that he would endeavour to warn them from the scaffold, for they were
standing on the brink of the pit. We mounted the steepest part of the
gallows hill. He said, his Saviour had toiled up Calvary with a cross,
which he ought to be thankful that he had not to bear; and that Jesus
Christ had done this for _his_ sake, whereas, he was receiving the due
reward of his transgression. This reflection seemed to give new wings to
his exertions in pressing up the rock. I think that a worse place of
ascent could not have been chosen. When we arrived at the summit, the
Greffier read his sentence aloud, and Mr. Gallachin prayed most fervently
with him in French. After the prayer, he ascended the platform with Mr.
Gallachin and myself, and addressed the people in French, as you will see
by the account in the newspaper. But the account is deficient in one
most essential point. He urged the people by the _love_ of _Christ_,
whom he had crucified, and whom they were crucifying by their sins.” The
substance of his warning was on the subject of intemperance,
Sabbath-breaking, the neglect of God and of religion; and it was
addressed principally to parents and to the young. These warnings he
twice delivered; once before, and once after the rope was fastened round
his neck. “Although I do not accurately remember,” Mr. Hall continues,
“the words of any of his speeches, I can safely say, that he expressed
his conviction that the work which had taken place in his heart had been
effected by no power or will of his own, but by a sovereign act of Divine
grace. Jolin then read aloud some verses from the Testament, which
sufficiently indicate the view which he took both of the nature of his
change, and of the source from whence it sprang. They are taken from 1
Pet. i. 3–5: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.’ To these
verses he was particularly partial. He then spoke to me, and told me
that he had full confidence in the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to
blot out all his sins; and that He who had loved him so much as to shed
his blood for him, and had kept him to that hour stedfast and immoveable,
would receive him into glory. When the cap was drawn over his face, I
told him not to dread the momentary pain, for soon he would be in the
presence of his Saviour. He pressed my hand, and said he was not afraid;
for he knew that He would take him unto himself. I told him that I would
pray that his sufferings might be short, and went down.” Mr. Gallachin
then read a part of the Burial Service, until the fatal moment. His
sufferings appeared not to be great, and were of brief duration. “Whilst
I was in prayer,” Mr. Hall adds, “the drop fell, and our poor brother I
knew had entered into the presence of his Redeemer. The women around me
screamed out, ‘The Lord have mercy upon his poor soul!’ I could not but
pray that their souls might find the same mercy. He died without a
struggle. I never saw him after I pressed his hand when alive, as I
ascended the hill through the crowd, and was spared seeing his mortal
remains.”
Thus ended the course of a young man, whose history is a solemn memorial,
not only of the awful effects of a bad education, and of the wretchedness
of sin, but also of the wonderful compassion of God. Much of what has
been narrated may appear almost incredible to some readers; and many of
those, especially, who are justly suspicions of death-bed repentances,
may be led to doubt how far the work of this young man’s conversion was
complete, and whether, if he had been permitted to live, he would have
lived as he has died. If, however, he was really converted in heart to
God, the observation which he himself made must be applied to his own
case: “The man that is fit to die is fit to live.” The same grace which
brought him into the fold of Christ would have kept him in all his way;
so that the enemy of his soul should not have overpowered him. And there
is, as before mentioned, the most remarkable concurrence of testimony as
to Jolin’s state at the time of his death. Not only Mr. Hall, Mr.
Gallachin, and many others, bear witness to the facts; but the public
voice has acknowledged the wonderful change which took place in him. One
person, _not_ a believer in revelation, but who stood by Jolin on the
gallows hill, and witnessed his conduct, came to a minister, and
acknowledged, that “there must be something in religion to support a man
in such a manner; and that he had therefore determined to attend a place
of worship, and to bring up his children in the fear of God.” Mr. Hall
says, “I have never had a doubt on my mind as to the reality of the
change. His conduct in the court; his complete deadness to the things of
time and sense, and this even when his friends seemed so anxious to save
him from an ignominious death, were so many pleasing testimonies that he
was really risen with Christ, and that his affections were set upon
things above. God did indeed work mightily in him: though last, he was
one of the first. He seemed so convinced of sin, and to have such simple
dependence upon the truth and firm foundation of Christ’s promises, and
he showed so abundantly that these feelings were not merely talked into
his head, that I always returned delighted with my visit to him. I used
to pray instantly with him that he might not be deceiving himself, nor be
deceived by Satan, or any of us; and I can say, as far as I was capable
of judging, that his was a real work of Divine grace.” The testimony of
the editor of the Jersey newspaper, also, while it is beyond all
suspicion of enthusiasm, and does not even exhibit the proof of a
tolerably distinct view of the real foundation on which Jolin stood, is a
most satisfactory testimony of the reality of this change. He says, “We
are not amongst those who would hastily give credence to the genuineness
of conversion in the cases of great criminals, or who approve of
religious ecstasies in the short interval between the commission of
dreadful enormities, and the violent death awarded by law; we do not
think it desirable that, while so many good men, after a long life of
exemplary piety, approach their last hour with solemn apprehensions, such
as have lived in a course of profligate vice should boast of triumphant
feelings and peculiar joy on their way to the scaffold, where they are to
be suddenly compelled into the presence of their Creator and Divine
Judge;—but, in the instance before us, we have much satisfaction in
believing that a real change of heart had taken place, before a change of
worlds was experienced. In his last days, Jolin evinced much solidity of
mind on the subject most important to him: his conduct was marked by the
most becoming propriety; and if he expressed a confident hope of
acceptance before God, it was accompanied with humility, and, as far as
man can judge, with sincere sorrow for his offences.” The rapid
attainment of Divine knowledge, the simple belief of the truths of the
Bible, the consistent walk in that which he believed to be the will of
God, are fruits which can be ascribed only to the grace and Spirit of
God. Where the Lord of all power and might is pleased to exercise his
sovereignty, who shall say that the work of many years may not be
produced in a few weeks; or, as in the case of the thief upon the cross,
in a much shorter time? The case of the thief on the cross is one in
which the probabilities, before-hand, of repentance, were not so great;
and the evidences of his real conversion are scarcely more complete,
except the incidental circumstance of the testimony of our Lord. Both of
these criminals felt sorrow for their sins, confessed them to men,
acknowledged them to God, and owned the justice of their condemnation;
both testified the sincerity of their faith: but, if the thief did this
under circumstances more trying to his sincerity than those of Jolin, it
is also to be remembered, that he saw the Lord of life; and that to Jolin
alone, therefore, the language applied, “Blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed.” I know of no mark of true conversion which
was absent from the case of Jolin. His faith was clear and strong. It
lifted him above the world, and, wrought by love, it gave him courage,
and zeal, and love. He went forward in implicit dependence upon Divine
grace, and pursued, as was permitted him after his change, a holy,
humble, consistent course; and, with the cap upon his head, and the rope
round his neck, he could say with calmness, that “he was not afraid, for
he knew that his Saviour would take him to himself.”
But it may still be said, How do we know that Jolin was sincere in all
that he said, or that he was not under delusion in what he felt? To this
question the reply has been, I think, already offered in these pages—by
pointing to the workings of his mind, and the consistency of his conduct.
And here we must leave the case till the last great day.
In the meanwhile, let us learn from this history, some of the lessons
which it is calculated to teach.
The first of these is, the _misery and danger of a state of sin_. St.
Paul, in describing the consequences of a state of sin, says, in an
appeal to the Roman converts, (vi. 21,) “What part had ye then in those
things whereof ye are now ashamed; for the end of those things is death.”
That is, sin yields no real _fruit_; it produces shame; and the end of it
will be _death_. Every Christian feels the truth of this statement, as
respects himself; and it is the case with all other men, although they
know it not. What, for instance, is the usual fruit of drunkenness?
disease, quarrelling, and loss of one kind or another. The drunkard is
usually a blasphemer, hard-hearted, and cruel, as he proves himself to
his wife and children, starving or ill-treating them to gratify his own
lust. His habits of drunkenness make him a bad child, a bad neighbour, a
disgrace in himself, and a plague to others. So it is more or less with
the followers of every sin. Sin, then, brings no real fruit, and the end
of it will be eternal death; for it is written, “The wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.” “As surely,
therefore, as a man sows, so shall he also reap; he that soweth to the
flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption.” How awful is the history of
Jolin’s father! His life how disgraceful, his death how dreadful! Would
the sinner who reads this be content to come to such an end? But to
this, in his present state, he is every moment liable. Let the sinner
remember, that he who called this poor wretch to judgment at a moment’s
warning, may say to himself, “This night thy soul is required of thee.”
The probability of thus dying is commonly passed over; and it is the hope
of a sinner that he shall still live to repent, as Jolin did. Yet how
great are the chances against this! Many a man has been deluded by such
a hope, and perished in his transgression. He has looked to some case
like this, or like that of the thief on the cross, and delayed his
repentance, till, in an hour when he has not looked for it, he has been
“driven away in his wickedness.” But in this, as it is said by an old
writer, “The perverseness of our nature may be seen, in that this one
case, that of the penitent thief, serveth us to looseness of life, in
hope of the like: whereas, we might better reason, that is _but_ one, and
that extraordinary; and besides this one, there is not one more in all
the Bible; and that for this one that sped, a thousand thousands have
missed. And what folly it is to put ourselves in a way in which so many
have miscarried; to put ourselves in the hands of a physician, that hath
murdered so many, going clean against our own sense and reason! Whereas,
in other cases we always lean to that which is most ordinary, and
conclude not the spring from _one_ swallow. It is as if a man should
spur his ass till he speak, because Balaam’s ass did once speak; so
grossly hath the devil bewitched us!” Let sinners, then, meditate upon
their own state, and remember, at the same time, the appeal of the
Almighty to them to turn again and repent. “Have I any pleasure at all
that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should
return from his ways and live? Repent and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you
all your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for
why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and
live ye.” (Ezek. xviii.) That text which first appeared to move Jolin to
repentance, may speak to every other sinner—“Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
(Isa. i. 18.) The same words of encouragement may also speak to us, in
the language of a merciful Saviour, “I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. ix. 13.) The same promises, “God so
loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life:” and
again, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth,” (Luke xv. 10.) I would say then, again, in the language
of Peter, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of
the Lord.”
A second point of consideration in this history is _the conversion of
Jolin’s mind to a sense of religion_, _and the nature of his conversion_.
Jolin’s early education, as far as reading and writing, had not been
altogether neglected; and the daily misery his sins brought with them was
not without its effect on his mind. But it is evident the work of
regeneration, the first step in his after conversion, had not taken place
before he came into prison. But when the Holy Spirit brought home the
word of God to his heart, the change was rapidly effected. A conviction
of the sinfulness of his nature and habits was at once deeply impressed
upon his conscience; he waited to see the way of pardon by a crucified
Redeemer, and the influence of the Holy Ghost immediately produced that
change in his will and affections which always attends real conversion.
His whole state of mind seemed almost miraculously changed: so that
between the twenty-third and the twenty-sixth of the same month, in the
judgment of his legal adviser and others, a complete renovation had taken
place. In the former state he is described as in a distracted condition
of mind, suffering unutterable anguish; the dread of death being
uppermost in his thoughts: in the latter, he was calm, placid, resigned,
and he had not one wish to live. {45}
Although it would be contrary to the facts and spirit of Scripture to
say, that no conversions of this kind were real and complete, every one
must acknowledge, that as conversion is ordinarily a gradual work, too
much caution cannot be exercised as to a change accomplished as rapidly
as this may appear to have been. It may, however, be truly said, that
there was a remarkable absence of any thing like enthusiasm in his state.
A dream which occurred in the commencement of his religious course will
not be conceived to indicate a disordered imagination. For some nights
he had been dreadfully agitated, and could not rest. “I dreamed,” he
said, “that I was dragged over frightful precipices, till at last I was
brought, as it were, into the presence of our Saviour, and there obtained
mercy.” This dream so harmonized with the spirit of many passages of
Scripture pointed out to him, that it was not unlikely to occur. In his
case, as in every other, the first touch of religion on the soul was
immediate; but the after stages of conversion were gradual—far more so
than many others recorded in Scripture; and there was time to perceive
the regular progress of growth in grace. This case, therefore, should
not be confounded with what are commonly called instantaneous
conversions, because although compressed into a short period every step
of scriptural conversion may be traced in it. From first to last, Jolin
was able to give a reason for the hope which was in him, and these
reasons corresponded with the feelings and convictions described in the
word of God. He felt those convictions of sin on which Scripture
insists. He found, agreeably also to Scripture, nothing in his own state
upon which he could depend for salvation; and, relying entirely on the
merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, he found peace and joy in believing. In
this manner, if his conversion proceeded rapidly, it was not wanting in
any of those evidences which are the unquestioned fruits of the teaching
of God. His conduct is the best, and indeed the only satisfactory
commentary on the whole work.
A third point worthy of consideration in the history of Jolin, is, _the
means_ by which it pleased God _to open this young man’s mind_; and this,
I may venture to affirm, was _the Holy Scriptures_. It was the simple
exhibition of the fifty-first Psalm, which at first seemed to expose his
real state to him. It was the promises of the New Testament, and the
types of the Old, which gave him his first clear notion of faith, and
which conveyed to his mind a hope of pardon. The Scripture then became
the subject of his meditation day and night. It was as a “lamp unto his
feet, and a light unto his path; a treasure more to be desired than gold,
yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb.”
The value of Scripture arising from its clearness, authority, and its
peculiar power, under God, to fasten truth on the soul, are remarkably
conspicuous in the case of this guilty person. He heard, marked,
learned, and inwardly digested its all-important truths, and they made
him wise unto salvation. But in connexion with this, and every other
means employed, is to be noticed the _influence of Divine grace_. The
Almighty power and sovereignty with which this was exercised, was
frequently acknowledged, and continually felt by Jolin. He perceived it
in all the remarkable circumstances of his life—in his various escapes
from death—in his final allotment—in the events which occurred in the
prison. And whilst all this distinguishing mercy was shown towards him,
he could discover nothing in himself which deserved any such remembrance
at God’s hand. Why was he called, and not his father, was one of the
points which first struck his attention on the visit of his friends. But
to those around him some other circumstances, illustrating this
influence, were perhaps more obvious than even to himself. The manner in
which he was enabled to receive the truths of the gospel; the gift of
spiritual understanding; the willing heart; the subdued spirit, and
sanctified heart, were all circumstances to be referred only to the
sovereign grace of Him who worketh in his people to will and to do of his
good pleasure. “O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past
finding out!”
A fifth lesson to be learned from this history, is the _benefit of
education_. Here was a young man most unlikely to profit from the early
instruction he had received; and to what account did it turn? In his
worst times he was enabled to read the word of God, and this he was led
to do in the tediousness of his sea watches. In his imprisonment, the
blessings of his previous learning was incalculable. In his last
exhortations on the scaffold, he pressed upon his youthful auditors the
advantages of attendance upon a Sunday school, and the public means of
instruction. It is impossible to say how much, or if any of the
preparatory work of religion, had, by means of education, been going on
in Jolin’s mind. But information had been given—a desire for instruction
had been implanted—the wretchedness of a sinful course had been
taught—the Scriptures had been read—the scaffolding, in fact, had been
put together, by which the future edifice might be erected. How striking
is the lesson of encouragement derived from this history, to those who
are labouring in the school or in the prison. Who could have thought
that in either case, as it concerned Jolin, the event would have been
what it was? But who knows what the most untractable child may yet
become, or how far the seed which is sown, may, even a long time hence,
produce the desired fruit. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall
prosper either this or that, or whether they shall both be alike good.”
We may, in our efforts to instruct, meet with many disappointments, but
it is plainly our duty to proceed, with becoming care indeed, but in the
remembrance both of God’s almighty power to teach the heart, and of
instances, such as this, in which that power has been so remarkably
exerted. The state of prisoners is one which invites, as it has in
general received the peculiar commiseration of our countrymen: men are
often to be found there in Jolin’s state of mind. The prison is,
perhaps, their first resting-place in a career of ignorance, and sin, and
misery. The visitor may too often, in his researches, discover the man,
as Mr. Pinel did Jolin, “without hope for this world or the next,” and
may lead him to discoveries of what, perhaps, never entered his
imagination. At all events, the circumstances of trial and affliction
are those most favourable to seriousness of reflection; and this is the
course by which the sinner is most often led, by the grace of God, to
turn from the error of his ways, and to seek the hope offered in the
Gospel. The event is always in the hand of Him who directs the heart.
But, under all circumstances, we work with the blessing of the Almighty,
and with his promise, that our labour shall not be in vain.
A sixth lesson to be learned from this history, is the _happy effects
produced by the possession of true religion_. In the case of Jolin, how
speedily did it tranquillize and cheer his mind. It was like the word of
its holy author, when he said, “Peace, be still, and there was a great
calm.” Those who visited the chamber of death, where he dwelt, could not
but feel a degree of surprise at their own feelings, when they remembered
that they were with one who had been a drunkard and a murderer. But
religion had softened his character, and created in him those genuine
fruits which, as we are taught, spring from the work of the Holy Spirit.
“The wilderness had become like Eden, and the desert like the garden of
the Lord. Instead of the thorn had come up the fir-tree, and instead of
the briar had come up the myrtle-tree; to be for a name, and for an
everlasting sign that should not be cut off.”
Lastly, there _is a lesson of application to our own souls_. It may be
asked, What is the intimate acquaintance which we have had with the
experience which this poor dying criminal passed through? He, being
dead, may speak to many of his own age, who have, perhaps, had far
greater advantages of education and example; or he may speak to those who
have seen more years, and yet have not attained to that ripeness of
faith, and that full assurance of hope, which made Jolin climb with such
eagerness the gallows hill, and long for the time when he should be with
Christ.