prayer, while patience is performing its perfect work."

It is not known that he ever believed the declaration to be fully accomplished in his own experience; but it had proved a word in season for him. The impression which it made upon his mind, at the time when it was uttered with such striking emphasis by the preacher, was deep and salutary. It put him upon his guard, and kept him there; and was thus probably an important means, in the hands of the Spirit, of preserving him to the end of his course, from any very palpable declension from his first love.

The state of his health, for some time after he had retired from the office of Mr. Crannel, was quite alarming to himself, and to his friends. He grew weaker every day,-a constant pain in his breast, with more or less fever, excited a distressing apprehension that he was consumptive:-so unfavourable altogether were the symptoms of disease, that little hope could be entertained that his life would be prolonged even many months; but at length, in or near the spring of 1765, there were pleasing signs of his convalescence; the pain in his breast, though not wholly removed, was much less severe than it had been; he was able to take

daily some moderate exercise; and, with the divine blessing upon this and other means used, he gained strength fast, and was soon again enjoying a good share of health.

About the same time, there was an occurrence that made an indelible impression upon his mind; and, as it showed a most signal interposition of Divine Providence in his favour, must here be related. It was truly a remarkable preservation from unseen, but impending destruction; and he must be blind, who cannot read in it a striking exposition of the proverb, A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. A young friend of his, whose health as well as his own, was in a feeble state, having concluded to try the effect of a voyage to one of the West India Islands, proposed that he should accompany him: and some circumstances concurring to render the proposal. very agreeable at the moment, he did not hesitate to accept it. Nay, he was so delighted with the opportunity now presented of taking a trip of the kind, and so confident that he would derive great benefit from it, that he decided upon the matter without previously seeking direction of the Lord, a duty which, after he became pious, he seldom omitted upon any occasion. It was understood that he would go; he fully intended to go; and, as it was expected that he

would sail soon, his kind mother provided a number of articles, which she thought he would need at sea. After different things were attended to, however, preparatory to his departure, to the surprise of all his friends, he suddenly gave up the voyage. This singular step, some no doubt will imagine, proceeded from timidity; but it does not appear, from his own account of it, that he had beforehand apprehended any danger, or anticipated aught but pleasure, and a restoration of his health. He could assign no reason for it, save that he had lost all desire to go:-he accordingly let his friend sail without him.

When the voyage was nearly completed, two of the crew made an attempt one night to seize the vessel; and, in the prosecution of their diabolical design, all on board, except a little boy, perished by their hands. After perpetrating the horrible deed, they gave themselves up to intoxication, and in this state, while in sight of the Island of St. Thomas, it so happened, providentially for their speedy detection, they ordered the boy to row them ashore. He did so; and then, as soon as out of their power, informed against them. A vigorous search was instantly made for the wretches. One fled to St. Eustatia, but was there seized and broken upon the wheel. The other, whose name was Ander

son, was taken in St. Thomas's sent back for trial to New York, and here executed "

upon an Island in the Bay, near the city, which, from that circumstance, has ever since been called, Anderson's, or Gibbet Island."

Had Mr. L. accompanied his friend, in adherence to his first determination, speaking after the manner of men, he would never have returned ;and it will readily be supposed, that upon hearing of the melancholy event, he was much affected with the thought of his own wonderful deliverance from a tragical death. He saw, in the preservation he had experienced, the protecting hand of a good God:-he knew that the Almighty had compassed him with favour as with a shield, and wrought that change in his inclination, which was the means of saving his life -he therefore blessed the Lord, who had thus seasonably interposed to redeem his life from destruction.-It is a circumstance not altogether unworthy of notice perhaps, that the Great Being, who determines the bounds of our habitation, so ordered the place of his residence afterwards, that, for a great many years, " Anderson's, or Gibbet Island," was frequently before his eyes as a memento of the singular mercy ;-and never to the day of his death, did he forget it, or relate it to his friends, without connecting with the

relation, suitable expressions of gratitude and praise.

"Few things in the history of religion," says a modern writer,* "are more interesting than the commencement and progress of Christianity, on a young, an ardent, and a highly cultivated mind. It cannot take hold on such a mind without producing the most marked and important results. Its adaptation at once to all the finest feelings of our nature, and to the most powerful of its intellectual faculties, makes it capable of producing all that is refined in moral sensibility, and all that is lofty in enterprise. It presents to such an individual a new world, teeming with objects of intense interest, and calling forth his deepest sympathy and his noblest ambition. It conducts into scenes of pure and ravishing sweetness, and diffuses over the spirit the peace of God, and the bliss of heaven. It presents a theatre, not for display, but for action and suffering, in the most glorious of all causes; the glory of God, and the salvation of men."

It has been said, that he commenced the study of law, with great ardour and untiring diligence,--that he constantly read, and thought, and wrote, with a

* Rev. William Orme.