A FEW REMINISCENCES IN THE LIFE OF "The memory of the just is blessed." "When shall the day, dear Lord, appear, That I shall mount to dwell above, And stand and bow amongst them there, And see thy face, and sing, and love?" Yes, I shall be satisfied when I awake up in thy likeness. Thus the believer in Jesus, by precious experience, is often enabled to set to his seal that the Word of God is true; he feels, indeed, being the case, it does appear strange that so that the memory of the just is blessed: this few find a place in the history of our churches, or in our general biography. and verily it was returned a hundredfold into their own bosom, for, out of nine children with which they were blessed, they lived to see eight of them walking in the ordinances and statutes of the Lord's house, a blessing of no small magnitude for God-fearing parents to enjoy. Although often surrounded by adverse scenes, and the difficulties necessarily attendant upon the bringing up of so large a family, they for many years maintained an honourable position at Gidding; and, by a life and conversation becoming the Gospel, were living epistles of the grace of God. After fighting the good fight of faith, they were both enabled by grace to finish their course with joy. Mrs. Lettice sweetly fell asleep in Jesus about the year 1820, shortly after repeating that beautiful stanza of dear Watts,"When I appear in yonder cloud, WHATEVER the Word of God has declared, is fact without controversy -is gold without alloy-is pure without the least contamination-is real without anything approximating to counterfeit, and is perfection of memoir, was born at Great Gidding, on the Mr. Joseph Lettice, the subject of this truth in all its parts and bearings, without 31st of August, 1786. any admixture of error, and an authenticity Mary Lettice, who have long ago rested His parents, John and that cannot be parleyed or trifled with. from their labours, for many years were a Ther here is a fact stated, and we know it principal support to the Particular Baptist to be such, because we find it in God's Word. interest there; and, holding a farm at Gidding, The memory of the just is blessed. pre-eminently true concerning our most the building of the chapel, which was erected This is greatly assisted, by cartage and otherwise, in glorious Christ, who is the Just One; but it is in the year 1790. Being both members of the also true concerning his members, and more Church, they generally entertained the miespecially so of those who have lived in, and nisters who came amongst them as strangers, been favoured with some more than ordi- and truly it might be said of them, that they nary manifestations of the divine presence."honoured the Lord with their substance;" How many of God's dear children are there who can testify to this truth in their experience, while hearing, or reading, or thinking over the life of some one or other of God's family!-how sweet to trace a work of grace in its first beginnings, or in its maturer development!-how precious to discern in the life of the Christian the portraiture of his divine Master!- and whether we follow him amidst the various trials connected with his private life, or in the world, to be able to say of him, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." We trace the character of such an one with sweetness and pleasure which the tongue fails to set forth, or the pen to portray; we are, as it were, caught up to the third heaven with him, and with him sit in the heavenly places; we see the end of his trials and afflictions, and could wish that ours were ended also;-yes, verily, the memory of the just is blessed; it conveys a sweetness to the soul we cannot describe; we feel a union to the departed one that is stronger than death, and which the grave cannot separate; and we accompany the disembodied spirit to the regions of everlasting day, behold him casting his crown at Jesus' feet, and would fain cast ours there also, but we feel that a veil of mortality still hangs between us; and in such hallowed seasons we earnestly long for evening to undress, that we, too, may rest with God," and join with the departed saint in that glorious song in which all the ransomed unite, "Unto him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, amen." It is then we breathe out the fervent desire of the poet With all the favoured throng, Mr. Lettice survived his beloved partner Thus much for the parents: and it is no small mercy to have God-fearing parents, who in secret wrestle with fervent cries to God on the behalf of their offspring; nor shall such petitions or earnest supplications be in vain when offered up in accordance with the will of heaven: when the Holy Spirit enables us with fervent entreaty to wrestle for the blessing, we may rest assured that that God, who has enabled us thus to plead, will assuredly grant us the mercy we seek. "If ye ask anything," said our dear Lord, “in my name, it shall be done unto you of my Father | God, whose walk and conversation fully bore which is in heaven." Here is surely encourage- witness to the profession he made, he was ment enough for praying parents still to go frequently entrusted with the charge of the on, though their hearts may be pierced with sons of ministers; and who can calculate the many a barbed arrow from the untoward advantage or benefit which many of them conduct of a thankless child: yet wrestle on, have derived from his walk, his counsels, or his do not despair, our God will answer fervent prayers? as it was his constant practice, mornprayer. Although the subject of this memoir ing and evening, to bow with them before the was the subject of many prayers (no doubt throne of the heavenly grace. even before he came into the world), still the preceding remarks need not have been made in reference to him, as very early in life it pleased the Lord to call him by the drawings of his love; in fact, we have no means of ascertaining the particular means made use of to bring him to a knowledge of himself as a sinner before God, and Jesus Christ as a Saviour; it might have been a severe affliction which he was called to pass through: when only about nine years old he suffered very much from a diseased knee, which terminated in the loss of his leg by amputation, and so acute and sharp were his sufferings from the intense pain in the diseased limb, that he is said to have smiled when the surgeons entered the room for the purpose of removing it. After this severe trial his father determined to make him a proficient in learning, so that he might be enabled to earn a respectable livelihood without manual labour, for which he would now be incompetent. In 1817 he publicly put on Christ by passing through the baptismal waters; and in 1823 was chosen to the office of deacon, which he honourably filled, with benefit to the church, and a blessing to many of its members until the year 1846-the time of his leaving Oundle. I am sorry that I am debarred from quoting largely from his memoranda and letters, for, as his life generally breathed a sweet spirit of devotion, I feel assured these would be perused with much interest and profit; indeed, the seed of eternal life which he was the honoured instrument. under God of sowing in the heart of his brother, he was enabled under the divine blessing to water abundantly by his letters and conversation. Robert has been heard to say many times, that the letters of his dear brother Joseph have been most precious to his soul, and that he derived more benefit from them generally than he did from sermons. He was very useful to the cause at Soon after this period this young disciple- Oundle, honourable in the position in which earnest in his Master's cause, and especially God had placed him, and prosperous in his solicitous, if it were the will of heaven, for worldly calling. With a dear wife and small the eternal salvation of those who were con- family, of one son and two daughters, he connected with him in the ties of brotherhood-tinued to pursue the "even tenor of his way," while in company with an elder brother one day, proposed that they should spend a few minutes in prayer together, and from that few minutes that elder brother dated the commencement of his spiritual life; this brother, whose name was Robert, was through rich grace enabled many years to show forth the praises of Him who had called him out of darkness into his marvellous light. He resided at Warmington, and on a Lord's day morning might constantly be seen labouring (not for that meat which perisheth, but) for that meat that endureth unto everlasting life; for many years he was a consistent member of the Particular Baptist cause at Oundle, and used to travel thither to hear the Word of life: he rested from his labours and entered into the joy of his Lord in the early part of last summer. beneath the smilings of his Father's face, and surrounded by every earthly comfort, until about the year 1840, when a small cloud arose in his circumstances, and although not at first portentous, it was eventually designed to be the harbinger of a terrible flood, which, like a besom, was permitted to sweep his house and his circumstances, leaving him, as to his circumstances, destitute, and, as regards his family, alone, with nothing to rest upon but the faithfulness of a covenant God, and none near to console and comfort him in the season of affliction and distress through which he was called to pass of those whom he brought up. About this time he was advised to build a public room for lectures, &c., on his little property, which sunk the estate before the rooms were finished, and the building of the British In the year 1800, for the purpose above School soon after this consumed his living: stated, Joseph was placed under the care of a of which he speaks, "I trust it has been, and Mr. May, an efficient schoolmaster at Oundle, will continue to be, a lasting, benefit and and here he made such proficiency in his blessing to the inhabitants of Oundle; yet it learning, that his master dying in 1803, and was very hurtful to me as an individual, and when he was only seventeen years old, the deprived me of my principal support." A eare of the school devolved entirely upon him, dear and much-loved daughter (and the wife which he managed five years for the widow, of one of the present deacons of the Church.) with credit to himself and the general satis-was, some little time after this, numbered faction of his patrons; so much so, that, referring to this period in a memorandum found among his papers, he says, "after managing the school five years for the widow, I had it on my own account, and the Lord of his tender mercy favoured me with much success; he prospered my exertions, and blessed me abundantly." Being a man of 66 with the dead, but there was much mercy connected with this visitation-she died in the Lord." By the same kind Providence," he says, "which cut off my supply and dried up my brook at Oundle, by various losses, crosses, and adverse scenes-by that same kind Providence, in October, 1846, I was directed to Aldwinkle, and here I am to testify still to the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord, | and the tenderness of my friends." Some little time after he was settled at Aldwinkle, the desire of his eyes was removed. That was an affliction indeed, but the Lord enabled him to submit to the trying stroke in humble faith; the tear was scarcely dried upon his furrowed cheek, when he was called to visit the deathbed scene of his only surviving daughter at Leicester, but she, too, died in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection to eternal life, and declared with her dying breath, "Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are." Now, as regards his own family, he might be said to be alone; he had only one left, and that a prodigal son. May it be seen in that day when the sheep pass again under the hand of Him that telleth them, that his earnest prayers, his strong crying and tears on behalf of that wayward and wandering boy, have not been in vain. While he resided at Aldwinkle his trials were varied and heavy, and in his latter days he often had to experience that it was through much tribulation he must enter the kingdom; but he still found the promise true "as thy days thy strength shall be." God was pleased in much mercy to answer his prayer in regard to his removal from this vale of tears. He had often prayed that he might have a gentle descent into the Valley of the Shadow of Death; this was granted; his last affliction was short-nature, as if worn out, sank painless into the arms of death; he could say but little, but that little was enough to prove that he was firmly fixed upon the Rock of eternal ages, his faith was placed alone upon the finished work of his risen and glorified Lord; and on the 11th of June, 1856, his happy spirit took a long farewell of the clay tabernacle which was crumbling to dust, to join that glorious assemblage that John in beautiful vision saw, who had come up out of great tribulation, and had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "One gentle sigh their fetters break, Its mansion near the throne." "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." The friends at Aldwinkle deeply felt his loss, he was among them a living epistle of the grace of God and an affectionate friend: he was interred in the churchyard, and his death was improved, on the following Lord's day, by the Rev. E. Amery, to an attentive audience. Cambridge. JOSEPH. MRS. THOMAS POCOCK. DEAR EDITOR,-Knowing you record the death of many of the lovers of Zion, will you insert the following small tribute of respect to the memory of the late MRS. THOMAS POCOCK, the beloved and affectionate wife of Mr. Thomas Pocock, of Southwark, who died at Sydenham, August 1st, 1856, during a temporary residence at that place? The writer would not feel justified in writing these few simple facts, if he were entirely to pass over the excellent natural gifts which it pleased God to bestow upon the departed. Perhaps it will suffice to say, that in the habits of industry, perseverance, and that of domestic peace and order, very few did her excel. The life of the departed, as a Christian, was of a very quiet nature, expressing to but few the exercises of her mind relative to eternal things. It is quite evident that the throne of grace was her refuge and trust in times of trial, let those trials be what they might. Again and again she would supplicate the Lord to ap pear on her behalf. It was there she would ever remember her partner in life and family individually. Two verses of a hymn, which she often repeated with great emphasis, will show what her confidence was. They are as follows: "I'll go to Jesus, though my sin Hath like a mountain rose; During an illness of a lingering kind, the departed would express both hope and fear as to recovery; but at times she would be more resigned to the will of the Lord conAnother favourite cerning her affliction. verse or two of a hymn will bear me out. "Here perfect bliss can ne'er be found The honey's mixed with gall; 'Midst changing scenes and dying friends, Be thou my all in all. "There is an hour when I must lie Low on affliction's bed, In reading the writings of good men, the departed would write Amen with the author by pencil-marks in parts touching her experience. The following is one out of manyit is on submission: To be sure," It is well when all things go according to our wish; when there is nothing in Providence that crosses our desires, that thwarts our designs, that sinks our hopes, or awakens our fears-submission is easy work then; but to have all things seemingly against us, to have God smiting in the tenderest part, unravelling all our schemes, contradicting our desires, and standing aloof from our very prayers-how do we behave then? This is the true touchstone of our sincerity and submission." When asked, during the last few hours of her illness, if Jesus was precious to her soul, her answer was in the affirmative, repeating those beautiful lines "My soul looks back to see The burden thou didst bear, And hopes her guilt was there." During the time of her pilgrimage she had heard, with profit to her soul, the late Mr. Stevens, of Meard's Court, and also Mr. Den ham, of Unicorn Yard, Tooley Street, and a few others, who still contend that all "Israel must to glory go As trophies of his grace;" -still contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. On August 6th, her mortal remains were conveyed to the house appointed for all living in the cemetery at Norwood. The bereaved family and a few friends of the departed paid the last tribute of respect to her memory. The Dissenting minister of the place, after reading the latter part of the 15th chapter of the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, concluded the solemn service by prayer. It is written, "The memory of the just shall be blessed." May the Lord bless these few lines, is the prayer of one who is privileged to subscribe himself August 18th, 1856. A FRIEND. THE LATE MR. NATHAN HORSLEY THE inquiry was made of old," Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?" So we may ask concerning the most useful of ministers, deacons, and members of our churches; and the answer is easily supplied, though it affords no just occasion for undue sorrow or lamentation. It would be unkind, if not unchristian, to detain those we love, could we do it, when the voice of mercy is heard calling them from their toils below to their eternal rest with Jesus in Heaven. In our former papers we have given a few thoughts and facts concerning the removal by death of our late brother Nathan Horsley. We will now give a few words more. From necessity, as well as prudence, we say with Abraham, "Bury my dead out of my sight." Cheering thought! Though our friends after death are hidden from us, they are "present with the Lord," and his eye watches their sleeping dust, which (mysterious thought) shall another day be raised and formed a glorious body. It was the expressed wish of our brother, in the prospect of death, that Mr. D. Irish, of Warboys, Mr. E. Forman, of March, and the writer, should be engaged in the last services connected with the interment, &c. There are sometimes showy sights when a fellow-creature is being conveyed to the "house appointed for all living," which often contrast painfully, we fear, with the final state of the departed. But in our brother's case, as in that of good Stephen's, "devout men carried him to his grave." And in the absence of "hired mourners," there might be seen some hundreds, who, with tearful eyes and the sorrow of affection, surrounded the grave where their minister and friend was being laid. We would not encourage a passionate expression of grief, when the hand of the Lord is seen removing those we love; but need we wonder when we hear the half-suppressed sob of the widow, the parent, or the friend, as they turn from that narrow bed containing those so much beloved? Dear reader, have you no remembrance of a sight so painful?-but we would ask, what hand was that which supported you under that severe providence, and ministered comfort to your distressed and grieved spirit, and brought you at length, with a heart somewhat softened, while tears filled your eyes, as your feelings still struggled with your judgment when you said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; and blessed be the name of the Lord"? We, too, have known the pain of parting with those we loved; we know also the pleasure that mingled with the pain, as by grace we have been helped, without a felt murmur, to bow before the Lord, and say, "THY WILL, O LORD, BE DONE." On Saturday, May 31st, the remains of our brother were conveyed to the " cemetery," where he had so often, during his abode at Chatteris, been called to perform that last office for others which was now to be performed for him. It was supposed there were at least from 1200 to 1500 people present. And after the body was put into its last resting-place, an address was given, the substance of which we have tried to collect. "We come not to this open grave with the pomp of the world, nor yet to flatter the living or the dead. But love to our departed friend moves our heart to sympathy, and our tongue to speak "that we do know." We can, indeed, say we are called to perform an office we would gladly have been spared, as it had long been our wish, in the prospect of this body of ours being put into the grave, that our departed brother should have done for me what I am now called to do for him; and when we looked at his well-formed and apparently healthy frame, we could hardly think it would fall before our own. But so it is; and shall we selfishly reply against the Lord, seeing "Himself hath done it? We need not say a word by way of informing you what our brother was; or, from more than seventeen years' friendship with him, we could tell you much. We knew him very soon after the Lord called him, by his grace, and for a short time sat to listen to the same ministry, and communed with him at the Lord's table. We speak to those who knew him as a neighbour and a friend-as a Christian and a minister; and while we do not praise him for being what he was in each of those characters, we will say, we loved him for his well-known consistency, and rejoiced with him in it, while we would give the glory of it to God alone. Our brother seemed unwilling to think death was so near, although, through grace, they had long been familiar; yet there were many reasons why he should wish to remain a little longer. But we think, especially as God has willed it, how much more to be desired that he should die in the midst of his friends than to outlive them and his acceptance in the church of God, as we fear some do. We are now standing under the shade of death, which for near 6,000 years has cast its dark gloom over the bright creation of God; but, Christian, rejoice! the shade of Calvary for thee extends further than that of death. For" where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Did not a "learned advocate" say the other day, when pleading the cause of a murderer, "Never were words more true than those of the prisoner at the bar when he pleaded NOT GUILTY"? We may well tremble for those whose lips can utter lies so eloquently; while we say of our departed brother, Never did his lips speak more truthfully the feelings of his heart than when lowly before his God he sighed out his confession, "A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On Thy kind arms I fall." We speak to you now at the side of an open grave: solemnity always becomes dying men; but we may well feel it here. We could wish to preach every sermon as from the side of an open grave. The grave has a voice-it speaks to us all, though all may not regard it. 1. It speaks to us in every stage of life. To babes, though unconscious-to young men and maidens-to those of us in the meridian and strength of life; see, as in the case of our brother, a strong and manly frame is no hindrance to death. It speaks to the aged; yes, old man and woman too, you must shortly die. 2. It speaks to us in all conditions of life. Poor man! though poverty is now your lot, you shall shortly quit your little cottage and become an inhabitant of the grave. It speaks to those who are neither pinched by poverty nor laden with riches. Be ye thankful" now, but remember death may soon spoil the comforts of your happy home; for you or yours may shortly die. It speaks to the rich. Ah! how unwelcome are its tones. The rich man may shun the poor in the walks of life, but they shall meet together in the grave. "Let not the rich man glory in his riches," for the grave will strip him of them all. "Your riches are corrupted" already, and you that set your hearts upon them shall quickly turn to corruption in the grave. | among yourselves;" for ye, also, must shortly give an account of the trust God has called you to. Ministers of the Gospel, it speaks to you. Brethren, may the Lord help us to be faithful to the sacred trust of the Gospel to which we are called; honest to our own conscience and to our hearers; firm in the avowal of Bible truth; affectionate and kind to all, but flatterers of none; that in a dying hour we may be saved from the "bitter pangs" of an accusing conscience for want of honesty in not declaring the whole truth of God to men. 4. It speaks to character. Ungodly sinner, it speaks to you, in harsh and hollow tones; may you hear it, and tremble; hear it, and forsake your iniquitous practices; hear it, and be led to the cross of Christ as a confessing penitent, seeking to be delivered from the experience of that dread sentence, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Careless professor, it may well awaken inquiries in your mind. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Christ alone can save you from eternal death. Believer in Jesus, rejoice! it speaks to you; listen, and take encouragementWhat is it for a saint to die, That you the thought should fear? 'Tis but to pass the heavenly sky, And leave pollution here." 5. Christians! a voice more powerful than the grave, says for thee, "O Death! I will be thy plagues; O Grave! I will be thy destruction." A hymn being sung, our brother Forman, of March, fervently prayed to the Lord for his sanctifying blessing to accompany the bereavement, and rest upon the people, the friends of "Zion," the members and deacons of the church, the family connections, and especially the beloved widow and babe of our departed friend. And as the "last look " was being taken of the narrow bed where one so much beloved was to rest, until the "trump of God shall sound" and awake his quiet slumbers, we lingered as we looked at that open grave, and thought of those hours of Christian converse we had enjoyed, but now for a short time denied, to be renewed before longnot around the throne of mercy here, but before the throne of glory there. Wait, my spirit, wait; the time of release is appointed, 3. It speaks to us in every station, both in the day is approaching, when thou, too, shalt the world and in the church. In the world-"leave corruption here," and be faultless for to servants, obedient or unruly; to masters, ever THERE. kind or cruel; to husbands, tender or tyrannical; to wives, loving or churlish-yea, to parents, friends and children, all must die. In the church-members of churches, especially those of "Zion," it speaks to you:"Love as brethren," " pray one for another," "and so much the more," as ye are now without a pastor; an "under - shepherd" to "watch for you " and feed you with the word of God. Deacons to you it has a word and could our departed brother speak to you from it, he would say, I "beseech you brethren, know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace The funeral sermon was preached the following, Lord's-day evening by Mr. D. Irish, of Warboys, from the words used by a dying saint of early times, "And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you" (Gen. 1. 24). The chapel was very much crowded, so that many who sought entrance could not obtain it. Two of the chapels in the town were closed, from a feeling of friendship toward our brother Horsley, and to give an opportunity to their hearers to listen to a sermon wherein they expected something to be said concerning one whom they knew and esteemed. would not put an hindrance in the way of any hearing the Gospel, but we would prayer We |