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Article THURLOGH, THE MILESIAN. ← Page 12 of 17 →
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Thurlogh, The Milesian.
hankering after a world which persecuted me with sorrows ? or an adherence to friends from whom I have experienced nought but deceit ? No . In these particulars I shall , I trust , exchange a life of earthly vexation for one of heavenly security , where in the company of my father , and other ' holy men made perfect , ' I shall find comfort and relief from the wickedness and the weakness of flesh and blood . " My grief , notwithstanding , is inexpressibly acute when I reflect upon the
condition of so many helpless orphans to whom I have given rise . Who is now to provide for them ? Who to think or to act for them ? Who , in short , is to procure for them the common necessaries of subsistence here , well as direct their footsteps towards eternity hereafter ? It is you , Thurlogh ! you are my hope ! On you devolves this important charge ! You are now called of heaven , as my successor , in this commission ! And hereby ( putting his hand upon his head ) invested in all its duties and responsibilities ,
as sacredly and as solemnly as was Jacob by his father Isaac ! Be sure , therefore , you forget it not : neither set light by the dignity which it communicates . " In the discharge of it , too , I ivould have you not discouraged by tbe gloom of the present , or the opposition of the future . In the dim vista of time I foresee your success : and in the long perspective of circumambient darkness I see the elements of light bursting forth from the mass to encircle
your path with splendour and nith glory . " You have only , on your part , to persevere as you have begun . Be cautious , be assiduous , be upright . To the innocence of the dove unite the wisdom of the serpent : and may my blessing , and the blessing of God Almighty , the God of Abraham , the God of Isaac , and the God of Jacob , — the God of all truth , and the Father of the fatherless , guide and preserve you for ever ! "
This was the last sentence he ever uttered : it was also his last and only testamentary register . He lay himself back , as he closed it , upon the pillow of his dissolution , muttered a short resignation of his soul to his Creator ; after which his spirit took flight from its tenement of clay , and retired , we devoutly hope , into the bosom ofhis Redeemer ,
As for Thurlogh , he knew not what to make of all this ceremonial . The days of Jacob , he thought , were too old fashioned to regulate the proceedings of modern manners . Besides , as it did not devolve upon him any inheritance , any thing like patrimony , or substantial emolument , but , on the contrary , encumbered him with a gigantic responsibility , requiring all the appliances as well of fortune as of age ; he could not imagine it meant for more than a mere parting advice , —a valedictory admonition from the best
of fathers to a favourite child , whose movements and character he had ever studiously noticed , and for whose future welfare and disposal he had ever shown anxiety and interest the most extreme . The truth is , that he was not well able at the time to comprehend the thing . The tone of voice , however , in which it was conveyed , the solemnity of manner nith which it was accompanied , together with the evidence of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
hankering after a world which persecuted me with sorrows ? or an adherence to friends from whom I have experienced nought but deceit ? No . In these particulars I shall , I trust , exchange a life of earthly vexation for one of heavenly security , where in the company of my father , and other ' holy men made perfect , ' I shall find comfort and relief from the wickedness and the weakness of flesh and blood . " My grief , notwithstanding , is inexpressibly acute when I reflect upon the
condition of so many helpless orphans to whom I have given rise . Who is now to provide for them ? Who to think or to act for them ? Who , in short , is to procure for them the common necessaries of subsistence here , well as direct their footsteps towards eternity hereafter ? It is you , Thurlogh ! you are my hope ! On you devolves this important charge ! You are now called of heaven , as my successor , in this commission ! And hereby ( putting his hand upon his head ) invested in all its duties and responsibilities ,
as sacredly and as solemnly as was Jacob by his father Isaac ! Be sure , therefore , you forget it not : neither set light by the dignity which it communicates . " In the discharge of it , too , I ivould have you not discouraged by tbe gloom of the present , or the opposition of the future . In the dim vista of time I foresee your success : and in the long perspective of circumambient darkness I see the elements of light bursting forth from the mass to encircle
your path with splendour and nith glory . " You have only , on your part , to persevere as you have begun . Be cautious , be assiduous , be upright . To the innocence of the dove unite the wisdom of the serpent : and may my blessing , and the blessing of God Almighty , the God of Abraham , the God of Isaac , and the God of Jacob , — the God of all truth , and the Father of the fatherless , guide and preserve you for ever ! "
This was the last sentence he ever uttered : it was also his last and only testamentary register . He lay himself back , as he closed it , upon the pillow of his dissolution , muttered a short resignation of his soul to his Creator ; after which his spirit took flight from its tenement of clay , and retired , we devoutly hope , into the bosom ofhis Redeemer ,
As for Thurlogh , he knew not what to make of all this ceremonial . The days of Jacob , he thought , were too old fashioned to regulate the proceedings of modern manners . Besides , as it did not devolve upon him any inheritance , any thing like patrimony , or substantial emolument , but , on the contrary , encumbered him with a gigantic responsibility , requiring all the appliances as well of fortune as of age ; he could not imagine it meant for more than a mere parting advice , —a valedictory admonition from the best
of fathers to a favourite child , whose movements and character he had ever studiously noticed , and for whose future welfare and disposal he had ever shown anxiety and interest the most extreme . The truth is , that he was not well able at the time to comprehend the thing . The tone of voice , however , in which it was conveyed , the solemnity of manner nith which it was accompanied , together with the evidence of