unfounded idea that Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, were ever to succeed to the High Priest, Priests, and Levites, then surely we must have found some intimation of it. That men of research can broach such puerilities is surprising."*

Mr. Gurney, a clergyman of London, in his Dictionary of the Bible, under the article Bishop, uses the following language. "Under the New Testament, Bishop, or Overseer, is restricted to spiritual rulers. Nor when applied to mere men, does it ever signify more than a Pastor or Presbyter. No where are any but Deacons marked as subordinate to Bishops, Phil. i. 1, 1 Tim. iii. The very same per* Impartial Hist. Vol. I. pp. 86, 87.

SOME years ago, whilst living at Southampton, I was, called to sustain the office of Deacon in the Christian Church to which I was united, and in the discharge of my official duties was in the habit of attending the bed-sides of the sick and dying. A female, who was formerly a servant in my family, but had since married, and removed with her husband about a mile from the town, received into her house as a lodger, a man about thirty-four years of age, who was afflicted with dropsy, and soon became dangerously ill. I was solicited to visit him without delay, as it was stated that he was not likely to live many days, and was in great distress of mind at the prospect of death. During his sickness, it was discovered that he had been one of a gang of thieves, two of whom had been recently apprehended on a charge of horse

N. S. NO. 92.

stealing, and sent to Winchester gaol, and that his illness, detaining him at home, was the cause of his escape. I had no sooner entered the apartment than I was struck with the expression of disease, despair, and death, depicted in his countenance. I inquired of him, why he had sent for me? He replied, that he was a dying man, and a very wicked man, and was in the utmost despair at the certainty of death. I asked, Had he been a murderer? he said, No, Sir, I never killed any person; but I have committed every other crime but that; my course of guilt has been for fifteen years. I asked of him, if he had never had any convictions of conscience before; his reply was, Oh, yes, Sir. I never was guilty of any wickedness that did not make me miserable, until I had drowned the remembrance of it with liquor, and got rid of the 3 Q

thought; but now I have no hope of living, and am in the greatest fear of dying-I have no hope of mercy; but am lost for ever. Oh, Sir, pray for me, pray for me for Christ's sake. I asked him, how he knew any thing about the way in which the mercy of God could be obtained? Oh, Sir, said he, 1 had a dear good mother, who took great pains to instruct me when young, and I am sure she has offered up a thousand prayers on my behalf; she was a serious Christian, and endeavoured to teach me from the Bible; I well know, from her instructions, what is the way of salvation. I remarked to him, that his sins then were indeed hateful; for, by his own account, he had transgressed against the knowledge of the truth, and his guilt was therefore greatly aggravated. He said he knew it, and therefore he despaired of ever obtaining mercy, and yet was sure that he was dying. After a little pause I said to him, You are not yet in hell, and therefore there is hope still. Remember the dying thief upon the cross. It is not impossible that you too may obtain mercy, even though it be at the last hour of life; for God can give you repentance for sin, and faith in his dear Son; try therefore to compose yourself I do not think you will die to-night, and now I will engage in prayer for you. In a few moments all present knelt down with me, and while I presented humble prayers that conviction of sin and repentance for it might be given to him, he repeated aloud every sentence I uttered with such a fervency of manner, and with so many tears, as deeply to affect the whole company. I rose; he thanked me, and begged, with great earnestness, that I would come again as soon as I could; this I promised to do; and directed his atten

first sin.

tion to the 51st Psalm, and other appropriate passages of Scriptures, and exhorted him to pray that he might feel that spirit of penitence which dictated those confessions; he said he could not, he dared not pray, and begged that I would pray to God for him. On the next evening I saw him again, and told him that as it was the doctor's opinion he might live some days, I hoped he would endeavour to compose his mind, that he might be better able to attend to the all-important subject about which we were to converse. I then entered into more detailed conversation with him concerning his past life. I questioned him closely, and he gave me, with great frankness, an appalling detail of a long series of wickedness, such as Ï suppose but few men could narrate. Sabbath-breaking was his Poaching presently succeeded; then drunkenness, and presently smuggling, petty thefts, and house-breaking. I said, this is indeed a dreadful catalogue, and enough to cast you down, but it is nothing less than the long-suffering and patience of God that has spared your life till now. then quoted several passages of Scripture, wherein salvation is offered to the chief of sinners; these brought to his remembrance the counsels and instructions of his pious mother; but he could not take comfort from them. The consciousness of having so long neglected the invitations of mercy, of hardening his heart against convictions overwhelmed him, therefore he said, with appalling anguish, that he feared the Almighty would never have mercy on one so vile as he was. 1 said I was not at all surprised that he should think so, and advised him to reflect on all he had told me, and endeavour to impress his mind

I

with the full persuasion of his own vileness and guilt, at the same time to be astonished that he had not been cut off long ago in the midst of his guilty career, and lost for ever. I told him, in the most deliberate and solemn manner, that nothing less than the influence of the Holy Spirit on his heart could produce that deep repentance and saving faith in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which his circumstances peculiarly needed. After two or three more visits, I was glad to find that the impressions of the truth on his mind were deepened, and that he more powerfully realized his awful condition; he expressed also a greater desire that I should pray rather for a work of grace and mercy in his soul, than for the reof his health. covery At a subse..

quent visit, he said he hoped the Lord had heard my prayers for him, for his dread of death was lessened, so that he could now attend with more composure and satisfaction to the truths and portions of Scripture to which I called his attention. I told him I was glad to hear this, but that sorrow of heart was essential to real repentance, and that he must therefore reflect on the enormity of his sins, in the sight of God, and that, when he remembered all their aggravation, he would feel his need of mercy more than ever, and that this was essential to saving faith. On my next call he told me he had done as I had recommended him, and was so overwhelmed

with a sense of his guilt, that he feared his sins were too great ever to be pardoned; and with much solicitude, and in a feeble voice, turning to me, he said, Sir, do you not think so too? I answered him firmly, No; and again directed him to the case of the dying thief, who had faith given him in

Christ as the true Messiah, though

no space was afforded him to testify the sincerity of his repentance, by an altered life. He evidently felt encouraged by this reply, and I promised, on my next visit, to bring him a book which I much wished him carefully to read, as the subject of it was very suitable to his circumstances, and would, I hoped, lead him to trust in the all-sufficient atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The next day I carried to him the little book, written by Mr. Wm. Guthrie, a Scotch divine of the seventeenth century, entitled, "The Trial of saving Faith."

After uniting in

prayer together, he said, That he should get no rest till he had perused it through; I then left him in a calm and more happy frame of mind than I had before witnessed. On my next visit, which was four weeks from our first interview, on entering the room, he exclaimed, Oh, Sir, I am glad to see you, for the Lord Almighty has indeed heard your kind prayers for me, and blest this book to me; for, whilst reading in my bed the other night, some of the portions which you had particularly pointed out, I felt all at once light arise in my mind, and a full persuasion struck me, that though I am so great a sinner, and have been so depraved a character, yet there is forgiveness with God through the atoning death of the Saviour even for me. I felt assured also, that the merits of Jesus Christ are all sufficient to atone for sin, and that God himself can be glorified in my salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. I lost all my fears, and felt happy and persuaded that if I died that night, I should be saved; and, dear Sir, added he, I shall have cause to bless God to all eternity, for your kindness, and that you were directed to instruct me in the

means of salvation.

Oh, Sir, I have no fear of dying now; but I rather wish to die, for I have no desire to return into the world again. After a little pause, to subdue my own feelings, I said, I was exceedingly glad to hear all this from him. Verily, God is the hearer and the answerer of prayer, the work wrought in your heart I do hope is the work of grace, therefore let us both now praise together as we have often prayed. So we did. After which, sitting by his bed-side and conversing with him, I was struck with the altered state of his mind, and his countenace had become peaceful and serene. His views and expressions were Scriptural, and his heart seemed filled with joy and praise for the great mercy which had been shown to him; he declared he was so astonished that he could not express it; the light on his mind he was sure came from above, and could be nothing less than the influence of the Spirit of God on his heart, for it filled him, he said, with joy and peace in believing. After a short silence, I asked him deliberately and solemnly, whether he thought all this change might not possibly be a delusion. He paused some time, and then looking steadily at me, burst into tears and

said, No, Sir, I cannot think it is a delusion, for it was the result of my being fully convinced of the love of Christ in dying for sinners, and the assurance that the all-sufficiency of his merits and atoning death had procured pardon for sinners, even so great a one as myself. Besides, Sir, what could be my motive for deceiving you ?—such a friend as you have been to me. No, Sir, I hope that I do not deceive either myself or you. 1 instantly replied, that I heard his answer with the greatest satisfaction, and I blessed God for it. This was my last visit, and it was the most satisfactory I could desire. He then told me that he was subpoenaed to the assizes at Winchester, for the next day, to give evidence on the trial of his former associates, and was to be conveyed there in a post-chaise; but he was sure the exercise would prove more than he could bear, and that he did hope he never should be taken into court to see his old companions again.

This wish was mercifully granted to him, for although on the next morning he was removed into the chaise, yet he gently expired on the road when he had travelled but a short distance from the humble cottage where he had learned the way to life eternal.

P.

To Mr. Samuel Lucas, at Dr. Conder's, Mile End, London.

Bury, Feb. 16, 1769. My young Friend,-I own my obligation to love you, and sympathize with you in present circumstances. May the Lord, who teaches to profit, be your teacher, and counsellor. Mean time, it is cause of thankfulness, that you

see (0 may you see it in the Lord's light) the need of a comfortable persuasion of interest in the Lord's distinguishing favour. You cannot prosecute your studies to the honour of Christ, or your own comfort, or with any solid hope of being successful in your endeavours for the good of souls, but as this prevails. He can teach

you to use the Latin of Nepos and Virgil, to understand the Gospel of Christ set forth by the excellent Witsius and others, in that language; which Dr. Watts justly calls the living language of the learned. And he can teach you, by the total ignorance of Christ in these pagans, to admire his blessed Bible; and, by Virgil's awful errors in religious matters, he can instruct you to pant ardently for the teachings of his holy Spirit, to introduce you to the holiest by the blood of Jesus, calling him your Lord and God. When you read in Virgil's first eclogue that fine genius openly declaring that Augustus Cæsar should always be a God to him, and that he would often offer a tender lamb on his altar (all this horrid blasphemy you will find in the sixth, seventh, and eighth lines of the very first eclogue), Oh how necessary a revelation from heaven will appear, and that set home by the invincible power of the Holy Ghost (See Isa. liii. 1), for our restoration.

Remember me to Dr. Conder, Dr. Gibbons, and Mr. Brewer. Let me hear from you when it suits. I am bound with wishes for your prosperity every way, in which my will also sees reason to join, to recommend you, and the society you stand related unto, to the grace of precious Christ, who has the pre-eminence in all things. That he may have this place in our hearts how much ought it to be prayed for, on the part of poor

JA. DAVIDSON.

To Mr. Lucas, Student at Dr. Conder's, Mile End, London.

Ipswich, April 29, 1769. My dear Sir-Both your kind letters I have received, for which you have my sincere thanks. And so then you are got to Virgil, the

prince of the Latin Poets, and to con over TUTTO. Virgil is a sublime poet, but not equal to Isaiah in force and eloquence of language. Abraham's character is far superior to Eneas' David's Psalms far exceed Pindar's rapid flightsPaul of Tarsus is far more poignant in his matter, and manner, than Demosthenes; there is more by far to be learned from Peter the Fisherman than Plato's works. Plutarch, Aristotle, yea, Socrates himself, with them, speak much in their own praise. Horace says of his own poems, that he had set up "Monumentum æse perennuis," &c. But they never write one line of their own wickedness. But those whom God employed to write his word cast reproach upon their own names, and publish their own mistakes. Moses spared not his own brother, nor Zipporah, and, least of all, himself. It was a good observation of that old father who said, no text so sweet to me as Crux: no conference but his merits -no object but his obedienceno oratory to be compared to the love of Jesus -no music but free grace, &c. Yet the knowledge of languages and branches of literature have their use, and it is well for candidates, like the messengers of David, to tarry till their beards grow a little. Diversity is like the border of gold-human learning like the studs of silver. It is useful when kept like the hand maid. None speak so much against learning as those that have none. Licinius made a decree that none of the people in his province should learn Greek, because he himself knew not the Greek alphabet. O that all our learned men would consecrate their learning to the service of the King of kings; this would be the way to turn the water into wine. We may salute Athens, and read the