University of Virginia Library

ON THE DEATH OF MR. EBENEZER BLACKWELL, APRIL 21, 1782.

PART I.

Happy the follower of his Lord,
Call'd, and indulged in Him to die,
To gain a full immense reward,
Bestow'd by Jesus in the sky!
He rests from all his labours there,
Pursued by all his works of love,
And waits for us the joy to share,
Triumphant with our friends above.

Then let us cheerfully pursue
Our comrade to that heavenly land,
And keep, like him, our end in view,
And love, like him, our Lord's command:
Obedient both in word and deed,
By works his genuine faith he show'd,
Rejoiced in Jesu's steps to tread,
And spent his life in doing good.

Affliction's kind, unfailing friend,
He wisely used his growing store,
And prized his privilege to lend
To God—by giving to the poor.
The Lord His liberal servant bless'd,
Who paid Him back the blessings given;
And still, the more his wealth increased,
More treasure he laid up in heaven.

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Through life inviolably just,
He his integrity maintain'd,
Most strictly faithful to his trust,
An upright man of truth unfeign'd:
His roughly honest soul abhorr'd
The polish smooth, the courtier's art,
While, free from guile, in every word
He spoke the language of his heart.

Who always liberal things devised,
By liberal things he firmly stood,
Sincerely loved his friends, and prized,
Their burdens bore, and sought their good:
But chiefly those to Jesus dear,
Who travell'd to the land of rest,
As brethren intimately near,
He cherish'd in his generous breast.

A man of passions like to ours,
For years he groan'd beneath the load,
And wrestled with the adverse powers,
And look'd to the atoning blood:
The blood, which once his pardon bought,
Did here the contrite sinner save;
And all his faults are now forgot,
Are buried in his Saviour's grave.

PART II.

On earth he drank the deepest cup
Of sharp but consecrated pain,
And fill'd his mournful measure up,
And suffer'd with his Lord to reign;

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Meekly the sudden call obey'd,
His willing spirit to resign;
And only for his Saviour stay'd,
To finish His own work Divine.

The souls whom most he prized below,
The dearest partners of his heart,
Free and detach'd, he let them go,
Resign'd, and ready to depart.
'Tis all his gasping soul's desire,
To find his place prepared above,
And keep, with that enraptured choir,
A sabbath of eternal love.

His prayer is heard, and, saved at last,
He drops the gross, corporeal clay;
The dreary, doleful vale is pass'd,
And opens into glorious day:
Pass'd are his days to feel and mourn,
Accomplish'd is the warfare here;
His Father wills him to return,
And Israel's fiery steeds appear!

Triumphant while his soul ascends,
By ministerial spirits convey'd,
The numbers whom his grateful friends
He by the' “unrighteous mammon” made,
With kindred saints and angels bright,
In shining ranks expecting stand,
And, shouting, all the sons of light
Receive and welcome him to land!

Happy the souls he leaves behind,
If, following him, as he his Lord,
As meek, as lowly, and resign'd,
They hear the last transporting word!

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If ready through their Saviour's love,
When all the storms of life are o'er,
As safe and sudden they remove,
And grasp their friend to part no more!

To ask his death shall I presume?
Saviour, in me Thyself reveal,
And grant me, when my hour is come,
His penitence and faith to feel:
Thou seest the wish of this weak heart,
His cup of torture to decline;
And let me then, like him, depart,
And let his final state be mine!