and the wickedness and cruelty of wasting a moment, when so many nations are, as it were, waiting till I do my work, felt eager for the morning to come again that I might resume my work." During his residence in Persia, he had various opportunities of endeavouring to lead perishing men to the Source of real happiness. On one of these, by a short, but impressive, argument on the importance of religion, he brought to apparent seriousness a deistical Mohammedan, who amused himself with infidel delusions, worthy of Tom Paine or Hume. He said, "These things will do very well for the present, while reclining in gardens, and smoking caleans, but not for a dying hour. How many years of life remain? You are about thirty; perhaps thirty more remain. How swiftly have the last thirty passed! how soon will the next thirty be gone! and then we shall see. If you are right, I lose nothing; if I am right, you lose your soul." As he loved his Lord, so he was anxious for his glory. This holy zeal was remarkably displayed during his abode at Shiraz, in Persia. There he had to maintain the dignity of his Redeemer among learned Mohammedans, who treated him with contempt on this account. He observed, "How many times in the day have I occasion to repeat the words, If on my face, for Thy dear name, Shame and reproaches be; All hail reproach, and welcome shame, If thou remember me."" In one of his reflections on January 1, 1807, he says, "Seven years have passed away since I was first called of God. Before the conclusion of another seven years how probable that these hands will have mouldered into dust! But be it so; my soul, through grace, hath received the assurance of eternal life; and I see the days of my pilgrimage shortening without a wish to add to their number. But O may I be stirred up to a further discharge of my high and awful work; and laying aside, as much as may be, all carnal cares and studies, may I give myself to this one thing!"" While in Persia he visited the ruins of Persepolis, and indulged those salutary reflections which impress the heart with the littleness of life and the nearness of eternity. He observes: "It was impossible not to recollect that here Alexander and his Greeks passed and repassed-here they sat, and sung, and revelled; now all is silence-generation on generation lie mingled with the dust of their mouldering edifices." In his return, being near the river Araxes, he says,"I went and sat down on the margin, near the bridge, where the water, falling over some fragments of the bridge under the arches, produced a roar, which, contrasted with the stillness all around, had a grand effect. Here I thought again of the multitudes who had once pursued their labours and pleasures on its banks. Twenty-one centuries have passed away since they lived; how short, in comparison, must be the remainder of my days! What a momentary duration is the life of man! Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum,* may be affirmed of the river; but men pass away as soon as they begin to exist. Well, let the moments pass, • They 'll waft us sooner o'er This life's tempestuous sea, Having completed his translation of the New Testament into the Persian language, he visited the king in May, 1812, in order to present a copy to him. Upon • It glides on, and wave after wave will glide on forever. his coming into the presence of the king, two Moolahs attacked him with their arguments against the Law and the Gospel. The controversy was continued for an hour or two, when the vizier, joining in, said to Mr. Martyn, "You had better say, God is God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God." He replied, "God is God;" but added, "and Jesus is the Son of God." They no sooner heard this than they all exclaimed, in anger and contempt, "He is neither born nor begets;" and rose up as if they would have torn him in pieces. One of them said, "What will you say when your tongue is burnt out for blasphemy?" They treated his book with contempt, and he went back to his tent. His work in Persia being now completed, he designed to visit England, and, through great hardships, pursued his journey. The last words he penned in his journal show the desires of his soul: "Oct. 6.-No horses being to be had, I had an unexpected repose. I sat in the orchard, and thought, with sweet comfort and peace, of my God; in solitude-my company, my friend, and comforter. O when shall time give place to eternity! When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness! There there shall in no wise enter in anything that defileth: none of that wickedness that has made men worse than wild beasts-none of those corruptions that add still more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or heard of any more." Ten days after he breathed forth these aspirations, he entered the joy of his Lord. He died at Tocat, Oct. 16, 1812, in his thirty-second year. 12. REV. THOMAS SCOTT. "When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside!" THE closing scenes in the life of this deeply pious, learned, and well-known commentator, are full of interest and instruction. His life was protracted for seventy-five years, and his active ministry nearly fifty. As this good man drew near the close of life, he was greatly distressed at the temporary withdrawal of the light of the Divine countenance. His biographer, an eye and ear witness, says:— "In the time of his darkness and gloom, he prayed without ceasing, and with inexpressible fervour. He seemed unconscious of any one being near him, and gave vent to the feelings of his mind without restraint. And O what holy feelings were they; what spirituality, what hatred of sin, what humility, what simple faith in Christ, what zeal for God's glory, what submission! Never could I hear him, without being reminded of Him, who 'being in an agony prayed the more earnestly,' and whose language was, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' 'I think nothing,' he said, 'of my bodily pains-my soul is all. I trust all will end wellbut it is a dreadful conflict. I hope-I fear-I tremble -I pray. Satan tries to be revenged on me, in this awful hour, for all that I have done against his kingdom through life. He longs to pluck me out of Christ's hand. Subdue the enemy, O Lord! Silence the accuser! Bruise Satan under my feet shortly! "Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide, O, to enter eternity with one doubt on the mind! Eternity Eternity-Eternity! People talk of assurance not being attainable in this world, nor perhaps much to be desired. They and the devil agree on this point. O what a thing sin is! Who knoweth the power of his wrath? If this be the way to heaven, what must the way to hell be? "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" "In the midst of his conflict he generally expressed hope of final victory, but thought he should die under a cloud. He accused himself of self-indulgence and slackness in prayer; of having made his religious labours an excuse for shortness in private devotion. "His first clear consolation was after receiving the Lord's supper, on Thursday, March 22, 1821. He had previously observed: An undue stress is by some laid upon this ordinance, as administered to the sick, and I think others of us are in danger of undervaluing it.' Shortly after the service was concluded, he said, 'Now Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' Through the remainder of the day, though much exhausted, and during the night, he continued in a very happy state of mind. "To his son-in-law, who came in the evening, he said: 'I feel a composure which I did not expect last night; I have not triumphant assurance, but something which is more calm and satisfactory. I bless God for it.' And then he repeated, in the most emphatic manner, the whole of the twelfth chapter of Isaiah: "O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me," &c. O to realize the fulness of joy! to have done with temptation! "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, - shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains |