conflict being over, she retired from the
chamber of death, and was found some time after, by her children, who
had missed her, in her closet, and on her knees. The throne of grace was
her refuge. To that hiding-place she was accustomed to flee, in every
"cloudy and dark day;" and sweetly was the promise fulfilled in her
experience, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on thee." She felt deeply the stroke which had made her a widow; but,
possessing an uncommon degree of self-command, it was a comfort to her
children to observe her great calmness of spirit, and to hear the
expressions of her confidence in God. Her natural fortitude was
sustained by divine grace, and her whole carriage under this
bereavement afforded an edifying instance of the manner in which a
Christian both bends before the storm, and rises above it.

About two years after this event, she left the neighbourhood of Reading,
to reside in the family of one of her daughters at Tottenham. By this
circumstance she was necessarily brought into new scenes both of
domestic and social life; and they served still further to elicit the
graces of her matured and now venerable character. For to the visitors,
of all ranks, she recommended the religion of the Bible; but with such
propriety, that she never gave offence; and most tenderly and intimately
did she participate in the diversified feelings of her grandchildren,
evincing her affection for them, by her earnest and ardently expressed
longing that Christ might be formed in their hearts, the hope of glory.
It was about this time, that the writer of this brief tribute to her
memory had the happiness to form her acquaintance; and he well remembers
the impression of respectful admiration which that first interview
produced on his mind. She was now "well stricken in years." Time had
mellowed the naturally sweet expression of her countenance, without much
impairing its vivacity. Her silvery locks shaded a brow imprinted with
the wrinkles of age, but intelligent and serene. Her eyes were yet
bright, and glanced upon her friends with benevolent complacency. Her
form was unbending and about the middle stature; her manners dignified,
yet free; her conversation cheerful, affectionate, and eminently
spiritual; her memory richly replenished with the word of God, and with
hymns, which she recited with much emphasis and appropriate application;
and her whole appearance and deportment that of a venerable Ch