R. A. in the Tract Magazine for August. Indeed, so deeply did this shocking case arrest my mind, and engage my thoughts, that for days I could scarcely think of aught beside. "R. A., the Apostate," "R. A., the Apostate," whether in the shop or at home, or even after retiring to rest, the appalling account of "R. A. the Apostate," would still be uppermost in my thoughts, and formed so deep a subject of meditation, as for a considerable time prevented sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids. Again and again would my mind trace him through his various circumstances, and the different stages of his declension and apostacy, till in imagination I stood, as it were, in his dying chamber, at the midnight hour, gazing horror-struck at the scene, watching his writhings of body and agonies of mind, and listening to those shivering words as they dropped from his lips," Rebecca, Rebecca, you have been the cause of my eternal damnation!" Surely had such a sentence been directed to me, it must have come with my death-stroke! Oh what a dreadful character is the apostate-dreadful, indeed, beyond description! The dying mortal, the guilty sinner, the impenitent backslider, abandoned for ever by the Spirit of God, and given up to judicial indifference, to an hard heart and "a reprobate mind," and left to fill up the measure of his iniquities with all greediness! "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it," 1 John v. 16. The awful case of R. A. appears to be one of this kind, alluded to in that solemn scripture by the apostle John, and affords a striking instance of its Divine authenticity. I sincerely trust that the reading of so fearful an account will be rendered very beneficial to my own soul, and also to all who shall peruse it for themselves. O my adorable Redeemer, Lest this my fearful case should be, G. R. Since writing the above, it has struck me that I have read a similar account in the memoirs of a late Christian, being an extract of one of his letters; and as it exhibits another instance of the evil of being "unequally yoked together," I here give it you, thinking it may be of service to some of the numerous readers of your valuable miscellany, "The Tract Magazine." "I am glad to hear the young men stand so well, and I pray that the Lord may make them abundantly more useful than ever! But I sorrow to find so many of the young females giving their company to young men who are carnal and without religion. This you know, my dear Joseph, is quite opposed to the word of God. He commands us to 'be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,' 2 Cor. vi. 14-17. 'Saith the Lord,' not man. Awful, indeed, to reflect upon it, whoever breaks this command. But who lays this to heart? Not those who marry out of the Lord, or with unbelievers, because God himself has forbidden it. Have you, my dear brother, explained to the young people, who meet in your classes, the awful consequences of breaking this command of God? You see it is as much forbidden by him as any other sin. To plead the commonness of it will in no ways do away with the evil of it. For instance, suppose we see men rolling in the streets in drunkenness from day to day, shall we say, 'Drunkenness is no sin?' God forbid ! It is forbidden by God; that is enough to satisfy me. If I were to relate to you, my brother, the many awful circumstances which I have seen to attend these unhappy marriages, it would make you tremble. Some time back a young man came to me to ask my advice on this head. He was at that time very promising for usefulness in the church of God. I earnestly entreated him, if he had any love for his own soul or the cause of God, to have nothing to do with the young woman he mentioned, because she was not a professor of religion. I told him he would be ruined if he did, and that his conduct would be such a stab to the cause of God in that place as he would never be able to make satisfaction for. All this did not avail; he soon after married. He invited me to call and see him. I did so; and his wife said to him, in my presence, looking him full in the face, and calling him by name, ' James, I will never be a Methodist.' It was like as if a sword pierced my heart. He thought, like many others, that when he got married he was going to do great things; but he found he was quite mistaken. He soon gave up his profession of religion, and became a drunkard, a swearer, and a sabbath-breaker. My dear brother, I wish you to clear your own soul of their blood, that you may meet them all with boldness in the day of judgment, if their souls should be lost by the dreadful evil which is got in amongst us. Methinks I could, on this account, say, with Jeremiah, 'Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" Jer. ix. 1. G. R. THE TWO DIAMONDS. RABBI MEER had two sons, both arrived at the age of manhood, of excellent abilities, and highly accomplished. Business of a pressing nature had compelled the father to leave his home for a considerable time, and to visit a distant place. When the time of his return was drawing near, a malignant disorder, which had spread over the city with terrible devastation, attacked the lads, and they both soon after died. Their mother, who witnessed their last agonies, was enabled by her strength of piety to ascribe glory to God, even in this dreadful visitation. She, however, knew that her husband was most tenderly attached to his sons, and was, therefore, in fear for the effect which such unexpected calamity would have upon him. Accordingly upon his return, when she had evaded his inquiries about them for a considerable time, finding him grow more eager to see them, she said thus to him :-"My dear, I want to ask you a question. Some time ago a friend of mine lent me two valuable diamonds, and as she did not ask for them for a long time, I began to think she had given them to me; but she has lately been very urgent, and has demanded them of me. Now, shall I give them up or keep them? they are very valuable.?' To this the good rabbi replied, "I am astonished, my love, to hear you ask such a question as this; you must decidedly return them, and that as soon as possible, and without hesitation. I should have thought you would have known better than to imagine you had any right to them." His wife then led him, with tears in her eyes, (for she was very affectionate,) into the apartment where she had laid her sons. At the sight of the corpses the father was thrown into a paroxysm of grief, and uttered the most woful ejaculations. Oh! my sons! my sons!" he cried. "Give me my sons! How can I part with you? The pride of my heart, the delight of my grey hairs, the solace of my woes, the soul of my pleasures! Oh! my sons! my sons!" and he was almost stifled by the bitterness of his sobs. "Remember," said his wife, "what you told me just now. You must not grieve, and be disconsolate at the loss of your sons, but freely deliver them up to the Lord, for they are his." It cost the wretched father a severe struggle, but his piety prevailed, and he exclaimed," Yes, they are the Lord's. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord." W. F. THE REFORMED DRUNKARD. I I AM a native of Saxony, and was under the care of pious parents until I was fifteen years of age. At this time I formed an intimacy with some young men of dissolute habits, and I soon became a participator in their vices and drunken frolics. My parents forbade my associating with these young men, and in consequence of this, being impatient of restraint, I enlisted into the German legion, second hussars, before I had completed my fifteenth year. I was a soldier in the British army about fifteen years, during which time I witnessed, to a great extent, the evils attendant upon drunkenness. never knew a man in our troop receive punishment, but the offence for which he suffered might be traced to intoxicating drinks as the cause. I had a comrade who was flogged three times within the space of three months, and each time through drunkenness. For the first offence he received one hundred and fifty lashes, for the second three hundred, and for the third nine hundred and ninety-nine! and, being after all found incorrigible, he was sent to a condemned regiment. I have often lamented over the fate of a sergeant and private, two fine young men, with whom I was intimate, who got intoxicated with wine in Spain, and, while in that state, dis obeyed orders respecting tying up their horses, and used insolent language to the colonel. They were tried by a court martial, and sentenced to be shot; and on the following day the fatal sentence was carried into awful execution. This was purely the result of intoxication. During the time I was in the army, I managed to escape corporal punishment; but was a hard drinker, though able generally to attend to my duty. I have been in many engagements, and was wounded six times; the last was at the battle of Waterloo, when I had my hand split with a sword while in action; but these wounds I reckon trifling compared with those that have been inflicted upon me by intoxicating drink, for these had well nigh destroyed both body and soul. After obtaining my discharge at Chelsea, in 1817, I went into Suffolk, where my wife's relatives reside, and opened a grocery shop in Ipswich. Along with my discharge I received a grant from government of 1507. for my long services. This sum, with property that my wife possessed, put me in command of 4007., with which I commenced business; but, instead of attending to my shop, I was frequently found in the public house, often drunk at night, and always muddled during the day. I continued this course until my stock in trade got much reduced; and, being unable to pay my rent, my landlord seized what goods remained, and sold them by auction, and I was left without a shilling, I after I then went to work for a brewer in Ipswich, and was in his employ about six years, during which I continued in my intemperate habits, and was at last discharged through drunkenness. I then removed to London, and obtained employment at a gas-work, in Westminster, where I continued four years, and was again discharged for the same cause. wards obtained employment with a gas company in Brick Lane, St. Luke's. Here I was employed about three years, but this situation also I lost because I was a drunkard; and, being only able to obtain a character as such, I could not get any employment. it Myself, my wife, and two children, were soon in a state of destitution. I then commenced basket making, and hawked them round the country; and my two children, a boy and girl, went round also, selling matches. I might have managed to live in this way, but when I got any money generally went for intoxicating drinks, instead of necessaries. Having travelled through Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex, in this line, about two years ago I happened to come to Stratford, where I took a room, and tried to dispose of my baskets and mats in the neighbourhood my wife and children now |
