not know what I have done. My crimes are not of an ordinary nature. I have done -done the deed-the horrible, damnable deed!" I wanted him to explain himself; but he sunk down into a stupid sullenness. I prayed with him, and found more freedom than I expected. While I was on my knees he appeared to be in an agony. At length he broke out, to the astonishment of all present, "Glory be to God I am out of hell yet!-Glory be to God I am out of hell yet!" We said, "there is mercy for you," he answered, "Do you think so? O that I could feel a desire for it." We entreated him to pray, but he answered, "I cannot pray! God will not have any thing to do with me. Oh the fire I feel within me." He then sunk down again into a state of sullen reserve. I prayed with him once more; and while I was thus employed, he said, with inexpressible rage, "I will not have salvation at the hands of God! No! no! I will not ask it of him!" After a short pause, he cried out, "Oh how I long to be in the bottomless pit! in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone!" He then lay quiet for some time, and we took our leave for that day.

"The day following I saw him again. This was a painful visit. His language and visage were most dreadful. Some of his expressions were so diabolical that I dare not repeat them. I I said to him, "William your pain is inexpressible." He groaned, and then with a loud voice cried out, "Eternity will explain my torments; I tell you again I am damned:-I will not have salvation." We desired he would pray for mercy; but he exclaimed, "Nothing for me but hell! Come eternal torments! you will soon see I shall drop into the flames of the pit." I said, "Do you ask the Lord to be merciful unto you." Upon which he called me to him, as if to speak to me; but as soon as I came within his reach, he struck me on the head with all his might, and gnashing his teeth cried out, "God will not hear your prayer."

"While we were on our knees praying for him, he shouted aloud, "God will confound you that you cannot pray. O God hear them not, for I will not be saved." His words were accompanied with the strongest marks of rage and inveterate malice, and he cried out, "I hate every thing that God has made; only I have no hatred to the devil; I wish to be with him." He seemed to be in his element while speaking of the devil as a sovereign Lord, that might shortly reign supreme!

These

things greatly distressed us, and we were afraid that he was given up to a reprobate

mind."

On the 21st, Mr. Rhodes having returned from the country, went again to see William Pope, and gives the following account of his visit. "I found him in the

most deplorable condition. He charged me with telling him a lie, in my last visit, by saying that I believed there was salvation for him. I replied that I had not told a lie, but verily believed there was salvation if he would accept of it. He was now in a tempest of rage and despair: his looks, his agonies, and dreadful words, are not to be expressed. Speaking to him of mercy or a Saviour seemed to increase the horrors of his mind. When I mentioned the power of the Almighty to save, “God,” said he, "is almighty to damn me! He hath already sealed my damnation, and I long to be in hell!" While two or three of us were praying for him he threw at us any thing on which he could lay his hands. His state appeared an awful confirmation of the truth, justice, and being of God;— of an immortal soul in man;-and of the evil of sin. Who but a righteous God could inflict such punishments? What but sin could deserve them? What but an intelligent immortal soul could bear them?"

Next day Mr. Rhodes called again to see William Pope; the dreadful tempest of rage and defiance seemed to have ceased. He now appeared full of timidity and fear; -in perpetual dread of the powers, of darkness; and apprehensive of their com ing to drag him away to the regions of misery. But no marks of penitent contrition appeared about him. He said he was full of blasphemy; he often laid his hand upon his mouth lest it should force its way out. He complained that it had done so, and that more would force its way.

In the afternoon of the 24th, Mr. Barraclough again called upon him. For some time he would not speak, but after being repeatedly asked how he felt his mind, he replied, "Bad, bad." Mr. Barraclough said "God can make it better"-" What, make me better!-I tell you, no; I have done the horrible deed, and it cannot be undone again.-I feel I must declare to you what it is for which I am suffering. The HOLY and JUST ONE! I have crucified the Son of GoD afresh, and counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing! Oh that wicked and horrible deed of blasphemy against the HOLY GHOST which I know I have committed! It is for this I am suffering the torture and horrors of guilt, and a sense of the wrath of God.".

He then suddenly looked upwards towards the chamber floor, and started back; he trembled, gnashed his teeth, and cried out, "Do you not see? Do you not see him? He is coming for me! The devil will fetch me, I know he will! Come, O Devil, and take me." At this time Mr. Eskrick came into the room, to whom William said, "George, I am lost." Mr. Eskrick replied, "Do not say so, but pray earnestly to God to give you true repentance; and who can tell but the Lord may

deliver you this day from the power of sin and Satan." He answered, "I cannot pray, no! no! I will not pray. Do not I tell you there is no salvation for me, I want nothing but hell." Some time after he said, "Undone for ever! doomed to eternal pain! to the burning flame!" Afterwards on a sudden he sprung up from his seat, and cried out, “Your prayers will avail nothing. God will not hear you." A friend prayed, but during prayer when any petition was offered for him he sullenly said, "I will not have any favour at his hands,”—uttering also other expressions too dreadful to be repeated.

"On the 25th, says Mr. Rhodes, I called to see William Pope, and asked him how he was, he answered, "Very bad in body and soul, there is nothing good about me." I said to him, "William, if GOD were 'willing to save you for Christ's sake, and if you knew that he were so, would you not be willing to be saved?" "No," he answered, "I have no willingness nor any desire to be saved. You will not believe me when I tell you it is all over. If I had a million of worlds I would give them all to undo what I have done." I told him I was glad to hear that confession from him, and hoped that through the violence of his terrors he had mistaken his case, and imagined against himself what was not true." "I tell you,” he replied, "I know hell burns within me now: and the moment my soul quits the body, I shall be in such torments as none can conceive! I have denied the Saviour! I have blasphemed the MOST HIGH! and have said, O that I were stronger than God." He was quite unwilling that I should attempt to pray for him. I visited him the next morning, when he appeared to be hardened beyond all feeling of remorse or fear. His violent agitations, dread, and horror, had ceased their rage. His infidel principles returned upon him, and he gave full place to them and glorified in them."

"On my next visit, after a little conversation, he spoke with the greatest contempt of the Lord Jesus Christ; and derided his merits and the virtue of his atoning blood. The words he used were too detestable to be repeated. The day following he appeared much in the same state of mind, full of a diabolical spirit. Hell and perdition were his principle theme, and apparently without terror."

At a visit which a pious young man made him on the 1st of May, he said, "I have denied the Lord Jesus Christ and the word of God; this is my hell." After some other shocking expressions he added, "My pain is all within, if this were removed I should be better! Oh what a terrible thing it is! Once I might and would not; now I would and must not." He sat a little while and then, says the narrator, cast his eyes upon

me with the most affecting look I ever saw, and shook his head. At this sight I could not refrain from tears. At another time he said, "I attempted to pray, but when I had said a word or two, I was so confounded I could say no more." At this time one of his old companions in sin coming to see him; William said to him, "I desire you will go away; for I have ruined my self by being too much in such company as yours.' The man was unwilling to depart; but he insisted on his going

Some time after the same young man, and some other friends, sat up with him again; and would have prayed with him, but he would not suffer them; he said it did him hurt, and added, "I am best content when I am cursing; I curse frequently to myself, and it gives me ease. has made a public example of me, for a warning to others; and if they will not take it, everlasting misery will be their portion."

God

Mr. Rhodes made him several other visits; and in all his visits, found him perfectly averse to prayer, and to every thing that is good. Not the least mark of contrition; not the most distant desire for salvation. "When, says he, on one occasion,

attempted to pray, he said, “Do not pray to Jesus Christ for me, he can do me no good; nor is there any being that can." When I began to pray, he blasphemed in a most horrible manner, and dared the Almighty to do his worst, and to send him to hell!"

"On the 24th, his state was not to be described. His eyes darted hate and distraction. He grinned at me, and told me how he despised and hated my prayers; at the same time he exclaimed, "curse on you all."

"On the 26th, I visited him for the last time. I saw his dissolution was at hand. My soul pitied him. My painful feelings on his account cannot be expressed. I spoke to him with tenderness and plainness about the state of his soul; and of another world: but he answered me with a high degree of displeasure; his countenance at the same time was horrible beyond expression; and with great vehemence he commanded me to cease speaking to him. I then told him, it would be the last time that ever I should see him in this world; and asked if he were willing for me to put up another prayer for him? He then with great strength, considering his weakness, cried out, "No." This was the last word which I heard him speak. I left him, and he died in the evening. [Pike's Consolations.

PUBLISHED BY LITTELL & HENRY, 74, South Second St. Philadelphia, At 83 per annum, or $2.50 if paid in advance.

Communications.

LECTURES ON BIBLICAL HISTORY.

No. IV.

"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect."-GEN. iv. 3-5.

The Divine conduct towards our fallen race, has been uniformly marked by the most indubitable evidences of kindness and compassion. When our first parents violated the covenant of innocence, and rose in rebellion against the majesty of heaven and earth, they might have been abandoned, as were the angels who kept not their first estate. This, however, was not the case. True, they were expelled from the delightful walks of Eden, and denied its pleasant fruits; sub3jected to various afflictions of a dis

ciplinary kind, calculated to make them feel, that in forsaking God they had forsaken their own comforts; but the glorious remedy provided in the counsels of eternitythe seed of the woman-the gracious healer of the breach was announced to them even before their expulsion from Paradise. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel," comprises the germ of hope, the first intimation of mercy, published VOL. I.

to guilty man. This promise placed the human family, at once, under a dispensation of grace, and rendered heaven attainable, by Adam and his descendants, through the mediation of the Son of God-the promised seed-manifested, in due time, to take away sin, and destroy the works of the devil. But man, though thus favourably situated for the attainment of pardon and eternal life, through the merits of a Redeemer, had now become a depraved creature-the glory of his primitive righteousness had departed from him: Adam had lost the image of God, in which he was created; and when he became a father, his offspring must inherit his likeness, as well in the temper and qualities of their minds, as in the form and faculties of their bodies. In perusing the Bible, therefore, where we have a faithful history of man, and of God's providence towards him, while we cannot but see and acknowledge the sad indications of our native corruption and entire degeneracy, it will be pleasing to observe occasionally, the divine efficacy and triumphs of redeeming grace. Of this remark, we have an illustration in the short narrative of Moses, respecting Cain and Abel, the first two persons of whom we have any authentic account, that came into the world by ordinary generation. How long after the creation they were born, we are not informed; it is generally supposed to have been within a short period. Neither do we know certainly, what 3 P

A critical examination of the Hebrew text, seems to me to favour the opinion, that they were twins. Be this as it may, Cain was the firstborn; and his mother appears to have entertained high hopes concerning him: "I have gotten a man from the Lord," exclaimed the joyful mother, on the birth of her first son. The name Cain signifies acquisition; and he was probably so called by his mother, as a grateful memorial of God's goodness, in making her, what her own name imported, "the mother of all living." In the birth of this child, Eve had some evidence that the race was to be continued for a time at least, notwithstanding the guilt of her first

sition; and from the respect shown by the Searcher of hearts to the offering which he brought to the Lord, it seems probable that he was at an early period of his life, a subject of religious impressions. "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."

We are here given to understand, in few words, that agriculture, and the rearing of cattle, were the first employments of mankind. This is perfectly natural; and we are here furnished with internal evidence of the truth of scripture history. These occupations were first followed, because they were the most necessary and useful. The first essays in husbandry must have been very sim

ing the seed who was destined to wrest the prey from the hands of the mighty adversary, was thus confirmed; and, perhaps, she flattered herself that this was the Redeemer announced in the promise. If so, her mistake must have been soon corrected. The development of his character proved that he was of "the wicked one." Parents should never neglect to render thanks to God for their children; but let not their expectations respecting them be too sanguine. Our children will be blessings to us and to the world, if God, by his providence and grace, make them so; but not otherwise. We should always bid them welcome, and spare no pains in bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; yet, to use an old proverb, they are in themselves certain cares, but uncertain comforts." In infancy, they press upon the hand, and in after life they, in many instances, press still harder on the heart.

Abel, though born of the same mother, was of a spirit widely differing from that of the first-born. We have no account of his temper or conduct in childhood; but, from his occupation, we are naturally inclined to think that he was of a mild,

ing and protecting the spontaneous fruits of the ground. Time and experience would correct mistakes, and suggest many improvements. And the culture of cattle was important, not only on account of the religious use to which they were put, as victims for the altar, but for their milk as an article of sustenance, and their fleeces and skins, which afforded the raw materials for clothing for it does not appear that their flesh was, as yet, allowed to be used for food. As Adam, when placed in the garden of Eden, was required to dress and keep it, he doubtless trained his sons to habits of industry. Let us who are parents take a useful hint from this fact. Our children, whether we shall leave them little or much property, will be nothing the worse, and they may be vastly the better, for being acquainted with some branch of business, by which, in the failure of other resources, they may gain an honest livelihood. And let young people remember that it is their duty, and therefore both reputable and comfortable, to be industrious. The idle boy that has been dandled on the lap of mistaken fondness till he comes into the possession of his patrimony, cannot be

very capable of either appreciating it aright, or of managing it discreetly. And the mistress of a family, however ample may be her fortune, will always find her account in understanding, at least, the rudiments of housewifery. Nor let it be forgotten, for it cannot be disputed, that indolence, while it feeds on the bounty of friendship, or imposes upon unsuspecting charity, operates not only against personal virtue, but deeply and powerfully against the public morals; it is not a solitary sin-it is the mother of a progeny, in stature gigantic, and in number countless. But do not mistake my meaning, readers. Industry is not piety, nor are all industrious people pious. Cain, for aught that appears to the contrary, was as attentive to his tillage as Abel was to his flock; while in their religious principles and moral characters, they differed essentially, as it will appear in the sequel.

"And it came to pass in process of time, (or, as you find it in the margin of the Bible, at the end of days, i. e. at the end of the days of the week, on the Sabbath, the day on which divine worship was performed statedly and solemnly,) that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” This was evidently a mere thankoffering, designed as an acknowledgment of the divine munificence, but which implied no confession of sin on the part of the offerer, or faith in the great propitiation to be offered, in due time, for the sins of the world. "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof." This offering of Abel was of the finest of his lambs or kids; a living creature, of which the blood was to be shed, and the flesh consumed on the altar, agreeably to divine appointment, as an acknowledgment that the offerer was a sinner and deserving of death; and it likewise had, manifestly, a typical import, and implied a profession of faith in the Lamb of God,

whose blood cleanseth from all sin. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect." The acceptance of Abel's service on this occasion, was shown in a manner which was well understood by all present: probably, it was by fire issuing from the presence of the Lord to consume his sacrifice, as in the case of Elijah, in his contest with the votaries of Baal, and several other instances recorded in scripture. But to Cain and his offering no respect was paid. Why was this? There must have been some good and sufficient ground for the preference; for with God there is no respect of persons.

With a view to a right understanding of this matter, we have two or three remarks to make, which may shed some light on the subject. First, the use of animal, or, as they are sometimes distinguished, bloody sacrifices, has obtained among mankind, from the earliest times, of which we have any historical notices. Patriarchs, Israelites, Jews and Pagans, have resorted to them, as the means of propitiating the Divine favour, of deprecating the wrath of Heaven, and of procuring the pardon of sin. Now that a holy God should be pleased with the pouring out of the blood, and the burning of the flesh of any of his creatures, seems so unlike a dictate of natural reason, that the most judicious writers have felt constrained to refer the origin of such oblations to a divine institution. And, after a candid investigation of the subject, we embrace this opinion, as true and correct. We think the use of animal sacrifices originated in divine appointment, immediately after the fall of man; that Adam was required to use them, as an important branch of his worship; that he handed the use of them down to his posterity, and that the custom passed to Pagan nations through the medium of tradition. That they were recognised,