A MEMORIAL

OF THE

LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE LORD.

IT is written "that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 34); and "in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established" (Matt. xviii. 16); therefore the Lord is witness to what I write, that it is the truth, and nothing but the truth; and "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. ix. 1).

In the year of our Lord 1787, on the 23rd day of April, in the village of Kingston, in the county of Devon, I was born of very poor parents; the house where my mother brought me forth, and where I was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward (Job. v. 7), was a thatched cottage, built mostly of mud: it stood at the end of the village, at the cross in the road leading to the farm-house, called Scobbiscombe. The cottage wherein I drew my first natural breath, has been since taken down, and now two cottages stand in its place. My father's name was James Triggs, and my mother's name was Mary: they had nine children; I was the eighth: they were both serge weavers. If I had not been under the particular providential care of my gracious God from my birth, I should have died when an infant, for the woman who had me to nurse, wanted skill, and treated me so improperly, that my life was despaired of. But my Lord, who had set his love upon me, preserved my life, and restored me to health. I mention this fact to the glory of his name, who keeps us in our unguarded hours, and who,

watched over me, when my parents, as well as myself, were unconscious of it.

When three years old, I was greatly afflicted with the scarlet fever, of which I have some remembrance, having heard it spoken of by my mother: my life hung in doubt, the surgeon gave me over, and said I should die: my head and face were so swollen, that no trace of my features was left; to all appearance mortification had begun; I was turned black all over, and my poor mother expected to see me draw my last breath; but the gracious Lord, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Eph. i. 11), had purposed otherwise, and, I believe, impressed it on my mother's mind to act as follows:-she broiled on the coals a slice of pork, and when it was ready, laid it on my black tongue, that hung out of my mouth. I had been for three days previously without any nourishment, and to her astonishment my tongue began to move; I sucked the broiled pork until I had drawn out all the nourishment from it that I could get, and from that hour I began to mend. The Lord blessed the means, and I record it to his honour and glory; for there is nothing too hard for the Lord (Gen. xviii. 14); bless him, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Ps. ciii. 1, 2).

It gives me great pleasure thus to relate the tender mercies and clear displays of the wisdom and goodness of my living and long-suffering Lord towards me, who preserved me amidst all the afflictions that children are the subjects of. I recollect, when I was not more than seven years old, that, as I was getting on a horse from a gate, the horse bit my leg, and nearly took off the flesh from the bone, which laid me up again for many weeks. After much painful suffering the Lord restored me. Shortly after this affliction I had the first sting of conscience, or conviction of sin: I had offended my mother, and she said the Almighty saw me and my wicked actions; I replied my foolishness, that I would hide myself under the

in

straw from the Lord: she said, I could not hide myself from the Lord, for he always saw me, and knew me by name, and would punish me for my wickedness; I answered again, that I would be called by another name: she said it was no matter if I were called by another name, for the Lord saw me and knew me. These sayings shook me to the very centre; as the prophet saith, "My belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice," (Hab. iii. 16): the impression they made remained with me for many days, and is fresh on my mind while I am writing, though forty years are now past. Another instance of preserving grace and delivering mercy took place, when I was about eight years old: I went with another boy to look after a crow's nest; it was in an oak tree; I climbed the tree, and on my approaching near to the nest, the bough I stood on broke with my weight, and I fell to the ground, from a height of fifteen or twenty feet, and there I lay as dead. After a while life was manifested, and my companion helped me home. I have always, more or less, felt the effects of this fall, in my back, yet the Lord would not let me die in my sins. Bless him, O my soul!

Here I must mention one thing relative to the sovereign grace of my blessed Lord: namely, how that scripture hath been fulfilled, "One shall be taken and the other left" (Luke xviii. 34.): for although the Lord hath called me by his grace, my companion is still dead in sin, without the fear of God before his eyes, living in the world, without hope. The thought of the distinguishing mercy of my God towards me, humbles me and lays me low at his dear feet: O crown him Lord of all!

At another time, playing at football with other boys, as I was going to kick the ball, a boy much larger than myself met my ancle with his nailed shoe, and with such force, that he broke down my ancle; the effects of it I shall carry to my grave. My everblessed Lord preserved me from death, and followed

me with his goodness, though I was born and lived like a wild ass's colt. I find it blessed to look back over the tender mercies my dear Lord manifested towards me, and it melts down my soul in gratitude to him for his sovereign grace; for the poor fellow that did me this injury, is still living as he was born, whereas the Lord's grace reigns in me, through righteousness unto eternal life (Rom. v. 21): for "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy," (Rom ix. 16).

I must now relate another conspicuous deliverance, from or by the Lord; praises to his dear name! I was returning to my Father's house one summer's evening, after playing with my companions, and was met in the road by a mad dog, which sprang at me, as I thought, to catch me by the throat; but went over my right shoulder, so that it only knocked my hat from my head, and left me (though much affrighted) unhurt. Surely that God who stopped the lions' mouths from hurting Daniel (chap. vi. 22), stopped the mouth of this mad dog from biting me: and herein I see that scripture fulfilled, "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil" (Ps. cxxi. 7): and the blessedness of another; for it is written, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins," &c. (Eph. ii. 4, 5.) I feel the mercy while I am writing, and say again, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Ps. ciii. 2): " And how great is his goodness!" (Zech. ix. 17): "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! For of him, and through him, and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever. Amen." (Rom. xi. 33, 36.)

My father was what is called a very moral man: he was the clerk at the church, and was a very strong advocate for the Episcopal Church: the Thirty-nine Articles were no way congenial with his mind, yet he was very strict as to her formulas, and counted all that dissented from the church enemies to her and to

God. I was strictly commanded by him never to swear, &c.; he said it was a very evil thing. He trained me up in the trammels of the church, and taught me that wonderful piece of logic, the catechism, so that I had the whole in my head, and could say every question and answer without a book. I thought myself a good child, and grew up a zealous advocate for the church; and the foolish impression on my mind was, that the parson and clerk would go to heaven, and that if ever I should attain to fill the office of clerk, I should go there. I write this to show my ignorance and foolishness; and in this state I should have lived and died, had not the Lord quickened my poor soul.

The time arrived that it was my lot to be engaged in employment with other boys in farm-houses; and I soon drank into their habits, which were more like those of heathens, than of those born in a civilized country. I do not remember any checks of conscience, whilst I followed the solemn injunctions of my father not to swear; but God was not in my thoughts all the day long, neither was there any fear of God before my eyes. But bless his precious name, his thoughts were thoughts of peace towards me, even then, and not of evil (Jer. xxix. 11).

Í am constrained to pass over many of my youthful follies, and my preservation from destruction; suffice it to say, that I was capable of performing any vice, and an utter stranger to all virtue. I went to live with a farmer named Pearse, at a little farm called Torr-down, where I suffered many hardships. My master and mistress were professors of religion, and they endeavoured to make me so. Her father was a methodist preacher, called Brown; but their joint exertions, with my endeavours, could not wash the Ethiopian white, or change his skin (Jer. xiii. 23). All their religion ended where it began; and I have seen that word fully verified, for it happened unto them according to the true proverb, "The latter end