of marrow; they are not troubled as other and better men are, neither have they any bands in their death." Stupid, self-confident, and insensible, they quit this stage of mortal existence, and open their eyes in despair and anguish, and begin to drink of that bitter cup which the Lord had reserved for them until that day.

Such is the state and the end of many sinners; but it is not the state of all. Some there are, who having lived without God and without Christ in the world, depart hence, with all the sure and irresistible forebodings of eternal wrath; they are not permitted any longer to deceive themselves; they are made to think of eternal concerns, and to know that "their summer is past, their harvest is ended, and that they are not saved." Not a few of these, it may be, were long esteemed, and even denominated happy creatures by their companions in folly and sin.

But in the day of visitation, these companions fly from them, as unable to bear and witness the solemn and salutary lessons of such dying beds. Thus the individual bereft of hope and forsaken of man, rolls his eyes in despair, groans as he makes his exit, and quickly enters on a second, an eternal state of indescribable misery.

Others there are, who, in after-life, fight against and overcome every serious impression which the instruction of parents, and the example of pious friends, had once produced. In league with Satan and the world, they contend against all the calls of divine mercy and judgment -they silence all the remonstrances of conscience, and refuse, resolutely refuse, to have Christ to reign over them, until at length the sentence goes forth, "Ephraim

is joined to his idols; let him alone." Of this description I fear the number is greater than many Christians are aware of. He that sojourns much among men, not unfrequently meets companions by the way, who bear every mark of being thus given up to follow the devices and desires of their own hearts-men, whose consciences seem callous, as the flesh seared with a hot iron: who appear to have entirely quenched the Spirit; whose whole conduct bespeaks a reprobate mind, and whose awful end stamps the concluding feature of such a melancholy state. True it is, we ought to be extremely cautious in applying this doctrine to individuals; but it is equally true, that we ought not to confound the sinner with the saint. Charity hopeth all things, only so far as reason, facts, and Scripture authorize her. It is not charity to silence, or contradict, the testimony of these guides. For a Christian to indulge a hope of the eternal happiness of those who persisted in known and allowed sin while they lived, and who died without ever manifesting a reformed practice, or a penitential sorrow -nay, who died in a state of senseless and brutal intoxication, or in the feelings of rage, hatred, and murder; or in reviling God, or in uttering oaths and execrations, this is not charity. It is, to say the least, weakness and error; it is more; it is a tacit disregard or denial of such Scriptures as declare that the unconverted and unsanctified sinner, dying a hundred years old, is accursed.

For our daily support, we know that it shall be well with those who die in the Lord. Their end, we are assured, will be peace; and, for our warning, we also know, that the "impenitent wicked shall be turned into

hell, and all the people that forget God." Our judg ment cannot, and ought not, to follow individuals into an eternal world, with any thing like a positive sentence of condemnation, for two reasons: first, because judgment belongeth unto God, and he will repay; and, secondly, because we are ignorant of many particulars which are known unto, and mercifully regarded by, the Almighty. Yet we ought not, I again repeat it, to confound the sinner's fate with that of the saint. If we are afraid to pronounce any one a son of perdition, let us be also afraid to assign salvation to those who, having lived and died in the service of Satan, and in doing the works of the flesh, are pronounced by God himself inadmissible into his heavenly kingdom.

On witnessing such a close of such a life, our minds ought to be filled with solemn awe, with silent resignation to the will and determination of the Judge of all the earth, fully convinced that he will do right. On such occasions we should do well to prostrate ourselves before his mercy-seat, and daily to implore fresh supplies of grace to enable us to endure unto the end. Let us remember, that so long as we inhabit a body of sin and corruption, we have abundant cause to pass the time of our sojourning here with fear. For we have to "wrestle not only against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Let us, therefore, watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation; let us not only dread the profanity of the blasphemer, and the empty unavailing confidence of the self-righteous Pharisee; but let us shrink back

from every approach to Antinomianism; let us tremble at the idea of viewing sin, either in ourselves or others, with the smallest complacency, of resting in the headknowledge and letter of the doctrines of election and final perseverance, while we remain destitute of the spirit and practice of those "who are sanctified by faith which is in Christ."

What that spirit and that practice is, will sufficiently appear from consulting the few following texts, among many others of a similar tendency: Phil. ii. 5; John iv. 34; Romans viii. 5, 6, 9, 10; Gal. v. 22-26; Col. iii. 12-17; 1 Cor. x. 31; Titus ii. 11-14; Col. i. 10; Phil. iv. 8; Romans vi. throughout; 1 Peter i. 15; 2 Cor. vii. 1.

Having thus far explained myself, I shall proceed to relate a few anecdotes of persons, whose lives and deaths were such, as to leave survivors but little room for hope, and very much for fear, as to their final, their eternal state. G. H. was one of the crew of the P, whose wreck and destruction have been noticed in the second, third, and fourth chapters of this Retrospect. He was a most notorious thief, drunkard, and profane blasphemer, such as to engage my notice, reprobate as I was, and the notice of all the officers and crew. He seldom escaped more than six or eight weeks without being flogged, on one of which occasions he frankly told the officers they had better procure his execution, as he should never reform. Dreadfully severe as some of his punishments had been, yet they availed nothing. Time and facts only confirmed the truth of his assertion—he never did reform. Whether he could read or not, or

whether he knew of and believed in the existence of a future state or not, I cannot tell. At this moment I have not the smallest recollection of any one on board ever betraying the least concern about eternity, much less do I recollect any thing in G. H.'s conduct that bespoke him aware that "it was appointed unto all men once to die, and after that the judgment."

His was a life not only of sin, but of hateful sin; hateful even in the estimation of other sinners.

It was

one unvarying round of punishment, oaths, and falsehood, of theft, drunkenness, and punishment, until the time the ship was stranded. When that event happened, a part of two days and one night were expended in great and laborious exertions, by every officer and man on board, as we supposed. But it afterwards appeared, that, while the rest of the crew were labouring to save the wreck, G. H. had found means to enter one of the officer's store-rooms, and also succeeded in enticing a clownish landsman (who had lately volunteered into the service) to bear him company. There they concealed, and drank themselves senseless, and slept until the exertions of their comrades were relinquished as fruitless, and the vessel was abandoned to its fate. Sleep and cold at length restored their reason, and roused them from their skulking place to discover their situation, as the sole and uncomfortable possessors of His Majesty's ship P―, now lying on its side, bilged, and surrounded with ice.

Having succeeded in kindling a fire, and being a little warmed and refreshed, G. H. proceeded to examine such of the cabins, drawers, and officers' trunks as were ac