Lord cometh as a thief in the night.’ Then I turned to the young people, and said, ‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.’
One morning, when the family were eontriving new schemes for acquiring wealth, I was hastily taken into the midst of them by their youngest child, which afforded me an opportunity of saying one word, which was this:—‘What shall it profit a man though he gain the whole world, if he lose his own soul? The saying was seasonable, and caused great silence for a few minutes; after whieh, the lady observed, that my question was very important, and that she had often heard her old grandmother eonverse on such things when she was a child; but after she was introdueed into the gay eircles, she had forgotten the many good things which she had been told by her worthy grandmother. ‘Then,’ said I, ‘hearken to me now, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Search me for wisdom as for hidden treasures; for he that findeth this, findeth life.’ ‘Well,’ said she, ‘ I will; but I have not leisure at present; however, at some future period I will send for thee.’ ‘But now,’ said I, ‘is the appointed time, now is the day of salvation; and we know not what a ehange a single day or an hour may produee respecting us.’
She now drew me nearer to her, and requested me to relate the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus the ruler of the Jews; with whieh request I readily eomplied. When I repeated the objection which the ruler started against the doctrine of regeneration, she said, ‘That is very remarkable, for the same objection occurred to me.’ She could not conceive what the Lord meant by calling regeneration an earthly doctrine, till an old Christian sailor happened to touch at the island, and having heard of his piety, she sent for him, and proposed the question: ‘In what sense is this an earthly doetrine?’ ‘ O! madam,’ said he, ‘the necessity of having our natures ehanged before we ean relish the things of God, or be fit for the heavenly world, quite aeords with things with which we are familiar on earth. For example; before a lion could lie down peaceably on your dining-room carpet, its ferocity must be removed, and a milder temper communicated to it; before a fish could live out of water, and a beast in it, their natures must be ehanged.’ ‘Oh!’ said she, ‘thank you, I understand now.’
But to proceed with my narration of our first interview. I mentioned all that Jesus stated to the Jewish ruler. I then related the history of the brazen serpent, to whieh the Lord referred his discourse. What I said seemed like a nail fastened in a sure place by the great Master of assembles. She
