her only trust; her constant language when she could speak was, "I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me." I arrived here a few days before her death, and found her rapidly approaching the confines of the grave. She could not speak except with difficulty; but the unusual serenity of her countenance, her uplifted hands and eyes, discovered the state of her soul, and the place where her thoughts were centred. I said to her, I hope, Mrs. Newton, that you are, at times, happy in God? Her reply was, "Yes, nearly at all times." At another time, to comfort her under her present sufferings, I was speaking of the happiness which awaits the people of God in a better world; she said very distinctly, "My portion is sure." I was edified by her patience, corrected by her pain, comforted by her resignation to the Divine Will, and encouraged and strengthened by her hope of immortality. She suffered much bodily pain in the pangs of death: but just before she expired, (to the question of her affectionate and much afflicted husband) she said, in a whisper, and cordial squecze of his band, "I am going to the Lord; my mind is comfortable,”and soon after, fell asleep in Christ, and closed her eyes on all, till the resurrection at the last day! She was truly exemplary; and having made the Lord her portion, he became the guide of her youth, and the choice of her riper years: she was well established in the doctrines of the Christian religion as taught by the Wesleyan Methodists, (and though no bigot) she preferred that branch of the Church of Christ, and was a member of our Society for about 28 years; and always demeaned herself with zeal, piety, and uniformity; and I think I am justified in holding her character up for imitation, as a Christian, a wife, a parent, a child, a sister, a friend, and head of a family. She was indeed all that Solomon says of a virtuous woman already noticed. I had the pleasure and profit of her acquaintance for some few years, and considered her one of the excellent of the earth. Having found salvation in the name of Jesus, she had, to the last moment, an unshaken confidence in him. Her hatred of sin was very remarkable, but not more so than her love to holiness, or delight in the service of God's house, from which she was hardly ever absent when health permitted her attendance. She was a pattern of neatness, economy, industry, and piety in her family, and always kept up family worship in the absence of her husband. Sincerity and uprightness were a distinguishing trait in her character, as was her joy in the prosperity of religion among all denominations of Christians. She delighted in Bible and Missionary Societies, of which she speaks with peculiar pleasure in her diary; considering the former as forming a remarkable epoch in the history of the Church. Her benevolence and hospitality appeared to have been limited only by her means; and she was often the messenger of consolation to the widow and orphan, the sick and dying. She was the founder and patroness of the Female Sunday School in this town, an institution which has already been attended with the most beneficial effects upon the minds and morals of the ignorant poor, who have been taught, and even in many instances also clothed, by her exertions. She was a lover of the discipline as well as the doctrines of the Methodist Church, was a consistent and useful member of it, and wished to see others so. Notwithstanding her respectable rank in life, by birth and marriage, her dress was plain; she never, not even in youth, loved finery, which was considered by her as the mark of a weak mind, and not consistent with the Christian character. She was a person of a good natural understanding, which she improved by reading, for which she had both taste and opportunity. She was a most valuable friend, and that too when a friend is most necessary, when the body labours under severe affliction, or the mind is cast down and discouraged by the perplexities of life. In a word, she was "a gracious woman," and that God, in whom was her confidence and hope, did not forsake her in the last painful conflict, but supported her by his grace, and the prospect of a glorious immortality. But had she no faults? you will say. That question is answered by herself, when I told you that her sense of being a lost sinner led her by repentance and faith to lay hold upon Jesus as her "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption;" and her daily confessions at a throne of grace discover the humbling views she had of herself; which are conspicuous in her diary. Her infirmities (and what mere mortal is free from infirmities?) were constitutional, and sometimes sprung from her very virtues, from her hatred of sin, her love of order, and her zeal for the truth itself. But I never could discover that she indulged herself in any known sin, or neglected any known duty; so fully was her soul under the influence of Divine grace, in a faithful and conscientious use of every gospel ordinance, and a steady and uniform discharge of every Christian duty. I shall now conclude with exhorting you all, especially the female part of my audience, to follow her as she followed Christ Jesus. Ye females, who are now in the morning, the bloom of life, follow the example of this gracious woman, by remembering your Creator in the days of your youth, by early giving your hearts to God, taking him for your portion, and the guide of your steps in the slippery paths of life; by speedily fleeing to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the hope set before you, believing in his name, trasting in his atoning blood, and obeying from the heart the precepts of his gospel; by filial obedience to the author of your being; by forming pious habits while the heart is yet tender and peculiarly susceptible of good impressions, and while the tide of life is in your favour. Ere long, the evil days shall come, the years arrive, when you shall say there is no pleasure in them: the sun shall be darkened, the clouds return after the rain, the keepers of the house tremble, the strong bow themselves, the grinders cease, sleep depart, music cease to please, the head become grey and giddy, imaginary dangers alarm, the grasshopper become a burden, and desire fail! Youth is the best time to serve the Lord: the heart is not yet hardened in sin, the mind is not fettered with prejudice, but lies open to conviction, the conscience is not seared with guilt, the feelings are not benumbed with evil habits, or blunted by age, while the Spirit of God is powerfully striving. O yield yourselves unto God: lay a good foundation against the time to come, against that time when the silver cord shall be loosened, the golden bowl broken, the pitcher broken at the fountain, and the wheel at the cistern; when dust shall return to dust again, and the spirit to God who gave it; when man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. In the morning of life sow the good seed, and in the evening you shall reap an abundant harvest. Ye females, who fill the honourable station of wives, follow the example of this gracious woman. She discharged, in a most exemplary manner, for more than three and twenty years, the important duties of that tender relation. A good wife is from the Lord. As I believe that much of human felicity is placed in the hands of women, I wish every woman considered this, and would exert to the utmost all her power of doing good: not only your own happiness, but also the happiness of the community at large, and especially of your respective families, would be greatly promoted thereby. "How knowest thou, O wife, but that thou shalt save thy husband," thy children, thy relatives? If the instances of domestic happiness are more numerous in Nova-Scotia than in many other countries, (and I believe they are) this arises not from any peculiar local advantages which we enjoy, but from the superior prudence, constancy, and goodness of our wives, who are not, perhaps, exceeded by any in the world. But still there is much room for improvement, especially in piety, faith, zeal, and religious knowledge; in all these our lamented friend set a bright example. Emulate her excellencies, and strive also to excel. This will extend your happy influence, rivet the affections of your husbands, bring down the blessings of the aged, command the reverence and imitation of the young, strike with awe the ungodly and licentious, and excite the admiration of the good. Ye females, who bear the respectable, the endearing name of mothers, follow the example of this gracious woman; train up your children in the way they should go, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Do this because it is your duty, because your affections impel you, because their eternal happiness may depend upon it, and because they may have both grace and opportunity to reward even here all your pains. You may have a pious, a dutiful, an affectionate child as she had, to minister to you on a sick, a dying bed, to pray with, to comfort you, and to receive your last sigh; to follow your example, to supply your place in the family, in the community, in the church; to perpetuate your friendships, your charities, your love to Christ, to his ministers, his cause, his people; to bow with you before the throne of God, to rejoice with you and all the sanctified in the morning of the resurrection. Ye weeping relatives of this gracious woman, follow her example, and draw consolation from her unshaken faith, her genuine piety, her holy joy, her patient resignation, her hope of heaven, her tranquil and happy death. Both sorrow and joy agitate your feeling hearts: you weep, but not as those who are without hope; your hope is that she sleeps in Christ your Lord. You rejoice, but not as those who are insensible of their loss, but because her trials, her sufferings, are at an end, and "the mortal affliction is past." Your loss is great, is in this life irreparable, but it will be repaired in another and a better life, and so repaired as to eradicate from the mind all painful remembrance of the past; nay, even in this life the remembrance of her virtues, and the profit of her example, will, I trust, in some good degree, compensate the pain occasioned by her death. For I persuade myself that her example has left an impression on your minds, which not only never will be erased, but which you will faithfully follow to the end of life. How can her mother* forget such a daughter, who was not only remarkable for filial obedience, but also the happy instrument in the hand of God, of much spiritual good to her soul, and the comfort of her declining years? How can her sisters forget such a sister, who set before them an example which they have already learned to follow, who soothed their minds in the hour of sorrow, and supported their steps in the day of trial? And shall her feeling, her tender husband, cease to cherish her memory? No; he loved her with too much tenderness; he knew her value too well; he enjoyed her society, her affections, her friendship, her example too long, ever to forget her. And can she be forgotten even for a moment, by her only child and daughter, who was brought up by her in wisdom's ways? Already had you learned not only to reverence, but also to obey, not only to admire but also to imitate, not only * Mrs. Newton's mother is still living. to love but also to follow her, who gave you being, who supported your tottering steps, who taught "your young ideas how to shoot," who set before you the value of a Saviour, who led you by the "hand to the house of God, who instructed you in your duty to your Creator, to your parents, to society, to yourself; who pointed out to you, by precept and example, the path to heaven! And can you now forget such a mother, such a friend, now that you have fully in your view the whole of her pious life, crowned by a tranquil and happy death? Methinks, while the purple current continues to flow, while the various duties of life are to be performed, while the hour of trial lasts, while memory continues to do its office, you will not cease to think of, revere, and imitate her! But shall not all these tender ties become more tender and much stronger, as well as more durable in the kingdom of heaven? What a pleasing thought! You must also die, but follow her to glory, and you shall not only meet others of the family who are gone before, but the mother shall again receive her child, the sisters and brothers their sister, the daughter her mother, and the husband his wife: Yea, you shall join the whole family of heaven in that happy and glorious state, where there is no distinction of sexes, or kindred, where there is no pain, no parting, no sickness, no death. Christian believers of every denomination, but especially you who are members of this church, follow the example of this gracious woman. Follow her in the firm belief of the doctrines you have been taught, in the strict and conscientious observance of our discipline, in uniform piety, in punctual attendance upon the worship of God, in hatred of sin, and love of holiness, in affection for the ministers of the word, in ardent zeal for the Bible and Missionary causes, in holiness of life and conversation. That she excelled in all these is well known to most of you who are now present, but best known to those who knew her best. She was born among you, being the daughter of that worthy first magistrate, Simeon Perkins, Esq. who was an honour to this country, and did much to promote its best interests. Her whole life is before you: here she set out on her heavenly course, and steadily held on her way, sustaining with honour to herself, profit to others, and glory to God, the various characters of an obedient child, a chaste wife, an affectionate parent, a good neighbour, a kind benefactress, a constant friend, a zealous and uniform Methodist, a pious Christian, through the changing scenes of three and forty years; and here she finished that course, in sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection! Her good works praise her this day in the gate; and I believe all present in this very numerous and respectable audience, with one consent, rise up this day to The Chapel was so crowded that numbers could not get in. |