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Obituary.

MR. CHARLES IVİTT.

On Friday, Aug. 25, 1803, died at the house of Messrs. Cornhill, London, Mr. C. Ivitt, aged twenty-seven, a young man of engaging manners and of exemplary piety: a short account of whom may not be unacceptable.

Lo say,

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He was the son of W. Ivitt, a respectable farmer of Lolworth, in the county of Cambridge, who carefully educated him in the principles of the Church of England. In the early part of his life, being of a lively disposition, he was hurried into the commission of sin, which was often the cause of grief to his parents; who have been heard - That of all their family, they were the most concerned for their son Charles, lest his conduct should bring their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave: :-- but God's ways are not as our ways, neither are his thoughts as our thoughts. At a proper age he was bound apprentice to a draper, at St. Neot's. The writer of this Memoir knows but little of his conduct during the time he lived there; but he was removed from thence to Huntingdon, where he gave a loose to all his passions, and drank in sin greedily. After a time, he engaged as an assistant with Mr. J. Ashton, of St. Ives; and was there a considerable time before he attended the preach ing of the gospel. If swearing, if obscenity, if Sabbath breaking, constitute an irreligious character, then he was one; but still he was what the world calls an amiable Young Man. A genteel address, a taste for music, sprightly sallies of wit, and a lively imagination, have often introduced him into company of the most baneful tendency. He was in this part of his life an Enemy to God and Golliness: but the Lord, whose ways are impenetrable to man, caused one of his favourite amusements to become the means of bringing him under the preaching of the word. Curi

osity to hear the singing at the dif ferent places of worship, induced him occasionally to attend at the Baptist meeting-house, where the Rev. G. Birly is pastor. Some of the friends there seeing him, and knowing that he had a taste for singing, invited him to assist them. He accepted the invitation, and thereby became a more stated hearer. The word of salvation was blessed to his soul; he became a new creature; and, through the divine influence of the Holy Spirit, was brought to rejoice in God his Saviour. Those lively talents, which before were devoted to the service of sin and Satan, now received a new bias; and he proclaimed to all around him, that it was the Lord's own work. When the sacred impression was made upon his heart, he did not hide his talents under a bushel. No; his love to Christ was ardent, and he felt himself constrained to declare the great love of God to all his dear connections.

While he remained at St. Ives he continued a lively, active, and diligent Christian; and his path was like that of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. About June 1799, he removed to Nottingham; and en. tered into the service of Mr. B. His conduct, while here, was truly exemplary and consistent with his profession. The time he could spare from close attention to business, was employed in the best things. To a friend, he writes, "I should have answered your letter sooner; but my close confine. ment has prevented me. I seldom have done business till ten at night; and on the Sabbath, a considerable part of my time is devoted to a Sunday - school; in which many serious and good men are engaged.

My dear friend, let us continually keep locking forward, thro' those means, to the Great Author, for the blessings that he has promised in the use of them! I do not forget,

to be importunate for you at the throne of grace; and I have confidence that you do not forget me." Agreeably to an invitation, he returned again to St. Ives, where he remained two years. He was affectionately received by his old friends, as he termed them. In his steady and punctual attendance to business; in his constancy in filling up his place in the house of God; in his zeal, in his prayers, and in his whole life, he was an epistle of Christ, known and read of all men. It was observed by all who knew him, that his health was not so good as when he left St. Ives; there was an observable difference; an inroad seemed to be made in his constitution but if his outward man decayed, his inward man grew strong. Often, on Sabbath-days, has he left St. Ives and repaired to Lolworth, where his parents lived, to countenance with his presence, and to as sist in the devotion of the day those pious good men, Mr. D- and Mr.

, occasional curates of the parish, when they have dispensed the glad tidings of salvation in the villagechurch. His near connections were in this place; and his fervent supplications were, that the ministrations of those men might be blessed to their souls.

About the autumn of 1802 he left St. Ives and repaired to London, to the great sorrow of all his country friends. The situation he procured was of the most flattering kind; yet his friends had forebodings that London would not suit his health. Indeed, he was soon attacked with an illness, which, however, did not continue long and after this his health seemed to be firmly established. In the spring of this year he undertook a journey into some of the western counties, as a traveller for the house; hoping that it would have a tendency to confirm his health. How this journey agreed with him, may be seen by a letter, dated June 30th: :- "I arrived in Cornhill on Saturday evening, after a very pleasant journey, in safety and health, through the mercy of God. In travelling, there is much both of the agreeable and disagree

able: upon the whole, I like it very well. I find much difficulty to maintain the character of a Christian, being often subject to the company of profane and impious men; and in such society much fortitude and caution is e cessary, lest I should act unbecoming my profession, or expose it to their ridicule and contempt. But I know in whom my strength lies; and he has said, “I will never leave nor forsake thee; but as thy day is, so shall thy strength be." In all places, at home and abroad, and at all times and seasons, I find religion is my best, my choicest comfort.

With such sentiments as these lived this valuable young man; and with such a constant depen ence upon God was he continually actuated: but we must come to the painful, though pleasing, task of relating his experience under his last short but severe affliction. He began to feel himself in a weak and declining state of health the beginning of July; but with the advice of a professional man, he began to prepare for another journey; but his God had marked the bounds of his habitation; and had determined that he should experience richer pleasures.

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"On Wednesday, Aug. 24," says a friend, having heard that he was ill, I visited him; and found him very weak and in much pain. I asked him, How he felt in his mind? He said, "Quite easy and composed." I then observed, that he had not a God to seek in this time of affliction and pain. Looking me full in the face, with a smile, he said, "O no, no!" At this time his hearing was a good deal affected; and finding him not much inclined to converse, I took my, leave.

The next day I called again; and found him weaker; but his hearing was much better; his state of mind quite composed. I asked him, If he could employ his thoughts about the best things? He said, "Not much; for he was seldom without two or three people in the room. But when he thought no one saw him, I frequently ob

served him lifting up his heart to God in short ejaculations. A pious friend in the family, who knew his critical situation, endeavoured, in the most tender and affectionate manner, to acquaint him with it; and added, " Perhaps we may not have him with us long." He said, He knew he was very ill, and was not very anxious about life; but "the will of the Lord be done." A friend then spent a few minutes in prayer; in which he seemed fervently to join. He said but little during the night; but was very restless. Between three and four o'clock in the morning he fell asleep, and dozed above an hour. He then said, he was better; and thought the doctors had found something to reach his complaint: he felt no pain, but was very thirsty. 1 desired him to try to sleep again. He said, he would; and soon after, in a low tone of voice, to himself he said, "Perhaps I shall soon sleep for ever." Till now, he had not given any intimation of his departure. Soon after, he was informed his brother from the country was come; but discovered no particular emotions, except when he observed that his brother wept, he said, "Don't make yourself un happy." After this, he dozed a little more. When he awoke, about half past six, I had hold of his hand: he looked at me with a smile, and said, "I am going."

Yes; you will soon be at home,' He answered, “I shall." Soon after, he caught hold of my hand, and with his other, pressing it, said, in an elevated tone of voice, "I am going to Heaven! I am going to Heaven! and you, my dear brother, will come to me, and we shall talk and sing of the great love of God for ever and ever!" To the female servant standing near him, he said, "O Kitty, I am going to Heaven!" repeatedly clapping his hands for joy. To another servant he said, "John, I am going to Heaven!" Not seeing his brothers in the room, he said, "Where is William and Robert? Tell them to come; they must be here in a few minutes."-In this strain he continued about a quarter of an

hour, when his speech began to faulter, and he laid his hands across his breast, and, at half past seven o'clock, gently breathed out his soul into the hands of his Redeemer. So easy a dismission was it, we could scarcely tell when he was gone."

MRS. MARY CREED,

OF MILE END.

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Mrs. Creed had the privilege of being descended from ancestors who, for the sake of the gospel, left their property, their houses, and their country, to take refuge in this kingdom, from the persecu tion which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantz. Her great grandfather was a Protestant minis. ter in France, where he was some time concealed by his friends; but being discovered, he was dragged from his refuge, and fell a sacrifice to their barbarity, sealing truth with his blood, at the age of fourscore. Mrs. Creed lost her father very early in life; but had the happiness to be brought up by a pious mother. She was naturally disposed to retirement; in which it appears she spent much of her time, having no business, nor family to demand it. She had a strong desire to commune with the church, and the people of God; but her natural tiimidity prevented her presenting herself for church-fellowship; and it was some concern ia her illness, that she had not sat down at the Lord's Table:, and in answer to what was said, by way of consolation on that subject, she replied, She knew it was not a sawing ordinance; but it was the duty of the Christian, because it was the command of his Lord. For some considerable time after the commencement of her illness, her life was not thought to be in danger by the faculty; and, as she expressed herself, at first she thought this sickness was not unto death; and when she knew it was, the sting was taken away; and she thanked the Lord that the enemy of souls had no power over her. That persons on the borders of the grave, as she was,

were frequently distressed with doubts and fears; she blessed the Lord that was not her case. She had been a little troubled by a dream; but these words of Dr. Watts,

"A feeble saint shall win the day, "Tho' Death and Hell obstruct the way,"

were very encouraging to her. Speaking of her indisposition, she said, in the first decline of her health, she was anxious for life; but was now quite resigned to the Lord's will for life or death; and that her poor petitions had been answered. On its being observed, "When the enemy cometh in as a flood, it was promised that the Spirit of the Lord should lift up a standard against him," she was enabled to apply it as a precious promise to herself. She conversed much on the great atonement for . sin; and begged the Lord would enable her, more and more, to lay the hand of faith upon the head of that great sacrifice; and she spoke of the sufferings which our Lord endured, to accomplish this great salvation for all those who believe in him.

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These words, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth we are dust,"-afforded her much consolation. She exclaimed, "How kind and good the Lord is to me! but I do not love him as I ought, or wish." On its being related that Dr. Watts, in his dying hours, being reminded of his great usefulness in the church of Christ, replied, He had no more to trust to, or depend upon, than the weakest believer, she said, "What a mercy it is that the weakest, such as I am, has the same foundation as the strongest; the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin." She found great pleasure and consolation in conversing on divine subjects; and from the prayers of her friends, whom she desired, as she drew near her end, to pray that she might have an easy dismission from the world. She was very thankful for that

good hope she possessed, knowing in whom she had believed,-so that death itself appeared without terrors. She remarked of the happiness of being prepared to meet death before it began to make its visible approach; and how unable and unfit, in the time of pain and sickness, we are to begin so im portant a business; adding, "What should I now do had I got my religion to seek ?"

On being told of the illness of a friend, too much inclined to the scheme of infidelity, she replied, "Don't mention it to me, — I cannot bear to hear of his awful situation; it troubles me much." — Being affected on this occasion, on recovering, she said, "In that bet ter world, sorrow and sighing shall for ever flee away." To those around her, she said, "This is a world of sorrow; but I hope we shall meet in Heaven, where there will be neither pain nor parting.” She was favoured with an habitual frame of thankfulness; and, but a few hours before her departure, being raised up in the bed, she said, "See how good the Lord is to me ! I don't know when I have been raised with so much ease." desired that sweet hymn (which comforted her mother in her last moments) might be read to her, "O, for an overcoming faith to cheer my dying hours;" she added, "The frightful powers of the monster Death are all gone !"

She

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At a time when she was supposed to be in a kind of slumber (for she had not had any sleep for a great length of time) she said, I' am not sleeping, as you thought; but imagined I heard a voice whis per a sweet invitation to me. wish to depart and be with Christ, which is far better: we now see through a glass darkly; but then face to face." At this period, her dissolution was evidently draw. ing near; and on being asked, 18 she was happy? she replied, "Happy as a mortal can be, till rid of the body." The approach of death began to be rapid, and her speech became scarce intelligible; but by her lips it appeared she was

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engaged in prayer. In her de parting moments, in broken accents could be distinguished,

"Jesus can make a dying bed
"Feel soft as downy pillows are;"

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which were the last words she was heard to articulate : so calm and serene were her dying moments, that the grim monster seemed disarmed of his terrors; and the scene naturally excited a desire from those who witnessed her happy state of mind, that they might die the death of the righteous; and that their latter end might be like hers. Mrs. Creed departed this life on the 23d of Dec. 1803, aged forty-six years; and on New Year's Day, the Rev. Mr. Ford, of Stepney, improved her death, from Ps. xxiii. 4. The hymns which, with great composure, she had selected herself for the occasion, were the 66th, 31st, and 3d of Dr. Watts's second book. G. C.

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On Friday, Nov. 9, died Mr. John Tranter, of - near Madely, Shropshire, a man well, known and highly esteemed in that neighbourhood, by religious persons

of every denomination. Those who differed from him in some sentiments, loved him as a steady and sincere follower of Christ. He was an occasional preacher; and his artless simple exhortations were accompanied with such an energy and pathos, as rendered them remarkably impressive. He possessed, in a good degree, the wisdom of the serpent; but, in a much greater, the harmlessness of the dove. The exemplary life of this good man was closed by a death peculiarly happy.

Mr. Richardson, of Lilly Hill, near Manchester, departed this life Dec. 4, 1803, in the sixty-second year of his age. The nature of his disease incapacitated him for conversation: it was judged to be an apoplectic affection, without producing the fit; which terminated his valuable life in a few days. He was esteemed an upright man, free from dissimulation, a worthy member, and an active Deacon of the Independent church in Stand Lane-Field, near Manchester: his attendance on public worship was regular and serious; at private and church-meetings he was remarkable for his fervent prayers; and had a tender concern that himself and others might be a growing credit to the glorious gospel of the Son of God. He appeared always alive

to the best interests of his surviv ing relatives. Frequently has the writer witnessed the venerable saint dissolved in tears, while mentioning circumstances which appeared hopeful in the moral and religious His death state of his children. was improved in a discourse preached on the occasion, by the minister of the place, to a numerous and attentive audience, from Job xiv. W. C.

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On Thursday morning (Jan. 12) died, after a short illness, Mrs. Littleworth, of the Abbey-House Ladies' Boarding-School, Reading. This excellent woman devoted a long life to the service of the rising generation: her affectionate tender care and anxiety for their best interests, will long endear her memory. She lived greatly beloved, and died universally lamented.

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