ask you a very plain one. Do you think, supposing that you could retain the happiest frame of mind that ever you had from morning till evening, and from evening again till morning, incessantly and uninterruptedly,-do you think that this would atone for one of your sins?" To which he replied (putting his hand into his waistcoat pocket), "I think this will answer that question." Upon which he presented me with a piece of paper, which I unfolded, expecting to see something in writing, instead of which there was presented to my view a pair of scales. There was in one scale The broken Law, and in the other three tons weight, as proposed to answer its demand; which he makes to appear so insufficient that the Broken Law weighs the whole up, and is not by any means satisfied with it. Then, turning to the other side of the paper, I saw another.

Struck with surprise, which I endeavoured to conceal, I said, in a seemingly indifferent way, "Who marked out these?" He replied, "I did, sir." I inquired, "What was your motive for doing it?" He answered, "I will freely tell you. My mother, with whom I live, knows not God, nor the way of salvation. I frequently feel a very great concern for her eternal welfare; and as I have expressed to you before, I dare not say I am without hope (wretch as I am) that, by the sovereign grace of God, I shall be saved at last; though this hope is accompanied with a thousand doubts. Wishing to communicate to her, in as plain a way as possible, the whole and sole ground of my hope of life and salvation, it came into my mind the other day, while sitting in my chair, to make use of this simple hieroglyphical representation of the same, that it was not upon the ground of my prayers, tears, and repentance, that I hoped for mercy, but that it was entirely drawn from a hope of interest in the blood and righteousness of Christ.' At such a testimony as this, my very heart and conscience replied, Thou art saved; and I secretly blessed God that I had been called to visit him. Surely this third visit was a sacred one to my soul, nor do I think it was less profitable to him. At length we parted, but not without difficulty; for I hardly knew how to leave him, and he was unwilling to let me go. After committing him into God's hands, which I did with hearty thanksgiving, I left him for that time.

I very soon paid him another visit, when, upon my entering the room, he smiled on me with something of heaven in his countenance; and holding up his hand, which was little more than skin and bone, he exclaimed, "Look at this thin hand, sir; although I appear such a poor, pitiable object, I would not exchange situations with the most blooming youth in the land; for I am persuaded (nor can I help believing it) that this very

body of mine will be eternally glorified with Christ for ever and ever." I replied, "If you were to doubt it yourself, I could not dare to doubt concerning you." We instantly fell into a most profitable discourse, in the course of which he said, "I one day promised to tell you how I first came to have any real concern about my soul. I was bound apprentice to a good man, but was loosely and wickedly inclined, and being very discontented in my situation, I proposed to go to the East Indies. It was at length consented to; I went; and being then far from home, and from under the eye of all my friends, I endeavoured to take my fill of sin, which I did; though at the same time, instead of being happy, my courses brought me in such a crop of misery that I have often envied the brutes their happiness. In this, my sinful course, I took a violent cold, and felt sensibly the seeds of death entering my poor body; but so far was I from repentance, that I think I became more hardened. At length I embarked for England again; and by the time I set foot on the English shore, all probable expectation of recovery was gone. I came home to this house, where you now see me, as far in my heart and affections from God as hell is from heaven. I got worse daily; but, awful to relate, I determined to brave it out, and tried to persuade myself that I should shortly be restored to my health. As a proof of the same, as I was one day sitting in the room, being very ill, I told my mother I would walk to Peckham, which was more than two miles. My mother said, I could not, and I must not, undertake such a journey; and, indeed, at the time, I was hardly fit to be trusted to cross the road by myself. However, I would go; and, some how or other, with much pain of body, reached there; after which, I daringly presumed to walk home; and in returning experienced such pain, that I was strongly tempted to throw myself into a certain* water, and drown myself, in order to escape from my misery; but God prevented this. On arriving home I sat down almost dead. After recovering myself a little, I cried out, "Mother, bring me my violin, I will play a tune; " and added, "I shall get well soon, and I will go and see a play." All this, sir, I did to outbrave the thought of death, which was evidently fast approaching.

"I had not long made these speeches before I was seized with a cough, which, though not violent, occasioned the breaking of a blood-vessel; from which instantly issued a vast quantity of blood, flowing from my mouth and nose. The bleeding continued for a considerable time, resisting every application made to stop it. While in this deplorable situation, held up by my friends, the blood still streaming from me, with a dread of hell in my conscience, agitation depicted on every countenance, and

such a quantity of blood already poured forth as it could scarcely be supposed the human body could contain, while all were waiting in expectation that I should presently drop into the cold arms of death, a friend came suddenly in, who, beholding me in this miserable situation, exclaimed, O Thomas, cry for mercy! Thousands have, and have been heard too, that have been as vile as you. You cannot be the worse for that, if you are none the better.' Having till then retained my full senses, I heard him, and feeling the force of his words, all over blood as

I was, I put my poor hands together, with my mouth and throat

full of blood, and lifting up my heart to God, said, 'O Lord, have mercy upon and save a poor dying worm!' when, behold, the moment that I uttered these words the bleeding stopped-I bled no more! I can remember no more ;-my senses directly left me; and what further transpired I knew not till about three weeks afterwards, when the Lord was pleased to restore to me the full exercise of my mental powers. From this solemn yet merciful circumstance, I was brought to enquire after a knowledge of salvation; at which time, hearing that there was a godly man living not far off, of the name of Francis, occasioned me to send, and request to see you."

Here I found, in my fourth visit, there was something which crowned all the rest, being the most solemn, awful, and yet animating display of the almighty power, discriminating grace, and boundless love of Him who took the name of Jesus because he would save his people from their sins. May the same gracious and wonder-working Lord be pleased to grant that this little anecdote may be the means of striking terror into the hearts of some that are yet his enemies; that, instead of rushing upon the thick bosses of his buckler, they may, after the wonderful example here set before them, fall into the arms of Him against whom they have sinned, and cry for mercy! Amen. O how richly was I repaid for the time I spent with this young man!

I visited him many times after this, to the joy and comfort of my own soul, and I believe of his also. Just before his death, he named those whom he wished to follow him to the grave; and desired to be buried in Bunhill Fields, because there were in that ground so many monuments of grace like himself, with whom, he said, he hoped to dwell everlastingly. He also told me, that he had requested a particular favour of his executors, that, as he had six hundred pounds coming to him if he had lived six months longer, to have completed his twenty-first year, he hoped they would grant him a head and foot stone, and that he wished nothing on it beside these words,-"Is not this a brand plucked from the burning?" which, I am very sorry to say, was not granted. But, though the all-wise providence of God permitted the denial of the stone, he is able, with his own

וי

pen, to inscribe the same on the table of our hearts, and make the memory of this dear youth the means of preventing the daring and presumptuous sinner from defying Omnipotence, the Pharisee from trusting in his own righteousness; and the poor self-condemned, miserable sinner, to drop into the arms of sovereign mercy, as he did; and prove him to be what he was then, is now, and for ever remains to be-mighty to save, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Amen.

ENQUIRY.

MESSRS. EDITORS,-Would you give your thoughts upon Ezek. 18. 21, 22, and 23.

ANSWER TO THE ABOVE.

This 18th of Ezekiel, like many more parts of the Bible, can be made to harmonize with the gospel of God only by admitting the difference of the covenant made with the Jews as a nation from that covenant which is by Christ Jesus (see Heb. 8. from verse 7th, to the end of the chapter). Unless we are careful to distinguish between these two covenants, we shall make the Bible divide itself against itself (as shall presently be shewn), and so as it were neutralize the whole word of God. The difference between these two covenants is pointed out in the chapter (Heb. 8.) above referred to; and if the reader will do himself the favour to go carefully through the 28th of Deuteronomy, he will there find set forth the good which was to follow upon conformity to that covenant, and the evil which was to follow wilful deviation from and violation of that covenant; and as the obedience was to be merely moral and ceremonial, so the blessings connected therewith were to be merely temporal, and the evil, though tremendous, was to be also temporal; this covenant being not after the power an endless life, but after the law of a temporal commandment. This covenant brought them out of temporal bondage, sustained them with natural food (the manna), and with natural water from the rock, and brought them into an earthly rest; and upon their continued conformity to this covenant, they were to have in this earthly Canaan natural prosperity, all of which was merely moral and temporal, except in the typical sense; in this sense the old covenant was spiritual, as shadowing forth spiritual things, shadowing forth spiritual things by semblance and by contrast; that is, that while the salvation from Egypt, sustentation in and through the wilderness, possession of the promised land, together with the mercy seat, the first fruits, sacrifices, ablutions, peculiarity of food, conquests, and abundance of all earthly good, by the power and favour of God,-while these things, by a faint likeness (as far as temporal things can be like spiritual things) set

forth good things to come; so also they set forth by contrast good things to come, thus:

peo

The deliverance from Egypt was temporal, and many of the people that were saved were afterwards destroyed; but the -ple saved by Jesus Christ are saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and shall not be ashamed or confounded, world - without end.

Our fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead; but he that eateth of that bread which the Saviour gives, shall t never die.

Thousands of the Israelites perished by the way, whose carcases fell in the wilderness, but the sheep of Christ shall never perish.

Moses lost the earthly Canaan, but this did not effect his title to the heavenly Canaan; his title to the earthly Canaan was by a temporal and conditional covenant, will, or testament; but his title to the heavenly Canaan was by that covenant of which Jesus is the mediator. This new covenant or testament is ordered in all things and sure; in this testament there can be no final loss.

When Moses appeared in the Mount of Transfiguration, it was not in the glory of the earthly Canaan (for this he had lost), but in the glory which was heavenly, and endureth for ever.

Eli lost his earthly priesthood, but this did not affect his heavenly priesthood! which heavenly priesthood is not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. Solomon lost his earthly kingdom, but this did not deprive him of a place in that kingdom which is heavenly, and to be by those for whom it is prepared possessed for ever and ever.

Now as these two covenants thus differ in their nature and end, so each covenant has promises, precepts, invitations, and exhortations, according to its own nature. And all those persons who were enemies to the old covenant, and were destroyed, were a type of empty professors under the gospel, to whom the Saviour will say, Depart from me, I never knew you." It was not possible for Adam and Eve, or the Jews, nor is it possible for Christians, nominal or real, to overturn the counsel of God.

66

The counsel of God in the garden of Eden was this, "The day thou eatest of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt die;" implying, if they did not eat thereof, they should live; so that in either case the counsel of the Lord stood the

same.

So with the Jews in their national covenant. The intention of that covenant was their good. God had no pleasure in their misery and death, but rather that they should live; and while