tablishment of that " kingdom which is not of this world." O, if we have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and felt the ineffable worth of salvation, and the melting love of Jesus in our souls, shall we not glow with zeal to glorify our heavenly Deliverer, and promote his glorious

cause.

Need I request my much loved friend to remember and write to her Fanny? Not that I could wish you to neglect more important duties; but when you have a few leisure moments, if you will improve them in faithfully instructing and reproving your stupid friend, you will confer on her a favour which she knows how to appreciate, and for which heaven, she trusts, will abundantly reward you. Your most obliged friend and sister,

FANNY,

LETTER TO MR A. F. AND MRS H. P. OF BRADFORD, DEAR SIR,

Beverly, April 16, 1813.

I SHALL readily avail myself of the liberty you have given me of writing to you, though I sensibly feel my unworthiness and incapacity, and fear my communication will not merit a perusal. A conviction of your superior wisdom and knowledge would preclude the humble efforts of my inexperienced pen, did not your well known candour give me encouragement. Much do I thank you for your few short lines; and more satisfaction would they have afforded me, had they come without the attendant information, that sickness had again debilitated your frame, again confined you to the bed of languishment. I hope, however, that your soul is in health and prospers, and that as your outward man decays, your inner man gains strength and vigour. I trust you enjoy spiritual

communion with your covenant God, and that as the streams run low, you drink more copiously of the Fountain; and now and then from Pisgah's summit obtain a sweet perspective of the heavenly Canaan, flowing with delectable blessings and ever blooming glories; where the favoured" inhabitants shall no more say I am sick." You have long been conversant with pain and imbecility of body, and have learned in the school of adversity many a profitable lesson, for which you have reason to respire with David," It is good for me that I have been afflictThese frequent indispositions are mementos of that sententious truth, which Philip, a Macedonian Monarch, ordered to be pronounced in his hearing every morning, "Remember thou art mortal.”

Yes, it is a truth, a solemn truth, enforced by the word of God, and the death of thousands every hour. Let it sink deep into my heart, abate the love of life and this innate attachment to sublunary things, and stimulate to preparation for death; that when my Lord shall come, I may be ready to sit down at the marriage supper. How joyful ought we to be, that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, and will do all his pleasure in the armies of heaven above, and among the inhabitants of the earth. He superintends and governs all created beings, from the highest archangel to the smallest ephemera that floats in the air; and all circumstances and events are at his controul, and made subservient to the promotion of his grand designs. He orders the rise and fall of empires, the revolutions and convulsions of kingdoms, and all the tremendous commotions which agitate this nether world. He raises monarchs to their thrones, and deposes them to a level with their meanest vassals. He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up, maketh rich and maketh

poor, as he sees best. From his exalted throne in the heavens, encircled with radiant majesty and glory, he stoops to behold the things done on this low soil. He passes by the envied courts of princes, and glittering palaces of kings, and condescendingly graces with his presence the little hut of poverty, and feasts its pious inhabitants with "fat things, wine on the lees well refined,” imperishable and satisfactory," which nothing earthly gives or can destroy." Happy, superlatively happy mortals! Though you were neglected and despised by all men, treated as the off-scouring of all things, destitute of the comforts and necessaries of life, and combating with diversified insults, hardships, and calamities, yet would I congratulate you; for God and heaven are yours; peace and serenity tranquillize your hearts, and sit smiling on your brow; and you are candidates for a crown of glory that fadeth not away, and heirs of a kingdom immortal in the skies. Ere long you shall drop sin, pollution, and sorrow, and rise to shining seats of celestial bliss; where you shall be kings and priests unto God, when earthly crowns and sceptres shall be demolished, and when terrestrial honours, pleasures, and emoluments, shall be lost in one general mass of indiscriminate ruin.

Recollecting to whom I am writing, I restrain the sallies of imagination, drop my pen, and respectfully bid you adieu. FANNY WOODBURY.

How do you do, my dear Mrs P.? You appeared when you wrote to have been rather disconsolate and depressed. I hope you have ere this time resumed your wonted vivacity, and been favoured with the cheering presence of the holy Comforter. I hope you have frequent and delightful intercourse with heaven, and soul refreshing views of

Jesus and his salvation: O to rise above these puerile vanities and insipid pleasures, to leave the world behind, and stretch after God, and immortality, how pleasant and desirable. This is not our home. O no; it is polluted with sin, and embittered with sorrow. We are on a short journey through it, and therefore bare accommodations are all we need all we must expect. We are all pilgrims and strangers here, having no continuing city, but seeking one to come, whose builder and maker is God. There eternal youth and unwithering spring flourish beyond the reach of the corroding hand of time and death. There millions of delights and glories, far surpassing our conceptions, bless the sainted spirit, and excite continual songs of praise. O may we be ambitious to bear a humble part in the employments and enjoyments of that blessed world. Why should we be so attached to these low regions of sin and vanity? O why should we grovel among the worms of the dust, when we might hourly feast on soul satisfying delights and the banquet of angels? The glories of heaven attractingly display their ravishing charms, and yet we are sad from day to day, and cry, "My leanness ! my leanness!" O for a sweet view of the immortal beauties and perfections of Immanuel. O for a heart smitten with his love, and enraptured with his excellencies, and entirely enamoured and captivated with his charms. O my dear friend, shall we not love, adore, and extol the Saviour of sinners; and shall we not strive to recommend him to our fellow mortals and spread the sweet savour of his name? And O! when this mortal life expires, may we see him as he is, in the full blaze of his glory, and dwell beneath his beatific smiles in cloudless day.

Does the reformation decline? I hope not. I am very solicitous to hear of the confirmation of your health, which you said was not good, and likewise of the restoration of Mr P.'s. May the blessing of Heaven rest on your dwelling, and make it indeed a happy Bethel. Will not a little excursion be beneficial to your health, if Mr P. and you should be able? We should be glad to see you here, and hope we shall have that gratification before long. However, write every opportunity, and do not forget me at the throne of grace. With wishing you a happy sabbath, and a seat at the feet of Jesus, I subscribe myself your most obliged and grateful friend, FANNY.

LETTER TO MISS C. G. OF BRADFORD.

Beverly, April 1813.

YOUR very interesting communication, my dearly be loved Charlotte, has been perused, and re-perused with anuch solicitude and tender feeling; and for it I return you my most cordial thanks. These dear precious children, what an account have you given! what a picture have you drawn! My heart, though adamantine, softens and sinks within me as it takes an excursion to Haver

This communication was concerning the children under the patronage of the PRILENDIAN SOCIETY. The object of this Society is to afford instruction, especially religious instruction, to such children as are very poor, and have been favoured with very little, if any instruction, either in the family, in the school-house, or in the sanctuary. Such children, alas! there are in many places in our country. The Philendian Society, formed May 1813, has been signally blessed. Its members, who belong principally to Haverhill and Bradford, have set a noble example, which, it is hoped, will be extensive and successfully imitated.