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fections to thyself! clear up the evidences of my interest in Jesus, and brighten my prospect of an happy eternity "

November 2, 1802. Mr. Nesbitt makes these observations:

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Upon a review of the precious season of the administration of the Lord's Supper last Sabbath, I must say to his praise, that, at the sacramental table, and all the day, I saw my name written among the ransomed of the Lord; and that I have had a feast of love indeed! I am still in the wilderness, exposed to many enemies; but my prospects of the Zion above have been much brightened lately. I have been enabled, by faith, to look within the veil, and am helped to triumph in the hopes of the glory of God! Lord, how inarvellously condescending art thou to such an unworthy sinner as me! Lord, keep me from falling! I trust I shall arrive safe in the celestial Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon my head! Glory, glory, glory to my redeeming God!"

His constitution was never very strong. His nervous system, by much confinement and great application to business, was, during the three last years of his life, much debilitated. He was severely afflicted by a complaint in the bowels; which diminished his strength and increased his many ailments. From the beginning of the year 1803, he often expressed a persuasion that his dissolution was at hand. He had earnestly prayed that he might be permitted to attend on the dispensation of the Lord's Supper once more; and as April the 17th, the time of the communion, drew nigh, his wishes became more ardent. He was, however, prevented by his heavy bodily distress. On the 19th of April the writer of this account visiting him, he expressed himself in the following language, some times pausing between the sentences: "O how I mourned on the Communion Sabbath-morning, because this my frail tabernacle would not allow my being carried to the table of the Lord. But in the forenoon, and through the day, it pleased the Lord to admit me into the chambers of fellowship with himself, in the duties of meditation, prayer, and reading his own word. I beheld sins atoned for, offended Justice satisfied, the Law magnified; and all for me! I was made glad in the conquests which he has obtained, and in the victories he has won over Sin, Satan, Death, and the Grave; and that he has purchased my pardon, my peace, my holiness, my heaven, although I be a hell-deserving creature. The blessings of his great salvation are precious indecd; but Jesus, my Saviour, himself is more precious than them all! O how glorious is he in his blood-red apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength for my redemption!"

May 10, 1803, he had a sore conflict with the adversary of souls, who shot at him, and wounded him by his fiery darts of temptation. The combat was very sharp; but it did not last Jong he was enabled to ply his Christian armour, and to ob

tain the victory. On the day following, he said "Satan has been mustering up all my sins, and setting them in battle-array against me. The Lord knows that, by the assistance of his grace, I have long been endeavouring to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and men. Yet, O how true it is, I have been a singularly worthless and rebellious creature! The enemy hath been pursuing my soul, and, yesterday, had nearly trodden me under his feet; but in the critical moment the Lord interposed, and enabled me to set his own word against all the accusations of the foe; the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth me from all sin. Let the accuser of the brethren say what he will, I resolve still to cleave to the Lord Jesus, to his sin-atoning sacrifice, and to be a debtor to his rich and sovereign grace P

To his bowel-complaints was now added a swelling in oneleg, accompanied with a great degree of inflammation. June 6, when carried out in a chair to the sca-side to get the fresh air, he desired to be set down, and earnestly prayed to God to remove all unwillingness to die. While he spake, the Lord was pleased immediately to answer him; for on the very spot, looking up to the firmament, he said, " Biessed Father, thou hast granted me the petition I asked! When my Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds of Heaven, and shall erect his great white throne, with his shining company around him, and I make one of the number, O what a glorious day will that be! 1, a poor sinner, shall be there too; for, surely, the word and oath of my God can never fail; and the merit of his Son's blood can never be done away."

June 12, Sabbath evening, he said, "This has been a day of sore trouble of body to me; but, blessed be God, I have not wanted my spiral meal. I have been detained from the sanctuary, but the Lord's will is always good,-and why should 1 murmur! no; l'have cause to rejoice; for the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory

that shall be revealed!

June 19, Sabbath evening, he was extremely afflicted; and was apprehensive that, in a few hours, he might be in eternity; yet his faith was strong, and his spirituai joy abundant. "I am here," said he, " lying on the banks of Jordan, waiting for my passage; but there is no fear now! there is no fear now! my Joshua, my Jesus, will divide the river, and I shall go over in safety! I am just in that frame I have often prayed I might be in when I came to die. I am willing to stay a little longer here, it it be God's pleasure; but I an no less willing to depart and to leave the world. O, I have glorious manifestations now! How is my soul de ighted with the view of Mercy and Truth net together, guteousness and Peace embracing each other in Christ, and in his redemption! O re

demption, finished redemption, free, full, everlasting redemption, and all mine own!"

June 24, he went out in a gig to get the fresh air; but being very weak and much spent, and the day not being very warm, he caught cold, and was feverish when he returned. The fever, accompanied with a sore throat, which greatly impeded his speech, never left him altogether. He retained his senses, however, in their full exercise to the last.

July 4, he said, "I have been thinking on these sweet words of our Lord: "Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father; and having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end." I have been musing too on these delightful words of the Psalmist: "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted." On my rock Christ I now build. Lord, strengthen my confidence and hope in thee!"

July 8, Friday, he repeated the following pleasant lines of Dr. Watts, and even tried to sing them:

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"He is a God of sov'reign love

That promis'd Heaven to me," &c.

After having lain composed for some hours, he suddenly started, grasped the hand of a friend, and lifting up his eyes, said, "O Lord, whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever!" These were the last words which he was heard to utter with any distinctness.

July 9, he became gradually weaker. He often tried to articulate, but was not able, owing to his sore throat, he lay, however, very quiet, and with a pleasant smile upon his countenance, except when he was evidently in great pain.

About two o'clock on the Sabbath morning, he had a sore struggle with Death; but it was of no long duration. After it was over, he closed his eyes and calmly fell asleep in Jesus, about four o'clock, July 10, 1803; his soul, we doubt not, being conducted by attending angels into the heavenly inheritance, where he now enjoys all that glory to which he used so earnestly to aspire; while his body, a few days after conveyed to the grave, waits the accomplishment of that favourite text, which he often repeated with great emphasis:-"Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."

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Mr. Nesbitt was not without his infirmities; of these he was very sensible, and bitterly bewailed them before the Lord. But those who were most intimate with him can truly attest, that few men were more careful to abstain from all evil, and

even from every appearance of it. He was eminently pious and devout. In his own house was an altar erected for morning and evening sacrifice, constant and regular as the return of day; while he counted the Sabbath his delight, and appropriated that season of sacred rest to the solemn and profitable employments of public and domestic worship. He was truly a man of prayer. The whole word of God was highly prized by him; but the Book of Psalms was more especially sweet to his soul. This he used to read over once every month. He took great pleasure in the exercise of praise. He often gave vent to his holy joy by singing aloud; not only in his family, but in his closet; and frequently after his wife's death, he spent great part of his sleepless nights in psalm-singing. He was wont to say, "That songs of praise are sovereign cordials for drooping souls." In all his transactions with men, his conduct was remarkably exact. Although he did business to the amount of some thousands a year, he never was known to deviate from the rules of justice and equity. Messrs. Pratt and Gregson have borne the most ample testimony to his unsullied integrity and uprightness. He had a sympathizing heart for the poor and distressed. His benevolence to such was equal to his circumstances; but his charity was not ostentatious: it was usually given in private to necessitous householders, His conscience was singularly tender; insomuch, that he was reckoned by not a few to be too strict: but while he abhorred the precision and self-righteousness of Pharisees, he kept at an equal distance from the unjustifiable practices in which the careless professors of the present age indulge. His temper and manner were rather reserved; but these traits in his character took their rise, in a great degree, from that Christian prudence and caution which he continu ally observed in the whole of his deportment. To his few familiar friends, howeyer, he would occasionally unbend himself. with the greatest freedom, relating the great things God had done for his soul. His personal and family-troubles were great; but he was wont to say, "These are no more than I have reason to expect, since I am such a sinner, and since my Lord has declared, that through much tribulation I must enter into the kingdom." Though naturally of a timid disposition, yet he sustained his many afflictions with uncommon firmness, and, at last, looked Death in the face with much Christian fortitude, well knowing the power, grace, and sufficiency of him in whom he had believed; and that he is fully able to keep that which he had committed to him against the day of final judgment. Thus we may see how a Christian should live, and how a Christian can die. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints !"

Berwick,

Sir,

ON THE TEMPORAL CIRCUMSTANCES

OF MINISTERS.

To the Editor.

Ir is often observed, that example has more influence than precept. Much has been said in your Magazine about the duty of Christian Churches to make suitable provision for their ministers; and, no doubt, many have seen the propriety and felt the force of what they have read but I have thought the following facts, which I have li. berty to publish, provided persons and places are not mentioned, may not be without their use. As you know me, you may assure your readers, that the following are well attested facts, and as accurate as I am capable of relating them. For obvious reasons, it would be unsuitable to mention those persons to the Public, who, though they have acted so liberally, did it in such a manner as tended to keep it a secret. Within the last half year I have travelled near 2000 miles, and have been in most of the principal towns and cities in the kingdom; which has afforded me an opportunity of collecting the following, with many other Anecdotes relative to this subject.

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A PERSON informed me that, some time since, when provisions, especially bread, were higher in price than they are at present, several principal persons of a congregation were spending an evening together; the conversation turned upon the relative value of money, and how much it had been depreciated within the last fifty years. One observed, " A much greater capital is required now, for the same business and the same returns, than formerly." Another said, The same profits, with the same returns, which would have rendered a tradesman's family comfortable and respectable a few years since, now, in consequence of the increase of the public burdens, and of the price of provisions, will scarcely afford his family the necessaries of life. A third person remarked, "if this applies to us who are in business, it equally applies to our minister." This led to further conversation on the subject, which terminated in a resolution to raise their subscriptions; and each agreed to make application to such friends as he thought proper. In a few days they sent their minister an affectionate letter, inclosing fifty pounds; telling him he might expect that sum, at least, annually, in addition to his former income. This was done altogether unknown to the minister, and without his expecting it. When alluding to this fact, in friendly conversation with the minister, he replied, "It is true, Sir; and I assure you, it was done in a manner so much like gentlemen, or rather so much like real Christians, that, though

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