From youthful lusts that wound the soul, May I be taught to flee; And when I feel their vile controul, Dear Lord, remember me. When with life's heavy load oppress'd, Then give my suffering spirit rest,— O let me on the bed of death, And cry with my expiring breath, The relatives of the dear deceased for some time were scarcely able to realize the awful event, which deprived them of the most endearing intercourse. It appeared as a dream in the night, filling the soul with an agony, which is dispelled by the return of day. It is an event which could not have been anticipated; and had it been indefinitely announced to the family of Mr. Mills, that a brother was drowned, every anxiety would have been transferred to those, who, by their profession, were exposed to the dangers of the ocean; but they are spared,—and he, who never travelled by water beyond the Medway and the Thames, is lost. Mr. Alexander Mills, senior, the father of the deceased, was for many years a loyal and faithful servant of his country: he was wounded in her battles; and with that ablest of navigators, Captain Cooke, he traversed the globe; and after maintaining an unimpeachable moral character amidst many temptations, he died in the faith of Jesus Christ, tranquil and happy, at Worthing, in Sussex, on the second of April, 1812, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.-Two of his sons, Robert and Henry, in the navy, have been exposed to all the dangers arising from storms and variety of climate, and yet are preserved; while Alexander, with his family, whose habits and engagements promised them security, were in one moment swept away! It is to be hoped that the introduction of a few lines of poetry, without permission, from the Evangelical Magazine, will be pardoned: they are very applicable; and perhaps the above recital will show them to be more so than the writer himself imagined. Though the worn mariner prevail, When tempest-tost on many a wave; Though age his shatter'd bark upbuoy, Though all creation round thee smile, Lest Satan blind thy soul the while, And Death, when least in thought, be near. Happy if ready! then in love The invitation will be given, From thorns below to thrones above; From earthly hymns to harps of heaven: And launch'd upon eternity! In many situations, necessary to the order and comfort of society, men in an especial manner stand in jeopardy every hour; their lives appear in constant danger, and the Providence of God is ever saying: Be ye ready; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. We often read of a melancholy shipwreck, by which many of our fellow-mortals are carried into eternity, and we indulge the tender feelings of humanity, by permitting the tear of sympathy to fall; we 2 Luke ii. 40.. gratify our generosity by subscribing to the relief of widows and orphans; and we yield to the dictates of piety, in offering praise to God for the mercy that preserves us, and in praying that those interested by connexion may be supported and sanctified; yet are we not so overwhelmed with astonishment as when we hear of a family, whose habits and occupations were peaceful, and retired from bustle and danger, being overwhelmed in a moment, and consigned to a watery grave. Such occurrences, through the mercy of God, are rare. When have we heard of a family so large as that which occupied the school in Clover street, Chatham, in the full vigour of health, and bloom of youth, sitting down to dine about two o'clock in the afternoon; and, by a fatal accident, perishing before eight o'clock in the evening? Yet God does sometimes, in this awful manner, teach all men their dependence upon Him;-that while He can preserve in the greatest danger, He can sink in the hour of peaceful security;-that Divine Protection is needful to families the most retired as well as the most exposed; and that the voice of prayer and praise, morning and evening, from families united by a common in terest, sensible of their dependence upon God, and sharing by a mutual sympathy in each other's mercies and dangers, is a service which scripture sanctions; and which piety, gratitude, and reason demand. I have heard ungodly men, when alarmed by any calamity that has made a breach in their society, observe, Were I by my daily occupation exposed to such dangers, I would be religious; for prayer appears peculiarly suitable to such situations.' May God teach such men, by this awful Providence, that while a consciousness of duty warrants the strong confidence of a pious mind in the hour of imminent danger, no apprehended security can furnish a reasonable apology for the neglect of prayer, and the indulgence of sin! The eye of God is upon us in every station; our thoughts, our words, and our actions, are minutely observed by Him; and unspeakably awful will be the everlasting state of that man who dies in his sins, whether he be removed by a sudden and unexpected calamity, or whether he fall a prey to the more slow, but not less certain, ravages of disease and age. |