he was not self-ignorant, neither did he rest on outward forms and ordinances, or the doctrines and traditions of men. He knew that he was in himself a poor, guilty, lost sinner; but "being justified by faith, he had peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ." Roм. v. i. When a child, his soul had been awakened by the terrors of a guilty conscience, and he had trembled at the thought of death, then, though it was nothing but joy to him now. This was the secret of his unshaken confidence," Jesus was ALL his peace." The presence of his shepherd was with him; the love of God was shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost; and his soul was filled with joy and peace in believing. At that very hour when heart and flesh fail, he found that "God was the strength of his heart," even as he now knows him as "his portion for ever."

Dear reader, does not your heart say, as you contemplate the bed of sickness, and the dying hours of Augustus, "Let my last end be like his?" Though dead, does not

his voice yet speak to your heart, "Jesus is all my peace." Come then to the Saviour; you can never find true peace to your soul elsewhere. Turn from the lying vanities of this death-stricken and sin-polluted world, to him who has promised, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Under the shelter of his cross you will find rest for your weary soul; and when the sword of judgment passes through this guilty world, you will find peace and salvation: for God has promised, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Ex. xii. 13. Then

"Jesus will be all your peace."

THE FUNERAL.

It is a solemn thing, under any

circumstances,

to have death in our dwelling. It was the first time it had ever entered ours; and though, by the grace of God, we could think of the one departed from us, as safe with Jesus, the poor frail tabernacle, which he had left for us "to bury out of our sight," reminded us, that "by one man sin had entered into the world, and death by sin."

His departure also made a painful blank in our midst. Though he had now been long withdrawn from the family circle, and confined to his bedroom, he was still the beloved centre of many anxious hearts, both near and afar off. The first inquiry in the morning

was for him; his name was the one most frequently mentioned in our prayers, in our closets, and at the family altar; affectionate relatives were continually sending him delicacies, to provoke his failing appetite, as well as making anxious inquiries after his health, hoping against hope that he might yet be spared to his beloved parents and to them; and there were numberless ministries of love, which our hearts delighted to render to him in the sick chamber: all these were now over, and for ever; he needed them no more; he was beyond them all. Prayer itself was now needless for him, for grace had accomplished all its work down here, and only praise was left; and it is indeed a blessed thought, that soon it will be so with all the redeemed ones for ever,-" Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee."

At first it was hard to realize that he was gone. It was difficult to feel that the watchful eye was no longer needed for him by night or by day; and that he would no more

F

be expecting us to sit with him, or to read to him the Word of life, which had been so full of comfort to his soul. There was the same noiseless tread, as we passed along the passage by his room; and the same watchfulness against every sound, as if we feared to wake him from his slumbers. If for a moment the dear children, in the buoyancy of their youthful hearts, forgot that the one they loved was taken from them, the solemn reality that his body was now lying cold and lifeless in the house, impressed on them that important lesson, "Lord, teach us so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

We had now to make preparations for the burial, and we desired that it might be done in a manner well-pleasing to God. If the great principle which should govern all a believer's ways, is, "Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," how blessedly it applies to the burial of one who belongs to him. Not only the spirits, but the bodies of the saints are