MY GRANDFATHER.

CHAPTER 111.

(Continued from page 143,-No. 6.)

THE closing part of my dear grandfather's life bore witness, as forcibly as any other portion of his career, to the power of true religion to enlarge every source of earthly happiness, and to dignify and elevate the whole life, from early boyhood to the decaying faculties and failing strength of extreme old age:

We do not, all of us, in our hearts, believe that holiness is happiness though we may not dare to deny it in words: we see that those who regulate their lives by the laws of God are obliged to give up many pleasures and amusements which seem very exciting and delightful, because the Bible tells them they are either sinful in themselves, or would lead them on to sin of some kind, and so in our secret hearts we sometimes think, that those are the happiest in this life who refuse to submit to the laws of God, and are governed only by their own inclinations.

But if we could only remember that the same God who created our bodies with all their capacities for action and enjoyment, created our souls also, and gave us the same laws for the government of both, we should see that if we break those laws, both soul and body must eventually suffer, and that the pleasures of sin, are, as the Bible tells us, "but for a season." What man or woman was ever better or happier for pleasures which led to sabbath-breaking, disobedience to parents, or profligacy of any kind? And, on the other hand, who ever suffered in health, reputation, or peace of mind, from keeping God's day holy, and in all other respects, leading a life of conformity to the laws of God?

Oh, if we will only strive to live as His baptised disciples ought to live, we may safely leave the rest to Him, knowing that His promise is sure, "no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly."

When my grandfather retired from business, he came to live near my father and mother, and some of my earliest recollections are of the long happy days I spent in his house, looking over a large portfolio of engavings, which he was never weary of showing to my sisters and myself, or playing in the garden, the cultivation of which was, through his whole life, his favourite relaxation and amusement. It is a great blessing, and one which I think is bestowed only on those whose lives have been comparatively pure and blameless; to have a heart capable of being made happy by small pleasures, and at the same time able to free itself from the pressure of small cares, and this blessing my grandfather largely enjoyed. He was the most habitually cheerful man I have ever known; and, while taking a warm and eager interest in the social or political questions of the day, or sympathising, even to tears with the sorrow of any one whom he loved, or easily aroused to indignation by anything like injustice or meanness.—I never saw him unwilling to receive comfort, or indifferent to the soothing and cheering influences of nature; and, long after his feeble limbs had become unable to support him, we were accustomed to assist him into his garden, that he might listen to the singing of the birds, and watch the growth of his favourite flowers.

Until confined to his bed, he took great pleasure in visiting his poorer neighbours, in whom he always took a warm interest, by whom he was greatly beloved; and his acts of liberality, instead of decreasing, as is too often the case

with advancing age, increased every year, and seemed to afford him more and more satisfaction, especially those which were immediately connected with the Church.

You must not suppose that my grandfather was unvisited by the trials which, more or less fall to the lot of all men. His only son died in childhood; one of his daughters married most imprudently, and contrary to the wishes of ber parents, and after a year of bitter and unavailing sorrow, died at the birth of a son, whom my grandfather and grandmother adopted, and on whom they lavished all the love and tenderness of their kind and loving hearts. They had however the grief of losing this child, after a long and painful illness, at the age of seven years, and two years afterwards, the heaviest sorrow of his life fell upon my grandfather, in the death of her who, for fifty years, had been his inseparable friend, adviser, and companion.

In all these trials, however, though my grandfather's natural sensibilities were so great, that I think he felt them more keenly than most men would have done, his habit of reverent submission to the will of God, prevented the utterance of an impatient or murmuring word, and though for some time after my grandmother's death, we feared that his own health would give way under the shock, he rallied at last, and became almost as cheerful as before. From this time until his death, fourteen years later, I was much with him, and hope never to forget the lessons which those years taught me of the power of simple faith in Christ, to sustain the heart under the infirmities of old age, and the near approach of death. For several years before his death, my grandfather suffered from paralysis, a disease which always, in some measure, disturbs the mind, and in this case he was

often delirious, and in great alarm and distress. But at such times, even when he could not recognize any of us, we could always soothe and calm him by repeating to him texts of Scripture, and he would say, "Oh! that's right, that's very good,—say it again." Often, when I have seen the delirium coming on, I have found that reading the Bible to him, or the Prayers for the Sick, has kept it away, and he never received the Holy Communion without being visibly calmed and benefited for several days.

One evening, a few days before his death, after lying for many days apparently unconscious, his nurse fancied he looked at her as though he knew her, and bending over him, she repeated aloud, a few words of one of his favourite Psalms, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," when he opened his eyes, smiled at her, and himself concluded the verse,—" and all that is within me, bless His holy name." These were almost his last words, for in a few days after, I knelt by his bed-side watching the release of the spirit from the feeble, exhausted body, and earnestly praying, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like His."

But I must draw this imperfect sketch to a close, for I have already exceeded my proposed limits, and though I am painfully conscious that I have failed fully to exhibit, the beauty of a consistent Christian life, such as that of my dear grandfather, I trust that what I have said, may in some measure make you feel, that in commending holiness God provides for our true happiness, and that the pure and lasting enjoyments of this life, are best secured by those who "seek first the kingdom of God and His righte

ousness."

E. F.

WAY-SIDE FLOWERS.

As I rode on my errand along,

I came where a prim little spire
Chimed out to the landscape a song,

And glowed in the sunset like fire.

Its Cross beamed a beckoning ray,
And the Home of my mother I knew;
So I pressed to its portal to pray,

And my book from my bosom I drew.

How sweet was the service within,

And the plain rustic chaunt how sincere!
How welcome the pardon of sin,

And the kind parting blessing how dear!

And the Parson, I knew not his name,

And the Brethren, each face was unknown;
But the Church and the Prayers were the same,
And my heart claimed them all for its own.

For I knew in my own little nook,

That eve, the same Psalter was said,
And Lessons, the same from the Book,
By my far-a-way darlings were read.

So I prayed, and went on in my way,

Blessing God for the Church He hath given;

My steed on his journey was gay,

So was I, on my journey to Heaven!

REV. A. C. COXE.

MANY and many a soul has dated its salvation from some happy calamity. Afflictions may make men esteem us less but God loves us more, if we bear them with patience and holy submission.-Bp. Wilson.