The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1881-04-06

teries Of Him whose ways are past
finding out. Blessed be God, His
ways are higher and better than
ours. Very few Of the martyrs
endured more physical agonies
none Of them were sustained with
more abundant effus;ons Of divine
grace. A painful disease required
a surgical operation, the anguish
Of the disease being intolerable,
and the operation promising re
lief if the sufferer survived. When
his hour drew nigh, he said:
IL can, and do trust God who
has always been Father to me.
Yes, | will trust him though he
! slay me. And has not Jesus
Christ given me many tokens Of
bis love for more than sixty years,
and allowed me 10 preach his
Gospel more than ffty.four years,
and shall | net look to him? |
think, too, the BLESSED Comforter
will be with me Il the end. He
has often made my heart leap for
joy and sing praises. believe in
God. the Father Almi yhty, Maker
Of Heaven and E: rth, and in
Jesus Christ, His So, | believe
in the Holy Ghost"
When the operation vas over
and the symptoms were recome
unfavorable for his recovery, ha in
sisted that he had done his whole
duty and the issue was altogether
with God. He declared with grea,
emphasis
Jesus Christ has most lovingly
Gied for me, and brought in
glorious and everlasting right.
eousness, which is infinitely we'll
pleasing in his Fathers sight
trust him-I trust him only
trust him altogetber-I trust him
forever. I wanted to give my
testimony that the Gospel l have
preached for so many years has
not failed me in my hour of need.
I did not want to die without Civ
ing my testimony on this bed that
God is a faithful God"
So the days and nights passed
YEARLY on, how YEARLY to him
none can ever know. 81 change
the place and keep the pain y ''In.
supportable agony; I am in a
fame-on fire )" "Quousque Do
mine2 Quousque Don'ine!" (How
long, o Lord p again and again.
He said Il know now what
the martyrs felt when tied to the
stake as witnesses for the truth.
If | were lying here by the hands
of men, | could not have clearer
views of truth. and of the all-suffi
cheney of our. blessed religion-l
am testing it as really as if bound
at the stake"
His mind often wandered and
awake or asleep bis ruling pas,
sion was strong in death, to
preach the word, to speak TO bis
fellow-mon. One who was with
him in these hours writes 10 me
this incident:
:In the middle of the night,
when the watchers beside him
thought him asleep, he sud
denly made in his clearest voice
great speech, beginning, 'Friends
and fellow -citizens.' II was pa.
triotic, fervid and eloquent. He
closed by saying, "sureIy, gen
tlemen, | have said enough; if my
friend, DR.. Prime'-then raising
bis hand, be beckoned and called
Prime On opening his eyes be
saw where be was, and relapsed
into silence"
No one but myself can explai \
the psychological fact: to me it is
inexpressibly sweet to know that
even in his sleep or deirium, lying
in q distant city, be should speak
of me as his friend and call out
to me at the close ola public ad-
dress. But the mind flies from
ono scene TO another with map
preciable rapidity: he was not
preaching, but when he came to
the close Of his speech, be thought
Of prayer as following preaching,
and instantly did what be had
once done years ago. 1t was in a
Western city. One Sabbath morn
ing he was preaching to an au-
dience filling the church, pews,
aisIes, every inch Of space was
packed full. The sermon was SOL
emn: the stiffness was painful
the closing passages were wonder
fully dramatic and impressive. l