LINES INTRODUCED AT THE CONCLUSION OF A DISCOURSE PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE Ah! my dear brother Covell, art thou gone? His sacred head, adorned with radiant gold? Yes, thou art gone—thy better part is fled— Thy body only is among the dead. Strengthen the feeble, and relieve the oppress'd; And fill this desk instead of worthless me, The joys of heaven and awful pains of hell! As spirits cannot speak without the help of clay, Then hark! and hear what Covell has to say: Our conjugal enjoyments now are dead; "O Clarissa! weep not for me—'tis vain; Always remember what the Lord hath said; "My first-born, Deidamia, hear your father's voice; "Cordelia, know thy father loves thee still, Yet one grave warning I am sent to give,— Look at your Savior, and your soul shall live. Julia, my youngest daughter, charming child, Be not, by wicked customs e'er beguil'd. Is only known to the great Deity. Know then, thy father's God, my son, in youth; Receive the Savior; trust the word of truth; Out of the mouth of babes, God can ordain "Brethren and neighbors, when I left the town, I little thought I never should return; But God, who governs all things, did ordain That you and I should never meet again, Till time shall be no more, and Christ shall come to reign." Now Leland speaks with sentiments his own. The child here alluded to, an infant at the time of his father's decease, became afterwards a preacher, at the age of 21, and died, seemingly in the midst of usefulness, at the early age of 33. Brethren, the preacher of your choice is dead; Cheer up! ye saints, the blissful Jesus knows : EXPERIENCE.* Come old, come young, and hear me relate My childhood and youth in vanity I spent, For more than eighteen years, I shed no mourning tears, Inflexibly hard, and impenetrably blind, But oh! that love—the love of God to man,— Sin then appeared vile,—the law appeared right, The word of God was true, and lovely to my view, I languished and mourned, how long I cannot tell, I saw God was just, if he sent me to hell, My heart was dreadful hard, and the door of grace seemed barred, And my soul with the devil forever must dwell. *Written about the year 1807. The way of salvation thro' Christ I did spy, But when all my hopes had nearly fled away, What freedom I felt, what joy I did receive!-'Twas easy to repent—'twas easy to believe ;— I freely gave him all, and at his feet did fall, And the glory—all glory to him I did give. His voice then I heard, in sweet majestic sound, "I've loved you--I've sought you, and closed up your wound, I've a work for you to do—be faithful, just and true, And proclaim to the world what a Saviour you've found." Not money nor fame, did e'er send me forth, O'er mountains and waters, as duty led me on, Through snow storms and tempests, and hot burning sun, I ran with all my might, and labored day and night, To proclaim a dear Saviour to sinners undone. But little have I done, but what was done wrong, Revivals have been short, and apostacies been long, After six and thirty years, I am greatly in arrears, And have nothing to plead but pardoning love alone. And now I'm growing old, my powers all decay, A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE REV. PETER WERDEN, Who died at Cheshire, on Lord's day, the 21st of Feb. 1808. The funeral was attended the Wednesday following by a large assembly of people. An appropriate discourse was delivered on the occasion, from Acts xiii. 36, 37, by the Rev. John Leland; at the close of which, the following lines were exhibited :— Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen! Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the righteous is taken away from among men. My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof. Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Elder Werden was born June 6th, 1728, and ordained to the work of the ministry, at Warwick, Rhode Island, May, 1751, in the 24th year of his age. When he first began to preach, he was too much of a New-light, and too strongly attached to the doctrine of salvation by sovereign grace, to be generally received among the old Baptist churches in Rhode Island, which had been formed partly upon the Armenian plan, until the following event opened the door for him. A criminal, by the name of Carter, was executed at Tower Hill. This occasion collected abundance of people from all parts of the state. While the criminal stood under the gallows, young Werden felt such a concern for his soul, that he urged his way through the crowd; and being assisted by the sheriff, he gained access to Carter, and addressed him as follows :— Sir, is your soul prepared for that awful eternity, into which you will launch in a few minutes ?" The criminal replied, "I don't know that it is, but I wish you would pray for me." In this prayer, Mr. Werden was so wonderfully assisted in spreading the poor man's case before the throne of God, that the whole assembly were aw. fully solemnized, and most of them wet their cheeks with their tears. This opened a great door for his ministrations, both on the Main and on the Island. He preached at Warwick, Coventry, and many other places with good success, about nineteen years, and then moved, in 1770, into this place, where he has lived and administered almost thirty-eight years. |