Letters of Samuel Rutherford: (Third Edition)Rutherford, Samuel
Religion
Letters of Samuel Rutherford: (Third Edition)
Rutherford, Samuel
Rutherford, Samuel, 1600?-1661 -- Correspondence
When Charles II. was fully restored, and had begun to adopt arbitrary
measures, Rutherford's work, "Lex Rex," was taken notice of by the
Government; for, reasonable as are its principles in defence of the
liberty of subjects, its spirit of freedom was intolerable to rulers,
who were, step by step, advancing to acts of cruelty and death.
Indeed, it was so hateful to them, that they burnt it, in 1661, first
at Edinburgh, by the hands of the hangman; and then, some days after,
by the hands of the infamous Sharpe, under the windows of its author's
College in St. Andrews. He was next deposed from all his offices; and,
last of all, was summoned to answer at next Parliament a charge of
high treason. But the citation came too late. He was already on his
deathbed, and on hearing of it, calmly remarked, that he had got
another summons before a superior Judge and judicatory, and sent the
message, "I behove to answer my first summons; and, ere your day
arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks come."
We have no account of the nature of his last sickness, except that it
was a lingering disease. He had a daughter who died a few weeks before
himself. All that is told us of his deathbed is characteristic of the
man. At one time he spoke much of "the white stone" and "the new
name." When he was on the threshold of glory, ready to receive the
immortal crown, he said, "Now my tabernacle is weak, and I would think
it a more glorious way of going home to lay down my life for the
cause, at the Cross of Edinburgh or St. Andrews; but I submit to my
Master's will." Some days before his death, after a fainting fit, he
said, "Now I feel, I believe, I enjoy, I rejoice." And turning to Mr.
Blair, "I feed on manna: I have angels' food. My eyes shall see my
Redeemer. I know that He shall stand on earth at the latter day, and I
shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air."[54] When
asked, "What think ye now of Christ?" he replied, "I shall live and
adore Him. Glory, glory to my Creator and Redeemer for ever. Glory
shineth in Immanuel's land." The same afternoon he said, "I shall
sleep in Christ; and when I awake, I shall be satisfied with His
likeness. O for arms to embrace Him!" Then he cried aloud, "O for a
well-tuned harp!" This last expression he used more than once, as if
already stretching out his hand to get his golden harp, and join the
redeemed in their new song. He also said on another occasion, "I hear
Him saying to me, 'Come up hither.'" His little daughter Agnes (the
only survivor of six children), eleven years of age, stood by his
bedside; he looked on her, and said, "I have left her upon the Lord."
Well might the man say so, who could so fully testify of his portion
in the Lord, as a goodly heritage. To four of his brethren, who came
to see him, he said, "My Lord and Master is chief of ten thousands of
thousands. None is comparable to Him, in heaven or in earth. Dear
brethren, do all for _Him_. Pray _for Christ_. Preach _for Christ_. Do
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