{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30645/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30645","id":"gutenberg_30645","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30645","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Short Stories","Children -- Religious life -- Juvenile literature","Christian life -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"[Image: Sarah's Death Bed]\nSARAH'S DEATH BED\n\n\n\nSTORIES\n\nOF\n\nBOYS AND GIRLS\n\nWHO\n\nLOVED THE SAVIOUR\n\n\nA Token for Children\n\n\nEXTRACTED FROM A LATE AUTHOR,\nBy John Wesley, A.M.\n\n\nNew York:\nPUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PORTER,\nSUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 200 MULBERRY STREET.\n\n\nCONTENTS\n---\nLITTLE SARAH HOWLEY\nA HAPPY BOY\nHAPPY MARY\nPRAYING CHARLIE\nA POOR BUT HAPPY BOY\nA BABE IN CHRIST\nTHE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER\nLITTLE JACOB'S FAITH\nJACOB'S SISTER SUSANNAH\nTHE MERCHANT'S SON\nPIOUS LITTLE PETER\nTHE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER\n\n\n\nA TOKEN FOR CHILDREN.\n---\nLITTLE SARAH HOWLEY.\n\nMISS SARAH HOWLEY, when she was between eight and nine years old, was\ncarried by her friends to hear a sermon, where the minister preached\nupon Matt. xi, 30, \"My yoke is easy, and my burden is light;\" in the\napplying of which scripture the child was mightily awakened, and made\ndeeply sensible of the condition of her soul, and her need of Christ:\nshe wept bitterly to think what a case she was in; went home, retired\ninto a chamber, and upon her knees she wept and cried to the Lord as\nwell as she could, which might easily be perceived by her eyes and\ncountenance.\n\n2. She was not contented with this, but got her little brother and\nsister into a chamber with her, and told them their condition by nature,\nand wept over them, and prayed with them.\n\n3. After this, she heard another sermon upon Prov. xxix, 15 \"He that,\nbeing often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed,\nand that without remedy;\" at which she was more affected than before,\nand was so exceedingly solicitous about her soul, that she spent great\npart of the night in weeping and praying, and could scarcely take any\nrest, day nor night, for some time together; desiring with all her soul\nto escape from everlasting flames, and to get an interest in the Lord\nJesus: O what should she do for Christ! what should she do to be saved!\n\n4. She gave herself much to attending upon the word preached, and still\ncontinued very tender under it, greatly relishing what she heard.\n\n5. She was very much in secret prayer, and was usually very importunate,\nand full of tears.\n\n6. She could scarcely speak of sin, or be spoken to, but her heart was\nready to melt.\n\n7. She spent much time in reading the Scripture.\n\n8. She was exceedingly dutiful to her parents, very loath to grieve them\nin the least: and if she had at any time (which was very rare) offended\nthem, she would weep bitterly.\n\n9. She abhorred lying, and allowed herself in no known sin.\n\n10. When she was at school, she was eminent for her diligence,\nteachableness, meekness, and modesty, speaking little, but when she did\nspeak, it was usually spiritual.\n\n11. She continued in this course of religious duties for some years\ntogether.\n\n12. When she was about fourteen years old, she broke a vein in her\nlungs, (as is supposed,) and often spat blood, yet did a little recover.\n\n13. In the beginning of January, she was taken very bad again, in which\nsickness she was in great distress of soul. When she was first taken,\nshe said, \"O mother, pray for me, for Satan is so busy that I cannot\npray for myself; I see I am undone without Christ, and a pardon! O, I am\nundone to all eternity!\"\n\n14. Her mother, knowing how serious she had been formerly, did a little\nwonder that she should be in such agonies; and asked her what sin it was\nthat was so burdensome to her spirit? \"O mother,\" said she, \"it is not\nany particular sin that sticks so close to my conscience, as the sin of\nmy nature: without the blood of Christ that will damn me.\"\n\n15. Her mother asked her what she should pray for, for her? She\nanswered, \"That I may have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ; and that\nI may have an assurance of God's love to my soul.\" Her mother asked her\nwhy she spoke so little to the minister that came to her? She answered,\n\"It was her duty with patience and silence to learn of him.\"\n\n16. One time when she fell into a fit, she cried out, \"O I am going; I\nam going: but what shall I do to be saved? Lord Jesus, I will lie at thy\nfeet; and if I perish, it shall be at the fountain of thy mercy.\"\n\n17. She was much afraid of presumption, and dreaded a mistake in the\nmatters of her soul, and would be often putting up ejaculations to God,\nto deliver her from deceiving herself. To instance in one, \"Great and\nmighty God,\" said she, \"let my faith be a true faith; that I may not be\na foolish virgin, having a lamp, but no oil.\"\n\n18. Her father bade her be of good cheer, because she was going to a\nbetter Father; at which she fell into a great agony, and said, \"But how\ndo I know that? I am a poor sinner, who wants assurance; O for\nassurance!\"\n\nThis was her great, earnest, and constant request to all who came to\nher, to beg assurance for her; and she would look with so much eagerness\nupon them, as if she desired nothing in the world so much as that they\nwould pity her, and help her with their prayers. Never was a poor\ncreature more earnest for any thing than she was for assurance and the\nlight of God's countenance. O the piteous moan that she would make! O\nthe agony that her soul was in!\n\n19. The Lord's day before that on which she died, a kinsman of hers came\nto see her, and asked her whether she knew him? She answered, \"Yes, I\nknow you, and I desire you would learn to know Christ. You are young,\nbut you know not how soon you may die! and, O, to die without Christ is\na fearful thing! O, redeem time! O, time, time, precious time!\" Being\nrequested by him not to spend herself, she said, \"She would fain do all\nthe good she could while she lived;\" upon which account she desired that\na sermon might be preached at her funeral, concerning the preciousness\nof time.\n\n20. Some ministers who came to see her earnestly entreated the Lord to\ngive her some token for good, that she might die in full triumph: notes\nof the same nature were sent to several churches.\n\n21. After she had long waited for an answer to their prayers, she said,\n\"Well, I will venture my soul upon Christ.\"\n\n22. Considering the pains and agonies that she was in, her patience was\nnext to a wonder: \"Lord,\" said she, \"Lord, give me patience, that I may\nnot dishonour thee!\"\n\n23. On Thursday, after long waiting, great fears, and many prayers, when\nall her friends thought she had been past speaking, to the astonishment\nof her friends, she broke forth thus, with a very audible voice, and\ncheerful countenance: \"Lord, thou hast promised that whosoever come unto\nthee thou wilt in no wise cast them out: Lord, I come unto thee, and\nsurely thou wilt in no wise cast me out; O, so precious! O, so glorious\nis Jesus! I have thee! Blessed and glorious is Jesus; he is precious, he\nis precious! O, the admirable love of God in sending Christ and free\ngrace to a poor lost creature!\"\n\n24. Her soul then seemed ravished with the love of Christ. And while she\nwas engaged in magnifying of God, her father, brothers, and sisters,\nwith others of the family, were called, to whom she spake particularly\nas her strength would give leave. She gave her Bible as a legacy to one\nof her brothers, and desired him to use that well for her sake; and\nadded, to him and the rest, \"O make use of time to get Christ for your\nsouls: spend no time in running up and down, or in playing: O get Christ\nfor your souls while you are young! Remember now your Creator before you\ncome to a sick bed: put not off this great work till then, for then you\nwill find it hard work indeed: I know by experience the devil will tell\nyou it is time enough; and you are young, and what need you be in such\nhaste? you will have time enough when you are old. But remember the\nwords of a dying sister. If you knew how good Christ is! if you had but\none taste of his sweetness, you had rather go to him a thousand times\nthan stay in this wicked world. I would not for ten thousand worlds part\nwith my interest in Christ. O, how happy am I that I am going to\neverlasting joys! I would not go back again for twenty thousand worlds;\nand will you not strive to get an interest in Christ?\"\n\n25. After this, looking upon one of her father's servants, she said,\n\"What shall I do at the great day, when Christ shall say to me, 'Come,\nthou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for thee?' and\nshall say to the wicked, 'Go, thou cursed, into the lake that burns for\never!' What a grief is it for me to think that I should see any of my\nfriends that I knew upon earth, turned into that lake which burns for\never! O that word, for ever! Remember that for ever! I speak these words\nto you, but they are nothing except God speaks to you too: O pray that\nGod would give you grace!\" And then she prayed, \"O Lord, finish thy work\nupon their souls: it will be my comfort to see you in glory; but it will\nbe your everlasting happiness.\"\n\n26. On Friday, after she had had such lively discoveries of God's love,\nshe was exceedingly desirous to die, and cried out, \"Come, Lord Jesus,\ncome quickly! Conduct me to thy tabernacle. I am a poor creature without\nthee; but, Lord Jesus, my soul longs to be with thee: O when shall it\nbe? Why not now, blessed Jesus? Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! But why\ndo I thus speak? Thy time, my Lord, is the best: O, give me patience.\"\n\n27. On Saturday she spoke but little, being very drowsy, yet now and\nthen she dropped these words, \"How long, O blessed Jesus? Finish thy\nwork, holy Jesus: come away, Lord Jesus, come quickly!\"\n\n28. On the Lord's day she scarcely spoke any thing. She requested that\nnotes of thanksgiving might be sent to those who had formerly prayed for\nher, that they might help her to praise the Lord for that full assurance\nwhich he had given her of his love; and seemed to be swallowed up with\nthe thoughts of God's free love to her soul. She often commended her\nspirit into the hand of the Lord. The last words she was heard to utter\nwere these, \"Lord, help, Lord Jesus, help! my Lord Jesus, blessed\nJesus!\" Thus on the Lord's day, between nine and ten o'clock in the\nevening, she sweetly slept in Jesus, and began an everlasting Sabbath,\nFebruary 19, 1670.\n\n\n\nA HAPPY BOY.\n\nA LITTLE CHILD whose mother had dedicated him to the Lord in infancy,\nwhen he could not speak plain would be crying after God, and was greatly\ndesirous to be taught good things.\n\n2. He could not endure to be put to bed without prayer, but would put\nhis parents upon it, with much devotion kneel down, and with great\npatience and delight continue till it was concluded, without the least\nsign of being weary. He seemed never so well pleased as when so engaged.\n\n3. He could not be satisfied with family prayer, but he would often be\nupon his knees by himself in one corner or another.\n\n4. He was much delighted in hearing the word of God either read or\npreached.\n\n5. He loved to go to school, that he might learn something of God, and\nwould take great notice of what he had read, and come home and speak of\nit with much affection. He would rejoice in his book, and say to his\nmother, \"O mother, I had a sweet lesson to-day: will you please to give\nme leave to fetch my book, that you may hear it?\"\n\n6. He quickly learned to read the Scripture, and would, with great\nreverence, tenderness, and groans, read till tears and sobs were ready\nto hinder him.\n\n7. When he was at secret prayer he would weep bitterly.\n\n8. He was wont often to complain of the wickedness of his heart, and\nseemed to be more grieved for the corruption of his nature, than, for\nactual sin.\n\n9. He was much troubled for the wandering of his thoughts in prayer, and\nthat he could not always keep his heart fixed upon God, and his\naffections more constantly raised.\n\n10. He kept a watch over his heart, and observed the workings of his\nsoul, and would complain that they were so vain and foolish, and so\nlittle busied about spiritual things.\n\n11. He was exceedingly importunate with God in prayer, and would plead\nwith God at an unusual rate; and he would beg and expostulate, and weep\nso, that sometimes it could not be kept from the ears of the neighbours:\nso that one in the next house was forced to cry out, \"The prayers and\ntears of that child in the next house will sink me to hell!\" because by\nit he did condemn his neglect of prayer and his slight performance of\nit.\n\n12. He abhorred lying with all his soul.\n\n13. When he had committed any sin, he was easily convinced of it, and\nwould get into some corner, or secret place, and with tears beg pardon\nof God, and strength to guard against it.\n\n14. When other children were at play, he would be praying.\n\n15. A friend of his asked him, when he was first taken sick, whether he\nwas not willing to die? He answered, No! because he was afraid of his\nstate as to another world. \"Why, child,\" said the other, \"thou didst\npray for a new heart, for an humble and sincere heart, and I have heard\nthee: didst thou not pray with thy heart?\" \"I hope I did,\" rejoined he.\n\n16. Not long after, the same person asked him again, \"If he was willing\nto die?\" He answered, \"Now I am willing, for I shall go to Christ.\"\n\n17. He still grew weaker and weaker, but behaved with a great deal of\nsweetness and patience, waiting for his change. At last, calling upon\nthe name of the Lord, and saying, \"Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus!\" he sweetly\nslept, dying when he was between five and six years old.\n\n\n\nHAPPY MARY.\n\nMARY A., when she was between four and five years old, was greatly\naffected in hearing the word of God, and became very solicitous about\nher soul, weeping bitterly to think what would become of her in another\nworld, asking strange questions concerning God, and Christ, and her own\nsoul. So that before she was full five years old, she minded the one\nthing needful, and chose the better part.\n\n2. She was wont to be much in secret prayer, and many times came from\nher knees with tears.\n\n3. She would choose such times and places for secret prayer as might\nrender her less observed by others: and endeavoured to conceal what she\nwas doing when she was engaged therein.\n\n4. Her mother being full of sorrow after the death of her husband, this\nchild came to her and asked her why she wept so exceedingly? Her mother\nanswered that she had cause enough to weep, because her father was dead.\n\"No, dear mother,\" said the child, \"you have no cause to weep so much,\nfor God is a good God still.\"\n\n5. She was a dear lover of faithful ministers. One time after she had\nbeen hearing Mr. Whitaker, she said, \"I love that man dearly for the\nsweet words he speaks concerning Christ.\"\n\n6. Her book was her delight; and many times she was so strangely\naffected in reading the Scriptures, that she burst out into tears, and\nwould hardly be pacified: so greatly was she taken with Christ's\nsufferings, the zeal of God's servants, and the danger of a natural\nstate.\n\n7. She often complained of the corruption of her nature, of the hardness\nof her heart, that she could repent no more, and be no more humble and\ngrieved for her sins against a good God; and when she thus complained,\nit was with abundance of tears.\n\n8. She was very conscientious in keeping the Sabbath, spending the whole\ntime in reading or praying, learning her catechism, or teaching her\nbrothers and sisters. One time when she was left at home on the Lord's\nday, she got some other little children together, with her brothers and\nsisters, and told them that it was the Lord's day, and they ought to\nremember it to keep it holy. She then told them it was to be spent in\nreligious exercises all the day, except so much as was taken up in the\nworks of necessity and mercy: then she prayed with them, and among other\nthings begged that the Lord would give grace and wisdom to them, (little\nchildren,) that they might know how to serve him.\n\n9. At another time a near relation of hers being in some straits, made\nsome complaint, to whom she said, \"I have heard Mr. Garter say, 'A man\nmay go to heaven without a penny in his purse, but not without grace in\nhis heart.'\"\n\n10. She had an extraordinary love to the people of God: and when she saw\nany who she thought feared the Lord, her heart would even leap for joy.\n\n11. When she was between eleven and twelve years old, she sickened of\nthe plague, in which she behaved with admirable patience and sweetness,\nand did what she could with Scripture arguments to support and encourage\nher relations to part with her, who was going to glory, and to prepare\nthemselves to meet her in a blessed eternity.\n\n12. She was not many days sick before she was marked with the complaint\nwhich she first saw herself, and was greatly rejoiced to think that she\nwas marked out for the Lord, and was now going apace to Christ. She\ncalled to her friends and said, \"I am marked, but be not troubled, for I\nknow I am marked for one of the Lord's own.\" One asked her how she knew\nthat? She answered, \"The Lord hath told me that I am one of his dear\nchildren.\" And this she spoke with a holy confidence in the Lord's love,\nand was not in the least daunted at the approach of death; but seemed\ngreatly delighted in the apprehension of her nearness to her Father's\nhouse. And it was not long before she was filled with joy unspeakable in\nbelieving.\n\n13. When she lay dying, her mother came to her, and told her she was\nsorry she had so frequently reproved and corrected so good a child; \"O\nmother,\" said she, \"speak not thus: I bless God, now I am dying, for\nyour reproofs and corrections too: for, it may be, I might have gone to\nhell, if it had not been for your reproofs and corrections.\"\n\n14. Some of the neighbours came to visit her, and asked her if she could\nleave them. She answered, \"If you serve the Lord, you will come after me\nto glory.\"\n\n15. A little before she died, she had a great conflict with Satan, and\ncried out, \"I am none of his.\" Her mother seeing her troubled, asked her\nwhat was the matter? She answered, \"Satan did trouble me, but now, I\nthank God, all is well. I know I am none of his, but Christ's.\"\n\n16. After this she had a great sense of God's love, and a glorious\nsight, as if she had seen the very heavens open, and the angels coming\nto receive her; by which her heart was filled with joy, and her tongue\nwith praise.\n\n17. Being desired by the bystanders to give them a particular account of\nwhat she saw, she answered, \"You shall know hereafter:\" and so in an\necstasy of joy and triumph, she went to God when she was about twelve\nyears old.\n\n\n\nPRAYING CHARLIE.\n\nCHARLES BRIDGEMAN had no sooner learned to speak, but he betook himself\nto prayer.\n\n2. He was very prone to learn the things of God.\n\n3. He would be sometimes teaching those persons that waited upon him\ntheir duty.\n\n4. He learned by heart many good things before he was well fit to go to\nschool. And when he was sent to school, he carried it so that all that\nobserved him, either did or might admire him. O, the sweet temper, the\ngood disposition, the sincere religion which was in the child!\n\n5. When he was at school what was it that he desired to learn but Christ\nand him crucified?\n\n6. So religious and savoury were his words, his actions so upright, his\ndevotions so hearty, his fear of God so great, that many were ready to\nsay as they did of John,--What manner of child shall this be?\n\n7. He would be much in reading the Holy, Scriptures.\n\n8. He was desirous of more spiritual knowledge, and would be oft asking\nvery serious and admirable questions.\n\n9. He would not stir out of doors before he had poured out his soul to\nthe Lord in prayer.\n\n10. When he ate any thing, he would be sure to lift up his heart unto\nthe Lord for a blessing upon it; and when he had moderately refreshed\nhimself by eating, he would not forget to acknowledge God's goodness in\nfeeding him.\n\n11. He would not lie down in his bed till he had been upon his knees;\nand when sometimes he had forgotten his duty, he would quickly get out\nof his bed, and kneeling down upon his bare knees, ask God's forgiveness\nof that sin.\n\n12. He would rebuke his brethren, if they were at any time too hasty at\ntheir meals, and did eat without asking a blessing; his check was this:\n\"Dare you do thus? God be merciful to us! this bit of bread might choke\nus.\"\n\n13. His sentences were wise and weighty, and might well become some\nancient Christian.\n\n14. His sickness was a lingering disease: against which, to comfort him,\none tells him of possessions that must fall to his portion; \"And what\nare they?\" said he, \"I had rather have the kingdom of heaven than a\nthousand such inheritances.\"\n\n15. When he was sick he seemed much taken up with heaven, and asked very\nserious questions about the nature of the soul.\n\n16. After he was pretty well satisfied about that, he inquired how his\nsoul might be saved? The answer being made, \"By the applying of Christ's\nmerit by faith:\" he was pleased with the answer, and was ready to give\nany one that should desire it an account of his hope.\n\n17. Being asked whether he had rather live or die? he answered, \"I\ndesire to die, that I may go to my Saviour.\"\n\n18. His pains increasing upon him, one asked him whether he would rather\nstill endure those pains or forsake Christ? \"Alas!\" said he, \"I know not\nwhat to say, being a child: for these pains may stagger a strong man;\nbut I will strive to endure the best I can.\" Upon this he called to mind\nthat martyr, _Thomas Bilney_, who, being in prison the night before his\nburning, put his finger into the candle to know how he could endure the\nfire; \"O,\" said the child, \"had I lived then, I would have run through\nthe fire to have gone to Christ.\"\n\n19. His sickness lasted long: and at least three days before his death\nhe prophesied his departure, and not only that he must die, but the very\nday. \"On the Lord's day,\" said he, \"look to me;\" neither was this a word\nof course, which you may guess by his frequent repetition, every day\nasking till the day came indeed, \"What, is Sunday come?\" At last, the\nlooked-for day came on; and no sooner had the sun beautified that\nmorning with its light, but he falls into a trance, his eyes were fixed,\nhis face cheerful, his lips smiling, his hands and arms clasped in a\nbow, as if he would have embraced some blessed angel that was at hand to\nreceive his soul. But he comes to himself, and tells them how he saw the\nsweetest body that ever eyes beheld, who bid him to be of good cheer,\nfor he must presently go with him.\n\n20. One that stood near him, as now suspecting the time of his\ndissolution nigh, bid him say, \"Lord, into thy hands I commend my\nspirit, which is thy due; for why? thou hast redeemed it, O Lord, my\nGod, most true!\"\n\n21. The last words which he spoke were exactly these: \"Pray, pray, pray,\nnay, yet pray, and the more prayers the better all prospers; God is the\nbest physician; into thy hands I commend my spirit. O Lord Jesus receive\nmy soul: now close mine eyes: forgive me, father, mother, brother,\nsister, all the world. Now I am well; my pain is almost gone, my joy is\nat hand. Lord, have mercy on me. O Lord, receive my soul unto thee.\" And\nthus he yielded up his spirit unto the Lord when he was about twelve\nyears old.\n\n\n\nA POOR BUT HAPPY BOY.\n\nA VERY poor child, of the parish of Newington-Butts, came to the door of\na friend of mine, in a very lamentable case: it pleased God to raise in\nthe heart of my friend a great pity and tenderness toward him: so that\nhe took him out of the streets, who had nothing at all to commend him to\nany one's charity but his misery. My friend, seeking the glory of God,\ndischarged the parish of the child, and took him as his own; yet there\nseemed to be little hopes of doing good upon him, for he was a very\nmonster of wickedness, and a thousand times more miserable and vile by\nhis sin than by his poverty. He was running to hell as fast as he could\ngo, and was old in vice when he was but young in years: we scarcely hear\nof one so like the devil in his infancy as was this poor child. What sin\nwas there that his age was capable of, which he did not commit? What by\nthe corruption of his nature, and the abominable example of little\nbeggar boys, he was indeed arrived at a great pitch of impiety. He would\ncall names, take God's name in vain, curse, swear, and do all kinds of\nmischief; and as to any thing of God, he was worse than a heathen.\n\n2. No sooner had this good man taken this creature into his house but he\nprayed for him, and laboured with all his might to convince him of his\nmiserable condition by nature, and to teach him something of God, the\nworth of his own soul, and that eternity of glory or misery to which he\nwas bound. And, blessed be God, it was not long before the Lord was\npleased to let him understand that it was himself who put into his heart\nto take in this child. The Lord soon blessed his instructions, so that\nan amazing change was seen. In the space of a few weeks he was convinced\nof the evil of his ways; no more calling of names, swearing or cursing,\nno more taking of the Lord's name in vain. His company, his talk, his\nemployment, were changed, and he was like another creature.\n\n3. And this change was not only an external one, but he would get by\nhimself, and weep and mourn bitterly for his wicked life.\n\n4. He was still more and more broken under a sense of his undone state\nby nature; often in tears, and bemoaning his lost and miserable\ncondition. When his master spoke of the things of God, he listened\nearnestly, and took in with much eagerness and affection, what he was\ntaught. There was seldom any discourse about religion in his hearing,\nbut he heard as though it were for his life.\n\n5. Thus he continued seeking after the knowledge of God, till the\nsickness came into the house, with which he was smitten. At his first\nsickening the poor child was greatly amazed and afraid; and though his\npains were great, and the distemper very tedious; nevertheless, the\nsense of his sins, and the thought of the condition that his soul was\nstill in, made his trouble ten times greater.\n\n6. He was in grievous agonies of spirit; his former sins stared him in\nthe face, and made him tremble. The poison of God's arrows did even\ndrink up his spirits; the sense of sin and of wrath were so great that\nhe knew not what to do. The weight of God's displeasure, and the thought\nof lying under it to all eternity, broke him even to pieces, and he\nbitterly cried out, \"What shall I do! I am a miserable sinner, and I\nfear that I shall go to hell.\" His sins had been so great and so many,\nthat there was no hope for him. He was not by far so much concerned for\nhis life as for his soul: what would become of that for ever. Now the\nplague upon his body seemed nothing to that which was in his soul.\n\n7. He not only cried out against his swearing, lying, and other outward\nnotorious sins; but was in great horror for the sin of his nature; the\nvileness and original corruption of his heart. For this he was in so\ngreat anguish that the trouble of his spirit made him forget the pain of\nhis body.\n\n8. He very particularly confessed and bewailed his sins, and some sins\nso secret that none in the world could charge him with.\n\n9. He would ask others whether they thought there were any hopes for\nhim, and would beg of them to deal plainly with him; for he was greatly\nafraid of being deceived.\n\n10. Being informed how willing and ready the Lord Jesus Christ was to\naccept of poor sinners, and being counselled to venture himself upon\nChrist for mercy and salvation, he said he would fain cast himself upon\nChrist, but he could not but wonder how Christ should die for such a\nvile wretch as he was, and he found it one of the hardest things in the\nworld to believe.\n\n11. But at last it pleased the Lord to give him some hope that there\nmight be mercy for him, the chief of sinners; and he was enabled to lay\nhold upon that, \"Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and\nI will give you rest.\" Nor was it long before he was full of praise and\nadmiration of God; so that, to speak in the words of one that was an eye\nand ear witness, he was so full of joy and praise that he longed for\nheaven.\n\n12. He now grew exceedingly in knowledge, experience, patience,\nhumility, and self-abhorrence. He prayed before, but now the Lord poured\nout upon him the spirit of prayer in an extraordinary manner; so that\nnow he prayed more frequently, more earnestly, more spiritually than\never. O how eagerly would he beg to be washed in the blood of Jesus! And\nthat the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who was over heaven and\nearth, would pardon and forgive him all his sins, and receive his soul\ninto his kingdom. And what he spoke was with so much life and fervour of\nspirit, that it filled the hearers with astonishment and joy.\n\n13. He had no small sense of the use and excellence of Christ, and such\nlongings and breathings of his soul after him, that when mention has\nbeen made of Christ, he hath been ready to leap out of his bed for joy.\n\n14. The Wednesday before he died, he lay in a trance for about half an\nhour, in which time he thought he saw a vision of angels. When he was\nout of his trance, he asked his nurse why she did not let him go? \"Go!\nwhither?\" said she; \"Why, along with those lovely gentlemen,\" said he;\n\"but they told me they would come and fetch me away upon Friday.\" And he\nrepeated these words many times, \"Upon Friday next those lovely\ngentlemen will come for me.\"\n\n15. He was very thankful to his master, and very sensible of his great\nkindness in taking him out of the streets when begging, and he admired\nthe goodness of God, which put it into the mind of a stranger: said he,\n\"I hope to see you in heaven, for I am sure you will go thither. O\nblessed, blessed be God, that made you to take pity upon me; for I might\nhave died, and have gone to the devil, and been damned for ever, if it\nhad not been for you.\"\n\n16. The Thursday before he died, he asked a friend of mine what he\nthought of his condition, and whither his soul was going? for he said he\ncould not still but fear, lest he should deceive himself with false\nhopes. At which my friend spoke to him thus:--\"If thou art but willing\nto accept of Christ, thou mayest have Christ, and all that thou dost\nwant with him. Thou sayest thou fearest that Christ will not accept of\nthee! I fear that thou art not heartily willing to accept of him.\" The\nchild answered, \"Indeed I am.\" \"Why, then, if thou art unfeignedly\nwilling to have Christ, I tell thee he is a thousand times more willing\nto have thee, and wash thee, and save thee. And now at this time, Christ\noffers himself to thee again; therefore, receive him humbly by faith\ninto thy heart, and bid him welcome, for he deserveth it.\" Upon which\nwords the Lord discovered his love to the child; and he gave a kind of\nleap in his bed, and snapped his finger and thumb together with\nabundance of joy. And from that time forward, in full joy and assurance\nof God's love, he continued earnestly praising God, desiring to die, and\nto be with Christ. And on Friday morning he sweetly went to rest, using\nthat expression, \"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit!\" being not\nmuch above nine years old.\n\n\n\nA BABE IN CHRIST.\n\nJOHN SUDLOW was born of religious parents, in the county of Middlesex,\nwhose care was to instill spiritual principles into him as soon as he\nwas capable of understanding them, whose endeavours the Lord was pleased\nto crown with the desired success.\n\n2. When he was scarce able to speak plain he seemed to have a very great\nawe and reverence of God upon his spirit, and a strange sense of the\nthings of another world.\n\n3. The first thing that much affected him, and made him endeavour to\nescape from the wrath to come, and to inquire what he should do to be\nsaved, was the death of a little brother. When he saw him without\nbreath, and not able to speak or stir; and when carried out of doors,\nand put into the ground, he was greatly concerned, and asked whether he\nshould die too? Being answered yes it made so deep an impression on him,\nthat from that time forward, he was exceedingly serious; and this was\nwhen he was about four years old.\n\n4. He was now desirous to know what he might do that he might live in\nanother world, and what to avoid, that he might not die for ever. And,\nbeing instructed by his parents, he soon laboured to avoid whatsoever\nmight displease God. Now the apprehensions of God, death and eternity,\nlaid such a restraint upon him, that he would not, for a world, have\ntold a lie. He was much taken with reading the book of martyrs, and\nwould willingly leave his dinner and go to his book.\n\n5. He went to his father and mother with great tenderness and\ncompassion, and entreated them to take more care of his brothers and\nsisters; and to take heed lest they should go to hell, and be ruined for\never.\n\n6. The providences of God were not passed by without his minute\nobservation. In the time of the plague he was exceedingly concerned\nabout his everlasting state, and was very much by himself upon his\nknees. The following prayer was found written in short hand after his\ndeath.\n\n7. O Lord God and merciful Father, take pity upon me, a miserable\nsinner: and strengthen me, O Lord, in thy faith, and make me one of thy\nsaints in heaven. O Lord, keep me from this poisonous infection;\nhowever, not my will, but thy will be done. O Lord, if thou hast\nappointed me to die by it, fit me for death, and give me a good heart to\nbear up under my afflictions. O Lord God, and merciful Father, take pity\non me, thy child. Teach me, O Lord, thy word; make me strong in faith. O\nLord, I have sinned against thee; Lord, pardon my sins. I had been in\nhell long ago if it had not been for thy mercy. But, O Lord, if thou\nhast appointed me to die, fit me for death, that I may die with comfort.\nAnd, O Lord, I pray thee to help me to bear up under my afflictions for\nChrist's sake. Amen.\n\n8. He was not a little concerned for the whole nation, and begged that\nGod would pardon the sins of this land, and bring it nearer to himself.\n\n9. About the beginning of November, this child was smote with the\ndistemper, but he behaved with admirable patience under the hand of God.\n\n10. These were some of his last expressions. \"The Lord shall be my\nphysician, for he will cure both soul and body. Heaven is the best\nhospital. It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth good in his eyes.\"\nAgain, \"It is the Lord that taketh away my health; but I will say as Job\ndid, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.' If I should live longer, I\nshould but sin against God.\" Looking upon his father, he said, \"If the\nLord will but lend me the least finger of his hand to lead me through\nthe dark entry of death, I will rejoice in him.\"\n\n11. When a minister came to him, among other things, he spake something\nof life. He answered, \"This is a wicked world: it is better to live in\nheaven.\"\n\n12. An hour and a half before his death, the same minister came again to\nvisit him, and asked him, \"John, art thou not afraid to die?\" He\nanswered, \"No, if the Lord will comfort me in that hour.\" \"But,\" said\nthe minister, \"how canst thou expect comfort, seeing we deserve none?\"\nHe answered, \"No, if I had my deserts, I had been in hell long ago.\"\n\"But,\" replied the minister, \"which way dost thou expect comfort and\nsalvation, seeing that thou art a sinner?\" He answered, \"In Christ\nalone.\" In whom, about an hour and a half after, he fell asleep.\n\n\n\nTHE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER.\n\nTABITHA ALDER was the daughter of a minister in Kent, who lived near\nGravesend. She was instructed in the Holy Scriptures by her father and\nmother; but there appeared nothing extraordinary in her till she was\nbetween seven and eight years old:\n\n2. About which time, when she was sick, one asked her what she thought\nwould become of her if she should die? She answered that she was greatly\nafraid she should go to hell.\n\n3. Being asked why she was afraid she should go to hell? She answered,\nbecause she did not love God.\n\n4. Again, being asked how she knew that she did not love God? she\nreplied, \"What have I done for God ever since I was born? And beside\nthis, I have been taught that he that loves God keeps his commandments;\nbut I have kept none of them.\"\n\n5. Being farther demanded if she would not fain love God? she answered,\n\"Yes, with all my heart, if I could, but I find it a hard thing to love\none I do not see.\"\n\n6. She was advised to beg of God a heart to love him: she answered, \"I\nam afraid it is too late.\"\n\n7. Upon this, seeing her in such a desponding condition, a friend of\nhers spent the next day in fasting and prayer for her.\n\n8. After this, that friend asked her how she did now? She answered with\na great deal of joy, \"Now I bless the Lord; I love the Lord Jesus\ndearly; I feel I do love him. O, I love him dearly.\"\n\n9. \"Why,\" said her friend, \"did you not say yesterday you did not love\nthe Lord, and that you could not?\" \"Sure,\" said she, \"it was Satan\nhindered me. But now I love him. O blessed be God for the Lord Jesus\nChrist.\"\n\n10. After this she had a discovery of her approaching dissolution, which\nwas no small comfort to her: \"Anon,\" said she, (with a holy triumph,) \"I\nshall be with Jesus. I am married to him: he is my husband: I am his\nbride: I have given myself to him, and he hath given himself to me, and\nI shall live with him for ever.\"\n\n11. This language struck the hearers with astonishment. She still\ncontinued in a kind of ecstasy of joy, admiring the excellence of\nChrist, rejoicing in her interest in him, and longing to be with him.\n\n12. After a while, some of her friends, who stood near her, observed a\nmore than ordinary earnestness and fixedness in her countenance; they\nsaid one to another, \"Look how earnestly she looks, surely she sees\nsomething.\"\n\n13. One asked her what it was that she fixed her eyes upon so eagerly?\n\"I warrant,\" says one, \"she saw death coming.\"\n\n14. \"No,\" said she, \"it is the glory that I saw, it is that on which my\neyes were fixed.\"\n\n15. One demanded of her, what the glory was like? She replied, \"I cannot\ntell what, but I am going to it: will you go with me? I am going to\nglory. O that you were all going with me to that glory!\" With these\nwords her soul took wings, and went to the possession of that glory. She\ndied when she was between eight and nine years of age.\n\n\n\nLITTLE JACOB'S FAITH.\n\nJACOB BICKS was born in Leyden, in the year 1657. He was visited with\nsickness upon the 6th of August, 1664. In his distemper he was very\nsleepy till near his death, but when he did awake he was wont still to\nfall a praying.\n\n2. Once when his parents had prayed with him, they asked him if they\nshould once more send for the physician? \"No,\" said he, \"I will have the\ndoctor no more; the Lord will help me; I know he will take me to\nhimself.\"\n\n3. When his parents had prayed with him, he said, \"Come, now, dear\nfather and mother, and kiss me: I know that I shall die. Farewell, dear\nfather and mother; farewell, dear sister; farewell, all. Now shall I go\nunto God and Jesus Christ, and the holy angels. Father, know you not\nwhat is said by Jeremiah? 'Blessed is he who trusteth in the Lord.' Now\nI trust in him, and he will bless me; and in 1 John ii, it is said,\n'Little children, love not the world, for the world passeth away.'\"\n\n4. \"Away then all that is in the world, away with all my pleasant things\nin the world; away with my dagger, for where I go there is nothing to do\nwith daggers and swords; men shall not fight there, but praise God. Away\nwith all my books: there shall I learn true wisdom without books.\"\n\n5. His father said, \"My dear child, the Lord will be near thee, and\nuphold thee.\"\n\n6. \"Yea, father,\" said he, \"the Apostle Peter saith, 'God resisteth the\nproud, but he giveth grace to the humble.' I humble myself under the\nmighty hand of God, and he shall help me and lift me up.\"\n\n7. \"O, my dear child,\" said his father, \"hast thou so strong faith?\"\n\n8. \"Yes,\" said he, \"God hath given me so strong a faith in himself\nthrough Jesus Christ, that the devil shall flee from me: for it is said,\nHe who believeth in the Son hath everlasting life, and he hath overcome\nthe wicked one. Now I believe in Jesus Christ my Redeemer, and he will\nnot leave nor forsake me, but shall give unto me eternal life, and then\nI shall sing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Sabaoth.\"\n\nThen, with that word, \"Lord, be merciful unto me a poor sinner,\" he\nquietly breathed out his soul, being about seven years old.\n\n\n\nJACOB'S SISTER SUSANNAH.\n\nSUSANNAH BICKS, the sister of Jacob Bicks, was born in Leyden, in\nHolland, January 24, 1650, of religious parents, whose great care was to\ninstruct their child, and to present her to the ministers of the place\nto be publicly instructed.\n\n2. It pleased God to bless this to her soul, so that she had soon a true\nrelish for what she was taught, and made an admirable use of it in time\nof need.\n\n3. She was a child of great dutifulness to her parents, and of a very\nsweet, humble nature; and not only the truth, but the power and eminence\nof religion did shine in her.\n\n4. In August, 1664, when the pestilence raged in Holland, as she felt\nherself very ill, she broke forth in these words, \"If thy law were not\nmy delight, I should perish in my affliction.\"\n\n5. Her father coming to her, said, \"Be of good comfort, my child, for\nthe Lord will be near to thee and us: he will not forsake us, though he\nchastens.\" \"Yea, father,\" said she, \"our heavenly Father doth chasten us\nfor our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness; no\nchastisement seemeth for the present to be joyous, but grievous; but\nafterward it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them which\nare exercised thereby.\"\n\n6. After this, with her eyes lifted towards heaven, she said, \"Be\nmerciful to me a sinner, according to thy word.\"\n\n7. She greatly abhorred sin, and, with much grief and self-detestation,\nreflected upon it; but that which lay the closest to her heart was the\ndepravity of her nature. She often cried out in the words of the\npsalmist, \"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother\nconceive me.\" She could never lay herself low enough under a sense of\nthat sin which she brought with her into the world.\n\n8. That scripture dwelt much on her tongue, \"The sacrifices of God are a\nbroken heart; a broken and contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not\ndespise.\" \"O for that brokenness of heart,\" said she, \"which flows from\nfaith, and for that faith which is built upon Christ, who is the alone\nand proper sacrifice for sin.\"\n\n9. Then she discoursed of the nature of faith, and desired that the 11th\nof the Hebrews should be read unto her: at the reading of which she\ncried out, \"O what a steadfast faith was Abraham's, which made him\nwilling to offer up his own and only son! Faith is indeed the substance\nof things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.\"\n\n10. Her father and mother, seeing her, burst into tears; upon which she\npleaded with them to be patient under the hand of God. \"O,\" said she,\n\"why do you weep over me, seeing you have no reason to question: but, if\nthe Lord takes me, it shall be well with me to all eternity? You ought\nto be well satisfied, seeing it is said, 'God is in heaven, and doth\nwhatever pleaseth him.' And do you not pray every day that the will of\nGod may be done upon earth as it is in heaven? Now, father, this is\nGod's will, that I should lie upon this sick bed, and die of this\ndisease; shall we not be content when our prayers are answered? I will,\nas long as I live, pray that God's will be done, not mine.\"\n\n11. \"Doth not,\" said she, \"the pestilence come from God? Why else doth\nthe Scripture say, Shall there be evil in the city which I have not\nsent? Does it come from the air? And is not the Lord the Creator and\nRuler of the air? Or if they say it comes from the earth, hath not he\nthe same power and influence upon that too? What talk they of a ship\nthat came from Africa? Have you not heard long ago, 'I will bring a\nsword upon you, and avenge the quarrel of my covenant, and when you are\nassembled in the cities, then I will bring the pestilence into the midst\nof you?'\"\n\n12. After this, having taken a little rest, she said, \"Whether in death\nor life, a believer is Christ's, who hath redeemed us by his own\nprecious blood from the power of the devil; then, whether I live or die,\nI am the Lord's. O why do you afflict yourselves thus? But what shall I\nsay? With weeping I came into the world, and with weeping I must go out\nagain. O my dear parents, better is the day of my death than the day of\nmy birth.\"\n\n13. She then desired her father to pray with her, and to request of the\nLord that she might have a quiet passage into another world.\n\n14. Her father, observing her to grow very weak, said, \"I perceive,\nchild, thou art very weak.\" \"It is true, sir,\" said she, \"I feel my\nweakness increasing, and I see your sorrow increasing too, which is a\npart of my affliction. Be content, I pray you, it is the Lord who does\nit; and let you and I say with David, 'Let us fall into the Lord's hand,\nfor his mercies are great.'\"\n\n15. She laid a great charge upon her parents not to grieve for her after\nher death, urging that of David: while the child was sick he fasted and\nwept: but when it died he washed his face, and sat up, and ate, and\nsaid, \"Can I bring him back from death? I shall go to him, but he shall\nnot return to me.\"\n\n16. Being very feeble, she said, \"O that I might quietly sleep in the\nbosom of Jesus! and that till then he would strengthen me! O that he\nwould take me in his arms, as he did those little ones, where he said,\n'Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of\nheaven: and he took them in his arms, and he laid his hands on them, and\nblessed them,' I lie here as a child: O Lord, I am thy child, receive me\ninto thy gracious arms. O Lord, grace! grace! and not justice! For if\nthou shouldst enter into judgment with me, I cannot stand: yea, none\nliving would be just in thy sight.\"\n\n17. Then she said, \"O what is the life of man! The days of man upon\nearth are as grass, and as the flower of the field, so he flourishes:\nthe wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and his place knows him no\nmore.\"\n\n18. She added, \"My life shall not continue long. I feel much weakness: O\nLord, look upon me graciously, have pity upon my weak distressed heart.\nI am oppressed, undertake for me, that I may stand fast and overcome.\"\n\n19. She was very frequent in spiritual ejaculations, and it was no small\ncomfort to her that the Lord Christ prayed for her, and promised to send\nhis Spirit to comfort her. \"It is said,\" continued she, \"'I will pray\nthe Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.' O let him not\nleave me! O Lord, stay with me till my battle and work is finished!\"\n\n20. Soon after, she said, \"None but Christ; without thee I can do\nnothing! Christ is the true vine! O let me be a branch of that vine!\nWhat poor worms are we! O dear father, how lame and halting do we go on\nin the ways of God and salvation! We know but in part, but when that\nwhich is perfect is come, then that which is imperfect shall be done\naway. O that I had attained to that now! But what are we ourselves? Not\nonly weakness and nothingness, but wickedness: for the thoughts and\nimaginations of a man's heart are only evil, and that continually. We\nare by nature children of wrath, and are conceived in sin, and born in\nunrighteousness! O this wretched and vile thing, sin! But thanks be to\nGod, who hath redeemed me from it. O Lord, take me to thyself. Behold,\ndear mother, he has prepared a place for me.\"\n\n21. \"Yea, my dear child,\" said her mother, \"He shall strengthen you with\nhis Holy Spirit until he hath fitted and prepared you fully for that\nplace which he hath provided for you.\"\n\n22. \"Yea, mother,\" replied she, \"it is said in the 84th Psalm, 'How\nlovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul doth thirst and\nlong for the courts of the Lord: one day in thy courts is better than a\nthousand: yea, I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than\ndwell in the tents of the wicked.' Read that psalm, dear mother,\nwherewith we may comfort each other. As for me, I am more and more\nspent, and draw near my last hour.\"\n\n23. Then she quoted Job's words, \"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and\nthat he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though, after\nmy skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.\"\n\n24. Then she said, \"'Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which\nall that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; those\nthat have done good unto the resurrection of life.' See, father, I shall\nrise in that day, and then I shall behold my Redeemer: then will he say,\n'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you\nfrom the beginning of the world.' Behold, now I live, yet not I, but\nChrist liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, is by\nfaith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I am\nsaved, and that not of myself, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest\nany man should boast.\"\n\n25. \"My dear parents, now we must part, my speech fails me: pray to the\nLord for a quiet close to my combat.\" Her parents replied, \"Ah, dear\nchild! how sad is that to us, that we must part?\" She answered, \"I go to\nheaven, and there we shall find one another again: I go to Jesus\nChrist.\"\n\n26. Then she comforted herself to think of her precious brother and\nsister. \"I go to my brother Jacob, who did so much cry and call upon God\nto the last moment of his breath: and to my little sister, who was but\nthree years old when she died: who, when we asked her whether she would\ndie? answered, 'Yes, if it be the Lord's will.' I will go to my little\nbrother, if it be the Lord's will, or I will stay with my mother, if it\nbe his will. But I know that I shall die and go to heaven.\"\n\n27. After this, her spirit was refreshed with a sense of the pardon of\nher sins, which made her to cry out, \"Behold, God hath washed away my\nsins, O how I do long to die! The Lord is my shepherd: although I pass\nthrough the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, for thou art\nwith me: shall I not suffer, seeing my glorious Redeemer was pleased to\nsuffer so much for me? O how was he mocked and crowned with thorns, that\nhe might purchase a crown of righteousness for us! Must I not exalt and\nbless him while I have a being, who hath bought me even with his blood!\nBehold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world! That\nLamb is Jesus Christ, who hath satisfied for my sins.\n\n28. \"My end is now very near; now I shall put on the white raiment, and\nbe clothed before the Lamb, that spotless Lamb, and with his spotless\nrighteousness. Now are the angels making ready to carry my soul before\nthe throne of God. 'These are they who have come out of great\ntribulation, who have washed their robes, and made them white in the\nblood of the Lamb.'\" She spoke this with a dying voice, but full of\nspirit and of the power of faith.\n\n29. Her lively assurance she farther uttered in the words of the\napostle, \"We know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle be\ndissolved, we have a building of God, which is eternal in the heavens;\nfor in this we sigh for our house which is in heaven; that we may be\nclothed therewith.\"\n\n30. \"There, father, you see that my body is this tabernacle, which now\nshall be broken down; my soul shall now part from it, and shall be taken\nup into paradise, into that heavenly Jerusalem. There shall I dwell and\ngo no more out, but sit and sing, Holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts,\nthe Lord of Sabaoth!\" Her last words were these: \"O Lord God, into thy\nhands I commit my spirit: O Lord, be gracious, be merciful to me a poor\nsinner.\"\n\nShe died the first of September, 1664, between seven and eight in the\nevening; in the fourteenth year of her age.\n\n\n\nTHE MERCHANT'S SON.\n\nJOHN HARVEY was born in London, in the year 1654: his father was a Dutch\nmerchant: he was piously educated under his mother, and soon began to\nhear Divine things with delight.\n\n2. The first thing observable in him was, that when he was two years and\neight months old, he could speak as well as other children do usually at\nfive years old.\n\n3. His parents, judging that he was then too young to send to school,\nlet him have his liberty to play about their yard, but instead of\nplaying, he found out a school of his own accord near home, and went to\nthe schoolmistress, and entreated her to teach him to read; and so he\nwent some time to school without the knowledge of his parents, and made\na very strange progress in his learning, and was able to read distinctly\nbefore most children knew their letters.\n\n4. He was wont to ask many serious and weighty questions about matters\nwhich concerned his soul and eternity.\n\n5. His mother being greatly troubled upon the death of one of his\nuncles, this child came to his mother and said, \"Mother, though my uncle\nbe dead, do not the Scriptures say he must rise again? Yes, and I must\ndie, and so must every body, and it will not be long before Christ will\ncome to judge the world, and then we shall see one another again: I pray\nmother, do not weep so much.\" He was not then quite five years old: by\nwhich her sorrow for her brother was turned into admiration, and she was\nmade to sit silent and quiet under that trying providence.\n\n6. After this his parents removed to Aberdeen, and settled their child\nunder a schoolmaster there, whose custom was upon the Lord's day in the\nmorning, to examine his scholars concerning the sermons they had heard\nthe former Lord's day, and to add some other questions, which might try\nthe understanding and knowledge of his scholars. The question that was\nonce proposed to his form was, whether Christ had a mother? None of the\nscholars could answer it, till it came to John Harvey, who, being asked\nwhether Christ had a mother? answered, \"No; as he was God he could not\nhave a mother; but as he was man he had.\" This was before he was six\nyears old.\n\n7. One day, seeing one of his near relations come into his father's\nhouse distempered with drink, he went to him, and wept over him, and\nbesought him that he would not so offend God, and hazard his soul.\n\n8. He was a conscientious observer of the Lord's day, spending all the\ntime either in secret prayer, reading the Scriptures and good books,\nlearning his catechism, or hearing the word of God. And he was not only\ncareful in the performance of these duties himself, but was ready to put\nall that he knew upon a strict observation of the Lord's day.\n\n9. He was very humble and modest, and hated any thing more than\nnecessaries, either in clothes or diet.\n\n10. When he perceived either his brother or sister pleased with their\nnew clothes, he would reprove their folly; and when his reproof\nsignified little, he would bewail their vanity.\n\n11. Once he had a new suit brought from the tailor's, which, when he\nlooked on, he found some ribands on the knees, at which he was grieved:\nasking his mother \"whether these things would keep him warm?\" \"No,\nchild,\" said his mother. \"Why then,\" said he, \"do you suffer them to be\nput there? You are mistaken if you think such things please me: and, I\ndoubt some that are better than us may want the money that this cost\nyou, to buy them bread.\"\n\n12. At leisure times he was talking to his school fellows about the\nthings of God, and the necessity of a holy life. That text he much spoke\non to them, \"The axe is laid to the root of the tree, and every tree\nthat bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.\"\n\n13. After this his parents removed not far from London, where he\ncontinued till the year 1665. He was then sent to the Latin school,\nwhere he soon made a very considerable progress, and was greatly beloved\nof his master. The school was his beloved place, and learning his\nrecreation.\n\n14. He had a word to say to every one that he conversed with, to put\nthem in mind of the worth of Christ and their souls; and their nearness\nto eternity: insomuch that good people took no small pleasure in his\ncompany.\n\n15. He bewailed the miserable condition of the generality of mankind,\n(when he was about ten years old,) that they were utterly estranged from\nGod. \"Though they called him Father, he said, yet they were his children\nby creation, and not by any likeness they had to God, or any interest in\nhim.\"\n\n16. Thus he continued walking in the ways of God: in reading, praying,\nhearing the word of God, and spiritual intercourse; discovering thereby\nhis serious thoughts of eternity, which seemed to swallow up all other\nthoughts; and he lived in a constant preparation for it, and looked more\nlike one that was ripe for glory than an inhabitant of this lower world.\n\n17. When he was about eleven years and nine months old his mother's\nhouse was visited with the plague; his eldest sister was the first that\nwas visited with this distemper; and when they were praying for her, he\nwould sob and weep bitterly.\n\n18. As soon as he perceived his sister was dead, he said, \"The will of\nthe Lord be done, blessed be the Lord! Dear mother, you must do as David\ndid: after the child was dead he went and refreshed himself, and quietly\nsubmitted to the will of God.\"\n\n19. The rest of the family held well for some days, which time he spent\nin preparing for death. Meantime he wrote several meditations upon\ndifferent subjects, particularly upon the excellence of Christ. He was\nnever well but when he was more immediately engaged in the service of\nGod.\n\n20. At the end of fourteen days he was taken sick, at which he seemed\nvery cheerful; though his pains were great.\n\n21. His mother, looking upon his brother, shook her head: at which he\nasked if his brother was marked with the complaint? She answered, \"Yea,\nchild.\" He asked again whether he was marked? She answered nothing.\n\"Well,\" says he, \"I know I shall be marked: I pray let me have Mr.\nBaxter's book, that I may read a little more of eternity before I go\ninto it.\" His mother told him he was not able to read. He said, \"Then\npray by me and for me.\"\n\n22. His mother asked him whether he was willing to die and leave her? He\nanswered, \"Yes. I am willing to leave you and go to my heavenly Father.\"\nShe answered, \"Child, if thou hadst but an assurance of God's love, I\nshould not be so much troubled.\" He answered, \"I am assured that my sins\nare forgiven, and that I shall go to heaven: for,\" said he, \"here stood\nan angel by me, that told me I should quickly be in glory.\"\n\n23. At this his mother burst forth into tears. \"O mother,\" said he, \"did\nyou but know what joy I feel you would not weep but rejoice. I tell you\nI am so full of comfort that I cannot tell you how I am: O mother, I\nshall presently have my head in my Father's bosom, and shall be there\nwhere the four and twenty elders cast down their crowns, and sing\nhallelujah, glory, and praise to him that sits upon the throne, and to\nthe Lamb for ever!\"\n\n24. Upon this his speech began to fail him, but his soul was still taken\nup with glory; and nothing now grieved him but the sorrow that he saw\nhis mother to be in for his death; a little to divert her he asked,\n\"What she had for supper?\" But presently, in a kind of rapture he cried,\n\"O what a sweet supper have I making ready for me in glory!\"\n\n25. But seeing all this did but increase his mother's grief, he asked\nher, \"What she meant thus to offend God? Know you not that it is the\nhand of the Almighty? 'Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God:'\nlay yourself in the dust and kiss the rod, in token of your submission\nto the will of God.\" Upon which, raising himself a little, he gave a\nlowly bow, and spake no more! but went to rest in the bosom of Jesus.\n\n\n\nPIOUS LITTLE PETER.\n\nPETER MELVILLE, from the commencement of his illness, received much\nsatisfaction from reading the Bible and other serious books; and after\nthe first month or six weeks, was not known to read any other. The short\nhistory of Jesus Christ, by Mason, afforded him great satisfaction. In\nprayer he joined most heartily, and his eyes, while his friends were\nengaged in this exercise, were always raised toward heaven. During his\npainful illness, which lasted four months, he was remarkably patient,\nand much distressed at the idea of giving trouble. From these\ncircumstances it was concluded that his mind was seriously disposed.\nFourteen days, however, before his death, being much worse and unable to\nleave his bed, his anxious parents, desirous to know his real state,\nasked him if his mind was easy? At first he appeared inclined to evade\nthe question; but the question being repeated he burst into tears and\ncried out, \"I have been a very great sinner, I do not feel a love for my\nSaviour, nor see him with an eye of faith.\" Different texts of Scripture\nwere mentioned which directed him to cast all his care on the Lord.\nThese appeared to comfort him in a degree, and he then said, \"What a\ncharming place heaven is.\" It being observed that great advantages\nfrequently resulted from a long illness, he expressed his sense of it by\nexclaiming, \"What a dreadful place must I have gone to had I been cut\noff at once.\"\n\nThe next morning he was asked if he wished to converse with a minister?\non his answering in the affirmative, the Rev. Mr. W. was requested to\nvisit him; and was the instrument, in the hands of God, of composing his\nmind. The next day he requested that Watts' Psalms and Hymns, which he\nwas very fond of reading, might be brought to him; and when his father\ncame to his bedside he pointed to the 23d psalm, and asked if it was not\na very sweet one?\n\nOn Saturday following he expressed a wish to have a Bible and prayer\nbook purchased for him, in which, together with his hymn book, he wrote\nhis name.\n\nOn Thursday, the 7th of April, being much worse, he was again asked if\nhis mind was comfortable, to which he replied, \"No; I am the greatest of\nsinners, and Satan tempts me to sin.\" Everything was said that could be\nthought of to compose him, and soon after he became more tranquil, and\nappeared delighted with the idea of heaven, requesting to have a\ndescription of that blessed place read to him. This had been done some\ntime before, and had made a lasting impression on his mind. But when he\nmade the request he added in a low voice, \"I am afraid I shall never get\nthere, because I do not love my Saviour as I ought.\" Being asked again\nhow he found his mind, he answered, \"A little better; but I wish to love\nmy Lord and Saviour; and I hope to be able to do it more and more.\"\n\nOn being reminded that it was Good Friday, he talked much of our Lord's\ngreat sufferings for his people; and while speaking of the blessed Lamb\nthat had been crucified on that day, he desired the 25th hymn of the\nthird book of Watts to be read to him.\n\n       \"All mortal vanities, begone.\"\n\nOn the evening of this day he appeared to feel much of what had been\nsaid to him by the Rev. Mr. H., who had visited him frequently.\n\nSaturday night was spent in great pain--he had but few intervals of\nease. When he was told \"such things were from the Lord,\" he replied,\n\"The Lord is good, yes, the Lord is good to them who put their trust in\nhim.\" When he expressed his gratitude to his weeping parents for their\nattention to him, and his mother had told him that it was the Lord who\nenabled them to do any thing for him, and mentioned his glorious Saviour\nas the blessed object of all his gratitude, he turned his thoughts to\nheaven and said, \"Then I hope to love him now; and what rapture will it\nafford me to meet all my dear friends with him in glory.\" He spoke for\nsome time on the subject with great energy; and on being told that he\nwould fatigue himself, he replied, \"It is not fatiguing, it is\nrapturous;\" and particularly expressed a hope that not one of his family\nwould be _wanting;_ adding, \"What a disappointment shall I feel if you\nare not there.\" He seemed much refreshed by this conversation, and went\nto sleep with a sweet smile on his countenance.\n\nIn the afternoon he was still more composed, and told his mother he\nwould talk a little; when he again dwelt most sweetly on the goodness of\nthe Lord to his soul, and the happiness of meeting his parents and\nfriends in glory. In the night, being asked if he did not love the\nsinner's friend, he replied, \"I wish to do it, and in heaven I shall do\nit more,\" adding, \"No one ever loved him one part in a thousand so much\nas they ought to do.\" He frequently prayed for patience, being subject\nto great pain. Seeing his mother weep, he asked her why she cried. She\nreplied, \"That she could not help it.\" \"I hope,\" said he, \"the Lord will\ngive you strength.\"\n\nOn the Monday, being again frequently asked if Jesus was precious, he at\ntimes nodded his head, and at others said, \"I hope he is, and that he\nwill be more so by and by.\" But soon after that he said, \"I am a great\nsinner, and am afraid I shall be disappointed in all my hopes of\nheaven.\" But being exhorted to cast all his unbelieving thoughts away,\nand put his entire trust in his blessed Redeemer, whose arms were\nunderneath him, he replied, \"Then I am safe.\" Again he thanked his\nparents for their care of him, and when it was repeated that it was all\nthe Lord's doing, \"Then,\" said he, \"you are the instruments, and what a\nblessed thing it is to have parents who guide and instruct us in the\nway;\" and added, \"O what will become of those children who idle about on\nthe Sabbath day, who swear and steal. O shocking! shocking! O what a\nblessing to have good parents.\" On requesting to see his brothers, they\ncame to him; and taking them by the hand, he asked them how they did. To\nhis little brother Henry he said, \"Be a good boy, do not run about with\nidle children, and tell Philip what I say, learn your catechism, also\nread your Bible.\" Perceiving that his eldest brother cried, he said,\n\"Why is John weeping? Weep not for me, weep for yourselves.\" \"What a\nblessed change,\" said a friend, \"will it be, from such a sick bed as\nthis to the joys of heaven!\" to which he added, \"To be in the arms of my\nRedeemer, to see him face to face, and behold his glories in heaven: O\nhow admirable! O what are the glories of an earthly kingdom when\ncompared to this: but as the drop of a bucket to the ocean; yea, no\nmortal can describe the joys of heaven.\" When he again sweetly dwelt on\nthe happiness of meeting all his friends there, \"Where,\" said he, \"we\nshall meet to part no more for ever; and there shall be no more death;\"\nwhich he twice repeated. In the night he was much buffeted by Satan.\nAbout four o'clock in the morning, he appeared to be dying, and in a low\nvoice, said, \"May you all keep the commandments, and love God evermore.\nWeep not for me, I am not worth weeping for.\" Being in an agony of pain\nhe was directed to the source of all good. Soon after he appeared\neasier, and said, \"Truly the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak,\nand if the heart is willing, never mind the voice.\" Being reminded of\nthe joy he would feel at hearing his Lord say, \"Well done, good and\nfaithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;\" he exclaimed,\n\"Amen, so be it,\" and spoke no more. \"Great are the troubles of the\nrighteous, but the Lord delivereth out of them all,\" was the last text\nrepeated to him, to which he nodded his head, and then calmly fell\nasleep in Jesus, aged twelve years and three months.\n\n     Farewell, dear babe, with all thy sacred store,\n     In triumph landed on the heavenly shore;\n     Sure nature form'd thee in her softest mould,\n     And grace, from nature's dross, refund the gold.\n\n\n\nTHE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER.\n\nELIZABETH W. ORCHARD was born March 6, 1795, at Melksham, in Wiltshire;\nand from an early age was very dutiful to her parents, and much attached\nto her school and books. In 1802 her father removed from Newport, in the\nIsle of Wight, to Bath; where he and his family attended the Rev. Mr.\nJ.'s chapel. Soon after their arrival at Bath, Elizabeth and William her\nbrother were admitted into the Sunday school belonging to Argyle chapel;\nfrom the time of Elizabeth's admittance, she seemed to read her books\nwith understanding and profit; and during the week, it was always her\nstudy to get her task by heart against the returning Sabbath. Her\npartiality for her teachers was great: especially for Miss S., whom,\nwhen she was taken ill, she longed to see. The tickets that were given\nto her in the school, as tokens for good, she valued much; and expressed\na wish to return them, that she might obtain a hymn book, the reward she\nwas entitled to. A shilling that was given to her by the committee at\nChristmas, for learning her book, with one that she had borrowed of her\nbrother, she laid out in the purchase of a Testament; which she\npreserved with great care till her departure.\n\nDuring her illness, Elizabeth often reproved her brother and sister,\nsaying, \"If you are not better you will certainly go to a place of\nmisery.\" On every occasion she discovered a great love to prayer; and\nwhen by weakness she was prevented from going to chapel, she learned her\ntasks; and what she did learn and hear, was, by a Divine blessing,\ndeeply impressed on her mind.\n\nFor the last five weeks before her death, she was not in the least\nterrified at her approaching dissolution; but conversed with pleasure on\nher departure. Her father asked her one day, when in great pain, whether\nshe loved the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? to which she answered,\n\"Yes, I do, and I shall soon be with him in glory.\" Mr. B., one of the\nteachers of the school, called to see her; and after conversing with her\nsome time, asked her, \"If she should like to go to heaven?\" to which she\nanswered, \"Yes.\"\n\nOn April the 24th, when in great pain, on viewing her hands, she said,\n\"O father! the blood ran from the hands of Jesus Christ when he was\nnailed to the cross, and that was done by wicked men, but I shall go and\nsee him in heaven.\" At another time, when her parents, talking of the\nsufferings of Christ, said that he died to save good children, and would\ntake them to sit with him on his throne for ever, and would give them\ncrowns of glory. To which she answered, \"It seems, father, as if I could\nsee him.\" On the same day she said, \"I do hope when my body dies, that\nGod will receive my soul to heaven.\" After this she related to her\nparents the account of the rich man in the Gospel; observing that he was\ntormented in hell, and could not so much as obtain a drop of water to\ncool his burning tongue, while poor Lazarus was carried to Abraham's\nbosom, where he was crowned with happiness.\n\nShe was visited by her much beloved teacher Miss S., whom she had long\nwished to see; and to whom, with the rest of the teachers of the school,\nher parents say they shall be always thankful for the good instruction\nthey gave their dear departed child; and hope that the committee and\nteachers of the school at Argyle chapel, and of every other similar\nschool, will be encouraged by this instance of the good effects of\nreligious advice in a child only nine years old, to go forward in their\nendeavours to bring young sinners to Christ. She was much struck with a\npassage of Scripture in Revelation, that Mr. J. preached from: \"They\nshall be clothed in white.\" \"O,\" said Elizabeth, \"I expect to be clothed\nin white too.\" And as her mother was sitting by her bedside reading, she\nsaid, \"If God will let me, I will keep places for you who may be left\nbehind.\" Her brother she advised not to play so much, but to be a good\nboy, mind his book and school, and pray to God to make him truly\nreligious; or he would go to a place of misery after death. Being told\nthat she was very ill, she replied, \"I must bear it with patience:\"\nthough, in fact, she longed to be gone. When she was very weak, and\ndeath stared in her face, her parents carried her from one room to\nanother; but in no place could she find ease. She, however, contemplated\nwith satisfaction the day when she should eat of the tree of life that\ngrows in the midst of the paradise of God; \"There,\" said Elizabeth, \"I\nshall never thirst, nor never sin, but behold the Lamb, who will lead me\nto fountains of living water.\" After lying one day in a doze, she opened\nher eyes and said, \"Mother, I have seen an angel.\" Her mother asked her\nwhere? She pointed to the place where she dreamed that she saw him. And,\nbeing asked if she should like to go with him, she answered, \"Yes.\"\n\n     \"There I shall see his face,\n          And never, never sin;\n     There from the rivers of his grace\n          Drink endless pleasures in.\"\n\nHer parents now hung mournfully around her bed, and concluded that the\nLord was going to release her. They saw clearly that she could not\nsurvive long. Being raised up on the following Sabbath in bed, by\npillows, and seeing the children in the street at play, she observed to\nthem about her how improper it was that they should profane the Sabbath,\nand that they ought to be at chapel, and that God would be very angry\nwith them. Her father had some time before carried her out for the\nbenefit of the air, daily. And being out with her the Sabbath before her\ndeparture, she pressed him to carry her to chapel; which he did, but was\nsoon obliged to return with her, when she exclaimed, \"Farewell, chapel;\nfarewell, Mr. J.; farewell, my beloved teachers; farewell, my dear\nschoolfellows;\" and soon after she said, \"Farewell, brother and sister;\nfarewell, father and mother. I charge you all to meet me in heaven, that\nwe may spend an eternity of happiness together there.\" And on the 27th\nof May, 1804, after a few struggles, the feeble springs of life stood\nstill, and her happy spirit took its flight to the paradise of God.\n\n\n\nBOOKS FOR SUNDAY SCHOOLS.\n---\n200 Mulberry-street, New York.\n-----\nIDLE DICK AND POOR WATCHMAKER.\nOriginally written in French, by Rev. CESAR MALAN, of Geneva. With\nIllustrations. 18mo., pp. 82. Price, 15 cents.\n\nMOUNTAINS OF THE PENTATEUCH.\nConversations on the Mountains of the Pentateuch, and the Scenes and\nCircumstances connected with them in Holy Writ. 18mo., pp. 202. Price,\n23 cents.\n\nLIFE OF JOHN BUNYAN,\nAuthor of the Pilgrim's Progress. By STEPHEN B. WICKENS. Six\nIllustrations. 18mo., pp. 336. Price, 31 cents.\n\nTHE TWO DOVES:\nOr, Memoirs of Margaret and Anna Dove, late of Leeds, England. By PETER\nM'OWAN. 18mo., pp. 88. Price, 17 cents.\n\nTHE MOTHERLESS FAMILY.\nTwo Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 96. Price, 17 cents.\n\nTHOMAS HAWKEY TREFFREY.\nParental Portraiture of Thomas Hawkey Treffry, who died at Falmouth.\nApril 19, 1821, aged eighteen years. By Rev. RICHARD TREFFRY. 18mo., pp.\n171. Price, 21 cents.\n\nUNCLE WILLIAM AND HIS NEPHEWS.\nNine Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 61. Price, 16 cents.\n\nMY GRANDFATHER GREGORY.\nWith Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 116. Price, 18 cents.\n\nMY GRANDMAMMA GILBERT.\nBy the Author of \"My Grandfather Gregory.\" Illustrated. 18mo., pp. 139.\nPrice, 20 cents.\n\nTHE CONVERTED JEWESS:\nA Memoir of Maria ------. 18mo., pp. 107. Price, 18 cents.\n\nNO KING IN ISRAEL;\nOr, The Importance of Discipline. By a Sabbath-School Teacher. 18mo.,\npp. 54. Price, 14 cents.\n\nTHE JEW AMONG ALL NATIONS.\nEight Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 178. Price, 22 cents.\n\nTHE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN\nAmong Children; or, Twenty-five Narratives of a Religious Awakening in a\nSchool in Pomerania. From the German, by CHARLOTTE CLARKE. 18mo., pp.\n104. Price, 18 cents.\n\nTHE FEATHER AND SONG BIRD.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 72. Price, 14 cents.\n\nTHE NEST AND EGG.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 75. Price, 16 cents.\n\nTHE ANIMALCULE AND GALL INSECT.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 76. Price, 14 cents.\n\nTHE ANT AND SPIDER.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 76. Price, 16 cents.\n\nTHE FLY AND HONEY BEE.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 81. Price, 15 cents.\n\nTHE FLOWER AND FRUIT.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 77. Price, 16 cents.\n\nTHE SEED AND GRASS.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 107. Price, 18 cents.\n\nTHE TONGUE AND EAR.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 93. Price, 17 cents.\n\nTHE EYE.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 88. Price, 17 cents.\n\nTHE HAND.\nIllustrated. 18mo., pp. 96. Price, 17 cents.","title":"Stories of Boys and Girls Who Loved the Saviour: A Token for Children","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":14345}