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Content:

• 121 — The Last Hours Of John Thornton, The Noted English Saint, And Philanthropist
• 122 — “O Glory! O Glory!! O Glory!!!”
• 123 — Cardinal Borgia — “I Am To Die, Although Entirely Unprepared.”
• 124 — Last Words Of Rev. William Watts — “All Is Well; All Is Well.”
• 125 — “O, I Can See The Angels All In The Room; Can’t You See Them?”
• 126 — The Atheist, Hobbes — I Am About To Take A Leap In The Dark.”
• 127 — “Oh! Seek To Serve God And To Find The Gate Of Heaven.”
• 128 — “Why Heaven Has Come Down To Earth. See The Angels…”
• 129 — “I Am Going To Hell!”
• 130 — Hugh Latimer’s Last Words Were: “O Father Of Heaven, Receive My Soul.”
• 131 — “I Am Lost. I Have Sold My Soul To The Devil For Dress.”
• 132 — “Come On, I Am Ready To Go.”
• 133 — “O, It Is Too Late Now; There Is No Hope For Me!”
• 134 — Cardinal Mazarine — Oh! My Poor Soul! What Will Become Of Thee?…
• 135 — “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder, I’ll Be There; Yes, And Brother, Too.”
• 136 — “Jesus, Have Mercy On Father,” Was Little Mary’s Dying Prayer.
• 137 — “My God, My God, My Doom Is Sealed! I Am Lost, Lost, Lost!”
• 138 — John Oxtoby’s Wonderful Revelation And Unspeakable Joy At Death.
• 139 — No Happiness In The Mohammedan Religion; Caliph Abd-Er-Rhaman Is Witness
• 140 — “Oh, He Is Coming, He Is Coming! Jesus, Come And Take Me Now!”
• 141 — Last Words Of The Venerable Bede
• 142 — “I Am As Much Lost As Though I Were In Hell.”
• 143 — Pointing Above, Jerry McAuley Said, “It Is All Right!”
• 144 — “I Hear The Angels Singing Around My Bed!”
• 145 — Bishop Bedell’s Last Words Were — “I Have Kept The Faith.”
• 146 — “Go On, Angels, I Am Coming. Go On, Angels, I Am Coming.”
• 147 — John Donne, A Famous British Poet, And Preacher.
• 148 — Cardinal Beaufort — “Will Not My Riches Save Me?”
• 149 — The Earl Of Rochester — “I Shall Now Die.”
• 150 — Awful Calamity That Befell A Young Lady Who Offered A Mock Prayer.
• 151 — Jeremiah Everts — “O, Wonderful! Wonderful! Glory! Jesus Reigneth!”
• 152 — “If This Is Death, Let Me Always Be Dying.”
• 153 — “Jesus Hears Me! Why The Angels Are Around Me!”
• 154 — Rev. David Nelson — “My Master Calls, I Am Going Home; It Is Well.”
• 155 — “My Peace Is Made With God! I Am Filled With Love!”
• 156 — “Oh God, If There Be A God, Save My Soul If I Have A Soul.”
• 157 — Thomas Halyburton — “My Peace Hath Been Like A River!”
• 158 — “Madge Is Dead And David Is Crazy.”
• 159 — “I Am Going Home As Fast As I Can.”
• 160 — Hulda A. Rees — “All Bright And Glorious Ahead.”
• 161 — Joseph Allein, D. D. — “O, How Sweet Will Heaven Be.”
• 162 — “Lord, Have Mercy On My Soul!”
• 163 — “Nothing Remains But The Bridge Of The Saviour.”
• 164 — “It Is Bright Over The River, Oh, So Bright Over There.”
• 165 — The Sad Death Of An Infidel
• 166 — “I Am Lost, Lost, Lost, Lost, Lost!”
• 167 — Little Hattie Buford’s Last Prayer
• 168 — The Last Words Of Joseph Barker, The Converted Infidel
• 169 — “You Gave Me Nothing To Hold On To.”
• 170 — “Oh! The Devil Is Coming To Drag My Soul Down To Hell!”
• 171 — David Brainerd — “I Am Almost In Eternity; I Long To Be..!”
• 172 — Samuel Rutherford — “I Shall Soon Be Where Few Of You Shall Enter.”
• 173 — Rev. Richard Watson — “I Shall See God! How Shall I Praise Him?”
• 174 — The Awful End Of An Infidel Scoffer.
• 175 — “Hallelujah To God! I Am Going Home To Glory.”
• 176 — He Cried, With An Awful Wail Of Despair, “Too Late, Too Late, Too Late!”
• 177 — A Great Reproof To Professing Christians
• 178 — John Knox, Scotland’s Great Reformer
• 179 — “May God Almighty Bless Thee, My Beloved Sons And Brothers In Christ.”
• 180 — “I Shall Soon Be A Dead Man, And My Soul Will Be In Hell.”
• 181 — “This Is Hell Enough! The Devils Are Dragging Me Down.”
• 182 — The Sainted A. J. Gordon’s Last Word Was, “Victory!”
• 183 — “Oh, Do You Hear The Music?”
• 184 — Triumphant Death Of Margaretta Klopstock
• 185 — “O, Lord, My Strength And My Redeemer.”
• 186 — Merritt Caldwell’s Last Words — “Jesus Lives, I Shall Live Also.”
• 187 — “Good-By! We Will Soon Meet Again; Christ Lights The Way!”
• 188 — “Hark! Hear That Music! They Don’t Have Such Music As That On Earth.”
• 189 — John Randolph’s Last Words — “Remorse! Remorse! Remorse!”
• 190 — “Praise Him, You All Praise Him.”
• 191 — Rev. Robert Hall’s Last Words — “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”
• 192 — “I Am Getting In Sight Of The City. My Hope Is Full.”
• 193 — “Emptied Of Self; Filled With Christ; Close To God; No Fear.”
• 194 — Sir John Mason — “Were I To Live Again, I Would Change The Whole Life..”
• 195 — Mrs. Etta Katrina Yankle — “Praise The Lord!”
• 196 — Victorious Death Of Jane, The Protestant Queen Of Navarre
• 197 — “I’m Going Up In The Chariot So Early In The Morning.”
• 198 — “I Would Not Change My Joy For The Empire Of The World.”
• 199 — “I See Angels Clapping Their Hands Around The Great White Throne.”
• 200 – Last Words Of Charles V
• 201 — Bishop Hanby — “I Am In The Midst Of Glory!”
• 202 — An Awful Judgment On A Young Man
• 203 — “How Beautiful Everything Appears.”
• 204 — Last Words Of Jesse Appleton, D. D. — “Glory To God In The Highest!”
• 205 — Rev. Jesse Lee — “Glory! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Jesus Reigns!”
• 206 — I Have Been In Such A Beautiful Place, And Have Seen The Redeemed Ones.”
• 207 — Gideon Ousley –The Spirit Of God Sustains Me.”
• 208 — Dying Without God
• 209 — The Lord Gave Her Strength To Praise Him To The Last
• 210 — “He Is Come! My Beloved Is Mine And I Am His Forever!”
• 211 — A Mother’s Last Words — “I Am Going To Leave You..”
• 212 — “I Can See Through — I Am Going Now.”
• 213 — “I’m Coming, Mama.”
• 214 — “I Like You Too.”
• 215 — “I Know That Jesus Saves Me, And That’s Enough For Me.”
• 216 — John Arthur Lyth
• 217 — Bishop Pierce
• 218 — Rev. John Warburton
• 219 — Rev. Philip Heck
• 220 — Miss Martha McCrackin
• 221 — Benjamin Abbott
• 222 — Rev. Francis Brazee
• 223 — Rev. Thomas H. Stockton
• 224 — Rev. Alfred Croll
• 225 — Rev. William Stephenson
• 226 — John Bunyan
• 227 — Rev. Solomon Bigham
• 228 — Jacob Eigheninger
• 229 — Mother Margaret Prior
• 230 — Rev. P. Corl
• 231 — Rev. David S. Montgomery
• 232 — Sir Cicely Ormes, Martyr
• 233 — Thomas Hudson, Martyr
• 234 — Governor John Brooks, Ll.D.
• 235 — Richard Baxter
• 236 — D. L. Moody

 

121 — THE LAST HOURS OF JOHN THORNTON, THE NOTED ENGLISH SAINT AND PHILANTHROPIST

This man of God went to heaven in November 1790.

Mr. Thornton was noted both for his piety and his liberality. We are told that he gave away in acts of love and mercy more than one-half million dollars. At his death, he was not worth much more than this amount.

Rev. Henry Venn, his lifelong friend, says: “I have very sensibly felt the loss of my old affectionate friend, John Thornton, after an intimacy of thirty-six years, from his first receiving Christ till he took his departure with a convoy of angels to see Him who so long had been all his salvation and all his desire. Few of the followers of the Lamb, it may be very truly said, have ever done more to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and help all that suffer adversity and to spread the savior of the knowledge of Christ crucified!”

On visiting the children of Mr. Thornton, he says: “I rejoice I am come to see the children of my dear departed friend, John Thornton, and to hear of his life, acts of love, and death; many particulars of which I could not have heard at home. Some of these I send you now, which I received from the nurse who attended him. She said, ‘To see the sons, the day before he died, weeping tears of grief and love, and to hear the dying saint affectionately exhort and press each to hold fast the faith and to lead. the life of a Christian was to the last degree affecting. They asked him whether he was now happy. “Yes,” said he, “happy in Jesus; all things are as well as they can be!” And the last words he was able to articulate were, “Precious, precious — ” Jesus would have been added, but his breath failed.'”

122 — “O GLORY! O GLORY!! O GLORY!!!”

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!”

Mrs Susan C. Kirtland, my mother’s sister, first saw the light of this world in Gilbert’s Mills, Oswego Co., New York, May 18, 1822. She gave her heart to God at an early age, during a revival held in the Free Will Baptist Church near her home, and though her life was one of much privation and disappointment, in the midst of its trials she lived a cheerful, devoted Christian, well described by the motto she so often expressed in words, “It is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong.”

She was translated “from glory to glory,” April 3, 1864, while visiting at our home in Burr Oak, Michigan, after a very painful illness of only one week.

Even upon that sick bed, she found opportunities to work and speak for Jesus. Though at that time I was less than four years old, I distinctly remember how, while lying upon that bed of suffering, she taught me that beautiful verse, “I love them that love Me; and they that seek Me early shall find Me,” carefully explaining the meaning of the words and lovingly pressing home the lesson to my heart.

And we have often heard mother speak of her heavenly conversation during those days when neither of them knew that her death was near.

As soon as it was known that she was dangerously ill, her brother, an able physician, was summoned from a distance, but too late for human power to save. A few hours before her death she knew from mother’s manner that something troubled her and asked what was the matter?  With much feeling, mother said to her, “Susan, we fear your stay with us is very short.” Calmly she replied, “Well if it is so, I don’t know when I could have had a better time to leave this stage of action!”

Two of her four children were with her. While they stood weeping by her bedside, she tenderly and earnestly exhorted them to live for God and meet her in heaven, and by them sent loving messages to the absent ones. Then she bade goodbye to all the friends who were present. No other preparation was needed. She was ready to go. Nor was she left to journey alone. There was to her no dark valley — no gloom. As the circle of those who loved her so dearly watched around her bed, her face suddenly lighted up with indescribable joy. She had evidently caught sight of things hidden from their eyes. Still looking upward and eagerly raising both hands, she exclaimed in a voice of holy triumph which no words can describe., “O glory: O glory!! O glory!!!” and was gone, having entered upon the “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away!” — Mrs. Etta E. Sadler Shaw.

123 — CARDINAL BORGIA — “I AM TO DIE, ALTHOUGH ENTIRELY UNPREPARED.”

Czar Borgia, a natural son of Pope Alexander VI., was a man of such conduct and character that Machiavel has thought fit to propose him, in his famous book called The Prince, as an original and pattern to all princes who would act the part of wise and politic tyrants. He was made a cardinal, but as this office imposed some restraints upon him, he soon determined to resign it that he might have the greater scope for practicing the excesses to which his natural ambition and cruelty prompted him, for cruel, as well as ambitious, he was in the highest degree. After this, he was made Duke of Valentinois by Louis XII of France. He experienced a variety of fortune, but displayed on every occasion the most consummate dexterity and finesse, and seemed prepared for all events. The reflections he made a short time before his death (which happened in the year 1507) show, however, that his policy was confined to the concerns of this life and that he had not acted upon that wise and enlarged view of things which becomes a being destined for immortality. “I had provided,” said he, “in the course of my life, for everything except death, and now, alas! I am to die, although entirely unprepared.” — Power of Religion.

124 — LAST WORDS OF REV. WILLIAM WATTS — “ALL IS WELL; ALL IS WELL.”

Rev. E. Ray, of Fredericktown, Missouri, writes as follows:

I was called last Sunday to preach the funeral services of this brother and received this testimony from his wife.

Bro. Watts had preached the gospel for forty-five years as a Methodist preacher in good standing in his church, and died in the faith, April 30, 1898. He was reared in Bollinger county, and at the time of his death was nearly seventy years old and therefore one of the pioneers in preaching the gospel here in our great state.

I have proclaimed the gospel for nearly thirty years, and during that time have preached many a funeral sermon, but remember none where I have seen such joy as on this occasion. There were many of his friends present to hear the sermon to his memory. As on the Day of Pentecost, the power fell on all of the people present, melting all hearts.

Bro. Watts suffered greatly during the first of his illness, but during his last days on earth, while the outward man grew weaker and perished, the inward man grew stronger day by day. The last day seemed a golden sunset indeed, or rather the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings, and he passed away in a flood of glory with peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

He said to his wife frequently, “I am in a revival of religion.” Sister Watts told me that the last day he lived on earth he sang, alone,

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent word.”

He died at three o’clock in the morning, and shortly before he passed away he said, “All is well, all is well.”

As Sister Watts felt very keenly her loss, she said to him, “I want to go with you.” “No,” he replied, you must wait.” And thus sweetly passed the life away, calm as a May morning, his feet placed firmly on the Rock of Ages. “How firm a foundation.”

125 — “O, I CAN SEE THE ANGELS ALL IN THE ROOM; CAN’T YOU SEE THEM?”

We are thankful for this glorious experience sent to us by Mrs. Anna Crowson, of China Spring, Texas. She says:

My sainted mother’s death was one of triumph and great victory. She was a great worker in the vineyard of the Lord. She was a woman of great faith and made the Bible her constant study. Some years before her death she found that she could be established in the faith, and went to God in earnest prayer, making an entire consecration, and by faith was enabled to take Christ as a complete Saviour. She knew the blood of Jesus cleansed her from all sin. From that time she lived in an ocean of God’s love and was kept from all sin by the power of God through faith.

It was mother’s custom to always attend church, and one Sabbath morning while preparing for the same she took a chill and was obliged to go to bed. She said from that time on until her death that she knew she was going to die. She remarked to her eldest daughter, “I have been looking for something to happen for a long time to bring father back to Jesus, but thought He was going to take Samuel” (their eldest boy). It seemed that the Lord had revealed to her that she must die, as it was the only means that would cause the father to come back to the fold.

Among others, she exhorted my father to give his heart to God and said, “I am going to heaven, meet me there.” He had great faith in her prayers, and he begged her to pray for God to spare her life, saying, “I cannot live without you and raise the children alone!” But with a heavenly smile upon her face and with faith unwavering she said, “God will take care of you and my children; weep not for me, I am going to glory! Husband; never touch liquor anymore!” He promised her he would not. She exhorted us all to meet her in heaven. Then she shouted aloud and praised God and said, “Oh, I can see the angels all in the room. Can’t you see them?” Then, at her request, we sang, “I saw a wayworn traveler,” and, “Oh come, angel band,” and she joined with us, and while singing the last song her spirit went home to God.

From the time of my mother’s death, our father kept his vow. He erected a family altar and taught us, six children, by example and precept, to trust in our mother’s God and meet her in heaven. He was a devoted Christian from that time on. Every night and morning he would take us to God in prayer around the family altar, and five years after mother’s death he too died in the triumphs of faith and went to heaven.

126 — THE ATHEIST, HOBBES — I AM ABOUT TO TAKE A LEAP IN THE DARK.”

Thomas Hobbes was born at Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, England, on April 5, 1588; died at Hardwick. Hall, in Devonshire, December 4, 1679. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and spent the first part of his life, up to 1637, as a tutor in various noble families, often travelling on the Continent with his pupils, and the last, after 1637, in a comprehensive and vigorous literary activity, first in Paris (1641-52), then in London, or in the country with the Hardwick family. . . . The philosophical standpoint of Hobbes may be described as an application to the study of a man of the method and principles of the study of nature; and the results of this process were psychology and morals utterly antagonistic, not only to Christianity but to religion in general. On account of the merely preliminary stage which the science of nature had reached in the time of Hobbes, his conception is premature; but he carried it out with great vigor; and it happens, not infrequently, that the materialistic psychology and utilitarian morals of today return to his writings and adopt some modification of his paradoxes. — Encyclopaedia Britannica.

We take the following from Guide to the Oracles: When the atheist, Hobbes, drew near to death, he declared, “I am about to leap in the dark,” and the last sensible words that he uttered were, “I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of the world at”

127 — “OH! SEEK TO SERVE GOD AND TO FIND THE GATE OF HEAVEN.”

A mother who denied Christ and sneered at religion came to her death bed. Looking up from her restless pillow on the group of weeping sons and daughters gathered at her bedside, she said, “My children, I have been leading you on the wrong road all of your lives. I now find the broad road leads on to destruction; I did not believe it before. Oh! seek to serve God and to find the gate of heaven, though you may never meet your mother there.” So, in clouds and darkness, set her sun of life. — Sent us by Dr. L. B. Balliett, of Allentown, Penn.

128 — HEAVEN HAS COME DOWN TO EARTH. SEE THE ANGELS. THEY ARE FLYING THROUGH THE HOUSE.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” A co-worker with Dr Redfield and the glorious little band of early Free Methodists was the Rev. William Kendall. The closing scenes of his life were so blessed that we give them a place here:

He revived on Sabbath, and was very happy, his face radiant with glory. He said, “This is the most blessed Sabbath I ever knew.” The next day he had a severe conflict with Satan but gained a glorious victory. He said, “Jesus, the mighty Conqueror, reigns!” The next day he exclaimed, “Why, heaven has come down to earth. I see the angels. They are flying through the house!” After a little sleep, on waking, he exclaimed, “I have seen the King in his beauty — King of’ glory; have slept in His palace! I was intimate with the angels — O so intimate with the angels!” For a while he was delirious. Again he had a conflict with the powers of darkness, but quickly triumphed, and exclaimed with a smile, “I can grapple with the grim monster, death.” On the Sabbath, he was thought to be dying. His wife had her ear to his lips, as he lay gazing upward and waving his arms, as though fluttering to be gone, and heard him breathe, “Hail! hail! all hail!” “What do you see?” He replied, “I see light! light! light! I see — “and, pausing in silence a while, he suddenly broke out in a clear, though somewhat faltering tone: “Hallelujah to the Lamb who hath purchased our pardon! We’ll praise Him again when we pass over Jordan.”

One asked, “Is all well?” He replied, with ineffable sweetness, three times, “All is Well!”

The chill of death came on soon and pointed to his speedy relief. Once more he revived and sang very sweetly:

“O how happy are they, who their Saviour obey.”

Then – “My soul’s full of glory, Inspiring my tongue; Could I meet with the angels,
I’d sing them a song,” etc.

A few more struggles of nature and the silver cord loosened, and the warrior fell to rise immortal February 1, 1858. — Wayside Sketches.

129 — “I AM GOING TO HELL!”

A preacher in the west sends us the sad account of his grandfather’s death. He says:

“The last words of my grandfather, Mr. S___. He had been sick for a long time and had always been an unsaved man. He spent three years on the plains with the noted Indian scout, Kit Karson.

“During the last three months of his life, he would often send for me to talk with him on the subject of religion, but when pressed to seek the Lord at once, he would say, ‘I have got along so long, I think I will wait a while longer.’

“He died July 3, 1883. Almost (if not) the last words he uttered were these: ‘I am going to hell.’

Awfully sad. Fearfully true.”

How sad that many put off the most important duty of this life until it is too late, forever.

130 — HUGH LATIMER’S LAST WORDS WERE: “O FATHER OF HEAVEN, RECEIVE MY SOUL.”

Hugh Latimer, one of the most influential preachers, heroic martyrs, and foremost leaders of the English reformation, was born at Thurcaston, Leicestershire, in 1490 or 1491, died at the stake in Oxford, October 16, 1555. We take the following from Life Stories of Remarkable Preachers:

Under the reign of Mary, Latimer was committed to the Tower as a “seditious fellow.” To the Tower Ridley and Cranmer were also sent; and in March of that year, all three were brought before the Queen’s commissioners at Oxford, condemned for heresy, and sent back into confinement. Eighteen months later Latimer and Ridley were brought down to Oxford to be burned. When stripped for execution Latimer had on a new long shroud. They embraced each other at the stake and knelt and prayed and kissed the stake. There stood this withered old man, quite erect and perfectly happy, with a bag of powder tied around his neck. Just as the fire to consume them was lighted, Latimer addressed his fellow-sufferer in the memorable words, “Be of good comfort, Brother Ridley, and play the man; we shall light such a candle in England today as will never go out!” As the flames leaped up he cried vehemently, “O Father of heaven, receive my soul!” He seemed to embrace the flames. Having stroked his face, he bathed his hands in the fire and quickly died.

The amount paid by Queen Mary for lighting that fire was 1 pound 5s. 2d. To popery, that fire was the costliest ever kindled. To England, thank God, it was the light of religious liberty, the candle of the reformation, which popes, priests, and devils have never been able to blow out, and never will.

131 — “I AM LOST. I HAVE SOLD MY SOUL TO THE DEVIL FOR DRESS.”

Through the kindness of L. B. Balliett, M, D., of Allentown, Penn., we furnish our readers with this sad experience:

A missionary of New York City relates the sad experience of a dying woman, the wife of a wealthy man, who, when told by her physician that she could not live an hour longer, exclaimed with great consternation, “If I cannot live an hour longer I am lost. I have sold my soul to the devil for the dress! Pray for me, oh pray for me! All who can pray, do pray!” Uttering these words the damp of death came over her and her voice was silenced forever.

“And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2.)

132 — “COME ON, I AM READY TO GO.”

In the year 1847, during a powerful revival, my sister, Filura Clark, then nineteen years of age, and myself two years younger, were saved and found great peace with God. What happy times we had together, living for the Lord, while other young people went after the things of the world! Her loving instruction and devotion to God were not fully comprehended until after she was gone.

My dear sister was taken very ill and only lived a few days. O, how hard it was to part with her! It seemed as though my heart would break, the blow was so great; but; oh! what a blessed, happy death was hers. It was not death to her; she did not think of death, but heaven and eternal life with Jesus was all her theme as the moments sped along.

She called us one by one to her bedside, took our hands and bade us goodbye, and begged us all to meet her in heaven.

After she had bidden her relatives farewell, she said to her physician, “Now, doctor, you come.” And she bade him goodbye and requested him to meet her in heaven. He was overcome by the affecting scene.

As we stood by her bedside weeping she said to us; “Don’t weep for me. Jesus is with me, I will not have to go alone!” After she had finished speaking, she looked up as though she saw someone waiting for her, and said, “Come on, I am ready to go.” She wanted to go; her work on earth was done.

Her death had a wonderful influence on the community, especially upon the young people. Many turned to the Lord and said, “Let me die such a death as hers.” And what a blessing her death has been to me in my past life! How it has strengthened me and helped me to live according to the blessed truths of the Bible! When trials and temptations have arisen, her dying testimony has been the means of bringing my soul nearer to the Lord than it ever had been before. Praise the Lord! — Written for this book by Mrs. Wealthy L. Harter, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

133 — “O, IT IS TOO LATE NOW; THERE IS NO HOPE FOR ME!”

Some years ago I was labouring as an evangelist in the town of M____, and during the meetings, there was much conviction by the power of the Holy Ghost. Among others that were wrought upon was a young girl of about seventeen years. All through the meetings the Holy Ghost strove with her, and I talked with her at different times, but she resisted. The last evening of the services I went to her side. Again she stood weeping and trembling. I urged her to seek God. She said, “O, I cannot, I cannot!” I replied, “Yes, leave your young friends and come.” She still said, “O, I cannot, I cannot!” Afterwards, she said that the young people would have laughed at her had she gone. She left the house in this condition, went to her boarding place (she was boarding and attending school), and made the remark that she did not come to get religion, she came to get an education. She could attend to religion afterward at any time.

She retired for the night, but was taken violently ill and continued to grow worse for one week, and then passed into eternity. She said to those of her young associates who came to see her, “Oh! I ought to have sought the Lord in that meeting.” I was with her the last day and before she died I tried to point her to the Lamb of God, but her agonizing reply, again and again, was (calling me by name), “It is too late now. O, it is too late now! There is no help for me!” and so passed into eternity. — Written for this book by Julia E. Strait, Portlandville, N.Y.

134 — CARDINAL MAZARINE – O MY POOR SOUL! WHAT WILL BECOME OF THEE? WHERE WILL YOU GO?

Julius Mazarine, a famous cardinal, and prime minister of France was born in the kingdom of Naples in the year 1602. The greatness of his abilities was conspicuous, even in his early years; and he had the advantage of being instructed by a very able tutor. He studied the interests of the various states in Italy, and the kingdoms of France and Spain, and became profoundly skilled in politics. It was through the influence of Cardinal Richelieu that he was introduced into the French cabinet. That cardinal made him one of the executors of his will, and during the minority of Louis XIV, he had the charge of public affairs. His high station and great abilities excited the envy of the nobility of France, and this occasioned a civil war that continued for several years. Mazarine was at last forced to retire; a price was set on his head, and even his fine library was sold. But this disgrace did not long continue. Mazarine returned to the court with more honor than he had ever enjoyed, and conducted the affairs of the kingdom with so much ability and success that he obtained the French king’s most unreserved confidence. He possessed, in an eminent degree, the power of discovering the dispositions and views of men, and of assuming a character adapted to circumstances.

He was a man of great ambition and pursued with ardour the chase of worldly honours. But, a short time before his death, he perceived the vanity of his pursuit and lamented the misapplication of his time and talents. He was greatly affected by the prospect of his dissolution and the uncertainty of his future condition. This made him cry out, “Oh, my poor soul! what will become of thee? Whither wilt thou go?”

To the queen dowager of France, who came to visit him in his illness, and who had been his friend at court, he expressed himself in these terms: “Madam, your favors have undone me. Were I to live again I would be a “capuchin monkey” rather than a courtier.” — Power of Religion

135 — “WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER, I’LL BE THERE; YES, AND BROTHER, TOO.”

While Mrs Anna Rounds lay on her deathbed (as was supposed) in Indianapolis, Indiana, she was greatly burdened for the conversion of her brother, John W. Jenkins, who lived at Gano, Illinois. He had been the subject of her prayers for many years, and she could not die without seeing him saved. The doctor gave her no hope of her recovery, but she prayed fervently to God to spare her life so that she might go and see her brother and deliver her last message before she died. She began at once to improve and was soon on her way to her brother’s house. As soon as she reached the place she sent for us, as pastor of the Methodist Church, to call at her room. We hurried to the place and found her on her dying bed. She told us of her desire to see her brother converted, and how God had answered her prayer in enabling her to come to him.

After prayer with her, we went into the next room and spoke a few words to her brother, and urged him to take the advice of his dying sister and meet her in heaven. He was overcome with emotion, and got down on his knees and pleaded with God for mercy. He soon found deliverance and was made a new creature in Christ. With a joyful heart he went to the room where his sister was dying, and said, “God bless you, sister Anna, your prayers have been answered. I am a child of God. You are now going away from me and I will meet you in heaven.” Then kneeling by the side of his sister, he thanked God for all of His mercies and prayed for the departing loved one. Death had laid his cold hand upon her, and she was rapidly passing away. Her face was lit up with a heavenly brightness, and she joined with her brother and friends and sang:

“When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”

Adding, as they sang, “Yes, and brother, too will be there.” The burden of her heart had rolled away — she felt that her work was done, and, looking into the face of God a few moments after, she was translated to heaven. — Written for this book by Rev. Clifton P. Pledger, Chicago, Illinois.

A few weeks ago we preached for Bro. Pledger at Kensington M. E. Church, where Bro. Jenkins has been an active member for some time. We referred to the above touching incident and mentioned how Bro. Jenkins had been saved through the influence of his dying sister. His heart was melted, and when we gave the invitation to come to the altar for the fullness of God, he, among others, came forward, and wrestled with God until he was baptized with the Holy Ghost, and shouted for joy. — Editor.

136 — “JESUS, HAVE MERCY ON FATHER,” WAS LITTLE MARY’S DYING PRAYER.

In a shanty on First Avenue, New York City, little Mary B____ lay dying. Suddenly she turned toward her mother and said, “Mother, I am dying, but I am not afraid.” “Not afraid to die?” said her unchristian mother. “Oh, it is awful to die!” Little Mary replied, “Not when you have Jesus with you mother. O mother, you must love my Saviour!” plead this little angel.

At the bedside, on bended knees, was the drunken father. On his head rested the hand of his little daughter, as she repeated three times, at intervals, “Jesus, have mercy on father.”

Shortly afterward she was numbered with the angel choir in heaven, and three months after her death both of her parents were converted, and from that time led Christian lives. — Written for this book by Rev. L. B. Balliett, M.D., of Allentown, Penn.

137 — “MY GOD, MY GOD, MY DOOM IS SEALED! I AM LOST, LOST, LOST!”

Through the kindness of Rev. N. L. Stambaugh, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, we furnish our readers with the following sad experience:

In the year 1886, while the writer was at Crawfordsville, Indiana, working in revival meetings, there was a certain young man present at the meetings who was under deep conviction. He would sit in his seat and tremble, while tears would roll down his cheeks. I plead with him night after night, but he would not yield.  One evening (the last night that he was there) I plead with him more earnestly than on previous occasions, for somehow I was impressed with the feeling that something would happen to this young man if he did not repent that evening; but still, he would not yield to my entreaties. I went home with the solemnity of death resting upon me.

The next morning at about three o’clock there was a loud rap at my door. I went to the door, and there stood a young man before me, who requested me to go over to such a street and such a number as quickly as possible, as there was a young man there dying who wanted to see me.

I hastened as quickly as possible to the address given, and there I found the same young man that I had to plead with the evening before, dying.

He looked at me and said, “Oh, if I had just settled it last evening. Oh, if I would only have yielded.  If only I would have got saved.” I said to him, “There may be hope for you yet.” He began to shake his head and say, “No, no; I am suffering too much pain now to pray.” I tried to point him to the Saviour, but it was of no avail. In a few minutes he began to cry out, “My God, my God, my doom is sealed! I am lost, lost, lost!! I am going to hell!!!” and then drew his last breath. That awful scene I can never forget.

138 — JOHN OXTOBY’S WONDERFUL REVELATION AND UNSPEAKABLE JOY AT DEATH.

This holy and powerful man of God was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1762. He was soundly converted to God in 1804 after having spent many years of his life in sin. He soon commenced preaching the gospel as a Methodist preacher and wherever he went the revival flame was kindled, and thousands of precious souls were converted to God.

His biographer, Harvey Leigh, thus depicts the character of this holy man:

“His most usual theme in the pulpit was faith. He had such a faculty of accommodating and reducing his expressions, relative to this important grace, to the apprehension of the lowest capacity, that every one was enabled to profit considerably under him if at all attentive to him.

“But that which gave lasting effect to all his labors in the Lord’s vineyard was the uncommon power of the Spirit which attended his word. Seldom or never did he open his mouth either in preaching, praying, or personal conversation, but such an unction attended his words that those addressed by him usually felt its force. Not infrequently have numbers fallen under his preaching and prayers, and apparently, under the most striking apprehensions of their sin and danger, they have cried out for mercy. Others who have with great difficulty escaped home have been obliged to send for him or others to pray for them before they dared attempt to sleep; and, strange as it may seem, some have fallen on their way home, and others at their work, from the effects of his preaching and prayers.

“Thus, while he had no superior mental capabilities for the pulpit, he was attended with the most powerful influences of the Holy Spirit; and this made him, in the absence of other qualifications, an able minister of the New Testament. But, while he did not shine in the things to which we have referred, he did excel in the strength and constancy of his faith, which was singularly strong. Perhaps in this, he was second to none. He was a genuine son of Abraham; for he did not stagger at the promises but credited them with confidence unshaken, and which gave glory to God.

“John Oxtoby is now regarded as one of the great men of Methodism. During the whole of the affliction which hastened his death, he had the most glorious displays of the divine favour; he received such a baptism of the Holy Ghost that his soul was filled with peace and joy unutterable. Amidst the sinkings of mortality, the sorrowing of his friends, and his near approach to eternity, he possessed the most steady and serene confidence, and approached the veil of death as if; “Prayer was all his business; and all his pleasure, praise.”

A little while before his departure he mentioned the names of several persons with whom he had been familiarly acquainted and said, “Tell them that strong as my faith has been, and great as have been my comforts while among them during the years of my life, yet all the former manifestations which I have had are nothing compared with those which I now feel.”

To his sister, he said, “O, what have I beheld! Such a sight as I cannot possibly describe. There were three shining forms stood beside me, whose garments were so bright, and whose countenances were so glorious, that I never saw anything to compare with them before.” His dying prayer was, “Lord, save souls; do not let them perish.” Shortly after, he shouted in holy triumph, “Glory, glory, glory!” and immediately soared on high, November 29, 1829. — Shining Lights.

139 — NO HAPPINESS IN THE MOHAMMEDAN RELIGION; CALIPH ABD-ER-RHAMAN IS WITNESS

This great caliph, the third of his name, who was distinguished for his patronage of learning and the arts, and who raised the Moslem empire in Spain to its highest point, was born in 888 and died in 961.

The testimony of this ungodly successor of Mohammed at the end of his career shows how neither the possessions of earth nor the teachings of the Mohammedan religion had the power to satisfy a human soul. His words were: “Fifty years have passed since first I was caliph. Riches, honors, pleasures, I have enjoyed all. In this long period of seeming happiness, I have numbered the days on which I have been happy. They amount to fourteen.”

140 — “OH, HE IS COMING, HE IS COMING! JESUS, COME AND TAKE ME NOW!”

Sister Nannie Belle Gilkey was born in Pennsylvania, Sept. 21, 1877, and died at Harvey, Illinois, on July 18, 1897. She was one of God’s own afflicted children, who suffered for some time with that dread disease, consumption. During the intense suffering which she passed through toward the close of her life, she manifested a sweet spirit of patience. Her circumstances being so adverse, much grace was needed, and she proved the truthfulness of the promise, “As the day, so shalt thy strength be.”

When Jesus came for Nannie he found her waiting and willing to go with Him. For three days before her death, she knew that her time in this world was short. During the day that she died, she was very happy, singing several times in the afternoon,

“Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go.” And “I am so happy in Jesus, From sin and sorrow so free.”

Once she said, “Jesus is so near. Do you not feel that He is near, mamma?” At times her suffering was intense. She said, “O, what shall I do?” When told to look to Jesus, that He was the only one who could help her, she looked up and said, “Yes, Lord!” And Jesus came so near that she exclaimed, “O, He is coming, He is coming! O, Jesus, come and take me now — I am ready.” A few minutes before she left us she waved her hand and said, “Good-bye all,” and she went to be forever with the Lord. — Written for this work by Sadie A. Cryer, of Rockford, Illinois.

141 — LAST WORDS OF THE VENERABLE BEDE

This eminent saint of God was born in 674. He was noted as a theologian and historian. He furnished an early political and ecclesiastical history of England, of great value. In St. Paul’s Church, he was buried there in the year of our Lord 735, in the sixty-first year of his age.

The evening of his death he spent in finishing the translation into the Saxon from the Latin, of the Gospel of St. John.

The last words he uttered before he expired were, “Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

142 — “I AM AS MUCH LOST AS THOUGH I WERE IN HELL.”

Through the kindness of Mrs. H. A. Coon, we publish the following” Mother Hart and I were sent for to visit this neighbor. We found him in terrible distress of soul, pacing the floor and groaning. I said to him, “Mr C____, we have come to help you if that is your desire.” He replied, “I know it; you are all right, but it is too late. I attended your meetings two years ago. The Spirit said to me, ‘Hurry! Go to the altar! Plead with God for mercy!’ I could scarcely sit on the seat. I had been a class leader in the east. I came to Marengo, have been under deep conviction, but would not yield. The Spirit left me, and I am as much lost as though I were in hell already. I feel the fire is kindled here (striking upon his breast). It is too late; I am going to hell and my sons with me.” He lived for two weeks. It was a place of darkness and devils until he died.

143 — POINTING ABOVE, JERRY MCAULEY SAID, “IT IS ALL RIGHT!”

Many of our readers have no doubt heard of Jerry McAuley and his rescue mission work in the great city of New York. He was a brand plucked from the burning.

He was born in Ireland and came to New York when thirteen years old, where for several years he was by profession a “river thief,” stealing goods from vessels by night; and plunging into the sin of every form without restraint. He grew up to be a prizefighter and highway robber. In the midst of his crimes, he was arrested, convicted, and sent to states prison, where after a few years he was powerfully converted to God and commenced to preach Christianity to the other prisoners. Through his instrumentality, many were converted. After serving out half of his time he was pardoned out of prison and continued his work for God in the slums of New York. Thousands of criminals have been saved through his influence, and some have become evangelistic workers.

We are personally acquainted with his successor, Col. C. H. Hadley, now in charge of the great McAuley Mission in New York, where successful work is being accomplished. Bro. Hadley was as low down in sin as McAuley and is one of his converts.

McAuley died in New York, Sept. 18, 1884. Just before being transferred to heaven, arousing himself he pointed above and said, “It is all right,” then sank back and died.

144 — “I HEAR THE ANGELS SINGING AROUND MY BED!”

Through the kindness of Julia E. Strait, of Portlandville, N.Y, we furnish our readers with the following:

In the spring of 1895, in the town of Worcester, N. Y., an aged lady left the shores of time. She had suffered much during a long illness, but she proved the grace of God sufficient and was kept by the power of God from complaining.

During the last three days of her life, while suffering untold distress and pain, she exhorted those of her children and neighbors who came to her bedside to prepare to meet their God. When they wept she said to them; “O do not weep, this suffering will soon be over! I hear the angels singing around my bed! This poor body will soon be at rest!” and so she passed into the rest that remains for the people of God.

145 — BISHOP BEDELL’S LAST WORDS