CHAPTER XV.

SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT IN DUNFERMLINE-DILIGENCE IN DUTY-LAST SABBATH IN GOD'S HOUSE-SICKNESS-SUFFERING-RELIEF FROM IT FOR EVER.

THOSE who had the privilege of intercourse with her at this time, remark that Mary never appeared more sweetly lovely in her liveliness. The idea of the Spirit of the Lord being at work, and about to be poured out in fuller measure on her own parish and her country, seemed to have called all her powers into animated and joyous action; so that while she prayed more fervently, and more ardently looked up expecting an answer, her pulses seemed quickened, and her common engagements pursued with more elasticity.

The news that a meeting was to be held in Dunfermline, under the direction of Mr. W. Burns, the young pastor, whose ministrations had been blessed elsewhere to the arousing of many, led her to desire to unite with the friends of the Redeemer there in prayer and supplication, and in hearing the word of the Lord. Her husband having a professional engagement elsewhere, she went in company of a female friend. Her desire was fulfilled,—a large share of spiritual influence rested on her, and as she was leaving the sanctuary in the evening, she said to her friend, 'I thank my God that I have been permitted to come here, and feel assured faith and confidence fill my soul.' The words of Mr. Grey, in her funeral sermon, well describe this bright experience, so close upon her entrance into the shadowy valley :- Her heart was full of divine love, her soul was much drawn out in prayer, and she spoke sweetly of Jesus to many. In the evening of that day, and again the following morning, she read the Scriptures, and conducted prayer in the family in which she passed the night, where several female friends were assembled; and in these exercises she was remarked to be, as it were, "filled with the Spirit," her "heart burning within her," and giving

eloquence to her tongue. Many were edified by her conversation, and one young person, who had for a long time experienced much distress of mind, appears to have been guided by her to the sure consolations that are in Christ. Next day, visiting a lady's charity school, she spoke affectionately to a little group of girls on their souls' concerns, some of whom were much impressed, and were noticed, on a succeeding night engaged in earnest attendance on the religious exercises in church. The visit was blessed to her own soul, and, we trust, has proved a blessing to others.' On her return, before she reached home, the damp cold air of the evening had fallen. This confirmed a cold, which probably originated in her having continued till a very late hour in her chamber that night, in devotional exercises, and in making notes of what she had heard at church, so that she went to bed excessively chilled. But ten days elapsed, before her health appeared to have sustained serious injury. On that subject, she remarked, 'if her body was harmed, her soul was refreshed.' On the Sabbath, she read the notes she had taken of Mr. Burns' sermon, to her class of young women; pouring out her heart in earnest entreaties that they would make sure work of their souls' safety, by surrendering them now to Christ. During that week, her hands were, as usual, full of work, ticketing and cataloguing Sunday school library books, and making a list of those which had not been returned, visiting the sick, reading to the aged, and teaching the young. A domestic remarked that, for a long time before, she never staid a few minutes in the nursery, without mentioning some plan for the bene. fit of some one. Her husband observed her increased activity, and when he urged her to delay various exertions till her cough should be relieved, she seemed as if she felt time too short and precious,-she must work to-day, for the night was coming. Even her delight in music was swallowed up in the pursuit of Christian duties, and spiritual occupations, so that, for a long time, the evening hour had not been cheered by her strains.

At this time she wrote to Dr. Paterson, whose Christian exertions in Russia, and elsewhere, have made his name familiar in all the churches. Her object was to promote the education of a youth in the neighbourhood, who was

not solicitous to what body of Christians he was united, so that he might become qualified to seek lost souls; and she felt it a pity that any portion of zeal and love should be lost for want of a little exertion. The good man, in his reply, expressed his pleasure in observing that catholic spirit, which, in these days of division and estrangement, dwelt uncontaminated in her breast, and enabled her to apply to a dissenter with as free a heart as to a churchman; and it is for the purpose of exhibiting this trait of her character, which could not have been perfect in love without it, that the incident is named. All who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, were her brethren on earth; all who love him in sincerity are her brethren in her eternal abode.

There exists, in the minds of many, a feeling of the deficiency in the collection of Paraphrases for the use of praise in our church, not in number and variety only, but in Christian love and doctrinal faithfulness. A missionary compartment, in particular, would form a valuable addition; and the Church of Scotland's Mission to the family of Israel having been pointed out to Mary, she at once entered into the idea, and a paraphrase on a portion of Isaiah was the result.*

This poem was sent, with the promise that it should be succeeded by others.†

Several poems collected in the Appendix cannot be arranged exactly according to their dates; but whether composed at an earlier or later period, whether the subjects be of heaven or of the smallest of God's works, the same holy remembrance of her covenant head is seen in all,-His skill, His love, and the prospect of His presence, enhance her admiration, and render her hope more ardent.

To a Greek air, which a dear friend loved to hear her sing, she composed, at the piano forte, the annexed stanzas, not being satisfied with the trifling words attached to it. They bear date the 20th December, the last effusion of her muse, and the prayer of their petition was about to be answered speedily. It has been remarked, says Novalis, that we are less dazzled by the light at awaking, if we have been dreaming of visible objects. Happy are those who *Appendix, No. XVII. † Appendix, No. XVIII.

have here dream of a higher vision! They will the sooner be able to endure the glories of the world to come.

It was either on this day, or that which succeeded it, that a friend returned from Dunfermline, fraught with good tidings of many being pricked to the heart, and inquiring the way of salvation. While the narrator proceeded, Mary sat with clasped hands, and eager gaze, and for a time she could find no utterance. When she did, her lips poured out the emotions of a heart rejoicing in the glory of the Redeemer, and the rescue of the perishing; and she said among other things, I have felt for some time past as if the business of my life was to pray for Christ's kingdom.'

A note inviting her brother to pass his week of college leisure at Cleish, shows how little she suspected that the dart of the King of Terrors was already fixed in her bosom. We are living in the hope of seeing you next week, and trust we shall have a merry Christmas together. I have a bad cold, but the joy of seeing you will drive it away.'

'On Saturday,' as Mr. Grey continues in his sermon, 'she was exposed unconsciously for a long time to a current of cold air, which chilled her whole frame. Yet next day she rose and applied herself to her Sabbath duties with her usual zeal, taught her class of young women in the morning, and, after attending church, her class in the Sabbath school, having felt particular pleasure in the service of the sanctuary, and shown great earnestness in the instruction of her interesting pupils.' She returned chilled and shivering, and, as the servants observed, bent almost double,' from the school; but still the unwearied spirit led her to lament that her strength was all worked up, so that she could not visit Old Kate,' a very aged person, to whom she frequently repeated great part of the sermon. 'Thus,' continues Mr. Grey, was the last Lord's Day of her conscious communion with the saints on earth spent in the Lord's service, with her loins girt, and her lamp burning. To her power I bear record, yea, and beyond her strength she was willing and zealous to do good, still to the end devising and executing plans of Christian kindness. The fever had already seized her, which, though not alarming to the inexperienced persons around her at first, advanced

rapidly, and, a few days after, deprived her of the power of commanding her thoughts, inducing convulsive effort and incoherent expression. In the earlier part of her illness, she murmured words of her father, her mother, often of "Jesus," "his blood," and once, when asked who Jesus was, she answered, "The man of sorrows." When her husband expressed his concern for her great sufferings, she replied, "quite content;" and on one occasion he repeated the passage, "These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore they are before the throne of God," &c.; Rev. vii. 14-17. The words "wonderful peace" passed her lips, as if expressing her own experience in reference to the sentiment. On another occasion, she said, "I would give all the world to be with Christ." Being asked if she would like a revival, her whole countenance kindled into a glow as she replied, "sweetly, sweetly." That was her last smile, and it was given to Jesus and his cause. Such were the testimonies to her Saviour, that her dying lips were permitted to utter. one time, turning to her husband, without any appearance of wandering, she inquired, "Do you not hear that beautiful music ?" He asked what it resembled, when she attempted to imitate it in her own silvery tones, but the effort was too great, and she relapsed into a comatose

state.

At

On an early day of her illness, when she probably felt, what her husband was unconscious of, that the sentence of death was in her, she expressed a most tender farewell to him, which, a short time after, the accession of disease would have rendered impossible. About the same time, when he, within her hearing, mentioned his surprise that she did not inquire for the children, she said, unexpectedly, "I want to see my children; I am heart-sick for want of them." Her mother, distressed at finding that, although sometimes called for by the poor sufferer, she was not recognized, and could not awaken a sense of her presence, made it her petition to the compassionate Lord, that, though she should never be recognized, he would grant her one word, but one word, from her child's lips, declaring what her hope was. At this time, the patient had sunk into a state