fell, my brethren, the first of the Jewish Monarchs, after a reign of about thirtynine years, in a valley by Mount Gilboa,

Reverend CEPHAS GODWIN.

ANNO 1716.-In the January of this year, it was my singular fortune to meet with a certain event, which was remarkable not only as a most astonishing memorial of retributive Providence, but also as an illustration of that, concerning which many have received erroneous impressions, or have deemed it to be for ever lost in Oblivion. The unsettled state of Scotland had led me to enforce upon the minds of my hearers, the beauty of loyalty and good order in the sight of God; and the detestation with which the Almighty looks upon anarchy, rebellion, and warfare against the sovereign. The ground of my discourse was the history of Saul's death; vide II. Samuel, chapter 1, verses 1 to 16; and in concluding the subject, my words, as well as I can remember,-for my Sermons have since been destroyed,-were as follow:-" So

VOL. I

and then despatched by the weapon of an Amalekite. But it is time now to turn from the mighty who fell, to him by whose hand his death was hastened. If, then, there be a crime which is abhorred by all nations universally, the law of whose condemnation is written by the finger of the living God upon the heart of every man, whether civilized or savage, at the commission, and the sight, and even the very thought of which, the foulest hearts and the most hardened consciences have shrunken dismayed; whose power and effect are such, that one glance, of but one moment's continuance, will flash such terror into the breast of the perpetrator that it will not leave him through eternity;-that crime is murder! Oh! may none of you ever feel the dreadful horrors of great darkness, and the keen knawings of that worm which even death cannot kill, awakened in your breasts by the commission of that most 13-SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1828.

accursed of sins. It is sufficient to dye with the deepest sorrow, and the most alarming terrors, a life which is surrounded by all that humanity esteems valuable, or delightful, or rich, or honourble, or glorious. It is like that distemper which gives to every thing around us, whether the splendid productions of art, or the yet more beautifully variegated face of nature, a nauseous yellow or sable stain; for believe me, ever after the blood of a fellow creature hath imbued your hands, all things will speak of it, and all places will display it. The ruddy tints of the rose will show to the sight of a murderer deeper with his sin; the fair and beautiful snow will seem marked and spotted with sanguine pollution; the sun cannot set gloriously in the West, nor rise again in the East, without the lovely colours which it spreads around, reflecting back the hue of guilt unto his eyes and conscience;-for him the moon shall nightly be turned into blood, and the fires of the stars shall shine with a crimson light, as if his crime had reversed the beauties of nature, and

had imparted the stain of his infamy to the whole world. Oh! say, can such an one be at rest? can his soul ever possess that' peace which passeth all understanding? No -even though he might put away the sword of the avenger, yet would he not be delivered from the continual fear and power of death. His mind would still be filled with all the terrors of dissolution; there would be the cold damps upon his brow, the icy chilliness in his veins, the fairest scents would be to him turned into the loathsome 'smell of mortality,' the green sod on which he walked would constantly bring the grave to his remembrance, and for him, even this living world would be full of death. This indeed is horrible; but yet even this crime may be wrought into one that can neither be increased nor diminished, when the hand of the rebel, or of the assassin,-I place them together for they are even as one,-is raised against his Sovereign, as was the Amalekite's in my text. How says David, evidently amazed at the enormity of the crime, at which he shrank back as it were in terri

fied astonishment, How! wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's Anointed?' His death swiftly followed, for the crime had been confessed by his own mouth; the declaration was witnessed by all, and the sin so avenged, was in a two-fold degree condemned."

It was my intention, according to my usual custom, to have next proceeded to a deduction of consolation and utility from this subject;-as my own sentiments are that a Minister cannot lawfully leave his people either in anger or alarm; for, whatever he may have said to reprove or to awaken, should be impressed with kindness and charity before they separate :-I was, then, about to proceed to this part of my discourse, when the attention of the whole congregation was turned to a Stranger who had fainted. I had before this, remarked his peculiarly solemn, but distressed demeanour; the tears stood in his eves as I spake, but they seemed unable to flow downwards. His gaze was fixed intently upon me, while his mouth somewhat opened, appeared to drink in every word which I had uttered, yet with all this, he was evidently labouring under some dreadful remembrance; his breath heaved with violent gaspings, and the perspiration hung upon his dark and aged face, as if he stood condemned before all mankind. Indeed, he very

much reminded me of the Hebrew Ahasuerus, whom Westphalus supposed to be the Wandering Jew, and who once appeared in an Holsatian Church during sermon, in a wretched dress, beating upon his breast, and sighing heavily.

The confusion which such a circumstance would excite in a country ParishChurch may be well conceived; almost every eye was turned towards the stranger, but a few anxiously sought mine, to learn what should be done at such a crisis. Having directed that he should be carried to my own home, and carefully attended to, I put an early conclusion to the service, for the moment that men's curiosity is awakened their religious thoughts are scattered; and, in common with all my hearers, I felt a considerable desire to know something more of the sorrows of this unhappy stranger. Upon my return to the Parsonage, I found my guest, who had refused all refreshment, -seated in the posture of calm despondency, with his hands clasped and resting on his knees, and his face, marked with all the characters of grief and agony, looking downwards. By his side was a large antiquely-carved oaken chest, secured with grotesque iron bands, hasps,

and an immense lock, upon which he frequently cast a watchful and an anxious glance; and then, as if the very sight of it renewed all the horrors of his mind, turned shudderingly away, covered his eyes with his hands, and after a while sank again into his former sullenness and melancholy. When I entered the room, he did not at first perceive me, but as Í drew near to him, and was about to address him, he started up, then threw himself in agony across the chest, turned upon me a frantic and furious glance, which gave an almost demoniacal expression to his features, and in a foreign toned, harsh, and agitated voice; he cried, while he convulsively grasped the box,-" No, no, no! you shall not search it, nor tear it from me but with my life; and you cannot force me to accuse myself; Santo Ignacio, no !-the Inquisition themselves would not condemn me for the deed!"

"My unhappy brother," said I, "console yourself, and believe that both you and your possessions, whatever they be, are in perfect safety in the dwelling of Cephas Godwin, a Minister of the Protestant Church, as you have already seen. It is true, I am called upon by my sacred office, to denounce the vengeance of Heaven against sinners, but then it is against such only as treat it's gospel and its commands alike with scorn-such as have neither fear, nor belief, nor repentance, nor even the human feeling of remorse. Now I can well trust that some of these are in your bosom, and it shall be my care to fill it with all the purer and better sensations, which even angels delight to wit

"Aye," replied the stranger hastily, with a sarcastic and hollow laugh, then you will say that I must first confess, that my inward sins must first be probed, that I must be put to open penance in this world, in order to avoid the more dreadful condemnation of the next!-Oh! no, no, no! death rather than that:-Santo Jeronymo ! how could I tell of

"Not so,"; I returned "" our Church does not enjoin auricular confession; it recommends only that if one have committed a deadly crime, which lies so heavily upon his soul that it would relieve him to relate it, or if he have greatly injured any fellow creature, to whom he may yet make atonement by speaking of his sins, then does it command it's Ministers to receive such declarations with sympathy, pity, secrecy, and absolution, to endeavour earnestly to right the wrong,

and to set the unburthened Christian traveller, leaping with joy, on his road homewards."

"I do not," said the stranger, gazing intently upon me," I do not behold your visage glowing like the sun, nor are you habited in a celestial vestment, nor do you bear the golden triumphant palm of heaven;-I do not see in your face and form aught that is beyond the kind features of humanity and religion;-but your words are the words of an angel. You are indeed fitted to speak the gospel to man, for with you it is in truth the sound of good tidings-But for me, I am stained with all that virtuous men must in common execrate !-I have a deadly sin upon my soul which presses upon it more heavily than that massive oaken chest, which I have borne by night, and by day, by sea and by land, for more than sixty years, ever did upon my body. I have deeply injured a fellow-creature; one of the most exalted rank and the most estimable piety, whom it was the duty of all faithfully to serve :-but it is past, and the dead have no feeling."

As he concluded, the gentler sensations which my last words had excited, seemed to be again swallowed up in his former sullenness; and I was therefore about to leave the room to order for him another chamber, when I said, "Quiet yourself, my unhappy brother, at least for the present; whoever you may be, and whatever have been your crimes I know not, but in this dwelling you are safe. Your sleep shall not be watched, that the involuntary words then often uttered by the tongue, may be brought against you ;-your property shall remain near your couch inviolate ;-for trust me, if I knew you to be a murderer, and that chest to contain the evidences of your guilt, I would not open it for worlds!"

"Madre del nuestro Senor!" said the stranger, starting to his feet," and how came you to know that?-you are not a Roman priest, you do not pretend to miraculous visions and revelations, yet by a few forcible words you lay open my soul as truly, as if I had shewn you all her feelings in the most faithful confession. Well might you say, that your Church enjoins it not; where her pastors are so gifted with the knowledge of humanity she requires it not. I have been excommunicated and anathematized by the ecclesiastics of my own nation, but their heaviest curses never awakened my conscience like the brief exhortation I have heard from you."

"Alas, my unfortunate friend," said I," so similar is the hand-writing of guilt

in the souls of all men, that when it's characters have been once read they are ever after known to us.-The human heart, with all it's disguises, possesses too much sameness ever to deceive those who have long studied it."

"And are these terrific feelings to last for ever?" continued the stranger, as if musing aloud; "and cannot any repentance wash them away? or, are they but the forerunners of others still more awful? the pangs of condemned spirits adapted to the finite powers and capacities of

men ?"

"No, no," returned I, " you are in error, it cannot be; for he that truly repenteth is no longer covered with sin, the very act performed in full faith is sufficient to put it away. And why deem that your conscience has been wounded by my words? Why bow down thine head before me like a bullrush? Stand up, for I also am a man!' The truth and power of my ministry were imparted, not inherent; and if perchance the descriptions were vivid, and the denunciations awful, remember, that to such as have not sinned, the path of crime cannot be made too terrible; it cannot be guarded with too great security. To such as unhappily have trodden it, they have proved it for themselves, and it remains only to lead them gently back again.'

"The same,-the same throughout," cried the stranger;" and now can'st thou tell me, Oh! friendly shepherd of men! what day of the year we have arrived

at?"

"To-morrow," said I, "will be the anniversary of the martyrdom of a royal and a blesed victim :-it will be the thirtieth of January."

"Most true, most true, I should have known it. To-morrow, then, my nativity will be fulfilled, and I must prepare to speak of that which hath been; for unto thee, thou beneficent pastor, my crimes and my life shall be made known. Do not deny me thy prayers."

"They have been thine already, and now prepare to take some food and rest in thy chamber. Peace be with thee, my erring brother, and doubt not for a moment of thy perfect safety." The stranger answered not, but with great difficulty raised the chest, which appeared to be of considerable weight to his shoulders, refusing my offered assistance; and then making a sign for me to lead the way, he followed slowly, bending under his age and his burthen, into another apartment.

(To be Continued.)