mercy! He had been in one of those wretched indulgences of intemperance which sometimes lasted for a week; when, lifting up the cup to his mouth in Whitecross Street, on the 19th of September following, he fell down dead in a moment through the rupture of a blood-vessel in his brain! My sin far more deserved so sudden a judgment. In my case, I must say, "Judgment is God's strange work, whereas mercy is his delight."-"Come, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul."

'But I must add here one remark, which I think of vast consequence for the instruction of those who decline from religion, upon a review of my wretched case. I believe God left me to myself till I rushed forward and committed this desperate deed, as a punishment for my ingratitude and departure from him. I was a backslider in heart. I had often departed from God. I had for some time together attended a place of worship, and obtained benefit to my soul: then I left off the good practice, and became careless and indifferent about religion.

God had often chastened and corrected ne with alarming spasms, pains, and illness, by which I was brought down to the grave: yet "I turned not for all this." He then cut down, in full health

The

and bloom, a daughter, to whom I was much attached, at the age of seventeen, by a typhus fever; yet this did not bring me back to him. At length he caused me to kuow, by this last tremendous judgment, "what an evil and bitter thing it was to depart from the living God." He suffered me to become the worst of characters-a self-murderer; to attempt the worst of crimes-suicide! sense of this sin will never be erased; and, could I tell any poor distressed creature the thousandth part of distress and agony which I have endured in body and mind for this sin, however wretched, however distressed, the sufferer would start from the tale with horror. If my case should prove of benefit to one poor straying soul, I should rejoice unspeakably.'

Observing her anxious desire that I should mention the Lord's goodness, and the tears of gratitude with which she declared the several instances of it, I could not but exclaim-' O, how amiable is gratitude, especially when it has the supreme Benefactor for its object! I have always looked upon gratitude as the most exalted principle that can actuate the heart of man. It has something noble, disinterested, and, if I may be allowed the term, generously devout. Repentance indicates our nature fallen, and prayer turns chiefly upon a regard

to one's self; but the exercises of gratitude subsisted in Paradise, when there was no fault to deplore; and will be perpetuated in Heaven, when "God shall be all in all." The language of this sweet temper is, "I am unspeakably obliged; what return shall I make ?"

There is one important lesson to be drawn from the crime which Mrs. D- was permitted to attempt, which should not be neglected by those who peruse the history of her deliverance. The frailties, the sins, the negligences, and the punishments of others, should be reflected upon for our own improvement; for, as for us they suffer, so for us they are preserved, and for us they die.

The lesson to be applied to ourselves is, That the conduct of God, in his treatment of individuals, should teach us the fearful depravity of man and the awful justice of Almighty God.'

When warnings and expostulations have been long used in vain, and means neglected, God is provoked to leave sinners to themselves, as he did Pharaoh, who sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, till, at length, he presumed to pursue the Israelites into the midst of the sea, when the anger of God overwhelmed him with the returning tides of the piled-up ocean. Professors of true religion have sometimes for their unfaithfulness been left of

God, and suffered to go on frowardly in the way of their hearts, till their own wickedness has corrected them by its tremendous effects, as David's crimes reproved, punished, and restored him; or as Solomon's experience taught him the vanity of earthly treasures and sublunary beauty, and led him to God as the fountain of felicity and honour. The case related teaches the lesson, 'Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall be not high minded, but fear.' But her deliverance and restoration also encourage us to hope in the forgiving love of God under all circumstances; for, to the penitent, his mercy reacheth unto the heavens. Great as his majesty is, so is his Thousands of penitents can join her song,

:

mercy. and say

Bless the Lord, O my soul! and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, and crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercy.'

289

CHAP. XIII.

RELIGION INSPIRING PATIENCE UNDER TROUBLES; OR, THE HISTORY OF MR. WILLIAM HOrne, of SHOREDITCH, who died november, 1821.

'Durate et vosmet rebus servati secundis.'-VIRG.
'Endure and conquer; live for better fate.'

Mr. Wm. Horne's Case-Distresses, Privations-The Widows' Friend Society-Providential Relief-Cheerfulness, Resignation-Religion his Cordial-Sickness-Dr.Birkbeck's generous Attendance-Hopeful Death-Lessons of Patience and Submission-Milton's Patience.

RELIGION will arm the mind to meet the trials of life with fortitude, and to bear them with patience. This I shall illustrate in the case of a young man not thirty years of age, over whom I was called upon by his dying request, and the desire of his widow, to read the funeral service at Shoreditch church. I knew him well, for he lived in my three months as my pupil. I had been acquainted

house