Father, for thy own mercy's sake,
Let all my mournful prayers come back

In that tremendous day,

While ready and resolved he is
To plunge into the dark abyss,
And cast his soul away!

Then in his soul the secret tell,
And answering for thyself, reveal
The Truth so long unknown,
The Way, which thou in Jesus art,
And Life, eternal life, impart

By giving him thy Son.

The blessed day of my release

(Should sorrow's pangs no sooner cease)

Will swallow up my woe,

Make darkness light, and crooked straight, Unwind the labyrinths of fate,

And all the secret show.

But while thy way is in the deep,
Thou dost not chide, if still I weep,

If still mine eyes run o'er :
The bitterness of death is past;
The bitterness of life may last
A few sad moments more.

Patient till death I feel my pain,
But neither murmur nor complain,
While humbled in the dust;
My sins the cause of my distress
I feel, and mournfully confess
The punishment is just.

Wherefore with soft and silent pace
I measure out my suffering days
In view of joys to come,
In hope His plan to comprehend,
When Jesus shall with clouds descend,
And call me from the tomb.

My God alone I fain would love,
And patient thy return attend,
These clouds and mountains to remove,
And give me an expected end,

Explain my life of misery,
With all thy love's designs on me.

A child of sorrow from the womb,
By sad variety of pain

Weigh'd down, I sink into the tomb,
Yet only of myself complain;
My sins the root of bitterness
I must in life and death confess.

But trouble shall not always last :
Affliction's child shall weep no more,
When thankful for my sufferings past,
Exulting on the heavenly shore,
I tell the' acclaiming hosts above,
That all thy paths were truth and love.

Come, Finisher of sin and woe,

And let me die my God to see;
My God, as I am known, to know,
Fathom the depths of Deity,
And spend, contemplating thy face,
A bless'd eternity in praise.

Against the instrument of ill,
may I no resentment find,

No wrong, vindictive temper feel,
Unfriendly wish, or thought unkind,

But put the yearning bowels on,

The tender mercies of thy Son.

Still would I keep the Lamb in view,

Harmless in thought, and word, and deed,

That Lover of his foes pursue,

Who suffer'd in his murderers' stead, Expired Himself, that they might live, And meekly gasp'd in death," FORGIVE!"

His Spirit into my soul inspire,
That, in true holiness renew'd,
With pure, benevolent desire,

For evil I may render good,
Kind to my adversary prove,
And cruel hate requite with love.

If thou remit my debt immense,
I may forgive a trivial debt,
A fellow-servant's hundred pence,
Against ten thousand talents set:
I do forgive, myself forgiven,
And haste to meet my foe in heaven.

While Mr. Charles Wesley wept and prayed over his lost son, and in the bitterness of his grief sighed for his own dismissal from the body, Mr. John Wesley attempted to reclaim the wanderer, by showing him his real character as a fallen and unholy man. He would not gratify the perverted youth by arguing with him the long-agitated questions of transubstantiation, infallibility, confession, purgatory, and the number of the sacraments; but tried to convince him that he was a sinner; so that even admitting all his new opinions to be true, and important as he assumed them to be, he must perish everlastingly unless he were born again to a life of holiness. The following letter, which he addressed with yearning pity to his erring nephew, is highly characteristic of his enlightened piety and faithfulness :

"August 19th, 1784. Dear Sammy,-As I have had a regard for you ever since you was a little one, I have often thought of writing to you freely. And I am persuaded, what is spoken in love will be taken in love: and if so, if it does you no good, it will do you no harm.

Many years ago I observed, that as it had pleased God to give you a remarkable talent for music, so He had given you a quick apprehension of other things, a capacity for making some progress in learning, and, what is of far greater value, a desire to be a Christian. But, meantime, I have often been pained for you, fearing you did not set out the right way. I do not mean with regard to this or that set of opinions, Protestant or Romish. All these I trample under foot. But with regard to those weightier matters, wherein if they go wrong, either Protestants or Papists will perish everlastingly. I feared you was not born again: and 'except a man be born again,' if we may credit the Son of God, 'he cannot see the kingdom of heaven:' except he experience that inward change of the earthly, sensual mind, for the mind which was in Christ Jesus. You might have throughly understood the scriptural doctrine of the new birth, yea, and experienced it long before now, had you used the many opportunities of improvement which God put into your hands, while you believed both your father and me to be teachers sent from God. But, alas! what are you now? Whether of this Church or that, I care not. You may be saved in either, or damned in either. But I fear, you are

not born again: and except you are born again, you cannot
see the kingdom of God. You believe the Church of Rome
is right. What then? If you are not born of God, you are
of no church. Whether Bellarmine or Luther be right, you
are certainly wrong, if you are not born of the Spirit; if
you are not renewed in the spirit of your mind in the like-
ness of Him that created you. I doubt you was never con-
vinced of the necessity of this great change. And there is
now greater danger than ever, that you never will; that you
will be diverted from the thought of it, by a train of new
notions, new practices, new modes of worship; all which put
together, (not to consider whether they are unscriptural,
superstitious, and idolatrous, or no,-I would as soon pick
straws as dispute of this with you, in your present state of
mind,)-all, I say, put together, do not amount to one grain
of true, vital, spiritual religion.

"O Sammy, you are out of your way! You are out of
God's way! You have not given Him your heart. You
have not found, nay, it is well if you have so much as sought,
happiness in God! and poor zealots, while you are in this
state of mind, would puzzle you about this or the other
Church! O fools and blind! Such guides as these lead
men by shoals to the bottomless pit.

"My dear Sammy, your first point is, to repent, and believe the Gospel. Know yourself, a poor, guilty, helpless sinner! Then know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Let the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit, that you are a child of God: and let the love of God be shed abroad in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto you: and then, if you have no better work, I will talk with you of transubstantiation or purgatory. Meantime, I commend you to Him who is able to guide you into all truth; and am, dear Sammy,

"Your affectionate uncle."

Mr. Charles Wesley's daughter, and his other son, though they were at this time strangers to religion in its life and power, deeply regretted the step which their wayward brother had taken, in renouncing the Protestant faith, and assuming the Romish profession. Charles expressed this feeling in a letter to his uncle, which called forth the following The venerable man, it will be observed, endeavours

answer.

the on

to turn to a good account the sad occurrence which they
all lamented, by teaching truths of the utmost importance.
"May 2d, 1786. I/doubt not both Sarah and you are in
trouble, because Samuel has changed his religion.' Nay,
he has changed his opinion and mode of worship: but that is
not religion; it is quite another thing. 'Has he then,' you
may ask, 'sustained no loss by the change?' Yes, unspeak-
able loss; because his new opinion, and mode of worship, are
so unfavourable to religion, that they make it, if not impos-
sible to one who once knew better, yet extremely difficult.

"What then is religion? It is happiness in God, or in the knowledge and love of God. It is faith working by love; producing 'righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' In other words, it is a heart and life devoted to God; or communion with God the Father, and the Son; or, the mind which was in Christ Jesus, enabling us to walk as He walked. Now, either he has this religion, or he has not: if he has, he will not finally perish, notwithstanding the absurd, unscriptural opinions he has embraced, and the superstitious and idolatrous modes of worship. But these are so many shackles, which will greatly retard him in running the race that is set before him. If he has not this religion, if he has not given God his heart, the case is unspeakably worse: I doubt if he ever will; for his new friends will continually endeavour to hinder him, by putting something else in its place, by encouraging him to rest in the form, notions, or externals, without being born again, without having Christ in him, the hope of glory, without being renewed in the image of Him that created him. This is the deadly evil. I have often lamented that he had not this holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. But though he had it not, yet, in his hours of cool reflection, he did not hope to go to heaven without it but now he is or will be taught, that, let him only have a right faith, (that is, such and such notions,) and add thereunto such and such externals, and he is quite safe. He may indeed roll a few years in purging fire; but he will surely go to heaven at last!

"Therefore you and my dear Sarah have great need to weep over him: but have you not also need to weep for yourselves? For, have you given God your hearts? Are you holy in heart? Have you the kingdom of God within you?