tipathy to swords and pistols, was of opinion that he was certainly killed for permitting duels in his kingdom." In the history of Edward the Confessor, it is also recorded, that "Godwin, Earl of Kent," whose estates were swallowed up by the encroachments of the sea, and now form those dangerous banks, known by the name of the Godwin sands, in order to clear himself from the imputation of having been concerned in the imprisonment and consequent death of Prince Alfred, wished, when he was pardoned by Edward for the troubles he had occasioned, that he might never swallow a bit more bread if he had been concerned in that diabolical deed. Though the King forgave him, Heaven," adds the historian, "seemed to avenge the cause of innocence; for he was immediately visited by the awful judgment he called down upon himself, being choked" as some say, "by the next morsel he attempted to eat," or, as others assert, "being seized by a fit of apoplexy, as he sat at table with the King, on Easter Sunday, he fell from his seat while endeavouring to clear himself from the aspersion; and being stricken with death, died the Thursday following." The Almighty, notwithstanding, is slow to punish. How grateful, then, should those offenders be, to whom God extends his mercy for a time. When they, in their turn, experience the evils to which "flesh is heir to," it might be well for them to look upon their afflictions as temporal chastisements for the injustice, the oppression, or the inhumanity they may have practised on their fellow-creatures. Such reflections would, in all probability, remind them of an hereafter, make them dread the future vengeance of an offended God, and induce them, by a timely repentance, to turn from their mal-practices, and avert the Almighty's wrath. Man is, perhaps, too apt to attribute that to chance, which seems to be wisely ordered by that omniscient Being, from whom no secrets are hidden. The individual, whose miseries proceed from the oppression of his fellow-man, or from other untoward or inevitable causes, is much to be commiserated; but, "judgments are prepared for scorners," says the wisest of men, "and stripes for the back of fools." That there are general, national, and individual judgments, and that we are visited by these judg ments in this world, is confirmed by many incidents that fall under our own observation, however charity may be inclined to impute them to natural causes. Do we not frequently see the blas phemer smitten at the very instant he is calling down Divine vengeance on his head?—the murderer tortured from the moment he has committed the guilty deed?-and the cruel perpetrator of inhuman acts punished with immediate inflictions from Heaven? Numberless are the instances that might be brought forward in support of an opinion not only founded on holy writ, but strengthened by facts falling under our own immediate knowledge. On the fall of man, a judgment was pronounced on the whole human race. In later days a judgment was inflicted on the Jews for their mockery and contempt of the crucified Saviour of mankind. They remain still in force. Individually, we find Herod the tyrant and murderer-Saul, the great persecutor of the Christians-Ananias and Sapphira, &c. &c. all suffering, not from natural causes, but from God's judgments, inflicted at the time when their offences were committed, and on the very spot. Neither are examples rare in the present age. The following is one instance peculiarly striking. A gentleman of large fortune, well known among the bull-baiting and cock-fighting gentry, encouraged from his infancy to indulge in these inhuman sports; became master of his own actions, a large estate, and immense property at an early period of his life, before he had judgment to regulate his conduct, or discretion to check his passions. Having the means as well as the inclination, of gratifying the most vicious propensities, he gave way to the lowest and most degrading vices. As a party of his abandoned companions, was one day engaged at his Villa, a few miles from town, on a carousing party; that the half hour which preceded the joyful summons to a sumptuous dinner, should not hang heavily 66 on their hands, he proposed for their amusement, a royal battle, as he termed it, between a famous dunghill and a favorite game cock. "Bravo," ejaculated one, we shall have some glorious sport" cried another; in short, they all seconded the motion, and the animals were accordingly ordered into the drawing room for their diversion. After fighting a considerable time, the favorite, with the loss of both his eyes, and his legs no longer able to support him, sunk in convulsive agonies on the carpet, while the dunghill crowed a glorious victory. The inhuman wretch, provoked to madness at the failure of his favorite, with all the rage of brutal ferocity, snatched up the defenceless animal, and in his fit of frenzy thrust the poor creature which had won him so many battles, alive, into the blazing fire. While in the very act of holding him between the bars, this disgraceful member of the human species was seized with violent spasms, and was carried off to bed; where, after suffering the most excruciating pangs for two days-he expired, to the horror of those around him, uttering the most piercing shrieks and groans, and yet scarcely deserving pity. Although we cannot decide, still the vengeance of the Deity seems strikingly conspicuous in the fate of this monster of cruelty. In the severity of his death pangs, it is to be devoutly hoped, that, e're his soul left its earthly mansion, he in some measure atoned for his savage barbarity, by a |