
How Satan then my soul did mock:
"You're none of Christ's own ransom'd
flock,

But, like a thief got o'er the wall,
At length have found a dismal fall.”
For near two years I walk'd in night,
And often thought I'd ne'er been right;
Sometimes about to give up all,
And on the Lord no more to call.
Through regions of the dead I went,
And many a dart from hell was sent;
I thought I'd quite mistook the way,
And ne'er should see a better day.
B, December, 1842.

Rests not on human power nor art,
But looks to Jesus, God's dear Son,
Who fought the fight, and vict'ry won.
All duty-faith, and creature power,
Will fall, like Babel's lofty tower,
When, harass'd by the powers of hell,
The soul's in unbelief's dark cell.
But Christ unlocks the prison door,
And we are raised up as before,
To hope in grace and mercy free,
Through Him who died on Calvary's tree.
He then gives faith to rise and trace
Our interest in electing grace;
How we were loved in Christ our Head,
Before the starry skies were spread.

Christ shed his blood to wash us clean,
Faith sees it rise above all sin;
We feel the healing streams abound,
And power and truth to shield around.
The church, as one with Christ her King,
Shall his great glory sweetly sing;
Be brought to him in robes divine,
And in his likeness ever shine.

GLEANING.

J. K.

This giving

He who alone gives life to us gave up his life for us. imports the voluntariness and freeness of the action. He gave himself freely. He did not sell himself, but gave himself, and that willingly, and entirely, without constraint. No violence, could have pulled him from the bosom of the father; but he came leaping upon the mountains; he came singing, and saying, "Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O my God!" There was no necessity lying upon him but the necessity of love, and of a loving agreement with his Father.

Greater is the work of redemption than that of creation; there he was the Giver, but here he is the Gift.-Erskine.