‘When I came, the man told me plainly the general was a professed infidel. I went in, and after a short compliment said, “I am told, my lord, your life is near an end; therefore I presume, without any ceremony, to ask you one plain question: Is the state of your soul such that you can entertain a solid hope of salvation?” He answered, “Yes.” “On what do you ground this hope?” He replied, “I never committed any wilful sin. I have been liable to frailties; but I trust in God’s mercy, and the merits of His Son, that He will have mercy upon me.” These words he uttered very slowly, especially “the merits of His Son.” I made the following reply: “I am apt to believe you are not tainted with the grosser vices, but I fear you a little too presumptuously boast of never having committed wilful sin. If you would be saved, you must acknowledge your being utterly corrupted by sin, and consequently deserving the curse of God, and eternal damnation. As for your hoping for God’s mercy, through the merits of His Son, I beg leave to ask, do you believe God has a Son; that His Son assumed our nature, in order to be our Saviour; that in the execution of His office He was humbled unto death, even the death upon the cross; and that hereby He has given an ample satisfaction for us, and recovered our title to heaven?” He answered, “I cannot now avoid a more minute description of the state of my soul. Let me tell you, doctor, I have some knowledge of philosophy, by which I have chosen for myself a way of salvation. I have always endeavoured to live a sober life to the uttermost of my power, not doubting but that the Being of all beings would graciously accept me. In this way I stood in no need of Christ, and therefore did not believe on Him. But if I take the Scriptures to be a divine revelation, this way of mine, I perceive, is not the right one. I must believe in Christ, and through Him come to God.” I replied, “You say, if you take the Scriptures to be a Divine revelation.” He fetched a deep sigh, and said, “O God, thou wilt make me say, Because I take the Scriptures to be Thy word.” I said, “There are grounds and reasons enough to demonstrate the Divine origin of Christianity, as I could show from its most essential principles, were not the period of your life so short: but we need not now that diffusive method, faith being the gift of God. A poor sinner, tottering on the brink of eternity, has not time to inquire about grounds and reasons: rather betake yourself to earnest prayer for faith; which if you do, I doubt not but God will give it you.” I had no sooner spoken these words, than pulling off his cap, and lifting up his eyes and hands, he cried out, “O Almighty God, I am a poor cursed sinner, worthy of damnation; but, Lord Jesus, eternal Son of God, Thou diedst for my sins also! It is through Thee alone I can be saved! 0 give me faith, and strengthen that faith!” Being extremely weak, he was obliged to stop here. A little after, he asked, “Is faith enough for salvation?” “Yes, sir,” said I, “if it be living faith.” “Methinks,” said he, “it is so already; and it will be more so by and by: let us pray for it.” Perceiving he was very weak, to give him some rest, I retired into the next room; but he soon sent to call me. I found him praying; and Jesus was all he prayed for. I reminded him of some Scriptures, treating of faith in Christ; and he was much delighted with them. Indeed he was quite swallowed up with the grace of Jesus, and would hear of nothing but “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” He cried out, “I do not know how it is with me: I never in my life felt such, a change. I have power to love Jesus, and to believe in Him whom I so long rejected. O my Jesus, how merciful Thou art to me!” About noon I stepped home; but he sent for me directly, so that I could scarcely eat my dinner. We were both filled with joy, as partakers of the same grace which is in Jesus Christ; and that in such a manner as if we had been acquainted for many years. Many officers of the army came to see him continually, to all of whom he talked freely of Jesus, of the grace of the Father in Him, and of the power of the Holy Ghost through Him; wondering without ceasing at his having found Jesus, and at the happy change, by which all things on this side eternity were become indifferent to him.
‘In the afternoon he desired to partake of the Lord’s supper, which he received with a melting, praising, and rejoicing heart. All the rest of the day he continued in the same state of soul. Towards evening he desired, that if his end should approach, I would come to him, which I promised; but he did not send for me till next morning. I was told by his valet, that he slept well for some hours, and then awaking, prayed for a considerable time, continually mentioning the name of our Lord, and His precious blood; and that he had desired several of the officers to make known his conversion to his court, which was that of Poland. After some discourse, I asked, “Has your view of Christ and His redemption been either altered or obscured since yesterday?” He answered, “Neither altered nor obscured. I have no doubt, not even a remote one. It is just the same with me, as if I had always thus believed and never doubted: so gracious is the Lord Jesus to me a sinner.” This second day he was unwearied in exercises of faith and prayer. Towards evening he sent for me in haste. When I came I found him dying, and in a kind of delirium; so I could do no more than give him now and then a word of comfort. I afterwards prayed for him, and those that were present, some of whom were of high, birth and rank. I then, by imposition of hands, as usual, gave him a blessing; which being done, he expired immediately. Prince Xavier, who was there, could not forbear weeping. The rest of the officers bewailed the loss of their general; yet praised God for having shown such mercy towards him. I wrote an account of it without delay to his mother, and had an immediate answer. She was a lady of seventy-two, of exemplary piety. She praised God for His mercy, adding, that He had now answered the prayers which she had never ceased to offer on her son’s behalf for eleven years.’
And how finely was the Christian character exemplified in the life of Colonel Gardiner! This gentleman, when a mere youth, was engaged in active service. He signalized himself by uncommon exertions at the battle of Blenheim. At that time, destitute of religion, he sought ‘the bubble reputation, e’en in the cannon’s mouth;’ and while in the act of leading on his men to a desperate assault upon the enemy’s intrenchments, swearing most profanely, a musket-shot struck him in the mouth, and came out at the back of his neck. The infliction of the wound was so instantaneous, that in the rage of the moment, though conscious of being struck, he thought he had swallowed the bullet. In almost the next moment he was undeceived, and fell senseless. There he lay, weltering in blood, for some time; but being of a hale and vigorous constitution, he was observed, when the fury of the fight had diminished, among a heap of the dying and dead, to be yet alive. Surgical help was directly obtained, and he was mercifully given back from the very gate of death. It is well known that he afterwards became an eminent Christian. His conversion to the faith, like that of Paul, was sudden, decisive, and glorious; and late in life he fell by the blow of a Lochaber axe, nobly fighting, when nearly all others fled, at the battle of Prestonfield,—a capital instance of bravery, refined and exalted by the purity of religious principle.
The goodly fellowship of our devout and enterprising heroes must also include another associate: this is no less a person than Frederick the Great of Prussia, a man who, when almost the whole of continental Europe had combined to dismember his kingdom, arose with gigantic prowess, and defended himself with such singular ability and courage, that, while his numerous and powerful enemies were repelled, his influence as a monarch was firmly established. That the mind of Frederick was deeply imbued with Scriptural truth, is confirmed by his celebrated confession of faith; which, for clearness of conception, and the forcibleness of the terms in which his sentiments are expressed, shows that he knew the truth. He was unhappily led away in old age by the subtleties of Voltaire, who had contrived to insinuate himself into the presence of Prussian royalty; but that apostasy on his majesty’s part may be viewed as an error of feeble senility, nor does it destroy, or even derogate from the value of the testimony yielded to religion by the master-mind of Frederick, when the suffrage of his credence was worth having, in the prime and vigour of his days and the more leisurely exercise of his masculine intellect.
Old Colonel Berdeleben belongs undoubtedly to our corps. He was a favourite of the great Frederick of Prussia, who lavished several honours upon the worthy veteran. Deeply grateful for the distinction thus conferred, but more entirely overcome with a sense of Divine goodness, he observed, ‘Should I die this moment, I die in the favour of God and my king. I truly rejoice that my sovereign has assured me of his favour; but of what avail would the king’s favour be towards the consolation of my conscience, and what would it help me in my present situation, did I not possess the favour of God?’ Reasonings like this may be scorned, but they cannot be confuted.
CHAPTER IX.
JOHN HAIME—ALLEGED CAUSES OF WAR—THE AUTHOR AND POPERY—CONFESSION TO MAN USELESS—PURGATORY—TRANSUBSTANTIATION—IDOLATRY—LEGENDS—PAPAL PERSECUTIONS.
Instances of genuine conversion to the faith of the Gospel, attended by the fruits of the Spirit, are also to be met with among what are generally termed ‘common soldiers,’ by which are understood the private men composing the main body of an army, by whom, as making up the physical force employed, the brunt of actual fighting is chiefly sustained; and it has pleased the great Head of the Church so to magnify His grace, that many of these men, when exposed to the most imminent peril, were enabled not only to perform their duty with coolness and intrepidity, but to rejoice in the midst of privation and suffering. No serious and intelligent man can forget that in the last century a most remarkable revival of religion took place in these lands; and the influence, it appears from authentic records, extended to the British army.
A pious soldier, who was engaged in one of the German campaigns then in operation, has observed, ‘The day we marched to Maestricht, I found the love of God shed abroad in my heart, that I thought my very soul was dissolved in tears. The day we engaged the French at Dettingen, as the battle began, I said, “Lord, in Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded.” Joy overflowed my soul, and I told my comrades, “If I fall this day I shall rest in the everlasting arms of Christ.”’ He did not fall; and about ten months afterwards, in another written communication directed to his pastor, he seems more happy than ever, though in circumstances which, in ordinary cases, would have been destructive of mental calmness. At the close of a severe action, he states, ‘As to my own part, I stood the fire of the enemy above seven hours; then my horse was shot under me, and I was exposed both to the enemy and our own horse. But that did not discourage me at all; for I knew the God of Israel was with me. I had a long way to go, the balls flying on every side, and thousands lay dying and dead on either hand. Surely I was as in the fiery furnace; but it never singed one hair of my head.’ Providentially, the veteran was not left to stand alone; for true godliness is essentially communicative. He adds, ‘Going on, I met one of our brethren with a little dish in his hand, seeking for water. He smiled and said, he had got a sore wound in his leg. I asked him, “Have you gotten Christ in your heart?” He answered, “I have, and have had Him all day.”’