12

HE BECOMES EXTRAVAGANT,

princesses, £25 each;' and then added, Lancaster, you may have the money directly.' Lancaster observed, Please thy majesty, that will be setting thy nobles a good example.' The royal party appeared to smile at this observation; but the queen observed to his majesty, 'How cruel it is that enemies should be found who endeavour to hinder his progress in so good a work.' To which the king replied, Charlotte, a good man seeks his reward in the world to come.' Joseph then withdrew.'

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At this time money appeared to him to be flowing in, in a perpetual stream. Unaccustomed to its management, and ignorant of its value, he expended it with thoughtless profusion, if not with sinful extravagance. He was, in fact, at this period in so high a state of excitement as to be totally unfit to manage his pecuniary affairs. The day after to-morrow,' he writes from the country to a friend, is my birth-day. I am nine and twenty. I wish all my children to have a plum pudding and roast beef; do order it for them, and spend a happy hour in the evening with them, as thou didst this time last year, in my absence in Ireland; furnish them with money, and when the good Samaritan comes again he will repay thee.' And so he went on; yet, as might be expected, not without many severe trials and struggles.

AND A FRIEND IN NEED APPEARS. 13

A faithful and valued friend, still living, who never forsook him either in evil report or good report, and to whom he was largely indebted through life for pecuniary aid, has related to us his own singular introduction to him, which took place about this time. Having heard of Lancaster and his system, he says, 'I called at his school to enquire about the training of a teacher, and after some conversation, relating to the necessary arrangements for the man's attendance, 1 slipped a ten-pound note into his hand as an acknowledgment of my obligations. What

was my astonishment to see this quiet man, with whom I had a moment before been calmly conversing, at once turn pale, tremble, stand fixed as a statue, and then, flinging himself upon my shoulder, burst into a flood of tears, exclaiming, Friend, thou knewest it not, but God hath sent thee to keep me from a gaol, and to preserve my system from ruin !'

And this was the state in which he lived for years-excited, enthusiastic, the creature of impulse and passion-his zeal ' eating him up,' his judgment weak and oftentimes perverted. His letters to his friend Corston, without doubt, faithfully reveal the inner man,' and they are always excited, imaginative, and passionate, sometimes enlivened. by a tinge of humour oddly contrasting with

C

14

6

AMID HOPES AND FEARS,

depression and melancholy. The alternations of hope and fear in his mind are here seen to be rapid and powerful. Yesterday, 'bile, fatigue, and grief overwhelm' him; to-day, he has the valley of Achor for a door of hope.' At one time, the iron hand of affliction and sorrow is upon him,' and he is 'throwing himself at the footstool of his Saviour and his God, pleading his promises, pleading his fulness, pleading his wants, and there resolving to succeed or perish.'

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At another time he is exalted, 'telling the high and mighty ones that the decree of heaven hath gone forth, that the poor youth of these nations shall be educated, and it is out of the power of man to reverse it.' One day, he is peaceful and resigned,' feeling that he is sent into the world to do and to suffer the will of God,' and welcoming sufferings and the cross as the path the Saviour trod." The next he is shouting, victory, victory, the enemies are amazed and confounded; the stout-hearted are spoiled; they have slept their sleep; none of the men of might have found their hands; the Lord hath cast the horse and his rider into a deep sleep.'

6

6

To his enthusiastic and imaginative temperament things innumerable present themselves as signal interferences.' He 'wonders at Providence' every step he takes. friends will see wonders next spring.' The

His

HE IS ARRESTED.

15

invisible power of God goes through him far more sensibly than the circulation of blood through his veins.' He is at Dover, and after attending two public meetings on education, holds a private conference with a select party; serious conversation takes place; a solemn covering' comes them, it seemed a power almost apostolic.' After standing an hour amongst them, he closes with solemn prayer, going boldly to the throne of grace, in the sacred and powerful name of Jesus.'

over

He carries the same spirit into the world with him, and applies it, without discrimination, to his pecuniary circumstances. He is pressed for money, but he cannot believe that if the Almighty has designed the education of the poor of London, a few poor pitiless creditors can prevent it;' only let the eyes of his friends be opened, and they will see the mountain full of horses of fire, and of chariots of fire, round about Elijah.' He is in watch and ward,' arrested for debt, and in a spunging-house; he has been there three days, and no one has been to see him; but he is 'as happy as Joseph was in the king's prison in Egypt.' Corston visits him, and stays an hour or two with him. 'After his departure

He rang for the sheriff's officer, to take him to the Bench, but obtained leave to call

16

IS BAILED BY THE OFFICER,

at home on their

6

thither. way

When he got

6

home his wife and child, and all his young monitors, were assembled, overwhelmed with grief, because he was going to prison. After being with them a little, he opened the parlour door, and said to the man, Friend, when I am at home I read the Scriptures to my family; hast thou any objection to come in?' He replied,No, sir,' and went in. After he had read a chapter or two, he went to prayer. The man soon became deeply affected, and joined the common grief. After prayer the man returned into the other room, and Joseph in a few minutes said to him, Now, friend, I am ready for thee.' They had not gone many paces from the door, when the man said, 'Sir, have you got no friend to be bound for you for this debt?' Joseph replied, No, I have tried them all.' 'Well,' replied the man, then I'll be bound for you myself, for you are an honest man, I know.' He surrendered him at the King's Bench, and they took his security for the debt. About ten o'clock the next morning,' says Mr. Corston, 'he came jumping into my warehouse, Ludgate-hill, saying, Ah, friend William, did I not tell thee that thou wast not to assist me this time?'

This arrest brought matters to a crisis. A friendly docket was struck against him,