My parents were the religious children of religious parents, and grand parents: they were the more religious on that account ; and, as the descendants of ancient noble families value themselves on their pedigree, stimulating their children from considerations of ancestry to act up to the illustrious examples which they exhibit and emblazon, uniformly insisting that they shall avoid mixing with the plebeian race; so, as soon as I appeared to pay attention to interesting tales, I was made acquainted with the characters of my grand pa

rents.

My paternal grandfather, however, possessed only negative religion; that is, his affection for my grandmother obliged him to conform to her, in every thing; and he esteemed himself happy, in being blest with a wife, who, from principle and inclination, was both able and willing to take upon herself the care and culture of her children. How long this grandfather lived, I am unable to say; but my grandmother was, with respect to her religious attachments, more fortunate in a second marriage. She was united to a Mr. Beattie, a man of considerable note, in every point of view. It was by this gentleman's name, 1 becaine acquainted with my grandmother: I remember, when very young, to have seen his picture, which gave me a very high idea of his person. It was his son, who was governor of the fortress, in the harbor of Cork. My grandmother soon lost this second husband, and never married again. She was, in the morning and meridian of her life, a celebrated beauty: the remains of a fine face were visible when I knew her: I never beheld a more beautiful old lady. Traces of affluence were conspicuous in her dwelling, her furniture, and apparel; she was an immedate descendant of an ancient and honorable family in France; her father's name was Barroux, one of the noblesse, and a dweller in the town of Paimboeuf, on the river Loire, between the city of Nantes, and the mouth of said river. Mr. Barroux having buried his lady, who left him two daughters, thought proper, as was then the custom of people of distinctiou, to educate his eldest daughter in England; this step banished her from her native country, and from her father: she never saw either more. Attaching herself to a family of Episcopalians, she became a zealous Protestant, which, together with her selecting a husband of the same persuasion, confirmed her an exile forever. The irritated feeling of her father admitted no appeal: his affections were totally alienated: he was a high-spirited, obstinate man, and he swore in his wrath, he would wed the first woman he met, provided he could obtain her consent, and she was not absolutely disgusting. The first who presented happened to be his chambermaid he made known to her his vow, was accepted with gratitude, and they were speedily married. Not many years after this event, the old gentleman died, leaving no issue by his second marriage: and, as he left no wili, his daughter, who continued under the paternal roof, entered into possession of the whole estate; she, however, survived her father only three

weeks, when my grandmother became the only legal heir to the property, both of her father and her sister.

A large share of the personal estate was conveyed to England, by two priests; and the real estate was tendered to my grandmoth er, on condition that she would read her recantation, renounce the damnable doctrines of the Church of England, and receive the Host, as the real presence. My grandmother, and my father, after a conference, which continued but a few moments, cheerfully concurred in a relinquishment of the estate, and united in declaring, that, on terms so calculated to prostrate their integrity, they would not accept the whole kingdom of France. The clergyman returned to the Gallic shore, and the person left in the house, for the purpose of taking charge of the estate, until the heirs at law should recover their senses, continued in the quiet possession of an inheritance, worth five hundred pounds sterling per annum. When the estate was thus, upon religious principles, surrendered, I was about five years of age; but having frequently heard my father circumstantially relate the transaction, as I advanced in life, my bosom often acknowledged a latent wish, that he had accepted an inheritance to which his natural claim was indubitable, upon the terms offered by the ecclesiastics, which were, that my grandmother and my father should, in so many words, qualify themselves for the possession of their right, while, in their hearts, they continued to judge for themselves. But from a conduct so questionable, the guileless heart of my upright parent spontaneously revolted; and, for myself, while revolving years gave me to exult in his decision, the detection of so reprehensible a principle, in my own bosom, and at so early a period, originated much contrition. Yet, notwithstanding the very considerable sacrifice made by my father, his uniform efforts commanded all the necessaries, and many of the elegancies of life. His children multiplied; four sons and five daughters augmented his felicities; he received from nature a strong mind, his parents bestowed upon him a good education, and he was universally respected and beloved.

The parents of my mother were well known to me; her father's name was James Rolt, his ancestors were all English; he was in early life a bon-vivant, and even when he became the head of a family, his reprehensible pursuits were nothing diminished; the silent suffering of his wedded companion were strongly expressed in her wan countenance and broken health. The circumstances of his conversion from dissipation to a life of severe piety were rather remarkable, and were considered in his day as miraculous.

Of the piety of my paternal grandfather, or my maternal grandmother, I have little to say. I have never heard that they allowed themselves in any improper indulgences, and as they were the admirers of their devout companions, it is a fair conclusion, that they were at least negatively pious, and that if they did not lead, they cheerfully followed, in cultivating a pious disposition in the minds

of their children; and, by consequence, Religion became the legiti mate inheritance of my immediate parents. The conversion of my paternal grandmother, from the tenets in which she was educated, increased her zeal, while the inheritance, sacrificed from conscientious principles, gave her to consider herself more especially heir of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; and conscious that she had fully concurred with my father, in depriving their children of a temporal treasure, they were sedulously, anxious to inculcate a persuasion of the necessity of securing another.

It is wonderful, that while it was the great business, both of my father and mother, to render their children feelingly solicitous to secure an interest in the Redeemer, that they might be thus entitled to a blessed and happy futurity, they were both of them very rigid Calvinists.

The doctrines, taught by that gloomy Reformer, they undeviatingly taught to their family; and hence my soul frequently experienced the extreme of agony. Naturally vivacious, to implant religion among my juvenile pleasures required the most vigorous and uniform effort. Religion was not a native of the soil, it was an exotic, which, when planted, could only be kept alive by the most persevering attention. Hence Religion became a subject of terror. I was not ten years old when I began to suffer; the discovery of my sufferings gave my fond father much pleasure; he cherished hope of me when he found me suffering from my fears, and much indeed was I tortured by the severe unbending discipline of my father, and the terrifying apprehensions of what I had to expect from the God who created me. The second son of my parents was naturally of a pensive, gloomy disposition. He was more piously disposed, and less fond of amusement than myself; and hearing much of Cain as the eldest son of Adam, of Esau as the eldest son of Isaac, and of Abel and Jacob as the younger sons, my soul was frequently filled with terror, verily believing my brother was the elected, and myself the rejected of God. This appalling consideration, even at this early period, frequently devoted my days and nights to tears and lamentation. But stability dwelt not with me, and the pleasing expectations of my father were often blasted; my attachment to my playmates, and their childish gambols, revived, and when engaged in appropriate amusements, I often forgot the immediate terror of the rod, and of future misery; both of which, as often as I reflected, I painfully believed I should endure. My father took every method to confine me within his walls: it was with difficulty he prevailed upon himself to permit my attendance at school, yet this was necessary, and to school I must go; while that rigid and extreme vigilance, which was ever upon the alert, produced effects diametrically opposite to the end proposed. My appetite for pleasure increased, and I occasionally preferred the truant frolic, to the stated seasons of study, yea, though I was certain se

vere castigation would be the consequence. Pious supplications were the accompaniments of the chastisements which were inflicted, so that I often passed from the terror of the rod, to the terrifying apprehensions of future and never-ending misery. Upon these terrific occasions, the most solemn resolutions were formed, and my vows were marked by floods of tears. I would no more offend either my father, or his God; I dared not to say my God, for I had heard my father declare, that for any individual, not the elect of God, to say of God, or to God, 'OUR FATHER,' was nothing better than blasphemy: when most devout, I was prevented from deriving consolation from my pious breathings, by a persuasion that I was a reprobate, predestined to eternal perdition. In fact, I believed that I had nothing to hope, but every thing to fear, both from my Creator, and my father; and these soul-appalling considerations, by enforcing a conclusion, that I was but making provision for alternate torture, threw a cloud over every innocent enjoy

ment.

About the time that I attained my eleventh year, (1751) my father removed to Ireland, and though 1 dreaded going with him any where, I was the only individual of the family whom he compelled to accompany him. Yet I was captivated by the charms of novelty. London filled me with amazement, and my fond, my apprehensive father was in continual dread of losing me; while the severity he practised to detain me near him, by invigorating my desires to escape from his presence, increased the evil.

We quitted London in the middle of April, and, reaching Bristol, tarried but a little while in that city. At Pill, five miles from Bristol, between my father and myself, a final separation was on the point of taking place. In the Bristol river the tide is extremely rapid: I stepped into a boat on the slip, and letting it loose, the force of the current almost instantly carried it off into the channel, and had it been ebb instead of flood tide, I must inevitably have gone out to sea, and most probably should never have been heard of more but the flood tide carried me with great rapidity up the river, and the only fear I experienced was from the effects of my father's indignation. The poor gentleman, with a number of compassionate individuals, were engaged, until almost twelve o'clock, in searching the town, and the harbor, and had returned home relinquishing every hope of my restoration. In the midst of the stream I found a large flat-bottomed boat at anchor, to which, making fast the boat I was in, I consequently proceeded no farther. At midnight, I heard voices on the side of the river, when, earnestly imploring their aid, and offering a liberal reward, they came in their boat, and, conveying me on shore, conducted me to my lodgings; but no language can describe my dismay, as I drew near my father, who was immediately preparing to administer the deserved chastisement, when the benevolent hostess interposed, and in pitymoving accents exclaimed: 'Oh, for God's sake let the poor Blood

alone; I warrant he has suffered enough already.' My father was softened, perhaps he was not displeased to find a pretence for mildness: he gave me no correction for this offence; he even treated me with unusual kindness. We were detained in Pill three weeks, wishing for a favorable wind; three weeks more at Minehead, and three weeks at Milford Haven. Thus we were nine weeks in performing a passsage, which is commonly made in forty-eight hours, and instead of my father's reaching Cork before the residue of his family, they were there almost at the moment of our arrival. In Cork we were at home. There dwelt the respected mother of my father, and in easy circumstances; many changes, however, had taken place in her family, although the remains of affluence were still visible. My father fixed his residence in the vicinity of this city, and a most pleasing residence it proved.

About this time the Methodists made their appearance, and my father was among the first who espoused their cause. His zeal for vital religion could hardly be surpassed; and it appeared to him that this innate, and holy operation, rejected by every other sect, had found refuge in the bosoms of these exemplary people. But, though my father espoused the cause, he did not immediately become a Methodist: the Methodists were not Calvinists. Yet, if possible, he doubled his diligence; he kept his family more strict than ever; he was distinguished by the name of saint, and became the only person in his vicinity, whom the Methodists acknowledged as truly pious. With the religion of the Methodists I was greatly enamored; they preached often, and in the streets; they had private societies of young people, and sweet singing, and a vast deal of it, and an amazing variety of tunes, and all this was beyond expression charming. At this period the health of my father began to decline. Physicians concurred in opinion, that his complaints indicated a pulmonary affection. Again his efforts were renewed and invigorated, and, poor gentleman, his labors were abundantly multiplied. The ardent desire of his soul was to render every individual of his family actively religious, and religious in his own way; but as his children necessarily mingled more or less with the children in the neighborhood, they caught words and habits which he disliked, and application was made to the rod, as a sovereign panacea.

In the course of my twelfth year, my father was overtaken by a very heavy calamity; his house, and indeed almost every thing he possessed, were laid in ashes. He had only a moment to snatch to his bosom a sleeping infant from its cradle, when a part of the house fell in; an instant longer and they would both have been wrapped in the surrounding flames; and a deep sense of this preserving mercy accompanied him to his grave. Thus every event of his life seemed to combine to render his devotions more and more fervent. It was happy for us that my respectable grandmother still lived, whose extricating hand was an ever ready re

source.