continued several years indeed, after returning home, he soon commenced (in 1757) an extensive European tour. In 1756, the Countess, his beloved consort, a woman of devoted piety and strong sense, and who in all respects had been to him a true "yoke-fellow," died, trusting alone in the blood of atonement, and rejoicing in the hope of being “ever with the Lord." In 1757, by the earnest counsel of his friends, who saw that, according to the constitution of their church, as a widower, his labours would be more circumscribed than were he again to marry, he married Anna Nitschman, daughter of David Nitschman, who had for many years occupied an important public situation in the church, whose character and abilities were judged suitable to that which she would have to fulfil as the wife of the Count. To birth and rank he did not look, but to suitableness of character. After his return from his last European tour, the Count spent his remaining years in active, though calm and quiet, retirement at Herrnhut. He had lived to see the little cloud spread extensively. In many parts of Europe, in Greenland, in America, (where were Missionary settlements among the Indians,) in the West Indies, and in Africa, there were branches of the church which. had been formed at Herrnhut with so small a commencement; and in 1759 openings were presented for a Mission to the East Indies. The first Missionaries were sent there in the September of that year. In May, 1760, he had a sudden and violent attack of catarrhal fever, accompanied by an almost incessant cough, which prevented him from speaking much; but his mind was serene and even joyful. The progress of the disease was so rapid, that it was soon seen that the messenger had arrived to call him home. On the 9th he said to one of his family, though with great difficulty, because of the cough, “I am going to the Saviour: I am quite resigned to the will of my Lord. If he is no longer willing to make use of me here, I am quite ready to go to him." His children were sent for; but before they came to the room the power of speech was totally lost. He could only look at them with the most affectionate kindness, salute them, and by signs outwardly, and in his heart inwardly, bless them. His parting look was remarkably cheerful, serene, and expressive. A large number of the "brethren and sisters" had assembled; and in their presence, about nine in the morning, (May 9th, 1760,) "he reclined his head on the pillow, his eyes closed of themselves, and he ceased to breathe." He was buried on the 14th. The body was borne to the grave by sixteen Ministers of the Moravian church, relieved by sixteen others. In a few days he would have been sixty years of age. His second wife, whose health had been for some time failing, died in the course of the same month. MINIATURE CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. No. X. CHRISTIANS OUGHT ΤΟ BE WELL GROUNDED IN THEIR BELIEF.—It is as necessary for you, as it was for the primitive Christians, to settle your profession of Christianity upon solid grounds; otherwise you are Christians but for the same reason that makes a Turk a disciple of Mahomet, or a Heathen a worshipper of the gods of his country; that is, because you were born in such a country, and under such a meridian. And can you be contented with so poor a pretence to the noblest religion? and lay so sandy a foundation for your eternal hopes? Besides, the day in which we live threatens you with bold temptations; * and how will you stand, if you have no surer grounds? Infidelity is a growing weed; the contempt and ridicule of revealed religion flourish and become fashionable among the gay part of the world; and if you are not furnished with some solid proofs of the Gospel of Christ, you may be in great danger of losing your faith; you may be tempted to yield up your religion to a witty jest, and become a Heathen for company.-Dr. Watts. - DIFFICULTIES AND OBSCURITIES OF SCRIPTURE USEFUL, AS SERVING ΤΟ PROMOTE HUMILITY AND MODESTY. - These difficulties are of great use to mortify our vanity; to put us in mind that we are but men, (Psal. ix. 20.,) and that by the power of our finite and limited capacities, it is impossible that This remark is not less applicable now, more than a century after the good Doctor's day. we should understand all things. In this respect, therefore, God deals with us as he did with his people of old: the glory of the Lord appears, but still it is in a cloud; in some measure, I mean, though not so much now as it was then. He shows us both the bright and the dark side of things; the one to instruct us, the other to humble us. We know enough to make us wise unto salvation, (2 Tim. iii. 15,) and so have no reason to complain; and are ignorant of enough to make us reflect upon our weakness, and so have no reason to be proud. And, sure, it is most rational that it should be so; nay, impossible it should be otherwise; unless we would suppose men to be gods, or as gods, knowing good and evil, (Gen. iii. 5,) meaning all of both. Whereas, in truth, the only way to know good and evil, really, properly, and as we should do, in order to our happiness, is, not to pretend to be as gods, or, in other words, to be omniscient.-Dr. Joseph Trapp (a little after Dr. Watts). JOHN AND CHRIST-LAW AND GOSPEL.-Penitence is the renovation of our life in Christ, and this is the conversion of the sinner. But the conversion of the sinner takes place thus. God pours forth the Spirit of his grace into the mind of the sinner, who, being first borne down by the affections of sin, is terrified, afflicted, tormented; becomes anxious by reason of his sin, that so he may thirst for the justifying Spirit. For the sinner there is neither refuge nor rest, save in Christ; in whom, if he have cast off sin, by faith it is abolished. Twofold, therefore, is the work of grace. In the first place, to humble; next, to tranquillize, raise up, and govern. Grace effects the first work by the word of the law; the second, by the word of Christ. Horror, and the knowledge of sin, is by the law; absolution of sinners by the Gospel. The first work of grace is signified when it is said, "Return ye;" the second, when it is said, " And I will return unto you.' The first is done by the word of John; the second by the word of Christ. John terrifies, that Christ may be the more vehemently desired. With John and Christ, the repentance is the same; but the works of grace are different. God terrifies by the word of John, that is, of the law, and at the same time impels to the desire of grace. But it is Christ that heals the soul. Moreover, the law without grace, either affects us not, or so alarms us, that we despair, and even dislike God, as hostile to us; but grace, having first made the soul as a desert, dry, thirsty, abased, then makes all serene and refreshing. For this reason, the preaching of John is seen to be rough, severe, full of threatenings. So also the sacred writers connect not John's baptism with remission of sin. It is the work of Christ alone to pardon sin, and tranquillize the conscience.-Phil. Melancthon. In Matt. iii. Here are the seeds whence sprang the blessed Reformation. These were the mighty truths which shook Popery to the centre. The walls of Jericho fell at the sound of the rams' horns which proclaimed the presence of the ark of the covenant. This is the element of energy which makes the Gospel the power of God unto salvation. Without it, Samson is shorn of his locks, and becomes as other men.—E». Y. I. LITERARY ARTICLE. INSTEAD of talking about books, will our kind friends indulge us with a little chat upon subjects, and those connected with our next year's plans; for though everything is proverbially-and indeed truly and solemnly-uncertain, and editorial plans largely partake of it, still, while dependence on the future is wrong, provision for the future is right; and even though a plan may not be rigidly observed, still its existence will be some check upon wandering, and produces greater regularity than would, perhaps, otherwise have existed. Though we confess, through a somewhat unpleasant regularity, we write under some disadvantage at present. There happens to be a London music-grinder, who, with a regularity that we wish he would break up, comes regularly in intervals of less than a week, and serenades us and our neighbours, so slowly moving on that it takes him above half an hour to pass by four doors. Unhappily his organ has a most melancholy tone, and his tunes are as few as they are melancholy too; and repeated repetition for the last twelvemonths has fixed every strain so in our mind, that as soon as he begins to turn his handle, we seem to have barrel, pipes, and the whole apparatus, at work within, and we could more easily note the whole down-for we get every tune four times over, at least-than write, while he is under the window. And just as we had begun, and had called up our readers imaginatively before us, our unwelcome visiter, whom we cannot tire out by nothing, and whom we dare not bribe out, lest he should come the more frequently,-commenced his disturbing harmony, which, much as we love good music, always puts us out of key. But let us get on as well as we can. Looking over our nearly twelve times forty-eight pages, we find that unexpected circumstances, and somewhat sudden and unlooked-for gushes of matter, have made us somewhat more miscellaneous than we like to be for though such a periodical is expected to be miscellaneous, we ourselves prefer such a continuance as shall prevent desultoriness, and furnish a volume not altogether like an old curiosity-shop. The necessity of reserving no fewer than four pages for an index to the volume, shows that we have managed to furnish a tolerable number of articles, though the said index prevents us from finishing everything. Still, all that should be concluded in the volume, will be; and continuations are only such as would have had, at all events, even if at an unadvanced stage, to have been "carried over" into 1848. All being well, however, we have laid our plans, having plenty of material either before us, or within reach, for somewhat more regularity along with the miscellaneousness. We hope we shall be able to give full as much as ever; and, especially taking our excellent engravings into the account, (of which, by the way, we may be permitted to say, we have a capital stock, as to subject, as well as execution, for next year; some beautiful landscapes, for instance,) we hope we may say that for the penny we give a good penny's worth. We are sure to try hard for it, and month after month to provide plenty and variety, keeping in view both the utile and dulce,-the good and sweet, requires no trifling mental effort. Why, we have poets and philosophers, historians and natural-historians, regular critics, and irregular miscellanists, those who like consecutiveness, and those who like variety; all these, and more than all these, to satisfy. Adam Smith's plan of the division of labour, so that the labourer shall have only one thing to do, will not do for an Editor. Nor must he be a shopkeeper, just dealing in a single article. He must be a sort of literary merchant, keeping, as they say in new settlements, a general store where everybody may come, and find everything they want. But in the midst of miscellaneous variety, we have made provision for several consecutive regularities. An esteemed friend, who graduated at a northern university, and paid particular attention, during his curriculum, to "Mental Philosophy," taking copious notes of the lectures which he heard, has promised to give us the substance of the course in twelve papers. If we may judge from the one he has sent us, to be ready for January, it will be a series which will highly gratify our readers, and conduce, in no common degree, to their improvement. We intend likewise to omit the first word from the title, "Occasional Papers on English Poetry." We learn from our correspondents that they like the subject; and as it admits equally of regularity and variety, we propose to give one mostly in each two Numbers. The modern poets will furnish plenty of matter for the year; beginning with Crabbe, and going on with Southey, Wordsworth, Montgomery, (James,) |