The Life and Letters of the Rev. George Mortimer, M.A.: Rector of Thornhill, in the Diocese of Toronto, Canada WestArmstrong, John
Religion
The Life and Letters of the Rev. George Mortimer, M.A.: Rector of Thornhill, in the Diocese of Toronto, Canada West
Armstrong, John
Mortimer, George, 1784-1844
His visits have been frequently alluded to, and they appear to
have been prized by many, as marks of kindness and condescension, when
they could not appreciate their spiritual advantage. During this last
year of my dear father’s life, owing perhaps to the exclusively religious
nature of his studies, his conversation much more frequently than before
took a serious turn. I was frequently much struck with the beauty of his
observations, and at times the thought occurred that his remarks were
those of one ripening for glory. At the end of last May, Arthur and his
bride came to visit us, and we then effected a family meeting, every
member being present excepting Maria. During the next week, my dear
father was present at the bishop’s triennial visitation, and at the
annual meeting of our Diocesan Church Society; and his apparent good
health was generally remarked by his clerical and other friends. The
ceremony of opening a church in our neighbourhood, occurring in the
following week, he thought it his duty to attend; but these exertions,
combined with the excitement of an enlarged family circle, affected his
health, and on that account, during the three last days he spent the
whole of his time in parochial visiting. The man-servant spoke with much
feeling of his conversation during their drives, and mentioned his having
said, each day, when they reached home, “Once more, Stephen, God has
brought us home in safety.” Some of the persons that he visited on those
days remarked to a young friend, that their minister spoke to them
particularly of preparation for death. On Saturday, the 15th of June,
having heard that his bookseller in Toronto had received a supply of new
books, he determined upon going there to select some theological works.
While he was waiting for the carriage, he returned to the dining-room,
and talked in a very lively manner till it was ready. He had only
proceeded about a mile on his journey, when the fatal accident occurred.
The newspapers gave a correct account of the accident, which perhaps you
have heard—that the horse ran away; that one rein broke suddenly, though
nearly new, which caused the horse to make so sudden and violent a turn,
that the carriage was overturned, and that the man, though thrown out as
well as his master, was only slightly injured, while the latter received
his deathblow on the chest, by being thrown with violence against the
stump of a tree. It had long been the practice of my endeared father,
and one which he recommended from the pulpit, to make death a daily
subject of prayer, and a part of that, I believe, daily petition, was
that he might, if consistent with the will of God, have an easy death.
The testimony of his kind and skilful medical attendant, is a decisive
evidence to the striking fulfilment of this prayer; for he told us that
no other death was so easy, excepting when occasioned by lightning, as
that which terminated the existence of my dear father, who, he assured
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