she had heard, and in dreadful apprehension of the ruin which awaited her, as yet "under the law;" on a sudden it seemed as if hell gaped beneath her feet; and she fell like Paul on the plains of Damascus, with her face to the earth, unable to speak, or to move. Her sisters immediately came to her, raised her strictness of his law; with his glorious holiness, and displeasure at sin, his justice, truth, and power in punishing the damned; that the very terrors of God seemed to rise in his mind afresh, when he displayed and brandished them in the eyes of unreconciled sinners. And though some could not bear the representation, and avoided his preaching; yet the arrows of conviction, by his ministry, seemed so deeply to pierce the hearts of others, and even some of the most stubborn sinners, as to make them fall down at the feet of Christ, and yield a lowly submission to him.

"And here I cannot but observe that those who call these convictions by the name of religious frights or fears, and then ascribe them to the mere natural or mechanical influence of terrible words, sounds, and gestures, moving tones or boisterous ways of speaking, appear to me to be not sufficiently acquainted with the subjects of this work, as carried on in the town in general, or with the nature of their convictions; or at least as carried on among the people I have conversed with."

e

up, and supported her home.

She re

mained for several weeks in the utmost distress of mind. "The terrors of the Lord" were set in array against her; and she was almost ready, at times, to despair of that mercy which she had so long slighted and despised.

One day,

after reading the Bible for some time, and attempting repeatedly to pray over it; she shut it up in despair, resolving never to try again-thinking that the more unsuccessful efforts she made, the more sinful she became; and the more wrath, of course, she was treasuring up. This resolution, however, soon failed her, and she determined to make one more trial before she gave up all for lost. With a trembling hand, and an agonized heart, she again took up her Bible, and opened it. Casting her eye, dim and swollen with weeping upon the sacred page, she read, "Be not weary in well doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not." The hand-writing on the wall of the palace at Babylon was not more appalling to the impious monarch, than this passage of scripture, thus brought to view, was cheering to

her oppressed and desponding heart. She regarded it as a message from the invisible world, encouraged by which, she resolved never to desist' pleading for mercy until she had obtained it.* This resolution she was enabled to keep; availing herself at the same time of every opportunity to attend upon the ministrations of Mr. Tennent, whose labors were hardly intermitted during his residence

*How far she was justified, in viewing the passage in this light, I shall not presume to decide. As a general rule, it is doubtless unsafe, to form any conclusion with respect to our character, or duty, by passages of Seripture, suggested to the mind, or presented to the eye. He who could so pervert and misapply the Scriptures, in his conversation with our Lord in the wilderness, as recorded by the evangelists; may have more influence over the minds, and the eyes of men, than some are disposed to acknowledge. Had the text which arrested the attention of Miss Dawes, at this interesting and critical period, been, “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting;" it would probably have confirmed her in the opinion that her case was hopeless; and produced a conclusion, directly the opposite of that, which she actually formed-a conclusion which would have been clearly unauthorized. But to such a text she might have opened.

in town. She obtained however, as yet, no evidence of her acceptance. The more she prayed and strove, the more she was convinced of the dreadful depravity of her heart; and of the indispensable necessity of Divine grace to work within her both to will and to do. In this state of mind, she heard Mr. Tennent upon the entrance of Christ in-` to Jerusalem. In what manner he treat

That the Holy Spirit, however, may direct the eye to such a page or line, as is suited to the state of the mind; and calculated to subserve the purposes of his mercy, I am far from denying. Nor do I think it unreasonable to suppose that he sometimes does. But as in a case of this nature, we have no criterion by which to distinguish between his agency, and that of the father of lies, it is obviously unsafe to be regulated by it. "While pope Alexander was treading on the neck of Frederick the emperor, at Venice, Mr. Fox tells us that he repeated that promise, "Thou shalt tread on the li on and the adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." When Jehu was driving on furiously and wading through blood to the throne, he would again and again say, This is the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant the prophet: yet all the while he was an idolater, under Satan's influence."-Pike's Cases of Conscience, p.376.

ed the subject, I do not recollect to have been told but the effect was such, as to drive her almost to distraction. She called on Mr. T. immediately aftergave him a full account of herself and of the strong temptation which she felt to abstain from all farther efforts for the attainment of salvation. He told her that that temptation was from the adversary of souls; and begged her as she valued her eternal welfare, to resist it-assured her that her case was more hopeful than it had ever been before, because she now saw that she was absolutely helpless in herself; and was therefore prepared to receive as a gift, what could never be claimed as a debt. "My dear child," said he, "you must not be discouraged; remember the darkest hour of night immediately precedes the break of day."He then commended her to him, who is equally the author of spiritual and of natural light; devoutly praying that

the day dawn and the day star might soon arise in her heart." How long her distress of mind continued, I am unable to say. But at length, He, who, in his sovereign grace, had planted the arrows