up in his bed without affiftance, and faid, "I would not exchange my happy condition for all the honours and riches of the world; no, not for the maffieft crown that ever the greatest monarch wore. I am complete in Chrift, and am brimfull of his love. O bleffed be our glorious and adorable Father, in Chrift, for fo plentiful an outpouring of his Spirit and grace upon us. I never experienced the like. This is a foretafte 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 Chriftian warfare. Be animated to fight manfully against fin, Satan, and the world; and God will bruife Satan under your feet shortly. He will, I truft, keep you by his mighty power, through faith, unto falvation. Now, O Death, where is thy fting? 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 duft, for whom I fhed my precious blood, whom I redeemed by price and by power, and whom I washed from the vileft fins, come unto me, and enter into the joy of thy Lord. I am ready, Lord Jefus, I cheerfuly accept thy call, to fpend an everlafting fab'bath with thee, in those manfions thou haft 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 obferved 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 Jefus, full of the confolations of his Spirit; and forget not to inform them of the magnificent magnificent conqueft 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 Chrift, my time is come; my Lord calleth me, and I can ftay 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 faid, "Farewell, dear friends, till we meet in glory. God is with me. I am full of the confolations of his Spirit. His love dilates my foul; and I fwim in an ocean of heavenly joys. Lord Jefus, receive my fpirit." And fo, exactly at fix o' clock, he expired, without pain, figh, or groan, with a pleasant and heavenly smile on his lovely face. сн The behaviour of Mr Ts's companions on his death, and his funeral. The author retires to the country. His reception at old Mr T———s's house. His infuccefs in his affair with Mifs Cm, and her death. Ur 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 fay, "O that our fouls were in his foul's ftead! O the reality of religion! O the triumph of faith! the blessedness of those that die in the Lord!” We could not but gaze for some time on his lovely face, the fmiling and ferene afpect of which indicated his felicity. O Our dear deceafed friend had, on Saturday morning, ordered his dead drefs to be made that day. 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 refolved to have the body decently, but privately interred on Tuesday night, and accompanied to the grave by none but ourfelves, and the other gentlemen his companions. The body being dreffed, and the women retired, Mr , who had fat up with me all the night, faid, "Dear brethren, I defire to blefs God, who determined me to ask permiffion of our dear brother deceased to witnefs his departure. It has given me a great deal of pleasure, and I hope I fhall never forget it; but improve it as a motive to diligence in the great work of my falvation. I now fee that religion is no vain and fanciful thing, and that communion with the bleffed God. is a facred reality, I fee the propriety and beauty of the pfalmift's faying, Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. I must acknowledge, to the praife of divine grace, that I have had a large fhare of the comforts of the bleffed Spirit on this occafion, which have rejoiced my foul, and which I pray a gracious God may for ever keep on the imagination of the thoughts of my heart. Will you 105 then, my brethren, join in finging an hymn of thanksgiving for redeeming grace," and returning thanks to God for the wonderful difplays of his matchlefs love on this occafion, and for enabling us and our other brethren to perfevere in the good ways of the Lord. I hope, after praife, Mr M will be our mouth in prayer. Accordingly we fung the hymn, entitled, Redemption by Christ, Watts, book 2. hymn 78.; and Mr M- addreffed the throne of grace in .a 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 fpiritual conversation, I told the two gentlemen, I would stay in the room alone all day, and would not go abroad till I accompanied the corpfe 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 paffed from the time that Mr Ts awaked, till his triumphant death; which filled them with wonder and praife. They all looked at his corpfe, and expreffed their furprise 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 praife and prayer. Accordingly all the gentlemen affembled 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, praife, and Chriftian 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 fecret, I would oblige them with a hearing of feveral letters written by my dear friend on his deathbed, which, I fuppofed, would be very agreeable to them. They having accepted the condition, I read the five letters, and alfo his will, in the order he had wrote them, excepting those parts relating to my connection with Mifs Cn, which I thought proper to fup-, prefs. They feverally expreffed their fatisfaction with the letters, and bleffed God for fo excellent a religious entertainment. I then told them, that as Mr Ts would never, during his illness, permit a female attendant to wait on him, fo 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 cuftom of the place. Whereupon two of the gentlemen cheerfully of fered themselves, ready to perform that fervice. I then read to them the written directions he had given me relating to his funeral; which I told them I was refolved ftrictly to comply with; and invited them all to affemble in the room on Tuefday evening between feven and ght, to pay our laft duty to the deceased. Mean time I defired them to vifit me on Monday night, when I would entertain them with fome other remarkable ancedotes of our dear deceafed brother. con On Monday morning, I fent 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, formable to the will of the deceased. I employed great part of this and the following day in taking exact copies of the feveral 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 attended 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 fhort, every thing I had then committed to writing. With all which they were greatly delighted, blefling God for the inftruction and entertainment thereby conY 2 veyed. |