without feeling sure that living beings have been there before him. The very savage, fancies that he discerns, deep sunk in the solid rocks and "everlasting hills," the foot-prints of "the great Spirit; "-and to the inhabitants of civilized lands, the "heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work," and day proclaims to night, and night to day, the glorious knowledge.

My father shook his head at the remark above quoted, and replied, that although he believed that Providence did occasionally vindicate his claims to the respect and worship of man, and furnish examples of his wrath, calculated to alarm and restrain the most hardened offender against the divine law, yet, nevertheless, he could not consider it compatible with the majesty of a Being so far exalted above the reach of mortal insult or injury to answer, by a direct effort of his power, an imprecation like that which I had just named; "and besides," continued he, "the foolish declaration of the infidel, is contradicted and confuted by every object, animate or inanimate, in the universe,-all of which have tongues, that tell the existence and glory of God."

Some one present, then suggested a doubt whether the Deity did ever change or direct the course of human events, in such wise, that we can properly speak of any event as being providentially intended and brought to pass with reference to any other event. "For example," said he, "if the infidel who had been named, had fallen to the ground a corpse immediately on the utterance of his blasphemy, I could not have regarded that singular event, as a special act of Providence, intended to punish sin, or to convince by-standers of his own existence and power; nor would such an occurrence affect at all, my belief respecting a God."

My father thought this opinion to be an error-believed there were such things as special providences,-cases in which, either by the exercise of a far-reaching foreknowledge of future events, or else by an instant effort of omnipotence, (it was immaterial which,) God did so direct the operation of natural causes, as to produce a result, in such connexion with other occurrences, as to present the appearance of supernatural agency.-"Thus, for instance," continued the old gentleman, "had the awful speech of the before-named atheist been instantly followed by a fatal stroke of apoplexy, I could not but regard it as a manifestation of God's being, power, and anger against sin,-intended expressly to impress beholders with holy awe,-in short, as the consequence of the blasphemy."

He then related several singular facts, which had come under his observation, and which he had always regarded with emotions of special solemnity. As the incidents related are full of interest, however regarded, I will record them.

"The Baptist denomination in Connecticut, until the revision of the State Constitution, in the year 1818, (I think,) was exposed not only to the severity of unjust and unequal laws, but also, (thanks to the influence of these laws on public conduct and

opinion!) to individual insult and popular persecution. I do not love to look back upon those days of illiberality and gross injustice, for it is apt to kindle the spirit of anger and unkindness.

"Under the operation of these causes, our bolder spirits were rendered yet more daring; but the majority of the fearful were made still more fearful and cautious. Both private and public worship were not unfrequently molested and disturbed, by the persecuting irreligious.

"On one occasion, a congregation of Baptists had gathered together in their usual place of assembly, on the Lord's day, and, after having united in praise and prayer, were listening to the preaching of the Gospel, from the lips of a very aged and venerable man of God, Elder —." (I omit names.) "While the silver-haired minister was proclaiming the glad tidings' from the pulpit, an insolent and profane fellow entered the house, walked boldly up the aisle, ascended and entered the pulpit, seized the clergyman by the collar of his coat, struck him so violently with his clenched fists upon the forehead, as to partially detach a large portion of skin, which fell down over one eye like a bloody curtain, while the blood streamed down his face; and then, before the audience were roused from their astonishment, dragged him over the pulpit stairs, and down the aisle, to the door of the church! Here, the pastor, who had thus far passively submitted to the wrong, planted himself for a moment on the threshold, and, lifting his hands and eyes slowly to heaven, exclaimed, in mild but thrilling tones-If thou diest a natural death, the Lord hath not spoken by me!'

"The sound of that loved voice restored the people to their senses; and, with one accord, they ran to the rescue of their pastor. The ruffian made his escape: the minister, after having replaced the wounded part of his scalp, and bound up his head, returned to the pulpit, and completed his discourse, and then the people separated.

"Before the sun rose upon the succeeding Sabbath, death had overtaken him who thus violated the sanctuary of God. He fell from a fishing boat into the river T-, and was drowned. The solemn exclamation of the clergyman was then and long after remembered as prophetic, and the occurrence which soon followed it, like the death of Ananias and Sapphira, brought great fear upon all who heard it, so that the persecuted church was not again, for a long time, molested."

2. "The second anecdote which I shall relate, touches, also, upon the troubles endured, in former years, by the Baptists of Connecticut, in consequence of that invidious and unjust preference given by the laws to the Presbyterians.

"A baptism was about to take place in the little town of Aand much excitement was created by the expectation of an event which was then of such rare occurrence, that few individuals in that village had ever witnessed it. Now, thank God, the baptismal scene is less seldom beheld.

"The place fixed on for administering the ordinance was in the open air, and unobstructed eye of heaven-in a beautiful meadow, near the meeting-house, through whose verdant midst ran, winding about like a serpent, a small crystal rivulet, the width. of which, in no spot, exceeded fifteen feet. In a deep pool, scooped out of the white sand in one of the curvatures of the brook, was the baptistry,' wherein the candidates were to be buried into the similitude of death.

"The time arrived,—a bright afternoon in June. The heavens seemed to smile, and the earth smiled, and all natural things looked fair and pleasant. Hundreds of people had collected upon the banks of the stream, and on the highest spots in the neighborhood, and were anxiously waiting for the arrival of the pastor and his flock. At last, they appeared, slowly advancing across the meadow, to the baptismal font, the candidates robed in those long, dark dresses, loaded with leaden weights, which are now in use on such occasions. The man of God, with head uncovered, standing on the verge of the brook, with uplifted arms, invoked the presence and favor of Jehovah. The prayer was finished; and, taking one of the candidates by the hand, he was just stepping down into the water, when three dashing young fellows, on horse back, cantered into the meadow, on the opposite side, and never drew rein, till their horses' heads reached over the very stream, and almost came in contact with the minister. All present were shocked by their indecent audacity. The Rev. Mr. paused in his descent, and regarding them with a steady eye, addressed them: Young men,' said he, we had a right to expect that, in this free and Christian land, and on the day of the Lord, we should be permitted, undisturbed, to perform our religious worship. Why come ye here in this unbecoming and profane manner, violating the holy Sabbath, insulting the people of God, disturbing his worship, outraging our rights, and breaking through the bonds of both religion and decency? For shame, young men! rein back your horses, and let this sacred ordinance proceed uninterrupted. Remember that there is a God in heaven, who beholds both you and us,who hates and punishes sin, and to whom you, how soon, I know not, may, and must be called upon to give account for all the deeds done in the body!'

"They drew back, abashed and covered with confusion; for not an eye near them beamed kindly on them, and they felt that 'the all-seeing eye' was looking down severely from heaven.

"The ordinance was performed, and the candidates became the professed children of God, and the multitude slowly retired to their homes.

"On the following Sabbath, the father of one these three young men sent his son to the field for his horse. He was a physician, and must visit his patients before the hour of public worship. The youth went out; but, in a short time, returned, without the horse, but like the Shunamite's son, exclaiming in dreadful agony, My head! my head!' He was attacked with a fever in the brain,

and the doctor's first prescription that day was for his own child. In a short time, a messenger came in haste to him from the parents of another of those three young men, who had been attacked in a similar manner, and at nearly the same hour; and, before the morning was over, strange as it may seem, and strange it was, to an awful degree, the third of those offending youths was stretched upon his bed with brain fever. They all died that same week; and, in their sickness and death, was seen the overruling providence of God, by every man, woman, and child, in the town of

My father related several other similar facts, but they did not make so strong an impression on my memory.

The remarks made on the subject of Providence, and providential agency, brought to my recollection a sermon preached by Dr. Chalmers, while the cholera was prevalent in Scotland, and upon a day of fasting and prayer, set apart in reference to that deadly plague. The grand doctrine of which sermon was this, that the course of human events is dependent upon a great chain of causes, the one end of which is here in our midst-the other in the hands of God, the mover and Governor; and that, although any particular event might easily be referred, as an effect, to some apparent natural cause; yet the cause itself, traced back as far as human knowledge extends, must be referred, at last, to the providential agency of Deity.

The study of the book of Providence ought to make us wise unto salvation.

B.

THOUGHTS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN IN AFFLICTION.

We have thought it would be gratifying to our readers to present them with the following letters in immediate connexion. They are worthy of preservation on many accounts, and they will be still more valuable by appearing together. They give us the views of three of the greatest men of their age, on the necessity of religion to support and sanctify under providential bereavements and sorrows. The comparison of one with the other will throw strong light on the superiority of deep evangelical piety, as unfolded in the last, with such power of thought and felicity of language. ORIGINAL LETTER OF DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, TO A FRIEND, ON THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE. NOT PUBLISHED IN HIS WORKS OR ANY LIFE OF HIM.

"Notwithstanding the warnings of philosophers, and the daily examples of losses and misfortunes which life forces upon us, such is the absorption of our thoughts in the business of the present day-such the resignation of our reason to empty hopes of future felicity, or such our unwillingness to foresee what we dread, that every calamity comes suddenly upon us, and not only presses as a burden, but crushes as a blow.

There are evils which happen out of the common course of nature, against which it is no reproach not to be provided. A flash of lightning intercepts the traveller in his way. The con

cussion of an earthquake heaps the ruins of cities upon their inhabitants. But other miseries time brings, though silently, yet visibly, forward, by its own lapse, which yet approaches unseen, because we turn our eyes away, and they seize us unresisted, because we would not arm ourselves against them by setting them before us.

That it is vain to shrink from what cannot be avoided, and to hide that from ourselves which must some time be found, is a truth which we all know, but which we all neglect, and perhaps none more than the speculative reasoner, whose thoughts are always from home, whose eye wanders over life, whose fancy dances after meteors of happiness kindled by itself, and who examines every thing rather than his own state.

Nothing is more evident than that the decays of age must terminate in death. Yet there is no man (says Tully) who does not believe he may live another year; and there is none who does not upon the same principle hope another year for his parent and his friend; but fallacy will be in time detected: the last year, the last day will come-it has come, and is past! "The life which made my own life pleasant is at an end, and the gates of death are shut upon my prospects.

The loss of a friend on whom the heart has fixed, and to whom every wish and endeavor tended, is a state of desolation in which the mind looks abroad impatient of itself, and finds nothing but emptiness and horror. The blameless life, the artless tenderness, the native simplicity, the modest resignation, the patient sickness, and the quiet death, are remembered only to add value to the loss -to aggravate regret for what cannot be amended-to deepen sorrow for what cannot be recalled.

These are the calamities by which Providence gradually disengages us from the love of life.-Other evils, fortitude may repel, or hope may mitigate; but irreparable privations leave nothing to exercise resolution, or flatter expectation. The dead cannot return, and nothing is left us here but languishment and grief.

Yet such is the course of nature, that whosoever lives long, must outlive those he loves and honors. Such is the condition of our present existence, that life must one time lose its associates, and every inhabitant of the earth must walk downward to the grave, alone and unregarded, without any partner of his joy or grief, without any interested witness of his misfortunes or success. Misfortunes indeed he may yet feel, for where is the bottom of the misery of man? But what is success to him who has none to enjoy it? Happiness is not found in self-contemplation; it is perceived only when it is reflected from another.

We know little of the state of departed souls, because such knowledge is not necessary to a good life. Reason deserts us at the brink of the grave, and gives no further intelligence. Revelation is not wholly silent. There is joy among the angels in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." And surely the joy is communicable to souls disentangled from the body, and made like angels.