C-OUGE. 169 to comfort him, by reminding himof his gifts and usefulness, he replied, " I dare not think of any such thing for comfort. Jesus Christ,. and what he hath done and suffered, is the only ground of comfort. I, being a great sinner, comfort myself in a great Saviour. When I look upon myself, I see nothing but weakness and emptiness; but when I look upon Christi. I see nothing but sufficiency and fulness." A few days before he died, having continued for three days in a state of drowsiness, he inquired what day it was, and exclaimed, " Alas, I have lost three days!" Afterwards, reviving a little, he said," Now I have not long to, live. The time of my departure is at hand. I am going to my desired haven.. I ammost willing to die. I have, blessed be God, nothing else to do but to die. Death is my best friend, next to Jesus Christ. I am sure I shall be with Christ when I die.". As the hour of his departure approathed, he spoke much in admiration of the rich grace and. mercy of God in Christ Jesus ; and died full of unspeakable comfort, Decem- ber 12, 1653, in the, seventy-ninth year of his age, having been minister of Blackfriars nearly forty-six years.+ Dr. Calamy observes, " that he was a person of as eminent a reputation for Ministerial abilities, strict piety, and indefa- tigable labours for the good of souls, as most ministers that ever were in the city.t Granger. says, " he was offered the provostship of King's college, Cambridge, but declined to accept it ; and that he was laborious, exemplary, and so much beloved that none ever thought or spoke ill of him, excepting those who were inclined to think or speak ill of religion itself."§ He is classed among the learned writers and distin- guished worthies of this college.11 Wood styles him "apious, and learned divine," and says, " he is often honourably men- tioned by Yeetius, Streso, and other learned and foreign divines."ir Mr. William Jenkin was assistant to Dr. Gouge about twelve years, preached his funeral sermon, and suc- ceeded him in the pastoral office. Mr. Thomas Gouge, on` whose death Dr. Watts wrotean excellent elegiac poem, was the doctor's son, and Mr. Richard Roberts married his eldest daughter. These three excellent divines were ejected by the Act of Uniformity, in 1662... His WORKS. -d. Eight Treatises on Domestic Duties.-2. The Whole Armour of God.-3. A Treatise on the Sin against the Holy Jenkin's Funeral Sermon for Dr. Gouge. ° 1- Clark's Lives, p. 242-246. Calamy's Continuation, vol. i. p. 12. Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. ii. p. 179. II Fuller's Hist. of Cam. p. 75. 4 Wood's Athena Oxon. vol. i. p. 807. *. Palmer's Noncon. Mem. vol. i. p. 1109, 184. iii. p. 801.
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