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ISRAEL BEREAVED OF HIS CHILDREN. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PBEACIIED IN ST. PAUL'S C H t7 R C H 
 
 ON SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 1842. 
 
 
 During a Season of tinusual JMLortality 
 among Children. 
 
 BY WILLIAM COGSWELL, M. A. 
 
 CURATE. 
 
 i 
 
 '* Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? Can I 
 bring him back again ? I shall go to him, but ho sh&Il 
 not return to me/' 2 Sam. xn. 23. 
 
 HALIFAX, N. S. 
 PBINTBD AT THE MORNINO H£BALD OmCK. 
 
 1842. 
 
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 ** Irr Rama waa there a voice heard, 1am(«ntation and 
 great moarning ; Rachel weeping for hor children re- 
 fused to be comforted for her children because they are 
 not." It is a precious portion of the duty of the Min- 
 ister of Christ to offer the consolations of the Gospel to 
 those that are thus bereaved, to attempt to comfort 
 ihosu that mourn, and to bind up the hearts that are 
 brohen by the heavy pressure of calamity. The topics 
 suggested in this discourse have proved consolatory to 
 some afflicted ones : and the hope that their solace may 
 be farther diffused nas lea to its publication. May that 
 Spirit which was without measure upon Him who was 
 anointed •* to bind up the broken hearted,'* vouchsafi^-" — 
 in measure to bless this feeble instrument, and, through 
 its means, to pour the oil and wine of spiritual comfort 
 into the smarting wounds of some brother or sister in th« 
 Lord. 
 
 ■if^JS,' 
 
"Ir 
 
 "As 
 bean 
 upon 
 taker 
 perit^ 
 arep 
 'hand 
 
 'I 
 
Genesis xmi. 14. 
 
 I " ir I BE BEREAVED OF MY CHILDREN, I AM 
 
 BEREAVED. 
 
 " As in water face answereth to face, so the 
 heart of man to nian.'^* And who can look 
 upon those sketches of the heart o^* man, 
 taken under all its various aspects of pros- 
 perit)' and calamity, of joy and grief, which 
 are presented to us fresh from the Master's 
 hand in the Book of God, and not find depict- 
 ed there, under some form or other, the work- 
 ings of his own ? Never Lath mirror more 
 faithfully reflected back the image that was 
 placed before it, than the faithful volume dic- 
 tated by Almighty Wisdom, and penned by 
 Heavenly Truth, displays to every variety of 
 
 * Prov. xxvii, 19 
 
 A 2 
 
■w 
 
 
 observers an exact picture of their own emo~ 
 tions ill trouble and in joy. 
 
 There are few cases, perhaps, which pre- 
 sent to us a view of the workings of the human 
 heart under a greater variety of circumstan- 
 ces than that of the patriarch Jacob. His 
 history is recorded with a degree of minute- 
 ness which scarcely marks the record of any 
 other individual's existence in the pages of 
 the Old Testament; and it presents him to us 
 as the subject of so continual fluctuations of 
 prosperity and distress, as could be scarcely 
 found in the more brief career of any one of 
 our fallen race now. We have the comfor: 
 of hoping, that, grievous as was the sin which 
 marked his early years, and led to his becom- 
 ing for a time an outcast from his father's 
 house, he was yet, from the time that the Lci^d 
 manifested himself to him in the wilderness of 
 
 rr- 
 
 1 
 
 oft] 
 
 ing] 
 
 the 
 
 rush 
 
 deat 
 
 ■iriinirVii 
 
 I JILIH I BI I OMI II I I 
 
 Ifc 
 
^n emo- 
 
 ch prc- 
 
 bnman 
 mstan- 
 ^ His 
 niniite- 
 
 of any 
 ages of 
 n lo us 
 ions of 
 carcely 
 
 one of 
 cm for* 
 
 ivhicli 
 )ecom- 
 ather's 
 e Lc;d 
 ness of 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 Pnran, a (rue servant of the living God : and 
 we may conclude therefore, notwithstandino- 
 the many incoiisistenci'^s which subsequently 
 appear, that his character and conduct irene- 
 rally were those of a child of God, founded 
 upon true , rintiples, aiming at a holy prac- 
 tice. His life, then, while it exhibits many 
 beacons to warn us a^^ainst / mlhv errors, 
 displays also many bright ana beautiful ex- 
 amples of meekness, patience, tenderness and 
 love, which the most advanced Christian may 
 find it well to imitate. 
 
 The circumstances under which the words 
 of the text were spoken were of a sorely try- 
 ing nature. Some years had now passed, since 
 the patriarch had bowed his head as a bul- 
 rush before the tidings of his beloved Joseph's 
 death, and had mourned, in bitterness of spi- 
 rit, the heavy stroke, whicu, as he supposed, 
 
 juSsSl- 
 
 III" riii'iilFiml 
 
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 v. ' s 
 
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 8 
 
 had bereft hirri, by a miserable fate, of a child 
 ii» whom the a/Teclions of an old man's heart 
 were centred. Constrained by the necessity 
 which fell upon his family and household in 
 the land of Canaan, he, some twenty years 
 after, sent forth ten of his remaining sons to 
 Egypt to buy corn, and retained with him 
 the son of his old age, his Benjamin, tf.e now 
 only remaining child of the fondly loved Ra- 
 chel. Nine only of his sons returned; and his 
 heart bled as they told of the harshness vvLich 
 they had experienced at the hands of (he 
 Governor of Egypt, and his spirit sank within 
 him as they spoke of having left Simeon in 
 prison, as a pledge that on their next applica- 
 tion for food their youngest brother should go 
 with them. " And Jacob their father said 
 nnto them, Me have ye bereaved of my chil- 
 dren : Joseph is not, and Simeoa is not, and 
 
 I 
 
* 
 
 f a child 
 's heart 
 ecessity 
 ^hold in 
 y years 
 sons to 
 th him 
 ho now 
 ed Ra- 
 and his 
 which 
 of (he 
 within 
 eon in 
 )plica- 
 uld go 
 r said 
 ' chil- 
 li and 
 
 .^r: 
 
 i 
 
 ye will take Benjamin awaj : all these things 
 \ are against me." * He saw not that all these 
 ; things were accomplishing the Lord's purpos- 
 es of mercy, and working together for his 
 good, and in the darkness of a momentary 
 distrust he perceived in them only the grievous 
 strokes of a hard but inevitable fate. And 
 O ! what Christian is there, has there ever 
 been, in whom, as the waves of accumulated 
 woe come rolling towards him, nature has not 
 for some moment at least resumed its sway; 
 and whose faith has not sometimes sunk baf- 
 fled oy the attempt to pierce the dark clouds 
 which hang around the Providence of God. 
 It was thus with Jacob when the stroke 
 was in anticipation. But the time dre^v near 
 at which he must meet the blow. Again 
 was the supply of his family expended. Again 
 must his sons go down to Egypt, as the/ 
 
 • Genesis xlii. 36. 
 
••^Itei*!! 
 
 ■ 
 
 •V' 
 
 I 
 
 (f 
 
 10 
 
 would avert from their numerous precious 
 ones the horrors of starvation. But to go 
 without their brother they knew would be 
 a fruitless errand ; and they respectfully but 
 firmly refused to stir a step, unless Benjamin 
 were with them. And now, in the hour of 
 real trial, the faith of Jacob triumphed. He 
 found in his own experience the preciousness 
 of the truth, which, in a prophetic spirit, was 
 announced by Moses the man of God toAsher, 
 *« As thy days, so shall thy strength be."* 
 He realized in his own case the precious 
 truth by which the soul of an Apostle was 
 afterwards sustained, *^ My grace is sufficient 
 for thee." t He saw the hand of God in his 
 trials ; he placed himself in the Lord's hands ; 
 and, in the spirit of meek submission to what- 
 ever might be the Lord's will concerning him, 
 
 •Deut. xxxiii, 25. f 2 Cor. lii. 9. 
 
 ,11 
 
ill 
 Jill 
 
 M. 
 
 11 
 
 precious 
 5ut to go 
 Tould be 
 tfully but 
 Benjamin 
 
 hour of 
 led. He 
 ciousness 
 pirit, was 
 toAsher, 
 th be."* 
 
 precious 
 stie was 
 sufficient 
 rod in his 
 s hands ; 
 
 to wbat- 
 ninghim, 
 
 9. 
 
 exclaimed, ** If I be bereaved of my chil- 
 dren, I am bereaved.'' 
 
 How many are the souls in this community, 
 that have been placed by the dealings of 
 God's good providence in the same furnace 
 of (rial, from which Jacob thus came forth as 
 gold ! How many a heart among us hath 
 known the same pressure of bitter sorrow as 
 bore the patriarch down, and, in the anticipa- 
 tion of some coming stroke, hath fainted, as 
 his did, in the weakness of mere nature's 
 strength ! How many, alas ! are they, who, 
 if the workings of their inmost spirits were 
 laid bare, would be found replying in tho 
 depth of their distress to God, * ' Me you have 
 bereaved of my children ; one is not, and 
 you will take another from me j all these 
 things are against me." O that among the 
 many thus sorely, sadly tried by late event* 
 
 T 
 
Hi 
 
 ! i 
 
 12 
 
 among us, there may not be one, who shall 
 
 not, in reco-nizin- the Lord's hand in his 
 
 distress, and in meek acknowledgment of Hia 
 
 wisdom and His love, be enabled to exclaim, 
 
 '' If I be bereaved of my children, I am be- 
 
 reaved.'> ^' It is the Lord: let Him do what 
 
 seemeth Him good."* *< It is the Lord that 
 
 gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
 
 be the name of the Lord. " f 
 
 It is my desire, dearly beloved, and shall, 
 under the Lord's blessing, be my endeavour,' 
 to apply this expression of Israel's submission 
 to the circumstances in which the afflictive 
 hand of God hath placed many members of 
 this flock ; and I would pray the Lord, that, 
 if there be those here, whose hearts have bled 
 beneath any of the varied strokes that Hia 
 providence hath of late inflicted, they may be 
 
 full, 
 reli: 
 ithe 
 left 
 
 is 
 
 Ithe 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 ^^ 
 
 V 
 
 I] 
 
 mis£ 
 let 
 
 I CHJI 
 
 I 
 
 con< 
 
 OF i 
 
 Thii 
 
 f AR 1 
 
 OF D 
 THia 
 
 • 1 Sam. iii. 18. 
 
 + Job. i. 21. 
 
 ■4 
 
 li 
 
13 
 
 who shail lied, under the teachings of His word, to a 
 and in his | fuller recognition of His wisdom, a sweeter 
 lent of Hia I reliance upon His love ; and that they, whom 
 
 the thick-falling strokes of bereavement have 
 
 h(t for the present unscathed, may be led, in 
 
 ithe exercise of true Christian sympathy, to 
 
 I'' bear one another's burdens,"* and to 
 
 " weep with those that weep."t 
 
 In taking the expression of Israel's sub- 
 mission as the guide of our present meditations, 
 let U3 consider. First, that the loss of 
 
 CHILDREN IS INDEED A BEREAVEMENT ; Se- 
 
 ^ condly, observe the spirit in which a child 
 ambers of ^ op God bows beneath the stroke ; and 
 ^rd, that, . _^ Thirdly, remark upon some of the peculi- 
 ar topics of consolation,which,in the case 
 
 OP DEPAilTED little ONES, MAY MINISTER TO 
 
 THIS SPIRIT OF SUBMISSION. And may the 
 • Gal. vi. 2. t Row. xii. 16. 
 
 exclaim, 
 , I am be- 
 n do what 
 Lord that 
 f; blessed 
 
 and shall, 
 
 ndeavour, 
 
 Libmission 
 
 afflictive 
 
 lave bled 
 that His 
 Y may be 
 
 21. 
 
 B 
 
I 
 
 I r 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 good Spirit of our God be with us to apply and 
 sanctify the teachings of His word. 
 
 I- We shall confine our present remarks 
 entirely to the subject of such visitations as 
 have of late so abounded ia this community, 
 the strokes which have removed so many 
 children from their fond parents' arms, and 
 may observe, in the first place, that the loss 
 
 OF SUCH PRECIOUS 0N8S IS IN TRUTH A VZ- 
 
 «EAVBMENT. What I mean is not the mere 
 trivial remark, that such a stroke inflicts a 
 wound ; but that there is nothing in the 
 Gospel, in the motives it inculcates, or the 
 consolations it suggests, which urges npor. 
 any one to look upon such a visitation in any 
 other light than as a sore affliction, a heavy 
 bereavement. There is nothing in the Gospel 
 inconsistent with such an expression as that 
 of the text, even if it conveyed no more than 
 
 enlai 
 
 fecti 
 strik 
 been 
 tered 
 be ;- 
 mere 
 what 
 
 ' ' W ill -am nMt i . w —. I Ml, mf_ 
 
 -— 1| 
 
apply and 
 
 it remarks 
 itations as 
 ommunity, 
 so many 
 arms, and 
 
 ' THE LOSS 
 JTH A liE- 
 
 the mere 
 inflicts a 
 ^ in the 
 s, or the 
 ges upon 
 m in any 
 a heavy 
 le Gospel 
 
 1 as that 
 ore than 
 
 m exclamaiion of bitter grief, *' If 1 be be* 
 feaved of my children, J am indeed bereaved,^* 
 
 It is no part of the Gospel teaching to in- 
 ;Culcate that stoical hardness of heart, which 
 trould enable one to bear the strokes of 
 heaviest calamity unmoved. The heart that 
 is most truly influenced by Christian princi- 
 ples, far from being hardened against the af- 
 fections of earth, runs over with a peculiar 
 fondness for all whom the Lord hath bound 
 iipon it. The charities of domestic life are 
 enlarged and not contracted by the saving in- 
 fluence of the Gospel. The roots of those af- 
 fections which God hath Himself implanted 
 strike deeper and deeper in the heart that has 
 been warmed with the love of Christ, and wa- 
 tered with the dew of His spirit. And can it 
 be ; — I appeal not to the conceptions of the 
 mere natural heart concerning God, but to 
 what the Lord has Himself revealed concern- 
 
 # 
 
fill 
 
 i! 
 
 16 
 
 ing His own character ;-can it be that the 
 heart, which has become most truly aiire to 
 the ties with which He hath bound it, must 
 suffer the bitter rending of those ties asunder, 
 and neither mourn nor wenp? Nay, not so ! 
 There is nothing in the revealed character of 
 God, there is nothing in the teachings of His 
 word, that can lead us to imagine such cal- 
 lousness as this to be the demand of God. 
 There is a difference indeed between the sor- 
 row of the Christian's heart under the pres- 
 sure of such strokes as these, and the sorrow 
 of the world ; but if there be any difference 
 in (he tenderness of feeling which such a visit- 
 ation awakens in the heart of one and of the 
 other, it is that the heart of the Christian feels 
 more deeply than the world. 
 
 What can be sweeter than the tie which 
 binds a parent's love to (he litttle ones whom 
 the Lord hath lent him ? What can be fonder 
 
 W 
 
 I 
 
 ihi 
 
 th( 
 
 to 
 
 the 
 
 h'u 
 
 0f( 
 
 ed, 
 resj 
 sna 
 thoi 
 ,,honn 
 he J 
 
 so (1( 
 
 neec 
 the 
 I such 
 dreu 
 drj ] 
 and ^ 
 
 i«p^ 
 
I 
 
 1? 
 
 >e that the 
 ily aliVe to 
 
 it, must 
 s asunder, 
 ^ not so ! 
 aracter of 
 igs of His 
 
 «uch cal- 
 of God. 
 n the sor- 
 the pres 
 le sorrow 
 difference 
 3h a visit- 
 nd of the 
 tian feels 
 
 e which 
 es whom 
 )e fonder 
 
 than the hold with which the affections,which 
 the gift of these precious ones awakens, cling 
 to a father's or a mother's heart ? And are 
 they called upon to look upon these little ones, 
 ^ laid low before their eyes by the swift stroke 
 of death, and not feel ihat:he heart is wound- 
 ed, its affections to.n ? Are they bidden to 
 resign without a tear the precious babes 
 snatched from the fond embrace of love, even 
 though it be to transfer them to a heavenly 
 home ? Oh no ! What stricken parent shall 
 be afraid, that to sorrow for the loss of those 
 so dear to him is sinful ? What mother's heart 
 need fear, that the tears, which flow beneath 
 the anguish of, perhaps, a first bereavement 
 such as this, can be displeasing unto Him, who 
 drew near to the weeping widow of Nain,^ to 
 dry her tears by the restoration of her child, 
 and who wept in genuine bitterness of grief 
 • Lake vii. 13. g 2 
 
 ■ 
 
i! 
 
 ■»s»rt^- 
 
 ■J 
 
 with ihose to whose embrace He was even on | 
 the point of restoring the lost one whom I 
 they niournedr* A 
 
 If. Yet we are led, in the second place, 
 to remark, that, thou^jh the sorrow of the 
 Christian's heart unc'ersuch a bereavement 
 differs only, as regards its bitterness, from that 
 of the worldl}', in its deeper intensity, yet it "^ 
 
 IS MARKED BY A DIFFERENT SPIRIT, EVEN THAT 
 
 OF mkek submission to his heavenly Fa- 
 ther's WILL. This appears to be the meaning | 
 of the patriarch's declaration in the text. | 
 Long as he could, he put off from him the ^ 
 dread necessity of parting with his beloved 
 Benjamin j — and what Christian is forbidden 
 
 to use every means which science can suggest | 
 
 f 
 or ?kill employ to avert a stroke whicli ' 
 
 threatens to deprive him of his child .^— but 
 
 when he saw that the necessity could be no long 
 
 * John xi. 33-35. 
 
 er 
 
 ha 
 
 or, 
 
 wi 
 
 wi 
 
 H'u 
 
 se< 
 
 in( 
 ho 
 It 
 fe 
 ro 
 m 
 hi 
 w 
 di 
 vi 
 iV 
 
 w 
 
vas even on 
 one whom 
 
 cond placCy 
 
 OW OF THE 
 
 sreavenient 
 5, from that 
 isity, yet it 
 
 EVEN THAT 
 VE.NLY Fa- 
 
 be meanino: 
 the text, 
 m him the 
 fiis beloved 
 s forbidden 
 can suggest 
 oke whicli 
 hild ?-~but 
 I be no long- 
 
 19 
 
 I er controlled, he placed his son in the liord'a 
 hands, exclaiming, '' If I be bereaved, I am, 
 or, let me be, bereaved ! If such be the Lord's 
 wii!, Amen ! So let it be ! I bow to His 
 
 I wisdom; I kiss the rod which Hia love in- 
 flicts. It is His hand : let Him do what 
 
 ^ seemeth Him good." 
 
 " And such \s the spirit which the Gospel 
 inculcates upon all that profess -to be aware 
 
 . how God hath loved them in Christ Jesus. 
 It forbids not sorrow,— nay, if no sorrow be. 
 felt, how can submission be exercised ? It 
 roots not out the tender affections which bind 
 man's heart to the loved ones that surround 
 him,— for if these affections were eradicated, 
 where would the power of the Holy Spirit be 
 displayed in bringing every thought into capti- 
 vity to the will of God? But it speaks through 
 thofse affections to his inmost soul ; it appeals 
 
 
i 
 
 ■'i 
 
 20 
 through these very sorrows .0 the mourner's 
 
 heart .and enjoins on him, even in the midst 
 ; f "'•'"''' "" "^^^ acquiescence in .he 
 bather-swill, and incu.cates a sweet sub- 
 ».3s.on to His dispensations who ordere.h all 
 *h'ngs wisely., and doeth all things well. 
 
 All sorrow then, beneath the stroke of the 
 L d s hand .s not repining ; the bursts of 
 J;t er gnef. with which the heart of the af- 
 
 fl'ctedonebreaks out in the time of its be- 
 reavement, are not all murmurs. It m.y he 
 
 feared, that many, though they cannot avert 
 
 'he stroke with which the Lord afflicts them 
 and are therefore compelled to submit to His 
 sovereign will, ^et are ready to charge Him 
 ^.;h unkindness. to question the reality of 
 H-'ove,andtocon,pIain of the hardness of 
 
 ''t ''''" '' '^"'"'"^^ *•>«- are the 
 
 ^o^ktogs of a murmuring spirit ; these the 
 
 t 
 
 f 
 
v' ) 
 
 » mourner's 
 1 the midst 
 nee in the 
 meet sub- 
 rderelh aJl 
 well. 
 
 »ke of the 
 bursts of 
 f the af- 
 )fits be- 
 t maybe 
 lot avert 
 ts them, 
 it to His 
 rge Him 
 ality of 
 dness of 
 are the 
 ?se the 
 
 71 
 
 complainings of a rebellJous h^art. There 
 iare those, it may be hoped, who, though they 
 'would strive as anr.iousl^ as others to avert 
 the blow, and put off, as Jacob did, by every 
 possible mea*^* the threatened dispensation, 
 yet, when they see that it is the Lord's will, 
 bow the head before His visitation, and re^ 
 5«gn the precious ones the Lord hath lent 
 them, again L Him, in meek acquiescence 
 with His wisdom and His love, &s well as 
 His sovereignty and power. This is the sub- 
 mission which the Gospel teaches ; — this the 
 spirit in which the true Christian meets the 
 chastenings of his Father's hand. 
 
 HI. In the case, however, of the removal 
 of such little ones, as those of whom so many 
 have been lately gathered into the cold grave, 
 there is something more than that persuasion o{ 
 the Father's loye which the Christian's heart 
 
 
ifi 
 
 i 
 
 III 
 
 w 
 
 ■5* 
 
 if 
 
 22 
 
 enjoys, to comfort those that mourn. Let u« 
 contemplate, in the itiird place, some of tnt 
 
 TOPICS OP CONSOLATION WHICH SURROUND AN 
 
 tswAST'$ DEATH, and teach submission to 
 
 the will of God to the bereaved parents' 
 hearts. 
 
 1. And how consoUrtf^ is (he consciomness, 
 thai the little ones thus renoved are delivered 
 from all apprehension of future evil, and placed 
 in a condition of safety from all harm. I 
 speak not of those anxieties for the personal 
 beauty, and the worldly prospects of their 
 children, which too often form the substance 
 of the mere worldly parents' -ares for the lit- 
 tle ones that surround them. To such anx- 
 ielies as these Ih'^re is no solace in the thou«^ht 
 of their departure. But what Christian parent 
 can look upon his happy child, and not trem- 
 ble with anxious apprehension of the manj 
 
.K. 
 
 i. Let ua 
 
 E OF THE 
 lOUNO AN 
 
 ission to 
 parents' 
 
 ^cxousness, 
 delivered 
 nd placed 
 mrm, I 
 personal 
 of their 
 ubstance 
 r the lit- 
 ich anx- 
 ! thought 
 n parent 
 at trem- 
 B manj 
 
 '23 
 
 dangers that shall beset his opening path, of 
 Jthe many temptations that shall lure him into 
 ^a forgetfulness of the teachings of a parent's 
 love, and urge him, by the exaggerated charms 
 of sin, to exchange the innocence and happi- 
 ness cf heaven for the fascinations of ungodly 
 .pleasure, and the haunts of vice? Alas! 
 that there can scarcely be a community any 
 where found, in which there is more room for 
 such apprehensions, than in this ? And will 
 J a parent find no consolation, under the stroke 
 I with which the Lord hath visited him in the 
 I reflection that these fesrs are forever silenced, 
 these anxieties for ever hushed,-— in the 
 thought, that the little ones, who have been 
 ^ the subject of so much anxiety, are there 
 safely housed, where sin cannot enter, where 
 temptation cannot lure them, where no false 
 pleasures can seduce them from the fountain- 
 bead of joy ? Beloved, are there those 
 
 UPP- 
 
It 
 
 
 I, : 
 
 
 i! 
 
 24 
 
 among you, that hav3 been called to mourn 
 your bereavement by some of the late numer- 
 ous strokes, — and doth it minister to you no 
 comfort amid your tears, to think that your ^| 
 loved, your precious ones, are taken away 
 from so much evil to come ? 
 
 2. Hoio yet more comforting is ^ secondly y the 
 assurance, in the case of such little ones the 
 certainty f of their beings not only removed from 
 evil, but of their being transplanted in their early ^ 
 bloom to the garden of the Lord, the family of 
 the blessed ones above. However bright the 
 hopes which sometimes cheer the hearts of 
 the bereaved in the case of those cut off in 
 riper year3, yet there are perhaps few cases 
 in which in hours of depression a fear will 
 not creep in, whether they had indeed so ta- 
 ken hold of Christ, whether they had been in- 
 deed so sanctified by His Spirit, as to be made 
 
 !^ 
 
 ■■ aSMMB.-- 
 
25 
 
 mourn 
 numer- 
 
 you no 
 at your | 
 n away 
 
 mdlxjyihe 
 )nes the 
 ed from 
 leir early ^ 
 ^amily of 
 ght the 
 learts of 
 t off in 
 
 meet for the enjoyment of His kingdom. But 
 what doubt can possibly find entrance into the 
 heart, that the little ones, removed ere yet 
 they have known how to refuse the evil and 
 to choose the good,* are transferred from the 
 arms that cling to them on earth to the joys 
 which greet them in the bosom of the Fa- 
 ther ? *' Of such," saith the blessed Jesus, 
 '* is the kingdom of Heaven ;"t and who can 
 even question, that takes the Scripture for his 
 guide, that the children, so lately snatched 
 from the tearful embraces of mourninir friends, 
 ar-* now, in the perfection of glorified spirits, 
 hymning the eternal praises of the Lamb 
 that was slain for them ? Early admitted 
 mto covenant with God through Him who 
 commanded infants to be brouo-ht to Him, 
 can any doubt that they are now tronspluntcd 
 from the temptations and trials of the Church 
 
 =^ Isaiah vii. 15. f iMaU. xix. 14 
 
 C 
 
 
 i 
 
i. 
 
 i 
 
 
 26 
 
 on earth to the radiant glories of the Church 
 in heaven ? And is a parent's love . t sel- 
 fish thing, which seeks only its own gratifica- 
 tion in the presence of those precious ones on 
 earth, and does not rather find its highest joy 
 in the greatest happiness of those so dear to 
 ii ? And can a parent's heart but contem- 
 plate that blessed portion, which is now his 
 child's unchanging lot in heaven, and com- 
 pare it with the largest purest fund of happi- 
 ness that could have been its portion upon 
 earth, and not feel, amid the tears which the 
 bereavement calls forth, that his beloved one 
 might address to him the words of the bless- 
 ed Jesus to His followers, «* If you loved me 
 you would rejoice, because I go to my Fa- 
 ther.'^* - Mother!" was not long since the 
 sweet remonstrance of a dymg child, *f why 
 do yo. »veep ? 1[ I ^vere spared, I shall pro- 
 * John xiv. 29. 
 
 When 
 [When 
 
 [Oh ! \ 
 
 ■■H-n 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
27 
 
 5 Church 
 
 u;C"t sel- 
 
 jratifica- 
 
 0# 
 
 bably be separated from you, and then how 
 incessant would be your anxiety to hear of 
 my well-being, how continual your fears lest 
 some ill tidings of me should reach your ear ? 
 Now I am going where you knoio I shall be 
 blest ; you will need no letter to assure you 
 of my happiness ; you will dread no tidings 
 which can tell you ill of me. And do you 
 weep that God is able to make me so much 
 happier than you, with all your fond affec- 
 tion, can even conceive ?" May not each lit- 
 tle one transferred to the bliss of heaven 
 urge on his parents' heart the adoption of 
 these sweet reflections of a Christian poet * 
 as he thinks of his departed child : 
 
 «* Wlien we think of what our darling ig, and \ihat we 
 still must be ; 
 
 When we muse on that world's perfect bliss, and this 
 wc-ld's misery ; 
 
 When we groan beneath this load of sin, and frel thif 
 grief and pain, 
 
 Oh ! we'd rather lose the other two, than have him 
 back again !" 
 
 * Rev. J. Moultrie. 
 
28 
 
 Let us, in conclusion, turn our attention, 
 tiearly beloved, to one or two of the lessons 
 which the sufferings and death of young chil- 
 dren address to every heart* 
 
 I. Am], first, HOW solemn is the proof thus 
 
 AFFORDED OF THE NATURAL CORRUPTION, THE 
 INBORN SIN, OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL OF OUR RACE. 
 
 Who can look upon the sufferings of a dying 
 child, often apparently greater in the merest 
 infant than would have brought down ma- 
 ny a well-nerved frame, and as he gazes can 
 withhold his assent from the remark, * ' Thou 
 wast shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin, 
 born into the world a polluted creature." 
 '^Sin came into the world, and death by sin;''* 
 'ind such is the connexion between sin and 
 suffering, that, where there is no sin, there 
 can be no death. The Lord Jesus himself is 
 no exception to this rule ; for, though in Him 
 there was no sin, yet He was made sin for 
 * Romans v. 12. 
 
 I 
 
29 
 
 tention, 
 
 lessons 
 
 ix\Z chil- 
 
 30F THUS 
 ON, THE 
 JR RACE. 
 
 a dying 
 I merest 
 jwn ma- 
 izes can 
 **Thou 
 in sin, 
 eature." 
 y sin;*'* 
 sin and 
 n, there 
 imself is 
 I in Him 
 5 sin for 
 
 us, and under the burden of our sins He died. 
 And when we see death pass, sometimes in 
 its most frightful form, upon those little ones 
 that have not sinned wilfully, after the simi- 
 litude of Adam's transgression,* we see there 
 a proof that the nature is polluted, and the 
 soul of the mere infant of an hour is stained 
 with sin. Are there then any souls, that, al- 
 most questioning God's mercy, ask, "Why is 
 it that these infants should be subject to such 
 agonies, — how is it that such innocents should 
 die?" Dear fellow-sinners! when ye are call- 
 ed again to gaze upon some dying child, O 
 learn from its sufferings the solemn truth of 
 your own innate depravity. Learn, as ye 
 look upon its anguish, that ye too were born 
 in sin, and leave not the sight, I pray you, till 
 ye have put to yourselves and answered the 
 momentous question, ^' Have I been born 
 
 again to newness and holiness of life ?" 
 
 * Romans v. 14. 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 50 
 
 8. How STRIKING IS, Sfcotldly, THE Pic- 
 TUKE WHICH THE SIGHT OF A UVINO CHILD 
 PRESENTS OF THE CHARACTER OF THOSE THAT 
 ALONE SHALL ENTER INTO THE LoRd's KINO- 
 DOM. "Verily, 1 say unto you," are the 
 words of the Lord Jesus. '■ whosoever shall 
 not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
 child, he shall not enter therein."* We look 
 indeed upon the simplicity, the faith, the de- 
 pendance upon a parent's teaching and help, 
 which are manifested in a young child's life as 
 threading features in which this resemblance 
 may be traced. But we may look also upon 
 the calm sweet beauty of a little one's repose 
 in death, as a picture of the peace that the 
 Lord Jesus gives His people,-of the rest up- 
 on which they enter who have faiih in Christ, 
 and which remaiueth in the fulness of its en- 
 joyment for the future portion of God's people. 
 
 *MarIc X. 15. 
 
91 
 
 HE ric- 
 
 CHILD 
 E THAT 
 I KINO- 
 
 are the 
 ;r shall 
 a lliilQ 
 e look 
 he de- 
 ! help, 
 
 fje as 
 jlance 
 
 upon 
 epose 
 t the 
 t up- 
 
 hrist, 
 s en- 
 ople. 
 
 Are there any, in whose minds the question has 
 been awakened, how far the child, cut off 
 in the first hours of its brief career, has an- 
 swered the end of its being, or the doubt 
 aroused, whether the tender infant's soui is ca- 
 pable of appreciating and bearing its part in 
 Ihe glories of Eternity ? 0! rather, dearly 
 beloved, when ye hear in what terms the 
 Lord hath spoken, ask, as ye gaze upon its 
 silent form, whether ye have been so changed 
 into its image^ that ye could have as good hope 
 for yourselves of going, where its spirit hath 
 winged its flight, to the mansions of the blest. 
 
 S. How SWEET 's, thirdly^ the additiokai. 
 
 310T1VE WHICH THE DEPARTURE OF SOME PRECN 
 OUS LITTLE ONE ADDRESSES TO A CHRISTIAN PA- 
 
 HENi's HEART for greater diligence in making 
 his own calling and election sure. I say, 
 ^hc additional motive ; ^£or that heart is not 
 
 n 
 
'—"1*5^- 
 
 \ 
 
 32 
 
 truly warmed with the love of Christ that 
 does not look forward to His presence as the 
 chief charm of heaven, the great motive for 
 diligence in seeking aa entrance there. Yet 
 other and subordinate motivos may not impro- 
 perly oe urged in their due place, and what 
 sweeter thought can mingle itc influence with 
 the motives to watchfulness and zeal than 
 this, ** I have a little one in heaven. Some 
 precious babe hath gone before me thither ; 
 some darling child hath found its rest in the 
 mansions of our Father's house. And shall I 
 not strive to ket^ in the strait path that leads 
 to the same home ? Shall I not aim to be 
 found meet to be greeted by my glorious child 
 to the paradise of its joys ?" Dearly belov- 
 ed ! have y^ have any of you, some precious 
 ones in heaven ; and O ! shall not the sweet 
 thought urge vou on to greater zeal for Christ, 
 
 T 
 
33 
 
 ist that 
 J as the 
 live for 
 3. Yet 
 
 impro- 
 id what 
 ce with 
 il than 
 Some 
 lither ; 
 t in the 
 
 shall I 
 it leads 
 
 to be 
 IS child 
 
 beiov- 
 recious 
 
 sweet 
 Christ, 
 
 that you may meet your little ones above ? 
 Then, if ye be bereaved of your children, the 
 very bereavement shall be turned into a bless- 
 ing, and the separation which hath torn your 
 hearts on earth shall minister to your reunion 
 with your loved ones in that blissful scene, 
 whither no sin, no sorrow, and ao death shall 
 come. Amen. 
 
 ■rj