Life of John Heskins 1

MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. JOHN HESKINS. 

BY THE REV. T. F. NEWMAN.

John Heskins was bom at Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, on the 24th of November, 1778, and was descended, on the paternal side, from William Harding, one of the little band of praying men with whom the church at Shortwood originated. It was in his house that meetings were held for prayer, with occasionally a sermon, from 1707 to 1715, when they were removed to a little modest and unfinished structure on the site where, after three enlargements of the original building, tlic present large and substantial meeting-house was built in 1838. On taking possession of their humble sanctuary, thirteen persons united with each other in the fellowship of the gospel, and were formed into a church of Christ. When the foundation-stone of the present edifice was laid, our lamented friend made a public and affecting reference to his great-grandfather, abovementioned, in terms of honest and grateful satisfaction, avowing that he felt it to be a greater honour to have descended from an ancestor in humble station, who had been instrumental in planting a church of Christ, than if he could trace hack his lineage to nobility, or even royalty itself.
Mr. Heskins' father became a member of the church at Shortwood in the year 1752; he was chosen deacon about 1760, and held that office till his decease, May 2, 1813; liaving been a member of the church sixty-one years, and a deacon more than fifty years. He was a man of sterling piety, of inflexible steadiness of purpose, and uniformly secured the confidence and esteem of the church. It was his happiness to have been united with a few like-minded men in securing the services of Benjamin Francis, whose pastorate extended from 1758 to 1799 and under whose able and affectionate ministry, the little cause rapidly and steadily advanced. Mr. H.'s mother was an eminently devoted Christian, exceedingly useful m her day; and, even up to the present moment, there are those who kindle at her name, and delight to speak of her active benevolence, and the affectionate earnestness which she employed to commend the Saviour, and promote the interests of his cause.

From a very early age, the subject of this memoir was distinguished by sweetness of temper and susceptibility of feeling. At that period, these qualities greatly endeared him to his immediate relatives, who in riper years were equally attracted by his devoted attachment to his parents, and his warm and tender affection for sisters who could at once appreciate and return his love. It does not, however, appear that his heart was savingly impressed till he had nearly attained to manhood. Still, the instructions, the prayers, and the example of parents so distinguished for piety, were not without effect; for a sister, who survives him, well remembers that, while quite a child, he talked to her about the Saviour, telling her of his compassion while on earth, and presenting such a winning representation of his love as to make a strong impression on her mind.

But though in his eighth year he could thus speak of the Saviour, the days of childhood and youth passed away without witnessing his conversion to Ood. Others looked on him with hope; but, adverting to that period he himself says, "Though outwardly moral, my thoughts were big with the lusts of the flesh, and I felt hatred in my heart to the holiness of the law of God. I did not see the infinite evil of sin, nor the beauty of the way of salvation; nor did I perceive the absolute need of a God-man Mediator, to save sinners from the curse of the law. It is true I had convictions, but they were very few, and very transient; for sin being of such a hardening nature, the more I cherished it the more I was rooted in it, till at last I was brought to the verge of obstinate infidelity; so that at times I deemed the sacred word of God to be invented and written by uninspired men; and thus I trampled it under the feet of haughty pride and carnal self-sufficient reason."

It is well known to surviving friends, that at the period referred to in the above extract, his mind had been unsettled by the sophistries of deism; but, as the darkest moments arc those which immediately precede the dawn of day, so was it in his spiritual history. It pleased God at this crisis to remove by death one of his earliest friends and correspondents, Mr T Allsop, son of the respected Baptist minister of Culmstock, Devon. The reflections awakened by this event led to an earnest and faithful examination into his own state; and this work, in connexion with the counsels of Christian affection, and the statements of a searching and affectionate ministry, was blessed, not only to the defeat of an incipient scepticism, but to the surrender of his heart to God. To use his own words, "convictions that had been stifled before were revived; and I verily believe, that, under the influence of efficacious grace, they were made uncommonly useful in tearing away the thick bandage of delusion which before had covered the eyes of my mind. Thus was shown me the long black catalogue of my sins, and my awful state by nature; and the conviction was produced, that I should be utterly lost to all eternity, unless redeemed from my inexpressible load of guilt by the all-atoning blood of the I iamb of God." Thus was he brought to Christ. Speculations, fancies, the dictates of carnal reason, the sophisms of infidelity, all gave way before that discovery of sin, and that revelation of Christ, which his soul now received. In mercy to himself and the church which taught them, and counselled them, as a man knowing the vast importance of christian decision and consistency. In other instances lie caused himself to be conveyed to the scene of affliction, that he might tell yet once more of the precious Saviour, and speak of the unfailing consolations of religion. His last visit, which was less than a fortnight before his own decease, was to the bed-side of a dying friend, the relict of abrotlicr-dcacon who had been removed a few months previously. To her he presented the great truths which were the stay of his own soul, and dwelt on the joyful anticipations they might indulge in reference to that meeting in a better state which could not be far distant. She preceded him to heaven.

The last few days of his abode on earth were spent in quiet waiting for the hour of departure. No cares disturbed him—no shadow overhung his prospect —'' he knew in whom he had believed." For the church his affection remained in perfect strength, and in uninterrupted exercise; but no anxiety, even for " his beloved Sion," was now permitted to interfere with the unbroken repose of his soul. To his wife, to other much loved and long loved friends, he spake so cheerfully, and with such humble confidence, that to them it almost appeared a sin to lament his approaching death.