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Death-Bed Testimonies.

COLLECTED BY THE LATE REV. WILLIAM BUTTON.

No. IX.

These

REV. THOMAS JONES, Chaplain of St. Saviour's, Southwark. Died June 6, 1762. THE present times afford many instances of triumphant faith, and there is a very striking one before us. Whose death was ever more precious than our brother's, in the sight of the Lord? How could God show his love to him upon his dying bed more than he did? Although his fever was violent for seven days, yet his soul was still calm. He was not troubled with any fear of death, that was kindly taken away. He had no doubt concerning his eternal state. He was made patient to God's will, bore pain without murmuring, and waited the Lord's time for his release. Were not these undoubted proofs of the Lord's love to him? He suffered his faith to be tried in the fire, that it might come out like gold, purer and brighter; and it stood in the fire, rejoiced in it, and was refined by it. In one of his weakest hours, he said, Blessed be the Lord for that degree of faith which he hath given me, though it has operated in so weak a nanner, yet I have many blessed and comfortable marks in my own soul of his love to me." Here was faith, and much humility. A servant of Christ went to see him in his illness, and asked him how he did? He answered, "I am so full of pain, that I can think but little; but I know that Jesus is carrying on the interest of my poor soul, notwithstanding." are to me the choicest of his dying words. I see in them a well-grounded trust and confidence in God, far more deep and solid than all the rejoicing of triumphant faith. For when he had not this to comfort him, he had what was better; when he had no sight, he could walk by faith. He could find nothing in himself to put the least trust in, as to his acceptance with God, This and therefore his trust was stronger in Christ. "What showed itself in what he said on his death-bed, an unfelt, what an unthought-of corruption is here, both in body and in soul." He felt more of it, and to a greater degree, than he had ever thought of before; and yet this deep sense of corruption did not drive him from Christ, but made his faith cleave the closer to him: My flesh and my heart faileth (said he), but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." His ground for this, he declared, was, covenant of mercy, free grace in the Lord Jesus:" in "Now which, knowing he had a share, he could say, let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation; now, Lord, I can lay myself down in peace, and safely take my rest." In this happy frame he was praying, "Lord, secure a soul thou hast died save." Then, after a pause, he cried, "He will! He will! I have part here, I shall soon have all." He said on Friday, "I have had a glorious view of the love of Christ to my soul this morning." This love shed abroad in his heart, brought many sweet words out of his dying mouth, such as, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain; come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and give me an easy dismission; Lord, give me an easy disinission to a blessed eternity." This triumphant faith held out to the last. He looked forward with joy when he said, "Before this time to-morrow, it may be, I And shall be where all sorrow shall be done away." at another time he said, "I shall have a sabbath of Trinity before I thought of it, to worship a Triune God," which was granted him he kept his Trinity Sunday in heaven, adoring the Three Persons in One Jehovah. Was there not great faith, and great conjugal

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affection, in what he said to Mrs. Jones? "Don't be surprised at any alteration you may see in me, for death always makes strange alterations; when the Lord is pleased to give me my dismission, rejoice over my corpse, and praise God for what we have suffered together here, and for what we shall enjoy together hereafter." Towards his latter end, he was much in prayer. These were some of his expressions, "The silver cords of life are breaking, and man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets; Lord, guide me home in safety, and lead me through the shadow of death; this mortal shall soon put on immortality; though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. I go hence like a shadow that declineth, I wither away like grass, but the Lord is the portion of my soul, and strong hope." His hope did not fail him, God was with him when he died, so that he had no evil to fear when he went down into the valley of the shadow of death. His body was left to rest in peace, and his soul is with that innumerable company who are standing round the throne, and praising God and the Lamb, for ever and ever.

Funeral sermon preached by the Rev. W. Romaine, from Psalm cxvi, 15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints."

REV. JOHN BAILEY. Died 1697, aged 54.

At the age of twenty-two, he was settled at Chester, and He afterwards was imprisoned for Nonconformity. went to Ireland, and then to New England, where he laboured fourteen years: at length, dismal pains of the gout, with a complication of maladies, confined him for three months. During which time, he derived peculiar pleasure from reading the 53d of Isaiah, concerning the sorrows of our Lord, whereby all our sorrows are sanctified.

For some time in his last sickness, his heavenly soul was harassed with terrible discouragements; under which it was yet a common expression with him, "The Master hath done all things well." But at last he attained a blessed satisfaction that he was going into eternal peace. When his affectionate friends were weeping around him, he rebuked them, saying, “Away with your idols! Away with your idols!" A little before his last illness, he wrote in his diary, "I was affected with what I read of Mr. Shewel, of Coventry, who died in the pulpit. Lord, let me not die meanly, but in dying, bring much glory to Thee." was. Just as he was going to expire, he seemed as if he had some extraordinary apprehension of the glory in which our Lord is enthroned above. He strove to speak to his virtuous consort, and at length exclaimed, "Oh! what shall I say? he is altogether lovely:" and to another relative, "Oh! all our praises of him here are poor low things." He then added, "His glorious angels are come for me." Upon which, he closed his eyes about three o'clock on the Lord's day afternoon, and never opened them more.

And so it

Funeral sermon preached by Mr. Cotton Mather, at his own desire, from Psalm xxxi, 5, "Into thine hand commit my spirit."

ON ALEXANDER.

No marvel, thou, great monarch, didst complain,
And weep there were no other worlds to gain:
Thy griefs and thy complaints were not amiss;
He had need grieve, who finds no world but this.
QUARLES.

"O LOVE THE LORD!"-PSALM XXXI, 23.

Do not I love Thee, O my Lord,
And long to love Thee more?

More than the food that crowns my board,
Or heaps of golden store?

More than the blood within my veins,
The life which Thou hast given?
More than all other good or gains,
The gifts of bounteous Heaven?

O! what were life without thy love?
Once felt, what else can bring
Such perfect taste of bliss above,
Of life's eternal spring?

I love thy watchful providence :
Preserv'd by day and night,
I see the good thine hands dispense,
With ever new delight.

I love thy reign, O Lord of Hosts!
Thine is this earthly ball:
Thy retributions and rewards
Extend alike to all.

I love thy wise and just control
O'er all things that have breath;
'Tis this preserves the mighty whole
From anarchy and death.

I love all nature, for 'tis thine:
Thy riches spread abroad
Bespeak beneficence divine,

The goodness of my God.

These springs of love and joy arise

Wherever I may be;

They daily cheer my heart and eyes,

God is in all I see.

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Sure the redeem'd should never dread
To quit this scene of strife;
For well they know, that from the dead
They 'll rise to purer life.
Gather'd beneath their Saviour's wing,
With kind paternal care,
How can they feel Death's bitter sting,
And hell's dire torments share?

How sweet to them the sleep of death!
For angels soothe their rest;

And, quicken'd by their Saviour's breath,
They wake among the bless'd!

Death is to them but transient night,

Life shrouded in the clay;

From which they wing their joyous flight To an ETERNAL DAY!

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IS IT WELL?

Three Important Questions to Wives and Mothers. By C. T. Bedell, D.D. Rector of St. Andrew's, Philadel phia. London, Tract Society, 32mo. half-bd. pp. 118. THIS is a very precious little volume, which in the most earnest manner we recommend to be seriously perused by every wife and every mother. Dr. Bedell is entitled to the warmest thanks, not only of American wives and mothers, but of all bearing those most important titles in Great Britain. From the following paragraph of the Preface, our readers will best learn the object of the work.

"The author conscientiously believes, that there are very few who understand the full weight of responsibi lity which they assume, when they consent to change their relative position in society, and thus, from the comparatively irresponsible situation of single persons, enter upon married life. The great design of the author, in this little work, is to state the responsibility of wives and mothers; and, as much as in him lies, to endeavour to stimulate them to the performance of all that is required at their hands. He has also sought to give such counsel as might assist them in the discharge of the duties on which he has insisted."

CHRISTIAN MELODIES.

THE SABBATH. THE GARDEN. THE CHRISTIAN. 32mo. cloth, pp.250. Lond. Simpkin & Marshall. THIS beautiful volume, embellished with twelve plates engraved on steel, is a collection of the choicest poems on the several subjects included in its title. We have no doubt but it will be highly prized as a pocket companion by many a youthful Christian, on whose account we give it our sincere recommendation.

ANECDOTE OF DR. MARSHALL.

DR. MARSHALL, a lecturer on human anatomy, a man of strong mind, had deeply studied the construction and laws of man, and was never happier than when explaining them. He once devoted a whole lecture to display the profound science that was visible in the formation of the double hinges of our joints. Such was the effect of his demonstrations, that an inquisitive friend, who had accompanied me with sceptical inclinations, suddenly exclaimed with great emphasis, “A man must be a fool indeed, who after duly studying his own body can remain an atheist." I felt as he did, but had not been aware that his objecting mind was sponta neously working itself into so important a conviction. Dr. Turner.

The CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE may be delivered weekly in the Towns of the United Kingdom, by those Booksellers and Newsmen to whom Subscribers address their orders. Being unstamped, it cannot be transmitted by post as a Newspaper. But for the convenience of our country friends and others, who cannot obtain the publication weekly, it is published every four weeks in parts, each including four numbers; excepting in June and December, in each of which a part is published containing six numbers. No extra charge is made for the wrapper: so that the whole annual expense of the Twelve parts will be 4s. 4d.

The First Volume, from June 9 to December 30, 1832, may be had, neatly bound in cloth, price 3s. 6d.

London: Printed and Published by C. WOOD AND SON, Poppin's Court, Fleet Street; to whom all Communications for the Editor (post paid) should be addressed; —and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen in the United Kingdoin.

Hawkers and Dealers Supplied on Wholesale Terms, by STRILL, Paternoster Row; BERGER, Holywell Street, Strand F. BAILER, 124, Oxford Street; and W. N. BAKER, 16, City Road, Finsbury,

PENNY MAGAZINE.

No 69.

SEPTEMBER 28, 1833.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY C. WOOD AND SON, POPPIN'S COURI, FLEET STREET, LONDON

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INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN, AT CUSCO.
ANCIENT PERU.

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enjoy the inexhaustible fund of wealth in the New World.

From what country the ancient Peruvians proceeded, is utterly unknown: but a regular priesthood had been established among them, and had subsisted for centuries before the discovery of America. Peru was first discovered by Balbao, A. D. 1513, attacked by Pizarro and Almagro in 1514, and conquered by them in 1531. It was in a measure civilized from its more savage state, according to Peruvian tradition, about 400 years

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before the conquest, between which periods there reigned twelve successive sovereigns, denominated INCAS.

MANCO CAPAC, the first of the Incas, with his wife, and sister Oello, appeared to the savage natives on the banks of the lake Titiaca. Their persons were calculated to inspire admiration and respect; their dress was elegant; they declared themselves to be the children of the sun, deputed by him, in pity to the human race, to civilize their manners, and to reclaim them from their barbarous habits. This assertion was deemed worthy of credit by the simple savages, and Manco Capac found a people willing to receive his laws. Having thus succeeded in gaining over to his interest a considerable number of adherents, he journeyed northward, fixing his rod of gold, which he declared he had received from his father, the sun, in the ground wherever he stopped; and asserted that he was commanded to build a city and establish his resi. dence, on the spot where the rod should descend out of sight at the first stroke. On his way, the number of his followers continually increased; the vale of Cusco was considered an eligible place for a settlement; the golden rod disappeared; the foundations of the Temple of the Sun were laid; Cusco, the capital of his new empire, was built; and virgins of the royal blood were appointed to serve at the altar of the new divinity.

There was only one principal temple dedicated to the sun. This temple was in the city of Cusco, built of freestone, but its form is undescribed. The riches in the interior are said to have been immense. The walls were incrusted internally with gold, and of gold was the figure of the sun, of great magnitude, covering one side of the temple. This figure was round, like its original, with rays diverging from every part of its circumference; on each side of it were thrones of gold, on which were placed, in a sitting posture, the bodies of the deceased Incas. Its gates were of gold, and a cornice of gold, a yard deep, surrounded the top of the walls on the outside. In every part of the temple were exhibited, by way of ornament, representations in gold, of almost every object with which the Peruvians were acquainted. Besides these, were other rooms full of images; one in particular, in which was a silver statue of the moon, with a female face, seated on a silver throne. On each side of this image were placed, on silver thrones, the bodies of their deceased queens, embalmed like those of their husbands, the Incas, with such art that they seemed alive. To this image of the moon, as sister and wife of the sun, and mother of the Incas, the Peruvians sacrificed. Besides this chief temple, there were four other temples in Cusco, all of a pyramidal form; they were richly decorated, and called, "The Temple of the Moon"-"The Temple of the Stars"-"The Temple of the Rainbow," "The Temple of the Thunder," which were all accounted servants and attendants of the sun, and were worshipped with inferior homage. Those of the rainbow and thunder were adorned with gold, the other two with silver. To these temples were appended a large court for the priests, where they met to consult on religious matters.

and

A number of select females, called "The Virgins of the Sun," were devoted to the service of the divinity. These, in Cusco, were all of the royal family; in the provinces, they were of the noblest families. They were admitted into convents at eight years of age, where they lived in perpetual retirement, and inviolable virginity, being permitted to see neither man nor woman, except the empress. If any man attempted to stain their virgin purity, the punishment of death extended not merely to the offender, but to the whole of his family; even his herds and flocks were destroyed,

his house razed to the foundation, and his lands entirely laid waste. In these convents they were taught to spin, weave, and sew. The robes worn by the emperor and his consort on solemn occasions were prepared by their hands, whilst others of them dressed the vietuals of the Inca.

The sacrifices offered to the sun, were partly animal, and partly of the produce of the ground. Many of the Spanish historians assert that human sacrifices constituted a part of their worship; and Acosta affirms, that two hundred infant victims were annually offered for the health of the Inca. These assertions are flatly denied by De la Vega, who, though he admits the prevalence of human sacrifices amongst his remote ancestors, maintains that they were abolished by the Incas, who never stained the altars of the sun with human blood, nor could conceive that their beneficent father could be pleased with such inhuman rites. Yet, upon the death of an Inca, or of any other eminent person, a considerable number of his domestics were put to death, and interred round their guacas, or tombs, that they might appear in the next world with the same dignity, and be served with the same respect. On the death of Huayna Capac, the thirteenth Inca, above one thousand victims were doomed to accompany his body to the tomb. Four great annual festivals were kept; the greatest of which were solemnized at the summer solstice, in honour of the sun and his descendants, the Incas. Besides these, there were monthly festivals, chiefly observed by the priests within their temples. A perpetual fire was kept in the great temple at Cusco, and the other temples throughout the empire, from year to year, under the inspection of the nuns, or vestal virgins.

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Avarice and thirst for gold, inspired the Spaniards in their conquest of Peru. All the immense riches of the celebrated "Temple of the Sun," at Cusco, fell into their hands; and one of them, to whose share the Image of the Sun" fell, lost it at play before sunrise in the morning! To follow Pizarro and Almagro, with their immediate successors, through the whole of their progress, would conduct us to every recess of villany; and disclose scenes of treachery, cruelty, and wickedness, in their most hateful forms!

Pagan idolatry is overthrown in Peru: and Popery, in its most degrading character of ignorance and superstition, prevails in this rich district of South America: but we trust the time is not far distant, when "the Sun of Righteousness shall arise, with healing in his wings," and bless the wretched Peruvians. Thousands of copies of the Holy Scriptures have been distributed in that country, and many are evidently thirsting for "the waters of life," which are conveyed by the word of God.

THE CHRISTIAN'S APPEAL TO THE INFIDEL.
If Revelation be, as some suppose,
An empty fiction, whence delusion flows,
The fabled error with no evil teems,

It charms me waking, and delights my dreams.
With seraph tongue it bids my troubles cease,
And points to paths of pleasantness and peace.
Nor will its comforts fail, when fails my breath,
But, like an angel, bless my soul in death.
Yet should the pleasing hope its voice inspires
Delusive prove, when aged Time expires,
The fond delusion, from all mischief free,
Hereafter will not, cannot injure me.

But think, should its tremendous threats prove true,
What must, O Infidel! become of you.

He that would be little in temptation, let him be much in prayer. - Owen.

THE BEAUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY.

(Continued from p. 299.)

On the Connection of Christianity with Literature. HAVING thus far discoursed on the doctrinal beauties of Christianity, let us enter upon the second branch of our subject. The productions most foreign to us, the sacred books of heathen nations, excite in us no surprise; we find in all of them the ordinary chain of human ideas. The Bible alone is like none of them; it is a monument detached from all others. Twenty authors, living at periods very distant from each other, composed the sacred books; and yet their different styles, equally inimitable, are not to be met with in any other writing. But this is not the only extraordinary thing which men unanimously discover in the Scriptures: those who will not acknowledge the authenticity of the Bible, nevertheless believe that there is something more than common in this same Bible. There is not a situation in life, for which a text, apparently dictated with an express reference to it, may not be found in the Bible.

It would be a difficult task to persuade us, that all possible contingencies of fortune, with all their consequences, had been foreseen and penned by men. Now it is certain that we find in the Scriptures

The groundwork of all the human sciences.

All the political precepts, from the pastoral ages and the patriarchal government, to the ages of corruption.

All the moral precepts, applicable to all ranks and to all the incidents of life.

Of the styles of Scripture, three are particularly remarkable.

1st. The historic, as that of Genesis and the Pentateuch.

2d. Sacred poetry, as it exists in the Psalms and Prophecies.

3d. The evangelical, or Gospel style.

The first of these, with a charm that baffles expression, sometimes imitates the narrative, as in the history of Joseph; at others, bursts out into lyric song, as after the passage of the Red Sea here sighs forth the elegy of the holy Arab; there, with Ruth, sings affecting pastorals. This chosen people, whose every step is marked with miracles,-this people, for whom the sun stands still, the rock pours forth water, and the heavens shower down manna, could not have ordinary annals. Their revolutions are alternately related with the trumpet, the lyre, and the pastoral pipe; and the style of their history is in itself a continual miracle, that attests the truth of those things which it perpetuates. He who has the least taste for the beautiful, is marvellously astonished from one end to the other of the Bible. What can be compared to the opening of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?" God stoops to the language of men, to reduce his wonders to the level of their comprehension, and still he is God. When we reflect that Moses is the most ancient historian, when we consider him as the author of one of the most excellent legislative codes, and as the most sublime writer that ever existed, we cannot forbear feelings of astonishment; but when, with reference to Christianity, we remark, that the history of the Israelites is not only the real history of ancient days, but the type, likewise, of modern times; that the Jewish people is a syinbolical epitome of the human race; that Jerusalem must be taken for another city, the Land of Promise for another region, and the call of Abraham for another vocation;-we want words for our sentiments,

and are ready to exclaim with the prophet of old, "Before time existed, God is our King."

In Job, the historic style changes into elegy: here indeed we find the same simplicity, the same sublimity, as in Genesis. Job is the perfect type of melancholy, the emblem of suffering humanity; and the inspired writer has found lamentations sufficient to express all the afflictions incident to the whole human race. As, moreover, every thing in Scripture has a final reference to the new covenant, we are authorized in believing, that these elegies were composed for the days of mourning of the church of Christ.

With regard to the poetic character of the Holy Scriptures, we may use the words of the learned Dr. Lowth: "What is there in the whole compass of poetry, or what can the human mind conceive more grand, more noble, or more animated, what is there more beautiful or interesting, than the sacred writings of the Hebrew Prophets? They equal the almost inexpressible greatness of the subjects, by the splendour of their diction and the majesty of their poetry."

The third and last style of the sacred volume, is that of the New Testament: here the sublimity of the prophets is softened into tenderness ; here love itself speaks, and the Word is really made flesh. The religion of the Son of God is the essence, as it were, of what is most celestial in all religions. The character of the evangelical style is a tone of parental authority, mingled with a certain fraternal indulgence, and unspeakable commiseration of a God, who, to redeem us, deigned to become the son and brother of men. "If the Scripture," says St. Gregory, "comprehends mysteries above the most enlightened understandings, it also contains simple truths for the nourishment of the humble and illiterate; it carries wherewith to suckle infants, and wherewith to fill the greatest geniuses with adiniration."

Let us now consider the effects of Christianity upon literature in general. On whatever side you view the religion of the gospel, you find that it enlarges the understanding, and tends to expand the feelings; in the sciences, its tenets are not hostile to any natural truth, its doctrine forbids not study: a religion which can claim a Bacon, a Newton, a Grotius, a Pascal, and a Fenelon, such a religion may boast of being favourable to philosophy. We yet read with pleasure the profession of faith of that most illustrious man, Lord Chancellor Bacon, and the prayer which he was accustomed to repeat before he repaired to business: this Christian simplicity in a great man is truly affecting. Newton and Bossuet uncovered their heads when pronouncing the name of God: they were more worthy of admiration at that moment, than when the one weighed those worlds, the dust of which, with all its vanities, the other taught mankind to despise.

Whoever rejects those sublime notions of nature and of God which religion inspires, wilfully deprives hinself of an abundant source of images and ideas. He, in fact, will be most intimately acquainted with mau, who has long studied providence; he will be best able to fathom human wisdom, who has most examined the depths of divine intelligence.

The restlessness of the heart, the secret workings of the passions, will be inexplicable, unless we consult the counsels of the Most High. Let us then take eternity for the groundwork of the history of time, let us refer every thing to God as the Universal Cause, a God attentive to the interests of the earth; impiety, on the other hand, the immediate cause of the calamities of nations. Every writer who refuses to believe in a God, the author of the universe, excludes infinity from his works, he confines his intellect within a circle, from which it cannot escape: he sees nothing that is

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