was better known in the abodes of poverty and suffering, than our lamented friend. She sought out

the poor that they might be relieved; and the vicious, that they might be reformed. Her regard for these cannot better be described than in her own language. 'If there be any characters which cluster around my heart, they are the poor outcasts; the down-trodden and broken-hearted, the heart pining under sorrow and grief; together with the soul withering under dissipation and sin—that spirit so capable of elevation, all belittled, benumbed and degraded, yet as immortal as any other, and worth as much, too, though he be a beggar upon the dunghill, as the soul of the monarch or any other ever so high in statethough he be so fallen, and though he may have forfeited all claims of pity and pardon, either from his friends or his God; yet both are his, if he will pursue them with their appropriate means and measures.'

"The Bible, the closet, the Sabbath and the sanctuary, she highly prized. The former, she daily studied, and from it drew the bright lessons of her life, and the rich consolations of her Christian hopes. It was her guide-book. So fully did she follow out its principles, that her life seems little else than a life of devotion, humility, benevolence and usefulness, a life which it is not easy fully to describe, or faithfully to imitate.

"There are usually present in every congregation respectable persons, who when they hear described the Christian life and character of an individual, are unsatisfied unless something is said on the imperfec

tions of that character. This does not always arise from captiousness or ill-nature, but from a conviction that defects and faults are inseparable from humanity. Though I have sustained to the deceased the relation of pastor for nearly eight years, I have no materials from which to form any description of her defects or faults. I know not what they were. If these must be detailed, I cheerfully leave the work to the hands of those who regarded her less, or who knew traits in her character to which I am a stranger.

"Those who know not the internal warfare of the Christian's mind, the humiliation that lays the disciple of Christ in the dust, the spirituality of God's law, or the sinfulness of their own hearts, may think it strange that one so devoted and so exemplary should write the following language in her journal. 'Flow unlike the life of the blessed Savior, has been the life of the few days past. How many wandering thoughts constantly disturb the heart! How faint and few desires for perfectness! 'Who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death.' Will God leave me to myself, to be immersed in deathless death, corrupt with corrupted affections?' This self-depreciation was not the language of feigned humility. It was the result of attention to the heart, the secret movements of which are often irregular, where the external conduct is correct.

"To the joyous feelings arising from faith in Christ, she was no stranger, as will be seen by the following extract from her diary:

"How can I pen the past, and record past exper

iences, while the present is so full? How turn from a page so perfect, from inscriptions so Godlike; and how be deaf to salutations so angel-like, and blind to prospects so Eden-like? Yea, how disregard that sweetest voice while it whispers so heavenly and so holily,' Look and see.' How sacred this nearness with God! How elevating the thought that another week has gone, yes, gone. e! So, nearer thee! yon heaven! yon place of rest.'

"That rest she has attained. Allied to better spirits on high, she has resigned earth, and, as we trust, has ascended to purer regions, and breathes a purer air."

CHAPTER XIX.

Letters of Condolence-Sketch of her Character-Concluding Remarks-Poetry.

MR. PORTER's unexpected bereavement awakened the sympathy of his friends and brethren in the ministry; and from some of the letters of condolence received by him, we make a few extracts. The first is from the Rev. Mr. Miller, then pastor of the church in Bloomfield. He also received through him a request from that church, that he would have such a portion of the writings of his departed wife printed, as he should deem proper.

"BLOOMFIELD, Feb. 15, 1847.

“My Dear BROTHER PORTER:-Yours of the 4th inst. was duly received. * * I deeply sympathize with you under the painful visitation the Lord has brought upon you. Yours is no common affliction, and comfort of no common kind is needed. But I trust our gracious heavenly Father will stand by you, and comfort you himself. His favor is better than life. Yes, the light of his countenance can turn the valley of the shadow of death into a paradise. I doubt not, my brother, that this affliction will bring you very near to God. No earthly comforts can now meet your case; you will be led, there

fore, to go directly to that Savior who said, 'I will not leave you comfortless; I will come unto you.' **

"I rejoice to think that you are surrounded with kind and sympathizing friends, in this day of trial. And think, too, my brother, that your beloved companion is now with God. No person that has known her for years, can doubt that she now rests from all her labors; from sin, sorrow, and suffering, forever. Blessed end! and how soon your spirit will join her's! *

"Your brother in Christ,

"CHARLES MILLER.'

"PROVIDENCE, Feb. 2, 1847.

"MY DEAR AFFLICTED BROther: -It was but yesterday I learned, by a Bangor paper, the great loss you have sustained. Truly the hand of God has touched you, and you may well say, 'Pity me, O my friends.' Be assured, my brother, that I feel deeply pained for you; for though I doubt not you have confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God, in this visitation, still human sympathies are tender and strong, and you cannot but feel in a measure desolate. You have lost not only an affectionate wife, but also one peculiarly qualified to assist a minister amid his labors and trials. She was, I

doubt not, eminently pious, and is now with Christ, whom she faithfully served on earth. The church, too, of which you are pastor, has sustained a great. loss. * * *

"Of such an one as your departed wife, we can truly say, 'Being dead, she yet speaketh.' Her con