And now they range the heavenly plains, And sing his love in melting strains; Or, overwhelm’d with rapture sweet, Sink down adoring at his feet.
I come now to speak of the closing scene of my much-loved son. On this subject I want much fortitude and power from on high, to sustain my deeply affected heart. None but God knows the strange mixture of my feelings, grief and gratitude, sorrow and wonder. I have not room here to enlarge on the subject of nature and affection, and the feelings these ties inspire in the loss of one so dear to my heart. Cruel memory recals to mind a thousand endearments, in such departed worth, but I fall at the footstool of divine mercy, and bless the God of all grace, that I am not sorrowing as one without hope. Many whom I am now addressing, knew him well, and all who knew him loved him. He was beloved of his God—blest from infancy with peculiar powers, which no doubt would have shown brightly in life, had he been spared. But though the subject of deep affliction, yet grace shone in his mind, and its radiance was sweetly emitted to an eminent manner, as his afflictions abounded. He was the last son of his dear mother, who is in glory; and being favored at his birth with a peculiar answer to prayer, I adopted the method of ancient believers, on extraordinary occasions, and called him Samuel, _heard of God_! and so he proved to be. About six years ago, he broke his leg, which afterwards produced great weakness through the fright; the pain, and long confinement. This had a serious effect upon his whole mass of blood, which afterwards shewed itself in several abscesses. These baffled all the skill of medicine, and though well attended by medical persons, and most tenderly and carefully nursed, and watched by day and by night, yet God had determined to bring him to glory, at nearly twelve years of age, nor can I wish him back again.
To be with dire afflictions tost and tore, The suffering little boy he was before!
But during the last months he was with his kind affectionate, attentive Aunt and Uncle, who have been long in the ways of God, and have had a most clear and blessed experience of grace and truth themselves, they were often highly delighted to see the work of grace so eminently displayed in their dear little suffering nephew. Many precious things he said to me, but as a father, perhaps it might be attributed to weakness, or an inordinate affection for a son, if I made any remarks. ’Tis however very pleasing to me that his dear Aunt was enabled to seize a few opportunities, secretly, to pen down some of those words which fell from him at times. A few only, can be asserted here, but which plainly indicates the work of grace upon his heart, by the confession of his lips, and sweetly proving, that out of the mouth of this dear child God had ordained his own glory.
