As a private man, he was just and upright in all his dealings. He was
an affectionate husband, a kind father, a good neighbor, and a faithful
friend. He was pious without ostentation, and warmly attached to the
principles of the Society of Friends, of which he was a member; and
he sometimes expressed a few sentences in their Meetings, which gave
general satisfaction. Regardless of the honors and pleasures of the
world, he followed the example of his Divine Master, in going from
place to place doing good, looking not for a reward from man, but from
his Heavenly Father.
Thus walking in the ways of piety and usefulness, and in the enjoyment
of an approving conscience, when death appeared, it found him in peace,
and ready to depart. Such a calmness and serenity overspread his soul,
and showed itself in his countenance, that the heart of even the
reprobate might feel the wish, "Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his."
A short time before he expired, feeling sensible that his end was near,
he called his family together. It was an affecting and solemn scene.
His wife and children, with several other relations, being assembled
around him, he reached forth his feeble hand, and after embracing them
all, and giving them some pious advice, he commended them to the mercy
of God, and bid them a final farewell.
After this, his mind seemed almost entirely occupied with the eternal
world. To one of his neighbors who came to visit him, he said, "Not
many days hence, and ye shall see the glory of God. I know that my
works are gone to judgment before me; but it is all well, it is all
well."
He lived the life, and died the death of a Christian. He is gone whence
he never shall return, and where he shall no more contend with raging
billows and with howling storms. His voyages are all over, he has made
his last haven, and it is that of eternal repose. Thither, could we
follow him, we should learn the importance of fulfilling our duty to
our Creator, to ourselves, and to our fellow-creatures.
Such was his reputation for wisdom and integrity, that his neighbors
consulted him in all their important concerns; and what an honor to
the son of a poor African slave! And the most respectable men in Great
Britain and America were not ashamed to seek him for counsel and advice.
Thus we see how his persevering industry and economy, with the blessing
of Providence, procured him wealth; his wisdom, sobriety, integrity,
and good conduct made him many friends; his zealous labors for the
honor of his Maker, and for the benefit of his fellow-men, gave him
a peaceful conscience; and an unshaken belief in the mercies and
condescending love of his Heavenly Father, afforded, in his dying
moments, that calmness, serenity, and peaceful joy, which are a
foretaste of immortal bliss.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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