instances of the power of grace in the conversion of notorious sinners. Then does it please God to reveal his Son in those who have taken the lead in rebellion against his throne; and often to make them preachers of the faith they once destroyed. Men enslaved by the most diabolical errors, abandoned to the most hateful vices, and who were as obdurate as they were wicked; - men whose lives were the grief and disgrace of their families, the plague of their neighbourhoods, and a curse in civil society; - men studied in the arts of sensual gratification, inventive in profanity, daring in blasphemy, and seemingly ripe for destruction; - in a word, men who were literally the chief, the most desperate of sinners, have been brought into the kingdom of God by discriminating grace, while the self-righteous, trusting in their morality and good works, have perished in their guilt.

Glory to God in the highest! we have seen all this mercy exemplified in our churches! The mighty power of Jesus, displayed in his own ministry, and in the first preaching of the gospel by his apostles, - that mighty power still triumphs in the word of truth. There are many who now have an honourable name, and who now occupy stations of usefulness in our Zion, who once ranked with the most degraded and injurious of fallen men. Yes, we have many with us, " sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in their right mind," who are suspected, and feared, and despised, on account of their former eminence in the paths of guilt. Like the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal, inflated with the pride of his comparative goodness and worthiness, some will be angry, and refuse to partake of the feast prepared to celebrate the wandering sinner's return to God. But, whatever be the thoughts of the vain and presumptuous Pharisee, this shall still be the confidence and joy of the believing penitent, that there is no character, no condition, no crime, to which the salvation of Jesus does not apply, and that there are none now prostrate at his feet, though before the most infamous of wretches, who shall not finally realize all the free blessings of that salvation before his throne.

The extraordinary efficacy of grace appears in the conversion of sinners, when, independent of all the peculiar aggravations of their guilt, their exterior circumstances are such as tend to fill the minds of surrounding observers with desponding thoughts of so desirable an event. The circumstances of one of the malefactors, who was crucified with the Son of Man, were of this description. They were such as tended to discourage the hope of his salvation. Not that we consider the case of any sinner on this side eternity as hopeless; or that we believe there was any thing so extraordinary in the condition of the dying thief, as to preclude the expectation of the same mercy under similar circumstances of ignominy and approaching dissolution: and we rejoice in the persuasion, that our Lord intended this event as a pledge to every future 'age of his ability to save the greatest criminals in their utmost extremity.

The maladies of the soul gather strength with time. Every day they become more obstinate and malignant. But the remedy, the precious blood of Christ, is infallible; and, in various instances, we have seen the efficacy of that remedy glorified on the very verge of eternity. There is no case beyond its reach: it is adequate to the salvation of man in the most desperate of all possible conditions. The brief history of Alcimus affords an affecting confirmation of this truth. He was well known in the place where he resided; but was known only as an object of pity and detestation. He had now passed the bounds of threescore years and ten, and was rapidly descending to the grave, an infidel of the highest order; - an infidel struggling for the miserable consolations of Atheism. Although become utterly incapable of enjoying the world, and just going, to leave it for ever, he clave to it with undiminished solicitude, and, with an exultation too evidently feigned to deceive, declared his disbelief of future retribution, The blasphemous epithets he applied to the character and work of the Saviour, and the unbounded contempt in which he held his disciples, most strikingly exemplified the wretchedness of man grown grey under the hardening influences of sin.

In all his conversations he betrayed the most complete subjection to the basest passions of our fallen nature; and affected to laugh away the feeble remains of life, till forced to think he was actually dying. In that critical and awful moment a religious neighbour, who knew his character, obtained permission to see him: when, taking the 'old dying infidel by the hand, he abruptly proposed the following questions to him: "Are you still sure there is no God? Are you now as fully satisfied, as you have often professed to be, that there is indeed no Hell? that there is no Heaven? Will you now tell me that there is no such thing as sin in the world? and that the blood of Christ is of no more account than the blood of any common animal?" Here a long and solemn pause ensued, which Alcimus himself at last interrupted by exclaiming, "Oh! what folly! What madness!"

The visiter was at a loss to know whether these terms were intended to characterize the Christian or the Deist; till one of the ignorant attendants whisperingly said, 'Poor man, his mind has been wandering in this way most of the night; and but a little while before you came in, he was talking to himself, and saying, "All is wrong! I see it will not do! Almost eighty years gone, and not to be recalled! Millions to come, not to be endured!" and many other such things just as foolish." Upon this the good man resumed and said, But yet there is mercy, yet there is hope.' "Ah!" rejoined Alcimus, "but I am too guilty! and it is now too late! Last night, for the first time, I felt the horrors of my situation; and now I see there are only a few moments between me and the infinite torments I have made the subject of ridicule. Wretched man! I have lived the life of a beast, and go to meet the final doom of a sinner justly abandoned of God!"

Under these affecting circumstances his compassionate neighbour, an "interpreter, one of a thousand," earnestly directed his attention to the gospel of Jesus, as an all-sufficient and immutable ground of hope to the chief of perishing sinners. "Here, Alcimus," said he, "the justifying righteousness of God our Saviour is brought nigh to the guilty; and here you will find that, in the work of salvation, nothing can be impossible with him. He has power to forgive, - unconditionally to forgive all manner of sins and blasphemies unto men, even in the last period of life. Believe then on him, and " thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life." Look from the borders of the pit to his recovering grace; - and this day, if he call thee from earth, thou shalt be with him in paradise."

The prescribed bounds of this essay forbid a more minute detail of particulars. We will only further observe, that the word of truth came with such efficacy to the mind of Alcimus, that when his friend came to visit him next morning, he was joyfully surprized by a complete revolution in his sentiments and language. "Yes," said he, "the Son of Man hath power to forgive all manner of sins and blasphemies unconditionally. This is the report of the gospel; - this is the faithful saying that is worthy of all acceptation; and here I will rest." In the evening of this day he died, repeating the prayer of the publican, with an addition that proved the depth of his humility, "God be merciful to me, the greatest of sinners."

When the set time of Jehovah is come to discriminate the vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory, all places are consecrated to the sovereignty of his decrees; all events and circumstances 'combine to celebrate the sovereign efficacy of his grace; which, like the wind, not only bloweth where it listeth, but when, and as it listeth. Sometimes, amidst scenes of confused gaiety and noisy dissipation, that drown the voice of reason, there the voice of God has been heard, awakening the guilty mind to reflection. That Spirit, whose power is so glorious in the sanctuary of God, has been known invincibly to triumph in the synagogue of Satan. How many have been subdued to the wisdom of the just, while in the act of gratifying some foolish and criminal passion! And in how many instances has our Lord Jesus made the very sins of men subservient to their conversion! The curiosity of Zacheus, the persecuting spirit of Saul, and the dishonesty of Onesimus, are among the most striking instances of the overruling providence and wonderful grace of Jesus recorded in Scripture.

Ile, as the God of grace, and Governor of the world, ordains

and manages whatsoever comes to pass, so as to promote the increase, and secure the final and eternal perfection of his purchased possession: - and all the most minute circumstances and casual incidents of life, thus co-operate in advancing the glory of his mediatorial character, by magnifying the depth of his condescension, and the majesty of his power. To accomplish his design of converting the Eunuch, he gave directions concerning the journey of Philip; and permitted the imprisonment of Paul and Silas, with an immediate view to the conversion of the jailor. By means which our pride might despise as unworthy of God because of their meanness; which our ignorance and unbelief, as in the case of Naaman the Syrian, would angrily reject as inadequate on account of their insignificance; and which, by reason of their variety and novelty, our foresight could never have anticipated, - by such means does he often display the efficacy, and maintain the honours of his grace. But whatever be the mode, or the medium of divine operation, the invariable tendency, and the infallible consequence of it is, to annihilate the haughtiness of man, and to perpetuate the undivided praise of finished redemption.

Finally, Let us contemplate the triumphant efficacy of the grace of Jesus, in the great and extraordinary consequences that are immediately produced by some conversions. All who are themselves brought near to God by the blood of the cross, will be earnestly concerned for the salvation of others, especially their own kindred; and they will estimate the success of their labours, for the accomplishment of this object, as their highest joy in time, and their crown of rejoicing in that day when the Lord of hosts shall make up his jewels. No sooner did our Immanuel manifest himself to the woman of Samaria, than she went into the city to proclaim the glory of his name; and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him through her testimony. Salvation to one of a family, to one of a city, is often but the prelude of salvation to the whole house, and to hundreds in that city. When the streams of mercy begin to flow through such channels, who can say how many different directions they may take, and how far they may ultimately extend? Upon the important result of one conversion no man is able to calculate; and therefore it is said, and said, we have no doubt, with some reference to the truth of this remark, That "there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth."

Of the wonders of grace, after all that we have felt, witnessed, or heard, we know only in part; but when our Lord Jesus shåll appear in his glory, to gather his elect from the four winds of Heaven, then the whole mystery of his love, from the beginning of time, will be laid open to our view. On that day ten thousand important, but now secret circumstances, more nearly or remotely connected with our own conversion, will become the subjects of our perfect knowledge; and the reservation of such discoveries till the glorious morning of our resurrection to everlasting day, will greatly increase our obligations and our gratitude to his covenant wisdom. Scripturally satisfied that we are made the happy partakers of his grace, our final enjoyment of his glory can be no question of doubt. It is irrevocably fixed, that no unbeliever can be saved, - that no believer can be lost. As the work of conversion is not carried on by cautious and precarious gradations, the issue of it cannot be involved in the least possible degree of uncertainty. All that the grace of Jesus does shall stand for eternity, and eternity shall celebrate the commencement, the progress, and the consummation of its operations. This grace will be the only, the delightful theme of the whole ransomed world, in life, in death, in Heaven. The cross of Christ, the great and marvellous works of free, eternal, discriminating grace, will be all their glory

"While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures."

P.

ANECDOTE OF A SAILOR.
[Illustrative of the foregoing Essay.]

MR. Pratt, in the second volume of his Gleanings, relates an affecting anecdote of a sailor on board the Venerable, the ship in which Admiral Duncan commanded the fleet in the action against the Dutch, off Camperdown. He received the account from Dr. Duncan, Lord Duncan's chaplain and relative, who, in the action, assisted the surgeon and his mate in bind. ing up the wounds, and amputating the limbs of the unfortunate sufferers. "A mariner," says the Docter, "of the name of Covey, was brought down to the surgery deprived of both his legs; and it was necessary, some hours after, to amputate still higher. "I suppose,” said Covey, with an oath, “those scissors will finish the business of the ball, master mate?" 'Indeed, my brave fellow,' cried the surgeon, 'there is some fear of it." "Well, never mind," said Covey, "I have lost my legs to be sure, and mayhap may lose my life; but," continued he, with a dreadful oath, "we have beat the Dutch! - we have beat the Dutch !-so I'll even have another cheer for it: Huzza! hazza!"

This anecdote is rendered more interesting still, by some prior and subsequent circumstances attending this poor sailor. Covey was a good seaman, and noticed among his ship-mates for b's intrepidity; but he was pre-eminent in sin as well as in courageous actions. About a fortnight before the English fell in with the Dutch fleet, he dreamed that they were in an engagement, in which both his legs were shot off, and that he was cut of his mind. The dream made this courageous seaman