IT has been the desire of not a few, whose judgment I would like to respect, that something should be put on record concerning this young boy, who passed away last April to his eternal rest, and this is the reason I take my pen in hand to write this brief sketch. The subject of the sketch was one, though young in years, who gave marked evidence that the Holy Spirit had wrought a saving work in him. It is a rare thing for one not yet nine years to seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Well, this is what Charlie was, evidently, doing under the influence of the Spirit that quickens. The Holy Spirit works in children. It is recorded of James Renwick, the last of the Scottish Martyrs, when a child, that, “by the time he was two years of age, he was discerned to be aiming at prayer, even in the cradle and about it.”
Something of this heavenward love was noticeable in Charlie Mackinnon for, from an early age, he used to rebuke Sabbath-breakers. Another thing that made him differ from other children was his love to the Bible. From the time Charlie was able to read for himself, he not only aimed at reading his Bible, but also at understanding it, for this purpose he often made use of Matthew Henry’s commentary to help him. He was quite a strong boy till he took an attack of diphtheria, but from that time he never enjoyed good health. Last winter he was removed to the Childrens’ Hospital, Yorkhill, suffering from stiffness in his legs. While in this Hospital his love to his Bible rather increased than diminished; this was evident by his constant perusal of it. The surroundings did not change his mind in the least. The following incident will show the love he had to the Lord’s Day. On one occasion, late on Saturday night, a letter was handed in to him, when the ordinary lights were all switched off in the ward, so that by the dimmer lights he could not read, so he had to put the letter aside, not until the morning, as some careless boys and girls would have done, but till Monday morning. He related to someone afterwards that he did not open the letter because of his love for the Lord’s Day. A daily newspaper was ordered for him for week-days, which was sent in to him by the newsagent every day, but Charlie seems to have had no mind for worldly affairs, so at last he asked his mother to tell the newsagent not to send the paper any more. His mind seemed to have been settled on the object of his choice, even amidst the turmoils of a public institution.
As time went on he showed some signs of improvement, so that his parents fondly hoped that he would be restored to them. At last the time came when he was removed to a Convalescent Home to recuperate before coming home. However, he was not long in this institution when the trouble from which he was, evidently, not free had developed into meningitis. The doctor in attendance, realising the danger, had him removed immediately back to Yorkhill Hospital, where he got all the medical attention which could possibly be given. But all was of no avail, for the Lord was preparing him for a better country which is an heavenly.
On Saturday, 19th March, his parents were informed that his case was dangerous, though it did not seem so to those who had no medical skill, judging from how pleasant and cheerful he was, with no complaints to make except of a little pain in his head. That evening, in his own childlike way, he made some remarks to his mother about his going home, but immediately another train of thoughts dawned on him, thoughts about eternity. “I might never go home,” he said, “but if I go to heaven, I will never want back here again.” Next day, being the Sabbath, a request was made that he should be remembered in the prayers of the congregation of St. Jude’s Church, to which Church his parents belonged, a request which made him rejoice. On that Sabbath afternoon a relative of his own was sitting by his bedside; the end was believed to be near, even then, so he was not left alone at any time. To this relative he expressed how pleased he was at the people of St. Jude’s for remembering him in their prayers. Then he went on to speak of the need there was of one making choice of Christ when young, remarking that there were only two states beyond death, and that once a soul departed this life there was no use of praying then. “Do you know,” he continued, “that none of the Lord’s people like to leave this world till they are old?” “I wonder why is that Charlie?” his friend said. “Oh,” he said, “to defend the cause of Christ in the world, but,” he continued, “once they get beyond death they never want back here again.” “How do you account for that?” his friend asked; “because they are happy in heaven,” he answered. After this he made some remarks on the folly of those who delay seeking the Lord, and, as if exhorting his friend, “Never,” he said, “put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.” Then he went on to speak of Christ and His death for sinners. “We have only to believe in Him to be saved,” he remarked, as if contrasting the sufferings of Christ with the simple exercising of faith on the part of the sinner. To this friend, on another occasion, he spoke of Christ as the Shepherd and of His people as His sheep; and, as if he were thinking of his own parents in the event of his own removal he said, “The Lord gave and the Lord will take away.” “I know,” he said, “it is the Lord alone who can make my head better.”
The following Tuesday, late at night, his father, being at his bedside, Charlie was heard to give expression to the following remarkable utterance, “I wonder, I wonder, are the angels playing their harps for me,” as if he felt that he was very soon to depart. About two o’clock the following morning he took a severe attack of pain, and he began to call for his father, who was not in the ward at the time, but was out in the corridor. His father immediately came in, and when he saw him he exclaimed, “Oh! I thought you had gone home, daddie.” “No,” his father replied, “you know I will not leave you alone.” “But, daddie,” he replied, “perhaps you will have to leave me some day, but the Lord will be with me, and He is better than any father or mother, and when I go to heaven I will not know that I had them and if they will go to heaven they will be with me.”
On another occasion while talking to his mother of his going away, he evidently meant his departure from this world, but his mother did not understand it in that way, so she asked him where would he like to go. “I would like,” he replied, “to go to heaven to be with God.” Later on in the conversation he said, “I pray to be in heaven.” It seems that he was not free from the temptations of Satan, for he spoke to his mother about how he felt Satan telling him to do, “things that are not good.” His mother quoted the words, “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” “Yes,” he replied, “it is also written, ‘draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.'” These words are contained in the chapter he wanted read for him so often, during the last month of his trouble, the fourth chapter of the epistle of James.
It was extraordinary the knowledge he had of the spiritual meaning of some portions of the Scripture; we, who used to read at his bedside, often asked him questions on what was read, and his answers were amazing for a boy of his age. One could not but conclude that he was taught from heaven. His delight in prayer was remarkable, a number of the office-bearers of St. Jude’s used to visit him, during the last month he was in the world, for which he warmly thanked them, and almost his last words to them, when parting with him, expressed a desire that they should remember him at a throne of grace.
He bore his trouble with great patience, and was conscious to the end, though at times he had a difficulty in knowing friends who visited him during the last few days. He was gradually getting weaker, yet he lasted longer than the doctors in attendance expected, but, “step by step he went down to the swelling Jordan, with a shining radiance on his face.” To look on his mortal remains, with their expression of sweet happiness, gave one the impression that the, “invigorating music greeted his ears; before he placed his foot in the waters,” and that he, “went through the swelling of Jordan with a high heart” (The Men of the Covenant). He passed away to his eternal rest, after about four weeks of intense sufferings, on the 14th day of April, at the early age of 8 years and 9 months, to be with Him of whom he so often spoke. We would desire to extend our sympathy to his sorrowing parents and sisters, also to the other friends who mourn his loss.—A. B.