much to fee thee, which I took efpecial care to prevent, fearing thy youth and innocence would win upon his love. After his deceafe, by the advice, and with the affiftance of his rogue of an attorney, we burnt my father's laft will, and produced that which he had made many years before, wherein he had cut thy father off with a fhilling. The deed was no fooner done, than I felt, as it were, all the torments of hell raging in my foul, it was done at the very moment his people were laying my aged father's body in the coffin." Here Mr. Rogers grew fo faint he could not go on.

"Merciful Heaven," cried Richard, with hands and eyes uplifted, "how covetoufnels hardens the heart of man! what a fafe-guard has my poverty been to me! riches might have enfnared my foul too." foul too." As foon as Mr. Rogers could fpeak he went on. "Thou haft jull mentioned, Richard, the trial that was brought forward after my father's deceafe, refpecting his will, when the attorney to whom I was to pay five hundred pounds for the villainous part he had acted, fwore he had never made a fecond will for my father, and I fwore to the fame ef fect; yes, Richard, I fwore upon the Holy Bible that Bible which pronounces a deadly curfe on him who fwears falfly; yea, I called on that eternal God to witness a lie, before whom I must fhortly be judged for it, and now my grey hairs are brought to the brink of the grave I begin to feel, that the fling of death is fin

but

very miferable has been my life, and very terrible no doubt will be my death. Being now in poffeffion of a clear 400l. a year, I began to fancy all things would go profperously and swimmingly on; I bought, and I fold, and no man's traffick feemed to turn to better account; no fuccefs in life, Richard could blunt the fting of guilt within me; when I lay me down to rest at night, I feared to truft myself to fleep, left I fhould betray my fecret; and my very dreams became fo difturbed, that the fervants would often hear my screams at the other end of the houfe. One night I dreamt I was going to be executed for destroying a will; and the next I fancied I was going to be tranfported for perjury. All my neighbors believed me to be a happy man, only because they faw me a profperous one. My covetous defires were never fatisfied, and whilft I went on heaping up guinea upon guinea, my mind was, hourly affliated with the dread of poverty. My wife all of a fudden grew melancholy, and by an accident fhe fell into the pond and was drowned; when my fon came of age I fettled him on the eftate, which my father in his will had left to thee; he was a diffolute young man, and coming home one night very much intoxicated with liquor, he fell across the bed with a lighted can. dle in his hand, which inftantly fet fire to the curtains, and he perifhed in the flames; one of my daughters turned out very vicious, and the other died of a broken heart from the cruel

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ufage of her husband. Besides all these trials, I had another very fevere one from the attorney, who was always racking me for money, and telling me he would turn King's evidence, and impeach me, if ever I refufed him. At length, without a moment given him for repentance, he was fuddenly carried off by a paralytic ftroke. My fpirits began to revive after his death, as my crime now was known only to myfelf; but peace can never dwell in the guilty bofom. I left off going to church, for there my condemnation ftared me full in the face. The Ten Commandments were written in golden letters on each fide of the Altar; then my own wicked confcience would whifper me, how many of thofe facred commands I have broken, I had taken the holy name of God in vain, I had prophaned the Sabbath, I had been undutiful to my parents, I HAD BORNE FÁLSE WITNESS AGAINST MY NEIGHBOR." At length, however, fo grievously burdened was my confcience, that I refolved occafionally to attend church, hoping it would be a kind of spunge to rub out fome of my fins. One funday I remember our parfon told us in his fermon there can be no real repentance for fin, without forfaking it; adding moreover, that if any of his congregation had defrauded his neighbor of aught, he entreated them, if ever they hoped their fouls would find mercy in the day of grace, that they fhould make reftitution, before death fhould cut them

off from the land of the living, fince there was no repentance in the grave.

These words fo worked upon my mind, that I fell fick, and during my illness, I called on Heaven to witnefs, that if life were granted me, I would restore to thee what I had fo unjustly kept from thee; but as my health returned, fo did my good refolutions vanifh away again; I cheated myfelf with the thought that I might yet enjoy life many years; thus I went on till the restless working of my confcience almoft overpowered me, and having erquired out the place of thy abode, mounted my horfe and fet out, with the refolution to difcover the whole hiftory of my villainy to thee; but when I came within fight of thy cottage, I found my principles were not ftrong enough to bring me to confefs myfelf a rogue before thee; I turned my horfe about, and went home again. I next took to hard drinking to ftifle reflection, but all would not do, for ftill the gnawings of a guilty confcience devoured me; as my health declined, the ftronger the fear of death came upon me. Again I refolved once more to go in fearch of thee, and earnestly did I pray to God to affift my endeavors, and the nearer I approached to thy little dwelling, the more was my courage ftrengthened to proceed. The fudden fall of fnow coming on was the cause of my being benighted, and miffing my way I fell into the pit; but ah, Richard, it feems as if heaven had appointed thee to preferve my life in this world,

and my foul from deftruction in the next, by pointing out to me the only path in which a penitent finner can tread with fafety. It is not for mortal man, Richard, to tell what agony of mind I have endured this night: thy kindness and that of thy wife nearly overcame me, and I the lefs feared to make a difcovery of myself to thee, when I found every action of thy daily life was governed by the principles of religion: I know Chriftianity alone can teach men hearti. ly to forgive their enemies.

"O Rogers! Rogers! how bleft is thy con dition, when compared with mine: if thou art poor, thou art honeft; in addition to a quiet confcience, thou haft a healthful and happy fainily fmiling around thee. I abound in wealth it is true; but my health is gone, I have loft my reft, and I carry in my bofom the sharp goadings of a wounded fpirit which I am unable to bear."

Here Mr. Rogers finished his truly melancholy hiftory, at which both Rogers and his wife fhed abundance of tears, and at the fame time they did all in their power to comfort him. The next day Rogers attended his uncle home, when he fent for the clergyman of his Parish, who was a very experienced Christian; Rogers made a full confeffion of his guilt to him, hoping he would give him his best advice how to fit and prepare himself for another world. Mr. Rogers lived but a few weeks after this, and died full of horror at the fins of his past life,