continuing to him his understanding in clearness; "but," added he, in a rapture, "for what is most of all— his abiding presence and the shining of his love upon. my soul. The sky is clear; there is no cloud: 'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" Within the hour of his death, he called his friends and his servant, and asked them, "If they could give him up?" Upon their answering in the affirmative, since it pleased the Lord to be so gracious to him, he replied, "O what a blessing it is you are made willing to give me up into the hands of my dear Redeemer, and to part with me: it will not be long before God takes me; for no mortal man can live (bursting, while he said it, into tears of joy) after the glories which God has manifested to my soul." Soon after this he closed his eyes, and fell asleep in Jesus. 28. ZIEGENBALG. "Instructive heroes! tell us whence Friends, parents, children, husband, wife;' Deem thrones but trifles all-no more- It is probable that the Gospel of the Son of God was conveyed to India, within a century after his ascension into heaven. But though the seed was sown thus early, the harvest has been comparatively small, the greater part of the inhabitants of that country, even to the present day, remaining under the power of the prince of darkness. After the lapse of seventeen centuries from the Redeemer's birth, during which idolatry had reigned in India with little opposition, Ziegenbalg, with one fellowlabourer, left Europe with the design of conveying to the wretched millions of that country the tidings of salvation. They landed at Tranquebar in July, 1706. They soon commenced their important labours; and though they toiled in the midst of discouragement and opposition, yet they succeeded in their benevolent design. After several years of active labour, the time drew near when Ziegenbalg should enter his eternal rest. About six months before his death, he was seized with excruciating pains, and with a troublesome cough; but notwithstanding these distressing complaints, he did not desist from the duties of his office. For a short time before his death he seemed something better, and on the day of his death he rose early and united with his wife. in prayer. Perceiving that his last hour was at hand, he called his Hindoo congregation, and partook of the Lord's supper amidst ardent prayers and many tears, and afterward addressing them in a solemn manner, took an affectionate leave of them. Being reminded by his colleague, Grundler, of the faith of the Apostle of the Gentiles in the prospect of death, who desired to be with. Christ as being far better, he said, "That also is my desire. Washed from my sins in his blood, and clothed with his righteousness, I shall enter into his heavenly kingdom. I pray that the things which I have spoken may be fruitful. Throughout the whole warfare, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness;" which words having spoken, he desired that the Hindoo children about his bed, and the multitude filling the verandahs, and about the house, might sing the hymn, beginning "Jesus, my Saviour, Lord." Soon afterward he yielded up his spirit, amidst the re joicings and lamentations of a great multitude; some rejoicing at his triumphant death, and early entrance into glory, and others lamenting the early loss of their faithful apostle, who had first brought the light of the Gospel to their dark region of the eastern world. He died February 23, 1719, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. 29. JOHN ELLIOT. AMONG those who have shone in the Church of Christ, with almost apostolic lustre, John Elliot, the apostle of the American Indians, appears conspicuous. He was born in England about the year 1604. In early life he sought his God, and having found the way of peace, devoted himself to the ministry of the Gospel. Being driven from England by that enmity to real piety, and that persecuting spirit which have stamped indelible disgrace on the reign of Charles the First, he emigrated in 1631, to what were then the dreary wildernesses of America; with Moses, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." In America, for almost sixty years, he pursued his journey towards heaven. After the long pilgrimage of eighty-six years on earth, in 1690 he left that land which had become a refuge for the Saviour's suffering Church below, to go and join the happy and triumphant Church, in that better, far better country, which he will never, never leave. The present age is esteemed distinguished by the intelligent and zealous spirit manifested for the diffusion of religion; it may justly be thought such, as far as exertion is concerned, but in no other view. Elliot in the West, and, not long after him, Ziegenbalg in the East, pursued the very same plans for promoting Christianity, that are pursued now. They preached to the heathen; brought the printing press into action; established schools, and translated the Scriptures. Had their zealous labours in the propagation of the Gospel been followed by subsequent correspondent exertions, none can tell what would probably, ere this time, have been the blessed result. Being anxiously concerned for the immortal welfare of those miserable savages, (the Indians in his neighbourhood,) in 1646 he began preaching the Gospel to them. Many were the discouragements he encountered, the hardships he endured, the dangers to which he was exposed. Yet he pursued his work till the wilderness rejoiced, and the desert was glad. Alluding to a journey among the Indians, in one of his letters, he said, "I have not been dry night nor day from the third day of the week until the sixth, but so travelled. At night I pull off my boots, wring my stockings, and on with them again, and so continue. But God steps in and helps." He translated the Bible, and various other books, into the Indian language; among which was "Baxter's Call to the Unconverted." man. Thus he spent a long life, employed in promoting the glory of God, and the temporal and eternal welfare of He walked in the light of God's countenance all the day long; and it was believed, for many years, enjoyed an assurance of the Divine love. He had no fear of dying. When suffering from a fever and an ague, a visitor said to him, "Sir, fear not." He replied to this effect: "Fear! no, no, I am not afraid. I thank God I am not afraid to die." Age at length weakened his powers for usefulness. When asked how he did, he would sometimes answer: "Alas, I have lost everything-my understanding leaves me, my memory fails me, my utterance fails me; but I thank God my charity holds out still-I find that rather grow than fail." When he conceived himself incapacitated by old age, from promoting the welfare of his own congregation, he turned his attention to some negroes in the neighbourhood, to whom he thought he might still be useful; and when no longer able to go from his house to instruct them, he became the teacher of a poor blind boy. For many months before he died, he would often cheerfully tell those around him, that he was shortly going to heaven; and that he would carry a deal of good news thither with him; referring to the then prosperous state of the New-England Churches. At length his Lord came to fetch him home. When dying, he said to a friend, "Brother, thou art welcome to my very soul. Pray retire to the study for me, and give me leave to be gone;" meaning that he should not by prayer strive to prolong his life. Referring to the progress of the Gospel among the Indians, he said, "The Lord revive and prosper that work, and grant it may live when I am dead. It is a work which I have been doing long: but what was that word I spoke last? I recall that word; my doings, alas! they have been poor and small; and I will be the man that shall throw the first stone at them all." One of his last expressions was "Welcome, joy!" and he expired, saying, "Pray, pray, pray!" 30. THOMAS TREGOSS. THIS faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, was one of the ministers who were ejected from the Church of England, on Bartholomew-day, 1662. Cornwall and Devonshire were the principal scenes of his labours and sufferings. He was repeatedly imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of his Lord. At length he resolved to preach to the number allowed by the persecuting laws of the age. He now preached five times every Lord's |