Page:Black Jacob, a monument of grace.djvu/95

Rh ago, just previous to our precious revival: when as we were about to separate under most disheartening circumstances, Jacob was invited to address us. You have not forgot that truly eloquent and overwhelming appeal which seemed to shake the very house in which we were assembled, while the whole congregation was convulsed with weeping. You remember the words with which he began: 'My masters and mistresses, for I dare not call you my brethren and sisters.' There was breathed the spirit of the man, and I never knew him to appear to cherish any other.

"There was a peculiarity in his prayers which you must have noticed. In that part of them which consisted of confession, he always used the first person singular. He seemed to think that his confession of sin could only be appropriate for himself. He often alluded to the past with expressions of the most profound abhorrence and shame. Sometimes he spoke of his crime, but it was always with such evident pain; that it was distessing