THE writer of the words given below is with the Lord; he was an earnest servant of the Master, and ended his course in peace. The gentleman of whom he writes, has now, we believe, also departed this life. He, too, once served Christ and lived for His glory, but he gave way to the seductions of the world, and fell into a sinful course of life. Wealth and luxury surrounded him, and after some years of estrangement, in which the one spent his life for Christ, and the other for the world, the two old friends met again. The former writes, “Tell— that I have had two interviews with poor—. He is in the deepest depths of distress about his sins and departure from the Lord. When I called to see him, as I entered the room where his manservant was standing, he exclaimed, ‘Oh, H., the hand of the Lord is upon me, upon my wife, and upon my family. I am the vilest of the vile, the blackest of the black, the most miserable of the miserable, the most wretched of the wretched. I cry to the Lord day and night for mercy. I say, “pity me, Lord, pity me, and let Thy mercy reach a poor wretched creature in his deep distress.”’ He added, ‘Tell all who knew me my sad state, and ask them to cry to the Lord for mercy for me.’”
The way of transgressors is hard. The path of the just is as the shining light, which shines brighter and brighter to the perfect day.