Page:Black Jacob, a monument of grace.djvu/52

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jacob hodges.

and where would he find another as kind? The chaplain had been his constant and faithful adviser, his spiritual guide through his darkest hours: and where would he meet another so tender-hearted and so true? Who was to take this poor, desolate, long-imprisoned, but now liberated African by the hand, to befriend and watch over him? He had not a relative that he knew on earth; nor a spot that he could call his home, where to claim shelter even for a night. Putting his trust in God his Saviour, he went forth to begin the world anew: and indeed it was all new to him.

When recurring once to this event, he assured me that it was with great reluctance that he left the prison. Expressing some surprise and waiting for his reasons, he said, "I loved that place. I loved the prison, for there I first met Jesus." And can we wonder that he loved it? All the useful instruction he had ever received, all the real friends he ever had, and all the good he had ever known were