, 364 THE'WATCHFULCHnwrIANA)ViWG IN- PEACEG1 bisc..II. But these are not thy circumstances, oh wakeful christian.! Nor was this the .case of our young departed friend, though her distemper soon discomposed her rea coning powers, and gave her very little opportunity to make a present preparation for dying. But she had beard the voice of Christ, in his gospel, betimes, and awoke to righteousness at his call, that shemight be al- ways ready for his summons in death. Religion washer earlycare, a fear to offend God possessed, and governed her thoughts and actions from her childhood, and hea- venly things were her youthful' choice. She had appeared, for twine years, in the public profession of christianity, and maintained the practice of godliness in the church and the world ; but it began much more early in secret. Her beloved closet, and her retiring hours, were silent witnesses of her daily converse with God and her Sa- viour : There she devoted her soul to her Creator be- times, according to the encouragements and rules of the gospel of Christ, and there she found peace and salva- tion. It was there she made a conscientious recollection of the sermons she heard in public from her tender years, and left behind her these fruits of her memory, and her .pen, to attest what improvements she gained in know- ledge, by the ministrations of the word; and her cabinet has now discovered to us another set of memoirs, wherein she continually observed:what advances she might make in real piety, by those weekly seasons of grace. It was under these influences she maintained .a most dutiful and affectionate behaviour to her honoured pa- rents, and with filial fondness, mingled with esteem, submission, and reverence, paid her constant regards to the lady, her mother, in her widowed estate. It was by the united principles ofgrace and nature, she lived with her younger sisters in uncommon harmony and' friend- ship, as though one heart and soul animated them all. It was under these influences, she ever stood upon her guard, amongst all the innocent freedoms of life, and though she did not immure herself in the walls of a mo- ther's house, but indulged a just curiosity to learn some of the forms of the world, the magnificence of courts, and the grandeurs of life, yet she knew how far to appear among them, and when to retire. Nor did she forbid
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