IT is with deep regret that we record this month the death of Mr. George Forrest, Brucefield, Ontario, which sad event took place on Saturday evening, 21st December. The name of worthy Mr. Forrest is well known to our readers as that of one of the chief representatives of our Church in Canada. As the first correspondent with the Free Presbyterian Church at home, he was, in a sense, the pioneer of the mission, and his presence, counsel, and example, have all along been, by the blessing of God, sources of strength to the cause of truth there. He had reached the advanced age of ninety years, and the removal of this venerable “cedar” makes a large gap among the few scattered “trees of righteousness” known to us in Canada. We hope to have some more detailed account of his life in a future issue. Meantime, we give a few notes of his last days, sent to one of our ministers by his daughter. “We had very little expectation of his recovery in the summer, though one day when I was going home, the word came very forcibly to my mind :—
‘I shall not die but live, and shall
The works of God discern;
The Lord hath me chastised sore,
But not to death giv’n over.
O set ye open unto me
The gates of righteousness;
Then will I enter into them,
And I the Lord will bless.’
I thought to myself: ‘Will he yet conduct our meeting?’ He was spared to conduct a good few meetings, and the Psalm he named the last Sabbath he was alive (though the meeting that day was not held in his room), was the 146th. The Sabbath before he named the 138th. ‘Weak and weary’ was a common answer, when any enquired how he was, and sometimes toward the last, ‘I’m brought very low.’ He did not come out much with his inner feelings, but when they did come, it was usually in words of the Psalms, sometimes quoting their lamenting words with tears upon his cheeks. One Sabbath evening, he was very weary and restless, and I offered to read to him, when he asked for Psalms 38, 146, 71, and 138, in the order named. The words of the 103rd Psalm,
‘For He remembers we are dust,
And He our frame well knows,’
were a frequent source of comfort to him, and also the words in the 69th Psalm,
‘O all ye that do seek the Lord,
Your heart shall ever live.’
He would remark, ‘They are blessed though they have not yet found him.’ One night, towards the end, he asked, ‘What are the words that follow, “This is even the time of Jacob’s trouble?”‘ M. answered, ‘But he shall be saved out of it.’ ‘I thought so,’ he replied. The 62nd Psalm was also one of comfort.
“The kidney trouble he had in the summer left its effects, and he needed regular attendance ever since, and we feared what the end might be. But he took some cold before we were aware of it, and that hastened the end. When we called the doctor, he held out no hope, but said he might continue two or three days. He died that night. About seven o’clock he wanted his medicine, and said he was hungry, and we raised him up for it, but his weakness was extreme, and when we laid him down again, I saw a change coming over him, and in less than an hour he was gone. My mother is very calm and quiet under her bereavement. . . . Mr. Scott was here and conducted the funeral service.” The letter closes with, among other things, mention of the names of some of the friends who attended the funeral.
We understand that it was Mr. Forrest’s desire to live until the Rev. W. Scott would be settled in Chesley, and thus be able to attend and conduct the service at his (Mr. Forrest’s) funeral. This desire was realised, and his mortal remains were laid to rest with every token of love and esteem on the part of the assembled mourners. “A prince and a great man has fallen in Israel.” May the Lord in His tender compassion bless and comfort the bereaved relatives and friends, and in the riches of His grace, raise up living witnesses for His cause and truth in Canada and the home country in the room of the godly fathers He is carrying home to their everlasting rest!
J. S. S.