Page:Memoir of the Reverend David Wilson (1).pdf/10

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instructions they paid a corresponding affectionate regard. This was so much the case, that they gradually increased in number; and during the last summer, though he was under the necessity, from the low state of his health, of having recourse to assistance, he was more numerously attended than ever he had previously been. His parting interview with them was very tender and affecting. Before they were dismissed, he addressed them in a short exhortation with uncommon fervour and feeling. He seemed to have impressed upon his mind a lively presentiment of his approaching dissolution. He spoke of it as a matter of certainty, and urged them, as one who evidently regarded himself in the immediate neighbourhood of the eternal world, and who had their dearest interests at heart, to “remember their Creator in the days of their youth.” He hoped that, though the present was in all probability the last interview he was to enjoy with them, they would still be as active and diligent in their spiritual improvement, as if he still presided over them, and guided them in the acquisition of useful knowledge. His youthful audience was deeply moved, and it was truly affecting