may be daily added to the church, of such as shall 'be saved.

"My humble prayers are before thee, O my God, and Father! Listen to them graciously, I beseech thee, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake: and to him, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, I would desire to join with angels and archangels, in ascribing glory, honour, and dominion, henceforth, even for evermore. Amen."

Another Prayer.

"To thee, blessed Jesus, the eternal Son of God, and the Redeemer of a lost and ruined world, would I now desire to look up, and most humbly and earnestly to implore thy gracious aid.

"Thou hast assured us, that whosoever cometh unto thee, thou wilt in nowise cast out; and that whosoever believeth on thee, shall not perish, but have eternal life. Lord! help thou mine unbelief. I would desire, in the first place, to adore that undeserved goodness, that astonishing love, which led thee to forsake thy heavenly throne, to take upon thee our nature, to fulfil in our stead all righteousness, leaving us an example that we should follow thy steps; nay, to humble thyself unto death, even the cursed death of the cross; to die that we might live, to die in agonies which human nature shudders even to think of, that we might escape the pains of hell for ever.

"Surely, if I have any feeling, any sense of gratitude in me, it ought to be exerted in the very highest degree, when I reflect upon what thou hast done and suffered for us sinners. Grant, I beseech thee, that thy death and sufferings may not be in vain, as to me. Confirm, Lord, and increase my faith, and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of thee. I would desire to accept of thee in all thy offices, as thou art freely offered in the Gospel. As my Prophet, to believe whatsoever thou hast revealed; as

my Priest, to rely upon thee, and thee only, for salvation, renouncing every other hope and confidence ; and, as my King, to submit to thy all-righteous laws. Oh, that thou mightest be made of God unto me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and complete redemption!

"Make me, I beseech thee, more and more sensible of my need of a Saviour, and that thou art just such a Saviour as I need. Lord, save, or I perish. Lord, have mercy, or I am all undone. I am a vile sinner, deserving nothing at thy hands, but condemnation. But thou didst descend from heaven to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. Oh! that thou wouldst receive me accept of me-bless me -Take me into the number of thy genuine disciples, of thy little flock; save me, I beseech thee, from the guilt and the punishment, and also from the power and dominion of sin. Enable me from henceforth to live to thy praise, to be a Christian, not in name only, but in deed and in truth.

"Oh! that thou wouldst manifest thyself unto me, as thou dost not unto the world. Shew me thy glory. Fill my mind with joy and peace in believing. Remove my doubts. Quiet my fears, console me in adversity, meet me in thine ordinances, support me at all times. Never leave nor forsake me, and do to me and for me exceedingly abundantly above all that I can ask or think, and to thy thrice holy name be everlasting praise. Amen."

In the month of January 1818, Miss Sinclair had been engaged in some visits of piety and benevolence, when she took fresh cold, which produced an alarming aggravation of consumptive symptoms. The flattering nature of the disease might probably have led her not to anticipate that death was quite so near as it proved to be. But the tranquillity, resignation, and devotedness of her mind, testified how ready she was to depart, whenever it should

please her heavenly Father to call her home. It had been a favourite sentiment with her, "that a lingering is better than a sudden death, as it gives the real Christian an opportunity of doing good to others, by the example of resignation and piety." Her wish was gratified, and she did not fail to avail herself of the opportunity thus afforded, of edifying those around her. A younger sister one day lamented that her sufferings were so great. She replied: "I would cheerfully suffer it all over again, that you might enjoy the same consolation from religion in the same circumstances." This gave rise to a conversation on the impossibility of any sufferings of ours procuring, for ourselves or others, either temporal or spiritual benefit, and the necessity of the anguish which Christ endured on our account. Her uncommon patience struck every one. When it was noticed that she never complained, she said: "It would be a wonder if I were not patient, when I have so many mercies to be thankful for." After lingering for about four months of gradual decay, she expired, without the least struggle, on the 22d of May, 1818, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. A few minutes before her death, a faithful and pious servant, who was her constant attendant, asked her, if she should turn her. "No," was the reply, "I am so comfortable and happy, I had better remain as I am." She then appeared to be sinking in sleep, but it was presently discovered that the spirit had fled, leaving on her placid and serene countenance an emblem of the inward peace she experienced.

MRS. MARY FLETCHER.

SOME of the brightest examples of ardent and ecstatic piety, of purity, self-denial, and benevolence, are to be found in the lives of devout members of the corrupt Church of Rome. With defective views of the Gospel, many of the Mystics, in particular, have exhibited, both in their writings and in their lives, more of the true spirit of apostolic Christianity, than is often found associated with more accurate sentiments and clearer notions in those who enjoy the meridian light of truth. There is a warmth of temperament, however, discovered in their writings, and a certain foreign cast of sentiment, which do not exactly comport with the fastidious taste of modern days, and the cold sobriety of English Protestants. Yet, in Madame de Guion, with whose name Cowper has made us familiar, and in other admirable persons of the same stamp, what pious reader can fail to recognise a living portrait of genuine Christianity? True religion is essentially the same in every age, in every latitude, and under all the modifications which it undergoes from national or individual character.

The piety of the more eminent among the early English Methodists bore, in many respects, a striking resemblance to that which is displayed in the lives and writings of the persons to whom we have alluded. It was characterized by an enthusiasm which we are never surprised to meet with in the votaries and victims of superstition or a false religion, but which the true religion is too seldom found to inspire; although a rightly directed enthusiasm, where the object is real and intrinsically excellent, is the mark of an elevated and noble mind. There was, on some points

of doctrine, an approximation, perhaps, in Methodism, to the tenets of the class to whom Madame de Guion may be considered as belonging; while its internal discipline was partly borrowed from that of a foreign religious communion. Altogether, that which struck the superficial as most strange and repulsive in Methodism, partly arose from its grafting the ardour and zeal of Roman Catholic piety on the Protestant faith. It introduced no innovations in doctrine, nor did it necessarily lead to any wider departure from the National Church in discipline, than had been tolerated by the Church of Rome herself, in the case of the monastic orders. But for men to become earnest in their religion, is generally considered as amounting to a change of their religion, although not one tenet of their creed should undergo any

alteration.

We have made these preliminary remarks, in reference to the subject of this memoir, because, in order rightly to appreciate the character of Mrs. Fletcher, who was so distinguished a member of Mr. Wesley's community, it is necessary to have some general idea of the circumstances which contributed to give a peculiarity to her phraseology, and a singularity to her actions. She was altogether an extraordinary person. Endowed with a strong understanding, great decision of character, and simplicity of mind, heroic zeal, and unbounded benevolence,-in the apostolic age, she would have been a Priscilla, and have taken her rank among the presbyteresses or female confessors of the primitive church. She had all the spirit of a martyr. Had she been born within the Romish communion, she would probably have been enrolled among the saints of the Calendar. In this country, the community to which she attached herself, alone afforded a sphere suited to the energies of her character, which might otherwise have remained dormant, because, under ordinary circumstances, zeal such as hers could