Part 2 (2/2)
What then? They are since gone to another world. The magic of the words, ”my property,” ”an independent fortune,” has been dispelled; and that for which they toiled, and in which they gloried, has since pa.s.sed into a hundred hands; the illusion is vanished, and unless they made their peace with G.o.d through the blood of the cross, they left this world, and alas, found no heaven before them. But amidst apparent affliction and outward distress, G.o.d was preparing the heart of this widow, by the discipline of his covenant, for future usefulness--to be a blessing, probably to thousands of her race, and to enter finally on that ”rest which remaineth for the people of G.o.d.”
Her temporal support was not, in her esteem, ”an independent fortune,” but a life of dependence on the care of her heavenly Father: she had more delight in suffering and doing his will, than in all riches. ”The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” To those who walk with G.o.d, he will show the way in which they should go, and their experience will a.s.sure them that he directs their paths. ”Bread shall be given them, and their water shall be sure.” She pa.s.sed through many trials of a temporal nature, but she was comforted of her G.o.d through them all; and at last was put in possession of an eternal treasure in heaven, ”where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.” May this contrast be solemnly examined, and the example of this child of G.o.d made a blessing to many.
In antic.i.p.ation of her approaching trial, with which her own life might be suddenly terminated, Mrs. Graham _set her house in order_, and wrote the two following letters: one to her friend Mrs.
Grandidier, to whom and her husband Capt. Grandidier, she committed the charge of her family and affairs; the other to her father in Scotland, commending her children to his protection. Her tender and affectionate appeals to each of them in respect to their own eternal welfare, are a beautiful specimen of that Christian fidelity and love of the souls of men which so strongly characterized her future life.
”ST. JOHNS, Antigua, 1774.
”MY DEAR MRS. GRANDIDIER--The long and steady friends.h.i.+p which has subsisted between us, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, ever the same, without change or diminution, leaves me no room to doubt that it will extend to my little family, and that you will be as ready, to the utmost of your power, to befriend them, as you have been to the dear father already gone, and your friend, who is, perhaps, about to follow.
”If it should please G.o.d to take me away in my approaching confinement, I leave you and Capt. Grandidier full power to dispose of every thing in this house, and belonging to me in this island, as you shall think most for the advantage of my little family. You know my extreme tenderness for their dear father made me unable to part with any of his clothes, but these can be of no consequence to me when I shall again have joined him for whose sake I kept them; you may therefore dispose of them, and also of my own, if you think the avails will be of more service to the children. But I do not choose to leave any particular directions about my trifling effects; you will consult with other friends, and I am certain you will act for them to the best of your judgment. It is a great relief to my mind that I have such steady and tried friends to leave the charge of them upon. Miss G. B---- has promised to take J----, and it is my desire that the others, and the infant yet unborn, if it survive, be sent to my father, where I will leave them to be disposed of and provided for by that G.o.d who has fed me all my life, by their heavenly Father, who has commanded me to leave my fatherless children upon him, that he will preserve them alive, and whose promise I have, that he will never leave them nor forsake them.
”Mr. Reid will not be less kind to the offspring of his friend when they have lost, than when they were under a mother's protection.
May the blessing of the widow and the fatherless follow him wherever he goes, and may G.o.d recompense him a thousand-fold in blessings spiritual and temporal. Let Diana* be sent with my children; if there be an infant, you know a nurse must be found for it, whatever it cost. As for Susan,* I am at a loss what to do with her; my heart tells me I have no right to entail slavery upon her and her offspring; I know I shall be blamed, but I am about to be called to account by a higher power than any in this world for my conduct, and I dare not allow her to be sold. I therefore leave it to herself either to remain here, or if it be her desire, to accompany the children. I beg Mr.
Reid will be kind enough to allow her a pa.s.sage with the rest.
*The two Indian girls.
”And now, my dear friend, as the greatest happiness I can wish you, may that G.o.d whom I have chosen as my own portion, be yours also; may he, by his outward providence and by the inward operations of his Spirit on your heart, lead you to himself and convince you of the truth. But O, my dear friend, shut not your eyes and ears against conviction. You are not satisfied that the Bible is indeed the word of G.o.d. Is it not worth inquiring into? What would you think of a man who had a large fortune, and the whole depending on proving some certain facts, and yet would not be at the pains to inform himself? Are the interests of this world of such importance, which in a few fleeting years we must leave and have done with for ever, and our final state in the next, which is to fix us in happiness or misery through the endless days of eternity, not worth a thought? Think then, and seriously ask, 'What if it be so? What if this be indeed the word of G.o.d given by inspiration, for the rule of both our faith and manners, and by which we are to be judged? What if this same G.o.d, who so kindly reveals his will to men, has with it given the clearest evidences and strongest proofs that it is his own word?' Think, I say, my dear friend, if it should be so, what they deserve who either reject or neglect it without taking the trouble to inform themselves, or to be convinced that it either is or is not of divine authority.
”How many great, learned, and wise men have sifted these evidences with the greatest care, and the deeper they entered into the search, the more clear they appeared, even those whose lives are entirely contrary to it, and whose interest it is to wish it false, cannot deny. As to the various explanations of it, it is every one's duty to read for himself, and although there may be some parts of it too deep for every capacity, and which may perhaps require a knowledge of the history of the times to understand, yet the simple truths of the gospel, what we are to believe concerning G.o.d, and what duties he requires of us, and what he forbids, are equally plain and easy. If we can only once be satisfied that it is indeed the word of G.o.d, set ourselves to study it with an unprejudiced mind, with a sincere desire to know the truth and be led by it, with earnest prayer that the same Spirit which inspired the writers would make it plain to our hearts and understandings, that G.o.d himself would teach us its true meaning, and save us from error, we shall, I venture to say, be taught all necessary knowledge, and be led in the way to eternal life, and not suffered to err: we have G.o.d's promise that it shall be so. 'If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of G.o.d.'
”Forgive me, my dear friend; the subject appears to me so important that I know not how to have done. I love you with a true and sincere friends.h.i.+p: I love your soul, and am deeply interested in its eternal happiness. Once more I commit you to that G.o.d, who only can lead you to himself and to true happiness; and that you may know the truth of this from deep experience, to the eternal joy, peace, and safety of your immortal soul, is the last prayer of your affectionate friend, who hopes to meet and rejoice with you in our Redeemer's kingdom.
”ISABELLA GRAHAM.”
Mrs. Graham to her Father.
”ANTIGUA, May, 1774.
”MY EVER-DEAR FATHER--If this ever reach you, it will be when I have taken my final leave of this world, and received my portion for eternity in the next, when I hope I shall have gained the summit of my wishes, and be happy in the society of my dear husband and much-loved mother, in the kingdom of our Redeemer.
”My truly orphan children I have desired to be sent to you; though I see no visible way you have to provide for them, yet I am perfectly easy concerning them. I leave them upon that G.o.d who has fed me all my life, and whose tender care I have experienced in a thousand dangers--upon their and my heavenly Father, who has commanded me to leave my fatherless children upon him, and he will preserve them alive. The G.o.d of providence will prepare for them a home, and raise up friends, perhaps from a quarter neither you nor I could expect.
”My only concern and prayer to G.o.d for them is, that they may be early taught to love G.o.d and serve him--that they may fall into such hands as will carefully instruct them in the principles of morality and religion, and teach them the great, but too little thought of truth, that our chief business in life is to prepare for death. As to the polite parts of education, I look upon them as of no consequence; they may be as good Christians, perhaps better, without than with them; the perfection of their nature no way depends upon them. I am equally indifferent what station of life they may occupy, whether they swim in affluence or earn their daily bread, if they only act their part properly, and obtain the approbation of their G.o.d in that station wherein he in his infinite wisdom sees fit to place them.
”Remember to give my love to all my dear children. I reckon all that sprung from my dear doctor mine; and though I did not suffer a mother's pangs for them, Heaven knows how equally I love them with those who cost me dearer. Tell them I leave them a mother's blessing; and my last prayers, if it please G.o.d to continue my senses, shall be for their best interests.
”And now, my dear father, suffer one parting word, though from one no way ent.i.tled to advise: this is the third loud call for you to be also ready; according to the course of nature, you must very shortly follow; you can have very little more to do in this world, and therefore the smallest share of your attention is due to it. The young, the gay, the giddy, and thoughtless hold it a wise maxim to forget their departed friends as soon as possible; this may be worldly, but it cannot be heavenly wisdom. To be fully and entirely resigned to the will of G.o.d in all things, is certainly the characteristic of a Christian; but this is perfectly consistent with the most tender remembrance. That resignation--but indeed it deserves not the name--which consists in forgetfulness, in banis.h.i.+ng thought and drowning reflection in worldly cares and amus.e.m.e.nts, can be no grateful offering to Him who has commanded us to have our loins girt and our lamps trimmed, and to be always ready, for in such an hour as we think not 'the Son of man cometh.' How often are we commanded to watch, to set our affections on things above, to be dead to the world, to lay up treasure for ourselves in heaven. These injunctions are inconsistent with forgetfulness; and if it be our duty to meditate on death and eternity, nothing more naturally leads our minds to that subject than the recollection of departed friends, who, if pious, are not lost, but only gone a little while before, taken from our earthly and added to our heavenly treasure.
”Believe me, my dear father, to a mind abstracted from the world and devoted to G.o.d, death, though solemn, has nothing dreadful in it; on the contrary, to a mind rightly disposed it is rather a desirable object. Just conceptions of G.o.d, and converse with him, will very soon change the aspect of the king of terrors to a welcome messenger, who comes to set open the gates of immortality, and to usher us into the kingdom of our heavenly Father. And now may our most gracious G.o.d grant you, through your few remaining days, his direction and consolation; may he bestow upon you that peace which the world can neither give nor take away; and when the appointed time of your change shall come, may the comforts of his Holy Spirit so cheer and refresh your soul, that you may be able, without a doubt or a fear, to resign it into the hands of your Redeemer.
”Give my love to Hugh. The sentiments expressed in his letters bespeak him a worthy brother, and deserving of my highest esteem. I would have written to him, but I have still some directions to commit to writing concerning my little family, and my hour is at hand; but tell him I will remember him in my last prayers. I charge him not to banish the idea of his worthy and now glorified mother, lest with that he also forget her precepts; but prepare to meet us who are gone before; and O, that our meeting may be with joy on both sides. It is hard for youth, in the present age, to follow our Christian pattern.
Every real Christian, every Bible Christian, must lay his account with being branded with the name of enthusiast; but tell him to remember that the opinion of the world cannot alter the nature of holiness, nor the maxims of Christ. Let him read, think, and judge for himself with an unprejudiced mind; with a hearty desire to know and be led by the truth; to be taught of G.o.d, and conformed to his will in all things, and I venture to promise he will not be suffered to err. But let him avoid disputes about religion, they are seldom productive of any good; let him fortify his mind against banter and ridicule, it is no small degree of persecution. Yet, if he be determined to follow his Lord, he must expect to meet with it, and I know from experience it is hard to bear. I have found the safest way is to receive it in silence; for those who are disposed to ridicule the appearance of religion in another, are not in a fit disposition to be convinced by any argument, at least at that time, and few can dispute without heat, which is a transgression against the virtue of meekness, and very apt to lessen our love to the person who opposes us. We lose the spirit of brotherly love in hot-headed zeal, which perhaps deserves a harder name, but conceals itself under that appearance; and it is no small victory gained over ourselves if we are able to love, wish well to, and be ready to serve those whose sentiments differ from ours.
”I leave you and yours, and mine, upon the Fountain of all goodness, and may the peace of G.o.d, which pa.s.seth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of G.o.d, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of G.o.d Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be among you, and remain with you always. Amen.
”Your ever dutiful and affectionate daughter,
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