502 THE GIFT OF A BIBLE.

The man was so confounded that he was not able to speak for some
time; but recovering himself, he takes it with both his hands, and
turning to his wife, “ Here, my dear,” says he; “ did I not tell
you our God, though he lives above, could hear what we said?
Here’s the book I prayed for when you and I kneeled down under
the bush: now God has heard us, and sent it.” When he had
said so, the man fell into such transports of a passionate joy, that
between the joy of having it, and giving God thanks for it, the
tears ran down his face like a child that was crying.

The woman was surprised, and was like to have run into a
mistake that none of us were aware of; for she firmly believed
God had sent the book upon her husband's petition. It is true
that providentially it was so, and might be taken so in a conse-
quent sense; but I believe it would have been no difficult matter
at that time to have persuaded the poor woman to have believed
that an express messenger came from heaven on purpose to bring
that individual book. But it was too serious a matter to suffer
any delusion to take place, so I turned to the young woman, and
told her we did not desire to impose upon the new convert in her
first and more ignorant understanding of things, and begged her
to explain to her that God may be very properly said to answer
our petitions, when in the course of his providence such things are
in a particular manner brought to pass as we petitioned for; but
we do not expect returns from heaven in a miraculous and par-
ticular manner, and that it is our mercy that it is not so.

This the young woman did afterwards effectually, so that there
was, I assure you, no priestcraft used here; and I should have
thought it one of the most unjustifiable frauds in the world to
have had it so. But the surprise of joy upon Will Atkins is
really not to be expressed ; and there we may be sure there was
no delusion. Sure no man was ever more thankful in the world
for anything of its kind than he was for his Bible; nor, I believe,
never any man was glad of a Bible from a better principle. And
though he had been a most profligate creature, desperate, head-
strong, outrageous, furious, and wicked to a great degree, yet this
man is a standing rule to us all for the well instructing children,
namely, that parents should never give over to teach and instruct,