and manner, and extent, in which prayer is answered; but he continues faithful who has promised-not one prayer from a penitent heart shall be forgotten, and though weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning. See Luxe xi. 9-18.

At the end of the two weeks mentioned above, Mr. Rice retired one evening to a secret place, to meditate on his deplorable condition, and plead for mercy. His. attention was soon turned again to the fulness and suitableness of Christ as a Saviour, and the display of di vine perfections in the work of redemption. He saw what he appears never to have seen before, that the Saviour and this plan of salvation were just such as suited him. He had been puzzled with this difficulty, "How can that righteousness which is inherent in Christ justify a being in whom it is not inherent?" This dif ficulty was solved by the recollection of the words of the Saviour concerning Jerusalem, "How often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." He considered that though the feathers were inherent in the ken, yet they were as sufficient to secure the chickens that were under her wings as if they were inherent in the chickens. So the righteousness of Christ, applied by an act of God's grace, was as sufficient to justify him in the sight of God, as if it were his own personal righteousness. He considered that though there was nothing good in himself, nor any thing good done by him, yet the faithfulness and truth of God in his word were sufficient encouragement for him to venture his all upon this Saviour. Thus encouraged he endeavoured on

the spot to secure God's Son as his unspeakable gift.-To lay hold of him as made unto him by God himself, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, In short, that evening he in very deed received it as a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, "That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom he acknowledged himself the chief."

Upon his closing with the gospel offer, the gloom under which he had laboured for years, was dispelled, and a peace and tranquillity were produced which he had never enjoyed before. "I seemed," says he, "for a while to forget myself, and to be wholly taken up with viewing the displays of divine perfections in the astonishing work of redemption." After spending some time in these delightful exercises he returned homeward. The serenity of the night corresponded with the calmness of his mind. The great mercy of God to such 'miserable creatures was still the object of his admiration. He began to say, "Shall I ever sin against so great and glorious a being any more?" But from the sense he had of human frailty, and the examples of the best men of whom he had read, he concluded that he would probably even yet become forgetful, and, through the temptations by which he was surrounded, sin against God. This thought caused him to stop several times and weep bitterly. Yet even in these tears there was a joy and a peace which he would not have exchanged for all the joy of the world. Old Testament prophecy was once more fulfilled.-See Zech, xii. 10-14, and xiii. 1.

These mixed views and mixed exercises continued with him for some months. Though he had his darkness and his doubts, they were not of the tormenting kind with which he had formerly been afflicted. Like. the spouse of old, he found his beloved sometimes gone, but still he was his beloved; even his seeking and his doubts were attended with a considerable degree of -confidence. His warrant to believe as a sinner was never lost sight of. And he frequently enjoyed, during this period, such confidence as may be expressed by the "full assurance of grace:" "This assurance," says he, "did not arise from any thing good in myself, but from the direct act of faith in Christ and the promises of God. I felt a comfortable persuasion that I should be supported by grace and kept by divine power through faith unto salvation. This persuasion arose not from any confidence in my own faithfulness, but from an apprehension of the stability of the covenant of grace; and the perfection of the work of redemption in the hands of an all-sufficient Mediator. This Mediator I was fully persuaded was able to keep safely unto that day that which I had committed to his trust."

During these exercises he got such a sense of his danger of sinning, (an excellent mark of genuine faith) and dishonouring his God and Redeemer, that he was often willing and even desirous to die, that he might be beyond the reach of sinning. He had read or heard of Christians personally covenanting with God, and that it ought to be done with solemn fasting and prayer. This he considered a duty and a great privilege, and felt a strong desire to join himself unto his Lord in a perpé

tual covenant which should never be forgotten. To perform this with the usual forms he had not time at his own disposal, and he was ashamed to ask it of his father, to whom his religious exercises were unknown.Another excellent mark of genuine faith,-it was humble, and modest, and calm, and just. He consequently determined to do it as well as he could at his daily labour, and in walking from place to place, and in his se cret retirements. In this work he was frequently engaged for about two weeks. He endeavoured in so many words to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomp and the vanities of the world, and all the lusts of the flesh. He also in express terms renounced all self-righteousness and self sufficiency, and devoted all the members of his body and all the powers of his soul, his whole man, to the service of God forever. All this he endeavoured to do in the name and in the strength of Christ. " endeavoured," says he, "in a particular manner to take God the Father to be my father, God the Son to be my saviour, and God the Holy Ghost to be my sanctifier, my guide, my comfort, and my support. I took also that Law, which no longer appeared a galling yoke, but holy, just and good, to be the rule of my life, and the Gospel to be the support and the solace of my heart." He adds, "Near views of Christ and the covenant of grace were so far from removing a penitential sense of sin, that I think they greatly increased it. I looked on him whom I had pierced, and mourned for him as one mourneth for an only son, and was in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for a first born. And all united in increasing in me a hatred of sin, and a de

desire after conformity to God in holiness. My heart was also expanded in benevolence towards my fellow creatures, and the love of God towards our lost race seemed not only to transport but to transform my soul into the same divine image."

Having thus in secret solemnly devoted himself to the Lord, he considered it to be at once his duty and his privilege publicly to avow himself a child of the covepant, and on the Lord's side. An opportunity soon offered, in the Lord's supper being to be dispensed in the congregation, in the bounds of which he resided.

The Rev. John Todd had at that time become a resident in Virginia, and was stated minister in the congregation in which Mr. Rice lived. Mr. Davies assisted

him on the sacramental occasions.

At a convenient sea

son, previous to the administration of the ordinance, he conversed with a minister on the subject, and, according to the custom of the society, receiyed a token of admission. On the Sabbath of the administration a sermon was preached by the pastor of the congregation on the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of mankind when he bore our sins in his own body on the tree."While the sermon was delivering," says he, "I felt a hardness of heart which I conceived to be inconsistent with that love and gratitude to God in which the inward exercises of religion very much consists. Hence I concluded I was not qualified to take a seat at the Lord's table." After the sermon, which was preached out of doors, was finished, a psalm or an hymn was given out, and the intended communicants generally retired to the meeting-house, and took their seats at the