Pg. 311

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 311] THE SPOILED CHILD. 23

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 —soon will you be summoned to leave it! As the Lord liveth, and as your soul liveth, there is only a step between you and death! O what will you feel—what will you say— what will you do, when the eternal world in all its fearful realities, in all its overpowering glories and terrors, shall burst on your astonished and disembodied soul! O hear me—return to the Lord God of your father! I beseech you, by Him who loved us, and gave himself for us —by him who died on the cross for us—by the Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech you, return to your God! By the memory of that dear old man your father—by the memory of his tears, and prayers, and vows—by the memory of that dear saint of God, now in heaven, your mother, who bare you, and nursed you in her bosom, and wept and prayed over you—whose last prayer and sigh were breathed from her dying lips for you—O return to your God; and break off your sins by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!”

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 He burst into tears, and placing his hands on his face, bowed himself down, his face on his knees, and wept aloud.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 We all kneeled down and prayed: the miserable man kneeled close by me: my heart was utterly overcome: I poured out my soul in almost incoherent words: I implored the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on him, his wife, and his dear little children. Every one of us wept: the very children sobbed: and I shall never forget the scene: the floor where the prodigal son bowed his head was wet with his streaming tears.

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 The sun was now setting: we took our leave of him with a cordial embrace: he led us to our horses, and on parting besought us to visit him soon again.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 But, alas! it was our last interview with him. I never saw him more. I was called into a neighboring State on business of the churches, and I was absent two weeks. The first news I learned, as I alighted at my own door, on my return, was the appalling intelligence that POOR JOHN C— WAS DEAD, AND BURIED!

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 I learned in brief his last moments from the Elder who had accompanied me on my last visit, and who had seen him when dying. Poor C— was attacked with fits: he raved