Page:Black Jacob, a monument of grace.djvu/53

Rh associated with this prison. Can we wonder that he loved it? It was the birth-place of his soul. "Here he first met Jesus."

Great anxiety was felt for Jacob by all his friends, and they watched him daily to see whether he would show the same meek and quiet spirit, and as highly honour religion in the world, as he had done in his prison. He must necessarily meet the temptations of life, which might be found too strong for his, as yet untried, moral principles, and in an evil hour he might fall from his steadfastness. Of this he seemed to be well aware, and to have fortified his mind by reliance upon the grace of God. No, one was apparently more alive to his own weakness and dangers.

The first year after his release from prison, he spent with a private gentleman in Auburn, where he fully maintained his Christian integrity. It was the wish of his friends that he should not go at once away from them, and it was equally his own desire to share their continued