Obituary.

From the Christian Observer for April 1821. THE REV. THOMAS SCOTT,

Rector of Aston Sandford.

This faithful and laborious servant of God, has at length been called to his eternal rest. His death took place on Monday evening, the 16th instant, after an illness which confined him to his bed exactly five weeks.

Leaving to others the commemoration of his long-continued and very useful labours, or rather committing them all to Him who has, no doubt, bestowed upon them the best applause-"Well done, good and faithful servant!"-we confine ourselves to a few facts pertaining to the latter part of his life.

Though Mr. Scott possessed, as he expressed it on his death-bed, a sort of "iron strength" of constitution, yet he at no part of his life enjoyed good health. For many years, and perhaps never more than during the four years and a half (from Jan. 1788 to June 1792) employed upon the first edition of his Commentary, he suffered severely from bilious complaints and asthma. These distressing affections, however, had for a long time past subsided to a surprising degree; but a liability to attacks of inflammatory fever succeeded to them, which repeatedly endangered and at length terminated his life.

For seven or eight years past, various infirmities had confined him to the immediate neighbourhood in which he resided, and most of the time to his very small parish, not containing seventy souls. His labours, however, as a student, and with his pen, were undiminished: and it is not twelve months since he wrote to one of his family, "I believe I work more hours daily in my study than ever I did in my life." His only relaxation was cultivating his garden, when the weather would permit his thus employing an hour or two in the afternoon. Increasing deafness had of late nearly precluded him from conversation, in which he used to take great delight, and reduced him almost to a life of solitude, in the midst of a family who greatly loved and were tenderly beloved by him.

A mind thus always at work and unrelieved in its labours, must necessarily at times feel itself worn down; and it was rather matter of painful regret, than of surprise, to see this venerable man sometimes melting into tears, even while he declared, I have no assignable cause of distress whatever. But though his spirits thus failed him, his judgment and other intellectual powers remained unimpaired to the end.

In this state his last illness found him. On the first Sunday in March he preached in the forenoon with great animation, (from Rom. viii. 32.) and administered the Lord's Supper; and in the evening, he expounded, as usual, to several of his parishioners assembled in his kitchen-the subject, the Pharisee and publican, Luke xviii. But it was for the last time. He soon after caught a severe cold: and though the catarrhal symptoms gave way sooner than was expected, yet on Saturday, March 10, he was attacked with a fever, which continued with some variations, till its fatal termination at the period already mentioned.

Under all the circumstances of such a case, to have expected that Mr. Scott's mind should be kept uniformly cheerful, and filled with bright anticipations, would have been not only little less than a miracle, but would have shown a defective acquaintance with the operations of the human mind, and with God's dealings with his most established and matured servants, and also an ignorance of what both scripture and fact teach respecting the power and malice of evil spirits. The sagacious and observant Bunyan took a different view of the subject, and accordingly represents his deeper and more experienced Christian as encountering, on his first entrance into the river, and in some parts of his passage, a degree of darkness and apprehension, from which the younger disciple, Hopeful, is mercifully exempted. Is not this natural, and supported by facts? The deeper views which such characters have taken of sin; the profounder sense they have of their own unworthiness; their more awful impressions of eternity; and the apprehensions which long experience has taught them to form of the deceitfulness of the human heart; all conspire to this end. Moreover, it is a common observation, that where (as in the case of Abraham) Almighty God has communicated strong faith, he commonly subjects it to severe trials. If any can conceive of nothing superior to present comfort, to them this may be puzzling; but it need not be so to others. The result, in such cases, proves honourable to God, and edifying to his saints. What tried and tempted spirit, for example, has not been animated in his conflicts by the exclamation wrung from holy Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him?”

Though, however, Mr. Scott passed through "deep waters," and sometimes "walked in darkness," (Isa. 1. 10.) during his last illness, it is not to be supposed that this was his constant, or even his habitual situation, much less that fear of the final event prevailed in him. No: hope as to that point generally predominated, though

he would say, "Even one fear, where infinity is at stake, is sufficient to countervail all its consoling effects:" but the present conflict was severe: "Satan," he said, "bends all his efforts to be revenged on me, in this awful hour, for all that I have done against his kingdom through life!" and his holy soul could conceive of many evils, short of final failure of salvation, from which he sunk back with horror. There can be no doubt that these distressing feelings were much connected with the disease under which he laboured, as they increased and abated again with the daily paroxysm of his fever: yet, with the scriptures in our hands, we cannot hesitate to concur in his judgment, that the malignant powers of darkness took advantage of this, in a peculiar manner, to ha rass and distress him. From time to time, however, the clouds dispersed, and the "sun of righteousness arose upon him with healing in his beams." This was signally the case, on one occasion, after he had received the holy sacrament, which he did four times with a solemnity, and even sublimity of devotion, which can never be forgotten by those who witnessed it He had observed, "An undue stress is by some laid upon this ordinance, as administered to the sick, but I think others of us are in danger of undervaluing it; it is a means of grace, and may prove God's instrument of conveying to me the Comfort I am seeking." Blessed be God it did so in an eminent degree. Shortly after the service was concluded, he adopted the language of Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Through the remainder of the day, and during the night, he remained in a very happy state of mind. To one who came in the evening he said, "It was beneficial to me: I received Christ, and he received me. I feel a calmness which I did not expect last night: I bless God for it." And then he repeated, in the most emphatic manner, the whole twelfth chapter of Isaiah, "O Lord, I will praise thee," &c. The next morning he said, "This is heaven begun. I have done with darkness for ever, --for ever. Satan is vanquished. Nothing now remains but salvation with eternal glory-eternal glory.”.

This, indeed, was not realized, so far as it implied the expectation that there would be no other conflict. The fact is, he had imagined himself much nearer death than he was; and life continuing, "the clouds," as he expressed it, "returned after the rain." Still, as the end approached, darkness and gloom fled away, and calmness and peace, and sometimes blessed anticipations predominated. The day before he died he dismissed one of his children to public worship, with benedictions and

prayers for all the congregations of Christ's church, and concluded, "Blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. He is highly exalted above all blessing and praise." And the very day he died, he thus addressed an aged and infirm inmate of his family, "This is hard work: but let us think of heaven! let us hope for heaven! let us pray for heaven."" And afterwards, on reviewing the forenoon, (for he seemed still strictly to call himself to account for his use of time) he said, "the morning for some hours passed very comfortably." And again, "This is something like godliness,"-meaning, as he at another time expressed it, that he had been able to "approach unto God."

But it was not only at these brighter seasons that the excellent state of his mind appeared: even when "joy and peace" were most wanting, all the other "fruits of the Spirit," produced in rich abundance, were visible in him to every eye but his own. This became the more apparent even by means of his deafness, which, while it almost cut him off from receiving communications from others, produced in him a habit of almost literally thinking aloud and this brought to light such exercises of faith, of hope, of love, of fervent prayer, of deep humility, of meditation on the scriptures, in which numerous passages were often brought together in the most striking and often beautiful combination, as could not otherwise have been traced, and as cannot be adequately represented to those who did not witness them.

But throughout his illness all his tempers and dispositions marked a soul ripe for heaven. His patience was most exemplary, though this was the grace which almost more than any other he feared would fail. His kindness and affection to all who approached him were carried to the greatest height, and showed themselves in a singularly minute attention to all their feelings, and whatever might be for their comfort, to a degree that was quite affecting; especially at a time when he was suffering so much himself, often in mind as well as body;-even in the darkest times, THOU ART RIGHTEOUS! FATHER, GLORIFY THY NAME! solemnly enunciated, was the sentence most frequently on his lips, and marked his profound submission. His humility and sense of utter unworthiness seemed now more deep than words could express. One of the prayers caught from his lips, in the manner above described, was in these words: "O God, do not abhor me, though I be indeed abhorrible, and abhor myself! Say not, Thou filthy soul, continue filthy still! but say, rather, I will, be thou clean!" It need scarcely be said that Christ was now more precious in his eyes than ever, and his expressions

of exclusive, undivided, and adoring adherence to him for salvation, if possible more strong. At the same time he refused the appropriation to himself of those promises which belong only to true believers in Christ, except as it could be shown that he bore the character commonly annexed to the promise, such as those that fear the Lord that love God, repent, believe and obey. When he could not trace this in himself, he would have recourse to those which encourage even the chief of sinners to come to Christ, and assure them, that "he that cometh he will in nowise cast out."

In this connexion it may be remarked, that whatever dissatisfaction with himself he at any time expressed, he never intimated the least wavering as to the truths which he had spent his life in inculcating, or impeached his own sincerity and faithfulness in the discharge of his ministry.

He

It was delightful to see, as the close approached, all his fears disappearing one after another, and in the end not one evil that he had apprehended coming upon him! He had dreaded delirium, in which he might say and do "desperate things:" but he suffered none, beyond an occasional tumult of thoughts in his sleep, and a momentary confusion on awaking. had dreaded the utter exhaustion of his patience but it increased to the end. On the only point on which any approach to impatience had been discovered" his desire to depart"-he had become almost perfectly resigned; and though he still inquired frequently if any "token for good,' as he called the symptoms of dissolution, appeared, yet on receiving a negative answer, he only observed, "Then I must seek a fresh stock of patience."

His last fear respected the agony of death itself, the act of dying, and the severe struggle which he thought he had peculiar reason then to expect. But, blessed be God! death brought no agony, no struggle, not even a groan, or a sigh, or a discomposed feature to him! His breath (so to speak) gradually ebbed away, and that he ceased to breathe, while his countenance assumed a most benign and placid aspect, was all the description that could be given of his departure.

Thus "slept in Jesus," in the 75th year of his age, and after the faithful discharge of his ministry during more than 45 years, this honoured servant of God, who by his numerous and valuable writings, "being dead, yet speaketh," and will, it may be hoped, continue to instruct and edify to distant generations.

A sentence which he uttered on an occasion when his assembled family joined with him in reviewing "all the way that the Lord had led them," may perhaps properly close this brief narrative:-" I can

ot but feel and consider myself as a man that has been peculiarly prospered of God, and I desire to acknowledge it with humble and devout gratitude. Yes, goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. Whatever my FEELINGS may at any time be-and my situation and infirmities, and perhaps also my turn of mind exposes me, at times, to considerable gloom and depression-yet THIS IS MY deliberate judgment. Yea, and on the whole I can add with good confidence, not only they HAVE followed, but goodness and mercy SHALL follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

It may be gratifying to the public to be informed that Mr. Scott has left in MS. a memoir of his own life, down to the year 1812, which cannot fail to prove highly interesting to all who have esteemed his character and profited by his instructions.

It may be satisfactory also to state, with respect to the stereotype edition of his Bible, which has been long in the course of execution, that the copy is fully prepared by the author as far as the third chapter of the Second Epistle to Timothy; and that besides this there exists a copy of the last published edition, corrected by him to the very end of Revelations: from which the remaining part will be completed, according to his own final directions, under the care of a gentleman, in concert with his (the author's) family, who has long been his literary assistant in the work, and in whose fidelity he placed entire confidence.

From the Boston Recorder.

DEATH OF DR. WORCESTER.

In part of our last week's paper, we gave the melancholy intelligence that the Rev. Dr. WORCESTER is no more. The news was received from Mr. Hall at Taloney, in a letter to Mr. Evarts. Mr. H. had just received it in a letter from Brainard. The last letter direct from Brainard by the same mail was dated June 5, which states that the life of Dr. W. was despaired of. Mr. Hall's letter says, that on the morning of the 7th he sweetly fell asleep. As the mail from Brainard arrives but once a week, no further particulars have been received. At the United Monthly Concert at Park Street Church, last Monday evening, the meeting confined their attention to this afflictive dispensation of Divine Providence. The whole American church, cannot but be clothed in mourning. The eminent talents, and entire disinterestedness of Dr. Worcester, have rendered him a shining light to this land, and to other lands which have hitherto set in darkness.

It gives us pleasure to insert the following lines which were received from an un

known correspondent, just before our paper was put to press.

On the Death of the Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D. Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The north can boast a soldier's fame:

On Abraham's heights the hero fell, While victory crown'd his glorious name, And WOLFE resounds from lyric shell. The mortal blow had struck the chief, When, faint, he caught the word—they fly:'

Who flies? Who flies? was question brief; The foe! The foe! was quick reply. 'Twas then a fierce and glaring beam

Shot from the Hero's darkening eye; It shone for once, like lightning's gleam, That bursts in fire from midnight sky. Go, ye idolaters of war!

And boast your hero's envied fate; With trophies deck the conqueror's car, And shout the soldier's name so great. The Soldier of the Cross I boast,

Who sleeps beneath the southern clod, In glory falling at his post

THE HOLY BATTLE GROUND of God! A mightier chief than Wolfe, I ween, Of loftier soul, more flaming zeal, With eagle eye more vast and keen, With sword of better temper'd steel. How blest to fall like WORCESTER dearWithin the heathen camp to die,The shouts of victory in his ear,— Heaven in his kindling, raptur'd eye! MAINE.

Selections.

HANNAH HOUSMAN.

In her

This amiable and exemplary woman was one of those who remember their Creator in the days of their youth. She was a native of Kidderminster. childhood she enjoyed the advantages of a religious education; and, such was the blessing of God upon her early privileges, that she appears from her diary, to have been under lively religious impressions at thirteen years of age. For twenty-four years, she seems to have humbly and circumspectly walked with God. In her dying hours she had such foretastes of the joy to come, as richly rewarded her for all the conflicts of this probationary scene; and, in her triumphant departure, let the young behold an animating and encouraging reason for early piety. The following account of her last illness and death, was drawn up by a person, who witnessed her sufferings and her comforts.

From the time of her first seizure, she was exercised with very violent pains, with

out any intermission till her death; such as, she would often say, she thought she could not have borne; "But," said she, "God is good; verily he is good to me! Through life I have found him a good and gracious God."

When recovering from extreme pain she said, "God is good; I have found him so; and though he slay me, yet I will trust in him. These pains make me love my Lord Jesus the better. O they put me in mind of what he suffered, to purchase salvation for my poor soul! Why for me, Lord! why for me, the greatest of sinners? Why for me, who so long refused the rich offers of thy grace, and the kind invitations of the Gospel? How many helps and means have I enjoyed more than many others; yea, above most! I had a religious father and mother; and I had access to a valuable minister, to whom I could often and freely open my mind. I have lived in a golden age. I have lived in peaceable times, and have enjoyed great advantages and helps for communion with God, and the peace of my own mind; for which I owe my gracious God and Father more praises than words can express. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all, or any, of his benefits!"

When any were weeping and mourning over her, she would say; "Weep not for me: it is the will of God; therefore be content. If it may be for his honour and glory, he will spare me a little longer; if not, I am wholly resigned to the will of God. I am content to stay here, as long as he has any thing for me to do, or to suffer; and I am willing to go, if it be my Father's good pleasure. Therefore be content, and say, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth to him good.'

To a person who came to see her, she said; Cousin I think I shall die: and now, what a comfort it is, that I am not afraid of death! The blood of Christ cleanses me from all sin. But mistake me not: there must be a life and conversation agreeable to the gospel, or else our faith in Christ is a dead faith. Secure Christ for your friend; set not your heart on things below: riches and honours, and what the world calls pleasures, are all fading, perishing things." She then threw out her hand, and said; "O, if I had thousands and ten thousands of gold and silver lying by me, what could they do for me, now I am dying? Take the advice of a departing friend who wishes you well. Do not set your affections on riches, or on any thing here below. Remember, death will come in a little while, whether you are ready or unready, willing or unwilling. I commend you to God. I hope, in a short time, we shall meet again, in heaven, that place of perfect rest, peace, and happiness."