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truth, and that it would not bear the trial. He became alarmed in view of his condition. A conviction of his sinfulness and an apprehension of "sudden destruction without remedy," swept away all the proofs which he had sedulously collected in favor of Universalism. He became fully convinced that the doctrine of endless punishment was no fiction, but a truth of momentous import, whether he believed it to be so or not; and that by shutting his eyes against it, would by no means diminish but greatly augment his danger.

About this time, a Mr. P. visited him and made some enquiries respecting his views and feelings in prospect of the near approach of death. He replied, “I am conscious that I must soon die, and I feel that I am not prepared for death." Mr. P. knowing what had been his former belief, remarked that his former associates in sin and in error who had witnessed his confidence in his delusion, would now say that he had been frightened by the selfish and revengeful principles of the Orthodox. To this he replied, "No person has said any thing to me about the concerns of my soul, or the subject of religion. The reflections of my own mind have convinced me that I am a sinner, undone, and that dying in my sins, an eternal hell is my portion."

Sensible that he could not live, and that he was unprepared to die, he sent an earnest and express message to me to come over and see him. I hastened to the chamber of the sick man, and found him in an agony of terror, deepening every moment with death in immediate view, and an awful eternity before him. As soon as I had seated myself by his bedside, he began to express his views and feelings. With a countenance that spoke more forcibly than even his own words, he looked upon me and said, "How glad I am you have taken pains to come over and see me. I was afraid that I should not see you before I should die. I have been quite anxious for some time, to see you; for it has appeared to me that you could tell me what I must do to be saved. I have in years past based my hope of heaven and happiness upon the doctrine of universal salvation; and I have been entirely blinded in my delusion till of late. But I now find that it is a scheme of the most licentious and danger

ous tendency. My principles afford me no comfort and support now I am sick and about to die. It is said by some that 'the doctrine of Universalism answers well enough to live by, but it does not suffice for the dying hour;' but I am convinced that it will answer neither to live by nor to die by. I am fully convinced that eternal rewards and punishments are substantial realities. And I am afraid that I have so long held to my delusion, and despised and rejected the Saviour, that there is no mercy for me. I know if I die in this state I must go to hell."

I here availed myself of the opportunity to open to and impress upon his mind the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, and to present to him the offer of a long-neglected Saviour. He listened with the greatest eagerness, and would often interrupt me that I might explain to him more fully some grand truth of revelation. I felt that the Spirit of God was opening his heart to the reception of divine truth. Having explained to him the grand method of salvation through Jesus Christ, warned him of his guilt and danger, and directed him to "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," I put up a short prayer in his behalf, and left him for an hour to his own reflections.

On my return I found him in the same state of mind, only his anxiety and distress was augmented. "O, (said he,) I fear there is no mercy for me. I have lived in sin all my days. I have wasted all those precious privileges and golden opportunities which God gracionsly afforded me to become wise unto salvation. I would not seck and serve the Lord, and now it is too late.” I told him to look to Christ for mercy, and repeated to him a number of encouraging sentences out of the Bible; but he still cried out, "God is merciful, but it is too late. There is no mercy for me."

He had a great sense of his entire and deep rooted depravity. I was reminded by his confessions, of the lamentation of a sinner as described by Mason:

"I have been Satan's willing slave,

And his most easy prey;

He was not readier to command
Than I was to obey.

If any time he left my soul,

Yet still his work went on;

I've been a tempter to myself—

Ah! Lord, what have I done!"

"I see

Though he mourned over the number and aggravation of his actual transgressions, yet his greatest distress arose from a sense of the wickedness of his heart. He seemed also to recognize the justice of God in his eternal condemnation, and expressed a wonder that God had borne with him so long, and had not cast him down to hell. And he was sensible that there was no hope of salvation for him from any source but the unmerited grace of God. But he could not see how it was possible for him to be saved. (says he) that it would be just in God to cast me off forever; but I do not see how God can be just and have mercy upon such a sinner as I am." I reminded him that nothing was "too hard for the Lord;" that he could "pardon iniquity and pass by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ;" that he had publicly exhibited his Son a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men, and he can now "be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

He remained in great distress of mind through the day. As his strength and state of mind would permit, I conversed with and prayed for him. I felt my soul in an unusual degree drawn out in prayer to God for his salvation. And I obtained a kind of assurance that God would have mercy upon this dying man.

In the after part of the day, his mind, under the operations of the Holy Spirit, was brought to a crisis. He could turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. He was cut off from every source of consolation except that which arises from faith in Christ, and of this he felt himself incapable. And he would vent the sorrow of his heart in language similar to that of the weeping prophet. "He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places as those that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out; he hath made my chain heavy. Also when I cry he shutteth out my prayer!" He appeared to be "shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be

revealed." To show more fully the real state of his mind, I will relate a few of his expressions as he lay and conversed with himself. "This then is the only alternative. I must repent and return home to God by Jesus Christ, or sink down to hell forever. I have been a great sinner. I grow no better, but worse. I cannot make amends for my transgressions, nor can I make myself any better. My own righteousness is filthy rags. The only alternative is to yield and give my heart to God. I must go to him just as I am. But oh! if I had somewhat to recommend me to the Saviour, I could go to him with assurance; but if I should now give myself away to him, vile and hell-deserving as I am, he would certainly cast me off." Here he burst into tears and gave vent to the bitter agonies of his soul. Though convinced that Christ was the only Saviour, yet he "would not come to him that he might have life." He had not yet dared to venture his all upon the mercy of God. Spirit, intimately acquainted with the inward structure of the human mind, without doing violence to his moral nature, was gradually preparing him to renounce his own righteousness and to find peace and joy in the Saviour. His mind now became deeply impressed. He cried, and groaned, and prayed that the mercy which he had so lightly esteemed, might be extended to him. Frequently would he exclaim "what must I do to be saved? what must I do to be saved?"

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After his mind became more calm, I opened and gave to him a historical sketch of the four leprous men at the gate of Samaria, while the city was besieged by the army of the Syrians. I remarked that their lives were truly in jeopardy. They saw no prospect of escaping immediate death, whether they returned into the city or remained where they were. Hence they took their lives in their hands and threw themselves upon the mercy of those from whom they had no reason to expect any favor. Death was before them, "and they said one to another, why sit we here till we die? If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now, therefore, come and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die."

Thus, I observed, you must come to God. These men went to the camp of the Syrians, not having one condition to propose or one plea to make. You must fall into the hands of the Lord, and leave it with him to decide what shall be done. While these men were forming their resolution and carrying it into execution, God was graciously working out their deliverance. If you make a full gurrender of yourself and your all into the hands of the Lord, he will work out your deliverance and salvation.

“O, (says he,) I would venture my soul upon the mercy of God if he would previously give me an assurance that he will not cast me off." Thus he manifested that he had yet no confidence in God, no love to his character, and no faith in his word; but was under the workings of a self-righteous spirit. He would not accept of mercy as one of the chief of sinners. I told him that God had promised that those who should come to him he would in no wise cast off. "Perhaps so, (he replied,) but I am afraid to venture upon the mercy of God and leave it with him to decide what shall be done."

This occasioned a violent struggle in his mind, and I felt to hope that the time was near when God would release his soul from its bondage to sin and Satan. His convictions of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and of the holiness and justice of God, were overwhelming. But it was done. Early in the evening he began to express some degree of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "O, (says he to me as I approached his bed-side,) I do find it safe trusting in the Lord. I can trust my soul in the hands of the Saviour. He will save unto the uttermost all who come to God by him. God in Christ can be just and yet save the chief of sinners. The apostle says, 'This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.' 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.' My mind is calm. Perhaps I am deceived; but my feelings are different from what I ever before experienced. After he had repeated several passages of scripture very distinctly, and had made some comments upon them, he calmly engaged in prayer.

A short time after, I enquired into the state of his mind. He **

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