BATTLE OF PRESTONPANS.
Quickly after his return home, the flame burst out, and his regiment
was ordered to Stirling. It was in that castle that his lady and eldest
daughter enjoyed the last happy hours of his company, and I think it was
about ten or twelve days before his death that he parted from them there.
A remarkable circumstance attended that parting, which has been touched
upon by surviving friends in more than one of their letters to me. His
lady was so affected when she took her last leave of him, that she could
not forbear bursting out into a flood of tears, with other marks of
unusual emotion; and when he asked her the reason, she urged as a
sufficient apology, the apprehension she had of losing such an invaluable
friend, amidst the dangers to which he was then called out. On this she
took particular notice, that whereas he had generally comforted her on
such occasions by pleading with her that remarkable hand of Providence
which had so frequently in former instances been exerted for his
preservation, and that in the greatest extremity, he said nothing of it
now; but only replied in his sententious manner, "We have an eternity to
spend together."
That heroic contempt of death which had often discovered itself in the
midst of former dangers, was manifested now in his discourse with several
of his most intimate friends. I have reserved for this place one genuine
expression of it many years before, which I thought might be mentioned
with some advantage here. In July, 1725, he had been sent to some place
not far from Hamilton to quell a mutiny among some of our troops. I know
not the particular occasion; but I remember to have heard him mention it
as so fierce a one, that he scarcely ever apprehended himself in more
hazardous circumstances. Yet he quelled it by his presence alone, and the
expostulations he used--evidently putting his life into his hand to do
it. The particulars of the story struck me much; but I do not so exactly
remember them as to venture to relate them here. I only observe, that in
a letter dated July 16, that year, which I have now before me, and which
evidently refers to this event, he writes thus: "I have been very busy,
hurried about from place to place; but, blessed be God, all is over
without bloodshed. And pray let me ask what made you show so much concern
for me in your last? Were you afraid I should get to heaven before you?
or can any evil befall those who are followers of that which is good?"[*]
[*Note: I doubt not but this will remind some of my readers of that noble
speech of Zwinglius, when (according to the usage of that country,)
attending his flock to a battle in which their religion and liberties
were all at stake, on his receiving a mortal wound by a bullet, of which
he was expired, while his friends were in all the first astonishment of
grief, he bravely said, as he was dying, "_Ecquid hoc infortunii_? Is
this to be reckoned a misfortune?" How many of our Deists would have
celebrated such a sentence, if it had come from the lips of an ancient
Roman! Strange that the name of Christ should be so odious, that the
brightest virtues of his followers should be despised for his sake! But
so it is, and so our Master told us it would be; and our faith is, in
this connection, confirmed by those who strive most to overthrow it.]
As these were his sentiments in the vigour of his days, so neither did
declining years and the infirmities of a broken constitution on the one
hand, nor any desire of enjoying the honours and profits of so high
a station, or (what was much more to him,) the converse of the most
affectionate of wives and so many amiable children and friends on the
other, in the least enervate his spirits; but as he had in former years
often expressed it, to me and several others, as his desire, "that if it
were the will of God, he might have some honourable call to sacrifice his
life in defence of religion and the liberties of his country;" so,
when it appeared to him most probable that he might be called to it
immediately, he met the summons with the greatest readiness. This appears
in part from a letter which he wrote to the Rev. Mr. Adams, of Falkirk,
just as he was marching from Stirling, which was only eight days before
his death:--"The rebels," says he, "are advancing to cross the Frith;
but I trust in the Almighty God, who doth whatsoever he please in the
armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." The same
gentleman tells me, that, a few days after the date of this, he marched
through Falkirk with his regiment; and though he was then in so
languishing a state, that he needed his assistance as secretary to write
for some reinforcements, which might put it in his power to make a stand,
(as he was very desirous to have done,) he expressed a most genuine and
noble contempt of life, when about to be exposed in the defence of a
worth cause.
These sentiments wrought in him to the last in the most effectual manner,
and he seemed for a while to have infused them into the regiment which he
commanded; for they expressed such a spirit in their march from Stirling,
that I am assured the colonel was obliged to exert all his authority to
prevent their making incursions on the rebel army, which then lay very
near him; and had it been thought proper to send him the reinforcements
he requested, none can say what the consequence might have been; but he
was ordered to march as fast as possible to meet Sir John Cope's forces
at Dunbar, which he did; and that hasty retreat, in concurrence with the
news which they soon after received of the surrender of Edinburgh to the
rebels, (either by the treachery or weakness of a few, in opposition to
the judgment of by far the greater and better part of the inhabitants,)
struck a panic into both the regiments of dragoons, which became visible
in some very apparent and remarkable circumstances in their behaviour,
which I forbear to relate. This affected Colonel Gardiner so much that,
on the Thursday before the fatal action of Prestonpans, he intimated to
an officer of considerable rank and note, from whom I had it by a very
sure channel of conveyance, that he expected the event would be as in
fact it was. In this view, there is all imaginable reason to believe that
he had formed his resolution as to his own personal conduct, which was,
"that he would not, in cases of the flight of those under his command,
retreat with them;" by which, as it seemed, he was reasonably
apprehensive that he might have stained the honour of his former
services, and have given some occasion for the enemy to have spoken
reproachfully. He much rather chose, if Providence gave him the call, to
leave in his death an example of fidelity and bravery which might very
probably be (as in fact it seems to have been) of much greater importance
to his country than any other service which, in the few days of remaining
life, he could expect to render it. I conclude these to have been his
views, not only from what I knew of his general character and temper, but
likewise from some intimations which he gave to a very worthy person from
Edinburgh, who visited him the day before the action, and to whom he
said, "I cannot influence the conduct of others as I could wish, but I
have one life to sacrifice to my country's safety, and I shall not spare
it,"--or words to that effect.
I have heard such a multitude of inconsistent reports of the
circumstances of Colonel Gardiner's death, that I had almost despaired of
being able to give my reader any particular satisfaction concerning so
interesting a scene. But, by a happy accident, I have very lately had an
opportunity of being exactly informed of the whole by that brave man, Mr.
John Foster, his faithful servant, (and worthy of the honour of serving
such a master,) whom I had seen with him at my house some years before.
He attended him in his last hours, and gave me at large the narration,
which he would be ready, if requisite, to attest upon oath. From his
mouth I wrote it down with the utmost exactness, and could easily
believe, from the genuine and affectionate manner in which he related the
particulars, that according to his own striking expression, "his eye and
his heart were always upon his honoured master during the whole time."[*]
[*Note: Just as I am putting the last hand to these memoirs, March 2,
1746-7, I have met with a corporal in Colonel Lascelles' regiment, who
was an eye-witness to what happened at Prestonpans on the day of the
battle, and the day before; and the account he has given me of some
memorable particulars is so exactly agreeable to that which I received
from Mr. Foster, that it would much corroborate his testimony, if there
were not so many other considerations to render it convincing.]
On Friday, 20th September, (the day before the battle which transmitted
him to his immortal crown,) the colonel drew up his regiment in the
afternoon, and rode through all their ranks, addressing them at once
in the most respectful and animating manner, both as soldiers and as
Christians, to exert themselves courageously in the service of their
country, and to neglect nothing that might have a tendency to prepare
them for whatever might happen. They seemed much affected with the
address, and expressed a very ardent desire of attacking the enemy
immediately--a desire in which he and another very gallant officer of
distinguished rank, dignity, and character, both for bravery and conduct,
would gladly have gratified them, if it had been in their power. He
earnestly pressed it on the commanding officer, as the soldiers were then
in better spirits than it could be supposed they would be after having
passed the night under arms, and as the circumstance of making an attack
would be some encouragement to them, and probably some terror to the
enemy, who would have had the disadvantage of standing on the defence--a
disadvantage with which those wild barbarians, (for such most of them
were) perhaps would have been more struck than better disciplined
troops--especially, too, when they fought against the laws of their
country. He also apprehended that, by marching to meet them, some
advantage might have been secured with regard to the ground, with which,
it is natural to imagine, he must have been perfectly acquainted, as it
lay just at his own door, and he had rode over it many hundred times.
When I mention these things, I do not pretend to be capable of judging
how far this advice was right. A variety of circumstances to me unknown
might make it otherwise. It is certain, however, that it was brave. But
it was overruled in this respect, as it also was in the disposition of
the cannon, which he would have planted in the centre of our small army,
rather than just before his regiment, which was in the right wing, where
he was apprehensive that the horses, which had not been in any previous
engagement, might be thrown into some disorder by the discharge so very
near them. He urged this the more as he thought the attack of the rebels
might probably be made on the centre of the foot, where he knew there
were some brave men, on whose standing he thought, under God, the success
of the day depended. When he found that he could not carry either of
these points, nor some others which, out of regard to the common safety,
he insisted upon with unusual earnestness, he dropped some intimations
of the consequences he apprehended, and which did in fact follow; and
submitting to Providence, spent the remainder of the day in making as
good a disposition as circumstances would allow.[*]
[*Note: Several of these circumstances have since been confirmed by the
concurrent testimony of another very credible person, Mr. Robert Douglas,
(now a surgeon in the navy,) who was a volunteer at Edinburgh just before
the rebels entered the place, and who saw Colonel Gardiner come from
Haddington to the field of battle the day before the action in a chaise,
being (as from that circumstances he supposed) in so weak a state that he
could not well endure the fatigue of sitting on horseback. He observed
Colonel Gardiner in discourse with several officers on the evening before
the engagement, at which time, it was afterwards reported, he gave his
advice to attack the rebels; and when it was overruled, he afterwards saw
the colonel walk by himself in a very pensive manner.]
He continued all night under arms, wrapt up in his cloak, and generally
sheltered under a rick of barley which happened to be in the field. About
three in the morning he called his domestic servants to him, of which
there were four in waiting. He dismissed three of them with most
affectionate Christian advice, and such solemn charges relating to the
performance of their duty and the care of their souls, as plainly seemed
to intimate that he at least apprehended it very probable he was taking
his last farewell of them. There is great reason to believe that he spent
the little remainder of the time, which could not be much above an hour,
in those devout exercises of soul which had so long been habitual to him,
and to which so many circumstances then concurred to call him.
The army was alarmed at break of day by the noise of the rebels'
approach, and the attack was made before sunrise; yet it was light enough
to discern what passed. As soon as the enemy came within gunshot, they
made a furious fire; and it is said that the dragoons, which constituted
the left wing, immediately fled. The colonel, at the beginning of the
onset, which lasted but a few minutes, received a wound by a bullet in
his left breast, which made him give a sudden spring in his saddle; upon
which his servant, who had led the horse, would have persuaded him to
retreat; but he said it was only a wound in the flesh, and fought on,
though soon after he received a shot in his right thigh. In the meantime
it was discovered that some of the enemies fell by him, particularly one
man, who had made him a treacherous visit but a few days before, with
great professions of zeal for the present establishment.
Events of this kind pass in less time than the description of them can
be written, or than it can be read. The colonel was for a few moments
supported by his men, and particularly by that worthy person,
Lieutenant-colonel Whitney, who was shot through the arm, and who, a few
months after, fell nobly in the battle of Falkirk; by Lieutenant West, a
man of distinguished bravery; also by about fifteen dragoons, who stood
by him to the last. But, after a faint fire, the regiment was seized with
a panic; and though their colonel and some other gallant officers did
what they could to rally them once or twice, they took to precipitate
flight. Just at the moment when Colonel Gardiner seemed to be making a
pause, to deliberate what duty required him to do in such a circumstance,
an accident happened, which must, I think, in the judgment of every
worthy and generous man, be deemed a sufficient apology for exposing his
life to so great a hazard, when his regiment had left him.[*] He saw that
a party of foot, who were then bravely fighting near him, and whom he
was ordered to support, had no officer to head them; upon which he said
eagerly, in the hearing of the person from whom I had this account,
"Those brave fellows will be cut to pieces for want of a commander,"--or
words to that effect. So saying, he rode up to them, and cried out aloud,
"Fire on, my lads, and fear nothing." But, just as the words were out of
his mouth, a Highlander advanced towards him with a scythe, fastened on
a long pole, with which he gave him such a deep wound on his right arm,
that his sword dropped out of his hand; and at the same time several
others coming about him while he was thus dreadfully entangled with that
cruel weapon, he was dragged off his horse. The moment he fell another
Highlander, who, if the crown witness at Carlisle may be credited, (as I
know not why he should not, though the unhappy creature died denying it,)
was one M'Naught, who was executed about a year after, gave him a stroke
either with a broadsword or a Lochaber axe, (for my informant could not
exactly distinguish,) on the hinder part of his head, which was the
mortal blow. All that his faithful attendant saw further at this time
was, that as his hat had fallen off, he took it in his left hand, and
waved it as a signal to him to retreat; and added, (the last words he
ever heard him speak,) "Take care of yourself;" upon which the servant
retired.
[*Note: The colonel, who was well acquainted with military history, might
possibly remember that in the battle at Blenheim, the illustrious Prince
Eugene, when the horse of the wing which he commanded had run away
thrice, charged at the head of the foot, and thereby greatly contributed
to the glorious success of the day. At least such an example may conduce
to vindicate that noble ardour which, amidst all the applauses of his
country, some have been so cool and so critical as to blame. For my part,
I thank God that I am not called to apologize for his following his
troops in their flight, which I fear would have been a much harder task;
and which, dear as he was to me, would have grieved me much more than his
death, with these heroic circumstances attending it.]
It was reported at Edinburgh, on the day of the battle, by what seemed a
considerable authority, that as the colonel lay in his wounds, he said to
a chief of the opposite side, "You are fighting for an earthly crown, I
am going to receive a heavenly one,"--or something to that purpose. When
I preached the sermon, long since printed, on occasion of his death, I
had great reason to believe this report was true, though, before the
publication of it, I began to be in doubt; and, on the whole, after the
most accurate inquiry I could possibly make at this distance, I cannot
get any convincing evidence of it. Yet I must here observe that it does
not appear impossible that something of this kind might indeed be uttered
by him, as his servant testifies that he spoke to him after receiving
that fatal blow, which would seem most likely to have taken away the
power of speech, and as it is certain he lived several hours after he
fell. If, therefore, any thing of this kind did happen, it must have been
just before this instant. But as to the story of his being taken prisoner
and carried to the pretended Prince, (who, by the way, afterwards
rode his horse, and entered into Derby upon it,) with several other
circumstances which were grafted upon that interview, there is the most
undoubted evidence of its falsehood; for his attendant above mentioned
assures me that he himself immediately fled to a mill, at the distance of
about two miles from the spot on which the colonel fell, where he changed
his dress, and, disguised like a miller's servant, returned with a cart
as soon as possible, which yet was not till nearly two hours after the
engagement. The hurry of the action was then pretty well over, and he
found his much-honoured master not only plundered of his watch and other
things of value, but also stripped of his upper garments and boots, yet
still breathing; and adds, that though he was not capable of speech,
yet, on taking him up, he opened his eyes; which makes it something
questionable whether he was altogether insensible. In this condition, and
in this manner, he conveyed him to the church of Tranent, from whence he
was immediately taken into the minister's house, and laid in bed, where
he continued breathing and frequently groaning till about eleven in
the forenoon, when he took his final leave of pain and sorrow, and
undoubtedly rose to those distinguished glories which are reserved for
those who have been eminently and remarkably faithful unto death.
From the moment he fell, it was no longer a battle, but a rout and
carnage. The cruelties which the rebels (as it is generally said under
the command of Lord Elcho,) inflicted on some of the king's troops after
they had asked quarter, are dreadfully legible on the countenances of
many who survived it. They entered Colonel Gardiner's house before he was
carried off from the field, and notwithstanding the strict orders which
the unhappy Duke of Perth (whose conduct is said to have been very humane
in many instances,) gave to the contrary, every thing of value was
plundered, to the very curtains of the beds, and hangings of the rooms.
His papers were all thrown into the wildest disorder, and his house made
an hospital for the reception of those who were wounded in the action.
Such was the close of a life which had been zealously devoted to God, and
filled up with many honourable services. Such was the death of him who
had been so highly favoured by God in the method by which he was brought
back to him after so long and so great an estrangement, and in the
progress of so many years, during which (in the expressive phrase of the
most ancient of writers,) "he had walked with him;"--to fall, as God
threatened the people of his wrath that they should do, "with tumult,
with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet." Amos ii. 2. Several
other very worthy, and some of them very eminent persons, shared the same
fate, either now at the battle of Prestonpans, or quickly after at that
of Falkirk;[*] Providence, no doubt, permitting it, to establish our
faith in the rewards of an invisible world, as well as to teach us to
cease from man, and fix our dependence on an Almighty arm.
[*Note: Of these, none were more memorable than those illustrious
brothers, Mr. Robert Munro and Dr. Munro, whose tragical but glorious fate
was also shared quietly after by a third hero of the family, Captain
Munro, of Culcairn, brother to Sir Robert and the Doctor.]
The remains of this Christian hero (as I believe every reader is now
convinced he may justly be called,) were interred the Tuesday following,
September 24, in the parish church at Tranent, where he had usually
attended divine service, with great solemnity. His obsequies were
honoured with the presence of some persons of distinction, who were not
afraid of paying that mark of respect to his memory, though the country
was then in the hands of the enemy. But, indeed, there was no great
hazard in this; for his character was so well known, that even they
themselves spoke honourably of him, and seemed to join with his friends
in lamenting the fall of so brave and so worthy a man.
The remotest posterity will remember for whom the honour of subduing this
unnatural and pernicious rebellion was reserved; and it will endear the
Duke of Cumberland to all but the open or secret abettors of it in the
present age, and consecrate his name to immortal honours among all the
friends of religion and liberty who shall arise after us. And, I dare
say, it will not be imagined that I at all derogate from his glory in
suggesting, that the memory of that valiant and excellent person whose
memoirs I am now concluding may in some measure have contributed to that
signal and complete victory with which God was pleased to crown the
arms of his Royal Highness; for the force of such an example is very
animating, and a painful consciousness of having deserted such a
commander in such extremity, must at least awaken, where there was any
spark of generosity, an earnest desire to avenge his death on those who
had sacrificed his blood, and that of so many other excellent persons, to
the views of their ambition, rapine or bigotry.
The reflections which I have made in my funeral sermon on my honoured
friend, and in the dedication of it to his worthy and most afflicted
lady, supersede many things which might otherwise have properly been
added here. I conclude, therefore, with humbly acknowledging the wisdom
and goodness of that awful Providence which drew so thick a gloom around
him in the last hours of his life, that the lustre of his virtues might
dart through it with a more vivid and observable ray. It is abundant
matter of thankfulness that so signal a monument of grace, and ornament
of the Christian profession, was raised in our age and country, and
spared for so many honourable and useful years. Nor can all the
tenderness of the most affectionate friendship, while its sorrows bleed
afresh in the view of so tragical a scene, prevent my adoring the
gracious appointment of the great Lord of all events, that when the day
in which he must have expired without an enemy appeared so very near, the
last ebb of his generous blood should be poured out, as a kind of sacred
libation, to the liberties of his country, and the honour of his God!
that all the other virtues of his character, embalmed as it were by that
precious stream, might diffuse around a more extensive fragrance, and be
transmitted to the most remote posterity with that peculiar charm which
they cannot but derive from their connection with so gallant a fall--an
event (as that blessed apostle, of whose spirit he so deeply drank, has
expressed it) "according to his earnest expectation, and his hope that in
him Christ might be glorified in all things, whether by his life or by
his death."
THE COLONEL'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
In the midst of so many more important articles, I had really forgotten
to say any thing of the person of Colonel Gardiner, of which,
nevertheless, it may be proper here to add a word or two. He was, as I
was informed, in younger life remarkably graceful and amiable; and I
can easily believe it, from what I knew him to be when our acquaintance
began, though he was then turned of fifty, and had gone through so many
fatigues as well as dangers, which could not but leave some traces on his
countenance. He was tall, (I suppose something more than six feet,) well
proportioned, and strongly built; his eyes of a dark gray, and not very
large; his forehead pretty high; his nose of a length and height no way
remarkable, but very well suited to his other features; his cheeks not
very prominent; his mouth moderately large, and his chin rather a little
inclining (when I knew him) to be peaked. He had a strong voice and
lively accent, with an air very intrepid, yet attempered with much
gentleness. There was something in his manner of address most perfectly
easy and obliging, which was in great measure the result of the great
candour and benevolence of his natural temper, and which, no doubt, was
much improved by the deep humility which divine grace had wrought in his
heart, as well as his having been accustomed from his early youth to the
company of persons of distinguished rank and polite behaviour.
The picture of him, which is given at the beginning of these memoirs,
was taken from an original done by Van Deest (a Dutchman brought into
Scotland by general Wade,) in the year 1727, which was the 40th of his
age, and is said to have been very like him then, though far from being
an exact resemblance of what he was when I had the happiness of being
acquainted with him.[*] Perhaps he would have appeared to the greatest
advantage of all, could he have been exactly drawn on horseback; as
many very good judges, and among the rest the celebrated Mons. Faubert
himself, have spoken of him as one of the completest horsemen that has
ever been known; and there was indeed something so singularly graceful in
his appearance in that attitude, that it was sufficient (as what is very
eminent in its kind generally is,) to strike an eye not formed on any
critical rules.
[*Note: In presenting this likeness for the first time in an American
edition of this work, the artist has taken the liberty to change the
costume, by substituting the ordinary military dress for the court dress
of the original.--_Editor of the Pres. Board of Publication_.]
[Transcriber's Note: The Portrait is not available.]
APPENDIX I.
(Referred to at the end of Chapter VI, LETTERS.)
It may not be amiss, in illustration of Dr. Doddridge's remarks on the
subject of dreams, to present to the reader the following account of
a remarkable dream which occurred to the Doctor himself, and had a
beneficial influence on his own mind.--ED. PRES. BD. PUB.
DR. DODDRIDGE'S DREAM.
Dr. Doddridge and Dr. Samuel Clark, of St. Alban's, having been
conversing in the evening upon the nature of the separate state, and the
probability that the scenes on which the soul would enter, at its first
leaving the body, would have some resemblance to those things it had been
conversant with while on earth, that it might by degrees be prepared
for the more sublime happiness of the heavenly state, this and other
conversation of the same kind probably occasioned the following dream.
The Doctor imagined himself dangerously ill at a friend's house in
London, and after remaining in this state for some hours, he thought his
soul left his body, and took its flight in some kind of a fine vehicle,
though very different from the gross body it had just quitted, but still
material. He pursued his course through the air, expecting some celestial
messenger to meet him, till he was at some distance from the city,
when turning back and viewing the town, he could not forbear saying to
himself, "How vain do those affairs in which the inhabitants of this
place are so eagerly employed, seem to me a separate spirit!" At length,
as he was continuing his progress, though without any certain directions,
yet easy and happy in the thoughts of the universal providence and
government of God, which extends alike to all states and worlds, he was
now met by one who told him he was sent to conduct him to this destined
state of abode, from which he concluded it was an angel, though he
appeared in the form of an elderly man. They accordingly advanced
together, till they came within sight of a large spacious building,
which had the air of a palace. Upon his inquiring what it was, his guide
replied, it was the place assigned for him at present; upon which the
Doctor wondered that he had read on earth, "that eye had not seen, nor
ear had heard, the glory laid up for them that love God," when he could
easily have formed an idea of such a building, from others he had seen,
though he acknowledged they were greatly inferior to this in elegance and
magnificence. The answer, his guide told him, was plainly suggested by
the conversation of the evening before, and that the scenes presented to
him were purposely contrived to bear a near resemblance to those he had
been accustomed to on earth, that his mind might be more easily and
gradually prepared for those glories which would open upon him hereafter,
and which would at first have quite dazzled and overpowered him. By this
time they came to the palace, and his guide led him through a kind of
saloon into an inner parlour. The first object that struck him was a
great golden cup which stood upon a table, on which was embossed the
figure of a vine and clusters of grapes. He asked his guide the meaning
of it; who told him that it was the cup in which his Saviour drank new
wine with his disciples in his kingdom; and that the figures carved on it
denoted the union between Christ and his Church, implying, that as the
grapes derived all their beauty and flavour from the vine, so the saints,
even in a state of glory, were indebted for their establishment in
holiness and happiness, to their union with their common Head, in whom
they are all complete. While they were conversing, he heard a tap at the
door, and was informed by the angel that it was a signal of his Lord's
approach, and was intended to prepare him for an interview. Accordingly,
in a short time our Saviour entered the room, and upon his casting
himself at his feet, he graciously raised him up, and with a smile of
inexpressible complacency, assured him of his favour, and kind acceptance
of his faithful services, and as a token of his peculiar regard, and the
intimate friendship with which he intended to honour him, he took the
cup, and after drinking of it himself, gave it into the Doctor's hand.
The Doctor would have declined it at first, as too great an honour; but
our Lord replied, as to Peter in washing his feet, "If thou drinkest not
with me, thou hast no part with me." This he observed filled him with
such a transport of gratitude, love and admiration, that he was ready to
sink under it. His master seemed sensible of this, and told him he must
leave him for the present, but would not be long before he repeated
his visit. As soon as our Lord was retired, and the Doctor's mind more
composed, he observed that the room was hung with pictures, and upon
examining them, he found to his great surprise, that they contained
all the history of his life; and most remarkable scenes he had passed
through, being there represented in a very lively manner--the many
temptations and trials he had been exposed to, and the signal instances
of the divine goodness in the different periods of his life. It may not
be easily imagined how this would strike and affect his mind. It excited
in him the strongest emotions of gratitude, especially when he reflected
that he was now out of the reach of any future danger, and that all the
purposes of divine love towards him were so amply accomplished. The
exstacy of joy and gratitude, into which these reflections threw him, was
so great that he awoke; but for some time after he awoke the impression
continued so lively that tears of joy flowed down his cheeks, and he said
that he never, on any occasion, remembered to have had sentiments of
devotion and love equal to it.
APPENDIX II.
(Referred to in Chapter VII, DOMESTIC RELATIONS.)
The following extract from Dr. Doddridge's "Thoughts on Sacramental
Occasions," gives a beautiful and edifying picture of the exercises of
his affectionate and pious heart under a painful bereavement.
THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH SACRAMENT, OCTOBER 3, 1736.
DEAR BETSEY DEAD.[1]
I had preached in the bitterness of my heart from these words: "Is it
well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is
well." 2 Kings iv. 26. I endeavoured to show the reason there was to say
this; but surely there was never any dispensation of Providence in which
I found it so hard, for my very soul had been overwhelmed within me.
Indeed, some hard thoughts of the mercy of God were ready to arise; and
the apprehension of his heavy displeasure, and the fear of my child's
future state, added fuel to the fire.
Upon the whole, my mind was in the most painful agitation; but it pleased
God, that, in composing the sermon, my soul became quieted, and I was
brought into a more silent and cordial submission to the Divine will.
At the table I discoursed on these words, "Although my house be not so
with God." 2 Samuel xxiii. 5. I observed, that domestic calamities may
befall good men in their journey through life, and particularly in
relation to their children; but that they have a refuge in God's
covenant; it is everlasting; it is sure; it is well ordered--every
provision is made according to our necessities; and shall be our
salvation, as it is the object of our most affectionate regard.
One further circumstance I must record; and that is, that I here solemnly
recollected that I had, in a former sacrament taken the cup with these
words, "Lord, I take this cup as a public and solemn token that I will
refuse no other cup which thou shalt put into my hand." I mentioned this
recollection, and charged it publicly on myself and my Christian friends.
God has taken me at my word, but I do not retract it; I repeat it again
with regard to every future cup.
I am just come from the coffin of my dear child, who seemes to be sweetly
asleep there, with a serene, composed, delightful countenance, once how
animated with double life! There--lo! O my soul! lo there! is thine idol
laid still in death--the creature which stood next to God in thine heart;
to whom it was opened with a fond and flattering delight. Methinks I
would learn to be dead with her--dead to the world. Oh that I could be
dead with her, not any further than that her dear memory may promote my
living to God.[*]
[*Note: The following note was written in the margin of the manuscript by
the late Rev. Thomas Stedman: "I think I have heard that the doctor wrote
his funeral sermon for his daughter, or a part of it, upon her coffin."]
I had a great deal of very edifying, conversation last night and his
morning with my wife, whose wisdom does indeed make her face to shine
under this affliction. She is supported and armoured with a courage which
seems not at all natural to her; talks with the utmost freedom, and has
really said many of the most useful things that ever were said to me by
any person upon the earth, both as to consolation and admonition. Had
the best things I have read on the subject been collected together, they
could hardly have been better conceived or better expressed. This is
to me very surprising when I consider her usual reserve. I have all
imaginable reason to believe that God will make this affliction a great
blessing to her, and I hope it may prove so to me. There was a fond
delight and complacence which I took in Betsey beyond any thing living.
Although she had not a tenth part of that rational, manly love, which I
pay to her mourning and many surviving friends; yet it leaves a peculiar
pain upon my heart, and it is almost as if my very gall were poured
out upon the earth. Yet much sweetness mingles itself with this bitter
potion, chiefly in the view and hope of my speedy removal to the eternal
world. May it not be the bounty of this providence, that instead of her
living many years upon the earth, God may have taken away my child that I
might be fitted for and reconciled to my own dissolution, perhaps nearly
approaching? I verily believe that I shall meet her there, and enjoy much
more of her in heaven than I should have done had she survived me on
earth. Lord, thy will be done; may my life be used for the service while
continued, and then put thou a period to it whenever thou pleasest.
[Footnote 1: The following extract from the Diary of Dr. Doddridge is
here subjoined, as affording an explanation of some particulars alluded
to in the text.
REFLECTIONS ON THE DEATH OF MY DEAR CHILD, AND THE MANY MOURNFUL
PROVIDENCES ATTENDING IT.
I have a great deal of reason to condemn my own negligence and folly,
that for so many months I have suffered no memorandums of what has passed
between God and my soul, although some of the transactions were very
remarkable, as well as some things which I have heard concerning others;
but the subject of this article is the most melancholy of any. We lost my
dear and reverend brother and friend, Mr. Sanders, on the 31st of July
last; on the 1st of September, Lady Russell--that invaluable friend, died
at Reading on her road from Bath; and on Friday, the 1st of October, God
was pleased, by a most awful stroke, to take away my eldest, dearest
child, my lovely Betsey. She was formed to strike my affections in the
most powerful manner; such a person, genius, and temper, as I admired
even beyond their real importance, so that indeed I doted upon her, and
was for many months before her death in a great degree of bondage upon
her account. She was taken ill at Newport about the middle of June, and
from thence to the day of her death, she was my continual thought, and
almost uninterrupted care. God only knows with what earnestness and
importunity I prostrated myself before him to beg her life, which I would
have been willing almost to have purchased with my own. When reduced to
the lowest degree of languishment by a consumption, I could not forbear
looking upon her almost every hour. I saw her with the strongest mixture
of anguish and delight; no chemist ever watched his crucible with greater
care, when he expected the production of the philosopher's stone, than I
watched her in all the various turns of her distemper, which at last grew
utterly hopeless, and then no language can express the agony into which
it threw me. One remarkable circumstance I cannot but recollect: in
praying most affectionately, perhaps too earnestly, for her life, these
words came into my mind with great power, "Speak no more to me of this
matter." I was unwilling to take them, and went into the chamber to see
my dear lamb, when, instead of receiving me with her usual tenderness,
she looked upon me with a stern air, and said, with a very remarkable
determination of voice, "I have no more to say to you;" and I think that
from that time, although she lived at least ten days, she seldom looked
upon me with pleasure, or cared to suffer me to come near her. But that
I might feel all the bitterness of the affliction, Providence so ordered
it, that I came in when her sharpest agonies were upon her, and those
words, "O dear, O dear, what shall I do?" rung in my ears for succeeding
hours and days. But God delivered her,--and she, without any violent pang
in the article of her dissolution, quietly and sweetly fell asleep, as I
hope, in Jesus, about ten at night, I being then at Maidwell. When I came
home my mind was under a dark cloud relating to the eternal state; but
God was pleased graciously to remove it, and gave me comfortable hopes,
after having felt the most heart-rending sorrow. My dear wife bore the
affliction in the most glorious manner, and discovered more wisdom, and
piety, and steadiness of temper in a few days, than I had ever in six
years an opportunity of observing before. O my soul, God has blasted thy
gourd; thy greatest earthly delight is gone: seek it in heaven, where I
hope this dear babe is; where I am sure that my Saviour is; and where I
trust, through grace, notwithstanding all this irregularity of temper and
of heart, that I shall shortly be.
Sunday, October 3, 1736
FURTHER REFLECTIONS AFTER THE FUNERAL OF MY DEAR BETSEY.
I have now been laying the delight of my eyes in the dust, and it is
for ever hidden from them. My heart was too full to weep much. We had a
suitable sermon from these words: "Doest thou well to be angry?" Jonah
iv. 9; because of the gourd. I hope God knows that I am not angry; but
sorrowful he surely allows me to be. I could have wished that more had
been said concerning the hope we may have of our child; and it was a
great disappointment to me that nothing of that kind should have been
said by one that loved her so well as my brother Hunt did. Yet, I bless
God, I have my hopes that she is lodged in the arms of Christ. And there
was an occurrence that I took much notice of; I was most earnestly
praying that God would be pleased to give me some further encouragement
on this head, by letting some new light, or by directing me to some
further thoughts upon the subject. Soon after, as I came into my wife's
chamber, she told me that our maid Betty, who had indeed the affection
of a parent for my dear girl, had just before assured her, that, on the
Sabbath day evening, Betsey would be repeating to herself some things of
what she had heard in my prayers and in my preachings, but did not
care to talk of it to others; and my wife assured me that she solemnly
recommended herself to God in the words that I had taught her a little
before she died. Blessed God, hast thou not received her? I trust that
thou hast, and pardoned the infirmities of her poor, short, childish,
afflicted life. I hope, in some measure out of love to me, as thy
servant, thou hast done it, for Christ's sake; and I would consider the
very hope, as an engagement to thy future service. Lord, I love those who
were kind to my child, and wept with me for her; shall I not much more
love thee, who, I hope, art at this moment taking care of her, and
opening her infant faculties for the duties and blessedness of heaven.
Lord, I would consider myself as a dying creature. My first born is
gone;--my beloved child is laid in bed before me. I have often followed
her to her bed in a literal sense; and shortly I shall follow her to
that, where we shall lie down together, and our rest shall be together
in the dust. In a literal sense the grave is ready for me. My grave is
made--I have looked into it--a dear part of myself is already there; and
when I stood at the Lord's table I stood directly over it. It is some
pleasure to me to think that my dust will be lodged near that of my dear
lamb, how much more to hope that my soul will rest with hers, and rejoice
in her forever! But, O, let me not centre my thoughts even here; it is
at rest with, and in God, that is my ultimate hope. Lord, may thy grace
secure it to me! and in the mean time give me some holy acquiescence of
soul in thee; and although my gourd be withered, yet shelter me under the
shadow of thy wings.
October 4, 1736.]
End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Col. James Gardiner, by P. Doddridge