Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

therefore insert them here, without being very solicitous as to the order in which they are introduced.

He perceived himself evidently in a very declining state from his first arrival in Britain, and seemed to entertain a fixed apprehension that he should continue but a little while longer in life. "He expected death," says my good correspondent, "and was delighted with the prospect," which did not grow less amiable by a nearer approach. The word of God, with which he had as intimate an acquaintance as most men I ever knew, and on which, especially on the New Testament, I have heard him make many very judicious and accurate remarks, was still his daily study; and it furnished him with matter of frequent conversation, much to the edification and comfort of those that were about him. It was recollected, that among other passages he had lately spoken of the following, as having made a deep impression on his mind: "My soul, wait thou only upon God." He would repeat it again and again, “Only, only, only!" So plainly did he see, and so deeply did he feel, the vanity of creature confidences and expectations. With the strongest attestation would he often mention those words in Isaiah, as verified by long experience: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." And with peculiar satisfaction would he utter those heroic words in Habakkuk, which he found armour of proof against every fear and every contingency: "Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." The 145th Psalm was also spoken

of by him with great delight, and Dr. Watts's version of it, as well as several others of that excellent person's poetical compositions. My friend who transmits to me this account adds the following words, which I desire to insert with the deepest sentiments of unfeigned humility and self-abasement before God, as most unworthy the honour of contributing in the least degree to the joys and graces of one so much my superior in every part of the Christian character: "As the joy with which good men see the happy fruits of their labours makes a part of the present reward of the servants of God and the friends of Jesus, it must not be omitted, even in a letter to you, that your spiritual hymns were among his most delightful and soul-improving repasts; particularly those on 'Beholding Transgressors with Grief,' and 'Christ's Message."" What is added concerning my book of the "Rise and Progress of Religion," and the terms in which he expressed his esteem of it, I cannot suffer to pass my pen; only I desire most sincerely to bless God that, especially by the last chapters of that treatise, I had an opportunity, at so great a distance, of exhibiting some offices of Christian friendship to this excellent person, in the closing scenes of life, which it would have been my greatest joy to have performed in person, had Providence permitted me then to have been near him.

The former of the hymns my correspondent mentions as having been so agreeable to colonel Gardiner, I have given the reader before; the latter, which is called "Christ's Message," took its rise from Luke iv. 18-22, and is as follows:

Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long!

Let

every heart prepare a throne,

And every voice a song.

On him the Spirit largely pour'd
Exerts its sacred fire:

Wisdom, and might, and zeal, and love,
His holy breast inspire.

He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held :

The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes, from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray,

And on the eye-balls of the blind
To pour celestial day.*

He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure ;
And with the treasures of his grace
Tenrich the humble poor.

The silver trumpets publish loud
The jubilee of the Lord;
Our debts are all remitted now,
Our heritage restored.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
And heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved name.

There is one hymn more I shall beg leave to add, plain as it is, which colonel Gardiner has been heard to mention with particular regard, as expressing the inmost sentiments of his soul; and they were undoubtedly so in the last rational moments of his expiring life. It is called "Christ precious to the Believer," and was composed to be sung after a sermon on 1 Pet. ii. 7.

Jesus, I love thy charming name,

"Tis music to my ear;

Fain would I sound it out so loud

That earth and heaven should hear.

This stanza is mostly borrowed from Mr. Pope.

Yes, thou art precious to my soul,

My transport and my trust:
Jewels to thee are gaudy toys,
And gold is sordid dust.

All my capacious powers can wish,
In thee most richly meet;
Nor to my eyes is life so dear,
Nor friendship half so sweet.

Thy grace still dwells upon my heart,
And sheds its fragrance there;
The noblest balm of all its wounds,
The cordial of its care.

I'll speak the honours of thy name
With my last labouring breath;

Then speechless clasp thee in my arms,
The antidote of death.

Those who were intimate with colonel Gardiner must have observed how ready he was to give a devotional turn to any subject that occurred. And in particular, the spiritual and heavenly disposition of his soul discovered itself in the reflections and improvements which he made when reading history, in which he took a great deal of pleasure, as persons remarkable for their knowledge of mankind and observation of Providence generally do. I have an instance of this before me, which, though too natural to be at all surprising, will, I dare say, be pleasing to the devout mind. He had just been reading, in Rollin's Extract from Xenophon, the answer which the lady of Tigranes made, when all the company were extolling Cyrus, and expressing the admiration with which his appearance and behaviour struck them. The question being asked her, what she thought of him, she answered, I do not know, I did not observe him.

On what then, said one of the company, did

you fix your attention? On him, replied she, referring to the generous speech which her husband had just made, who said he would give a thousand lives to ransom me. "Oh," cried the colonel, when reading it, "how ought we to fix our eyes and hearts on Him, who not in offer, but in reality, gave his own precious life to ransom us from the most dreadful slavery, and from eternal destruction!" But this is only one instance among a thousand. His heart was so habitually set upon Divine things, and he had such a permanent and overflowing sense of the love of Christ, that he could not forbear connecting such reflections with a multitude of more distant occasions occurring in daily life, when less advanced Christians would not have thought of them: and thus, like our great Master, he made every little incident a source of devotion and an instrument of holy zeal.

Enfeebled as his constitution was, he was still intent on improving his time to some valuable purposes. And when his friends expostulated with him, that he gave his body so little rest, he used to answer, "It will rest long enough in the grave."

The July before his death, he was persuaded to take a journey to Scarborough, for the recovery of his health; from which he was at least encouraged to expect some little revival. After this he had thoughts of going to London, and designed to have spent part of September at Northampton. The expectation of this was mutually agreeable; but Providence saw fit to disconcert the scheme. His love for his friends in these parts occasioned him to express some regret on his being commanded back: and I am pretty confident, from the manner in which he expressed himself in one of his last letters to me, that he had some more important reasons for wishing

« AnteriorContinuar »