METHODIST. MAGAZINE,

FOR NOVEMBER, 1821.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR of the late MR. THOMAS BROCAS, of Shrewsbury. (Concluded from page 726.)

"I Now begin," says the Son of this very excellent man, "to turn over some of the latest pages of my Father's Journal, and, in furnishing a memorial of his life, am arrived at the last month of his mortal existence;-a month which, whilst it witnessed his deliverance from every thing of a painful nature below, was the period of his safe arrival above, where the weary are at rest in the full blaze of eternal glory." After relating in his journal some unpleasant circumstances which had occurred, and which had been an occasion of pain to his mind, MR. BROCAS records the following solemn ejaculations:

"Aug. 9th, 1818. O LORD most holy, O GOD most mighty, O holy and blessed TRINITY, restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free SPIRIT! Then shall I delight in thy ways, and shall go to my house, and shall not sin. This is what I want for as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O GOD. O when shall I come and appear before GOD?

"Sunday, Aug. 16th. I have this day had a feast of fat things, at the remembrance of the LORD, and of his mercies towards me, the vilest of men, and towards those who belong to me. O LORD, accept my thanks, through the Son of thy love!

"Aug. 16th. O the goodness and tender mercy of GOD towards me, the most foolish of men! On a review of his dealings with me, I am lost in wonder, love, and praise. Ignorant I was of men, of the world, of myself, when I first entered into business; and yet I have lived to see the wise and prudent fail. I have lived, and stood, and prospered, while I have witnessed the rich becoming poor, and the stout-hearted brought into trouble, and die in grief and sorrow, And who but God has upheld me? O LORD, I will praise thee, for thou hast been my guide, my helper, and my benefactor. O ye who are entering upon this dangerous world, study the Bible, and flee to God in secret prayer! for He giveth wisdom to the simple, and always guards the VOL. XLIV. NOVEMBER, 1821.

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friendless who make him their refuge.-I know of no means by which a man may cleanse his way, but by taking heed thereto according to God's holy word. Let him daily study that; let him watch unto prayer, and continue therein with thanksgiving; he will then love the LORD JESUS CHRIST above all creatures; and here he will be safe. O LORD, I come to thee! Deign to receive my morning sacrifice! I bow my knees before thee: 0 give me access to thy gracious throne, through the mediation of thy SON.

"Sunday morning, Aug. 23. I was appointed this morning to preach at Ellerdine: but while I was dressing myself, a fit of coughing brought on an attack of my disorder. After struggling with it, in great pain, which threw me into a violent sweat, I was constrained to retire to bed again, where I slept till nine o'clock, and my place was supplied by another person. This fatal disorder has increased so much of late, that it is with considerable difficulty and pain I can walk so much as a hundred yards; even this I cannot do without frequently stopping to rest; and my walking is so slow, that sometimes I scarcely move. O God, in mercy sanctify this to my good!"

Thus closes the Diary of MR. BROCAS: before the succeeding sabbath, he entered into the joy of his LORD. The complaint so often alluded to by him, and which had of late made such an alarming progress, though in its attacks it is painful and distressing in the extreme, and in its effects generally fatal, sometimes appears to leave its subject in the full enjoyment of health. MR. BROCAS, therefore, even within a few days of his death, was eminently cheerful, his appetite was never better, and his sleep profound and refreshing,

"On Wednesday morning, August 26th, 1818," says his Son, "I saw him for the last time. An annual journey of business, which I take through North Wales, was become due. I rose at an early hour, but my father was ready to see me set out: and when he took me by the hand, and said, Fare thee well; may GOD bless thee, and prosper thee; my heart sunk within me, and an indescribable something seemed to say, This is the last time he will ever bid you farewell! With this impression I went the first stage of my journey, in a state of great dejection: nor could I divest my mind of the melancholy thought, that I should see his face no I soon received the tidings of his death. A servant was sent off early on Saturday morning, who found me at Aberystwith. On entering the travellers' room, at the inn where I then was, he burst into tears, and presented to me a letter written by father's medical attendant. The sad contents of this epistle I conjectured, before I broke the seal. Alas, thought I, my beloved father is no more! and soon found that death had for ever closed his eyes. On the following day we came to Shrewsbury; and I,

more.

my

for the first time in my life, was not welcomed home by the most tender and affectionate of fathers. My eldest sister, Mas. HOWELL, who attended him in his last days, gives the following

account:

"On Monday, Aug. 23d, my father was not so well as usual, though in tolerably good spirits; but in the evening he appeared to be better, and enjoyed the company of a few friends who took tea with us. At this very happy meeting, we sang a few verses of the following excellent Hymn, which my father gave out:

Our life is hid with CHRIST in GOD:

Our life shall soon appear,
And shed his glory all abroad,
In all his members here.

Our souls are in his mighty hand,
And He shall keep them still;
And you and I shall surely stand
With Him on Sion's hill!

Him eye to eye we there shall see :
Our face, like his, shall shine :
O what a glorious company,

When saints and angels join!

During these sacred exercises his soul seemed to be dissolved in heavenly enjoyment. On Tuesday morning he had great difficulty in getting up; and thinking that bleeding would relieve him, he requested the apothecary to send him some leeches, which were applied, but without any apparent advantage. His strength seemed now to decline, and the pain in his breast was more constant than it had ever been before. On Wednesday he cast up his shop-accounts; and, when he had done, said to a friend who stood by, I have cast up the accounts: and having specified the sums which he owed to others, and which others owed to him, he added, This is the last time I shall ever be employed thus.' His friend replied, Dear Sir, how you talk!' To which he emphatically rejoined, Yes, it is the last time: I shall never do it again!'

"On Thursday he was requested to meet a few friends at tea on the following day, when he said, 'No, sister W—————————, I shall never go out to tea any more.' In the evening he conducted, for the last time, the devotions of the family, and read the fourteenth chapter of the Book of JOB, which so impressively describes the mortality of man. After making several remarks upon what he read, according to his usual practice, he engaged in prayer with a fervency that deeply affected all present, and which by them will never be forgotten. At night he expressed a desire to be 'alone with GOD.' He wished to sit up after the family were gone to bed; but his daughter-in-law, MRS. T. BROCAS, thinking him not so well as usual, did not like to leave him, and therefore sat up with him till about eleven o'clock. She then accompanied * 4 Y 2*

him up stairs, and the exertion occasioned extreme pain in his breast. On entering his room, he wrestled with God in fervent prayer for a considerable time. On Friday morning, about seven o'clock, I went to see him, and found him very ill, When I entered his room he was much affected, and said, I am glad to see thee: did they send for thee?' I answered, No: but I wanted to know how you were.' He replied, I am much better than I was between five and six o'clock.' 'What,' said I, have you had a bad night?' 'O no,' said he; 'I have had a night of prayer; a night of believing; a blessed night. I have been very happy, and slept comfortably till five o'clock. GOD is very good to me: all is well.' When my mother came into the room he was deeply affected, and said, All is well, my dear wife; all is well. Gon has ordered all things well. We are not to choose our own affliction: and if we had chosen it, it could not have been better.' When my sister Mary came into the room he said, 'Now I am satisfied: all is well. I have had a happy night. When I came to bed I was very ill, and the pain was extremely great. I endeavoured to pray to God, and to commend you all to him. I confessed my sins, and humbly hope that I repented of them, and have obtained pardon. He made me happy in his love: and now I know and feel that all is well.' He spoke much of the love of CHRIST, of his mercy in dying for him, and of the goodness of God in thus afflicting him. During the day he appeared to be tranquil and happy, though he said but little. At one time, when in great pain, he remarked, This is hard work; I feel that this fatal disorder will soon take me off: but it is sent in mercy. GOD has been very good to me, in sparing me to see my children settled in the world, to see my children's children, and all doing well. He has given me my desire, in enabling me to do something for himself against the error of Calvinism, which was first brought into the Church by Philosophy, and by men who held the doctrine of fatal Necessity: and, O the mischief which it has done! When I first saw its peculiar doctrines imposed upon the world as mysteries supported by the word of God, I was exceedingly distressed for many years, and prayed earnestly to GoD to give me light into them, if they were supported by Revelation. I knew that if they were not doctrines of the Bible, they were not of GOD; and that if they were a revelation of his will, they must be so distinctly expressed in the Holy Scriptures, as to be plain and obvious to men of ordinary minds. The LORD heard my prayer, and gave me a clear understanding of the subject: and I am persuaded that those books which I have written on the Calvinistic controversy will be a blessing to the world when I am gone.'

"At another time, when I was standing by the side of his bed, he said, 'Ah, my dear, dying is a work by itself: and religion is

It does not

a work by itself: it is between GoD and the soul. consist in opinions, however important; but in union with Gon, in likeness to GOD, in a meetness of soul for the enjoyment of GOD in earth and in heaven.' He afterwards wept, and appeared to feel something which he was reluctant to express; but lest we should be distressed, he said, 'Do not think that I am unhappy: O no; these are not tears of sorrow, but of unspeakable joy and gratitude. I am very happy! all is well: all is well! GoD is peculiarly good to me. My REDEEMER was not treated as I

am.

He had the vinegar, the wormwood, and the gall.' At another time he remarked, 'I might have been racked with fever, and have been blaspheming the sacred name of my REDEEMER; but God is very good to me; I therefore love him, and he knows I love him. I have had many fierce temptations to break his commands, and to sin against him, but he has kept me from the accursed thing. He has given me a mind; and with that mind I have endeavoured to serve the law of CHRIST.' At another time he said, I am astonished at the goodness of God to me all my life long. I was left an orphan with a poor widowed mother, in my infancy; and the LORD took care of me, and provided for me, and led me about and instructed me. 1 was ignorant of the world and of business, but he helped me, and blessed me in all that I put my hand unto. I have had many hinderances and many trials, but God has been with me, for he knew whereof I was made.'

"My father was full of love and gratitude, and not a word of murmuring or complaint escaped his lips. About nine o'clock in the evening, at his particular desire, my sister and I left him, and he wished an old servant only to sit up with him, saying, 'If any of you remain with me, you will only distress and disturb me.' When I took my leave of him, he gave me his last blessing, saying, The LORD bless you, my dear: he will bless you.' My sister said, 'I hope you will have a good night, father. O yes, he replied, it is sure to be a good night; it cannot be otherwise.' "He became much worse after one o'clock, and said to the nurse attending him, "O this is hard work; go and tell my wife that I am dying.' The last words he was heard to utter, were, LORD, have mercy upon me!' when, leaning his head upon the doctor, who had just entered the room, he breathed his last about three o'clock in the morning of Saturday, August 29th, 1818, in the sixty-second year of his age. Thus, after having instructed his family by precept and example to live the life of a Christian, he taught us how to die.

"These words remind me of a circumstance, which, though simple in itself, yet as connected with the death of my father, I shall never forget. At this time, when I was eighty miles from home, the very day on which my father was uttering his dying experience, I purchased a small gold seal, intending it to be a present to one of my sisters, the motto of which was, ALL IS WELL.' "THOS. BROCAS."