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J(
''i
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH,
'*^.
MEMORIAL
OP
JOHN ANDERSOIf
LATE JAKITOE OF OTEEN'S COLLEGE,
KINaSTON, 0. W.
u Tbere are in tl Is loud stunning tide
Of human care a°d crime.
With whom the melodies abide
Of the everlasting chime ,
mo carry music in their heart
KINGSTON:
.AMES M. CREI0HT0«, PKI^^ER,
1859.
;.-V
;
TO
THE STUDENTS OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE
WHO HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITIES OF
WITNESSING THE
CHRISTIAN LIFE, OR THE HAPPY DEATH HERE RECORDED,
THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS INSCRIBED.
J.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. Page.
Early Incidents. - - 1
° CHAPTER II.
Onward. 7
CHAPTER III.
The Trust and its Fulfilment. - - - - 18
CHAPTER IV.
Shadows. » , 35
CHAPTER V.
OoDTO 3ax)ME. 45
CHAPTER VI.
Farewell. 66
PREFACE .
(
In an age like the present, when the general
superficiality of the time scciiis to extend itself
even to religion ; and the olden type of manly and
vigorous piety is becoming unhappily rare;— it
has seemed matter of regret that the risino- Htc-
rature of our youug Country should not i)ossess a
record of one whose strict unfailing integrity of life
and conduct commended to all around him the
power of the religion he professed.
This feeling, and the hope that the presenta-
tion of his life to the public, may give the influence
of his memory a wider field than it might other-
wise have had, — have induced the publication of
this little memorial of an individual who was truly
a blessing and a benefactor in his sphere.
May it be blessed of G od to accomplish its
design, and to stir up many to become '* followers
of him, even as he was of Christ."
Kingston, November, 1859.
I.
EAELY INCIDENTS.
" Lives of great men nil remind up,
Wo may make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind up
Footprints on the sands of time ; —
Footprints that, perhaps, another
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother
Seeing, may take heart again."
— Longfellow.
If the "lives of ^r he found in the creature ; — there
is no happiness away from God !
I should hav
along "with
lave been very glad to have come
— to have seen you all, and as I
have a great wish to see that depository of the dead
where sleep the ashes of one that so much loved me,
and watched over me with so much care and tender-
ness which my ungrateful heart forgot to repay, —
which makes me often now to mourn. But I hope
the Lord may yet spare me to visit that land so dear
to me, and I think it would be good for my health,
but it seems as if it was not the time for me to go
yet. Write soon and tell me what you are thinking
about coming to America. My kind love to you,
dear Father and Brothers and Sisters.
Your loving son,
JOHN ANDERSON.
13
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
*;i I
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III.
THE TEUST, AND ITS FULFILMENT.
m
;!',!!
*' One by one, thy duties wait thee,
Let thy whole strength go to each ;
Let no future dreams elate thee,
Learn thou first what these can teach."
" Every hour that flits so slowly,
Has its tasks to do or bear ;
Luminous the crown, and holy, —
If thou set each gem with care 1"
By what seemed at the time an unfortunate
concurrence of events, — John Anderson found
himself in the year 1851 unexpectedly thrown out
of his previous employment. - He was for some
time in considerable perplexity about his future
movements, and even formed a plan of emigrating
to California — then in the height of its popularity.
From this idea, however, his friends earnestly dis-
suaded him ; — and he decided on remaining, — to
fill, soon after, a situation of more trust and res-
ponsibility than he had yet held. lie was engaged
as Janitor, by the Trustees of Queen^s College.
I
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
19
1
I
Never did the Trustees find reason to regret tlieir
choice, for a more efficient, conscicntions, trust-
worthy servant, or one more devoted to the inter-
ests of the College and the Students, they can
never hope to find. His was no mercenary hire-
ling service ; it was the hearty devotedness of one
who thoroughly identified himself with the Insti-
tution of which he felt himself a part.
The College buildings and grounds were ex-
tensive, — and their care, with the cultivation of
the large garden, gave him plenty to do during
the long summer vacation. Here he might be
seen, in the early summer mornings, working as
industriously as if his own living depended upon
the produce of the ground. This, together with
the no light task of cutting and piling with his
own hands all the firewood to be used in the
building during the winter, — fully occupied his
time, and prevented him from feeling the loneli-
ness of his situation.
The College — though a solitary, — was a very
pleasant summer residence. Built upon a gently
rising slope, it commands a full view of Lake
Ontario stretching its blue waters far to the west-
ward;— its wide, ocean-like expanse relieved by the
green islands and fertile wooded shores in the fore-
ground. Here John had his own neat apartment,
always kept in order by himself, and his well-filled
book-case, containing a small but choice library,
embracing a varied stock of Divinity; History and
" (
20
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
I
If:.;
hi!-
1^
'■^^
t.
Poetry. He was fond of reading, and in his
leisure hours managed to lay up a very considera-
ble amount of information, — and as his mind was
reflective and discriminating, he read with intelli-
gence and profit.
Here too, like Abraham, he raised his altar
to the Lord. Eegularly a^ nine o'clock arrived,
might be heard the voice of prayer, or the sweet
old Psalmody of Scotland, rising from John's
apartment, a token of the solitary evening worship
he was oftering to his "Father who seeth in
secret." When on his death-bed, he could recall
with peculiar satisfaction, the memory of the many
happy hours he had here enjoyed of solitary com-
munion with his God.
In this quiet seclusion, — for he was the only
human inhabitant of the place, — the Summer
months passed peacefully away, and when Autumn
came, and brought the throng of returning stu-
dents — full of life and spirits — to resume their
studies, the place was no longer lonely, — at least
in the day time.
In Winter, John's duties were more varied
and engrossing. He kept in order the class-
rooms, took charge of the fires, attended the Pro-
fessors when required, and rang the College bell
hourly, a duty always performed with unfailing
punctuality. His arrangements were always ex-
cellent and methodicaL He never seemed in a
hurry, — but never a moment idle, and his work, —
I
"ii
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
21
whatever it might be, was always thoroughly
done. The Professors found him a ready, intelli-
gent assistant in any arrangements of apparatus,
&c., requiring a strong arm and a dexterous hand,
and indeed in this line, he rendered himself, at
last, almost indispensable. He could take the me-
teorological observations when, as sometimes hap-
pened, there was no one else at hand to do so ; —
though in his strict regard for the Sabbath, he
could not easily be reconciled to the necessity
which Science imposes for their being taken on-
that day. He could sympathise heartily, in this re-
spect, with the spiritually-minded McCheyne, who,
— though he did not condemn, — had no love for the
practice.
In his dealings with the Professors, John
Anderson was always the trustworthy and respect-
ful of^cial ; — and often, though never stepping out
of his place, — the affectionate and sympathising
friend. In his intercourse with the students he
could be, as occasion required,— the stern reprover,
the sympathising comforter in trouble, or the al-
most paternal counsellor. He has been known even
to afford pecuniary assistance to some of them in
time of need. Always cheerful and obliging, —
ready to appreciate and enter into any innocent
^^fun^^^ while at the same time frowning down all
that showed any tendency to impropriety or insub-
ordination, — the College Janitor secured the res-
22
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
I ,
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I
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■■11
pect and confidence of all, and tlie real attach-
ment of many.
He regularly attended the religious exercises
of the College. Day after day, as the hour ar-
rived for morning prayers, he took his usual sta-
tion by the door, and his reverential demeanour
must often have had a subduing influence on a
careless or irreverent student. His blameless
Christian conduct carried with it no small moral
weight. His ^strong uncompromising piety was
known to all, while at the same time he thor-
oughly combined the diligent in business with the
fervent in spirit^ serving his Lord equally in both.
Not the most determined fault-finder could have
accused him of neglecting a single secular duty
for the religious ones which he so much enjoyed.
In both, he was contented to serve God patiently
in his own sphere, feeling that
" The daily round, the common task
Will furnish all we ought to ask —
Room to deny ourselves ; — a road
To bring us daily, nearer God."
And the consequence was that his character rose
high above the possibility of attack. If the
laugh or sneer against religion was ever directed
to others, it fell powerless against him ; for all felt
that there was that in his religion which must not
be trifled with. Daring indeed must have been
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
23
the offender who would, in Ms presence, have
ventured upon a jest with sacred subjects.
Of the regard in which he was held by his
young friends, many convincing proofs were given
in his last illness. His little library too, contained
many tokens of friendsliip, — or of recognition on
the part of the various Societies among the Stu-
dents, of the extra services he cheerfully rendered
in reference to their meetings ; — often to his own
personal inconvenience.
Nor was the bond of union broken when the
young men bade farewell to their Alma Mater.
The sterling character of John Anderson made
the impression he produced one not easily effaced,
and when in after years a student returned to visit
old College scenes, no smile of welcome was
more cordially given and received, — no hand met
his with a truer grasp than that of his old friend —
the Janitor. When the tidings of his death were
made known, they saddened and impressed many
a distant alumnus^ and from far-scattered students
came, as with one accord, expressions of regret,
and testimonies of their sincere esteem for that
undeviating, unostentatious piety, which in him it
had been their privilege to witness.
The following extracts, from letters written
during his residence in Queen's College, contain a
graphic picture of some of the difficulties and pri-
vations of his post — of which, however, he was
scarcely ever known to complaii . It will be seen
I!
? 1
24:
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
too, from their tone, that the patience and cheer-
fulness with which he bore his lonely lot did not
arise from stoicism :
Kingston, December 30, 1851.
Dear Brother :
Since the 1st October I have been at
Queen's College as Janitor for the session which
ends on the 1st of May. I stand the cold very
badly, and I have got a very bad cold. As the
weather has been and still is very severe, and as
the market is nearly a mile from the College, I
felt this very hard upon me. I uaed to get fatter
in winter, but I think that this winter I am falling
off, although I cannot say I have had bad health ;
but for some time, I suffered greatly from a strain
in my knee, and as I was so situated that I could
not take rest, I strained every part of my body,
which drove me into a violent fever, from which
I am happy to say, the Lord hath restored me
again to my former health and strength, for which
I am truly thankful.
I was happy to hear that your fears for the
future were not as in so many cases, producing
discontent. John, it is a truth of the richest kind
that contentment is the richest legacy that is to be
found here below. There are some that do very
well by trying other climes, and more do worse,
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
25
but I think from my own experience and obser-
vation, that if I and a good many more had been
contented, we would have been just as well at
home.
I was very sorry to hear from you of Brother
James' long and severe illness, and the little hope
there was of his recovery. He has been a great
sufferer. I hope that it has been sanctified to him,
and that with the Psalmist he is able to say " It
has been good for me that I have been afflicted —
before I was afliicted I went astray, but now I
keep thy law." But yet, we know that " no
affliction for the present seems joyous, but griev-
ous," yet afterwards ityieldeth the peaceable fruits
of righteousness to them that are exercised there*
by." This is a world of troubles ; — they are
confined to no age and no land. This news made
me very melancholy, and filled me with gloomiest
thoughts. I thought, — hard and trying as James'
case was, — that he was at home and with his
owD, — but I thought if anything like this was to
befall me, how miserable I would be. Often al-
ready I have found nothing gives me so much
consolation as the promises of the Gospel. Oh
that we could all trust in them more. I am in
hopes that my dear brother may yet be spared,
and that the Lord may grant to him more days
upon the earth, and that he may come forth out of
the furnace of affliction purified, and may yet
glorify God's name upon the earth ; but if other-
I
26
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
1,1
!
l!t
L
¥h
wise lie has determined — that lie would take him
to Himself, and fit him to resign himself and all
his little family to llim who has promised to be
the widow's husband, and the orphan's stay.
There is not much news as to the state of our
country that is of much interest. There will
never be much peace in political feeling so long
as part^ spirit runs as high as it does at present.
Our Parliamentary electioLis are now going on,
which is causing a little stir through the country,
and brings out a little money, which is about all
the good they do. The two parties are called
Radicals and Tories. The Radicals have been in
power the last four years, and they have just
done as little good as the Tories. It is thought
that they will again be the majority ; but for my
part I never trouble my head about one of them.
Although the polling-house was just across the
street, I never went near it.
Kingston, March 5, 1853.
Dear Sister and Brother :
I have up to the present been contemplating
a great move in bidding a long farewell to Canada ;
but although I have often thought of leaving it,
I have never yet been able to effect my escape.
Two years ago I was all ready to go to California,
and was prevented, and now this year I have
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH,
many fears that I will not bo able to make my c;^-
cape.
Your last letter to mc was one of a very
solemn kind, announcing to nie the death of my
dear brother, with whom my early days were
spent, and many of the hardships of our early
days we bore together,— and as branches of the
family tree, I often thought that his family afYoc-
tion was very strong, and often wished that my
feelings were as susceptible as his. I also thought
that his constitution was better than mine. Al-
though he was never so strong as me, yet I think
he was able to endure more fatigue ; — but all this
is nothing. How true it is that we are as the
grass that groweth up ; — it the morning it flour-
isheth and groweth up , in the evening it is cut
down and withered. What can we say but hum-
bly acquiesce in all the doings of the Lord and
only say " His will be done ;" — and hear the
voice that echoes from the tomb of those gone
before — '^ Be ye also ready." In the midst of
sorrow there was cause for joy to think of the
comfortable hope that he entertained of his
Saviour's love and willingness to receive the very
chief of sinners who believe on his name. By
faith in the virtue and efficacy of His blood to
cleanse and purify, death was to him disarmed of
its sting. That he with so much composure spoke
of trimming his lamp of grace to light him into the
marriage supper of the Lamb, was comfortable testi-
28
PAiinrrL unto death.
II
I!
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11' ir
m
1 1
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t
mony. How " blessed are the dead that die ia
the Lord from henceforth and forever ?"
The description of your visit and the min-
gled scene, as well as the description of your own
feelings I will not soon forget, as you described to
me the happy sound that fell upon your ear, as it
came from the lips of him who had been the in-
strument in God's hand of leading our departed
brother to the knowledge of the truth as it is in
Jesus, — as he spoke of the firm belief and the Avell-
grounded hope that he entertained of his safety
and his happy change. You only saw the cofTm
that contained the mortal body, but the speaker
was looking and speaking of the immortal part
that had entered upon that inheritance that is in
corruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away.
Everything, as you entered your native vil-
lage, wore a gloom, and all that was dear to you
was sorrowful ; — many now no more to be seen.
I thought what a sorrowful sight it would be to
me to return to it. It fills my mind with some-
thing of a very painful kind, — what time has
done, and what a very short period will do. Soon
will we all be gone the way of all the earth.
How sad it is that we are so apt to forget
things of so much moment ! Procrastination, —
the great thief of time — is always saying — Time
enough yet for these grave matters long after this.
Such delays are attended with great danger and
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
29
risk, for in an hour when wc think not, wc may
be called to give in our account.
We have had at the College this winter a
very severe dispensation of sickness, — some cases
of small pox of the African kind. One young
lad was in bed forty days, — long blind and quite
insensible, and yet ho has got over it. The Col-
lege was stoj)ped for eight days ; — it is nothing at
all to get on as long as they are kept at classes,
but when you have thirty of them in their rooms
all the day, burning wood and working mischief^
it is a liarht nourishment he had hitherto beea
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
47
lines
hope
rthcr
night
him
and
»re of
but
made
of the
imple
—and
3 con*
Iways
apart
of the
long,
to his
lowed
icially
7, "if
father
d oth-
n other
is the
i^ress.
Fering,
lowing
beea
taking. For nearly a fortnight he was thus de-
prived of all fox/d or drink, and as his constitu.
tion was not yet prostrated by the disease itself,
be might have been said to be slowly dying of
starvation. Ho would sometimes look wistfully
at the food which he would gladly have taken,
and say that " it was terrible'^ to be hungry and
thirsty, and yet unable to touch the nourishment
that was offered to him. Yet this, — as well as his
other sufferings, — was borne patiently and unmur-
muringly. In allusion to it, he would say when
accepting with eagerness the offers of his friends to
read and pray with him, — that " spiritual nour-
ishnic' ■ was all that he could now take," and
that ': . eceived with avidity. His pain some-
times drew tears from those who witnessed it,^ —
but never a complaint from Mm, All was peace,
confidence in a Father's love, — trust in the felt
presence of a personal, livivr/ Saviour.
In one respect there was a marked contrast
between John's present illness, and that which he
had had three years previously, llien, — he had
passed through clouds and tliick darkness — des-
pondent and discouraged, — doubting sometimes
whether he were at all a child of God, or had ever
been reconciled through his Saviour. Doubtless at
the time, this disciptino was necessary, but now, it
was far otherwise. When his lormer state was al-
luded to by a friend who had known him long
and well, he gratefully noticed the difTercnce.
48
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
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" Now," said he, "all is peace, — I have never
had a cloud I" Lying at rest in the " everlasting
arnis," he seemed raised above even the desire for
release from suffering, until it should be God's
own time. On one occasion, when the pain in
his head and throat was unusually agonizing, —
the same friend expressed her sorrow for his suf-
fering. " Oh no," said he cheerfully, it is all love]
— God is dealing very graciously with me." On
the paroxysm becoming even more violent, she
said again, *' I wish it might please God to relieve
you a little from this terrible distress."
" No," he said earnestly, " He afflicteth not
willingly. He is very pitiful and of lender mercy !"
As a breath of refreshing fragrance borne
from some bank of flowers to the wearied senses
of the toil worn way-farer along a dusty, barren
road, — so seemed a visit to John's sick chamber
to his fellow-pilgrims through the " wilderness of
this world." No unpleasant element mingled
with it, unless it were the pain of witnessing his
suffering, but even that was hardly betrayed by
outward sign. Though his emaciated counte-
nance told of the ravages disease had made, it
was still calm and peaceful. A light from Heaven
seemed to beam in the dark eyes, now unnaturally
bright, in contrast with the deadly pallor of his
face. His room was kept in its usual neat order
by his kind and unwearied attendants, and his
affectionate dog kept wistful guard by the bed side
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
49
of his dying master. On a table near him lay the
books from which he liked his friends to read to
him, — chief of which was always the Bible. The
hundred and thirtieth Psalm, the fourteenth and
fifteenth of John's Gospel, the fifteenth of I. Cor-
inthians, and some passages in Isaiah and Hebrews
were often read at his request. The " Morning
and Night Watches" by McDuif, was one of his
favorite books. A few days before his death, on
having the 2nd "Night Watch " read, he seemed
to dwell upon it particularly, and added emphati-
cally at the close, " He is faithful, — unchangeable !''
His present state seemed an embodiment of
the words of the German poet :
" Now my soul is free from care,
For her thoughts from all things cease.
That can pierce like sharpest thorns
Wounding sore the inner peace."
Having thus in his " inner peace" so uncloud-
ed and firm, — a foretaste of the home he was ap-
proaching, it was not strange that the transition
to eternal life — " whose portal we call death" —
had lost all terror for him. Like the pilgrims in
the land of Beulah, he seemed but awaiting by the
river's brink the wished for summons.
" What a happy man am I," he said, one
day, *' lying here, waiting to go home to my
Father's House."
When his sufferings were alluded to, he would
50
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
(,
I
ll
gay — " My sufferings are nothing^ I have only a
short way to go, when they will all be past."
He expressed the satisfaction he felt in look-
ing back upon the many hours of solitary com-
munion with God which he had enjoyed in his
lonely abode. He was doubtless then maturing
the strength of trust in his God, which was now
supporting him. Much of his time was still
spent in prayer, and he enjoyed greatly the visits
of the friends who read and prayed with him.
He would sometimes express fervent thankfulness
that he had not been induced to leave home in the
beginning of his illness, — saying that he did not
know what he would have done, without the
prayers and visits of his Minister, the Professors,
and his other friends, and said that he felt deeply
indebted to the Church for the comfort that some
of its young members had ministered to him.
Duiing the three weeks of his confinement to
bed, the students readily volunteered to sit up
with him — two and two by turns ; — a service of
love which they felt it a real privilege to be al-
lowed to perform. During these nightly watch-
ings he would ask them to read his favorite pas-
sages of Scripture, and enjoyed much hearing
them sing the Psalms he loved so well, saying that
it " made the night seem so short " He was par-
ticularly fond of the hundred and second, in our
old Scottish version, which, if sometimes wanting
in polish, is unrivalled for power and simplicity.
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
51
I
On one occasion, when he seemed almost too weak
for speech, to the surprise of all, he joined with
great delight and fervor in singing the words —
" He from His Holy place looked down,
The earth He viewed from Heaven on High,
To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan
And free them that are doomed to die ;
That Sion and Jerusalem too,
His name and praise may well record,
When people and the kingdoms do
Assemble all to praise the Lord."
Sometimes when lying apparently prostrated,
he would suddenly begin to sing, in a low voice,
a verse of a favorite Psalm — and when he could
no longer articulate, his lips would move in unison
with those who sang to him. It seemed as if even
weakness and pain could not take away his delight
in the exercise of praise.
Even yet, John's attention to duty and con-
sideration for others, was strong as ever. He con-
tinued to give directions about what needed to be
done in his own old department, and on the very
day of his death, he expressed his anxiety that a
broken pump should be repaired without delay.
Indeed, so great was his desire that nothing
should be neglected, and so unceasing his vigilance
in this respect, that, — except that all agreed *' no
one could ring the hell like JolirH'^ — it would hardly
have been known from any outward sign about
the College, that its Janitor was laid on a bed of
death.
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FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
John's friends were very numerous, and many
of them claimed the privilege of a farewell visit.
He spoke to all kindly and cheerfully, sometimes
adding an affectionate wish or a parting counsel.
When one of his old Sabbath scholars came to
see him, he spoke to her of all the old members of
his class, many of whom had long left the place.
He said he had thought of and prayed for each
one during his illness. He expressed his sense of
the kindness of the Professors in their frequent
visits to his chamber, and thanked his Minister
warmly for his attention, praying for him that he
might be ** faithful, zealous, diligent and consci-
entious," and might receive ''a crown of glory
that fadeth not away."
To the students, too, he spoke in kindly warn-
ing where he thought it needed, — in some cases so
long and earnestly that it was feared he was
injuring himself. " Living near God " was the
point he dwelt on most earnestly. This done, —
all would be well. Even to students at a dis-
tance, whom he had known well, he sent mes^
sages of affectionate Christian counsel. At this
time it cost him an effort to articulate, but the spirit
was strong, and triumphed over the failing flesh.
For a short time previous to his death, the
power of swallowing returned to him, so that he
was once more able to take the food for which his
appetite craved, while the relief removed the fear
that he might die of suffocation, — the only thing
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
63
i
from which lie seemed to shrink with dread. On
the day which was his last on earth, he did not
seem weaker than he had been for some days pre-
viously. He prayed for some time audibly, and
in a very earnest manner, — first for himself, —
then for his father and his relations, and lastly for
the Church and the College. One of his kind
visitors repeated the text "I will that they whom
Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory ;" — and asked him
whether he did not find it precious now ? His
earnest response showed how deeply he felt its
comfort.
The same friend also read to him one of
McDuff 's Night Watches. The following passage
is extracted from it as being so peculiarly applica-
ble to the circumstancas of him who was listening,
for almost the last time, to a human voice.
" May I be enabled to enjoy more and more,
every day, holy filial nearness to the mercy seat
— there unburdening into Thine ear all my wants
and trials — my sorrows and perplexities — my
backslidings and sins. Give me grace to bow with
child-like submission to a Father's will — to bear
without a murmur a Father's rod — to hear in every
dealing, joyous or sorrowful, a Father's voice —
and when death comes, to have every fear dispelled
by listening to a Father's summons — " To-day shall
thou he with me in Paradise^
Towards the middle of that day — the 1st of
54
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
1 'I
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li':
February 1859, he seemed to revive a little ; —
but soon sank back into his former vreakness.
About five o^clock in the afternoon, one of the
Professors, — who had been his constant visitant
since his illness began,— came in to see him. He
engaged in prayer, but before it was concluded,
John Anderson no longer needed it ; — silently, —
almost unperceived, — the summons had come, and
he had gone away to the *' better country " he had
been '* looking for " so long !
In taking leave of the last scene of John's
life, the following passage from a recent publica-
tion, though not originally bearing reference to
hirrij is quoted as being a beautiful and accurate
description of his Christian character.
" He was a man of a most kind and generous
heart — ^beloved and trusted by all who knew him.
Cheerful, and in earnest, he did the world's work
well. But he did it to the glory of God. For his
highest distinction was, that he was a Christian,
and a Christian of no ordinary sort, — not one
who can hide his light under a bushel, nor one
who can put his religion aside when it stands in
the way of his advantage, but an honest, fearless
assertor and doer of what was right. He was a
pains-taking labourer, too, in the vineyard of his
Lord ; and after the example of his Lord took
special delight in encouraging the little children
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
55
id
id
to come into the kingdom of Heaven. Such a
man we would like to have kept for the world'd
sake ; but God had better things in store for him.
And I wish all timid and misgiving souls could
have witnessed the peace that he enjoyed, and
could have listened to his words of joyful trust
and rest in God. " The ways of the Lord are
right.'* " As a father piticth his children, — so
the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." " The will
of God be done.'* These and such like words of
God, rooted and wrought into his inmost thoughts,
were the sources of his unmurmuring happy trust
in God.
His peace flowed like a river, — not however,
because he had an impassive nature that could
not feel, far less because he was patient of sin. He
would weep over sins that would scarcely have
touched a less tender conscience. The elements
of his peace were, on the one hand, an abiding
consciousness of his own unwortliincss, and on
the other, an entire and absolute reliance upon the
atonement of Christ He believed in real inith
what many believe only in appearance. He be-
lieved in man's utter ruin, and in God's perfect
remedy. He believed in the disease, but he be-
lieved also in the cure ; — and it was this double,
but not doubtful faith, this belief that he was dis-
eased, and this belief that he was cured, that
made the last conflict easv, and left him — Death's
victim apparently^ — but his conqueror in reality."
56
FATTHFUL UNTO DEATH.
• i
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FAREWELL.
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'' Then break the rotten bonds away
That hinder you your race to run, —
That make you linger oft and stay, —
Oh ! be your course afresh begun !
Let no false rest your souls deceive,
Up ! 'tis a Heaven ye must achieve !
Press on l"
" Omnipotence is on your side
And Wisdom watches o'er your heads,
And God Himself will be your Guide,
So ye but follow where He leads :
How many, — guided by His hand.
Have reached ere now their native land I
Press on !"
— ^Lyra Germanica.
The death of John Anderson, though an
event daily expected by those who had been sor-
rowfully watching the progress of his illness, —
could not fail, when it id occur,— to be an event
of solemn and effecting interest. While none
could mourn that the weary frame was at rest, and
the spirit freed forever from its burden of sin and
FAITHFUL CNTO DEATH.
57
suffering, many sorrowed for the blank that had
been left among them ; — a blank that might not
soon be filled. To the College, it was felt, almost
any loss might have been more easily supplied
than that of its faithful Janitor, and the dispensa-
tion seemed a mysterious one, which removed one
so useful, from a post to which he seemed so indis-
pensable. It was a striking exemplification of
the truth — "His ways are not as our ways."
As John's departure took plac(- viWilo some
of the College Classes were in session, it was? an-
nounced to each at the close of the e::^,e:('.is<\s. In
the Chemistry Class-room a largo body ofi^udents
were just commencing the usufi noiMy l-reak-iip,
when the announcement was male. I' s-antlv
every sound was hushed, and a stillness of ^;omo
minutes succeeded, — a tribute of rospect. which
those who know the usual characterlstica of Medi-
cal Students, will not fail to appreciate.
The Students of the other faculties with whom,
as Janitor, John was more particularly connected,
manifested their sincere sorrow for liis loss, and as
if to show how thoroughly they idour/fied them-
selves with his memory, — tlicr raised a united
subscription to present a va) lablo testimonial to the
family who had beevi his constant attendants
during his last days. The College business was
suspended till after the interment, and both Pro-
fessors and Students were careful to secure that no
66
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
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customary mark of respect to the deceased, should
in his case, be omitted.
At the usual Wednesday evening meeting
which succeeded his death, John's Pastor alluded to
the event which was uppermost in the hearts of
all. He touched upon the Christian life, the
peaceful death, and the beautiful expressions of
the love, faith and hope which had illumine! the
dark days of suffering for him who was gone. He
reminded his hearers, too, of the faithfulness with
which John had for so many years attended that
weekly prayer-meeting, and even while he spoke,
the eye instinctively turned to the place so long
occupied by that familiar form, as if still expecting
to see there, him whose place was no longer in an
earthly sanctuary.
Thursday the 8rd of February, the day ap-
pointed for the funeral, was one of thickly falling
snow, and few would have chosen to leave their
homes unnecessarily and expose themselves to its
discomfort. Yet; notwithstanding this, it was a
numerous assemblage which collected at the Col-
lege Hall to attend the remains of the Janitor to
their resting-place in the Cemetery, — about three
miles distant from the town. As the long proces-
sion of Professors, gowned students and private
friends of the dead, wound slowly along the snowy
streets, it would naturally have excited surprise in
the mind of a bystander to be told, that he to whose
memory this tribute of respect was paid, had never
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
59
3
1
,
been in a higher position than that of a servant. In
this demonstration, worldly interest or estimation
had no place. It was Christian worth which secure 1
it, and that alone.
The Rev. Dr. Machar, who had for manv
years been John Anderson's beloved and esteemed
pastor, in his funeral address, took as his text the
words — ** Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."
In showing how this passage was illustrated by
the course and experience of the departed, he bore
the following high testimony to his Christian
character ; testimony which is of no small weiglit,
when it is considered that it was the result of
twenty years close personal observation :
'* He whose body we are met to carry forth
to the grave, was a singularly unpretending man.
In few men has there l)eenso much substance with
so little show. Of his piety he never made any
display, yet, as many here will bear witness, — no
man could be long in his company without feeling
that he wa£: a truly pious man, — that he possessed
not the form of godliness only, but the power, —
that he had actually tasted and seen that the Lord
was good. There was that about him, and in ev-
erything in him that told you at once that he lived
in nearness to God. His attendance upon divine
ordinances was remarkable. Never was he missed
from his place in the sanctuary, forenoon or after-
noon ; never was he absent from a meeting of the
Church for prayer, when it was possible for him
60
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
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