The Life And Death Of Arthur Triggs

Gospel Magazine 1859:

Recollections Of The Beloved And Honoured Servant Of God, The Late Mr. Triggs.

Long before this Number of the Gospel Magazine is in the hands of its readers, they will doubtless have heard of the removal to his eternal inheritance of our late valued friend and occasional correspondent, Mr. Arthur Triggs. He now realizes, in all their fulness and power, those glorious things upon which, during a lengthened ministry, he was wont to dwell. That “most glorious Christ,” whose sacred person was his all-engrossing theme, now stands revealed to him in all His perfection, loveliness, and glory.

The consciousness of this fact brings to our remembrance a little circumstance in connexion with his ministry when he was in the zenith of his popularity as a preacher. He was preaching on a Sabbath evening, as was usual, to a crowded audience in Zion Chapel, Waterloo Road, London; and there happened to be seated at our side a young Cambridge student, who had just completed his college course, but who has since been called to his account. Mr. Triggs’ text was from Rev. 1:17, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.” When Mr. T. announced his text, his whole soul was fired, a heavenly rapture overspread his countenance, and he seemed as though his very spirit would leap out of the body. He gave out his text with a grandeur and a pathos that far exceeded everything we ever heard. It was the evident expression of the heart, and his words seemed to echo and re-echo through every corner and crevice of that crowded building. Turning to our young Cambridge friend, we said, “Did you ever hear a Cambridge man equal that?” “Never!” was the reply. There was an originality—a power—and such a telling effect about that simple announcement of a text, that some thirteen or fourteen years have never obliterated; and the idea that his removal by death suggests to the mind, is that of his having now entered upon the sweet, and full, and blessed realization of that which he then anticipated, and of which he had but the foretaste. Yes, he now beholds that “most glorious Christ ”of whom he so loved to speak, “no more through a glass darkly, but face to face.” Now, what he would delight to express in some well-chosen verse at the table of the Lord, he enjoys to the full. Then, with a rapturous heart and tearful eye, he would exclaim,

“Now free from sin, I walk at large.

This Breaker’s blood’s my soul’s discharge; 

At His dear feet content I’ll lay,

A sinner saved, and homage pay.”

But now how fully and how blessedly does he realize what he then expressed in the following verse:—

“Jesus, to celebrate Thy praise.

My soul shall wake her noblest lays;

Till round Thy throne Thy face I view, 

And sing Thy blood and victory too.”

Doubtless many of our readers will remember the peculiar power with which he would give expression to these and sundry other verses at the time of administering the Lord’s supper. Nay, as far as we ourselves were concerned, it was in his prayer before the sermon, and in the comments which he offered upon the hymn before Mr. Triggs announced his text, where our souls were most fed. With his natural love for singing, and with a hymn rich in gospel truth, well given out and well sung, his soul would be fired, and, in all the warmth of his heart, he would rise and plunge into the subject; so that the hymn, and about the first third-part of the time commonly devoted by others to the sermon, were in sweet keeping and blessed harmony. After that Mr. T. would read a Scripture for a text without opening his Bible, but only occasionally open that text at the time. It was not the order of his preaching, near his abiding by his text, that commended him as a preacher; but it was the originality of thought which here and there in every sermon, he would bring as from the Fountain-head, and that special power and divine unction with which it was conveyed to the hearts of the Lord’s tried and tempted people.

Whilst he was a champion for the truth, and would come forth as one who had fought the enemy for every truth he brought forward, and at times, in the joy of his conquests, seem to soar far above the heads of the majority of his hearers, there were times when he would descend from those rapturous heights to which he was wont to rise, and mingle with the veriest babes, taking up their lispings, and encouraging them on their onward way with sweetest sympathies. At one moment he would triumph in the great fact that sin had virtually become a nonentity, as far as the believer was concerned, because every particle of it had been charged home upon the great Sin-bearer, and “In their Surety they were free;” rejoicing in the fact, that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus and the next moment he would come down to commune and sympathize with those who were waging a ceaseless warfare with sin, Satan, and the world. If any man over understood practically the apostle’s language, “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,” Mr. Triggs did. None could say more unhesitatingly than he, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

As we purpose (God willing) to add in future Numbers some personal recollections of this man of God, and as we have moreover now to introduce from one of his sons, and from a beloved friend, particulars of his last illness and removal, we will not at present add more than the expression of our deepest sympathies with the bereaved widow and children. She has lost a husband, they a father indeed! No man shone more brightly in either the one character or the other than Mr. Triggs did. He was a devoted husband and a loving father. He had his failings as a man—and who has not?—but it was his tender (and perhaps over) solicitude as a husband and a father that caused him to betray those failings. To us it appears he was a man of great faith in every respect, except in leaving what he was won’t to term “the moveables” of a family in a Father’s hands. It was not a want of love, but a superabundance of love, showing itself in a certain amount of fear and distrust of God’s providence, that led to steps for which he was reproached.

We write thus, not in a spirit of condemnation, but to account for what might otherwise appear inexplicable. We wanted him, during his life-time, to have published the secret and special leadings of the Lord, with regard to his removal from Plymouth to London, from London to Plymouth, and from Plymouth to London again; but this he was unwilling to do, intimidating to us that it was written, and in reserve for publication after his death. Now the fact that this is to be published gives us heartfelt delight; and, from our inmost soul, we hope that there will be a most liberal response to his now sorely-bereaved and deeply-afflicted widow, with respect to this publication. We hope our readers will send in their names promptly to the address which will be subjoined. The perusal of the First Part of Mr. Triggs’ life, we shall never forget. We had spent three hours and a half on the field of Waterloo, and, as we surveyed a spot, the scene, a few years before, of such a fearful carnage, our feelings were horrible—most horrible. We walked as among a mass of spirits who seemed whispering into our ears from every quarter of their awful destruction. We at length jumped into the conveyance which we had hired at Brussels; and, happily finding in our pocket the little work alluded to, Mr. Triggs’ Life, we opened it and read with avidity; and never shall forget the sweetness of that work, in contrast with the scene we had just been contemplating. We were just reading about the little girl whom he there mentions as having been blessed in the early part of his ministry, as we drove through the village of Waterloo; and the preciousness of that account melted our hearts before the Lord. We doubt not that equal interest and equal power will be found in the part of Mr. Triggs’ life which remains to be published; and we hope our beloved readers will, by their names, stimulate to its very early issue from the press.

The Editor

Bedminster, Aug. 18, 1859.

The Last Hours Of The Late A. Triggs.

To The Editor Of The Gospel Magazine:

I send you for insertion, if approved of, a short account of the last illness and death of my beloved father, Mr. A. Triggs. Truly can we say of him, that “he has come to the grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.” Also, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” I write this, believing there are many of the Lord’s people, readers of your Gospel Magazine, that will feel a mournful pleasure in hearing that another of the Lord’s faithful ministers has been taken home to glory by Himself, and is now with a precious Jesus, spending aloud His high praises, who had “done so great things” for him whilst in this “valley of tears.” It pleased the Lord to come and take him to Himself, August 10^th, 1859, about four o’clock in the afternoon, after suffering intense pain for many weeks, from gangrene in the foot. His end was peace. He could joyfully testify, that “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Reading and studying his Bible; preaching, writing, and talking of his precious Jesus, were the delight of his heart. He was firmly rooted and grounded in love; and his faith remained unshaken in the goodness and mercy of his faithful God; and and he could exultingly say with the Psalmist, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” He died in peace with God, “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” A few of the sayings uttered to his family and a few friends during his illness, may be interesting; for “A good man out of the good treasures of the heart bringeth forth good things.” During great and acute pain, he repeated those sweet lines:—

“Should death be at hand. 

I’ll fear not undressing.

But cheerfully throw off my garments of clay;

To die in the Lord is a covenant blessing,

Since thou, O my Jesus, hast first led the way.”

“I wish the time was come to depart to be with Jesus was at hand.” At one time he cried out, “It is all come to a stop; it is all gone.” No doubt, meaning, that he had at that time no communion with his precious Lord and Saviour. Shortly after he said, This cannot last long; I am sinking fast.” But still the Lord his God was with him to support and comfort. Once that deadly enemy of souls, the devil, was permitted sorely to try his faith in the faithfulness of his God. In the intensity of his feelings he suddenly cried out, “Oh! thou devil, devil, to set at me so!” But immediately after he repeated his favourite verse, “The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” Another expression was, “It is close work to die.” On another occasion he said, “I am sinking rapidly, but I am very happy, I cannot be otherwise.” “I am a citizen of no mean city, I am freeborn.” “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” “I am now proving my acceptance in the Lord.” “Christ is all I want.” “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.” His dear friend, Mr. V. Smith, called to see him during his illness; and I have been told by those that were in the room at the time, that it was like heaven upon earth to them, a time never to be for­ gotten; it appeared as if both were “out of the body, present with the Lord” in heaven; their conversation being of “Jesus only.” After the pain had left him, he said, “it is just over, in peace with God.” He put out his arms as if embracing some one, and cried out, “My precious Lord Jesus.” He called his dear wife and children around his bed and blessed them, saying, “The Lord give you peace in believing; the Lord bless you all; the Lord will provide for you all.” At another time he said, “If any of my friends ask about me, tell them it is sweet to die in Jesus.” To a friend who called to see him, “You have come to see me die in Jesus; I am longing to be with Him; no fear, no anger, no wrath; it is all love.” “I am longing to die; He is my Redeemer.” A few evenings before he died he had a severe fainting fit; we thought then that he was about to be taken from us; but it was not the Lord’s time. My dear mother asked him if he had not a blessing for her? He answered, “He will be a Father to the fatherless, and a Husband to the widow.” Thirty hours before he died he did not move, but slept very heavily until about five minutes before he was taken home to glory, but his speech had then failed him. The last words I heard him utter distinctly were, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

He will be buried this 15th day of August, 1859, in the Norwood Cemetery. I will close these remarks with, “May my last end be like his;” “May I die the death of the righteous.” 

“And when I close my eyes in death. 

And human strength shall flee,

Then, then, my dear redeeming God, 

Do thou remember me.”

His bereaved widow and family are in great sorrow of heart for a loss nothing on earth can replace; but may we all be enabled to look to Jesus, and say, “Thy will be done.” “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

During his life-time he preached 10,103 sermons; the first was delivered Jannary 12th, 1817, from Romans 1:16; the last, July 5th, 1859, from Ps. 111:9.

Thus died in the Lord His faithful servant, aged 72 years last 23rd day of April.

Yours faithfully, 

W. B. Triggs

N. B. Communications to Mrs. Triggs are requested to be addressed. No. 3, Angell Road, Brixton Road, London, S.

The Memory Of The Just Is Blessed

“Justified from all things.”

My Dear Friend And Brother In Our Precious Lord Jesus,—I think it right to inform you something respecting the decease of our dear and esteemed ministry, Mr. A. Triggs. He died on Wednesday afternoon, August the 10^th, his end was peaceful and blessed. He had been confined to his room about a month; the means of taking down his tabernacle arose from a wound in his foot, which, after enduring for a considerable time, ended in mortification. He had the best of medical advice, both by his own providing, and also the highest professional skill, sent by one of the friends; but it availed nothing; the time of his departure was drawing near for his being called to his “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

His desire and prayer was, for a considerable time before he kept his bed, that his dear Lord would take him home, not to be released from bodily pain and affliction, but clothed upon with his “house” from heaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. He constantly exclaimed, “I am on the Rock, I am safe for eternity.” His dear wide continually hearing him say he was desirous to depart and be with his precious Jesus (at that time there being no prospect of so near a dissolution), he blessedly exclaimed, “his dear Lord would be a Father to the fatherless, and a Husband to the widow.” 

His sufferings were extreme beyond description, so much so, that at times, his mental faculties were affected, but his mind always stayed upon the Lord. About ten days before his dissolution, I had a communication from his dear wife, to say mortification had taken place, and I had better see him. I made no delay, but went immediately. When I arrived he was asleep, and I particularly requested them not to disturb him; but he wake, and his dear wife told him I had come to see him. “Oh,” he said, “let him come up.” It was such a meeting as I never expect again to have in the flesh. The dear apostle had but one of the same; whether in the body or out of the body, he could not tell. The glorious truths of the gospel of our salvation were most blessedly believed, felt, and enjoyed. It was indeed upon the high mountains of Israel: Christ alone exalted; sin put away; righteousness imputed; the Church complete in Him; new creatures in Christ Jesus, old things passed away and all things become new; Christ made sin, and believers made the righteousness of God in Him; concluding with that blessed scripture in John’s Epistle, “Because as He is, so are we in this world;” which truth had comforted him for many months before. I was fearful my conversation might exhaust him. No, he would not let me go. At last I said, “I must go,” “Peace be with you,” he instantly replied; “He, Jesus, is our peace.” All the time I was with him not a word said about the pain of the poor body; all was peace and joy in believing. His dear wife told me this state of mind continued for some time after I left; but at times his sufferings were so heavy, that he was incapable of conversing with anyone, but no doubt the blessed communion we had was by the Lord’ appointment and presence. He was in a very peaceful state before his departure; it was scarcely known when the last breath was drawn. We can say, “The end of that man was peace.” 

His mortal remains were deposited in Norwood Cemetery, on Monday last, followed by his dear relatives and friends, there to await the resurrection morn; and as he has said and believed the Holy Ghost would descend with the bodies of the saints, to preserve their dust until the vital change shall take place, and there vile bodies changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body. My dear friend is well acquainted with his ministry, which the Lord had given him, mighty in word and deed, to exalt the Savior and debase the sinner, comfort the feeble minded, and strengthen the weak; instrumentally to give them beauty for asked, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. His manner of preaching was bold, but not presumptuous; every statement was founded and built upon the sure foundation, and stood the test in a dying hour, as he said the truths he had ministered in life were his solace in death. He sometimes made statements that professors would condemn, and possessors too, but they were always proved true according to the Word of God. There was the phrase, “Sin a nonentity,” he made use of to set forth one of the most blessed truths of the gospel, which appeared adapted for the purpose to set forth the truth of the doctrine of sin put away; but his enemies taking it in an abstract sense, instead of a relative, which was to convey to his hearers the non-existence of sin in the salvation of Jesus, who was made sin for His people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him, as the apostle declares, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new.” Can there be any sin in this new creation? Can there be any sin in the righteousness of God? Can there be any sin where the Scripture declares, “Because as He is, so are we in this world?” The phrase, “Sin a nonentity,” has been a bugbear, taken to frighten poor souls; but those who know and believe the truth connected with it, rejoice in the mercy that sin is put away, and that we are complete in Christ: that He has presented the Church to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. I remember hearing Mr. Spurgeon preaching a sermon on his birthday; I think he said his age was twenty. He took his text from the prophet Micah (2:13), “The breaker is come up before them.” In his discourse he stated, “such was the wonderful work accomplished, that everything that opposed was removed, and was so blessedly cleared away, that sin was a complete nonentity.” I marveled at hearing a stripling like this take up the very words of our dear friend, and quote Kent’s beautiful lines—

“Now, free from sin, I walk at large; 

This Breaker’s blood’s my soul’s discharge:

Content at His dear feet I lay, 

A sinner saved, and homage pay;”

but have never heard it from a pulpit since. My dear friend will please to look over the few lines that are written, I hope, in soberness of mind; and he well knows I have great esteem for our dear departed friend, and also to his memory.

Yours in our precious Lord Jesus, 

A lover of truth,

V. Smith

Lines—Suggested By The Departure Of Mr. A. Triggs, Wednesday, August 10^th, 1859.

He has entered his rest, more fully to prove

The heights and the depths of God’s changeless love; 

Released from the flesh, in glory arrayed,

He heightens the triumph of Jesus his Head.

He has entered his rest, enlarged are his powers

To enjoy all the “good” he used to call ours; 

Removed from whatever could try to annoy,

He sits at the banquet o’erwhelmed with the joy.

Oh! call it not death; ’tis life clearer shown— 

The pilgrim of earth advanced to a throne,

The friend called up higher, completely made one 

With Alpha, Omega, who all things hath done.

’Tis light everlasting, without any shade; 

The spirit with God in glory arrayed; 

The end of the journey, perpetual rest;

The enjoyment of all—“It is to be blest.”

Mark Philip Stoneham

Greenwich