to call upon thee as long as I live, and trust in thy covenant for my posterity. My sons are thine more than mine, thou gavest them me, and I have given them back again to thee, not only in the ordinance of baptism, and many times since by prayers and tears, but in a peculiar manner, May 15th, 1673, before many witnesses. The remembrance of that day bears up my heart with much encouragement, that God will hear and answer in giving them grace. Lord, my children are parts of myself, and in giving up myself to thee, I have also given them; and wilt thou not accept this loan? Is not thy covenant firm and free? May it not be made good to me, as well as to Abraham or David? If I had any thing better than my own soul and the souls of my wife and children to give thee, thou shouldst have it. Lord, are thy covenant mercies worn out? Hast thou but one blessing, my Father? Wilt thou begin to cut off the blessed entail at the third generation? Doth not thy promise reach to a thousand generations of them that fear thee? O Lord, deal kindly with thy servant and his seed; notwithstanding, if there be iniquity in me, Scourge me thyself, for why shouldst thou leave mine to the temptations of Satan and their own hearts' lusts? Lord, shall children of so many prayers and tears miscarry? Wilt thou not take possession of thy own right and thy Son's purchase? I know that neither my house nor heart is so with thee as it ought to be; but thou hast made a covenant with me, ordered in all things and sure; this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although thou make it not to grow. I must needs say, I have broken the covenant by unbelief, impenitence, and failures, and thou mightest justly leave my sons to walk in my steps. But doth not thy covenant provide a remedy? Is there not pardon in the blood of Christ, for poor, penitent sinners? If my heart and house are out of order, yet thy covenant is well ordered; if my soul be fickle and inconstant, yet thy covenant is sure and stedfast. Thou knowest, O Lord, all my desires are before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. Shouldst thou not make my house to grow in numbers, estate, or honour, thou knowest that is not my object and errand in my addresses to thee. Have I not told thee many a time, I shall be freely content, if they be no richer than I have been; or to have no greater benefices in the church than I have had, to be at a poor chapel (if God restore), or to preach in a house to poor sinners, and convert souls to God? I would rather have them serious, experienced preachers, amongst a few despised servants of God, than doctors or bishops in the highest ecclesiastical promotions. Lord, leave them not to conform to ceremonies, or turn formalists, or become persecutors of thy people. Let it appear, there is a blessing in their education in a private college, more than in the public universities. I have committed them more to thy tuition than man's; and if thou wilt grant them special, sanctifying grace, and useful gifts, and learning to fit them for public work amongst thy people, I will, by thy grace, bless thy name while I live; yea, I do solemnly purpose to devote a day in every year to the exercise of solemn thanksgiving for that mercy particularly, and to spend some time monthly ápart by myself to praise thy name. Lord, I hope my heart is sincere in this solemn vow. Give me both a heart and an occasion to pay these vows I now make in the perplexity of my soul. Amen, amen. "OLIVERUS HEYWOOD, Jan. 20. 1677. "The Lord having in some degree granted the mercy, by sending my sons home in safety out of Scotland, and they being studious and hopeful in reference to religion, I did, according to my preceding vow, appoint May 9th, 1677, as a day of solemn thanksgiving to God, for his mercy displayed in all their journeys and studies, at which time God did graciously help us in singing and speaking to his praise. Blessed be the Lord, it was not without some signal appearance of his presence amongst us." The year 1677 was a memorable year to Mr. Heywood and his family, on account of the repeated visitations of death. The first was the death of his aged father Richard Heywood, on which occasion he thus expresses himself: "At last God hath put an end to the long and afflicted days of my dear, tender-hearted father; he died March 1st, aged about 82. I may say of him as is recorded of Abraham, that he gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years; and was gathered unto his people:' and as Isaac and Ishmael buried him in a cave, so my dear brother and I buried our beloved father. O my soul, hast thou not some tears to shed at the funeral of a father? Nature binds thee to some workings of affection, and grace helps to regulate them. Thou hast parted with a father, and is this nothing? God would not have such a providence pass without observation and improvement. Thou hast buried a father that provided food and raiment for thee in thy younger days, a father that was at great care and charge for thy education, both in the best schools of the neighbourhood and at the university; but all this was small compared with the inward and anxious workings of his heart for thee, which thou didst never so feelingly know till thou hast of late felt the same towards thy own. O what instructions, exhortations, and admonitions didst thou receive from him! What What prayers did he put up for thee, and what grief did he feel at thy failings! What jealousy he had of me when he came to visit me at Cambridge! What charge did he leave with my tutor concerning me, and how gladly did he welcome any hopes of my well-doing! What solicitude he had concerning my settlement! And though he had been at a great expense in my education, yet how fearful was he lest I should enter the ministry unfit! This induced him to make provision for my residence in Mr. Angier's family; but Providence called me to this place. Even then he did not leave me, but followed me with his counsels and prayers to his dying day. O what a father! Few have the like! Though I can truly say, I have studied to requite him, and thought nothing I could do for him too much, in his straits, yet I have fallen far short of a full recompence. He had a tender love for me, and I hope the remembrance of it will not quickly be worn away from my mind. My gracious Lord also hath not left me comfortless, concerning my dear, deceased father. Blessed be God that his hoary head was found in the ways of righteousness, and that we have good reasons for hope that he sleeps in Jesus, and will have a happy resurrection; and what can we desire more? O Lord, raise up a succession of God-fearing worshippers; and as thou hast been my father's God, and my mother's God, and my God, and the God of my dear companion now at rest, so continue to be my God and guide to death, and be the God of my children, and children's children, even to a thousand generations." About six months after the death of his father, he was called to attend the funeral of his father-in-law Angier, whom he loved as his own parent. The man ner in which he records the event shows how deeply it affected him. "O sad catastrophe! dreadful blow to Zion and my family! Be black ye heavens, tremble thou earth, lament ye saints and sons of Zion. A strong oak is fallen, the choicest flower in the garden is plucked, the Rev. John Angier, pastor of Denton forty-six years, the honour of the ministry in those parts, my dear father-in-law, the best friend I had on earth, is fallen! He was a man of God, a minister of the gospel, and such a one as is not left. The first ague fit attacked him Aug. 21, and five or six others so weakened his spirits and wasted his strength, that Sept. 1st, 1677, he breathed his last. He was buried at Denton with the greatest solemnity, Sept. 3rd; when two knights, twelve ministers, many worthy gentlemen, and multitudes of common people attended his funeral and made great lamentation. And, O my soul, hast thou nothing to say, nothing to do, nothing to lament under this overwhelming providence? A praying Moses is gone, one that stood in the gap and pleaded for Zion and the state; one that, like Aaron, stood between the living and the dead, and prevailed to turn away God's wrath from us; one that gave God no rest day or night, who was successful and saw many returns of prayer. As a minister of the gospel, he was so diligent in studying, so exact in walking, so weighty in expressions, so laborious in God's work, so harmless, charitable, wise, moderate, and useful in private conversation! Though I have known many good men, yet I never knew one like him in every thing; the greater our former mercy, the greater our loss now. Woe to us! What have we lost? A spiritual father in Christ, an earthly angel, a faithful steward of heavenly mysteries, a Boanerges to awaken drowsy sinners, a Barnabas to comfort drooping souls, an Apollos |