Page:Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray.djvu/69

Rh beautiful, whose heart was formed for pity and for tenderness, followed me down stairs, and entreated me to continue with them, but her well-designed interference was ineffectual. I had been severely censured, and I could not bear it; I could have borne it better, if it had been unmerited. I left my lovely cousin in tears, nor did I again see, or hear from any individual of the family, until, one evening after I had preached in the Methodist Church, my grandmother advanced, took my hand, and requested I would attend her home: I confess I was delighted with her condescension; for my mind had greatly suffered from the reflection, that I had given pain to the dear, and respectable mother of my deceased father. I accompanied her home, and we passed a happy evening together; both my grandmother, and my aunt, addressed me in strains the most soothing; they poured into my lacerated mind the oil and wine of consolation; they confessed themselves convinced, that the good hand of God was in my removal. "You are," said the pious lady, "you are, my dear child, under the guidance of an omnipotent Power; God has designed you for himself; you are a chosen instrument to give light to your fellow men; you are, I perceive, ordained to turn many from darkness unto light, from the power of satan, unto God, and the Lord will be with you. The God of your father will bless you, and make your way prosperous before you; look no more, then, to what you have left behind, but look forward in faith, always remembering, that God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful; preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. Do not, I say, reflect upon yourself; I confess, I was wrong in censuring you; God's way is in the great deep, we ought to acquiesce in all the dispensations of our Creator. You, my dear son, are as clay in his hand; God is as the potter, who will do with you as seemeth good in his sight. Who can resist his will?" Thus did this dear lady speak peace to a mind, that had not, for a long season, received such strong consolation.

I was urged, while in the city of Cork, to relinquish my purpose of going to England. The Methodists solicited me to repair to Limerick, where a preacher was much wanted; but nothing could seduce my thoughts from my native island. I frequently mixed in company, where religious disputes ran very high. The doctrine of election, and final perseverance, were severely reprobated: But election, and final perseverance, were fundamentals in my creed, and were received by me, as the doctrines of God. Yet I was aware, that an attempt to