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OR THE

UTTERANCE OF THE HEART;

IN THE COURSE OF

A REAL CORRESPONDENCE.

BY

THE REV. JOHN NEWTON,
RECTOR OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, LONDON.

WITH AN

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY,

BY THE

REV. DAVID RUSSELL, DUNDEE.

As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man

to man.

Prov. xxvii. 19.

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PRINTED FOR WAUGH AND INNES;

M. OGLE, GLASGOW; R. M. TIMS, DUBLIN; JAMES
DUNCAN, SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, JAMES NISBET,
AND F. WESTLEY, LONDON.

M.DCCC.XXIV.

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INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

THE LETTERS of JOHN NEWTON have been long and justly esteemed. His chief excellence as a writer seems to lie in the easy and natural style of his epistolary correspondence. His Cardiphonia he esteemed the most useful of his writings. It consists of letters which were actually written to his friends, and returned to him that they might be printed. They were confidential letters, and are indeed "the utterance of the heart." They breathe & tone of seriousness, affection, and tenderness, which commends itself to the conscience, while it gains the confidence of the reader. You cannot fail to perceive that he speaks the 'lan guage of firm persuasion, and of deep personal experience. There is nothing of cold theoretical speculation. You feel that you are listening to a man who is telling you what he has himself seen, and felt, and tasted, of the goodness of that God, whose word and service he commends. His heart goes along with all his instructions, for "he speaks because he believes ;" it is seen in all his exhortations, for he evidently takes them home to himself; and it breaks forth in all his consolatory addresses, for he is but telling what has done for his own soul, and, happy himself i lowship with God, and sympathizing with othe

their sorrows and their wants, he is commending to them those springs of consolation which have calmed and purified his conscience, and which continue to cheer and to gladden his heart. His social affections were remarkably warm; and when hallowed by the grace of God, the result was a tenderness of feeling, an expansion of heart, and an outflow of affection, admirably calculated to exhibit the amiableness of genuine religion, to overcome prejudice, and to win over men to the truth. He spoke from the heart to the heart; and powerfully indeed have his writings interested the hearts of all classes of his readers.

The narrative which Mr. Newton published of his early years, serves to throw considerable light on many important subjects in religion; and that eventful portion of his history accounts for much of what continued to distinguish him in his after life. His mother was a pious woman; and though she died before he was seven years of age, he derived considerable benefit from her instructions. She stored his mind with passages of scripture, and with religious catechisms and hymns, and often commended him with many tears and prayers unto God. After her death, however, he was permitted to mingle with careless and profane children, and he soon learned their ways. The instructions of his mother, However, could not always be forgotten; and he was often disturbed with convictions. And from this let parents learn to be assiduous in instructing their children. It is no small matter to make the path of guilt unpleasant. Should no fruit appear at the time, should, the young even plunge into profligacy, yet the instructions of a father or a mother will at times rise before them like departed ghosts, will imbitter the ways of transgression, and make conviction to flash upon the conscience, in spite of all their efforts against it, and may ultimately be the means of reclaiming them.

The convictions which disturbed Mr. Newton, coupled with a natural fondness for reading, led him to peruse some religious books; and, from a wish to

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