Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/28

8 Under this severe affliction, God strengthened his heart and his hands, so that he pursued his work with his usual diligence and vivacity. At length a kind providence repaired his loss, and the mother of his deceased wife was the means of procuring him another. She recommended to him the daughter of, Esq. of Grange, the son of Peter Warburton, Esq. serjeant at law, and one of the judges of the common pleas. He was a gentleman fond of retirement, who constantly had the Bible and Baxter's "Saint's Rest" on the table before him, and whose house was a sanctuary to the silenced ministers. Mr. Henry's marriage to this lady was consummated, July 8th, the same year, at Grange, when both his father and mother were present, who were greatly pleased with the new relation, and blessed God who had thus filled up the breach. Mr. and Mrs. Hardware now left Chester, and retired to an estate which they had in Wirral, but their affection for Mr. Henry as a son continued.

From this time he kept a regular diary of all material occurrences and transactions to the end of his life; a practice which he had lately recommended to his friends, in a discourse on Redeeming the time. From this diary of his the following part of his history is principally taken.—We shall now give some account of his family by this second marriage, and the manner in which he governed it.

In the space of twenty two years he had nine children, eight of which were daughters. Three of them, namely, the first, second, and fourth, died in their infancy. The first of these children was born, April 12, 1691, on which occasion he made his will; but she died in about a year and a half. In his diary he makes many pious remarks on this event, and the night of her funeral he writes thus: "I have been this day doing a work I never did before—burying a child. A sad day's work! But my good friend, Mr. Lawrence, preached very seasonably and excellently, from Psalm xxxix. 9. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it."

On the birth of the fourth of these children, he writes, June 24, 1697, "This child has come into a world of tears;" for his pious father, who had taken a pleasure in coming to baptize his grandchildren, (which he did in a peculiarly interesting manner,) was now dead, and he was particularly affected at the recollection of that event, as it happened the very same day of the month the preceding year. But says he, "God has set the one over against the other, that I may sing of mercy and judgment." But this child was taken away in less than a year and a half; upon which occasion he writes, "My desire is to be sensible of the affliction, and yet be patient under it. It is a smarting rod; God calls my sins to remembrance—the coldness of my love, my abuse of spiritual comforts." But he adds, "'Tis a rod in the hand of my Father. I desire to see a father's authority, who may do what he will; and a father's love, who will do what is best. We resign the soul of the child to Him who gave it.—I am in deaths often; Lord, teach me how to die daily," &c. On May 3, 1700, God was pleased to give him a son. But his birth was attended with such uncommon danger both to the mother and the child, that he mentions it as a miracle of mercy that their lives were spared. This child Mr. Henry himself baptized on the lecture day, in the following week, by the name of ,* when he preached on the occasion from 2 Sam. vii. 14. 15. When this child was about a month old, he was so ill that there was but little hope of his life; and Mrs. Henry continued in such weakness, increased by her anxiety about her infant, that she, and all her friends, expected her speedy dissolution. But God mercifully interposed, and restored both her and her child. On this occasion Mr. Henry made a new will, which he did with exemplary prudence and seriousness, earnestly begging divine direction in this matter, as he did in every other, respecting himself, his family, and his friends. His diary affords ample proof how he acknowledged God in all his ways, and what an affectionate interest he took in the concerns of all with whom he was connected.

We shall now notice his conduct in his, which was in a great measure regulated by the example of his pious father, of whose house those who had access to it were ready to say, This is no other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven. Mr. Henry was constant in the worship of God in his family, morning and evening, which nothing was suffered to prevent. He called all the members of it together as early in the morning as circumstances would permit; and he did not delay it to a late hour in the evening, lest drowsiness should prevent devotion. He was never tedious, but always full and comprehensive, performing much in a little time, which seldom exceeded half an hour. He began with a short invocation for assistance and acceptance. He then read a portion of scripture, (in the morning from the Old Testament, and from the New in the evening,) giving a short exposition, in a plain and familiar manner, so as to render it both intelligible and pleasant, and added practical reflections. To engage the greater attention, he used to examine some of his family how they understood, and what they remembered of what they had heard. After this, some part of a psalm was constantly sung, from a collection which he himself made, entitled, "Family Hymns," selected from different translations of the psalms; and every one had a book, to prevent the interruption occasioned by reading the lines. After singing, he prayed with great affection and propriety, noticing every particular case in his family, and not omitting the state of the nation and the church. This variety prevented the service from being tedious, and his whole family attended it with pleasure. When the whole was ended, the children came to him for his blessing, which he gave with solemnity and affection.

Beside his stated family worship, he occasionally kept family fasts, as special circumstances required; when he sometimes called in the assistance of his friends, whose respective cases and trials were committed to God with his own.

On the Lord's day he did not omit any part of his ordinary family worship, but rising earlier on that day, after his private devotion he began it somewhat sooner. On returning from the public morning service, after he had dined, he sung a psalm, offered a short prayer, and then retired till the time of the afternoon service. In the evening he usually repeated the substance of both his sermons, in his family, when many of his neighbours came in: this he followed with singing and prayer, and concluded with singing two verses more, previous to the benediction. Before supper, he catechised the younger children: after supper, he sung the 136th Psalm, and catechised the elder children and servants; examined them as to what they remembered of the sermons, and concluded the day with prayer. Having a happy constitution both of body and of mind, he went through all this service with constancy and comfort, beside all