THE COTTAGER'S FRIEND, AND GUIDE OF THE YOUNG. FOR THE YEAR 1844. VOLUME VIII. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY JOHN MASON, AT THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE OFFICE, 14, CITY-ROAD; THE HAPPY DEATH OF AN AGED, AND OF A YOUNG, DISCIPLE. INSTEAD of a more detailed memorial of character, we give, as the commencement of our biographical department for the year, two brief accounts, each illustrating the blessed influence of Christian piety on that solemn period when life is felt to be rapidly ebbing out, and the hour of the soul's departure to appear before God as rapidly approaching. The careless talk of the gloom of religion. Whether a religious life be gloomy or not, an irreligious death must be so. In the following instances we see the gloom removed, and the soul filled, through faith and hope, with all the brightness of anticipated heaven. 1. DIED, at Easingwold, June 18th, 1843, aged sixteen, Mary Elsey, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Cheesewright. From her childhood she was evidently under the influence of divine grace; and when about eight years old, when her mother was praying with her, she was made happy by a sense of her acceptance with God. Although, perhaps, she did not retain the blessing thus early given, in all its freshness and power, it was never entirely lost, and operated as a decided restraint on her mind, and often caused her to be a weeping penitent before her B heavenly Father, because of her unfaithfulness. During a protracted and severe affliction she was kept in a state of calm resignation to the will of God; and about nine days before she died, she was blessed with a delightful manifestation of the love of God to her in Christ Jesus; so that the close of her life was eminently triumphant. On the morning of the day on which she was removed, seeing myself and her mother-in-law weeping, she said, solemnly, yet with cheerfulness, "Do not weep: we must have no tears. I am going to Jesus: I shall soon be with my mother in heaven." Soon after saying this, she sweetly fell asleep in Christ. JOSEPH CHEESEWRIGHT. 2. DIED, at Edinburgh, June 14th, 1843, Mrs. Ann B. Bertram. About fourteen years ago, through the instrumentality of a pious domestic, she became earnestly desirous to flee from the wrath to come, and was brought under the ministry of the Wesleyan Methodists. For several months she mourned under a deep conviction of sin, until, by faith in Christ, she obtained the witness that she indeed had redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin. From the time that she thus found peace with God, her conversation was eminently such as becometh the Gospel. She possessed, in a high degree, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit; but, modest and retiring as was her piety, yet her zeal for the glory of God, and the prosperity of his cause, was both ardent and discreet. Though her words were few, yet she was plenteous in good works; and from the time of her first connexion with the Wesleyan branch of the church of Christ, she felt the deepest interest in all its concerns, cherished the most affectionate and respectful attachment to its Ministers, and was, according to her ability, a liberal contributor to its various funds. She was punctual in setting apart hours for private devotion, and exemplary in her attendance on the public ordinances of religion. To the poor she was a generous benefactor, and especially to those who were of the |