Stories of Boys and Girls Who Loved the Saviour Part 4

7. One day, seeing one of his near relations come into his father's house distempered with drink, he went to him, and wept over him, and besought him that he would not so offend G.o.d, and hazard his soul.

8. He was a conscientious observer of the Lord's day, spending all the time either in secret prayer, reading the Scriptures and good books, learning his catechism, or hearing the word of G.o.d. And he was not only careful in the performance of these duties himself, but was ready to put all that he knew upon a strict observation of the Lord's day.

9. He was very humble and modest, and hated any thing more than necessaries, either in clothes or diet.

10. When he perceived either his brother or sister pleased with their new clothes, he would reprove their folly; and when his reproof signified little, he would bewail their vanity.

11. Once he had a new suit brought from the tailor's, which, when he looked on, he found some ribands on the knees, at which he was grieved: asking his mother "whether these things would keep him warm?" "No, child," said his mother. "Why then," said he, "do you suffer them to be put there? You are mistaken if you think such things please me: and, I doubt some that are better than us may want the money that this cost you, to buy them bread."

12. At leisure times he was talking to his school fellows about the things of G.o.d, and the necessity of a holy life. That text he much spoke on to them, "The axe is laid to the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire."

13. After this his parents removed not far from London, where he continued till the year 1665. He was then sent to the Latin school, where he soon made a very considerable progress, and was greatly beloved of his master. The school was his beloved place, and learning his recreation.

14. He had a word to say to every one that he conversed with, to put them in mind of the worth of Christ and their souls; and their nearness to eternity: insomuch that good people took no small pleasure in his company.

15. He bewailed the miserable condition of the generality of mankind, (when he was about ten years old,) that they were utterly estranged from G.o.d. "Though they called him Father, he said, yet they were his children by creation, and not by any likeness they had to G.o.d, or any interest in him."

16. Thus he continued walking in the ways of G.o.d: in reading, praying, hearing the word of G.o.d, and spiritual intercourse; discovering thereby his serious thoughts of eternity, which seemed to swallow up all other thoughts; and he lived in a constant preparation for it, and looked more like one that was ripe for glory than an inhabitant of this lower world.

17. When he was about eleven years and nine months old his mother's house was visited with the plague; his eldest sister was the first that was visited with this distemper; and when they were praying for her, he would sob and weep bitterly.

18. As soon as he perceived his sister was dead, he said, "The will of the Lord be done, blessed be the Lord! Dear mother, you must do as David did: after the child was dead he went and refreshed himself, and quietly submitted to the will of G.o.d."

19. The rest of the family held well for some days, which time he spent in preparing for death. Meantime he wrote several meditations upon different subjects, particularly upon the excellence of Christ. He was never well but when he was more immediately engaged in the service of G.o.d.

20. At the end of fourteen days he was taken sick, at which he seemed very cheerful; though his pains were great.

21. His mother, looking upon his brother, shook her head: at which he asked if his brother was marked with the complaint? She answered, "Yea, child." He asked again whether he was marked? She answered nothing.

"Well," says he, "I know I shall be marked: I pray let me have Mr.

Baxter's book, that I may read a little more of eternity before I go into it." His mother told him he was not able to read. He said, "Then pray by me and for me."

22. His mother asked him whether he was willing to die and leave her? He answered, "Yes. I am willing to leave you and go to my heavenly Father."

She answered, "Child, if thou hadst but an a.s.surance of G.o.d's love, I should not be so much troubled." He answered, "I am a.s.sured that my sins are forgiven, and that I shall go to heaven: for," said he, "here stood an angel by me, that told me I should quickly be in glory."

23. At this his mother burst forth into tears. "O mother," said he, "did you but know what joy I feel you would not weep but rejoice. I tell you I am so full of comfort that I cannot tell you how I am: O mother, I shall presently have my head in my Father's bosom, and shall be there where the four and twenty elders cast down their crowns, and sing hallelujah, glory, and praise to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever!"

24. Upon this his speech began to fail him, but his soul was still taken up with glory; and nothing now grieved him but the sorrow that he saw his mother to be in for his death; a little to divert her he asked, "What she had for supper?" But presently, in a kind of rapture he cried, "O what a sweet supper have I making ready for me in glory!"

25. But seeing all this did but increase his mother's grief, he asked her, "What she meant thus to offend G.o.d? Know you not that it is the hand of the Almighty? 'Humble yourself under the mighty hand of G.o.d:'

lay yourself in the dust and kiss the rod, in token of your submission to the will of G.o.d." Upon which, raising himself a little, he gave a lowly bow, and spake no more! but went to rest in the bosom of Jesus.

PIOUS LITTLE PETER.

PETER MELVILLE, from the commencement of his illness, received much satisfaction from reading the Bible and other serious books; and after the first month or six weeks, was not known to read any other. The short history of Jesus Christ, by Mason, afforded him great satisfaction. In prayer he joined most heartily, and his eyes, while his friends were engaged in this exercise, were always raised toward heaven. During his painful illness, which lasted four months, he was remarkably patient, and much distressed at the idea of giving trouble. From these circ.u.mstances it was concluded that his mind was seriously disposed.

Fourteen days, however, before his death, being much worse and unable to leave his bed, his anxious parents, desirous to know his real state, asked him if his mind was easy? At first he appeared inclined to evade the question; but the question being repeated he burst into tears and cried out, "I have been a very great sinner, I do not feel a love for my Saviour, nor see him with an eye of faith." Different texts of Scripture were mentioned which directed him to cast all his care on the Lord.

These appeared to comfort him in a degree, and he then said, "What a charming place heaven is." It being observed that great advantages frequently resulted from a long illness, he expressed his sense of it by exclaiming, "What a dreadful place must I have gone to had I been cut off at once."

The next morning he was asked if he wished to converse with a minister?

on his answering in the affirmative, the Rev. Mr. W. was requested to visit him; and was the instrument, in the hands of G.o.d, of composing his mind. The next day he requested that Watts' Psalms and Hymns, which he was very fond of reading, might be brought to him; and when his father came to his bedside he pointed to the 23d psalm, and asked if it was not a very sweet one?

On Sat.u.r.day following he expressed a wish to have a Bible and prayer book purchased for him, in which, together with his hymn book, he wrote his name.

On Thursday, the 7th of April, being much worse, he was again asked if his mind was comfortable, to which he replied, "No; I am the greatest of sinners, and Satan tempts me to sin." Everything was said that could be thought of to compose him, and soon after he became more tranquil, and appeared delighted with the idea of heaven, requesting to have a description of that blessed place read to him. This had been done some time before, and had made a lasting impression on his mind. But when he made the request he added in a low voice, "I am afraid I shall never get there, because I do not love my Saviour as I ought." Being asked again how he found his mind, he answered, "A little better; but I wish to love my Lord and Saviour; and I hope to be able to do it more and more."

On being reminded that it was Good Friday, he talked much of our Lord's great sufferings for his people; and while speaking of the blessed Lamb that had been crucified on that day, he desired the 25th hymn of the third book of Watts to be read to him.

"All mortal vanities, begone."

On the evening of this day he appeared to feel much of what had been said to him by the Rev. Mr. H., who had visited him frequently.

Sat.u.r.day night was spent in great pain--he had but few intervals of ease. When he was told "such things were from the Lord," he replied, "The Lord is good, yes, the Lord is good to them who put their trust in him." When he expressed his grat.i.tude to his weeping parents for their attention to him, and his mother had told him that it was the Lord who enabled them to do any thing for him, and mentioned his glorious Saviour as the blessed object of all his grat.i.tude, he turned his thoughts to heaven and said, "Then I hope to love him now; and what rapture will it afford me to meet all my dear friends with him in glory." He spoke for some time on the subject with great energy; and on being told that he would fatigue himself, he replied, "It is not fatiguing, it is rapturous;" and particularly expressed a hope that not one of his family would be _wanting;_ adding, "What a disappointment shall I feel if you are not there." He seemed much refreshed by this conversation, and went to sleep with a sweet smile on his countenance.

In the afternoon he was still more composed, and told his mother he would talk a little; when he again dwelt most sweetly on the goodness of the Lord to his soul, and the happiness of meeting his parents and friends in glory. In the night, being asked if he did not love the sinner's friend, he replied, "I wish to do it, and in heaven I shall do it more," adding, "No one ever loved him one part in a thousand so much as they ought to do." He frequently prayed for patience, being subject to great pain. Seeing his mother weep, he asked her why she cried. She replied, "That she could not help it." "I hope," said he, "the Lord will give you strength."

On the Monday, being again frequently asked if Jesus was precious, he at times nodded his head, and at others said, "I hope he is, and that he will be more so by and by." But soon after that he said, "I am a great sinner, and am afraid I shall be disappointed in all my hopes of heaven." But being exhorted to cast all his unbelieving thoughts away, and put his entire trust in his blessed Redeemer, whose arms were underneath him, he replied, "Then I am safe." Again he thanked his parents for their care of him, and when it was repeated that it was all the Lord's doing, "Then," said he, "you are the instruments, and what a blessed thing it is to have parents who guide and instruct us in the way;" and added, "O what will become of those children who idle about on the Sabbath day, who swear and steal. O shocking! shocking! O what a blessing to have good parents." On requesting to see his brothers, they came to him; and taking them by the hand, he asked them how they did. To his little brother Henry he said, "Be a good boy, do not run about with idle children, and tell Philip what I say, learn your catechism, also read your Bible." Perceiving that his eldest brother cried, he said, "Why is John weeping? Weep not for me, weep for yourselves." "What a blessed change," said a friend, "will it be, from such a sick bed as this to the joys of heaven!" to which he added, "To be in the arms of my Redeemer, to see him face to face, and behold his glories in heaven: O how admirable! O what are the glories of an earthly kingdom when compared to this: but as the drop of a bucket to the ocean; yea, no mortal can describe the joys of heaven." When he again sweetly dwelt on the happiness of meeting all his friends there, "Where," said he, "we shall meet to part no more for ever; and there shall be no more death;"

which he twice repeated. In the night he was much buffeted by Satan.

About four o'clock in the morning, he appeared to be dying, and in a low voice, said, "May you all keep the commandments, and love G.o.d evermore.

Weep not for me, I am not worth weeping for." Being in an agony of pain he was directed to the source of all good. Soon after he appeared easier, and said, "Truly the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak, and if the heart is willing, never mind the voice." Being reminded of the joy he would feel at hearing his Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;" he exclaimed, "Amen, so be it," and spoke no more. "Great are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth out of them all," was the last text repeated to him, to which he nodded his head, and then calmly fell asleep in Jesus, aged twelve years and three months.

Farewell, dear babe, with all thy sacred store, In triumph landed on the heavenly sh.o.r.e; Sure nature form'd thee in her softest mould, And grace, from nature's dross, refund the gold.

THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER.

ELIZABETH W. ORCHARD was born March 6, 1795, at Melksham, in Wiltshire; and from an early age was very dutiful to her parents, and much attached to her school and books. In 1802 her father removed from Newport, in the Isle of Wight, to Bath; where he and his family attended the Rev. Mr.

J.'s chapel. Soon after their arrival at Bath, Elizabeth and William her brother were admitted into the Sunday school belonging to Argyle chapel; from the time of Elizabeth's admittance, she seemed to read her books with understanding and profit; and during the week, it was always her study to get her task by heart against the returning Sabbath. Her partiality for her teachers was great: especially for Miss S., whom, when she was taken ill, she longed to see. The tickets that were given to her in the school, as tokens for good, she valued much; and expressed a wish to return them, that she might obtain a hymn book, the reward she was ent.i.tled to. A shilling that was given to her by the committee at Christmas, for learning her book, with one that she had borrowed of her brother, she laid out in the purchase of a Testament; which she preserved with great care till her departure.

During her illness, Elizabeth often reproved her brother and sister, saying, "If you are not better you will certainly go to a place of misery." On every occasion she discovered a great love to prayer; and when by weakness she was prevented from going to chapel, she learned her tasks; and what she did learn and hear, was, by a Divine blessing, deeply impressed on her mind.

For the last five weeks before her death, she was not in the least terrified at her approaching dissolution; but conversed with pleasure on her departure. Her father asked her one day, when in great pain, whether she loved the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? to which she answered, "Yes, I do, and I shall soon be with him in glory." Mr. B., one of the teachers of the school, called to see her; and after conversing with her some time, asked her, "If she should like to go to heaven?" to which she answered, "Yes."

On April the 24th, when in great pain, on viewing her hands, she said, "O father! the blood ran from the hands of Jesus Christ when he was nailed to the cross, and that was done by wicked men, but I shall go and see him in heaven." At another time, when her parents, talking of the sufferings of Christ, said that he died to save good children, and would take them to sit with him on his throne for ever, and would give them crowns of glory. To which she answered, "It seems, father, as if I could see him." On the same day she said, "I do hope when my body dies, that G.o.d will receive my soul to heaven." After this she related to her parents the account of the rich man in the Gospel; observing that he was tormented in h.e.l.l, and could not so much as obtain a drop of water to cool his burning tongue, while poor Lazarus was carried to Abraham's bosom, where he was crowned with happiness.

She was visited by her much beloved teacher Miss S., whom she had long wished to see; and to whom, with the rest of the teachers of the school, her parents say they shall be always thankful for the good instruction they gave their dear departed child; and hope that the committee and teachers of the school at Argyle chapel, and of every other similar school, will be encouraged by this instance of the good effects of religious advice in a child only nine years old, to go forward in their endeavours to bring young sinners to Christ. She was much struck with a pa.s.sage of Scripture in Revelation, that Mr. J. preached from: "They shall be clothed in white." "O," said Elizabeth, "I expect to be clothed in white too." And as her mother was sitting by her bedside reading, she said, "If G.o.d will let me, I will keep places for you who may be left behind." Her brother she advised not to play so much, but to be a good boy, mind his book and school, and pray to G.o.d to make him truly religious; or he would go to a place of misery after death. Being told that she was very ill, she replied, "I must bear it with patience:"

though, in fact, she longed to be gone. When she was very weak, and death stared in her face, her parents carried her from one room to another; but in no place could she find ease. She, however, contemplated with satisfaction the day when she should eat of the tree of life that grows in the midst of the paradise of G.o.d; "There," said Elizabeth, "I shall never thirst, nor never sin, but behold the Lamb, who will lead me to fountains of living water." After lying one day in a doze, she opened her eyes and said, "Mother, I have seen an angel." Her mother asked her where? She pointed to the place where she dreamed that she saw him. And, being asked if she should like to go with him, she answered, "Yes."

"There I shall see his face, And never, never sin; There from the rivers of his grace Drink endless pleasures in."

Her parents now hung mournfully around her bed, and concluded that the Lord was going to release her. They saw clearly that she could not survive long. Being raised up on the following Sabbath in bed, by pillows, and seeing the children in the street at play, she observed to them about her how improper it was that they should profane the Sabbath, and that they ought to be at chapel, and that G.o.d would be very angry with them. Her father had some time before carried her out for the benefit of the air, daily. And being out with her the Sabbath before her departure, she pressed him to carry her to chapel; which he did, but was soon obliged to return with her, when she exclaimed, "Farewell, chapel; farewell, Mr. J.; farewell, my beloved teachers; farewell, my dear schoolfellows;" and soon after she said, "Farewell, brother and sister; farewell, father and mother. I charge you all to meet me in heaven, that we may spend an eternity of happiness together there." And on the 27th of May, 1804, after a few struggles, the feeble springs of life stood still, and her happy spirit took its flight to the paradise of G.o.d.