If the following pages contained a mere roll and record of death-bed scenes, they would form a gloomy volume. Such, however, is not their purpose. While the author has occasionally dwelt (as in the two opening chapters) on the closing hours of Scripture worthies--whenever incidents of note in connection with these are recorded--he has, in general, rather sought to make their "last days" the standpoint for a retrospective view of character and history. It has been his endeavor, mainly to inculcate, not so much lessons from death, as lessons from life viewed from this, its solemn termination. As an eloquent writer has remarked--"Death is often at once the close and the epitome of existence. It is the index at the end of a volume. All a man's properties seem to gather round him as he is about to leave the world." There is often, moreover, a mellowed glory surrounding the hour of dissolution. God's saints are like forest trees in their golden autumn tints--grandest in decay when the hand of death is on them. They often hear, like Bunyan's hero, distant bells from the land of Beulah. Ministering angels seem to bring down draughts from the river of life, to refresh their spirits in the closing conflict.
John Ross MacDuff was born May 23, 1818 in Bonhard, Scotland. He died at his home in Chislehurst, Kent, England on April 30, 1895. John Ross MacDuff was a Presbyterian minister and a prolific writer of excellent Christian books and materials. He was especially known for the practical, poetic, and devotional qualities of his work. He was also a published poet and hymn writer. John Ross MacDuff had Doctor of Divinity Degrees from the University of Glasgow and the University of New York. He served as a pastor for many years in several churches, including the Church of Scotland.
One of the hymns John Ross MacDuff wrote the words for was Christ Is Coming! - Published in 1853.
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