NOT many miles to the south of Selkirk, the Barmour coal pits, in the county of Northumberland, are to be found. Thomas Hownham used to carry coals from them to Doddington and Wooler. At other times he would make brooms of the heath, and sell them round the country. He was poor and despised, but said one who knew him, “In my forty years acquaintance with the professing world, I have seldom met with his equal as a man devoted to God, or one who was favored with more evident answers to prayer.” Being disappointed of receiving money for coals the day before, he returned home one evening, and, to his pain and distress, found that there was neither bread nor meat, nor anything to supply their place in the house. His wife wept for the poor children who were crying for hunger, and continued crying till they both fell asleep. Having got them to bed, and their mother with them, it being a fine moonlight night, he went from his house to a retired spot at a little distance to pray, to spread his family wants before the Lord. He found great comfort in meditating on Hab. 3:17,1817Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17‑18)― “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” In this place he continued about an hour and a half, and found great liberty and enlargement in prayer, such heart-loathing and soul-humbling views of himself, and of interest in the grace of God and the love of his adorable Saviour, and had such delightful views of Jesus by faith, that all thoughts about temporal things were taken away. Under this sweet and serene frame of mind, he returned to his poor cottage; when, by the light of moon, he perceived through the window something upon a stool or form (for chairs they had none) before the bed; and after viewing it with astonishment, and feeling it, he found it to be a joint of roasted meat, and a loaf of bread about the size of our half-peck loaves. He then went to the door, to look if he could see any person; and after raising his voice, as well as his eyes, and neither perceiving nor hearing any one, he returned, and awoke his wife and children; then asking a blessing, they all shared in the providential repast. About twelve years afterward, it was ascertained that the Lord had made use of a miserly farmer thus to supply Thomas Hownham and his family in their time of urgent need. The farmer lived at Lowick-Highstead. In consequence of his penurious character, he was called by his neighbors “Pinch-me-near.” One Thursday evening he ordered his housekeeper to have a whole joint of meat roasted, having given her directions a day or two before to bake two large loaves of white bread. He then went to Wooler Market, and took as usual a piece of bread and cheese in his pocket; in the evening he came home in very bad humor, and soon went to bed. In about two hours he called up his man-servant, and ordered him to take one of the loaves and the joint of meat, and carry them down the moor to the cottage of Thomas Hownham, and leave them there. The man did so; finding the door on the latch, and perceiving the family fast asleep, he put down the meat and bread and returned to his master’s house.
The next morning, the old farmer called his housekeeper and the man in, and seemed in great agitation of mind. He told them that he intended to have invited a Mr. John Mool, with two or three more of the neighboring farmers (who were always teasing him about his niggardly disposition) to sup with him on their return from market. As he proposed to take them by surprise near home―as two or three of them would have to pass by his door―he did not give them the invitation at market; but, just as they came to the spot where he meant to break the matter out, a sudden shower of rain fell, and they all rode off before he had opportunity. On going to bed, he did not rest well, but dreamed he saw Hownham’s wife and children starving from hunger. He awoke, and tried to put off the impression; but fell asleep again, and again the second and third time had the same dream. He lamented afterward that he had been so overcome with the nonsense, as to send them the bread and the joint of meat; but, since he had done it, he could not now help it. He then charged his servants never to mention the matter, or he would turn them away directly; and it was not until he had been a long time dead that his female-servant related the fact to a gentleman, who had previously heard from Thomas Hownham how unaccountably God had supplied him on that memorable night.
How strikingly does the above fact illustrate the following lines by John Newton!
“Elijah’s example declares,
Whatever distress may betide,
The saints may commit all their cares
To Him who will surely provide.
When rain, long withheld from the earth,
Occasion’d a famine of bread,
The prophet, secured from the dearth,
By ravens was constantly fed.
“More likely to rob than to feed,
Were ravens who lived upon prey:
But when the Lord’s servants have need,
His goodness will find out a way.
This instance to some may seem strange,
Who know not how faith can prevail:
But sooner all nature shall change,
Than one of God’s promises fail.
“Nor is it a singular case,
The wonder is often renew’d;
And many can say to His praise,
By worldlings He sends them their food:
The worldlings, though ravens indeed,
Though greedy and selfish their mind,
If God has a servant to feed,
Against their own will must be kind.”
THE DESTRUCTION of the French armament, under the duke D’Anville, in the year 1746, ought to be remembered with gratitude and admiration. This fleet consisted of forty ships of war: it was destined for the destruction of New England, and was of sufficient force, in the ordinary process of things, to render that destruction certain, and sailed from Chebucto, in Nova Scotia, for this purpose. In the meantime the godly in the land were apprised of their danger, and, feeling that their only safety was in God, had appointed a season of fasting and prayer to be observed in all their churches. While Mr. Prince, in the old South Church, on this fast-day was praying most fervently to God to avert the dreaded calamity, a sudden gust of wind arose, (the day had till now been perfectly calm,) so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the windows. The pastor paused in his prayer, and looking round upon the congregation with a countenance of hope, again commenced with great ardor to supplicate the Almighty God to cause that wind to frustrate the object of their enemies, and save the country from conquest and popery. A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was wrecked on the coast of Nova Scotia. The duke D’Anville the principal general, and the second in command, both committed suicide. Many died with disease, and thousands were consigned to a watery grave. The small number that remained alive returned to France, without health and without spirits. The enterprise was abandoned, and never again resumed.
WHEN the year 1814 began, troops of Swedes, Cossacks, Germans, and Russians were within half an hour’s march of the town of Sleswick; and new and fearful reports of the behavior of the soldiers were brought from the country every day. There had been a truce which was to come to an end at midnight of the fifth of January, which was now drawing near. On the outskirts of the town, on the side where the enemy lay, there was a house standing alone, and in it there was an old pious woman, who was earnestly praying, in the words of an ancient hymn, that God would “raise up a wall around them,” so that the enemy might fear to attack them. In the same house dwelt her daughter, a widow, and her grandson, a youth of twenty years. He heard the prayer of his grandmother, and could not restrain himself from saying, that he did not understand how she could ask for anything so impossible as that a wall should be built around them which could keep the enemy away from their house. The old woman, who was now deaf, caused what her grandson said to be explained to her, but only answered that she had prayed in general for protection for themselves and their townspeople. “However,” she added, “do you think that if it were the will of God to build a wall around us, it would be impossible to Him?”
The dreaded night of the fifth of January now came; about midnight the troops began to enter on all sides. The house we are speaking of lay close by the road, and was larger than the dwellings near it, which were only very small cottages. Its inhabitants looked out with anxious fear as parties of the soldiers entered one after another, and even went to the neighboring houses to ask for what they wanted; but all rode past their dwelling. Throughout the whole day there had been a heavy fall of snow―the first that winter―and towards evening the storm became violent to a degree seldom known. At length came four parties of Cossacks, who had been hindered by the snow from entering the town by another road. This part of the outskirts was at some distance from the town itself, and therefore they would not go further; so that all the houses around that in which the old woman lived were filled with soldiers, who quartered themselves in them: in several houses there were fifty or sixty of these half-savage men. It was a terrible night for those who dwelt in this part of the town, filled to overflowing with the troops of the enemy. But not a single soldier came into the grandmother’s house; and amidst the loud noises and wild sounds all around, not even a knock at the door was heard, to the great wonder of the family within. The next morning, as it grew light, they saw the cause. The storm had drifted a mass of snow to such a height between the roadside and the house, that to approach it was impossible. “Do you not now see, my son,” said the old grandmother, “that it was possible for God to raise a wall around us?” Does not this fact remind us of the words, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psa. 34:77The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7)). Does it not seem as if the snow had been gathered by angels’ hands to form a defense for that house, where one dwelt who thus feared God and trusted in Him?