“Let us love, and
sing, and wonder;
Let us praise the Saviour’s name:
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched mount Sinai’s
flame:
He has washed us with his blood,
He has brought us nigh to God,”
etc.
Mrs. Graham then fell asleep, nor did she awaken until the voice of the Rev. Dr. Mason roused her. They had a very affectionate interview, which he has partly described in the excellent sermon he delivered after her decease. She expressed to him her hope as founded altogether on the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: were she left to depend on the merit of the best action she had ever performed, that would be only a source of despair. She repeated to him, as her view of salvation, the fourth verse of the same hymn:
“Let us wonder:
grace and justice
Join, and point at mercy’s store;
When, through grace, in Christ our trust
is,
Justice smiles and asks no more;
He who washed us with his blood,
Has secured our way to God.”
Having asked Dr. Mason to pray with her, he inquired if there was any particular request she had to make of God by him; she replied, that God would direct: then as he kneeled, she put up her hands, and raising her eyes towards heaven, breathed this short but expressive petition, “Lord, lead thy servant in prayer.”
After Dr. Mason had taken his leave, she again fell into a deep sleep. Her physicians still expressed a hope of her recovery, as her pulse was regular and the violence of her disease had abated. One of them, however, declared his opinion that his poor drugs would prove of little avail against her own ardent prayers to depart and be with Christ, which was far better for her than a return to a dying world.
On Monday the Rev. Mr. Rowan prayed with her, and to him she expressed also the tranquillity of her mind, and the steadfastness of her hope, through Christ, of eternal felicity.
Her lethargy increased; at intervals from sleep she would occasionally assure her daughter, Mrs. B——, that all was well; and when she could rouse herself only to say one word at a time, that one word, accompanied with a smile, was, “Peace.” From her there was a peculiar emphasis in this expression of the state of her mind: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,” had been a favorite portion of scripture with her, and a promise, the fulfilment of which was her earnest prayer to the God who made it. She also occasionally asked Mr. B—— to pray with her, even when she could only articulate, as she looked at him, “Pray.” She was now surrounded by many of her dear Christian friends, who watched her dying-bed with affection and solicitude. On Tuesday afternoon she slept with little intermission. This, said Dr. Mason, may be truly called “falling asleep in Jesus.” It was remarked by those who attended her, that all terror was taken away, and that death seemed here as an entrance into life. Her countenance was placid, and looked younger than before her illness.