The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-05-13
BRANDON, Thursday May 10, 1917.

= 1t will be some relief to the anguish whic
has taken hold of many stricken heart, t
know that he was visited in his last sickness
by minister Of the Gospel, to whom h
made n free confession Of his wanderings
and from whom he sought direction anC
counsel in the hour Of his dread extremity
The Rev Mr. Hogc pastor Of Prosbyte
rian church in Richmond, writes that being
called to sec stranger in the " lnfrmary,'
he was struck at once with his aspect Of in
tellgcnce, and genteel department.. lie
commenced instruction, but soon perceived
that the stranger knew the whole Of it-and
therefore paused.
The sick man perceived his embarrassment
and proceeded at once to disclose his name
and history, d" with evident indications of the
of self-posscssion which appeared astonish-
ing" lie said, " he had wandered far, very
far from GOD and continued to wander, till
want Sickness and suffering drove him baci,
to the Saviour. He Mough he trusted in
Christie belicred he had true sorrow for
sin-but he did not feel the joys Of Chris
tan.
Poor man How could he expect the joys
Of the Christian, after wallowing in sin,as he
had done, for more than two years? What
a mercy that lie was not left in utter despair
How fearfully must such a man look out on
the opening scenes Of eternity. How wildly
must thc rccollcctions Of what he used TO
preach and write, about the fallacy Of a
death-bed repentance, have come over his
soul at this trying hour How fully he re-
allied in his own experience, the truth Of
what he used to preach to others with SO much
force,
Tie ,cay Of tie trGa&yressor is hard.
Mr. Hoge writes further, that as Mr. j, had
many things to say in order to give a full
view of his case, and as the efforts toconycrse
was becoming quite painful, it was agrecd
that Mr. il. should call the nexy day at 10
o'clock AT the hour appointed he went, but
the poor man vas gone! lie had died I'M
cSpectedly to lis physician, about l o'clock
that morning.
The Sons Of Temperance attended his fl-
neral, and MIR Hoge preached u sermon, Civ
ing the people only part of the dreadful his
tory, (for he doubted whether the whole
could be true,) and drawing from this warn
ing, which must have been felt even by that
company Of strangers.
May VIC not hope that those who llnew,and
admired, and loved the man, in the days Of
his prosperity, will derive from his case a
warning, which shall never be forgoten?-
The history of the fail Of N .EJohnson abound3
with instruction The son of a Connecticut
pastor, he was trained in the school of the
Purtans. Early converted to God, as lie
and others supposed, he solcmnly consecra-
ted his noble talents to the service of God,
in the work Of the Christian ministry, p
of minister without Il stain on lis character,
or q breath Of suspicion to mar lis rising
fame.
lie was conscious too conscious, it is to be
feared, of the estimation in which he wee hold
and felt himself strong in the affections and
confidence Of the Christian community. He
was bold, and even reckless in the pursuit. Of
his schemes Of action. Tie thought that such
q man as he might walk in safety, where 9th
ers would be in danger Of falling Heundcr-
took to explore the depths of iniquity in our
great and guilty metropolis. lie dared to
crafty his curiosity at the expense Of Chris
tian prudence. lie dared to try The effect OF
the Intoxicating bowl on his own system
though he earnestly advised others not to touch
It. lie trusted that he had strength to walk
in safety On the very verge of that precipice
where he knew that thousands had attempted
to walk before hin, and fallen to rise no more
He trusted his own hcart-fool that he was
-and fell like other men, and went down to
the lowest depths Of infamy Deposed from
the ministry and cXcommunicated from the
church--yct kindly received by the friends
and Christian compassion drew around him
he made an effort to recover himself, but
in vain.
The Philistincs we're upon him, and he
shook himself only to feel tic power Of these
chains, with which they had bound him, and
were dragging him 10 the prison Of despair
Again and again he made The attempt to
break his futtcrs and be q man, but the
spell OF the destroyer was Upon him, and
there seemed no hope in lis case. His best
friends became disheartcned, and even the
wife of his bosom ceased to regard his rcf)r~
nation as an event TO be expected. He be-
came fugitive and a yagabond in the
earth" and wandered far away from the home
of his. childhood, and the scenes OF his better
days. What he did, what he felt, what lie
suffered, during these long, dreary months
of his exile, he had no opportunity to tell
His strength was wasted, his energies were
gone. The destroyer had done his work
he had only one brief opportunity to converse |
and pray with a Christian mnistcr--and tlen
he was hurried away to he bar Cod There
we leave him without one word of conjecture
as to his final reward.
But We may with proprcty speak to the
living, and ask them to look on thatpoor, wan
dering, dying outcast---and take warming
See, what 5orccl. sin has made of that fine
foru--of that noble mind--of all the bright
prospects which once glittcrcd in his path.
Conceive, if yoa can, Of. his agony Of spirit,
as he lay down to die in the land of stran-
gers, and thought Of what he was, and 'cAere
he ,ras going. Think Of that precipicc down
which he SO looIshly plunged himself, by
dallying with temptation; whilst he trusted
to his own strength 10 steady him On that
giddy height. Think how he has been pur-
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