I kissed my darling, and rejoiced in this testimony. When I asked her, did she not love Jesus more than her mamma? she was at first silent: when I repeated the question, she replied, "I hope, when God is going to take me, he will enable me to do so." And how wonderfully and graciously was her desire fulfilled! the Lord mercifully disengaging her young heart from every earthly tie. I again asked my child what gave death a sting? She replied, "Sin."

What, then, my darling, takes away the sting?" Immediately she answered, "The blood of Christ." Her breathing towards evening became most painful; no word of impatience escaped her lips; her countenance was serene, and a sweet smile when she spoke to About nine o'clock she turned to me, and said, "Dear mamma, take me in your arms, and lay me in the arms of Jesus." I replied, "O my beloved child, you are safe in your Saviour's arms; you do not fear death."-"O no," she replied,

me.

"Safe folded in my Saviour's arms," &c.

When I observed she would soon be before the throne of God, she added, "Yes, mamma, and he will wipe away all tears from my eyes, and

"I shall sing the song of grace,

And view my glorious hiding-place."

She then desired to

I know, I know his grace is sufficient for me." be raised up in her bed, and, calling for all her brothers and sisters, she took a solemn and affecting farewell of them, kissing each affectionately, and thanking them for their attention during her illness. And distressing as every exertion must have been to her weak frame and nearly exhausted breath, she stooped to embrace the youngest child. Observing her sister cry, she said, Why do you cry? don't you know I am going to God??? going to God?" When her aunt observed, "You are a happy child ;" she replied, "How can I be but happy, when I am going to God? Good bye, aunt; won't you stay with mamma? Give my love to aunt G-." She then looked at me, and said, "Mamma dear, be sure to tell John I remembered him, and be sure to tell Edward I remembered him." Then sweetly turning fo me, she said, " And now good bye, dear mamma; kiss me." I stoped to kiss her dear lips; she clasped her arms round me, and fouring out her little heart in prayer, she said, "God Almighty bless you, my dear mamma, and all my brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles; my cousins, the Newenhams; Mrs. S.; and a great many friends whom I cannot name now and O grant that I may meet them all before the throne of God; and that they may all know

:

Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal, life eternal!" and her arms dropped for a time." And now, mamma, raise me up again," she sweetly said; and, with a heavenly smile on her countenance, she softly whispered to me, to remind her little brothers and sisters of what she used to say to them about speaking truth. She then told me all she wished to have done, always adding, "That is, if you please, mamma." She said, "There are a few papers in my writingdesk, which perhaps you would like to keep for yourself, mamma, to remember me ;" and she smiled, as if it were a trivial thing to give me. She observed that her Prayer-book she would not wish any one to have but me; "Because you know, mamma-" This I knew she alluded to as having been her beloved father's; I had given it to her as a remembrance. She told me where I should find some money she had laid by for a pair of shoes for a poor boy. After some other little bequests, she lay back; and, putting up her weak and trembling hands, she said, "Now come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." She then asked me to go to prayer, when, all kneeling round the bed, I offered up an earnest prayer that her spirit might be dismissed that Jesus would carry her in his arms, and take her to his bosom she joined fervently, adding, "Amen, Amen;" repeating the words after me, " An abundant entrance into thy kingdom of glory." She then frequently cried out, "O come, Lord Jesus, why tarry?" Often asking the hour, she began to fear she was to outlive the night; and looking to her brother, she said," Charles, are people long stopping ?" meaning that she wished to stop breathing. Then, looking towards me several times, "Mamma, I am praying for faith and patience." Seeing her fall back, and as I then thought about to draw the last labouring breath, I put up my hands and my heart to God, blessing him that my child was his, and not mine. She opened her eyes, and with the most lovely smile, she said, Ah, mamma, I am yours yet." Her breathing being extremely difficult, she began to be eager for her dismissal. I observed to her, that God's time was the best; that his will should be hers; that patience should have her perfect work. She lay, meekly resigned; then expressed a wish her brothers should leave her for a time. Turning to me, she said, "The reason, mamma, I wished the boys to go away was, because I feared I should grow impatient, and I could not pray when they were all about me." She frequently urged all to go to bed, saying, she feared she should stop till morning; " and then," she added, "I shall make you all cry again." At about twelve o'clock a most painful and agonizing scene commenced: inward convulsive pangs seized my suffering, afflicted child: her mind wandered, and she called out that she was burning inside: her face became convulsed, her eyes fixed; she talked rapidly; and after a most bitter conflict, she triumphed over the enemy of souls, crying out every moment, Yes, I am in Christ's arms, and I am now in mamma's arms, and we are both in Christ's arms and I am going to God's throne." When we prayed for her dismissal, she evidenced the clearness of her reason, by joining in every word. Then naming all

Ia

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around her bed, she fixed her dear expiring eyes, beaming with tenderness, on me: "I am in mamma's soft arms; now I am laying my head on mamma's breast: now I see Christ; there he is!" pointing her little hands upwards. "See that Star, mamma; you know it is in the Bible. Now I am coming to Christ; and we shall all be with Christ, and before Christ's throne, from Deane to William" (naming the eldest and youngest of the family). With these words, "I am going to God's throne," her tongue faltered, her eyes closed, the conflict ceased, her happy spirit was dismissed from the suffering body, and she (as she herself said she would) entered into eternal rest. According to her own desire, she was laid down from her mother's arms in the arms of Jesus.

Go, gentle spirit, to the bosom of thy God: sweet and pleasant as thou wast to me, most joyfully do I resign thee to thy Saviour, who redeemed thee with the most precious price of his blood; to him who loved thee, and washed thee from every spot and stain of corruption; to thy heavenly Father, who drew thee to himself, who early tried in the furnace of affliction, and brought you forth as gold; to that eternal Spirit, who sanctified you, adorned you with so many graces, and made you meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Glory be to the eternal Three in One, who saved, sanctified, justified, and has finally glorified my sainted child! Blessed be his name, that I have now treasured up in glory the dearest objects of my affections! True, my heart desired their continuance here yet a little longer but who shall stay his hand, or say to him, "What doest thou?" Shall not the Judge of the whole earth do right?" Can I not sing of mercy, as well as of judgment? Did he not draw nigh unto my soul in the day of my trouble, and with that voice which calmed the winds and waves, say "Peace, be still," to my poor, torn, and afflicted heart? Did I not hear him say, "Am I not still thy redeeming God? am I not also the God of thy seed?" And now, Lord, what wait I for? Truly, I wait for thy salvation, O Lord, and in thy word do I trust. O let me see thy grace poured out upon my much-loved children! Lord, requite them sevenfold into their bosoms, for their tender love towards my sainted child, their sweet sister, and for their fond and dutiful attention towards me, their afflicted mother! O let the prayer of my departed child be answered in their behalf; and may we be indeed a family united in Christ Jesus our Lord; that we may finally meet around the throne of God and of the Lamb!

The papers to which my beloved child alluded, and a copy of which I send you, are indeed a precious legacy to me, and a sweet testimony of the grace of God largely bestowed on her: her pocketbook was found full of appropriate texts of Scripture. As her meditations* and prayers show evidently the sweet frame of her mind, her views of sin, and of the atonement which is in Christ Jesus, 1 shall here transcribe them; not with a view, I hope, to exalt my child, who has now obtained that honour which cometh from God; but to show forth the power and excellency of the religion of Jesus: its efficacy

*These will be inserted in our next Number.

on the mind of thy dear child, enabling her to endure with patience and fortitude a weak and painful state of health. Her placid countenance, her serene and tranquil spirit, her affectionate recollection of every friend, her joy at the prospect of going, as she so often said, "to God's throne," astonished, delighted, and edified every beholder; and to me, her afflicted and bereaved mother, has proved, and 'will for ever prove, a source of sweet and unspeakable consolation.

1040

SELF-IMMOLATION.

[From the Genessee (N. Y.) Farmer.]

The following account of the sacrifice of a Hindoo woman, on the funeral pile of her husband, may be relied on as authentic. It is an extract of a letter from Mrs. S. T. Newton, a resident in Calcutta, to her friends in this country, one of whom has politely favoured us with a copy for publication. Mrs. Newton is a native of Pittsfield, Mass. where her parents now reside.

CALCUTTA, June 18, 1817. I open my letter, my dearest friends, to tell you I have witnessed one of the most extraordinary and horrid scenes ever performed by human beings; namely, the self-immolation of a woman on the funeral pile of her husband. This dreadful sacrifice has made an impression on my mind that years will not efface. I thank my God that I was born in a Christian land, and instructed in the Christian religion.

This event is so recent, I can hardly compose myself sufficiently to relate it. Last night I could not close my eyes, nor could I drive this martyred woman from my recollection. I am almost sick to-day, and I am sure you will not wonder at it. But this ceremony is so much celebrated, and by my countrymen so much doubted, that I was resolved to see if such "deeds could be." I have seen, and the universe would not induce me to be present on a similar occasion. I cannot realize what I have seen. It seems like a horrible dream.

Yesterday morning, at 7 o'clock, this woman was brought in a palanquin to the place of sacrifice. It is on the banks of the Ganges, two miles only from Calcutta. Her husband had been previously brought to the river to expire. His disorder was hydrophobia(think of the agony this must have occasioned him.) He had now been dead 24 hours, and no persuasion could prevail on the wife to save herself. She had three children, whom she committed to the care of her mother. A woman called to undertake was preparing the pile. It was composed of bamboo, firewood, oils, rosin, and a kind of flax, altogether very combustible. It was elevated above the ground, I should say, 20 inches, and supported by strong stakes. The dead body was lying on a rude couch, very near, covered with a white cloth. The eldest child, a boy of seven years, (who was to light the pile,) was standing near the corpse. The woman sat perfectly unmoved during all the preparation; apparently at prayer, and

counting a string of beads which she held in her hand. She was just 30 years old; her husband 27 years older.

The government threw every obstacle in the way of this procedure. They are not strong enough to resort to violent measures, to prevent this abominable custom. Nothing but our religion can

abolish it.

These obstacles delayed the ceremony until 5 o'clock, when the permit from one of the chief judges arrived. Police officers were stationed, to prevent any thing like compulsion, and to secure the woman at the last moment, if she should desire it. The corpse was now placed on the ground in an upright posture, and clean linen crossed round the head and about the waist. Holy water was thrown over it by the child, and afterwards oil by the bramins. It was then placed upon the pile, upon the left side. The woman now left the palanquin, and walked into the river, supported by her brothers, who were agitated and required support more than herself. She was divested of all her ornaments, her hair hanging dishevelled about her face which expressed perfect resignation. Her forehead and feet were stained with a deep red. She bathed in the river, and drank a little water, which was the only nourishment she received after her husband's death. An oath was administered by the attending bramins, which is done by putting the hand in holy water, and repeating from the Shaster a few lines. This oath was given seven times. (I forgot to say the child received an oath before the corpse was removed. The brothers also prayed over the body, and sprinkled themselves with consecrated water.) She then adjusted her own dress, which consisted of long cloths wrapped around her form and partly over the head, but not so as to conceal the face. She had in her hand a little box, containing parting gifts, which she presented to her brothers, and to the bramins, with the greatest composure. Red strings were then fastened round her wrists. Her child now put a little rice in her mouth, which was the last thing she received. She raised her eyes to heaven several times during the river ceremonies, which occupied 10 or 20 minutes. She took no notice of her child, having taken leave of her female friends and children early in the morning. A little cup of consecrated rice was placed by the child at the head of the corpse. She now walked to the pile, and bent with lowly reverence over the feet of her husband; then, unaided, she passed three times around the pile. She now seemed excited by enthusiasm, some say of a religious nature, others by affection for the dead. I do not pretend to say what motive actuated her; but she stepped upon the pile with apparent delight, unassisted by any one, and threw herself by the side of the body, clasping his neck with her The corpse was in the most horrid putrid state. She put her face close to his; a cord was slightly passed over both; light faggots and straw, with some combustible rosin, were then put on the pile, and a strong bamboo pole confined the whole; all this was done by her brothers. The child then applied the fire to the head of the pile, which was to consume both parents. The whole was instantly

arm.