fairly tries to see clearly. Why did God give over some of old to a reprobate mind? Because, that "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened: they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." The author of the Confessions of a Gamester could not honestly have called the career of his hero "delusion." He might have characterized his elaborate arrangements at the gaming table, and on the turf; his efforts to form conjugal relations solely on mercenary principles; his refusal to attend his wife's dying bed, because he was found by the express messenger too deep in the orgies of play to be disturbed; all this, and a profligate life of eighty years, might have been readily smoothed down by an extenuating phrase. But if it were delusion, it was such as was arrived at in the steady courses of deliberate iniquity. Did not this gambler know all the while what he was doing? Was conscience always preserving an inviolable silence?

As far as we remember, we scarcely ever read the memoirs, either real or fictitious, of a reprobate-and fictions of the kind in question are generally accurate copies of truth-without observing, that the worst life had its flashes of remorse, its momentary convictions of guilt. And we believe that so far there can be no delusion; and that Orchard might have been deceived just as much as, and no more than, Fauntleroy and Thurtell. In the mean time, a million of readers peruse with avidity such accounts as the one we have copied; and, such among them as want the flattering unction applied to a disturbed conscience, when they are meditating the commisssion of crime, will find it ready prepared in such examples as that before us; and will pass on to sinful deeds, as to their moments, not of avoidable guilt, but of venial delusion; though a

monitor may all the while audibly whisper within their bosom, "The end of these things is death."

But Orchard, like ten thousand other executed felons, became gradually more and more resigned to his fate. On what grounds? Did he adopt the confession of the crucified penitent, "I indeed justly, for I receive the due reward of my deeds;" or, were the physical terrors of death removed by a gradual process, independent of the sighings of a contrite heart, and unaided by a deep contrition, similar to that of one who said, "Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight!" We are by no means asserting that the unhappy man whose case we have alluded to did not repent; but, as far as the record goes, we find a dubious and undefined resignation to his fate the only substitute for repentance. Connected with this uncertainty it is painful to advert to the felon's four stanzas, as a kind of dying confession and creed. Look particularly at the last four lines, which express not a trembling hope, but a distinct personal assurance of salvation. Do they not directly speak of having boldness to enter into the holiest? We will not quarrel with the abstract theology of the hymn, but only pause at the awful inquiry, who can safely use such a hymn? We know who said, "I know whom I have believed; and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." We know who asserted, "I have fought a good fight; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." But if a convert of fourteen days, weeks, or months, be sincere, and, of course, if sincere, allowed to have gained a station within the mystical church; yet, at the close of the longest period supposed, he is but a novice; and, in his immature state, has surely no claim to adopt the high anticipations of an advanced and ripe believer. The infant in Christ cannot speak the language of the

aged confessor or martyr. He may lisp out the attainments, such as they are, of his spiritual childhood. He may look to the privileges of future days. But there is still a

salvation to be worked out with fear and trembling. There are, in prospect, alternations of hope and alarm. He has to try his defensive and offensive armour. There is in religion, as in other things, a beginning, a continuance liable to interruption, and an end. So taught the imaginative but sagacious author of the Pilgrim's Progress; and, in the course of that uninspired parable, what lessons of practical wisdom gathered from his own experience, and digested in the long and gloomy days of captivity, are developed. His Christian did not exclaim, Victory! victory! the moment he had entered in at the wicket-gate. Nay, he was well nigh overwhelmed in the waters of Jordan; and began his uninterrupted triumphs only when he had gained the opposite bank, and was welcomed by ministering spirits.

It is distressing to a serious mind to retire from such a picture of the Christian life, with all its vicissitudes of pain and pleasure, and then to gaze at what may be termed the exhibition of many modern religionists, who appear to attain, per saltum, a name and a place among the steady followers of Jesus Christ. The hymn which has called forth these remarks is surely an illustration of our meaning.

Neither is it in the obituaries of felons, but of private, and, we will allow, real Christians, that we frequently observe with a certain misgiving, the language, as if uttered by rote, of exalted triumph. In the case, it is true, of all believers, of whatever degree of faith, the last enemy is destroyed; but it does not follow that they are all privileged with a joyful assurance of the victory. Many eminent Christians have lived well, and shone as bright examples to the world, and to their less consistent brethren; and yet have ex

pired at last without any expressions beyond those of hope. Some also have left the world in a state of doubt or perturbation. It is much to be desired that such ministers of religion as attend on condemned criminals, would look well to the depth of that repentance which ought to constitute a penitent's claim-not indeed to forgiveness, for that, blessed be God, is wholly free, through the mere mercy of our Creator, and the obedience unto death of his incarnate Son on our behalf-but to the character of those who are forgiven.

The writer of the Gamester has introduced a pious physician to the death bed of the wretched subject of his narrative; and has caused him to deliver to the dying man offers indeed of pardon, but with a distinct understanding, at the same time, that the acceptance of the offer would be attended with a corresponding humiliation and selfabhorrence, not to be confounded with the remorse and despair which the offender actually felt. The offer was rejected; but the physician's Christianity was a system accurately adjusted, composed of parts consistent, in their various operations, with each other, and so arranged and regulated as to produce an unity of effect. He might have omitted all mention of redemption by the cross of Christ, and thus have lowered his patient to a yet deeper and darker abyss of despair. He might have omitted all exhortations to godly sorrow, pointed exclusively to Mount Calvary; and elevated his patient with premature confidence. In either case, there would have been moments of delusion. But the religion of Jesus Christ is indivisible. We must take all or none. Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," are the two pillars upon which the temple stands. Its architecture is uniform and symmetrical. Wherever human ignorance has endeavoured to distort its fair proportions, the consequence

has been such as we have been at

tempting to describe on the present occasion: men have been deceivers of others, and of themselves. Hence has risen the Antinomian heresy, so dear to the hearts of those who would gain both worlds at once. Hence too, the error of the selfrighteous, who would make a contract for eternal happiness, on the plea of their own personal merits; or, as dividing the honour of their salvation with One who will justify, and teach, and rule, and glorify, without a rival. Such is the Prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved his people, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. Their Redeemer is mighty; and we would remind ourselves, at the close of these remarks, that once he exercised his might in saving a crucified felon in his last hours; and we fully believe, that no jot nor tittle of his ability to save such a character has been lost. Has he not a right to do what he will with his own? The first shall be last, and the last first. We have not the least fear of this doctrine; because we equally believe that a felon now converted and saved will give, or possess, evidences of sincerity quite sufficient to meet the objections of men who cavil at the gratuitous mercy of God in Jesus Christ. We have no kind of anxiety as to the danger of exhibiting, what some would call, an unguarded Gospel. A Gospel which needs human protection never came from God. If preachers deliver a distorted scheme of doctrine, they may have occasion to fortify their own system; but "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his; and, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

Frequently as the story of the penitent thief has been illustrated by practical divines, we beg to refer our readers to the instructive remarks on this subject, of Mr. Basil Woodd, in our Number for April, p. 202.

The catastrophe of Dr. Dodd, in 1777, furnishes a further striking illustration of our positions. This person, in early life, was an associate of Bishop Horne, Jones of Nayland, and, we believe, of Mr. Romaine, and other religious persons of that age; and it was hoped that he would have continued in fellowship with them and their connexions. But he yielded to the seductions of the world, became giddy with popular applause, sought and obtained admission within the circles of high life, gained preferment and royal favour, and eventually was a stranger among the companions of his better days. He was conscious of this desertion, and, on one occasion we quote from memory the anecdote in Jones's life of Horne,meeting with a lady who belonged to the relinquished party, he asked her, what his former associates thought of him: she only answered, "Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this present world"— a reply which, at the moment, deeply affected its object. Dr. Dodd, however, pursued his career; and finally endeavouring, and with success, to defraud his former pupil Lord Chesterfield, for into his society and confidence he had ventured, was convicted and executed.

All who have read this man's melancholy story, will recollect the extraordinary and, as many thought, merciless determination of his late majesty, in refusing to hear the universal prayer of the nation in his behalf. They will also call to mind the exertions of Dr. Johnson, and various other eminent men, in favour of the culprit.

But we remember to have heard, many years ago, from a contemporary of Dodd, that the king persevered in his resolution, not merely because of the act of forgery; but from having been personally acquainted with the forger's previous conduct in many flagrant instances. When the king first heard of the fraud on Lord Chesterfield, it happened to be mentioned when the

queen was also present; to whom his majesty instantly turned and said, "Why, this is the man who embezzled your charity funds; the fact being, that Dodd, who was one of the Royal Chaplains, had been trusted by the queen as a private almoner. It was also then recollected, that he had offered anonymously a large sum of money to a lady of some political influence, if she would procure for him the living of St. George's, Hanover Square; for which conduct indeed, on being discovered, he had been dismissed from the office of king's chaplain. When therefore it is said, that Dr. Dodd was hanged for forgery, this is literally true; but it is not true, that this was an insulated act of criminality, perpetrated by a man who, up to a moment of delusion, had lived a stainless and honourable life—but by an offender, who having at length committed a deed cognizable by law as worthy of death, was delivered to the executioner, to pay the forfeit of life, after many years of secret depravity. We have recurred to the case of Dr. Dodd as confirmatory of the view we have taken respecting the real cause of men's being permitted to adventure into the snares of sin till they are fatally entangled, and perish; and especially, if they have been previously acquainted with religious principles. Blessed is the man that feareth always!

We would also remind the thoughtful reader, that as there is much cautionary instruction administered in the Scriptures to the servants of God, so there may be found, on the other hand, encourageing promises, relative to the protecting love and care of the good Shepherd: He keepeth the feet of his saints; and if a devout person feels a certain disquietude, and tendency towards despondent unbelief, let him not pass over the promises, as though they were not equally parts of the same revelation, which contains warnings, menaces, and denun

ciations of wrath against the hypocrite and impenitent. We are often tempted to disjoin what is inseparable; and either to write bitter things against ourselves, not transcribing the counterpart, or otherwise to place an idle reliance on cheering portions of the Divine word, without recurring to such condemnatory clauses as pronounce "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," upon those who neglect, pervert, or abuse the pure and undefiled religion of Jesus Christ.

We have so completely lost ourselves in the moralities of our subject that we have forgotten the narrative which suggested them to our minds; and after so long a dissertation we have not time or space for an abridgment of the story, or for much in the shape of citation from it. Nor perhaps is it necessary the work, whether fact or fiction, or both blended, is, as we have stated, the personal narrative of a successful gamester, but whose miserable success could neither render his life happy nor his death tranquil. We copy the following account of his closing hours from the addenda of the editor. The scene appears to be modelled upon Dr. Young's Altamont; but the lessons it conveys, terrific as they are, are so important, not only to gamesters and other open profligates, but, in their measure, to all who have been content to live "without God in the world," that we need make no apology for extracting the passage.

"The doctor repeated his opinions very plainly, and urged the necessity of admitting the visits of a pious and intelligent clergyman, whose counsels might assist him in the great work of preparing to meet his God. All these endeavours were ineffectual. He heard him with more patience than he would have listened to another person speaking the same things, but he resolutely refused compliance; he spoke of the ministers of religion with a hostile feeling, and continued to repeat his old assertion-that he had lived, and

would die without them.

for this purpose ineffectual, and that his "The physician finding all his efforts life was drawing hastily to a conclusion,

explained to him the state to which he conceived him to be reduced, and the reason upon which his opinion was founded." pp. 224, 225.

"I beg and entreat of you to consider yourself as standing on the very brink of eternity: you must speedily enter on it; diligently prepare for it.'

"It is useless to talk of it,' he re. joined bastily; I have despised and rejected religion all my life; I am averse to it now-I cannot repent.'

"I know of no other balm,' said the doctor, that can now yield you comfort or support there, and there alone, you may derive strong consolation. It often occurs to me in the exercise of my profession, to attend the dying beds of those who are sinking into the grave under accumulated loads of misery; yet I have seen these deriving such consolation from the influence of religion, that they have triumphed over all their burden of afflictionsthey have scarcely been sensible of their sufferings, so great has been the peace and happiness they have experienced in the expectation of exchanging this mortal life for a glorious immortality!'

"I cannot bear,' he exclaimed, to hear of such things; they might have been mine, but they are not. The people you speak of have served God in their health and strength, when I despised and rejected him-they went to the home in the diligent search and expectation of which they had patiently lived all their days. I have never entertained God in all my thoughts-I have endeavoured to banish him thence; I cannot meet him as my friend-I have all along been his enemy; I dare not meet him as my foe-and yet I must do it.-Oh! how shall I contend with One so much mightier than I? I cannot submit to One whom I have so long and so heartily opposed. If you can keep my poor, tottering frame together for a few months something might be done; I might change my purposes.'

"Alas! replied the physician, these are vain suggestions; a very few days must finish your earthly course: let me prevail upon you to employ them more profitably than in seeking to avoid what is inevitable. Mercy is yet to be found if you seek it with all your heart; God is nigh unto those who call upon him faithfully; and though your time is very short, yet enough remains to obtain pardon and peace if you seek it earnestly; but do not defer ityou cannot live through another week.'

"Then,' he retorted in an agony, before the end of another week I shall be(and he paused)-yet why do I hesitate to speak the truth plainly, when the fact will soon prove itself?-before the end of another week I shall be in hell!-I shall be? I am there now-for what is hell but the truth seen too late? I now see and feel the truth I have so long despised and trampled on, and that is hell-it is be

gun already, and will continue for everit is the worm that never dies, the fire that never can be quenched.'

"My friend,' rejoined the doctor, 'the conclusions you draw, as respects yourself, are hasty in the extreme; whilst there is life there is hope and mercy with God, that he may be feared: he may yet be found; only seek him whilst space and opportunity are yet afforded you.'

I cannot seek him,' he replied; 'I neither love nor desire him; I have lived in hostility to him all my days, and if he is willing to be reconciled to me I am not ready; 1 cannot change my feelings and propensities so quickly. Lengthen my days-give me space to conquer my aversion to him, his people, and his ways; these are all alike disagreeable to me, and I cannot change sides and go over in an instant.O keep me alive for a few months, or we shall meet as enemies!Even now I feel his strong hand upon O that he would destroy me!-His fear terrifies me-and his mighty arm inflicts punishment greater than I can bear!'

"His mental agitation became extreme, and dreadfully shook his enfeebled frame. He continued to reject, with awful energy and perseverance, every solicitation to admit the visits of a clergyman, or to receive religious instruction and consolation." pp. 227-231.

"I tell you, I do not repent. I cannot repent. Nay more, I have no sorrow for my sins; restore me my health, and 1 shall pursue the same practices. I am only terrified at the consequences: I am not penitent for my misdeeds.'

"And feeling the awful consequences of sin,' interposed the other, 'will lead you to seek for deliverance from the cause as well as the effect. Consider how the promise is added to the invitation-Ask, and ye shall receive.'

"True,' said he, another proof, if an additional one was yet wanting, to demonstrate that I have no concern in it. I have never asked God for any thing; what he gave me, he gave me unasked, and I have employed all to oppose his will. He will hear my prayers, and reject them with abhorrence. My parents were kind, tender, and forgiving, but 1 wearied them out; and what can I expect from God? Must not sisimilar conduct procure a similar reward?'

"No,' resumed the physician, God is far more kind and patient than any earthly parent; more ready to hear than we are to pray; and wont to give more than we either desire or deserve.'

"Ah,' he returned, 'that fixes another sting to rankle in my guilty concience. He gave me abundance-advantages superior to most-more than I then desired, and, I now feel, more than I deserved. How have I employed all his benefits? To the injury of others; and now he turns the mischief upon my own head. A gamester's hand is against every man; and