Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

In England.

Royal Pavilion.

company me to them; but the kindness and love of the Christian friends by whom I was received, and the tokens of the presence of God among them, I can never forget. This letter has already extended to such a length that I must also forbear reference to many deeply interesting incidents, and to many dear friends whose hospitality and attentions were lavished upon us both, merely stating the fact that, during the six weeks of our stay in Ireland, we only slept three times in a hotel, at the Giants' Causeway and the Lakes of Killarney.

"In England we held meetings on behalf of the Evangelical Alliance, at the request of the Committee of the British Branch in Manchester and Brighton; and Dr. Murray preached in Liverpool and Birkenhead, and at the latter place attended a tea-party given us in the lecture-room of Rev. Mr. Tower's church. Our last meeting in Britain was that above referred to in Brighton; and while all his public addresses there were marked by increasing earnestness, this last address in the Royal Pavilion, in the very room where George the Fourth held his bacchanalian orgies, was characterized by an indescribable energy and unction, and produced the most marked and solemnizing influence on the audience. He felt, and expressed the feeling, that these were the last addresses he should ever make to these vast assemblages, to whom he ministered the Gospel as the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death.

"We made a hasty visit to Paris, where he preached in the American Chapel for Dr. M'Clintock, and

Napoleon.

Dairyman's Daughter.

spent one of the last hours of our stay in a visit to the grave of Napoleon. Taking the steamer Adriatic at Havre for home, we touched at Cowes for the mails, and went ashore to spend the last moments of our stay in Europe in visiting the grave of the Dairyman's Daughter, and reflecting on the contrast between the growing glory of her immortal usefulness, shining undying as the stars, and the fading honors of the destroyer of nations. In God's sight, the humble Christian peasant is more truly heroic than the conqueror of Europe.

"In these journeys I had ample opportunities of observing Dr. Murray's prudence, cheerfulness, zeal, piety, and readiness for every good work, and my esteem for his character daily increased. It does not become me to attempt any delineation of his character; that duty has been performed by an abler hand; but I feel that by his departure I have lost a confidential friend, to whose judgment, on matters of delicacy and importance, I was frequently permitted to refer, and in every instance had reason to acquiesce in the wisdom of his conclusions. His departure is a large subtraction from the society of the excellent of the earth, and should be an additional incentive to hasten to that better land where, with congenial and worthy companions, he is showing forth the glories of our Divine Redeemer, which he loved to exhibit here below.

"Taken away, as he was, from the evil to come on our afflicted country, it will be interesting to his many friends to know that one of the last conversations I

His work done.

His motto.

had with him was on the subject of our national dangers, on the occasion of the fast proclaimed by President Buchanan. He read me an extract from the sermon he preached on that occasion, in which he strongly protested against the continued encroachments of the slave power, and the growth of a seditious spirit among the politicians of the South, and against the cowardly relinquishment of free discussion by the churches and people of the North; indicating that, had he lived to take part in the great conflict now waging, his heart, and voice, and powerful pen would have been engaged for God and liberty. But his work was finished-let us bless God for itin happier times, and now he shall no more see the storm of battle, or hear the alarm of war. He has entered into peace. May we, by God's grace, be enabled to follow those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever was his favorite motto. "I remain, reverend and dear sir, respectfully yours, "GEO. H. STUART."

Trials.

Prosperity.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Sorrows.―Joys. -His Family. -The Sickness and Death of six Children.Letters from Drs. A. Alexander, Miller, and J. W. Alexander.-Effects of these Afflictions.

GREAT trials make great saints. Dr. Murray was so prospered and successful in his career that he needed afflictions, many and often, to make him humble and dependent. From the time that he gave himself to God and the ministry of the Word, all went well with him. His course through college and the seminary was a constant success; and his entrance on the pastoral life was attended with circumstances well calculated to exalt him above measure. His services were sought for so many different fields of labor, that he might be easily tempted to believe that he was more than an ordinary man. And his popularity grew on him rapidly. The calls that he received to various churches, and positions of responsibility and honor were so many, that it would have been no strange thing had he come to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. And as he advanced in his career, he became so marked a favorite with the public, and in so many circles of society he was courted and flattered, that he needed, as Paul needed, a constant admonition of his dependence on the grace of God.

He was singularly happy in his domestic relations.

The husband's crown.

At home.

Mrs. Murray, the wife of his youth and his life, combined in a degree, as beautiful as rare, the various graces that, when blended, make the wife of a pastor her husband's crown. Dr. Murray often said to me, "What a blessed thing it is to have a wife who has common sense!" With a strong and well-cultivated intellect, Mrs. Murray united the tenderness of an af fectionate disposition, the gentleness and delicacy of a refined and amiable woman, with a practical business talent, that made her literally a help meet for such a man as her husband. She doubled all his joys, and more than shared his cares; for, in a measure quite unusual with the wives of ministers, she took upon herself the burden of domestic life, regulating the household, providing for its wants, and relieving her husband of the necessity of seeing many who called upon him in hours of study, answering multitudes of letters for him, and in a thousand nameless ways lightening the labors that were laid upon him. He appreciated all this wealth of service, and loved to speak of it as the help without which he would have been utterly unable to accomplish the work which he was performing for his own Church and the world.

His domestic circle was the scene of his highest and most complete enjoyment. In the sports of his little ones, frolicking with him in the wildest glee, or in the pleasures of the children as they grew to be his companions in his hours of relaxation, he found the sweetest relief from the toils of study. His children were never afraid of him, but they always loved

« AnteriorContinuar »