| Title: | Stewart, Frances to Beaufort, Harriet, 1847 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4747 |
| Collection | Revisiting Our Forest Home, The immigrant letters of Frances Stewart [J. L. Aoki] |
| File | stewart/29 |
| Year | 1847 |
| Sender | Stewart, Frances |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | housewife |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Douro Township, Newcsatle District, Upper Canada |
| Destination | Ireland |
| Recipient | Beaufort, Harriet |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends (ex-pupil - ex-governess) |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 1330 |
| Genre | decease |
| Note | |
| Transcript | 1847: September 21 To [Harriet Beaufort], Ireland To Miss B. Sep. 21st 1847 I am sure my dearly loved & loving friends will be anxious ab't me & I must not let this mail go without bearing some intelligence of your poor desolate & afflicted child, tho' I am wrong in using that first term. My heart must be desolate & lonely but I cannot be so in reality when I am surrounded by my dear children all trying who can show me most tender love, consolation & attention & when every one who ever knew us write in showing kindness, but afflicted I must be for no one can know how severe our loss. Thank God I have been & am supported & can see such unbounded love & mercy mixed in the bitter cup that it would be profane & rebellious indeed to allow any repinings to arise in my breast & the height of selfishness to sorrow without rejoicing, for we must all feel certain that his soul which had been ripening for a long time past has now attained the Haven where all troubles cease & where sighing & sorrow are unknown. That he is now enjoying a peace which passeth all understanding & oh what a change from the years of anguish & misery he has had!! & probably would have had for some time to come. I have long prayed that his poor tortured mind should be relieved but oh how little did I forsee the full & complete relief & release that was so near, or the depth of misery left for us here, but still I feel the hand of the Lord has smitten us & all is well, all is mercy & we must now look forward & press forward to the mark set before us of the high calling of God in CJ. At 1st his illness was intermittent fever which, however, this year has been much more formidable than any other. About the 5th day it became steady fever. He had no head ache or pain in back or limbs, indeed he never had the slightest pain, but after Thursday the fever encreased & his tongue showed it was a worse kind, his mind in general perfectly clear & calm tho' his body was restless & sickness of the stomach most exhausting. All usual remedies were tried & next week he appeared better, the brown crust peeling off his tongue, but on the 2d Wednesday it began to return & the thirst terrible. Towards days break Thursday he grew restless sick & chilly. I sent for the Dr. who had only left us a few hours. Twitching came on in his limbs. Dr. Hay was very anxious & sent for another Dr. who did not think the symptoms so bad, ordered Calomel & [ ] &c but he grew worse. He plainly knew then he was leaving us & looked often at me saying I am happy! happy! Anna & Ellen came & Dr. Hay only left us when obliged. Friday he spoke much to us all when able but his throat & tongue were so dry he hardly could & we could only hear by putting our heads close to him but every word was precious for all breathed the most perfect resignation under suffering & joy & earnest desire for the safety of the Souls of all round him. He spoke separately to each calling for any absent & did not omit one. He made us read & pray with & for him. He constantly prayed & called for [ ] & enjoyed extempore [ ] most as it was the utterance of the heart at the time. Mr. Taylor came twice & Mr. Rogers & Mr. Benson. He could not keep his attention fixed for more than a few minutes, but joined his voice in the [] when it applied to himself or any one for whom he felt particular interest. Friday night he gave Wm. & John advice & instruction & placed them under Ed. Browns care & asked him to be a friend & advisor to his boys which poor dear Ed. promised with tears & the dear one added "I mean religious as well as moral." Many wonderful impressions & touching expressions did we hear. The dear one seemed hovering on the brink of Eternity from Thursday till 9 oC. Monday 6th Sep'r when the Sp't [spirit] fled. They were days never to be forgotten. Never did any of us witness such scenes. They are awful, for the Sp't [spirit] seemed more in Heaven than on Earth but glorious & rejoicing too. I have often heard & read of Triumphant Deaths & read of such scenes but this was indeed victorious Death had no sting to him. During these 3 days his breath often stopped so long we thought all was over, but there was no struggle or sign of suffering. His tongue was quite black. He made Ellen, Bessy & Edw'd sing hymns & psalms frequently & took more pleasure in it than anything. He also had psalms, &c read. Mr. Reid & Jas. often prayed at his bedside & read to him. On Sat'y night he spoke to Dr. Hay & Ed. of many matters, gave solemn directions as to many subjects, his funeral &c & made Dr. Hay write it down, signed & had it witnessed. He could not bear Ed. a moment out of his sight & sent for Rob't & spoke affectionately to him. All belonging to this world seemed as nothing during this time when we were watching his soul passing into Eternity. We were elevated above this life. Sunday morning he was quite exhausted & the restlessness of body, continued. He asked the 3 "to sing his Soul to Heaven." He slept heavily for some hours then & I sat 8c held one hand which was cold & blue. Some flies were about the bed & I touched his hand in trying to wave them off which roused him. A rush of heat came on & he seemed to revive. His voice became stronger & clearer & he again said how happy he was & repeated his entire trust was in his Sav'rs atonement & he longed to be with him & then added & to join my dear sister. He was able to swallow better & spoke to all, gave Ed. a Bible Bessy had given her Papa the year before & begged him to read it frequently in private as well as in family reading, asked him to kiss him & showed such love to all as I never saw him show before. Mr. Benson came & talked & prayed &c but hearing hymns sung was his greatest pleasure. In this way he passed his last Sab'th on Earth. Dr. Hay, Ch. Dunlop & Rob't Brown sat up that night & all made me lie down as I was worn out not having lain down for a fortnight, at first from asthma & then I could not leave him. I slept so sound I did not hear Ellen get up at 2 & she shut the door & I never wakened till 4.1 then ran to the head of the stairs & heard Dr. Hay praying. I dressed quickly & as I went down I heard his voice unusually loud & clear calling out "Oh my Sav'r, come for me." This was the last I heard him say. Bessy forced me into the parlour to take a cup of coffee & when 1 came out he was sleeping & never awoke. He had some pain in the night but not severe. He opened his eyes once, turned himself & looked at me, but the eyes were dim & a strange look in them, but he soon slept again. He breathed on quite regularly till it just stopped. I have been quite well except asthma. |
