Page:Black Jacob, a monument of grace.djvu/55

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jacob hodges.
47

and this had opened to him his most enrapturing visions, and drew from the word of God its most precious truths.

There was a peculiar charm, a depth and fervency in Jacob's devotional expressions. They were always marked with uncommon propriety and replete with scriptural allusions. All that knew him felt persuaded that he had communion with God and was taught by the Spirit how to pray.

There was also something peculiarly deep and clear in the whole of Jacob's religious experience, while under the instruction of the chaplain in the solitude of his cell. He heard the Bible read; prayed often and fervently, and he often received the kind sympathy and prayers of those who came to teach him the way of life. But no instructions, however evangelical, no prayers of his own or those of his Christian visiters lessened the burden of his sins. Every new truth of the gospel, and every new view of his own heart, deepened his convictions of guilt and of