CHARLIE COULSON, THE DRUMMER-BOY.
During the American War, Dr. Rossvally was surgeon in the army, and after the battle of Gettisburg, among hundreds of wounded soldiers, a drummer-boy was found entirely helpless on the field. The case seemed almost too bad for treatment, but as the lad opened his large blue eyes, the doctor felt he could not let him die there, so he ordered him to be taken to the hospital, and found that an arm and a leg required amputation. The assistant-surgeon wished to administer chloroform to the young sufferer, but he refused, and when Dr. Rossvally himself remonstrated with him, he replied—
"Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, in the Sabbath School, when I was nine and a half years old, I was brought to believe in Christ. I learned to trust Him then. I have been trusting Him ever since, and I feel I can trust Him now. He will support me while you amputate my arm and leg."
The Jewish doctor's heart was touched in spite of himself, and he thereupon asked Charlie a question he had never asked a soldier before—would he like to see the chaplain? "Oh, yes, sir!" was the quick response; and after seeing the minister, by whom he sent a loving message to his mother and the superintendent of his Sunday School, he told the doctor he was ready for the operation, promising that he would not even groan if no chloroform were offered him. He kept his promise, only putting the corner of his pillow in his mouth during the most painful part of the process, saying, "Oh, Jesus, blessed Jesus, stand by me now!"
That night the doctor could not sleep. Those soft blue eyes and that gentle voice seemed to meet him continually, and he could not help returning to the hospital in the middle of the night to inquire about the lad. He found him sweetly sleeping, and one of the nurses told him how two friends had visited him, and had sung "Jesus, Lover of my soul" by his bed-side, and Charlie had joined in the sacred song.
Five days afterwards, he felt he was dying, and sending for the doctor, he thanked him for all his kindness, and begged him to remain and see him die, trusting Jesus to the last moment of his life. He tried to stay, but it was too much for his Jewish feelings to see that dying youth rejoicing in the love of the Jesus whose very name he had been taught to hate, and he hurriedly left the room.
Twenty minutes after, he was again summoned to that bed, and, asking him to take his hand, Charlie said, "Doctor, I love you because you are a Jew. The best Friend I have found in this world was a Jew, Jesus Christ, to whom I want to introduce you before I die; and will you promise me, doctor, that what I am about to say to you you will never forget?" The doctor promised, and the lad went on—"Five days ago, while you amputated my arm and leg, I prayed the Lord Jesus Christ to convert your soul."
These words sank into the doctor's heart. How could that sufferer, in the midst of such intense pain, be thinking only of his Saviour and an unconverted soul? and he could only answer, "Well, my dear boy, you will soon be all right." With these words he left him, and a few minutes later the youth fell asleep in Jesus, at seventeen years of age.
Dr. Rossvally followed him to the grave, and for some months the impression his patience and faith had made upon him still remained. Gradually it wore off, however; and for ten years longer he remained a despiser of the Saviour, when God, in mercy, sent another message to His wandering child.
At the close of the American War, Dr. Rossvally had been made inspecting surgeon, with charge of the military hospital in Texas. Returning one day from an inspecting tour, he stopped at an hotel in New York, and going to be shaved, he found the barber's shop hung around with beautifully framed Scripture texts; and what was more, the barber began to speak to him of Jesus in such an attractive way, that Charlie Coulson's happy death came vividly before his mind. The doctor's mind was deeply moved, and when he reached Washington, where he resided, for the first time in his life he went to hear an address in a Christian place of worship, and he could not restrain the tears that would flow while he listened; and when the service was ended, an elderly lady spoke to him before he could escape. He told her he would pray to his God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—but not to Jesus. "Bless your soul," was the earnest answer, "your God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is my Christ, and your Messiah!"
He went home full of conflicting feelings, and then for hours he wept and prayed, while many prophecies concerning the Messiah came to his mind, and at length the conviction came that Jesus was the Christ, that He was his Saviour, and that God had forgiven him for the sake of His beloved Son.
He hastened to tell his wife of his newly-found joy, but it only enraged her, and leaving home, she went to her parents' house, who forbade her to have any further intercourse with her husband, and took the two children under their care. So true is it still that a Jew must be prepared to forsake all when he follows Jesus.
He went away with a sad heart on his next commission, but regularly wrote to his wife, praying that she might read at least one of his letters. For fifty-three days each one was destroyed unopened, but one night their daughter dreamed that she saw her father die, and next morning she determined to take his letter in and read it. She did so, and after a while showed it to her mother, who, having secretly read it again and again, was overcome with strange new feelings, and she also was led to trust in that long-despised but now precious name—Jesus, the Son of God.
Husband and wife were now united in the Lord, and their daughter also became a new creature. Their son, however, long refused even to acknowledge either of his parents, and his mother died without seeing or hearing from him, but it is hoped that her prayers for him may be answered. Mrs. Rossvally's end was peaceful and happy. Some friends sang, "Jesus, Lover of my soul," and when they reached the line, "Thou, O Christ, art all I want," she said, "Yes, this is all I want! Come, blessed Jesus, and take me home!" and so she "fell asleep."
Dr. Rossvally still lives, and like a well-known ancient trophy of divine grace, preaches the faith he once laboured to destroy, and "Christ and Him crucified" is his hope and joy.
Dear reader, whoever you may be, may you reflect upon the fact that there is salvation in none other than the Lamb of God, who died to put sin away, and ever lives to save all who come unto God by Him. And may His Holy Spirit impress the truth upon your heart, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John iii. 36).—From a Tract, published at Leeds by Dr. M. L. Rossvally, a converted Jew.
A worthy Quaker thus wrote:—"I expect to pass through this world but once; if, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."