The apostle who said “I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able, &c.,” had a far better assurance than the philosopher
who trusted in a meaningless omen.
Rousseau, in his celebrated “Confessions,” records that he was
one day sitting in a grove, meditating whether his soul would
probably be saved or lost. How could he settle the question? A
supernatural voice seemed to suggest an appeal to a singular
kind of augury. “I will,” said he, “throw this stone at that
tree. If I hit the tree, it shall be a sign that my soul is to
be saved. If I miss it, it shall indicate that I am to be lost.”
Selecting a large tree, he took the precaution of standing near
to it, and threw his stone plump against the trunk. “After
that,” naively says the philosopher, “I never again had a doubt
respecting my salvation.”
(169)
=Author Encouraged=--See Good, SEEING THE.