CHAPTER XIII. The Young Convert. The gospel-creed, a sword of strife, Meek hands alone may rear; And even zeal begins its life Lyra Apostolica. We must now carry on our tale some few years from the date of the events which were detailed in the preceding chapter, during which time the new church was consecrated by the name of St. Paul, and an incumbent found, who, in most respects, answered the sanguine expectations of Mrs. Ford. He was pious, talented, and eloquent, and very attentive to his duties; but unfortunately brought with him some of those lax views upon Church-principles, which, we are happy to say, were more common seven years since than they are at present. Henry Howard, now grown up a young man, was in partnership with Bradwell, having conducted himself during the whole of his residence with his godfather in a satisfactory way. Charles Ford, whom we have said was about Henry's age, had been for some time at Cambridge; where, although not living in confirmed depravity, his principles were so weak, that he fell under most of the temptations which assailed him. The general course of his life during the early part of his career at the university had been unsteady; and during the vacations he brought home with him so much slang in his common conversation, and such an apparent indifference and irreverence to sacred things, that Henry, who on many accounts entertained regard for him, found it desirable to curtail his visits at Weston, and to see as little as possible of his early friend. Charles continued in this course for about two years, when an event occurred which had a great influence upon his character. He was hunting one day, when his horse, in going over a fence, came down, and falling upon his leg, broke it in two places. He was removed from the field in which the accident happened, to the nearest farm-house, where he remained for three months without once leaving his bed. At first the surgeon who attended him had serious fears for his life, from the height to which the fever ran; but at length the inflammation was got under; and Charles heard, with much thankfulness, there was every prospect of his recovery, if he would remain quiet, and attend to the directions he received. During his long and tedious illness he had much opportunity for reflection, the result of which was, that he became fully convinced of the great folly and wickedness he had hitherto been guilty of, and firmly resolved, if God should spare his life, to pass his time in a very different way. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he was removed from the farm-house to Cambridge, where he remained a short time, and then travelled by easy stages to Weston. Here he stayed during a whole summer, and had full opportunity of beginning that new course he had determined to pursue. Mr. Fitzhugh, the incumbent, was frequently at Weston; and in a short time a great intimacy sprung up between him and Charles. At his suggestion young Ford became at once a teacher in the Sunday-school, and a district-visitor; in this latter capacity he was in the habit of reading and expounding the Scriptures in the different cottages where he visited; and in a short time became so popular among the poor, that his evening lectures were better attended than those of Mr. Fitzhugh himself. On his first coming from Cambridge, Henry Howard called upon him, and was much pleased with the alteration which had taken place in Charles's mind: he heard the whole circumstances connected with his accident, the fears he had entertained, and the resolutions he had formed, during illness. In a few days Henry saw him again, when he said that he felt stronger in his resolutions than ever, and was determined to commence at once as district-visitor and Sunday-school teacher. "If I might venture to give advice in such a case,” said Henry, “it would be, that you should wait some little time, at all events, before you enter upon these very responsible offices. You must remember, Charles, that it is but a short time since you were giving way to various kinds of dissipation and wickedness. You are now, doubtless, sincere in your hatred of such things, and in your determination to avoid them for the future; but we are all of us frail, uncertain creatures, and but too apt to neglect the good resolutions we form. Will it not be better, therefore, that you should try yourself a little, and see, as well as you can, how far you are likely to carry out these good intentions? You require some self-discipline; practise this for a time, and then you will have a better insight into yourself, and be more able to judge as to the course you will follow hereafter. Remember, if you should fall away after undertaking these duties-which I sincerely trust may not be the case; but if it should, your fall would not only be disastrous to yourself, but would prove a stumbling-block to others, and bring loss to them. I might also speak of the defective views of divine truth, which, under your circumstances, you cannot but entertain, and which of itself ought to make you pause; but I would hope my former reasons are sufficient." To all this Charles answered, that he felt satisfied he should not fall; he had talked the matter over with Mr. Fitzhugh, and was quite sure that he was called, he might say in a miraculous manner, to serve God, and was determined to commence at once in the way he proposed. Henry said, that indeed his call, if he liked to speak of the change brought about during his late accident under that name, was in one sense miraculousthat is, it had, by God's goodness, produced thoughts which could never have come without the preventing grace of God; but although such was the case, it afforded no assurance that he would not fall again, nor did it at all justify him in undertaking an office of considerable responsibility, which required a maturity of judgment and stedfastness of purpose, rarely, if ever, found in young converts. "Well," said Charles, "I know you too well to doubt your sincerity, or I might suspect that you were among those old-fashioned High Churchmen, who talk a great deal, and do nothing; but you must forgive me for saying, that you are still old-fashioned, lamentably beset with prejudices, and very unfit to cope with the threatening evils of the present day." "Perhaps so," said Henry, mildly; "but the day may come when it will be admitted that these prejudices, as you call them, are the only weapons that can safely and effectually be used in the impending conflict between good and evil." Some few days after the above conversation, Rachel Ford, with Miss Croft, went to spend the evening with the Bradwells; and among other topics discussed was Charles's accident, and the effects produced by it upon his mind. "We are quite delighted," said Rachel, "to see K such a change come over him. Often and often mamma and myself have been quite miserable at the way in which we feared he was spending his time at Cambridge; for besides the evil course in which we heard he was living, his letters were written in such a careless, worldly spirit, that we felt sure he was extremely wicked. And so it proved to be; for, at his illness, it all came out. You may, therefore, well imagine how delighted we are at the change." 66 Yes," ," said Mrs. Bradwell, it must indeed be a comfort to you, to know that he has left off a sinful course, and is resolved now upon leading a better life." 66 Oh, I can assure you," said Rachel, "his conversion is most wonderful. Don't you think so?" addressing Mr. Bradwell, who was sitting a silent listener to her remarks. "I scarcely like to talk much of these matters," said Bradwell; "but it is always delightful to hear of any one ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well.'" "Oh, but I love to talk of it," said Rachel; "I like all the world to know what a changed character Charles is. I'm sure it's so wonderful, that I quite believe in the old saying, 'the greater the sinner, the greater the saint.'" "Stop," said Bradwell, seriously; " you must not assert so dreadful a doctrine as that uncontradicted; I am sure, my dear Rachel, you cannot believe the truth of that most shocking saying." "I don't know," replied Rachel, "I cannot say that I do not believe it; on the contrary, I have seen so many delightful instances of great sinners being suddenly converted, that I am very much disposed to think it true." "It is true, indeed," said Bradwell," that many wicked persons have been brought to repentance by |