sinner that repented. Far from the ordinary means of grace,— beyond the hearing of the word, without the fellowship of Christians, and almost unaided by the writings of divines,— having no book but the Bible, or occasionally a religious treatise, (and these as he says, not always the best,) John Newton, the infidel and blasphemer, was awakened, alarmed, convinced, comforted, and instructed, in such a manner that he could rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of his salvation. During the same extraordinary interval he had patience and resolution to apply himself diligently both to science and polite literature; and he actually acquired as much knowledge of mathematics, and the learned languages, as enabled him in after life to pursue those studies till he became a good reading scholar, if not a great proficient or an acute critic. Thus his mind was expanded and enlightened as his heart was renewed and sanctified. And where was this twofold miracle wrought?— On board of a slave-ship, amidst the iniquities of the coast-traffic, the horrors of the middle passage, and the abominations of the West Indian market. The fact might be doubted had not a life of unwearied labour, most exemplary piety, and pre-eminent usefulness, as a Christian minister, (hardly paralleled among his contemporaries,) proved the reality of his transition, amidst such hindrances, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to serve the living God. Verily and literally to his experience might be applied the words of his friend, Cowper,
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform:
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm".
To his companion at Olney we return. Congeniality
