he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin because they believe not on me.' What they said to me made me worse, if worse could be. While I remained in a state of unbelief, I seemed to be tried in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting. I had no faith. I was like a man in hell. While in this condition I went away to my own ward, and cried for mercy through the blood of the Lamb. I spent the whole night in this way.

"I still persevered in reading the Bible, in confessing my sins, and in praying to God. I was like Noah's dove, I could find no rest for the sole of my foot;' or like the man-slayer fleeing to the city of refuge, with the avenger of blood at his heels; or like Lot among the Sodomites, when he went out to persuade his sons-in-law to flee from the guilty city, or rather, when he went out to expostulate with his abandoned and accursed fellowcitizens, when they had encompassed his dwelling. I was surrounded with the blackguards of hell, when the Lord put forth his hand and pulled me in.' On one occasion the sergeant came to me at a critical moment, and asked me to accompany him to a quiet place to sing a hymn, and to engage in prayer. We sang the fourth and fifth verses of the 32d Psalm, of Watts's collection :

"While I my inward guilt suppressed,

No quiet could I find;

Thy wrath lay burning in my breast,
And racked my tortured mind.

"Then I confessed my troubled thoughts,
My secret sins recalled,

Thy pardoning grace forgave my faults,
Thy grace my pardon sealed.

"While singing the last verse, I said in my heart, I have done all this; I have confessed my sins.' Then a thought came into my mind, quick as lightning. 'I must let all my doings fall to the ground.' When I was enabled to do that I felt that I deserved nothing but hell, and fully expected that it would be my portion. Then the Lord the Spirit stretched out his hand and brought me in by Christ the door. Of his own sovereign pleasure he did this. I was expecting hell, and he gave me heaven in my soul. Surprising mercy! What a translation from darkness to light, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son! My guilt removed and my pardon sealed, peace flowed like a river into my soul. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' My 'faith came by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' It did not come from man, nor from myself, but from God. It was God's gift, and Christ was the author of it. This blessed truth suggests to my mind that passage in the Corinthians, 'For God, who commandeth the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' All this was fulfilled in my experience at that time. I felt that light, and that life, and that joy coming

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into my heart; not into my head, but into my heart. My heart was warmed with his love shed abroad in it by the Holy Ghost given unto me, and I rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I now saw the Bible to be a new book, and was able, in some measure to enter into the spirit of the apostle where he says, And hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life!""

Having found the Saviour, he became a zealous and consistent disciple. He formed a new purpose of life, which for fifty years afterward he pursued with unquenchable ardor. "My constant prayer at times was, O Lord, if it be thy pleasure, spare me as long in thy service as I have been in Satan's, and make me as zealous in saving souls and in converting sinners by my good example, as I once was in destroying souls and ruining my fellow-men by my bad example." He was greatly benefited at this time by the Rev. Mr Chamberlain, one of Dr. Carey's fellow-laborers. "He possessed," says Flockhart, "a true missionary spirit. He infected me, and I have since endeavored through God's grace to infect others. I got a slip from this geranium, and many a one, through God's blessing, has got a slip from me."

After remaining two full years in the hospital, where he read the Bible to the other patients, and prayed with them, he wished to join the fellowship of the Christian Church. The members of the

Church in the regiment were Baptists, and wished him to be baptized. He was partly prejudiced against this, but overcame his scruples and gave his name as a candidate. The ceremony took place on the twenty-sixth of August, 1810, at Calcutta, where his regiment then was. Mr. Ward, of Serampore, preached and administered the sacraments of baptism to the candidates, and of the Lord's supper to the members.

"

"After making a public profession of religion," he says, "I enjoyed sweet fellowship with the brethren in the regiment. Our love to one another resembled that of the Christian Church after the day of Pentecost. I used to experience great delight in meeting with two or three of the Christian brethren for prayer and praise behind a battery. Some of the ungodly soldiers found out our place of meeting, and sent in showers of stones among us; but in place of terrifying us, it only made us more earnest to come back, and the fire of grace and love burn more bright and warm."

Robert was in the expedition sent to the Isle of France. During the engagement with the French, he says, "My mind was in a praying frame. I expected every moment would be my last. I never lived nearer the Lord than at that time. Lifting up my voice I sang the following stanza:

"Plagues and death around me fly,
Till he bid I cannot die';

Not a single shot can hit,

Till the love of God sees fit.'