[Transcriber's Note: Nehemiah Adams]
TO THE
YOUNG LADIES OF MY CONGREGATION,
FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OF
CATHARINE,
AND TO EVERY FATHER,
HAVING
A DAUGHTER IN HEAVEN,
These Pages
ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.
Is that a death-bed where the Christian lies?
Yes,—but not his: 'Tis death itself there dies.
Coleridge.
She was not an infant—an unconscious subject of grace. But the Saviourhas led through a long sickness, and through death, a daughter ofnineteen years, and has made her, and those who loved and watched her,say, We are more than conquerors. To speak of Him, and not to gratifythe fondness of parental love, to commend the Saviour of my child toother hearts, and to obtain for Him the affections of those to whom Heis able and willing to be all which He was to her, is the sole object ofthese pages. Listen, then, not to a parent's partial tale concerninghis child, nor concerning mental nor bodily suffering, but to the wordsof one who has seen how the presence of Christ, and love to Him, canfill the dying hours with the sweetest peace, and even beauty, and thehearts of survivors with joy.
Wishing to dwell chiefly on the last scenes of this dear child's life,the reader will not be delayed by any biographical sketch. Nine yearsbefore her death, when she was between ten and eleven years of age, shegave the clearest evidence that she was renewed by the Holy Spirit. Wehad since that time been made happy by the growing power of Christianprinciple in her conduct, the clearness and steadfastness of her faith,her systematic endeavors to live a holy life, her deep regret when shehad erred, and her resolute efforts to improve in every part of hercharacter.
Through a long sickness, with consumption, for two years and threemonths, she felt the soothing power of unfaltering Christian hope,which was evidently derived from a very clear perception of the way tobe saved through Christ, and complete trust in the promises made tosimple faith in him.
He who gave me this child, and crowned my hopes and wishes by themanifest signs of his love towards her, merits from me a tribute ofgratitude and praise to which I desire and expect that eternity itselfmay bear witness. They who read the story, which I am about to relate,of her last few days, and think what it must be for a father to see hischild made competent to meet so intelligently and deliberately, and toovercome, the last enemy, and, in doing so, helping to sustain and tocomfort those who loved her, will perceive that it is a gift from God