tained and manifested the spirit of piety. His natural disposition was peculiarly amiable, which rendered him interesting to his friends and associates. Indeed, his prudent conduct and lovely demeanor secured the friendship and esteem of all who were acquainted with him. He was possessed of a superior mind, and excelled in correctness of judgment; on which account, his decisions in cases of difficulty were much regarded, even when quite young. He was active in doing good, and sought opportunities of benefiting his fellow-beings, particularly after he had publicly espoused the cause of the blessed Redeemer. He felt a lively interest in Sabbath Schools, in which he was employed for a considerable time as a teacher and superintendent. He was often much impressed with the duty of devoting himself to study with the view of entering the Christian ministry. Having a deep impression of the value of the never-dying soul, and ardent desires to promote the eternal well-being of those who were travelling with him to the world of spirits, he desired to be engaged in that employment in which he could be best prepared to accomplish this desirable object. And those who were acquainted with him, and qualified to judge in relation to this subject, encouraged his impressions, feeling assured that he possessed talents which, with a suitable improvement, and with the blessing of Almighty God, would render him a successful minister of the New Testament. With this object before him, he commenced his studies; his father designing to give him a public education. But, having pursued his studies for a season, his health failed, and he was obliged to relinquish his object. In June, 1826, he was attacked with a fever, and never afterward fully regained his health. In the autumn of the last year, he was obliged to relinquish business, and submit himself to the care of the physician. January last, he left home to visit his friends at Hampton Falls, N. H. from which he never returned. He was suddenly taken more unwell, and continued to fail, till, ripened for heaven, he left the shores of mortality. As his exercises during his last sickness discover so much of the reconciled Christian, trusting in God, and becoming more and more assimilated “to the spirits of just men made perfect,” the reader will be presented with a few extracts from his letters, and some expressions which he uttered, describing his feelings at different times. Jan. 25. In a letter to his parents, after speaking of the state of his health, he says: “I hope I shall be enabled to put my trust in the Lord, and rejoice to be in his hands. He reigns; he reigns over me; over my reason, over my senses, over my joys, over my afflictions, over all my actions; he reigns over all, and blessed be his name.” 26. To his sisters, who are not professedly pious, he writes : “ You are young, but not too young to die, nor to young to love the Lord. Many a time he has called you to give up your hearts him ; he has called you by his word, by the preaching of the gospel, by his providences; and now he is calling you by Jaying his afflicting rod upon your brother, and reducing him low by disease. a a a He is thus saying to you, 'Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh.'" Jan. 29. His friend, who attended him constantly during his last sickness, observes, "Lucius is highly favored of the Lord, and , enjoys much of the presence of the Saviour. He has experienced many tokens of Jehovah's unchangeable love, and increasing evidence of his adoption. The adversary is sometimes permitted to assail him, but his trust is firmly reposed in the God of salvation.” Feb. 5. In a letter to one of his brothers, he says: “ You will probably wish to hear what have been my joys and sorrows for a few days past. Monday: had quite a comfortable day; had given up the world, and found my mind released from the enticing objects of time and sense, and experienced that peace, which, I trust, arose from trusting in the Lord and being reconciled to his will. Tuesday: felt my mind stayed on Christ, and rejoiced that I was in his hands. I felt no choice as it respects life or death; and, if not deceived, felt entire submission to the will of God. Wednesday : was much distressed in body, and in the evening was filled with doubts and fears; yet felt it was all right, that I was sick and laid aside from business." 8. He this afternoon said, “What reason have I to rejoice that I am so near my home! Oh, M— I pity you, because you must continue awhile Jonger in this world of sorrow, and cannot with me wing your way to an eternity of bliss." He spoke much of the Saviour, and the glory of the redeemed. To a number of young friends who visited him, for whom he felt a deep interest, after speaking of his earthly prospects being blasted, he said, “I should be miserable, were it not for the hope I indulge in the mercy of God through Christ, I can now look into the grave with pleasure.” He spoke with much feeling of the ” value of the immortal soul, and the importance of seeking an interest in Christ in the morning of life. Being exercised with excruciating pain, he observes, “I can say with sainted Pearce, 'Sweet affliction, sweet affliction.'” 28. Thursday, he was much tried in mind, and had no evidence himself that he was a pardoned sinner ; but since that time the Lord has been pleased to show him great kindness. Friday night, he said, " I wish to praise my Redeemer for the numberless favors with which I have been surrounded. I have committed my all into his hands; my trust is in him; I feel safe and happy. Every tie is severed which bound me to earth, and I am only waiting my Saviour's will to call me come.” March 8. His friend observes : “ Lucius takes no interest in things temporal, but seems fully to realize that the eternal God is his refuge, and underneath him is the everlasting arm of Omnipotence. He is favored with delightful contemplations of Divine truth, and of that rest which remaineth for the people of God.' When speaking of the happiness of the saints in glory, his soul seems enraptured, and ready at the call of his Saviour, to wing its flight to a world of permanent felicity." a * “ 15. To his brother and sister A. he writes: 'If I should never see you again on earth, I bid you farewell, but I hope not an eternal farewell; for I pray the Lord to prepare you to meet me in heaven.* Remember what I have said, and what Christians say: but above all, remember what God says in his word, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all perish.' “ 23. Sometimes clouds interrupt the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness: but in his path, which is marked out by infinite wisdom, he finds many rills of comfort to sweeten his affliction, and to fill his soul with joy at the glorious prospect of an exit from this state of disappointment, to a world where he shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; where “the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed him, and lead him unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from his eyes.” “May 2. He seems to enjoy much of the divine favor. When in distress he has felt happy in the thought that every pain reduced him lower, and brought him nearer his heavenly home.” In speaking of his sickness, he observed to a friend, "God is very good to me, Mrs. M. Indeed is there any good which I do not enjoy? The kindest of friends, and even strangers, feel for and sympathize with me; my every look is watched, and every wish is gratified.” A few minutes after, he added with animation, "God was very kind and good to me yesterday morning. I awoké from a sweet sleep, and held heavenly communion with him in prayer. O, what a kind Saviour he is—0, precious, precious, most precious!" The following sentences were uttered by him at different times during his sickness, the last of which was one week before his death. " In great distress : but O, happy, happy thought! the Christian will have to die but once : but O, the sinner, the sinner! who is always dying, but never dies!" Several christian friends being present, he expressed a wish that they might accompany him to glory, but immediately added, “I shall soon welcome you into heaven, if I should be so unspeakably happy as to arrive at that blest abode." At another time he said, “O, my sinful life ! how many opportunities have I neglected of warning the impenitent! how unfaithful in the cause of truth! But to the Saviour have I looked for pardon, and I hope he has granted my request. On him I rest my all for time and for eternity; and if I should ever be received to heaven, sovereign grace will be my theme to interminable ages." “Welcome pain, welcome death.” May 21. “Wednesday morning," his friend observes, "he had a very disfressing turn: he considered himself near the eternal world; and after committing himself and all his dear friends into the hands of his heavenly Father, he leaned his head back upon the pillow, and said, Dear Saviour, receive my spirit.' In the a * This sister has since obtained hope in God, and professed her love to Christ and his cause before the world. evening he remarked to a friend, 'This morning I thought I had got almost through, and it filled me with joy; but when I revived, it grieved me to think I must return again to this world."" “ 22. Being asked how he had been in his mind, he replied, 'I rejoice in the prospect of death.'' “ 25. He breathed his last, without a struggle or a groan, and entered, as we trust, into the full fruition of eternal blessedness." Yes, we have every reason to believe that his spirit has entered that everlasting home in the skies, which he so fondly anticipated enjoying-has experienced transports of joy unspeakably beyond his highest conceptions while on earth. As the Lord has been carrying forward a glorious revival of religion, among his friends and acquaintances, from the time he left the world to the present, he has doubtless listened with delight, yea, with holy rapture, to the story of redeeming love, which ministering spirits have related among the happy throng. And he has united with them in praising and magnifying the name of God and the Lamb, for matchless grace and pardoning mercy. This consideration must surely be a precious cordial to the wounded feelings of his surviving friends and affectionate relatives, who have lamented his exit. While they may be mourning here, he is enjoying perfect blessedness in the paradise of God. The next Lord's day after his remains were committed to the silent grave, a funeral sermon was preached from Ps. xvii. 15. “ "I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness ;' a text which he designated for the occasion during his last sickness. Reader, do you desire that your last days may be like his, and that you may enjoy with him and with all holy beings the unfading glories and imperishable riches of eternity ? Remember, if you would, you must give all diligence to make your calling and election sure; you must walk with God, and make it the grand and pleasing business of your life to honor your dear Redeemer, and serve him with a pure heart and a willing mind. Then, when you have accomplished the designs of the Most High respecting you on earth, you will be welcomed into that bright world," where is fulness of joy, , and where there are pleasures forevermore.” LINES COMPOSED ON HIS DEATH. 'Tis finished, the conflict is past, The heaven-born spirit is fled ; And now he's entombed with the dead. The days and the nights of distress; Obtained is his happy release. Shall ever disquiet him now; Since Christ was his life when below. 2 His soul has now taken its flight To mansions of glory above, And dwell in the kingdom of love. That he is now gone from our sight; With new and redoubled delight. A PASTOR'S ADDRESS TO A YOUNG MAN. friend, who was, at the time it was composed, a member of the church to POIMEN. My dear young Brother, I have felt much interested in your present situation, and could not endure that the church should finally dispose of your case, without first having communicated to you some of the reflections I have had respecting yourself. You may suppose, that, having baptized you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, before whose bar we must give account for that solemn transaction, I must feel a peculiar solicitude for you. I assure you I feel more than I can ever express; and tremble at the results to which your present feelings may conduct you. Although your moral character has not been impeached, yet, if you have no love for religious duties, you are in the open road to infidelity and vice. Religion is the devotion of the heart to God. It is the state of the heart , therefore, that gives to man his religious character. If your heart, consequently, be not interested in religion, you have no just claim to the Christian name. It is not your relation to the church that causes all my anxiety. This, though a very serious concern, is, in comparison with your future prospects, of small moment. For if you cannot enjoy yourself in the church on earth, what can you anticipate in eternity! O, my dear young friend, I most anxiously wish to behold you walking once more in the truth as it is in Jesus. You are young, and particularly exposed to temptation. Your present course, in all reasonable probability, will determine your future life. There is a striking similarity between a young man's habits and his future character. You are more exposed, than if you had not been a professor of religion. Liberated from responsibilities which you consider irksome, you are in great danger of giving loose to all your feelings, passions, and desires. Let me remind you of your accountableness to God. Forget not that you may be summoned to his bar at a time, and under circumstances which would be the last you would choose, and the last |
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