Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

TRIAL OF RICHARD BAXTER.

[ocr errors]

old man; and how beautiful his words are in those closing hours. I wish,' he says, 'all over-sharp passages were expunged from my writings, and I ask forgiveness of God and man.' Blessings on thee, thou dear old teacher, thou shalt have for that word, not our forgiveness only, but our veneration. He says that all mankind appear more equal to him; the good not to appear so good as he once thought, nor the bad so evil, and that in all there is more room for grace, to make advantage of, and more to testify for God and holiness, than he once believed. 'I less admire,' he continues, gifts of utterance, and the bare profession of religion than I once did, and have now much more charity for those who, by want of gifts, do make an obscure profession.' Again, When God forgiveth me, I cannot forgive myself, especially for my rash words and deeds, by which I have seemed less tender and kind than I should have been to my near and dear relations, whose love abundantly obliged me. When such are dead, though we never differed in point of interest, or any other matter, every sour, or cross, or provoking word, which gave them, maketh me almost irreconcilable to myself, and tells me how repentance brought some of old to pray to the dead whom they had wronged, to forgive them, in the hurry of their passion.' Grieve not-weep not thou brave and tender spirit! Cheer up, Richard !-time is short-the cross is heavy, but you have not far to carry it! Dear old father, it is but a step or two more, and even now beautiful eyes are waiting on the opposite banks of the river, in the house of youth and life, to smile forgiveness on thee for every word, forgotten indeed by them, though so keenly remembered by thee!

I

At length he was restored to freedom. He could not pay the fine, and so he was liberated; but when he was urged to sign a declaration of thanks to James II., the sternness of his ancient knighthood returned. His heart was softened, but his soul was perhaps, therefore, even stronger; he would not commend that infamous act of intolerant toleration, by which he and many others were only made the cat's paw for the destruction of all English liberty and freedom. We venerate the brave old heart of oak in that act as much as in any heroism of his noble life. Seventy years of age. Sick, infirm, bankrupt and beggared by the act of a succession of governments and of kings, he was firm and unshaken. He lived to see the Stuarts fly, and fly, thank God, for ever!

POETRY.

He died in 1694. I have,' said he, great pain; there is no use arguing against that. I care not; I have peace-peace-I have peace.' A little while after they asked him how he was, and he replied, 'Almost well.' To the last he continued singing, when his sleep was broken in the night, then,' says his friend Silvester, he sung much, nay, he believingly expected that his angelical convoy would conduct him through all the intermediate regions to his heavenly Father's house, with those melodious hallelujahs or with something equally delightful.'

Then, too, he chanted these last verses. They ring like a glorious farewell to earth, and all hail to Everlasting Rest."

Poetry.

BAXTER'S LAST SONG.

My soul, go boldly forth,
Forsake this sinful earth;
What hath it been to thee

But pain and sorrow?
And thinkest thou it will be
Better to-morrow?

Look up towards heaven and see,
How vast those regions be,

Where blessed spirits dwell-
How pure and lightful!
But earth is near to hell,-
How dark and frightful!

Here life is but a spark,
Scarce shining in the dark;
Life is the element there
Which souls reside in;
Much like as air is here,
Which we abide in.

Jerusalem above-
Glorious in light and love,
Is mother of us all;

Who shall enjoy them?

The wicked hellward fall,—

Sin will destroy them.

God is Essential love,
And all the saints above

Are like unto him made

Each in his measure;
Love is their life and trade,
And their constant pleasure.

Love flames in every breast,
The greatest and the least;
Strangers to this sweet rest
There are not any;
Love leaves no place for strife—
Makes one of many.

Lord Jesus, take my spirit!

I have thy love and merit.

Take home thy wandering sheep-
For thou hast sought it;

This soul in safety keep,

For thou hast bought it.

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

Anecdotes and Selections.

THE ST. KILDA MAN.-At a meeting held for the establishment of schools in the highlands and islands of Scotland, Dr. M'Leod related the following fact:-"A friend of mine happened to be in a boat, by which a poor simple-hearted man from St. Kilda was coming, for the first time in his life, from his native rock to visit the world; and as we advanced towards the island of Mull, a world in itself in the estimation of the poor St. Kilda man, the boatmen commenced telling him of the wonders he was so soon to see. They asked him about St. Kilda; they questioned him regarding all the peculiarities of that wonderful place, and rallied him not a little on his ignorance of all those great and magnificent things which were to be seen in Mull. He parried them off with great coolness and good-humour; at length, a person in the boat asked him if he ever heard of God in St. Kilda. Immediately he became grave and collected. To what land do you belong?' said he, 'describe it to me.' 'I,' said the other, 'come from a place very different from your barren rock; I come from the land of flood and field, the land of wheat and barley, where nature spreads her bounty in abundance and luxuriance before us.' 'Is that,' said the St. Kilda man, "" the kind of land you come from? Ah, then, you may forget God, but a St. Kilda man never can. High up on his rock, suspended over a precipice, or tossed on the wild ocean, he never can forget his God-he hangs continually on his arm.' All were silent in the boat, and not a word more was asked him regarding his religion. CHRISTIAN CALMNESS.-"Some impressions," says a young man, who went out as a missionary, "of true religion were made upon my mind at a very early period. The first that I recollect was when I was about five years of age. There came one day a very violent storm of thunder and lightning, when a few christian friends who lived near us, terrified by its violence, came into my father's house. At last there came a most vivid flash, followed by a crash of thunder, which much alarmed the whole company except my father, who, turning towards my mother with the greatest composure, repeated these words—

"The God that rules on high,

And thunders when he please;
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas;

This awful God is ours;

Our father and our love,

He will send down his heavenly powers
To carry us above."

The words sunk deeply into my heart. I thought how safe and happy are those who have the great God for their father; but, being conscious that I had sinned against him, I was afraid he was not my

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

father, and that, instead of loving me, he was angry with me; and this thought for some time continued to distress and grieve my mind." He then proceeds to say that these early impressions were succeeded by others which terminated in his conversion.

WHEN THE KENT EAST INDIAMAN was on fire, several of the soldiers' wives and children, who had fled for shelter into the aftercabins on the upper deck, were engaged in prayer and in reading the Scriptures with the ladies, some of whom were enabled, with wonderful self-possession, to offer to others those spiritual consolations which a firm and intelligent trust in the Redeemer of the world appeared at this awful hour to impart to them. The dignified deportment of two young ladies in particular formed a specimen of natural strength of mind, finely modified by christian feeling, that failed not to attract the notice and admiration of every one who had an opportunity of witnessing it. On the melancholy announcement being made to them, that all hope must be relinquished, and that death was rapidly and inevitably approaching, one of the ladies above referred to, calmly sinking down on her knees, and clasping her hands together, said, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" and immediately proposed to read a portion of the Scriptures to those around her. Her sister, with nearly equal composure and collectedness of mind, selected the forty-sixth and other appropriate Psalms, which were accordingly read, with intervals of prayer, by those ladies alternately, to the assembled females. God mercifully delivered them from death either by burning or drowning.

WHY NOT BELIEVE GOD?-Why doth thy faith stagger at the promises of God? Can God lie against himself? or is he not able to perform? or does he intend only to mock thee? It may be so with man, but never with God. The wonderful promises he has made of grace and glory are very great truly; but He is greater than the greatest promise he ever made, and is of power to do more than you ask or think. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

THE MASTER CALLETH THEE. Awake, listen; what saith he? "Come up hither." Wilt thou go? What! art thou a mole or a bat that thou wouldst rather dwell in twilight and darkness than go to live in the light of the glory of God and the Lamb? Art thou afraid to go where thou hast not been before? Hark again; thy Saviour says, "Fear not; I will be with thee." And dost thou yet fear to follow such a Guide? What! thinkest thou that the Light of the World will lead thee into darkness; that he will leave thee in the hands of death who died to save thee from it; or will allow the devil to rob him of thy soul which he died to deliver from his power? I tell thee again the Master calleth for thee. Arise and follow him, singing

THE FIRESIDE.

that glorious song of faith-"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."

RISING TO HEAVEN.-As the pretty lark doth sing most sweetly, and never cease her pleasant ditty, while she rises aloft, as if she would enter heaven's shining gate, is suddenly silent when she begins to descend again to the earth; so the frame of the soul is most delectable and joyous while it soars up to God by divine contemplation. But alas! like the lark, we make up there too short a stay, and down again we fall, and lay by our music. So it is on earth, but never in heaven.

A SCOTCH MARTYR, a few minutes before his execution, stood up and exclaimed, "Farewell, sun, moon, and stars; farewell, kindred and friends; farewell, world and time; farewell, weak and trembling body-welcome, heaven; welcome, holy angels and perfect saints; welcome, Jesus my Saviour; welcome, God my Father; welcome, long, long, long eternity!"

The Fireside.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

"MY FATHER," says Professor Tenbrock, of America, " was one of those still men who, much as he thought of company, carried on his part of conversation in brief questions and short answers. He had deceived himself into the belief that his talents were not such as to make it his duty to conduct family worship. With this view he had lived for more than forty years in every other respect a consistent christian. A son who, at the time referred to, was preparing for the ministry, and already licensed to preach, was spending a vacation at home-the last evening of his stay had arrived the family Bible, as usual, was placed before him on the stand, with a request to lead in prayer. The thought occurred, that now for a year or more, whatever devotion might be felt, no voice of prayer could be heard in the family, except from the lips of strangers who should turn in for the night. The thought affected him: and endeavouring to use such a manner as would become him in addressing a father almost threescore years and ten, he said-'Father, I delight to lead in this exercise when at home, but I am affected with the thought that there is to be no more prayer here until I shall return. How is it that you have never established family prayer? I know the diffidence of your nature-I know that it would be hard to overcome it but would it not have been attended with satisfaction to yourself and a blessing to the family worth a far

« PreviousContinue »