"Religion will sometimes reform a vicious life, and check the evil propensities of the heart, while the temper is left unsubdued. What influence have her religious principles over her temper?"
"I am happy to say that the lion became a lamb, and in meekness and gentleness of spirit she surpasses most. But I perceive," looking at his watch, "that I cannot prolong our conversation, as I have an appointment; and therefore I beg you will do me the honour of a visit before you leave. Come early in the morning, or consent to stay the whole of the night."
I reached Fairmount about half-an-hour before dinner, which gave me an opportunity of recording in my diary the incidents of the morning. As I sat musing on the raptures of the dying Christian, the ignorance of the worthy farmer, and the liberality of the venerable clergyman, the servant tapped at my door, and informed me that the family were waiting. I immediately made my appearance in the parlour, when Mrs. Stevens said, "I have the pleasure, of introducing to you my nephew, Mr. Lewellin." I took his hand with mingled emotions of surprise and joy, offered him my congratulations on the great change which had taken place in his moral and spiritual character, inquired after his pious mother, and then sat down to refresh myself with the provisions of hospitality.
THE HORNINGSHAM SAILOR.
Dinner being ended, we adjourned to the back parlour, whose folding doors opened on the lawn, and exhibited a sweet scene of tranquil beauty.
"The heart that is insensible to the charms of nature," said Mr. Lewellin, "must be devoid of taste and feeling."
"True," replied Mr. Stevens, "but how many feel these charms who never hold communion with Him who has invested them with their magic power. They profess to rise up through nature, 'to nature's God;' but their conceptions of His character are essentially defective; they admire His grandeur and His greatness, but there is no recognition of His purity; they extol His benevolence, but are not awed by His justice. I recollect being in company with a gentleman, who was an impassioned admirer of nature, and after an eloquent descant on its magnificent scenery, he concluded by saying, 'The Deity, who has given existence to such physical wonders, would act a very undignified part to stoop so low as to notice the little frailties of humanity; but to suppose he would punish them, would be to offer Him an insult.' Hence they very naturally, from their assumed premises, scornfully reject the remedial scheme of salvation that is revealed to us in the Scriptures."
"Our reception or rejection of the Scripture scheme of salvation," said Mr. Lewellin, "depends on the opinion we form of the character of God; for if his purity and equity be not recognized, the law which commands obedience will be denounced; the distinction between virtue and vice, which the Scriptures mark with such precision, will be confounded; and the whole scheme of Divine mercy will be regarded as a cunningly devised fable. I remember the time when I lived without any habitual reverence for the Supreme Being. I admired the wisdom and the benevolence which I could trace in the construction of the universe; but it neither excited gratitude, nor led to any dependence on God for preservation from evil, or for happiness. It is true when the elements were disturbed, when the tempest raged, when the lightning flashed, and when the thunder roared, I trembled; but no sooner had these commotions ceased, than all was tranquil within; yet it was not peace of mind, it was a moral torpor, a judicial insensibility, the ease which precedes the moral pangs of the second death."