Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

Silently, silently, the spoiler came,

As sleep steals o'er the senses unperceived;

And the last thoughts which cheer the waking hours,
Mingle with our sweet dreams.”

A little while before her spirit took its flight she said to those around her bed, "My head is in heaven, and my heart is in heaven-it is but one step more and I shall be there too."

Shortly after the death of his estimable wife, the worthy John Henry received another severe shock -this was the execution of his loved and honoured master, Charles I. So powerfully did he feel this second stroke, that he pined away and died in the vigour of manhood—the victim of his fidelity and loyal affection.

MRS. PHILIP HENRY,

MOTHER OF MATTHEW

HENRY.

WE have endeavoured to trace the beneficial influence of Magdalen Rochdale's early instruction, on the mind of her son, Philip Henry. The seed she had sown was but as a grain of mustard-seed, but, by the Divine blessing, it took deep root in the heart of the youth, and, through his instrumentality as a preacher, it might be said to bring forth a hundred fold.

In the family of Philip Henry, we shall see another instance of the good resulting from parental piety, and a religious education.

Katharine Matthews, who became the wife of that excellent man, was the only child of Mr. Daniel Matthews, of Broad Oak, in Flintshire.He was a man of property, and foolishly thought, that, to secure his daughter's happiness, he must unite her to some person of wealth and distinction. He was, therefore, unwilling to sanction the suit of a poor young pastor, who neither wished for nor had the expectation of preferment. The young lady, however, thought differently. She was sincerely attached to Mr. Henry, and she tried to overrule all objections which were made to the union.— Among other things, it was urged by her friends,

that though Mr. Henry was a scholar, a gentleman, and a good preacher, he was a stranger; nobody, they said, knew where he came from.

"True," returned the lady, "but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with him."

The marriage was delayed for a considerable time, owing to this opposition; but the father, at length, gave a cordial consent, and the ceremony took place on the 29th of April, 1660. It was in the month of May of the same year that the English throne was restored to the Stuarts, in the person of Charles II.

Philip Henry and Prince Charles had been playmates in childhood. Many a race had they run together, in the gardens of Whitehall; but how different was the course they afterwards pursued! One, by perfidious promises, gained a crown; the other nobly determined to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, and suffered severe persecution, rather than act contrary to the dictates of his conscience.

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;" and that which Philip Henry took, in his union with Katharine Matthews, was evidently so ordered.

His biographer remarks" Seldom has a scene of purer domestic happiness been witnessed, than the love of God, and of one another, created in their home."

We may judge of the peace and happiness which reigned there, from a quaint remark made by the worthy divine, many years after. He had never been reconciled to his wife, he said, during the many years they had spent together,

because there had never happened anything between them to need reconciliation. When his youngest daughter was married, he said, "I cannot desire for them (meaning his children) that they should receive more from God, than we have received, in that relation. His usual compliments, on such occasions, were, "Others wish you all happiness-I wish you all holiness; and then there is no doubt but you will have all happiness."

Mr. Matthews settled part of his property on the young couple, on their marriage, and left the remainder to them, at his death, which took place seventeen years after.

Mr. Henry, though a member of the Presbytery, at that time, held the living of Worthenbury, in Flintshire, the emoluments of which were very small; but his wife's property enabled them to indulge in a spirit of liberality which was natural to both; and he was enabled to supply the temporal as well as spiritual wants of many of his flock.

The act of uniformity was shortly afterwards passed, and, by that unchristian measure, hundreds of zealous and good men were driven from their pulpits, and thrown upon the world without means for supporting themselves and their families.— Philip Henry was amongst the number prohibited from preaching; but, happily for him, the estate bequeathed to him by his father-in-law provided for his family, and enabled him to help many of his brethren, who were less favourably circumstanced.

Six children were added to the family circle (two boys, and four girls). John, the eldest son, died in his sixth year. Matthew Henry is well known to the world, through his celebrated commentaries on the Bible.

Mrs. Henry appears to have been one of those quiet, gentle women, whose virtues shine most brightly within the hallowed circle of home. She was skilled in ordering her household, and in exercising the rites of hospitality. Her son, Matthew, describing his parents, gives a beautiful picture of domestic piety, well worthy of imitation. After speaking of his father's observance of the duty of secret prayer, he says "Besides this, he and his wife constantly prayed together, morning and evening, and never, if they were together, at home or abroad, was it intermitted." From his own experience of the benefit of this practice, he would take all opportunities to recommend it to those in that relation, as conducing very much to the comfort of it, and to their furtherance in that which, he would often say, is the great duty of yokefellows; that is, to do all they can to help one another to heaven. He would say that this duty of husbands and wives praying together is intimated by the apostle, in 1st Peter, iii. 7, where they are exhorted to "live together as heirs of the grace of life, that their prayers be not hindered." "This," he says, "sanctifies the relation, and fetcheth a blessing upon it; makes the comfort of it the more sweet, and the cares and crosses of it the more easy; and is an excellent means of preserving and increasing love in the relation."

His son also tells us, that, after family worship, at which service all who were in his employ, either in domestic services, or out-door work, were present; "his children, together, with bended knee, asked a blessing of him and their mother, that is, desired of them to pray to God to bless themwhich blessing was given with great solemnity and

« PředchozíPokračovat »