The Hero of the Humber; Or, The History of the Late Mr. John EllerthorpeWoodcock, Henry
Religion
The Hero of the Humber; Or, The History of the Late Mr. John Ellerthorpe
Woodcock, Henry
Ellerthorpe, John, 1806-1868; Heroes -- England -- Biography; Sailors -- England -- Biography
Mr. Ellerthorpe knew the great source of religious strength and
salvation, and trusting entirely in the merits of Jesus Christ, he found
a satisfying sense of God's saving presence and power to the very last.
He would often say, 'my feet are on the Rock of Ages. I cannot sink
under such a prop, as bears the world and all things up.' His
affliction, water on the chest, and an enlargement of the heart brought
on by his frequent plunges into the water, and exposure to wet and cold,
was protracted and very severe. He found great difficulty in breathing
and had comparatively little rest, day or night, for five months. Dr.
Gibson said to him on one occasion, 'Mr. Ellerthorpe, you cannot live
long unless I could take out your present heart and give you a new one.'
'Ah,' said he, with the utmost composure, 'that you cannot do.' Often
after a night of restlessness and suffering he would say to his dear
wife:--'Well, I have lived another night,' to which she would reply, 'O
yes, and I hope you will live many more yet.' 'No,' he would say, 'I
shall not live many more; I feel I am going, but it is all right.'
[Sidenote: HIS TRIUMPHANT DEATH.]
During his last illness he had, as was to be expected, many visitors,
but he loved those best who talked most about Jesus. He seemed pained
and disappointed when the conversation was about the things of earth,
but he was delighted and carried away when it was about the things of
heaven. When his medical adviser gave strict orders that visitors should
not be allowed to see him, his pale face and lack-lustre eyes grew
bright, and he imploringly said, 'Do let those come who can pray and
talk about Jesus and heaven.'
The ministers of his own denomination, the Revs. G. Lamb, T. Ratcliffe,
T. Newsome, J. Hodgson, F. Rudd and others often visited him, and would
have done so much more frequently, but for the nature of his complaint
and the orders of his medical attendant. Mr. John Sissons, his first
class leader, Mr. Harrison, his devoted companion and fellow labourer in
the work of God, and others of his lay brethren, frequently visited him,
and all testify to the happy state of soul in which they found him. The
Rev. J. Hodgson, in one of his visits, found him in great pain, but
breathing out his soul to God in short ejaculatory prayers. His old
passion for the conversion of souls was strong in death. Mr. Hodgson
told him of some good missionary meetings they had just been holding.
'And how many souls had you saved?' was the ready inquiry. 'You will
soon be at home,' said Mr. Harrison, during his last visit, to which he
replied, 'Yes, I shall, my lad.' During the Rev. T. Newsome's visit Mr.
Ellerthorpe expressed himself as wonderfully happy and anxiously waiting
the coming of his Lord. Toplady's well known verse was repeated by the
preacher:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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