صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

up in his bed without assistance, and faid, "I would not exchange my happy condition for all the honours and riches of the world; no, not for the mafliest crown that ever the greatest monarch wore. I am complete in Chrift, and am brimfull of his love. O blessed be our glorious and adorable Father in Christ, for so plentiful an outpouring of his Spirit and grace upon us. I never experienced the like. This is a foretaste of the ravishing glories and transporting delights of the world I am just going to. God hath fent the Spirit of his Son into you hearts, my dear brethren, to comfort and exhilarate them, and to quicken you to fervency, diligence, and faith in profecuting your Christian warfare. Be animated to fight manfully against fin, Satan, and the world; and God will bruise Satan under your feet shortly. He will, I trust, keep you by his mighty power, through faith, unto falvation. Now, O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory ? I am more than conqueror, through him that loved me. Behold, the King of glory is calling me, O child of the dust, for whom I shed my precious blood, whom I redeemed by price and by power, and whom I washed from the vilest sins, come unto me, and enter into the joy of thy Lord. I am ready, Lord Jesus, I cheerfuly accepts thy call, to spend an everlasting fabbath with thee, in those mansions thou hast prepared for all that love thee. Behold, the angels are waiting at my bedside to receive my foul, and carry it to my God and my Redeemer." He then lay down about three minutes, during which we observed his lips to move. Then he fat up again, and faid, " My dear Mr N-u, tell my honoured parents and other dear relations, that I died in the Lord Jesus, full of the confolations of his Spirit; and forget not to inform them of the magnificent magnificent conquest made by my adorable Saviour of all my companions in iniquity; and that with my last breath I recommended them all to the mercy and grace of my reconciled Father. Now, my dearly beloved brethren in Christ, my time is come; my Lord calleth me, and I can stay no longer. Glory awaiteth me, and inexpreffible felicity will be my portion." Putting up his hands to close his eyes, and I taking hold of him, he said, "Farewell, dear friends, till we meet in glory. God is with me. I am full of the consolations of his Spirit. His love dilates my foul; and I swim in an ocean of heavenly joys. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And so, exactly at fix o' clock, he expired, without pain, figh, or groan, with a pleasant and heavenly smile on his lovely face.

CHA P. XIII.

The behaviour of Mr T-s's companions on his death, and his funeral. The author retires to the country. His reception at old Mr Ts's house. His infuccess in his affair with Miss C-т, and her death.

Our cheeks were covered with tears amidst all this affecting scene; and when the dear youth actually expired, we could not refrain from weeping and crying. We were forced to say, “О that our fouls were in his foul's stead! O the reality of religion! O the triumph of faith! O the bleffedness of those that die in the Lord!" We could not but gaze for some time on his lovely face, the smiling and serene afpect of which indicated his felicity.

Our dear deceased friend had, on Saturday morning, ordered his dead dress to be made that day.

3

day, and brought to his room this morning ear. ly. Accordingly it came; and the women, at our defire, put it immediately on; and the corpse was laid upon a board in the bed. Agreeably to his own directions, we resolved to have the body decently, but privately interred on Tuesday night, and accompanied to the grave by none but ourselves, and the other gentlemen his companions.

The body being dressed, and the women retired, Mr, who had fat up with me all the night, faid, "Dear brethren, I desire to bless God, who determined me to ask permission of our dear brother deceased to witness his departure. It has given me a great deal of pleasure, and I hope I shall never forget it; but improve it as a motive to diligence in the great work of my salvation. I now fee that religion is no vain and fanciful thing, and that communion with the bleffed God is a facred reality. I see the propriety and beauty of the psalmist's saying, Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. I must acknowledge, to the praise of divine grace, that I have had a large share of the comforts of the blessed Spirit on this occafion, which have rejoiced my soul, and which I pray a gracious God may for ever keep on the imagination of the thoughts of my heart. Will you then, my brethren, join in finging an hymn of thanksgiving for redeeming grace, and returning thanks to God for the wonderful displays of his matchless love on this occafion, and for enabling us and our other brethren to persevere in the good ways of the Lord. I hope, after praise, Mr M will be our mouth in prayer.

100

Accordingly we sung the hymn, entitled, Redemption by Christ, Watts, book 2. hymn 78.; and Mr Maddressed the throne of grace in .a very

Y

very moving and pathetic prayer, in which we joined in faith and with rapturous joy, having our fouls refreshed with the lively influences of the Holy Spirit; and happily experienced the pleasure and delight of being in the Spirit on the Lord's day.

After a good deal of spiritual conversation, I told the two gentlemen, I would stay in the room alone all day, and would not go abroad till I-accompanied the corpse of my dear deceafed friend to his long home; that they might go to church, and that I would be glad to fee them, with the other gentlemen, in the evening, after public worship. They went away about nine; when the other gentlemen came in; to whom I related all that had passed from the time that Mr T-sawaked, till his triumphant death; which filled them with wonder and praise. They all looked at his corpse, and expressed their surprise at the lovely appearance he made even in death. I invited them to drink tea with me in the afternoon, and, if they pleased, to spend the evening in praise and prayer..

Accordingly all the gentlemen afsembled in the room between four and five. After tea, and drinking a glass or two of wine, we spent two or three hours in prayer, praise, and Christian conference; fome of the gentlemen whom I had never heard before being employed in prayer, greatly to my fatisfaction. I hope the Lord was with us of a truth. I then told them, that upon condition of their keeping the matter a profound secret, I would oblige them with a hearing of several letters written by my dear friend on his deathbed, which, I supposed, would be very agreeable to them. They having accepted the condition, I read the five letters, and also his will, in the order he had wrote them, excepting those parts relating to my connection with

Mfs C-n, which I thought proper to fuppress. They severally expressed their fatisfaction with the letters, and blessed God for so excellent a religious entertainment. I then told them, that as Mr T-s would never, during his illness, permit a female attendant to wait on him, so I did not now incline to have any women to affift on this occafion; but defired that two of them • would attend in the room for that and the following night, conformable to the custom of the place. Whereupon two of the gentlemen cheerfully offered themselves, ready to perform that service. I then read to them the written directions he had given me relating to his funeral; which I told them I was refolved strictly to comply with; and invited them all to assemble in the room on Tuefday evening between feven and eight, to pay our last duty to the deceased. Mean time I defired them to visit me on Monday night, when I would entertain them with some other remarkable aneedotes of our dear deceased brother.

On Monday morning, I sent for an undertaker, and gave him proper directions relating to the funeral, and injoined him fecrecy, that it might be folemnized in the most private manner, conformable to the will of the deceased. I employed great part of this and the following day in taking exact copies of the several letters written by my friend, as I was foon to fend away the originals, and in writing a letter to his father, to inform him of his death.

On Monday evening all the gentlemen attend. ed me, as I defired; when I read them the letter Mr T-s fent me when in the country, with his several speeches and foliloquies, in short, every thing I had then committed to writing. With all which they were greatly delighted, blessing God for the instruction and entertainment thereby conveyed.

Y 2

« السابقةمتابعة »