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religion of Jesus. Our Saviour himself was misunderstood by many; the Light shone in darkness, "and the darkness comprehended it not." Woe is unto us when all men shall speak well of us. Nor can we in every case command the approval of Christians; our great concern should be to stand well with God. To be a follower of him who was without sin, rather than to appear one, is the gospel rule. A meek and quiet spirit is infinitely better than a loud and forward profession.

Unclean Spirits.

DEAR SIR,-If you will kindly give me any light on the subject of Matt. xii. 43-45, I shall feel much obliged. JULIA MARY.

We understand the general purport of the text to be, that an unoccupied, empty mind, is more susceptible of mischievous and soul-destroying impressions, than one already under the influence of some one imperious lust. The unclean spirit within, by absorbing all the powers into one master-passion, obtains, so to speak, a monopoly of evil, to the exclusion of all other spirits; but being once driven out, a fearful blank is left, impressible by every form of wickedness presented to it by the great enemy of souls. "An idle man," says the proverb, "is the devil's playfellow."

The Jews, to whom this language was addressed, though they rejected the Saviour, were undoubtedly expecting a Messiah. Their minds were in one sense "" empty, swept, and garnished" for the reception of the "Desire of Nations." However unworthy their ideas of his nature, character, and office might be, their souls were hungering for some undefined object, and therefore lay open, without defence or reserve, to the attacks of the evil one, who knowing his time, was likely to make the most of it, and so render their last state worse than their first.

Transitory piety.

What defect is there in the mental constitution of that person who, after being almost entranced by heavenly subjects, peruses & light work to turn the current of his absorbed soul to the temporal concerns of life?

Surry Lodge.

To be really "entranced" by the contemplation of heavenly things, implies a high state of Christian knowledge, experience, and blessedness; and we should very much doubt if any individual so privileged could willingly turn back abruptly to temporal frivolities, or indulge in light reading. To do so for the avowed purpose of diverting the attention from holy things, would amount to a decided resistance of the Spirit of God, and indicate a very fearful "defect" indeed. We would earnestly and affectionately urge upon our correspondent the severest scrutiny and self-searching by the light of God's word, lest his ecstatic visions of heavenly subjects should be illusory. Is he rooted and grounded in the truth, or only carried away by a rootless and fruitless excitement?

THE PREY TAKEN FROM THE MIGHTY.*

Ir is now about seven years since I first knew the subject of this narrative. About two years afterwards I overtook him on the road, and we had a long and very interesting conversation. He made no secret of his sentiments, but instantly avowed himself a Deist. It was evident that he had read the Bible a great deal, and that he had thought much on religious subjects. He spoke warmly in praise of God's goodness, and power, and wisdom, and ridiculed the notion of there being no God; pointing to the star-spangled sky over our heads in proof of God's being and glory. But he utterly rejected the Bible as a revelation from God.

I saw no more of him until the early part of last year. He had married since we met, and I heard that he was confined to his house, seriously ill. I also heard that his illness was very generally ascribed to his intemperance. When I visited him, therefore, I spoke very plainly to him about sin and its certain consequences, and earnestly pressed on him the testimony God has given in His Word concerning salvation through the blood of Jesus. I thought him dangerously ill,

This thrilling narrative is abridged, necessarily with considerable prejudice to the original, from a little tract entitled "The Rescue, a narrative of a very recent case of conversion," published by Nisbet. It is one of the most sensible, satisfactory, and affecting obituaries we ever remember to have seen; as admirably calculated to arrest the attention of the sceptic, and to cut short all controversy respecting the reality of christianity, as it is to illustrate and enforce the nature and necessity of conversion on the minds of those amongst our readers who may be seeking farther enlightenment on this momentous subject.

and told him so;

hopes of recovery.

refusing to give much heed to his very sanguine He evidently struggled hard to throw off the effect of what was said to him. Sometimes he appeared almost annoyed at not being able to escape importunity which he disliked.

After several visits he freely spoke out his sentiments. He said that he felt no longer able to deny that the Bible was true; but he could not believe in the real divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. From a Deist, he had in fact, become a Unitarian.

During many subsequent visits I sought to lay before him, from the Scriptures, the great truth, that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. And as he was so ready to admit that "God was love," I especially endeavored to show him that the cross of Jesus was itself the crowning display of God's love. This appeared to surprise and interest him, for I question whether he had ever once thought of the cross as something provided by God Himself on behalf of His enemies.

Sometimes, after speaking to him in this way, I challenged him to show me so attractive, so glorious, a display of God's character, as when He was seen pointing His impotent enemies to the cross of His Son, as His own provision for their pardon and salvation. And often as I dwelt on this wonderful truth, the big tears would roll down the cheek of this resolute and lion-hearted man. He had nothing to reply. A professed admirer of God, he found God set before him in an attitude far more gloriously blessed than he had ever seen Him in-no shadow cast over His holiness, and yet His love finding its joy in pardoning and enriching His enemies.

It pleased God to restore him to a sufficient degree of health, to enable him to resume his usual occupation. For a time he went on most steadily, but after a few months he again relapsed into his former courses. Again he drank down iniquity like water. While he was living in this way, I occasionally met him in the street, but he would stop but for a moment, and always seemed glad to escape from me. When I heard that he was again laid on his sick-bed, and very ill, I visited him. But I was, on the whole, less satisfied with him than He would listen to anything I pleased to say; contradicting me in nothing, whether I spoke of God, or of himself, or of the Lord Jesus; but it always seemed like a tale told to a man who knew it all before-hand. He would rouse himself when I spoke of his body—or of any remedy for its diseases or of his beloved wife and children—and he always manifested the strongest possible anxiety to live. Indeed he would never allow the idea of his not recovering to be entertained. The last time I saw him in this state, was on Wednesday afternoon,

ever.

the 4th March. When I left him then, I was exceedingly depressed about him. I thought him very much worse, and told him so. Had he died then, I could not have had hope in his death.

About half-past three o'clock that very night, I was summoned to his bed-side, and there I found a scene of terror such as I never before witnessed. His whole appearance was expressive of extreme terror. He looked like a man who felt he was seized by some power hitherto unknown to him—a power alike irresistible and terrible! And yet, fearful as his appearance then was, those in the room told me that the groans he was then uttering were not to be compared to his cries about half an hour before!

When I entered his room, the terrible storm was subsiding, and he then appeared to be quickly settling down into death; but to our astonishment, he continued in this state for nearly seven hours; till, at about ten o'clock in the morning, a most remarkable change took place. I was then alone in the room with him. The others who had been watching by him had gone down stairs; for the scene had become almost too much for us all. While thus alone by his side I thought I heard his beloved brother's step below, and I went to the door of the room to listen if it was so. Just as I reached the door 1 turned and looked on him who lay like a corpse on the bed, when he suddenly raised his arm and beckoned to me with his finger! This was as startling a movement to me as if it had been made by one actually dead. Seeing, however, that he was looking very calmly at and that his consciousness was evidently restored, I instantly returned to his side, when he detailed to me the anguish of mind and body he had just passed through, adding amongst other expressions of assurance and delight, that he was now as happy as an angel.

me,

My first thought on hearing this was, naturally enough, "Is he wandering? Is he in his senses?" And the following mode of putting this to the proof occurred to me. When I saw him the previous afternoon it was agreed between us that he should get a certain account and show it to me when I called on the following day. I now asked where it was, and he told me it was tied in the corner of his handkerchief under the pillow, where I found it. His mind was as clear, and his manner as prompt and as self-possessed, as ever I saw it in my life. Satisfied as to this, I said, "Well now, tell me what you mean by saying that you are happy-and that you are going to heaven?"

"Oh," said he, with striking emphasis, "it's all through Christ— through His blood;-it's this that has washed away my sins!"

"This is a most solemn and important moment," said I; "I have been standing over you for hours, watching for your last breath; but God has been pleased to give you back your senses again; for how long

I cannot tell;-do let me, then, again ask you, as a dying man, and in the presence of God, what you mean by telling me that you have peace in your soul, and that you are going to heaven? For you know what a sinner you have been."

He replied with peculiar solemnity and earnestness of manner, “I know I have but a very short time in this world; perhaps not five minutes; but I believe in Jesus, the Son of the living God, and my trust is entirely in His merits and in His blood; and (this he said as if very anxious to impress on me the reality as well as the blessedness of it) my sins are all forgiven-I have peace with God."

I was too much overcome by this astonishing scene to say anything for a few moments. I was drinking in the blessed fact that he was plucked, by God's most precious mercy, as a fire-brand out of the burning!

He presently asked me to pray with him at once, as he thought his time here was very short, and his senses might not be continued to him. It will not be wondered at, that when I responded to this request, I found myself rather pouring out thanksgivings than presenting supplications. After this he wished to see his beloved wife and children. About the same time also his brother arrived. And to all those dear relatives he again and again professed his faith in the precious blood of Jesus, and his peace and happiness in the prospect of immediate death. He then requested that several of the men, over whom for years he had acted as foreman, might be sent for, in order that he might tell them that he was dying a believer in Jesus. I was not present when he saw them, but those who were present tell me that he spoke most impressively to them; urging on them the sufficiency of the Saviour and His blood, and telling them of his own peace and hope.

During the night, he spoke to me several times, in the sweetest and happiest manner, of the preciousness of the blood of Jesus, and of his wonderful conversion. Once when he had lain for some time with his eyes closed, though evidently not asleep, he opened his eyes, and turning round to me, said, "I used to think that I should be the only one of our dear family who would be lost. I thought I was to be the outcast one, for I knew that all the rest were Christians; but now you see we shall all meet above clothed in the white robe. Several times during that night he spoke in a similar strain. Sometimes he seemed quite lost in wonder at the grace God had shewn in his conversion.

During the following morning I took a Christian brother to see him, whose spiritual judgment I much valued, for I was anxious that others should witness, and judge of, this very interesting case. On being asked by this visitor as to the state of his mind, he said-"I am as happy as an angel, Sir;-quite happy. I have nothing but heaven

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