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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be fiimed at different reduction ratios. Thos'i too large to be entirely included in one exposi;re are filmed beginning in the upper left har d corner, left to right and top to bottom, as mtiny frames as required. The following diagrams iliustrare the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de rMuction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est fiimd A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ci ■.f f^^M w. ■ »*l i l i » . » . t C i jg X CXiM.-^ I !■ -•-r- f i A SHORT ACCOUNT LORD'S DEALINGS WITH ■ THK . t DANIEL MANN;. WHO WAS EXECUTED AT KINGSTONi CANADA, DECEMBER, 187a. % f^ •"!» . 'k: LONDON: W. 4^BR00M, 25, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 1880. ■-5^^ •i '?i;../'\''.fi>ff9 'ii'.„.. v^ %., -Vi*,* u «> **., ■^- »LvV ^: Sti wl tiol int thif so po< .if f,.*i %> '■^npwp»ir^R5«F*"^iFmp y' ' % ■ i"\\ PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. F ROM all sides the Lord has sent in many proofs that His blessing is with this testi- mony of His grace, despite what in it may have been marred by the flesh. To Him be all praise. [ _, Various suggestions have been made concern- \ ing certain statements in the publication which kf) might cause offence rather than edification, and r. I have cheerfully complied with them by cutting ►c out two small paragraphs and a note. One suggests the following : " I am glad there is nothing for morbid curiosity at the drop. But still, for the information of those at a distance, who have no opportunity of knowing the circum- stances under which he was sentenced and hung, a very short account should be given of the nature of his crime, &c., and more particularly when sending it to Europe, or for the next genera- tion, if the Lord should tarry." Some have desired to know what was the intellectual condition, &c., of a man who, in the things of God, made such wonderful progress in so short a time. In a few as brief remarks as possible, I will endeavour to satisfy all. He was 34 years of age when executed. His ' A r 0/ «i 201257 7 A>- life evidently had been a wild one. I never spoke with him about his past life. Our inter- views, no matter how long, were wholly taken up with the word of God. An incident lir*"ed the veil to me : I was turning the leaves of his Testament to find a passage for him when I noticed two verses crossed out with pencil-mark. They were i Cor. vi. 9, 10. "What does that mean V I asked. " It is apart of my past cata- logue," he replied ; " but by the blood of Jesus, all is crossed out, and here is where I stand now." His finger pointed me to the verse just following, which was encircled with a pencil-mark also. Five years before his execution he was con- victed of housebreaking, with attempt to rob, and sentenced to fourteen years at the Peni- tentiary at Kingston. Here, after five years of his term had expired, he, with a fellow-convict, formed a plan to escape. They were both employed at a lime-kiln, a short distance from the Penitentiary walls, under a guard. At an hour when no one was near, one was to attract the guard's attention in some way, while the other was to strike a blow sufficient to stun him. They were then to bind him hand and foot, and flee. For some time the heart failed them, but at last, growing desperate, while his fellow- prisoner was amusing the guard with some carved bones, Mann struck the blow which killed the guard. They fled, but were taken again a short time after. This was in July. 8 After the judgment which sent Mann to the scaffold and his fellow-prisoner back to the Penitentiary, Mann was transmitted to the common jail, where I first met him. When he arrived there in November he could scarcely read at all in the large Testament he had, but such was the power of the Holy Ghost over him that before he died he read nearly as well as any one can read, and but few passages could be quoted without his being able to turn at once to them. A few quotations ^rom the Toronto Daily Globey whose correspondent, with several other gentlemen, visited Mann the day before his execution, will give a better idea of him than any words of mine could convey, " Mann's cell was next visited. A single glance at him showed that he was a different man altogether from his fellow-prisoner (one who was hung at the same time with him for poisoning his wife). He has a light, keen, piercing eye, an intellectual look- ing forehead, and in his conversation showed a clear head and an active mind. There is no doubt that had he received proper training from his youth he might have been a man above the ordinary stamp ; but he told Mr. O'Reilly he had received no education secular or religious, save some six months at public school, and, until he grew up, had not even an idea of God." . . . "Mann's visitors parted with him, when, with painful emotions, they felt that he, with an acute intellect, a courageous and energetic dis- i position, and a resolute spirit, might have been an honoured member of society, but his asso- ciations from childhood were evil and only evil ; and he goes to the scaffold at the early age of thirty-four years." Other persons have hinted a doubt concerning the veracity of the narrative, as if the language given could not be the language of Daniel Mann. To such I can but say that if by Daniel Mann's language they mean the very incorrect expres- sions he often used, they have reason to say I have not used his own language. I have no gift for mimicry ; and while I despise nothing like an attempt at literary attainment in the things of God, I see no profit in perpetuating breaches of speech. I endeavour to catch a man's thought, and if called to relate it I do so in the best language I know. Often while writing down the substance of an interview immediately upon having left him, I felt my utter incapacity to describe what had passed between us ; I could but wish that many might have been in a position to see and hear without being seen of him. Would to God every child of His were as much under the power of the Holy Ghost as was this wonderful object of His grace. Praying that the Lord's blessing may accom- pany the narrative with more and more power, it is again sent forth into the world. P. J. LOIZEAUX. AingstoHf Canada, \N .\ A SHORT ACCOUNT OF Cf)e Horn's; Dealtngs; WITH THB CONVICT DANIEL MANN. I CALLED on him for the first time on F*riday, November 1 8th. He appeared very cheerful, but his ways soon convinced me he vis doing all in his power to excite himself into happy feelings to drown the thought of his impending execution. Upon testing him a little as to Xh^ ground of the hope he expressed concerning the life to come, I soon found it to be his thorough repentance, his comparative free- dom from evil desires, his great love to God, &c. He thought surely he had made his peace with God since he had so many good things to show. His lips talked about Jesus and His love very nicely. He repeated some of God's precious promises, but evidently his heart was so intensely occupied with self, that he could grasp no meaning in those promises. His earnest face, however, and the 6 thoughtful attention he paid to what I said to him, attracted me at once. I remembered how, four years before, I was in the same state — occupied with my humility, my repentance, my faith, my love, and — while putting on a cheerful face to make myself believe I possessed that happiness which I had often heard belonged to a man at peace with God^what bitterness and anguish lay in the depth of my soul. I remembered the day when, at the climax of misery, some one had pointed me to Romans iii. how it had opened heaven to me ; the unutterable deliverance it put me into; and I burned to have him get in the same place. I told him nothing he could do could save him ; neither his repentance, nor his love, nor looking to the work of the Spirit in him, could give him peace with God. ** You are lost," I said ; " you are dead in trespasses and sins — condemned already — and you might as well think that weeping and promising to do better could put away the sentence pronounced against you the other day, as co think your repentance, or your promises, or anything from yo7iy can remove the curse of God's eternal law which now hangs over you, as well as over every soul of man who is not saved." I told him the only thing which could meet a ** lost " man's need was salvation. \. mm A " dead " man needeth life, and a ** con demned " man needed mercy. I declared to him that he was grievously mistaken if he thought he had made /its peace with God. //e could never do that. "What, then, must I do?" said he, in a half-bewildered way. " Read there," I said, and my finger pointed to Colossians i. 20, •* And having made peace through the blood of His cross " I pointed again tj Galatians iii. 13, and said, Read again here : '* Christ hath redeemed us from the cu:- ,e of the law, being made a curse for us." I then besou^iit him to read, thoughtfully and prayc ''uUy, Rom. iii. iv. and v.; and commending him to the Lord, who alone I knew could open his blinded eyes, I left him in his lonely cell. I did not call again until the following Tuesday, November 22nd. The turnkey at the entrance-door told me that one of the criminals was anxious to see me. Without asking which of the two, I called first on the one occupying the cell nearest the entrance-door, but found him much as before : more occupied with the actual consequences of his crime, than with his lost condition before God : ready enough to pray and engage in devotional exercises, but completely blind as to the ground of salvation. ^m \ 8 I left him, much downcast in my spirit, and full of that dejection which often makes me long to be with Christ when I have set forth ^Tfinished salvation before sinners, and they answer me, ** I will try to do better ;" and I had well-nigh forgotten the turnkey's announcement, when Daniel Mann's cell being opened to me I was soon reminded of it. Scarcely had I taken my seat on the wooden bench beside him when he said to me, " I longed to see you." "What for?" said I. " Sir ce daylight this morning," said he, *• I have not been able to pray ; I can only find time and room ior praise!' "How is that?" said I; "what makes you so happy ?" " You remember," said he, "your visit to me last Friday, and the three chapters you told me to read in Romans ? Well, after pondering a good deal on what you had told me, and which sounded so differently from anything I had ever heard, I read them over and over again ; but I seemed to get more and more miserable. All day Sunday was dark and gloomy, and yesterday too. I felt as if I must surely perish. Last night I could not close my eyes a single moment, but I lay on my couch of misery. Oh, what misery ! Suddenly, while in my despair, my mind was arrested by a part H 9 of Romans v., these verses : ' For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die : yet per- ad venture for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Oh, dear, dear sir, need I tell you the effect } I jumped to my feet. I praised God outright. I felt like a man who is already in heaven. I saw why Jesus was on the cross, crying out, * My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken mQ.V I understood what is meant by ' It is finished.' i saw God's love to me, and I praised and praised and praised again. I saw my salvation was not out of anything from me, but out of Christ's finished work ; so I cried out, O glorious thing ! I am as sure of my salvation now as I am sure Christ's work is finished ; yea, was finished over eighteen hundred years ago. I have it, I have it, for / believey As he spoke, his earnest face, wet with tears, looked to me like the face of an angel. Tears rolled down my face too. I took his neck in my arms, and could but exclaim, "My brother, my dearest brother, we shall sing together throughout eternity the value of the blood of Jesus." Again he said^ "How blind I have been. 10 I never saw till this morning. Till then my eyes were altogether turned inward — looking within to see something that God could be pleased with; but since early this morning my eyes are turned outward — to that which has been done for me. Till this morning I always thought, what I had heard many say, that Christ had done His part, and we mjst do ours to be saved. What my part was, however, I never could get any one to tell me with certainty, and still less could I get my soul to tell me. I had the Bible, but I did not know where to begin. I was told I must repent ; and earnestly and prayerfully I went at it, but never had the certainty I had fully satisfied God. I was told by many to be very earnest in prayer; and I agonized with God until I could but ciy out. Lord, if I must go to hell, I will go there praying. I tried every way, but there was no light. Sometimes I tried to make myself believe I was harder to please than God, and comforted myself with the thought that when I got there I should find Him much less severe than I thought ; but, after all, all was darkness, and the chance of hell for the world to come was not very frightful to me compared with this world. Before my trial I prayed many a time that I might be hanged, but not sent back to the ■ vi 11 Penitentiary. But this morning, as I saw my salvation all finished — yes, finished by the Lord Jesus — as I saw I was justified freely by God's grace through the redemp- tion that is in Christ Jesus, an indescribable peace took hold of me : all was bright. I saw at once I now had the key to the Scriptures — the key of heaven itself. The face of God was now visible to me. I could see Him smiling on me, and I shouted at the top of my voice, * This is the true light that cometh from heaven ! ' " Ah ! talk to me now about viy doing my part, and I can answer, * I have been doing that since my mother's womb, and here is the sad end of it!'" Here I felt in my heart the pang which crossed his own, and I said, " Yes, you have faithfully finished the work the devil gave you to do ; but hear the word in John xvii. 4, * I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.' Who said that ? What work was that which the Father gave Him to do, and which He, in antici- pation, says He has finished ?" The pang was gone. His dear face beamed again. The word finished was enough to soothe all his sorrows now. It made him laugh with delight every time it was pronounced. We knelt and praised jy-.-v^ffia ^' ' I 12 God together for a long while, and I left that the happiest of all places on earth — a converted criminal's cell. On Friday, November 25th, I called again ; but finding there was a visitor with him, I told the turnkey I would return the next day. Upon returning the next day I found him anxiously expecting me. The turnkey had told him I was coming, and he said he knew he would have another feast. "What do you mean," said I, "by another feast ? Are you so fond of visitors that my coming should be a feast to you ?" " O no, sir," he replied ; ** of course I love you very much. I cannot help that ; for you are the one whom God has used to show me the way — His way of saving sinners. It is what you point me to that makes the feast. You know when a man is as near his end as I am, he cannot be expected to take much comfort from any- thing but what God has said. That is the very thing which first drew me to you ; you never said anything, or answered anything without referring me at once to Scripture." "I feel exceedingly happy," I said, "when I see a man whose confidence lies alone in what the word of God teaches ; for I know this is not the work of nature. J esus says, * ii 13 ' My sheep hear my voice,' and His voice, dearest soul, being heard only in the Scrip- tures, it is no wonder you care for nothing but that. Would to God I could get the whole city of Kingston — if it were only those who profess even — to try \ki^\x foun- dation and their walk by the word of God. But, alas ! when they find their position untenable in the light of Scripture, many flee behind the ramparts of their creeds or opinions, and think themselves safe there." ** That is very sad," he said. " Oh, how I wish they would all with one accord turn to the word alone ! I will not cease to pray for this now as long as I am here. ... But tell me. Why did I not see the truth sooner? for I had been in the same distressed state of mind nearly since I was re-taken in July. I remember one night the sight of my sins became such that I cared neither for my narrow cell nor for the punishment I ex- pected in this world. Appearing before God in such a condition terrified me, so that I lay all night curled up on the floor, crying out, * O God, I am surely doomed : there can be no hope for such a wretch as I !' It was the first time in my life I knew what conviction of sin was. I had already before wished much to be a Christian, and, to attain my wish, had endeavoured to lead a better life. For quite a while in the lii i 14 Penitentiary I stopped stealing altogether, and refused to join in the wickedness of my fellows, until, overcome again, I made up my mind it was of no use trying to be a Christian in such a place : but that night it was no more trying or wanting to reform. It was a burning within — a tossing up and down — an unaccountable anguish which made me think of hell, a place where a man craves for death and cannot get it. I was regularly visited, and portions of Scripture were read to me, but to no avail whatever. Why did I not see the truth sooner ?" " First of all," I answered, " God's time is the best time. Had you found * peace in believing' before your trial, it would have been very different from what it was. You would not have pleaded ' not guilty,' which was a lie ; you would not have needed law- yers to talk for you and colour things ; but you would have frankly, openly, and truth- fully stated things as they were. The truth thus spoken has great effect on men's hearts. They might have seen your real intention was to disable the guard — not to kill him — so as to effect your escape. You might have been sent back to the Peni- tentiary for life, whilst God can glorify Himself most in this way. And remember now, that since you believe the question ■I liili 15 of your salvation is eternally settled, God expects you to have only His glory at heart. See 2 Corinthians v. 15, * And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.' " Secondly, How can a man tell another the way to a certain place ?" I asked him. ** Of course he must know it himself," he said. "Truly," I answered, " and before a man can preach Christ he must know Christ, have Christ. Mark, I do not say before he can preach, but before he can preach Christ, A man may preach all his life, and preach with such eloquence that not an eye could be dry, and yet not preach Cht ist. A well- informed mind, a sentimental imagination, and a good flow of language, is all a man needs to make a popular preacher ; but to preach Christy a man must be converted — he must be born again. You could speak of Christ now : you have passed through God's school. The first class was that night when you curled yourself up on the floor of your cell. You were in the second when I lound you — that is, trying to repent, and to pray, and sing yourself to heaven ; doing like the woman who had an issue of blood, and tried all sorts of physicians without 16 ill 4i i growing any better, 'but rather grew worse.* You passed through the third last Tuesday morning, and you are a graduate. The ' best robe covers you. With the touch of faith you touched the hem of His garment, and then and there you were, like her, ^immediately healed! Could not you tell others now the way to be saved } " " Why, sir, that is all I can talk about to the turnkey, and to poor dear Deacon, when we get together for change of cells. I cannot think about anything else now ; and though some may look upon it as pre- sumption, from the abundance of my heart my mouth must speak." " There is also another thing I must tell you, to answer your question fully: Dear earnest souls, really converted men, may be very zealous in advising and trying to teach others without helping them at all, and the reason is this : They have never learned the difference which God's v/ord makes concerning the relative position of believers and unbelievers ; therefore they will apply to a believer what belongs to an unbeliever, and vice versa; so that con- fusion must ever prevail in the advised person's mind. God's word calls believers * saints,' and all the rest * sinners.' Sinners are described in i Corinthians vi. 9, 10 : * Know ye not that the unrighteous shall 17 not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.* Saifiis are described in the next verse : * And such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' God's word speaks to these as to men who are saved ; to those as to men who are lost ; and unless that distinction is strictly adhered to, the state of things is seen which is mentioned in Ezekiel xiii. 22 : * With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad ; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.'" A flood of light was pouring into his precious soul. '' Then," said he, " I can confidendy take my place among God's children now, for / do believe, and the Spirit of God bears witness with my own spirit that I am a child of God. I know I have eternal life. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ, and I have it by faith." "Yes," I said; "having seen, by faith, the 'eternal redemption which Christ has 13 I' I I i 'I 1 ''. 18 obtained for us' (Heb. ix. 12); having seen, by faith, that He has 'by Himself purged our sins* (Heb. i. 3), you may be as sure of your salvation as if you were already in heaven. God's wor(i^ is as good as His deceit. ' Ye are complete in Him,' is His declaration (Colossians ii. 10) to every believer : only your assurance now must be by faith, whilst in heaven it will be by sight." He said he had been in trouble in read- ing I Corinthians iii. He could not com- prehend about the works of a man being burned and himself saved as by fire ; but now he saw through it. The man who was on the foundation was a saved man ; and if he worked for God he would receive a reward for his faithfulness ; but if he did not work for God he would get no reward, but only be saved as a man out of a fire — just with his life. "Ah!" he said, ''would it not be sweet, if life were mine again, to live for God now in everything !" 1 felt glad to see he had grasped the difference between the eternal security of every true believer, and his daily responsi- bility as a believer to God. Knowing that his salvation is secure through Christ's finished work — that there is no more con- demnation for him — the believer is apt to J 'I 19 stumble at such a passage as 2 Corinthians V. 10, unless he sees its application to his works, respecting which he will have to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. As soon as he sees that it is no more the question of his salvation which is to be raised, but that of his works from the time of his conversion, his soul abides in perfect peace in the assurance of salvation ; while his conscience finds no satisfaction until he forsakes everything which is displeasing to the Lord, and walks in everything, as far as he knows, which is to His glory. Thus, in the full assurance of salvation, Paul could speak of " having a desire to depart, and be with Christ, which is far better :" whilst, at the thought of his responsibility to God as to his service, for which he will have to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, he could say, " Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel." This result I at once perceived in Daniel Mann by his peaceful expression, " Ah, would it not be sweet, if life were mine again, to live for God now in everything !" ''Would you like to have life given to you again ?" I said. " I really could not choose," said he. "The only thing that could now bind me to earth is what I have just said ; but, on the other hand, I have often wished, since 20 you were here last, that I might not have so long to wait till I see Jesus face to face. The evening and night after your visit I was specially happy. I had caught new views of the face of God, and I felt so happy that I wished they might have allowed me to go to the scaffold then." On Lord's -day, November 27th, he pressed the turnkey to go to the preaching of the gospel at the City Hall, saying, that if he were free that was where he should go. The turnkey said he would go if he could ; but something preventing him, he did not go in the afternoon. When time for evening meeting came he pressed hin again. So he came, and as he walked home with me after the meeting, he said nothing was more affecting than to see Daniel Mann preaching to his fellow-crim- inal in the morning. "If anybody can do Deacon any good," he said, *' it is Mann ; he talks like a man who knows what he is about, and where to put confidence ; and he preaches to me also in such a way that it stirs me all up." I heard afterwards that on one occasion the turnkey had spoken to the effect that he was not as great a sinner as some others, upon which Mann answered, '' He that believeth not is condemned already!' 21 On Monday, November 28th, I found him, to use his own words, ** resting in the finished work of my Lord." He was exceedingly occupied with Ephesians ii. 3, especially the last clause, " And were by nature children of wrath, even as others." " I see plainly," he said, ** that without one single crime I was lost. By nature a child of wrath, unfit by my very natural condition to dwell with God ; and surely if on account of my very nature I was lost, what was I with all my sins and my crimes.'* But oh, the blood, the blood of Jesus, it cleanseth from all sin ! I see now what that means in Romans iii. * There is no difference! I see the whole world is lost — the most i loral as the most immoral — all alike lost, and no better off than I am before God, unless they too rest in the finished work of Christ. Oh, I am afraid there are thousands who pity me this day, while they are really objects of my deep pity ! for I fear they think that they are not as needy of Christ as I am, not having run to such excesses." After a good while of sweet fellowship together, during which I could see the wonderful progress he was making in the knowledge of Christ, he said, hesitatingly, *' I beg your pardon for taking such freedom, but please tell me how you live, since you . 22 belong to no sect, you say. There was a good deal of talk among the men at the Penitentiary about you, and those who came before you in the same way; and some said you were all the sons of noble- men, or very wealthy men, who provided you with all you needed, so that you did not need to put yourselves in the hands of a society." "We are all the sons of the King of kings, and the servants of the Lord of lords," I said, "and He is not to us a God afar off, but a Father, who knows we have need of food and clothing for our bodies, as we had need of salvation for our souls. If we served a society, we should rely on that society's pledge to provide for our need ; and surely God's pledge to provide for them that serve Him is no less trustworthy. Surely no society has ever yet counted the hairs of one of its labourers; but our Father has counted every one of ours, and proves His care of us by His care of the sparrows and the lilies." " Have the sparrows and the lilies any care ? Do they lay up for the future ? Do they make provision for their life ? Well, it is the blessed privilege of every man who knows he is serving the Lord to be as free from care as they are, and to go about everywhere in the full assurance that they 13 who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel !" " On this ground, they who have wealth of their own refuse to receive anything ; and they who have nothing, simply trust God, as the husbandman trusts God for rain when he sows his seed. God moves the heart of whom He will to give us what we need ; and if at times we are short, and the cold wind blows through our worn clothes, we wait patiently on Him, knowing the Father never tries a dear child v/ithout a purpose. Thus I can thank my Father, for these shoes I have on, for my coat, for every article I wear, and every piece of bread I and my family eat. I assure you, giving God thanks every time we sit down to eat, is no vain form in such a life as this." *' My purpose is sen/ed," said he ; ** the reason why I made bold to ask you this question is, that I ha,ve seen lately, in reading the Scriptures, how the promises for the life which now is abound among those for the life which is to come ; and it struck me as being only consistent in a man who believes the latter to believe also the former." ** Exactly so," I said; **therefore I affirm that a man who cannot thus trust God implicitly should go to work with his own hands for his bread. Want of faith in God II m i.iM i:'l m'\ 24 is what necessitates existing machinery for getting money, and what builds up sects ; for before a sect will support a man he must pledge himself to build if up, while the man who trusts God can without fear go from the east to the west, from the north to the south, among friends or stran- gers, building up the body of Christ — the Church of the living God !" " Of a truth that is serving God and enjoying God," said he, as delight fairly flashed from his eyes. ** You are already in this life in the suburbs of the city of God. If life were mine again, would it not be sweet to spend it in that way !" " You would find it unspeakably sweet to the spirit," I replied, "but often very bitter to the flesh. A man to follow Christ must renounce himself, and the flesh loves self amazingly." On Tuesday, December ist, as I came into his cell, he said he was just thinking of me — wishing I might come. The sweet calm of his face was the same, but his heart often swelled unaccountably as if it would break. ** Does Satan assail you with doubts ?" I asked. " Oh, no," he replied, " I have not had a shadow of doubt since I saw the finished 25 work '"f Christ. I know tliat is as well finished as mine. I know my redemption is as sure and everlasting by His work, as my damnation was sure and everlasting by my work. The fruit of my work was death to Him, but the fruit of His work is life, eternal life to me. Thanks be to God for evermore ! How can I ever sink resting upon such a rock.** But, I suppose, my sorrow is the harvest one must inevit- ably reap from what he has sown. To die is gain, great gain to me now ; but I cannot sing like Paul and Silas : they were reaping the fruit of faithful service to God, whilst I am reaping the fruit of faithful service to the devil." He asked me for some explanation of Romans vii., which he had been reading. From verse 5 it is the experience of a man who, being quickened through faith in the blood of Jesus, is learning what the flesh is. An unrenewed man struggles mightily to make compensation to God for the sins he has done, until, finding no peace in anything he can do, he falls on what Christ has done, and finds peace. It is terribly humiliating to be saved by what another has done for you, especially when such a one is the Son of C jd ; but humilia- tion is better than damnation, and the poor, weary, proud, sinner yields. This part you Il*'lf 26 know. But the man has not yet reached the end of his humiliation. When the in- tensity of his delight in having found for- giveness of sins is past a little, he finds that, in spite of forgiveness, in spite of his craving desire to please God, of his disin- terested love to the Lord Jesus, of his fasting and praying, there is something in him which he hates bitterly, and which he cannot get rid of. H 4 is in prayer, having a sweet time with God, when suddenly this thing he hates brings to his thoughts some- thing so sinful, or so foreign to communion with God, that the sweetness is broken. If he is singing some ^precious hymn, and making melody in his heart to God, in a twinkle he catches himself making music with his lips, while his heart is busy with anything but the praise found in the words he sings. If he walks alone, now and then he awakes to the sad thought that instead of feeding on the manna he has been think- ing about " the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic" of Egypt. If he is among men, he finds the same annoyance in his dealings with them ; the wrong is suggested even when he is doing the right. In a word, he is harassed by this so much that until he knows what it is, and where God places it, he cannot have settled peace. tached the in- id for- : finds of his disin- of his ing in ich he laving ily this some- lunion sn. If 1, and 1, in a music with words i then istead think- elons, the men, alings even •d, he til he :es it, 27 This thing, then, which he hates is what God calls " the flesh!' (Read verse 5.) The annoyances I have mentioned He calls "the motions of sins." (Read verse 5 again.) The law thunders out from Sinai, with its divine, cursing power, " Thou shalt not lust!'* and the man, knowing the law is holy, just, and good, struggles to obey it. But in his vain endeavours to conquer the flesh, he is at last compelled to cry out, '* O wretched man that I am f who shall deliver me from the body of this death .-^ " Ah, says God at this juncture, you have got just where I wanted you to get. Your struggles to make the flesh better have been as vain as your efforts were to make com- pensation for your sins. You have found your weakness : I can now deliver you, and cause you to call out, **I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Hear again, " Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead." (Rom. vii. 4.) Hear again — oh, hear this ! — " Ye are 7iot in the fleshy but in the Spirit." (Rom. viii. 9.) So that now it is the glorious privilege of every true believer to ^'reckon himself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. vii. II.) And now hear the climax, "For^^ i:ili! i m ih I 28 are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our Hfe, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." (Col. iii. 3, 4.) ** Thank God! thank God!" he ex- claimed, **to have sent a man to Kingston to point me to such amazing love and grace. These passages have shown me more of what my soul already apprehended. It appears to me as if I were no more in existence, but, as it were, living in another and continually repeating to Him what on the cross He did for me." ** Oh," he added, as he squeezed the book against his bosom, ** I feel sometimes like eating it, such is my craving to get hold of its blessed contents." The intense affection which was settling in my bosom for that man cannot be told. I had been preaching in KingstOxi five months, ^v^ times a week, and teaching, seeking souls from house to house besides ; and yet but few did I know, who in all that time had made the progress he had made since he had found peace in believ- ing. I saw in him what I already believed, that the reason why people who know Christ are so slow in growing and walking in Him is because they are not free from "seeking honour one of another." He 1; 29 hrist in appear, -lim in he ex- ingston 1 grace, lore of ed. It lore in mother ^hat on le book les hke hold of jettling e told. M five iching, ssides ; in all le had Deliev- ieved, know alking J from He cared for man no more ; his ear was open to God alone, and the strides he made were wonderful. He asked me if I would be with him at his execution. It would be the last kindness I could do him on earth. I said Yes, though I felt doubtful of my ability to bear it. On Thursday, December 3rd, I called again. That cell inside those dark walls was now the most attractive place to me on earth, and I felt thankful to the Lord for the kindness of the authorities in allow- ing me to go in as often as I pleased. His mother was with him when I came, so I sent word asking him if I should go away and return after a while. He an- swered, he was the more anxious to have me come in, as he longed to have his mother see what he saw, and I might be able to set the gospel before her more clearly than he could. I gladly went in, and while I was setting before her the finished redemption which is in Christ Jesus, he broke out, unable any longer to hold the " rivers of living water " which filled him, and said, " Yes, mother, it is all finished — all done ; and the veil of heaven has been rent in twain, and such sinners as we are, believing^ can have boldness to I r I 30 enter in by the blood of Jesus. When I came to this prison three weeks ago, mother, I only knew one passage in the whole book which could give me any hope at all ; that was in Timothy, * This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accep- tation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' I would repeat that passage to myself, and say, Then there is hope for me ; I need not despair. But I thought I stood a chance only at death. If, during the time I had yet to live, I in some way — I could not tell how — became good, I should stand a good chance when I died. But oh, mother, z^ is finished — all finished! * All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.' And Jesus since then has been sitting at God's right hand to enjoy the sight of believing sinners. Mother, as sure as Christ sits at God's right hand, so sure am I that I am saved, and that I shall be with Him in a few days." His mother wept bitterly; especially when she left him she could not control her sobs, but he comforted her to the last, saying, " Mother, I never was any comfort to you, but now you may have this comfort the rest of your days. The law demands •^. m ■—> n ' jw ^ un "■^T hen I ago, n the ' hope > is a iccep- the 1 am ge to DC for ought luring e way )od, I died. ishedf r> we way; iquity been the r, as d, so hat I cially )ntrol last, nfort Tifort ands 31 my body, but it is all it can do ; I am now redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and you may be sure that in a few days you will have a son in heaven." His composed, smiling face was beautiful as long as he could thus comfort his poor mother; but as soon as the sound of her steps was lost in the corridors, and we I were locked in alone again, his heart began to swell, and his sobs, breaking out almost into roaring, manifested such distress, that I could only look at him and weep. Soon, however, he looked up to heaven, and, lifting up his clasped hands, unburdened himself in beseeching God to comfort his poor mother, and all those he was grieving by his sad end. Soon he was calm again as usual, and turning to me, he said, " I wish I had not to wait so long to be with Jesus." I said, "Let us talk to our Lord a little." We both knelt close together, and he com- menced at once to pray, or rather, indeed, to talk to the Lord. It was a child asking his Father for what he needs. He espe- cially requested that wherever the Lord should send me to preach the gospel, the hearts of the people might be opened to hear it. He praised God a long while for that He had sent His dear Son into the world to do the work by which such poor I If I ^1 ' 32 y ii I 1 wretched sinners as he could be saved. He praised Christ for having finished the work of salvation which His Father had given Him to do. He praised God for having revealed His Son to him, in whom he had eternal life : and he finished by asking that I might not grow weary in the work I was in. That I might be comforted in all my difficulties. That I and my family might never want anything, and that the Holy Ghost might lead me where ever there were such needy souls as he was. After we had risen I noticed he was very pale. I asked him if he felt faint. " Oh, no," he said, "but the thought that 'our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ,* quite carries me beyond this world. I wish the time was not so far away for me to be out of this body, and to enjoy Him without distraction of any kind. The thought of bodily pain is nothing. I am learning every day more to hate myself, and the denial of what we hate is not very hard." " I see in you," I said, " the same thing that is seen in every man who is getting acquainted with Christ : he finds such beauty in Christ that he cannot but loathe himself ; and the nearer the Christian lives to the Lord, the more he loathes himself. 33 There are some Christians who are always talking about their own perfection — their great love and holiness, &c., and by so doing they make others believe that they live near God ; but a man whose eyes are open has never any good to say of himself. I have a sister, who was always a kind sister and a faithful daughter, and yet when she came to the knowledge of Christ she hated the very garments she had worn in the * innocent pleasures ' of the world. A brother also of mine, after he found Christ, would often speak of himself very dis- paragingly — so much so that they who knew him well said he exaggerated. * Ah!* he would answer, * if you saw my heart as I see it, you would tell me I am yet far short of telling the whole truth.' Thus, while one has the full assurance of salva- tion, which you now possess, he is humbled down to the dust. He glories in the Lord who has bought him, but he remembers also that in himself he is only * wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.' When he sees this, he is done serving self. Jesus alone is worthy to be praised, adored, and served." "You make me glad," he said. "It is joy to my soul to hear man made nothing of, and Jesus made everything. Oh what a love I feel kindling in my bosom for c 34 all on the face of the earth who make nothing of man and everything of my Jesus! Remember me in love to your brother and sister, and all who are of the same mind." He told me he had read the first epistle to the Thessalonians, and he had plainly seen that the same Jesus who had gone up to heaven on a cloud, in the view of His disciples, would come again in person, and it seemed to be a subject set before the children of God for their hope and their comfort. " I remember hearing Millerites preaching it," he said, " and setting a time. Do you believe in that ?" ** I believe what you have found in Thessalonians," I answered, ''and which is treated of in man '' other places in Scripture. But as to st "mg a time, it is a piece of man's presumption r ignorance. As to the Lord's return, it is w!iat Scrip- ture declares every child of God ought to be waiting for incessantly. To any eye that is open it is plain we are in the very ' last days,' but a child of God ought not even to be looking at that. The word says his Lord is to come at any hour — at any moment — and he should be in a wait- ing state in heart and practice." " How sweet that is ! " he said. " Even if I am executed before He comes, you 35 may not have to wait long. Oh be very earnest, my brother ! " This was Hke a voice coming to me from the other world. I have been waiting every day for our dear Lord, and endea- vouring to act upon it these four years ; but that voice in a cell, telling me with such emphasis, '* Be earnest," has wrought a still more burning desire to "be sted- fast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." After a time of silence he said, " Oh, I forgot — I forgot to tell mother." "What?" I asked. "If it is some- thing you can tell me, I can go to see her, and tell her." " I should be glad," he said, " if you would : it is this, I leave this world be- longing to no sect. I belong to Christ, who has redeemed me with His own blood, and made me His own property. I belong to no sect, no man, no creed of any kind, and I would impress her with the dishonour done to Christ in belonging to anything of that kind, that when God has made her to see what I now see, she may glorify H im in it. I belong to Christ, and to Him alone. I love God's people, I wish I could see them all, serve them all, and enjoy communion with them all ; but I belong to Christ. I am a Christian, 36 holding now the relationship to all my brethren which I shall hold through all eternity." rlis faith, his deep insight into the ways of God, and the holy boldness of his speech, were binding me to him more than I ever had been bound to any one. The thought of our speedy separation was almost more than I could bear. I had already spoken to some of my breth- ren about the propriety of having special prayer meetings for his reprieve, but they had pointed me to i John v. i6, "There is a sin unto death : I do not say that he shall pray for it ; " and this had convinced me that seeking after a reprieve for him would be improper, both in the sight of God, who has "ordained the powers that be," and given them the sword " for the punishment of evil-doers," and in the sight of the world, before whom the Christian is to walk in perfect submission to those powers. The word of God had convinced and satisfied me, but my love for him was such that I would gladly have gone to be- seech the Governor for him. As it was, I could find comfort only in this one thing, " Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus." On Monday, December 5th, I found him brie"hter and more cheerful than at A HEtSMnViAilBAt 37 any time before. His coat was rolled up for a pillow at one end of a wooden bench, and he was lying there feasting '* on God's love," as he said, when the sound of the key roused him. Daily, he said, things were growing brighter before him. Daily he abhorred self more, and delighted in the Saviour more. ** Even in my sleep," he said, ** the love of God occupies my unconscious thoughts." He said before he had peace he often agonized in prayer for hours ; but since he had seen that Christ on the cross had gone through the agony for sin, he could feel agony no longer; but he de- lighted to lie quietly on his back, and just think of the love of God. ** And oh, such rapturous hours!" he added, "what will it be when I get there ! all this is no senti- mental religion, whose seat is in one's imagination or feelings. It is a solid rock the believer's feet are on, and founded on that he may well feel happy." He got much blessing from John xvii. 4, " I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." So far he had only seen Christ satis- fying the jiT^tice of God in dying for poor sinners ; but on this occasion he saw Christ glorifying God in that work He had been sent to do. He saw the wonderful sove- 38 reignty of God, since every word v/hich He had spoken must be entirely fulfilled, even if it cost the very life of the darling of His bosom ; and this sovereign right- eousness brought out fully by the work of Christ. By it He proves the holiness of God, His unflinching justice, and His amazing love, all combined and interlaced. He is holy, and therefore the sin of the sinner must be put away before the sinner can approach Him. He is just, and there- fore Christ must be ** made a curse for us " before we can be "redeemed from the curse of the law." He is love, and there- fore He comes down in man ** reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them " This of course carried him far beyond the thought of his own eternal safety. The glory of God was a new field for his de- lighted soul. One thing surprised me more than any- thing before : he had seen the difference, in reading the Scriptures, between the "coming of the Lord" and the "day of Christ:" the former referring to the coming of Q\vcvsX for His saints, the latter to His coming with His saints to execute judg- ment on the nations of the world. Surely, I thought, if the Holy Ghost so thoroughly instructs a child of God, who has but nine •vhich filled, arling right- )rk of ^ss of His aced. the inner here- us >» the lere- tiling their y^ond The 1 de- any- ince, the y of ling His idg- ■ely, :hly line 39 days more to live, in the things concerning the return of our Lord, he must be won- derfully occupied with it, compared with the time when the church almost wholly ignored the subject. He asked me if I had been happy in preaching the day before. I told him, as was truly the case, I had never had more power from on high in preaching before. He said, " I thank God ; for during the hours of preaching I besought God to help yc \ and to cause the good seed to fall on ; o< 1 ground." lie said it was very sweet to him to see the change that peace with God wrought in a man's mind. Before he had peace, occupied with himself incessantly, he cared for nothing and nobody; but now, occupied with Christ, his heart went after everybody, longing that all might get what he had. He was jaoI; insensible to their temporal things, Vao it was their spiritual things which o 'i >ied him most. He seemed especially 'indous for the souls of his fellow-convicts in the Penitentiary ; and several times expressed the wish that I should be allowed, if it were but once or twice, to preach to them about the finished reden:^>tion in Christ Jesus. On Wednesday morning, December 7th, 40 after returning from the country, where I had gone the day before to preach, I heard that something had come out in the morn- ing daily paper as a production from Daniel Mann which was unbecoming to a child of God. Upon procuring a paper, I found it to be truly what it was represented to be. And even supposing the things he said to be just, and ascribing the way in which he said them to his great ignorance of the rules of well-bred society, the spirit mani- fested was anythi ) 'Ut a spirit of love, especially toward certain officials of the Penitentiary. I had, from the moment he had found peace, been so confident of his being a converted man, that I could scarcely be- lieve the article was his own, and, to avoid troubling him unnecessarily with what was going on outside, I went to the publishing office to ascertain. The original article was shown me, and I could doubt no longer; it was his own hand-writing. A keener pang had never crossed my bosom. Thoughts of all sorts rushed to my mind, and Satan assailed me with the dreadful thought that my erring brother was only a hypocrite, doubly worthy of contempt for his ability to be so in the face of death and eternity. In my sorrow I could but say with the wearied prophet, ** It is enough ; 41 no A now, O Lord, take away my life ; for I am not better than my fathers." In a moment, however, I was reminded how often I had failed, and far more griev- ously than this, since I had found peace in Christ. Also, how much more grievously than this Peter (an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ) and others had failed, though children of God ; so I took courage and went to the prison, feeling sure the oppor- tunity had come for the admonition iu Galatians vi. i : " Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meek- ness ; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." As soon as I had entered his cell he said he had been longing all the morning to see me come in ; he felt very much dejected, and he could not tell why. " Since when ? " I asked. " Since yesterday morning," he replied ; " and, oh, how I did wish to see you all day yesterday." *' Have you lost your peace?" I asked him. " No," he said; ** I can rest in God's love, because I see there is no other ground where a sinner can rest ; but rest is not enough for me, I want to rejoice in the Lord, and I cannot." i 42 As I saw his broken state of mind, I felt I must deal very gently with him so as not to grieve him beyond measure. More than ever drawn to him, I could now also wound him without fear; for his wounds were mine ; so I said, ** Perhaps you have not heeded the admonition in Ephesians iv., 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let al- bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice : and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.' The article from you which came out in yesterday morning's paper did not surely breathe that tender- hearted forgiving spirit spoken of in the above passage ; therefore the Holy Spirit who now dwells in you has been grieved, and if you grieve your Comforter, how do you expect to be comforted ? Ah, my brother, the flesh is a source of much grief to all the true children of God.'* As soon as I had spoken these words his expression became one of indescribable grief, and his heart began to swell again as after his parting with his mother. *' Oh ! " he exclaimed, looking up to heaven and squeezing my hands in his, " thanks be unto God ! I shall soon be out of a wretched 43 world where I never did but rebel against God and man, and where I can now but grieve Him who has bought me with His own blood." I could truly weep with him, for I knew by experience the powerful union of the Christian s three bitter foes — the flesh, the world, and the devil. I knew well how the devil stirs up the flesh, and how the world V^ves to get hold of the result and make tne best of it. Fearing no^/ lest Satan should take advantage of his fault, and remembering he was only a child two weeks old, I pro- ceeded to establish him in what he already perceived plainly — that is, that a fault could in nowise aflect his sonship. It could only affect his commu7iion. His sonship rested on the finished work of Christ, through faith in Him. His sonship therefore could not be touched except by overthrowing Christ. Peace had been made by the blood of His cross, and He, risen from the dead and seated at God's right hand, *'is our peace." I pointed him to i Corinthians i. 30, and other passages of the same charac- ter, and in a little while I saw the desired effect. Seeing that nothing, not even his failures, could rob him of his salvation, since thatwas in Christ in whom he believed, he said, with more and more grief, '* Oh, 44 blessed Saviour, to think that I could thus grieve thee ! thou whose blood has secured me an eternal inheritance in heaven ! I am ashamed, so ashamed of myself, Lord, that I can but lie down in confusion before thee!" Turning to me he said, ''And I have grieved you too, my brother. Ah ! you are strong, and able to resist the evil, therefore God has called you to face it ; but I am weak, so weak that God saw I was not fit to live, even as a child of His. I shall soon be where I can praise Him as I wish." " Well," said I, *' the same God who provided salvation for the sinner has also provided restoration for the believer. In restoration, as in salvation, t!.e way is His own, and that is Christ. Salvation for the sinner is through His blood ; restoration for the believer is through His intercession." We read together the first ten verses of John xiii., and then I said to him, " Do you see how that Jesus, in anticipation of the work He was going to do on the cross for the salvation of sinners, girds Himself with a towel, and with water washes His disciples' feet ? Peter, not yet knowing the wondrous work his Master is to do, cannot understand such humiliation, and therefore refuses to have Him humble Himself down to such work ; but Jesus insists, telling him he will know after a while what this means. V* 45 In a moment Peter changes his mind, and wants to be washed all over. Oh, no, says Christ, * He that is washed is clean every whit ; he needeth not save to wash his feet.'" All this is very simple now. The " here- after" is now, and every child of God should see what ft means ; for after Christ had obtained a.k eternal redemption for us, and gone back home, He sent down the Holy Ghost, who now dwells in every converted man, and enables him to search and com- prehend the deep things of God. When a man believes, he is (then and there) washed, and is " clean every whit." By one sacrifice he is ** perfected for ever]' so that he never again needs the application of the blood. Those who think they need to be washed in the blood constantly make the blood of Jesus, as far as they are concerned, no better than that of bulls and goats, beside annulling the need of His intercession. But while he is a man, every whit cleansed, he is a man who has the flesh dwelling in him, a wicked world all around him, and the devil constantly after him. He has to walk in the midst of all these difficulties, and his feet are very apt to get dirty, i John ii. i expresses it, "If any man sin, we (who are saved) have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" and again in 46 Romans vlii. 34, "Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter- cession for us (believers)." Jesus died, and therefore the believer lives; Jesus inter- cedes, and therefore the offending but con- fessing believer is restored to communion with God. His cup was full and running over. We knelt together, and in a quiet, subdued prayer, such as I never had heard before, he poured out his heart to God, especially beseeching Him to keep him from ever again grieving His Holy Spirit and dis- honouring His blessed name. For a long while we sat close together on his bench, he weeping like a child, and only interrupting the silence from time to time by saying, " How sweet to lie down on the mercy of God !" or, ** What a vile thing I am; Lord, what a vile thing I am!" or, "How kind in you, dear brother, to tell me!" " I am no better than you," I said ; " the flesh in me is the same as in you. My spirit is willing as yours, and my flesh as weak also ; to-morrow I may need to be admonished in my turn. I have only done what my hand would do for another member of my body if in need. Believing you belong to the body of Christ, to which I also belong, I have only followed that which 47 the Lord )f the body wishes to see, and which He expresses in i Corinthians xii. Read it when I am gone." I had come to the prison grieved at what had happened ; I left it happier than ever : sure that the Lord would draw His praise out of this. On Friday, December 9th, he was quite taken up with something he had found on Wednesday night after 1 had left him. It was the same thing with which he had been occupied for some days, of which he had tasted the bitter fruit a little while before, and which God was showing him with power ; namely, the flesh. Until a late hour at night he said he was, as it were, swallowed up in this passage of Psalm li. 5 : " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." '' I saw myself," he said, ** a mere mass of corruption, and such corruption, that I cannot describe my feelings ; I praised God who enabled me to see myself as He saw me, and, oh, my brother, if you knew how I got to hating myself — it was such a strange thing! You know it is natural for every man to have some respect for himself, and even when in the Peniten- tiary, if any man had said injurious things to me I should have resented it, supposing 48 I my honour as a man was touched. Some one who called at the Penitentiary made some cutting remark on my family, and upon hearing it I made up my mind that my first duty after my release would be to avenge the offence ; but since the other night it seems to me that the more evil said of me the better it makes me feel. Indeed, it is lost time to talk evil about me. The best way is to take it all in a lump, and say he is only evil. The very esse^ice of me is evil. All from me can be but evil. Oh, what a sight! And yet, do you know, I never was so happy in my life. I can hardly tell why I should be so happy with such a sight, except that it made the grace of God more manifest to me ; but I was so happy that I could not sleep. I felt as if I must get out of my cell, gather the whole world around me, and tell them they were all shapen in iniquity, conceived, born, and brought up in sin, and all rotten to the heart as well as myself ; and the only way, of course, for such creatures to stand before a holy God is by what Jesus has done ; for the very best things such creatures could do must be ov^y filthy rags, I praised God again and again ; and when I saw it was no use thinking about preaching to the world, I thought I must preach to the night guard. I have thought since that he may 49 ^ere and the have imagined, from the way I spoke to him, that I was not quite right in my mind." ** I see you have got where every child of God ought to be," I said, "and you make me think about a much-hated servant of the Lord Jesus. As he was going quietly on his way once, some one tried to anger him by heaping insults upon him ; but he soon put out the fire by saying, * If you knew me as I !:now myself, you would say far worse things than this.' Well, this is the only state of mind in which the Chris- tian can glorify God. It is this very thing which makes him a pilgrim and a stranger in the midst of the world ; for the world sees nothing but its rights, whilst he claims I none, and is ever ready to do as the sheep whose wool is sheared from his back, and makes no complaint." " All this seems very plain to me now," he said, " but I suppose very few in the world see this. As I said to the guard the other night when I was so happy, I have no doubt the world would laugh at me if I told them that there is not in man enough good to lay the end of a needle on. Ah, I am afraid only few will be saved ! for even amongst the preachers, I never heard any one talk in this way. The idea seems to be to get people to do better, to reform, and such nonsense — yes, such nonsense : D H! i*:*T 50 for in the sight of what man isy to talk to him about doing is itbsurd, and it leads to hell." As he spoke I thought in my own heart, Would to God every pulpit in the land were occupied by such a preacher ! Yes, cold, worldly children of God, if you had such preaching, your consciences would burn until you walked worthy of your calling. You vain, good, moral professors of Chris- tianity, you could not boast long In your outward goodness ; but would soon flee from the midst of God's people, unable to bear the searching power of the truth ! And you, preachers of the truth, you would soon cease to be the popular, applauded, courted men of the world ! Amazed to see how fast the Lord was leading this dear soul in His ways, I felt happier than ever in opening my Bible to read with him such portions as seemed to me needful to him. He had entered fully into the forgiveness of si7ts, but he had evidently never yet fully grasped the blessed truth of *' sin put away." I pointed a\ir\ to Romans vi. 6-11, and to Galatians ii. 20, and endeavoured to show him this " old man " he now hated so much, and which he had learned to hate from God — who hates it far more than any of us can hate it — that this **old man," or ^* first Adam," or "1 ,1k to d? to leart, were cold, such burn illing. 3hris- your "t from ) bear And i soon ^urted was I felt )le to led to fully had lessed lun to li. 20, •'old Ich he hates It- or 61 " flesh," or " carnal mind " — all synonymous terms — had been " crucified with Christ,' who in grace "was made sin for us," It was therefore " put away " from God's sight. He calls it ** dead " since it was "crucified with Christ;" therefore he says to us who believe, " Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." But he seemed unable to grasp the depth of this glorious truth ; for he kept repeating, he wished it were more dead — he wished he could crucify it more. As he looked at himself and saw he was only sin, and could be nothing else, his only hope, of course, could be in w^hat Jesus had done ; but he wished he could get rid of this hateful thing. Again I commended him to God and left him, realizing how helpless man is in Imparting the truth to others. He can only lay it before them ; the Holy Ghost must apply it. The next morning, Saturday, December loth, he was the first object of my thoughts as I awoke, and after asking the Lord to guide me through the day, I felt I could not even wait for breakfast, but must go to the prison. is: I I -^ 52 I found him pondering over Galatians ii. 20, and trying to get the meaning of it. As usual, I sat beside him, opened my own Bible, and referred him to Scripture for every question he asked, or which seemed " meat in due season." I had just pointed him to I Corinthians i. 30 — " But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" — and was endeavouring to show him the divine per- fection a man stands in when he has Christ, who is made unto him, of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp- tion, when he suddenly ceased paying attention to anything I said, and exclaimed, "Oh, what a wonderful thing I see! Christ Himself my righteousness ! Yes, Christ Jesus Himself, not what He has done, but His own self — as He is, there at God's right hand — He is my righteousness ! Oh, my brother, do you see it ?" He had caught the blessed truth, and the state of happiness it threw him into took such hold of me also that I could scarcely keep quiet, and kept on talking to him ; but he said, '* That is enough : let me enjoy for awhile what I never dreamed man could enjoy on earth." The silence we were in for awhile was not what some might imagine, that of a ms n. of it. r own e for emed )inted Him made , and i was e per- 3hrist, sdom, demp- Daying Mmed, Christ Christ le, but God's ! Oh, 1, and into could ling to : let iamed le was of a 53 dark, gloomy, felon's cell : it was the silence of intense divine happiness, and of deep adoration. He broke the silence by saying, "Why, this sets me aside, does it not ? Since Christ Himself is my righteousness, it is a righteousness that is divine, complete, independent of me, of my feelings, of my thoughts ; a righteousness which Satan himself cannot affect, no matter how much he may try me. Now I see that before I can perish Christ Himself must perish, for He is my righteousness. Oh, my brother, if He my righteousness has not appeared on the clouds of heaven before next Wed- nesday morning I shall go to see Him !" "Now," I said, "you can take up Simeon's strain : * Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation !' The I^oly Ghost has taught you a wondrous truth ; for Christ, now yotir righteousness through faith, is God's righteousness ; therefore we (who believe) are ' made the righteousness of God in Him.'" (2 Cor. v. 21.) " I see," he continued, " how it is that I am a dead man before God. Christ was crucified, and I was crucified with Him : Christ died, and I am a dead man ; but Christ is risen, and He is my righteousness. God looks on me in Him, and He loves 54 me even as He loves Christ Himself. How sweet these two lines are to me now : " * I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all' I see how it is too that I am a *new creature' in Christ Jesus. All that I have done, all that I am, is blotted out ; I am a new man. Now I can go right on in perfect peace and joy to meet God ; for when I arrive before Him, I can point to Jesus at His right hand, and say, ' There, my God, is my righteousness !' " And so saying he walked the cell, squeezing his folded arms against his chest as if he pressed some dear one against his bosom. After awhile he turned to me and said, *' How dear to me are all who in any place have Christ for their righteousness. How I love them in Christ ! " " Do you believe," I said, " such a thing as this is not enough to bind people to- gether?" "If this is not enough," he replied, ** what can be ?" • " I only ask you this," I said, " because I see in you what many are awaking to — that is, that if aught but the Christ of God be upheld to bind Christians together, their union is not of God, and therefore cannot please Him." How *new have I am on in ; for lint to rhere, nd so [g his if he osom. . said, Dlace How :hing e to- plied, cause to— God their innot 55 A long while we remained together worshipping our God. In prayer he be- sought God to lead many precious souls to find what he had just found, and especi- ally asked it for his poor fellow-criminal. He prayed in particular for every one of hjs family. Of one whom he had loved much, he said, *' Lord, he is a good, up- right, affectionate man ; but still he is lost, and he knows it not. Oh, do thou tell him he is lost ! " Praying for me, he said, "Thou knowest, Lord, how much I love my dear brother, and what I would do for him for thy sake if I could ; but I know that thou lovest him far more thah I do, and I commend him to thee." He spoke evidently face to face with God. There was no excitement, no familiarity ; but the sweet liberty of a submissive son before a loving Father. There lay a book of prayers on his table, which some one had sent him, but he had no need any 7?iau should teach him, for he had the anointing which teacheth all things, even the Holy Ghost, (i John ii. 27.) How wonderful the difference between the man who performs a religious duty in '' saying his prayers," and the one who, full of ;he Huly Ghost, pours out his need to his Father. As I left the prison I thought to myself 56 this was the brightest case I had yet seen, where the ofreat difference was shown be- tween forcriveness of sins found (Col. i. 14), and God's righteousness imputed (Rom. iii. 22) ; the first being by the shedding of blood, the latter in the risen Christ; the first giving a negative salvation, the latter a positive righteousness. Surely a man who knows he is made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus should "joy in God" incessantly, whilst a craving such as no tongue can express should fill his bosom and break out in " prayer without ceasing," that he may have grace to walk worthy of such a wondrous calling in the sight of God and of men. Oh that God's dear children might know what is theirs in the risen Christ! They would then talk less about their feelings, their frames of mind, their weakness, their victories, their faith and works of faith, anything good or bad about themselves : the theme and substance of all their talk would be Christ " made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption." On Monday, December 12th, I spent again the morning with him. He was in a deeply quiet state of mind. " The hour is fast approaching," he said, ** but I know 57 Italic rod, land )ent in lour low in whom I have believed. God, who says that by the blood of Jesus my sins are all washed away, and that He remembers them no more, has so enabled me to be- lieve Him that I have almost forgotten them too, and am wholly taken up with Christ my righteousness. Sometimes I wonder if it can be possible that such grace should be true ; but when such thoughts come I open quickly my Testa- ment, and reassure myself that I am not mistaken. Ah, my brother, God's word alone can satisfy the soul with which God is at work. It is only what God says that is worth anything. Oh how I wish men would see this ! let everything go but the word of God." *' And how does God say we are His children ? " I asked. " By faith in Jesus Christ," he replied, pointing to the verse. ** And what does God say His children are ?" I asked again. He did not catch my thought, so I referred him to Romans viii. 1 7, *' And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." After a little while of new delight from this passage, he said, '* Oh that my mother, and my brothers and sisters, and everybody might see the things that I see ! ' 58 " You are just like me," I said, " as I read and re-read the word, and discover new glories in it, I burn for the time of preaching to come to tell them to others." • In a little while the Spirit of God led us to the subject of the resurrection from the dead, i Corinthians xv. and i Thessalonians iv. were the chief Scriptures we used. **You know," I said, "what first-fruit means. Well, it says there that Christ is the first-fruit of all the brethren. Their turn will be * when He comes.' The spirits of believers, washed in His blood, are at rest in God's bosom the moment they leave the body, as it says in 2 Corinthians v. 8, * Absent from the body, present with the Lord.' There they wait for their bodies to be raised immortal, as ive wait here for ours to be changed. And all this, the Scripture declares, will take place 'at His coming.' At that grand hour, the crowning of all our waiting, the bodies of the dead saints shall all be raised again, only now in glory ; and the bodies of all of us, His living saints, shall be changed in *the twinkling of an eye,' and * caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air !' This is the first resurrection, also called *the resurrection of the just,' which may occur to-day, while we are here talking together, at any moment of the day or the 69 new night. The world will very likely know nothing about it, except as the few who are waiting for Him will be found missing here and there. It may go on just the same with its religious ordinances and boasted progress for a little while, until He, with power and great glory, appears on the clouds of heaven with the myriads of His glorified saints, to execute judgment on it. As it happened to Sodom, so to the world then. Lot was first taken out, and Sodom had not long to riot after. It is then 'the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free- man, hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand ?' ** Those who are not saved belong to another resurrection, which occurs later, as you may see in Revelation xx. And thus, if tLe Lord does not come before you die, you will be waiting for His coming, and, of course, for the resurrection in God's bosom ; whilst I shall be waiting down here en- deavouring to lead others in the same precious things you now see, and often 60 getting for reward the sneers of those men described in 2 Peter iii. 3, 4, * Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His com- ing ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of the creation.' You will be at rest, able to adore Him without distraction of any kind, whilst I shall be at war, constantly struggling against everything which would rob me of an adoring spirit, defending the blessed truth which has made us free, and praying for grace to be 'stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, know- ing our labour is not in vain in the Lord.' " " How sweet, how sweet, all this is ; " he exclaimed. " It is wonderful how the word sets a man clear on everything." ** Yes," I said, " if he is submissive to it.'* ** But tell me," he said, ** how is this that some people speak of death as if that were the same thing as the Lord's coming ? for I see the Scripture shows them to be very different things." ** They who do this," I replied, " show either their unbelief or their ignorance. With some I am afraid it is even worse. They know the word is true, and they know it teaches that, but they are nicely settled in this world, or they want to do some great 1 )> 61 thing in It, therefore they hate the idea of Christ's coming, because that would inter- fere with their plans. They prefer the idea of death, because that gives them at least the chance of so many years. My own wicked heart went through it all before I was willing to bow to the word, so I know all this. But now, submissive to the word, all is clear and simple as day ; the heavy oppressive feeling which follows this, 'What is to come hereafter ? ' is gone, and * we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.' " On Tuesday morning, December 13th, his countenance was calm. He seemed even more free than before from the stran- gling sobs which he could not restrain through all our former interviews. " I am living," he said " in the first four verses of Colossians iii., and in Ephesians ii." " You are living in pastures which only sheep know," I said ; '' and they are sweet." " Yes ; very, very sweet," he replied. They are so sweet that I have nothing whatever to wish for for myself, save that my Father may give me grace and strength to deport myself in everything as it becomes a poor sinner saved by grace. Since I can K ,i 62 glorify God in nothing else now, may I glorify Him in the full peace and confidence v/hich become one whose righteousness is Christ." ** God may glorify Himself through you more than in this which you desire," I said. ** As soon as I saw the Holy Ghost had opened your eyes to see the grace of God, a voice kept repeating in my ears, Here is an instrument by which God will display what He is ; so I have carefully and as accurately as possible penned the substance of every one of our interviews, which I in- tend to publish as soon as I can, in the full assurance that the Lord will use it for His glory in the building up of His Church. Have you any objection to this ? " ** May the Spirit of our God go with it," he answered. '* Oh, may He use it for the opening of many, many eyes, and the joy of many, many hearts 1 I will now pray for this to my end, that God may glorify Himself by it." ** There is something else yet," I said, " in which God may be glorified. Indeed it is the greatest thing : turn to Luke xvii." We read from verse 1 1 to 19, and I said, ** There are, in figure, ten sinners saved by grace, through faith ; but Jesus Himself declares that only one of them — and he a poor outcast like you, a Samaritan — has ^ >» )J 63 glorified God. And the way in which he gave glory to God was by returning and falling at his Lord's feet in heart-felt adoration. Ah ! this is something we are all too apt to forget. Our idea is, that the only way to glorify God is by doing some great thing, whilst God's greatest delight is in seeing the saved sinner fall down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks ! Mary is another such case. She cares more for her dear Lord than for all the poor in the land. Lookers-on, even dis- ciples, find fault with ' this waste ; ' but the Lord orders it to be published * wheresoever this gospel is preached in the whole world.' So the alabaster boxes of true worship you may pour on Jesus to your end may be far more to the glory of God than the three h.mdred pence of money." I was kindly allowed — what we both wished much — to spend the last night together, as the hour of the execution was eight o'clock in the morning, so I arranged to return in the evening. No words can describe the strange, sweet hours of that night. Its sweetness, deepened by its sadness, cannot be told. It was my share of God's grace displayed in him. It was my harvest for my three 1 64 weeks' teaching. It is another oasis in the wilderness I have been travelling in these four years. I shall be glad when it ends, but until then this is sweet. It was no more teaching and learning as before. We were feasting together on what he had learned during the past three weeks. We worshipped our Goi ; we adored our Lord Jesus. There was no noise, no excitement. Ours was a quiet cell that night; but, oh the solemnity of it! Jesus was there. Ah, my brethren, do you know what it is to worship God ? Do you know what it is to possess eternal life ? to know that that life is in Jesus, yea, in Jesus Himself, who sits at God's right hand, now in the very same body in which He bare our sins on the tree ? Do you know what it is to ignore creed, name, and title ? to know only Christ, and own and love one another only in Him? Do you know what it is **to keep His word" and let go everything else ? To **not: deny His name" and deny every other name ? Then you know what Jesus meant when He said, " This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John xv. 12) ; and you may form some idea of what we both enjoyed that night. I wept sore many a time at the thought that that man whom I 65 It IS now loved as my own soul was about to be torn away from me in such a violent manner ; but he would say, as he would draw me up against him, "Do not weep, brother ; you know I am a son of God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus." But this, while it forbade all bitterness, only grieved me the more, for that was the very ground and bond of my love to him. His favourite expression through the whole night was, " A son of God, a part, yes, a very part of thee. Lord Jesus! oh, why should I not rejoice! * He never remained long without return- ing to his Testament, which lay open on the table with many leaves turned and many portions underlined. It was not to seek anything new, but to read and re-read the passages which referred most clearly to the grace of God. The special portions he used were Galatians ii. 20; Romans vi. and viii.; Ephesians ii. ; Colossians iii. 1-4; and John xiv. 1-4. An expression in rhe passage of Galatians ii. especially filled him: "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." "It is nothing of mine," he would say, ** it is all of God ; not even my faith. I am a man in Christ, in the Son of God ; one spirit with Him ; flesh of His flesh, bone ot His ii 66 bone ; a very part of Him, and this for all eternity." "O Jesus, Jesus," he would often exclaim, '* how I love thee ! in a few hours I shall feast on thee, O Lord Jesus, to my heart's content. Then I shall be filled. But, oh, my Father, until then give me to remember that I walk by faith, not by sight; by simple faith in what thou hast written in thy blessed book." Often we prayed. He never asked any- thing for himself, save that he might have strength from the Lord to act to the last moment as it becomes one who has all things in Christ. '* Thou knowest, my Father," he would say, " how natural it is to the flesh to shrink from death, and especially a death like this ; but Jesus has borne my sins in His own body on the tree. He is risen. He sits at thy right hand, and He is my life. I therefore — thou knowest it, my Father — have no fear of any kind concerning eternity : there is no sting in death for me. But the world will be looking at me. Lord, and I should shame thee and thy word were I to show weakness. Help me in that hour!" The burden of his prayers was chiefly for all his ** brethren in Christ Jesus." He would tell the Lord what a wicked world they were in, and how much they needed His help to go through for His glory. He 67 also besought the Lord much for all his family, especially for his mother and a grown-up sister. He prayed much that God would stir up the people everywhere to hear the truth as it is in Jesus. He asked often that the publication of our interviews might be blessed to everyone who should read it; and upon my telling him of a special work for the I ^rd in the States which weighed somewhat on my mind, he, several times before morning, besought the Lord for it. At one time, as he lay resting on the bench, his coat rolled up under his head for a pillow, his happiness became so intense that he said to me, "I do not believe I can live till morning." His eyes closed, his hands lifted toward heaven, as he lay on his back, he only gave sign of life by repeat- ing in a low voice, "Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus; one with thee. I long for thee. Lord Jesus." Soon he reached for my hand, which he put on his forehead under his own, and in this way he slept a little while. When he awoke he asked what time it was. "Just three," I said. " Five hours more, my blessed Jesus, and I shall be with thee," he said. *'Oh, how sweet that is ! 1 never knew what real, unbroken, unclouded happiness was even until last Saturday, when I saw Christ in heaven as my righteousness. 1 know what 68 peace is since that morning when I saw the finished woik of Christ for my salvation ; but since I have known Christ Himself as my righteousness I know what joy means. Several p-entlemen called in yesterday, and seemed to pity me in my condition ; but, oh, how I do wish they might be as I am, save the hanging!" Again he said, " Morning is coming, and I wish to forget nothing. This Testament was given me by Mr. G., and I leave it for him to carry to my mother. It is the best gift I ever had. May my dear mother find in it what I have found. This packet of tracts I leave for you to carry to my mother. It will be a kindness to me if you lasit her as often as you can. Tell her I am at home ; a sinner saved by grace, through faith. I have made a dying request that she may be released : for she is not guilty, and is there through my fault alone. I trust my Father will move the heart of the Governor to do so ; but tell her that peace with God makes a palace of a prison. She must not think it is easier to believe outside a prison than inside. Christ has done it all, and it is believing that makes everything ours. If she will 07ily believe, she will meet me again when Jesus comes. " Tell my sister she is lost, as lost as I was, and must therefore be saved in the 69 same way in which I am saved. Please write to her, and tell her I never knew what happiness was till I saw the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Tell her she may think she is happy in the pleasures of the world, but I know they are death, eternal woe, at the end. "When you have published our inter- views, send a copy to each of my relatives, whose address you L. v'e. " Tell everybody that I recognize no church but the Church of God, the body of Christ, of which, through faith in Jesus Christ, I am a happy, happy member. I love — yes, I dearly love — all whose confi- dence is where mine is, and who love my blessed Jesus. Moreover, I affectionately and solemnly warn them who seem to place much confidence in the Church or in ordi- nances. I have received several books and other matters since I came here, which talk in that way ; but I am sure there is nothing so dangerous, because it hides Christ, in whom alone is salvation, and grace, and strength. These things, I know, are very good in their place, but I feel sure many are putting them before Christ ; for if they saw in Christ what I see, ihey would set Him up so high that the other things would not be noticed much. " Insist that forgiveness of sins is not M'\ ;M 70 when a man dies, but when he believes, because the debt was all paid over 1800 years ago. Tell the world that it is lost, but that God sent His Son to save it; that the work for our salvation was finished when Jesus died. Oh that they would believe ! If they could only see in Jesus what I see, they could not stay away another moment." He called the night-guard, and said, "Oh, Mr. R., I love you : I do love you so much that I wish I could see you resting in Christ before I die." " I have determined now to try to be a Christian," answered the guard. " Oh, no ! that will not do ! that will not do!" he replied. "God wants none oi your determination. It is His Son, eternal life, a finished redemption, He offers you. Will you not have it "^ Look at me. Three hours more and I shall hang, and yet I am the happiest man living. What do you think of that.'* Is there not reality in Christ? Is it not a reality worth having ? Look at that man ! (he pointed to me) the love of Christ has enabled him to leave the world and be happy in such a place as this. Is there not reality in Christ ?" Thus he pleaded, and after awhile he said to me, " Let us pray for Mr. R. Maybe the Lord will show him what we see." .< i hree am you rist? .ook love the this. said tybe n Often he would take both my hands in his, stoop a little so as to draw his face close to mine, and tb^n would say, "We arc two sons of God, two members of the body of Christ, two brothers in Him : is not that delightful ?" and so saying he wou!d look in my eyes until I was com- pelled to drop my eyelids. Oh, that face ! how dear to me ! it still lives ! At seven o'clock he said, " Now, Lord, one more glance at thy word, then I will tie up the book for my dear mother, and I go to thee." After he had arranged everything on the table, he said to me, '* Now Satan is assail- mg me. j> I felt afraid of this ; for I well knew that Satan could see he would soon be out of his reach, so I could but silently pray for him. In about four or five minutes he said, ** It is all over. I am one with Christ, and Christ is one with God. God is my Father, and Satan is at my feet." As the noise of feet and voices was beginning to be heard all round, he said, *' Soon we shall be surrounded by people, so let me bid you good-bye as I wish ! " and so saying he took me in his arms as a child, kissed me over and over again ; then let me go, and said, " You have taught me the truth of God, and He has plucked me as a 72 brand from the burning. May God bless you and everything you do. May He make you strong to preach the same things to many more till Jesus comes !" While he spoke the cell had been opened, and we were asked to go into another cell, where several were assembled with the other criminal. A few minutes before eight the arms of both were tied to ascend to the gallows. While he was being tied a shiver seemed to pass over him. Our eyes met, and again his smiling face was turned up toward heaven. The procession moved on, but as he was a little behind I held him by the sleeve till all but the turnkey had gone out, and I kissed him for the last time. 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