Page:Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray.djvu/55

Rh the brother of their affection. Joy soon exhilirated my spirits, and brightened upon my countenance; I had the warm congratulations of all my friends, for it was noised abroad, that this very opulent gentleman had adopted me as his son, and they went so far as to add, his son, and heir. All this was very pleasing to me, but the kindred of Mr. Little, were of course, highly irritated, and I became so much the object of their envy, and their hatred, that, whenever they visited their uncle, without deigning to speak to me, they studiously sought opportunities of insulting me. This gave me pain, but it did me no real injury; for, upon every instance of invidious conduct toward me, my parental friends, and their family, especially their daughters, studiously augmented their testimonies of esteem and affection.

After I had passed some months with Mr. Little, he was visited by a young preacher, just entering the sacerdotal character, to whom I was much attached, and our friendship was mutual; I was prevailed upon by this preacher, to accompany him upon a little journey; I departed with the sanction of my patron. I had, in the societies with which I had been connected, occasionally exhorted; and I had been frequently urged by several of their preachers to aid them in their labours. Upon this journey I was, if I may so express myself, absolutely ensnared; accompanying my friend to the assembled congregation, with an expectation of hearing him, he put his arm under mine, and helping me to ascend the temporary pulpit, erected for the occasion, he suddenly quitted me, and I was in a manner constrained to speak to the multitude. Thus, for the first time, I preached to a large concourse of serious and attentive hearers, in publick; and, although at the appointed time I returned to my much-loved home, I continued, as opportunity offered, from that time forward, preaching whenever I journeyed, and even at home, when necessitated by the absence of the preacher. This made some noise in our little world; but, as it was not displeasing to my honoured friends, I was not dissatisfied. My inveterate enemies, however, being the nearest relations of the family in which I resided, were constantly endeavouring to undermine my interest in the heart of their kinsman. I was to pass some time in a neighbouring city, and to render my visit more pleasing, my patron, at my departure, furnished me with a sum of money; this sum I carelessly put into my pocket, without examination, until calling in my way, upon my mother, I discovered, that my patron had, as I supposed, made a capital mistake; that he had given me gold, instead of silver.