the careless neck, of such as may lay themselves down to sleep on their journey. His influence has been palpably displayed in the extraordinary affliction of a poor child; and the reader of this account may perceive, how the unclean spirit grievously vexed, degraded, and tortured him. Let those who reject a Saviour be alarmed; for their cruel enemy is waiting to destroy. But let not a believer in Jesus be afraid; he may see by the following account, that Satan, though cunning, malicious, and strong, is not unconquerable;-before the name of Jesus, "devils fear and fly." In the following pages the reader is presented with a careful investigation, and a faithful narrative of an extraordinary affliction, which, on physical principles, baffled all understanding and remedy: an affliction for which there was no cure, but in the mercy of God, through the name of our Redeemer. Hundreds witnessed the sad effects of a cause which was so concealed as to give rise to much enquiry, and various opinions. From my first knowledge of it, I considered it to be a subject in which the interest of mankind, and the honour of christianity were involved; and which, therefore, deserved to be fully and impartially investigated. The boy lived next door to me, and, as he and his parents particularly requested that I would interest myself for his relief, I had a good opportunity of examinining the case to my full satisfaction. Knowing that cases of this kind were subjects of dispute in the christian and learned world, I was determined to let no circumstance escape my observation, or recollection, which might be of use to satisfy my own mind. I therefore visited the boy several times in a day; and requested the family to call for me whenever they wanted help; knowing, that while as a neighbour, I was rendering assistance to a family in tribulation, I should, as an enquirer after truth, gain information for myself. I spent more time, and took more pains to examine this case, than any other man did, or conveniently could; and kept memorandums of all I thought most useful to remember. Many contradictory opinions and reports were in circulation, before the case was understood. I was then diligently searching for the truth-I have found it; and think it a debt I owe to my God, my neighbour, and myself, to publish it. Truth is great and will prevail, in time or in eternity: the sooner and more extensively it prevails, the better. Truth which displays a spiritual world, may be of infinite service to man; but as some may wrest the words of salvation to their own destruction, so accounts of this kind may be perverted to injurious effects. The same flower may be productive of honey or poison, as the bee or the serpent may feed on its sweets. In my observations I shall endeavour to be useful, that the reader need not spend his time in vain: and that he may not be deceived, I shall be conscientiously faithful in my testimony of facts. Nevertheless, some may dislike it, and therefore reject it; some may hate it, and therefore contradict it; yet no man can disprove it, because it is truth. Plymouth-Dock, EXTRAORDINARY AFFLICTION, &c. &e. ON Tuesday, February 29th, 1820, when religious service was concluded in Windmill-Hill Chapel, J. LOSE, the father-in-law of J. EVENS, came to me, and said, “Sir, my boy wishes you would come and pray with him." Is he sick? After a little hesitation he said, "He is worse than sick; I can comчare his case to none but that of the child mentioned in the gospels, whose father brought him to Jesus Christ, that he might cast out of him the evil spirit, which sometimes threw him into the water, and sometimes into the fire, that he might destroy him. This appears to be the case with my boy: he has made several attempts to go into the water, and into the fire." I immediately went with him to his house, and saw the boy. He was between nine and ten years old,rather tall for his age. He had been recommended to the Dispensary, and, for about three weeks, had been attended by a Physician and a Surgeon, who were connected with that institution. He had been blistered all over the head, bled repeatedly, and was taking medicines. The boy could not speak; but was perfectly sensible, and signified that he knew me. He sat in a child's chair, by his mother's side; presently he gave her a plaintive look,-put his hand on his brow, laid his head on her lap,--raised it again, and was violently convulsed. He smote his breast, or face, with both his hands at once, and at every stroke made a noise like one between the grunting of a hog, and the barking of a dog. The convulsions ceased, and he appeared weary; sat about half a minute, and then stood up. I went to hold him in my arms; his mother told me I could not, and had better let him go. He stood still; fixed his eyes, staring upwards; then began to dance and clap his hands with regular beat, as to some tune; got on the table in the corner of the room and danced there; stepped from that to the surbase, which is near a yard from the ground, and projects about two inches from the wall; there, awhile, he continued dancing and clapping; then on the table again; on the floor; on the table and the surbase again; returning to the floor, he there stood motionless; his countenance was distorted; his head drawn on one side; his muscles seemed to be on a painful stretch; his arms close to his side, and stiff as the branches of a tree; in less than a minute, the muscles were as much relaxed, and as he was falling down, like a heap of clay, his father caught hold of him, and placed him again in his little chair by the fire side. Soon after, he seemed to be dreadfully terrified; shrunk backwards; fought and kicked with all his might, as against something coming. to him from the fire. He was held for some minutes, but with difficulty; then, bathed in sweat, he sunk exhausted. After a little time, he recovered his senses, but not his speech. I prayed with him: during the time of prayer, he seemed very uneasy, and was greatly convulsed. Wednesday, March 1st, he was taken much as before; danced on the table and surbase, and on the top of a chest bed. On the floor he seemed much terrified, squared his fists, as a pugilist, and fought hard against the door; retired, took his aim, ran and threw him |