just made perfect;" our beloved kindred who had died in the Lord, our beloved pastors, who had guided us from early years to "the green pastures," and declared to us "the unsearchable riches of Christ," all came in review, as we talked of the Lord's dealings with them, while the good Shepherd was conducting them by the footsteps of the flock to the land of promised rest. Mrs Johnstone remarked, that either in one way or other they had entered the kingdom through much tribulation, this being the appointed lot: but that it was matter of true joy to think of them now, having washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, as before the throne of his glory serving him day and night, in the full enjoyment of God; all the tears shed, both on account of sin and affliction, for ever wiped away; their knowledge of God, and participation of his likeness perfected; and complete satisfaction realised from the holy exercise and gratification of all their faculties. They will see Jesus as he is; and that is heaven, to be for ever with the Lord, to behold the glory of God shining through the glorified humanity of "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." How thankful we ought to be that we are so far advanced in the wilderness journey, and that our souls will soon be freed from the imprisonment of the flesh, and from the sin and corruption that cleave to us while we remain encompassed with bodies of sin and death! We know, she said, the young may die, but we are sure the old

must. I cannot help sympathising with the young, when thinking how many weary steps they may have to tread in this vale of tears, ere they reach the close of their journey. O how sad would be the thought of having the present life to live over again!

Her longings "to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord," were soon to be fully satisfied.

In prospect of separating on the following morning, part of the evening was spent in social prayer, an exercise for which Mrs Johnstone was always ready, feeling as she did that it was our highest privilege to dwell before the throne of grace, preparatory to dwelling before the throne of glory.

As Mrs Johnstone took leave of the writer on the following day, she entreated, with all the earnestness of a believing mother, yearning with intense desire over the spiritual life of her beloved offspring, that her sons might continue to be carried, by the prayer of faith, to the mercy seat. The writer has no recollection of meeting her without this request being made. Often she said, "Oh, seek that they may be enabled to make Moses' choice, that they may count it their highest honour to sit at the feet of Jesus, learning of him, and comply with his gracious invitation, My son, give me thine heart!"

CHAPTER VII.

Mrs Johnstone esteemed by the relatives of her husbandAlison's early habits for devotion-Visit to EdinburghIllness and death-Her dying sayings-Reflections suggested by her decease.

SHORTLY before the return of Mrs Johnstone's eldest son from Newfoundland in June, 1842, she went, for the benefit of her eldest daughter's health, to reside in the midst of the beloved relatives of her departed husband. Ever tenderly attached to them, they had become doubly endeared since his removal, and her prayerful interest in them was akin to that felt for her own family and kindred. That this affectionate interest was warmly reciprocated was abundantly manifested by the tribute of sorrowful affection, which was paid by those attached relatives, when they came to perform the last offices of kindness in accompanying her remains to their quiet restingplace. They unfeignedly mourned the loss which was sustained by themselves and their families in the withdrawment of her example and prayers. several occasions, when spending a few months among these connexions, the same desire for the glory of God, and the well-being of her fellow-men,

On

which characterised her daily walk at home, led her to devise plans of active usefulness, which endeared her to not a few beyond the immediate circle of her kindred; and during the three months she resided among them (the summer preceding her death), a sweet savour of the spirit of him whose "meat and drink was to do the will of his Father, and finish the work given him to do," was diffused around her, the odour of which was felt by all who, on that occasion, came into contact with her; and when tidings of the illness and death of her beloved daughter, and then of her own sudden sickness, reached that quarter, the whole neighbourhood testified their affectionate interest, by the anxious inquiries which were made respecting them. Another proof of the high estimation in which those relatives and friends held her amiable spirit and christian character, was gathered from another of the brothers of Mr Johnstone, when he came to visit and sympathise with the bereaved family. His language was, "She knew there was enough in Christ for all, and having tasted that he is gracious, she could not rest till those she loved had tasted it too. I shall never be able to express what I owe to her for that knowledge of the way of salvation she was the means of communicating to me. She was a great boon to my brother, her own husband, and to all of us. I suppose such an individual is rarely to be found, at least I can only say, I never met with such another." He then intimated his great anxiety that

what could be remembered of her manner of living, as well as of her death-bed exercises, might be recorded; and stated that he and his friends would esteem such a memorial a gift of no ordinary value, seeing that they wished, above all things, to treasure her memory, and cherish the recollection of her holy walk and conversation.

During the three months that Mrs Johnstone and her eldest daughter resided in the neighbourhood of Moffat, the attached domestics, who were so long identified with the family, observed with pleasure Miss Alison's habit of rising early, that she might secure undisturbed time for reading and closet duties; also her pious remarks when attending to ordinary household arrangements, especially when sometimes assorting little pieces of fancy-work, or putting in order flowers in the drawing-room. While speaking of the beauty of the flowers, and noticing how soon they withered and were gone, she would say, what a striking emblem of the evanescent life of man, which the scripture compares to the fading flower, the fleeting shadow, the vapour which appeareth for a little and then vanisheth! adverting with deep solemnity to the nearness of eternity, as if anticipating the shortness of her own life upon earth. Many times have these domestics spoken with tender feeling of the happy summer they had with "dear Miss Alison."

When the Queen visited Scotland in the autumn, of 1842, Alison left Willow Park for Edinburgh, in

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