addressing him was at that time an utter stranger. After mentioning, therefore, some of the particulars respecting his family, and his early history, which have been already stated, Mr. Buchanan thus proceeds.

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"On the receipt of my mother's letter, I immediately re"flected that I had heard there was a crowded audience at ❝ a church in Lombard Street. Thither I accordingly went "the next Sunday evening; and when you spoke, I thought "I heard the words of eternal life: I listened with avidi"ty, and wished that you had preached till midnight." Mr. Buchanan laments, however, that this pleasing impression was too soon effaced; and that, although he constantly attended Mr. Newton's sermons with raised expectations and sanguine hopes that he should one day be relieved from the burthen which then oppressed his mind, he had hitherto been disappointed. "But," he adds, with genuine humility, "I have now learned how unreasonable was such "an early expectation: I have been taught to wait patiently "upon God, who waited so long for me."

"You say," he continues," many things that touch my "heart deeply, and I trust your ministry has been in some "degree blessed to me: but your subjects are generally ad"dressed to those who are already established in the faith, "or to those who have not sought God at all. Will you "then drop one word to me? If there is any comfort in the ❝ word of life for such as I am, O shed a little of it on my "heart. And yet I am sensible that I am not prepared to "receive that comfort. My sins do not affect me as I wish. "All that I can speak of is a strong desire to be converted "to my God. O sir, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

I see clearly that I cannot be happy in any degree, even "in this life, until I make my peace with God: but how "shall I make that peace? If the world were my inherit"ance, I would sell it, to purchase that pearl of great "price.

"How I weep when I read of the prodigal son as descri"bed by our Lord! I would walk many miles to hear a

“sermon from the 12th and 13th verses of the thirty-third chapter of the second book of Chronicles."

After apologizing for thus intruding upon one to whose attention he had no personal claim, Mr. Buchanan concludes as follows.

“My heart is overburthened with grief, and greatly does "it distress me, that I must impart my sorrows to him who "has so much himself to bear. My frequent prayer to God "is, that he would grant you strong consolation. To-mor"row is the day you have appointed for a sermon to young "people. Will you remember me, and speak some suitable "word, that by the aid of the blessed Spirit may reach my "heart? Whatever becomes of me, or of my labours, I pray "God that you may prove successful in your ministry, and "that your labours may be abundantly blessed."

The preceding letter was addressed to Mr. Newton anonymously; but so simply, yet so forcibly does it describe the state of a penitent, awakened to a just apprehension of his sin and folly, and earnestly desiring relief, that it could not fail to excite in the mind of a man of so much Christian benevolence, a degree of lively sympathy with the feelings, and of interest in the welfare, of the writer. His letter, however, being not only without any signature, but without any reference to the place of his residence, the only method which occurred to Mr. Newton of conveying any reply to him was, by giving notice in his church, that if the person who had written to him anonymously on such a day were present, and would call upon him, he should be happy to converse with him on the subject of his communication. This intimation Mr. Newton accordingly gave, and an early interview in consequence took place between them.

"I called on him," says Mr. Buchanan, in a letter to his mother, on the Tuesday following, and experienced such

The following are the affecting verses alluded to by Mr. Buchanan: "And "when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself "greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated "of him, and heard his supplication."

b Mr. Newton was at this time suffering under one of the severest domestic calamities.

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"a happy hour as I ought not to forget. If he had been my "father, he could not have expressed more solicitude for my "welfare.

"Mr. Newton encouraged me much. He put into my "hands the narrative of his life, and some of his letters; "begged my careful perusal of them before I saw him again, and gave me a general invitation to breakfast with him "when and as often as I could."

Of the meeting immediately subsequent to this first interview no account has been preserved. That it was mutually pleasing and satisfactory, is evident from the intercourse which afterwards took place between them, and which was ultimately productive of such important consequences.

"I cultivated," says Mr. Buchanan, "a close acquaint"ance with Mr. Newton, and he soon professed a great "regard for me.”

The grand subject, which would of course immediately occupy the attention of both, was the reality and the completion of the recent change in the moral and religious character of Mr. Buchanan. Though the public and private instructions of Mr. Newton would, from his well known views of Christian doctrine, incline him to exhibit to the awakened and trembling penitent the free and full forgiveness of the Gospel, he would doubtless urge with equal solemnity and earnestness the necessity of ascertaining the sincerity of his repentance, the genuineness of his faith, and the stability of his resolutions of obedience to the divine precepts. That such was the general tenor of the counsel which was imparted upon these occasions, plainly appears from several succeeding letters of Mr. Buchanan; and though it is to be lamented that those of his pious correspondent to which he refers are not now to be found, it is evident, from various traces of their contents, that they were admirably calculated to relieve the distress, to remove the difficulties, and to direct the conduct of his new disciple.

Thus in the venerable person to whom the providence of God had introduced him, Mr. Buchanan found an enlightened and experienced guide, a wise and faithful counsellor,

and at length a steady and affectionate friend; while the latter discovered in the stranger who had been so remarkably made known to him, one who displayed talents and dispositions which appeared to him capable of being beneficially employed in the service of their common Lord and Master.

Before we proceed, however, with the narrative of their future intercourse, it may not be unnecessary to offer a few observations respecting the change in the religious and moral dispositions of Mr. Buchanan, which has been thus particularly described, for the purpose of obviating some probable objections and misapprehensions upon this subject.

It is possible, on the one hand, that some may perceive in Mr. Buchanan's ingenuous statement, little more than an example of that sudden and enthusiastic conversion, which it is so much the custom to ridicule and to decry; while, on the other, an equally numerous class of readers may be inclined to think that the circumstances thus related are easily to be accounted for, and little to be regarded. The one, in short, may be disposed to treat the whole as visionary and delusive; the other, as weak and unimportant.

In reply to the former of these objections, it may be observed, that, even admitting the change in question to have been sudden, it does not necessarily follow that it was enthusiastic and visionary. I do not in the smallest degree," says a peculiarly calm and cautious writer," mean to un❝dervalue, or speak lightly of such changes, whenever, or "in whomsoever they take place; nor to deny that they "may be sudden, yet lasting: nay, I am rather inclined to "think that it is in this manner that they frequently do "take place." But in the present case, sudden as that impression appears to have been, which was the turning point in the mind of Mr. Buchanan between a life of sin and of religion, between the world and God, it was neither the first nor the last which he experienced; but one of many previous convictions, which had been comparatively ineffectual, and of many subsequent influences, which issued in the real conversion of his heart to God, and which continued

Dr. Paley, Sermons, p. 123.

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through his future course to establish and edify him in Christian faith and holiness. The substantial effects which followed sufficiently rescue the impressions which have been described from the imputation of enthusiasm, and vindicate their claim to a more legitimate and divine origin.

If the spiritual change, however, which has been thus explained, is acknowledged by some to have been devoid of any thing delusive or visionary, it may still perhaps be considered by others as neither extraordinary nor important. The religious education of Mr. Buchanan, it may be alleged, might naturally have been expected to lead at some period of his life to such a result; and the change in his character and conduct was only such as a regard to truth and propriety absolutely required.

The early associations and habits of Mr. Buchanan undoubtedly favoured the hope that he would eventually become a real Christian: but their very inefficacy in restraining him during several years from a course of insincerity, vanity, and sin, is alone sufficient to prove that nothing short of that divine influence, to which he ascribed his conversion, could at once have convinced his understanding, and changed and purified his heart. With respect to the extent and importance of this change, it must not be estimated solely by the reformation of his external conduct, striking and decisive as it was: merely moral or prudential considerations might, perhaps, have been sufficiently powerful to have produced such an improvement. But how many, who either never deviated into what is grossly immoral, or whom inferior motives may have reclaimed from such a course, are, nevertheless, unconscious of the spirituality of that divine law, which reaches to the thoughts and intents of the heart, and consequently of those innumerable transgressions of its pure and extensive demands, and of that inward corruption and weakness, which lead the awakened mind to the deepest humiliation and repentance, and prepare it to embrace with lively gratitude the forgiveness and grace of the Gospel! How many also, who are exemplary, perhaps, in social and relative duties, are yet destitute of any thing