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one for himself, renew our baptismal engagements to be the Lord's, renouncing the devil, the world, and the flesh; where we receive what we profess to regard, not only as a sign but a seal of our union to Christ as members of his spiritual body, and through which we expect to be " made partakers of his flesh and blood, with all his bene

walked in his integrity, trusting in the Lord, and not looking to the counsel or the aid of vain men and dissemblers. He prays that the Lord would examine him and prove him, and try his reins and his heart, so as to disclose to himself his own most secret thoughts and motives: and having the testimony of his conscience-quickened and enlightened as it had been by a sense of the divine pre-fits, to our spiritual nourishment, and growth in sence that the loving kindness of the Lord, and not the assembly of evil-doers, had been his stay and support, he expresses the joy and boldness with which, having "washed his hands in innocency," he would "compass the altar of the Lord, to publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all God's wondrous works."

But by washing his hands in innocency, we are not to understand merely that he stood acquitted before God and his own conscience of certain sins which had been falsely laid to his charge. That, no doubt, would be a delightful discovery to him, and the subject of warm and unfeigned gratitude to the God of all grace, who had so " delivered his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling." But the rigorous self-examination which led to this discovery, could not fail to disclose to him a great deal more than he would otherwise have known or thought of, as to the state of his heart and af- | fections, and the tenor of his life in other respects; and could as little fail of bringing to light much impurity, and imperfection, and sin. Whatever Whatever comfort, therefore, he might derive from the consciousness of having been kept from sin on some points, that comfort would have been broken in upon, and his freedom in approaching God laid under restraint, if he were not cleansed from the guilt of other transgressions. And accordingly he says, not "I will wash my hands in innocency," as if acquittal from the sins with which he was falsely charged had been all that he desired; but "have washed my hands in innocency," that is to say, I will seek by penitence and faith, and through the appointed medium, the pardon of all my transgressions -I will deliberately renounce every thing which I have discovered in my heart or life to be contrary to the divine law-and, through the grace of God, I will unreservedly surrender myself to his service and disposal; and having so "washed my hands in innocency, I will compass thine altar, O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works." Such appears to be the import of the text, as spoken by the Psalmist of himself; and believers still should be prepared to adopt his language. We are not told what was the precise nature of the service which David contemplated, and which is here called compassing the altar of the Lord. But it is plain that it was a very solemn act of religious worship to which he was looking forward, and for which he felt it necessary, in the way of preparation, that he should "wash his hands in innocency." And surely such a preparation is not less necessary for us when about to engage in the most solemn act of Christian worship that in which we do, each

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grace." And I would observe generally, that by washing our hands in innocency, we are to understand, looking by faith to the blood of Christ, as that alone which cleanses us from all sin, and seeking to have this faith in lively exercise. Apart from Christ, there is nothing in us, as we appear in the sight of God, but guilt and pollution; for it is testified of all men that they are "guilty before God," that they "are all as an unclean thing, and all their righteousness as filthy rags; that they do all fade as a leaf, and their iniquities, like the wind, have carried them away." As sinners, therefore, we are under condemnation; and if "we are justified," it is " through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; "—if "we are made the righteousness of God," or treated as righteous persons in the sight of God, it is because Christ" was made sin for us though he knew no sin ;"—if we are held clean, it is because "Christ has washed us from our sins in his own blood." But it is as plainly testified, that if we are so justified, treated as righteous, and held clean, it is through faith in Christ—not a mere opinion that what the Holy Scriptures say of Christ is true, which, as an opinion, may lie dormant in the understanding, and be altogether inefficacious as to any practical effect on the heart and life-but such a faith or belief as goes forth in the exercise of trusting in, and cleaving to Christ, for acquittal and acceptance in the sight of God, to the exclusion of every other ground of hope whatever. It must be obvious, therefore, that such an exercise of faith in Christ, such a cleaving in heart and soul to him, is absolutely essential, if we would make any approach to God that can either be acceptable to him, or profitable to ourselves. To address God, the Supreme Lawgiver and Judge, without having on our minds, while doing so, a clear apprehension of the efficacy of Christ's blood and the necessity of his mediation, were an act of presumptuous self-righteousness; it were to challenge a scrutiny of our character by the demands of that very law which has pronounced us guilty; and just in proportion to the vividness of this our apprehension of Christ's perfected work, will be the freedom with which we offer up our prayers to God, and the confidence with which we expect that, in answer to our prayers, God will grant us whatever is really for our good. And if such a believing application to the blood of Christ, such a washing in the fountain of mercy opened for sin and for uncleanness, is necessary for every approach to the throne of grace, and for rightly preferring every petition there; surely at a more solemn season, like this, when we are about to

transact with God, in the way of declaring before the Church our cordial acceptance of Christ as our covenant head, and our acquiescence in all the terms of that covenant of which he is surety, it is peculiarly required that we should thus wash our hands in innocency before we compass his holy altar.

And

more nearly allied to pride, than to a feeling of
gratitude to Him whose grace had "kept them
from falling," and who had led them in the
paths of righteousness for his name's sake."
need I remark, that in such a frame of spirit, they
are in no condition to make the solemn appeal
which the Psalmist did: "Judge me, O Lord;
for I have walked in mine integrity: examine me,
O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my
heart." They may have been unjustly suspected
or accused, and may have held fast their integrity
in the case where they were charged with letting
it go; but they have not improved their trial as
it was the design of God's providence that they
should improve it; they have incurred guilt, by
drawing gratification to their pride, from an event
which was both fitted and intended to bring them
into an humble and self-diffident spirit; they have
not sisted themselves, as they ought to have done,
at the tribunal of conscience, and as in the very
presence of God, to have his acquittal, and to give
him the glory: and if such guilt has been con-
tracted, then, so long as it is unrepented of, and
unacknowledged, they have not, in that instance,
so "washed their hands in innocency, as to be
prepared for compassing the altar of the Lord."

But our text implies a great deal more than this, in reference to our preparation for the solemn service of the Lord's Supper. In that service, there is a formal, deliberate, and professedly an unreserved, surrender of ourselves to God, which calls for a very solemn and unsparing examination of the state of our heart, and the tenor of our life; lest it should be found, that in word and in outward profession, we are giving to God what in reality we are reserving for the world-for its frivolous pursuits, and sinful enjoyments. And on this point the Psalmist has set us a very holy and instructive example. He was not satisfied with seeking to discover, and honestly confessing, the sins which he had outwardly committed; but he made those also of which he was conscious of being unjustly suspected or accused, the subject of a very rigorous examination; thereby turning the very calumnies of the world to good account, by making them the means of detecting the in- But if Christians are called upon seriously to most secrets of his soul, and bringing to light examine themselves even respecting sins which those hidden impurities which, but for such a may have been unjustly laid to their charge, so call to examine himself, might have lurked and that they may enjoy the pleasing consciousness of gathered strength in his heart. And where is the being acquitted in the sight of God, and have Christian who has not been called upon, in the occasion to give to his restraining grace all the same way, to institute a similar inquiry into his glory and the praise; surely it is not less necesmotives and principles of action? For where is sary, that they should make the sins of which they the Christian who has not, at times, lain under have been guilty the special subjects of a solemn the suspicion, or been exposed to the charge, of investigation, and the occasion of a special applihaving said or done what was inconsistent with cation to the fountain of mercy, where alone they his Christian character, while his conscience bore can wash their hands in innocency. It is not witness that he was unjustly accused? The Church, enough that they make a general acknowledgment in her collective capacity, has, in all ages, been of guilt, and look to the blood of Christ for the in one way or other the object of calumny or re- removal of that guilt. If they confine themselves proach; and any individual member of Christ's to such a general confession, and such a general body, who has not laid his account with bearing application to the blood of atonement, it will be his share of such calumnies, must have very im- found, that there is nothing very deep or heartfelt perfectly understood the many warnings and ad- in their sorrow, nor very lively in their faith; monitions of his divine Master, and have formed and that all the while there may be much unsubvery low and partial views of the wisdom and rec- dued sin lurking in their heart, of which they have titude of God's administration. But I fear, hardly ever been conscious, and against which, it will be found that, even those who, as they therefore, they have never seriously contended. thought, were prepared to expect such trials, If they would "wash their hands in innocency," have not always improved them as the Psalmist they must make conscience of searching out and did. I fear that, in many cases, where Christians bringing to light their particular offences; they have been so tried, instead of making such sea- must honestly endeavour to look at them in all sons times of deep humiliation, and serious in- their extent and aggravation, tearing away the quiry into the state of their heart and affections, disguise in which pride and self-love are very they have given way to a haughty and self-right-ready to invest them; and having seen them as eous spirit; that instead of examining, with a holy jealousy of themselves, whether they had not been guilty of entertaining in idea, at least, the sinful act imputed to them, though innocent of the act itself, they were satisfied with indignantly resenting the charge, as an unjust and unmerited reproach; and that the satisfaction which they felt in the consciousness of their innocence was

they appear when tried by the divine law, without any palliation, they must confess them; and looking to the blood of Christ with a simple and undivided reliance on its cleansing virtue, they must supplicate, for every sin so discovered and acknowledged, the special exercise of God's forgiving mercy. And all this, it is obvious, necessarily implies, that at the moment such confession is

made, and such a supplication offered up, there is | ing in their minds their reverence for divine truth, an earnest desire to be kept from these sins, and or their impressions of the necessity of Christian an honest purpose, in the strength of promised holiness. Are we prepared then to deal with ungrace, stedfastly to resist them in all time coming. sparing justice towards these and similar offences? Where this is awanting, where there is any thing Are we anxious to see, in all their deformity, our like a mental reservation in favour of a sinful in- selfishness, pride, irritation, uncharitableness, which dulgence, or of some modification of such an in- is dishonesty, and every other unholy affection, dulgence, it gives a character of insincerity to the whether it has only lurked in our hearts, or been whole transaction; and their own conscience, as actually manifested in words or deeds injurious to well as Scripture, will testify, that they cannot our neighbour? and above all, would we confess the sincerely expect to be heard; or if they can pos- guilt, and deplore the consequences of having in sibly so far delude themselves as to hope that any way hurt the spiritual interests of others, not they will, it is an unfounded hope, of which they only imploring the forgiveness of such offences, will, sooner or later, see reason to be ashamed. but sincerely seeking to be preserved from them In such circumstances, so far from "washing their in all time coming? And let us see to it also, hands in innocency," they are willingly retaining that we are not living in the practice of sin, or in the unclean thing by which they have been defiled. the neglect of duty, about which our conscience To be so washed, they must not only be sprinkled may never have given us any uneasiness, just bewith that blood which cleanses from the guilt of cause, from the prevailing practices of society, we all sin, but sanctified also, by that Spirit who can may have been taking for granted that we may safely alone remove the pollution of sin; and both these do what the Bible forbids, or leave undone what must be the subject of sincere, earnest, and believ- it requires. And let us not allege that these are ing prayer. sins of ignorance. With the Word of God in our hand, such a plea is incompetent: for what is the use of God's Word, but that by the daily and careful perusal of it, we may become daily better acquainted with God's will. If therefore we have been living in the practice of any one sin, or in the neglect of any one duty, in consequence of inattention or indifference to the Scriptures, such sin will be charged upon us as wilful: and it will assuredly prove "a root of bitterness springing up to trouble us." David was well aware of the danger of thus permitting any secret sin to lurk undiscovered, and to gather strength in his heart: for we find him praying, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." And such also was obviously his sentiment, when he said in the words of the text, "I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works."

and state.

These principles are very plainly laid down in the Bible, and comprehensively stated in the text. Let us therefore apply them to our own character In the prospect of compassing the Table of the Lord, are we prepared to subject ourselves to the same scrutiny that David did? and while confessing our sins in the hope of finding mercy, are we honestly desirous also of forsaking them? And let us not be satisfied with being able to reply generally to this question, that we do hope for pardon by the blood of Christ, and that we desire also to walk as Christians ought to Walk. Let us examine our character, the state of our heart, and the tenor of our life, as they refer both to God and our fellow-men, calling to our rememTrance those offences against both, of which our conscience did at the time accuse us, but which we may have too easily and too speedily forgotten. And on recollecting any such offence more imm.diately committed against God, any gratification in thought or deed which we know to have been forbidden in his Word, any rebellious feeling against his dispensations, or any neglect of the homage due to him, for the sake of some worldly object, which, for the time, held the supremacy of our affections; let us enquire whether we are ready to acknowlelge such offences, without palliation or disguise, and are as honest in supplicating his grace to cleanse us from its past pollution, and preserve us from its future influence, as we are in imploring the pardon of its guilt. And, in like manner, let us ask, whether we are prepared to deal as honest ly by ourselves, in regard to the offences with which we may have been chargeable against our fellow-men. We cannot fail, if we are faithful to ourselves, to recollect many such sins,-occasions on which our pride, or anger, or some other selfish and ungodly principle was called into activity, and times, it may be, when we may have reason to fear that we said or did something to injure the moral or spiritual character of others, by weaken

WATCHMEN IN THE EAST.
BY THE REV. ROBERT JAMIESON,
Minister of Westruther.

IN Eastern countries, where they have no clocks, and
the mechanical contrivances used to supply the want of
them are exceedingly imperfect, and but rarely possess-
ed, the method generally employed to take the note of
time, is by dividing the day and night into four equal
parts. The periodical return of these is announced by
watchmen, some of whom are stationed on high towers,
others patrol the various streets of the city, while their
duty is to proclaim with a loud cry, or by instruments
of music, the intervals as they pass. This is more par-
ticularly required of them at night, in the course of
which they are obliged, not only at each watch, but at
frequent intervals in the progress of it, to cry aloud in
order to give the people, who depend upon them for the
protection of their lives and property, assurance that
they are not sleeping at their posts, or negligent of their
charge. On these latter occasions, the exclamations are
always addressed to their comrades, and generally con-

house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord."

Second band of watchmen answer." The Lord bless thee out of Zion-the Lord that made heaven and earth."

sist of some expressions in the form of a dialogue tend- | ye servants of the Lord, who stand in the night in the ing to encourage one another in the discharge of their cheerless and monotonous task;—some watchword, or set form of words, similar to what a traveller informs us is used by the watchmen of the caravans in the Desert, who, in going their rounds, exclaim when they meet, "God is merciful," while the other responds in the same elevated tone, "Blessings be on you," or, "Mind yourselves." The responsibility of these officers is very great, for whatever outrages are perpetrated, the watchman who is on duty at the time is required to make rigid satisfaction-in cases of robbery, by payment of an equivalent for the stolen goods, and in cases of murder, with his own blood; and hence, those who are appointed to this office are obliged, both from a sense of duty, and from dread of the serious consequences of negligence, to be constantly perambulating the streets, and making the most vigilant efforts to prevent the occurrence of any disorder.

According to the rigid, and in many cases sanguinary laws of the East, to which we have already adverted, the office of a watchman is neither a sinecure nor is it an easy task, as he is responsible for the safety both of the persons and things he is appointed to guard, and must pay, without the hope of mercy, the penalty of the utmost farthing, either with his fortune or his life, for whatever disasters happen, if it be proved that the occurrence took place in consequence of his having failed to give the alarm, or not taken due precautions to prevent the mischief. The reader of the Scriptures will remember the tremendous effect with which the fervid imagination of Ezekiel employs this circumstance to pourtray the responsibility of the spiritual watchmen who are stationed upon the bul warks of Zion, and whose duty it is to proclaim aloud to the people the warnings, reproofs, and admonitions of the Word of God. "O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezekiel xxxiii. 8, 9.)*

me.

DEATH-BED SCENES.
No. III.

The knowledge of these customs, which exist in the present day in almost all countries of the East, affords an obvious explanation of many circumstances mentioned in the history, and many allusions made in the sacred books of the Jews, as among that people institutions of the same nature evidently prevailed. We may learn from the preceding observations what is meant (Judges vii. 19; Matthew xiv. 25.-xxiv. 43; Luke xii. 38.) by the first, second, third, and fourth watch, these being the successive periods into which, reckoning their night to begin from our six o'clock, they were accustomed to divide that portion of time, and we may easily discover, too, how natural it was for them to use that term as a general expression for the night season, as in Psalm lxiii, where the Psalmist speaks of the time he spent in devotion," When I meditate on thee in the nightwatches." To the loud and frequent cries with which the return of these intervals was made known, the "the BY THE REV. ALEXANDER MOODY, A.M. Prophet Isaiah alludes in lii. 8, where he says, watchmen shall lift up the voice;" in lxii. 6, where he As men live, so do men die. Within twenty-four hours speaks of them " never holding their peace day nor of the death narrated in our last, another member of the night, crying aloud, and keeping not silence;" and also human family had fled to the unseen world with widely in lvi. 10, where, in speaking of careless and unfaithful different feelings; would that we could add with a watchmen, he deseribes them as "dumb dogs, dreamers, widely different fate. He was not ignorant of the docthat love to slumber." The vehemence of these noc- trines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To his youthful train. turnal exclamations of the watchmen, would frequently ing, an inquisitive mind aided by no contemptible talent, awake those that were asleep; and as to persons thus had added a considerable stock of theological learning. suddenly roused, the quarter of the night announced as His reading had been chiefly of our old divines, and his having elapsed, would seem to have passed in the obli- knowledge was not more extensive than his sentiments vion of their slumbers with the rapidity of a moment, we were sound. Where scarcely any society existed of a may perceive the exquisite force and beauty of the simile higher class, and where in his own rank of life any in Psalm xc. 4, “Â thousand years are in thy sight but tolerable acquaintance with such subjects was sufficientas a watch in the night." The custom of the watch-ly rare, we regarded him as some acquisition. It was men crying aloud in the course of the watches, and that, too, by saluting each other when they met, in the form of a set dialogue, was observed also by the ancient officers of this description among the Jews-the watch word being then, as it is still, we have seen, among the watchmen of the caravans, some pious sentiment, in which the name of Jehovah was specially expressed; Two remarkable instances of this occur in Scripture, the one is in Isaiah lxii. 6, where, speaking of the watch men of the Temple, who were always Levites, and among whom the same regulations subsisted as among other watchmen, he addresses them under the poetical description of, "Ye that make mention of the Lord," i.e., ye whose watchword is the name of Jehovah. The other instance is in Psalm cxxxiv, the whole of which, as is justly observed by Bishop Lowth, is nothing more than the alternate cry of two different divisions of the watch. The first watch addresses the second, reminding them of their duty; the second answers by a solemn blessing. The address and the answer seem both to be a set form, which each division proclaimed aloud at stated intervals to notify the time of night:

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First band of watchmen.-" Bless ye the Lord, all

evident that his mind had found its chief exercise in religious inquiry; and on the various points of Christian doctrine his judgment was clear, his reasoning acute, his conversation interesting and animated. Nor did he converse like a man who had a mere speculative knowledge of momentous truth. He spoke with seriousness and fervour, with reverent inquiry and docility, and took a pleasure in dwelling on repentance, justification by grace, and the other fundamental doctrines of our faith. On these subjects, his views were perhaps as correct as an orthodox creed thoroughly studied could

In some places of the East, particularly Persia and Hindostan, watchmen are included among the officers that compose the household establishment of the grandees, and one of them (the number being generally four, corresponding to the watches of the night,) is stationed near the bed of his master to guard it, and be ready, whenever he requires it, to tell him how far the night is advanced. Such officers, we are told by Josephus, were in the court of Ahasuerus. For on that night on which the king could not sleep, and on which he called for the records of his kingdom, and there was read over to him the conspiracy which Mordecai had discovered; the historian adds, "the king bade the scribe who was reading stop, and hav ing inquired of those that were appointed for the purpose, what hour of the night it was, and having been informed it was already day, he ordered, that if they found any of his friends were already come and standing before the court, they should tell him, that he might instantly bestow some reward on Mordecai."

render them; we do not say that they were as clear as if they had been sealed by the teaching of the Spirit. He prayed frequently, if not habitually, in his family, and occasionally with some of the more seriously disposed amongst his neighbours, by whom we understood him to be regarded as excelling in devotional exercise. The public ordinances of grace he seemed to appreciate, and to observe them with self-application. His mental working and experience were marked and striking, his convictions of guilt were overwhelming, his desires for salvation intense.

led captive only by putting forth an unusual effort of
subtlety and power.

To a man of such a character, a visitation like that
of cholera could not but be peculiarly alarming, viewing
it as the judgment of God against a guilty people, him-
self the guiltiest of all; and being well aware that he
was one of the likeliest victims of the disease, and that
disease to him was almost certain death. When the
scourge began to be severely felt, he was, in common
with others, slightly indisposed, (sickness of greater or
less severity being then so prevalent, that I suppose I
was almost a solitary instance of entire exemption.)
He was afraid, and his fear of death being apparently
stronger than his fear of sin, he betook himself to ardent
spirits as a remedy or preventive of disease. Had he
anticipated the hazard of indulging to excess, he would
undoubtedly have shrunk from the poisoned cup, but he
probably imagined that the very solemnity of such a
season would serve as a salutary restraint and suffi-
Intoxication
cient safeguard. He tampered with temptation; he
touched, he drank, he was overcome.
confirmed the previous symptoms of complaint into
Of all the sufferers, none
malignant disease, and he lay stretched on a bed from
which he was never to rise.
found a smaller share of sympathy than he. By the
sober and respectable, he had been despised as a drunk-
ard; by the thoughtless and profligate, he must have
been laughed at as a hypocrite. By all, he was now
condemned as a self-destroyer, who for his folly de-
served to die; nor had he any family, for whose sake
an interest might have been excited in himself.
again, he was the most interesting of all the patients,
and his life the most precious of all for his own soul's sake.

To us,

The man we have described was no hypocrite, no antinomian, no scoffer, no formalist. How many are there who stand well in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the Christian world, of whom it would be hard, after the most painful search, to find as much good to say as we have said of him. Nevertheless, he was a sinner"he the slave of sin-of such sin as, if a man indulge, cannot enter the kingdom of God." He was a drunkard. He did not daily, indeed, put the inebriating cup to his lips, for he often abstained for weeks together; but then, ever and again, he returned in a time of temptation, "like the dog to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." He thus enjoyed the pleasure of sin for a season; and when the revel was ended, he was "of all men most miserable." We have then seen him pacing up and down his apartment the He could not work, he could image of wretchedness. not read, he could not walk abroad, nor find diversion from his grief and dismay. For days in succession he trembled in the presence of an angry God-God, whose house then he dared not enter, whose Word he had not courage to open, whose throne of grace he would not At any other time, the information of his sicknessventure to approach. His only resource was to beseech others that they would pray for him, and their assistance sickness so fatal-sickness so procured, would have been a dreadful stroke, bringing as it did a death-blow "him that had A self-condemned and rehe most piteously craved. to the fondly cherished hope of seeing "he stood afar off and smote upon his lapsed offender, the legion sitting at the feet of Jesus, and in his right breast," and it was long before he had confidence to mind." But then there was no time for thought, and present the petition, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Anew he resolved, repented, supplicated, strove, resist- unexpected distresses had become so frequent, as to ed the tempter, and seemed for a while to "abstain render them the subject of daily expectation. I repaired to his house, and found him anxiously looking for I learned with regret, that he had refused from all appearance of evil;" but ere another moon the advice of the medical attendant, and was resolved had run her rapid course, he was the same guilty and my arrival. trembling wretch again, the prey of miserable remorse, to receive no medicines; without, at the same time, being otherwise careless in the use of such means as well-nigh the victim of despair. All means, however, he might avail for his recovery. stored to health; and even had he looked on recovery regarded as useless, having no expectation of being reas possible, he received the stroke as an immediate judgment from God, which He alone could remove. So strong was his conviction that death had found him, that although tremblingly afraid to die, he seemed to But if he was have ceased from all anxiety to live. careless of a body which must inevitably perish, he was In this respect he afforded a proof, all the more earnest for his soul which he felt to be incapable of death. that strength of mental desire might easily rise superior to that lethargic disposition to which many of the patients yielded. Another instance of the same kind occurred in the case of a female, who died, if I remember rightly, on the same night. In a state of much weakness, I was surprised, not at the readiness merely, but I remarked it to her husband, who the eagerness and avidity with which she took the medicines given her. had been most regardless of her happiness in health, but nursed her now with ceaseless and unwearied attention, and I shall not soon forget the earnestness of his look, and the emphasis of his voice, when he replied, "She has a strong desire to live." Whatever may have been the spring of this desire, it served to prove that the working of the mind might triumph over the weakness of the body; and that the indifference to things eternal, so generally manifested, was not attributable to disease. And so it was in the case of the indi

No peculiarity of circumstances can form an excuse for any vice; and yet it was easy to see that to this temptation he was peculiarly exposed. He had served for many years in the army, at a time when he had probably not laid to heart the concerns of his soul, and had there contracted habits which it was difficult for him His long skeleton frame bore marks now to lay aside. of the emaciating influence of Southern suns, by exposure to which, his system had been so enervated as to cause a craving for excitement which he had not moral vigour sufficient to resist. Finding by sad experience the weakness of his firmest resolutions, ne thought of uniting himself to a Temperance Society, and had he seen his way clearly, he would have counted light any sacriBut he reasoned thus:“ I fice it might have cost. make resolutions now, and when I break them I am almost distracted with a sense of guilt; if I shall bind myself by this solemn promise, I may be tempted sooner or later to break it too, and if ever that should happen it is all over with me, I should be driven to despair, I could not live; however advisable such a step may be for others, it is too hazardous for me, I cannot venture it." If his power of acting had borne any proportion to his power of reasoning, his character would have been not merely consistent with itself, but superior to most. As it was, his knowledge will probably be accounted an enhancement of his sin, and he will be condemned by many as doubly criminal, because "he knew his Lord's will and did it not." For ourselves, we rather wished to regard him as one whom Satan had

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