Chapter II: Part 2

The next day, the 26th, he was visited by Mr. Dallas, one of the chaplains of the Bishop of Winchester, and by Mr. Durell, the rector of St. Saviour’s parish. These two clergymen have each given public and repeated testimony to the state of mind in which they found Jolin. The visit of Mr. Dallas was chiefly occupied in an endeavour to search out the reality of the foundation upon which the hope of the penitent rested, and he viewed it as most satisfactory. Mr. Durell visited Jolin at the request of the Dean of Jersey, in whose parish the prison is situated. Mr. Durell says in his little work, “I came to perform a difficult and unpleasant duty, which, indeed, I could not refuse. I mention this indifference,” he adds, “to show, that when I first repaired to this poor man’s dungeon, there must have been something very powerful to have affected me to such a degree.” He at first brought Dodd’s Prison Thoughts with him to read to Jolin; but, on the suggestion of a friend, he changed this book for the Bible. Mr. Durell visited Jolin many times: and he has published an account of each visit. His remarks are candid, kind, and very clear as to his belief of the real change of Jolin’s character. The facts which he narrates are some of them in the highest degree interesting. “I have sympathised,” he says, “in Jolin’s cell, in all the horrors of his situation. I have shuddered at his nefarious parricide; I have rejoiced in his unfeigned repentance; and I have been soothed by his delightful anticipations of a blessed immortality.” He adds, on one occasion, “I never saw a man more free from enthusiasm. All his religion centred in the atonement of Christ.” On another, “I never heard him complain of the evidence against him, nor of his sentence; never did an expression of murmur or of invective escape from him.” He says again, “This visit lasted three hours; than which none ever made a deeper impression on me, or will perhaps be more conducive to my own spiritual improvement.” He adds again, “It may, perhaps, be supposed, that it was the dread of death which had excited his religious fervour; on the contrary, those apprehensions ceased from the moment that holy principle originated in his heart: neither was it that instinctive fear of dying that drove him into religious inquiries and self-examination. That fear may, indeed, have caused a wicked man to be sorry for his sin; but the growth in knowledge, in grace, and in so many gifts of the Spirit, was so extraordinary and so unprecedented, that I cannot account for it as having been the result of natural causes operating on an ardent and distracted mind. I am not only impartial, but am conscious that I am as free from superstition and enthusiasm as any man; yet I feel inwardly convinced, that Jolin’s conversation had something in it more than human; and that Providence assisted him with an imperceptible, though equally miraculous, working of the Holy Spirit; to the end that his edifying repentance might operate like a distinguished example to open the bosom of many an infidel to an examination of the sacred truths of Christianity, and to persuade the thoughtless and profligate, that, unless they abandon their dangerous course, they will be doomed to certain destruction.”

But it may be interesting to lay before your readers the last communication of this kind friend, when Jolin was about to be executed. It was in a letter to one of the ministers then with him in the prison.

St. Saviour’s, Oct. 3, 1829, 9 o’clock in the morning.

“Sir,—The deep, the Christian interest, which I feel for our
departing brother, induces me to write you a short note. Tell him
that I pray that the strength which is imparted from on high may not
fail him in his last hour, and that the sufferings of the Saviour may
inspire him with religious courage to bear his sufferings. Tell him
also, that since we are not to meet again on earth, he departs with
my blessing and my prayers; and that, I trust, we shall meet again
where every tear shall be dried from every eye. The sixteenth
chapter of St. John is most particularly adapted to his awful
situation. The thirty-third verse is a glorious precept and example
for him: ‘These things have I spoken to you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but, be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world.’

“I am, sir, yours truly,
“E. DURELL.”

On the last Sunday of his life, Jolin had many visitors. His mind seemed gradually to ripen for eternity. He gained every day clearer views of his sinful nature, of the power of Divine grace, of the nature of faith, of the immensity of the love of Christ, and of the offer of a free salvation made to himself. He could now trace very distinctly, in the various events of his life, the manifestations of the great mercy of God in his favour. The returning prodigal (Luke xv.) he felt more and more to represent himself and his own case. He saw his heavenly Father waiting to be gracious to him. He had scarcely time to offer up his supplications, when he found, that before he called, God had answered, and while he was yet speaking, He had heard. There was one circumstance connected with the visit of this day which is, in itself, striking. The last trial was to take place on the morrow. He had, under the direction of his legal adviser, prepared a paper, which was to be read to the jury. There was still, therefore, a possibility of his escape from the punishment of death. This latter circumstance became a subject of conversation, and an earnest hope was expressed on the part of his visitor, that, if he was set at liberty, he would be supported by Divine grace, and that he would be enabled to live to the glory of God. His answer to this observation clearly showed how well he understood the power of the grace of God, and how entirely his heart was stayed upon that as his only support in every emergency of his life, whether he were to escape from prison, or be led to the scaffold. He observed, “Sir, the man that is fit to _die_, is fit to _live_. I have known what it is to have a heart as hard as a diamond; but I now feel I have a heart of flesh.” His persuasion was thus very clearly expressed, that the same power which had changed his heart from stone to flesh, could and would keep him on his way; and that, depending upon Divine grace, he need not fear whether life or death were presented to him. In this calm and confiding posture of mind, he seemed continually to rest. All his hope and trust were grounded on his Saviour. He had come to the full experience of the psalmist—“It is good for me to draw near to God.”

A hymn of Cowper’s, which had been given to him, seemed very much to have arrested his attention this day. It is on the subject of the fountain opened for sin, and for uncleanness. (Zech. xiii. 1.)

“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Wash’d all my sins away.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Then, in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe thou hast prepared
(Unworthy though I be)
For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me.

’Tis strung and tuned for endless years,
And formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears,
No other name but thine.”

This hymn he was very fond of, and he repeated it on his way to the scaffold. It had been an object to store the mind of Jolin with subjects which might, by the Divine blessing, be sources of encouragement and of comfort to him when left alone with his Bible, or in the silent hours of the night. The following points, in addition to those already enumerated, had been dwelt upon; and now, as the opportunities for visiting his prison by the individual who proposed them, had drawn to a close, some of them were at this time again earnestly pressed upon his attention. These were, the “tender mercy” of God, (Luke i. 78,) by which alone the Day-spring from on high visits the soul, and by which it is brought out of its state of natural darkness; the view of Christ touched with the feeling of our infirmities, (Heb. iv. 15, 16,) and encouraging us to go with boldness to the Throne of grace; the invitation to ask with importunity for the Holy Spirit (Luke xi. 1–11); the intercession of Jesus for his people (Rom. viii. 34); the promise, that God who had not spared his own Son would with him freely give us all things (Rom. viii. 32); the remedy against all trouble to be found in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John xiv. 1); the parting address and prayer of Christ (John xiv. xv. xvi. xvii.); and the engagement that nothing shall separate the believer from the love of Christ (Rom. viii. 35–39). To this was added, as much examination as to the working of these doctrines on his heart, the degree in which they were felt, and their practical bearing, as the time and circumstances would admit. All these subjects Jolin appeared to understand and to receive; and if he could not enumerate them as distinct articles of his religious creed, yet he seemed fully to comprehend and to receive them as the testimony of God.

Monday, the 28th, was the day fixed for his second trial; and here he exhibited the character of a real Christian. His defence he had written before, and it was as follows:—“Gentlemen, whatever may be my fate, I shall not die without having to reproach myself for not having quitted my father’s house. By so doing, I should have avoided being the victim in different unhappy affairs that often took place between my father and mother, in which I was generally the object upon which the weight of their discontent fell. I was often obliged to submit to being beaten most severely, and to hear language unworthy of being uttered by either father or mother. Now, left to myself in the solitude of a dungeon, I reflect on times gone by, remembering that I was the only child, abandoned to the most deplorable fate. Yet I ought to have been wiser, and not followed the example of my nearer relations, the source of my misfortune. But now that respectable ministers of the Gospel have taken the trouble to visit me, and point out my duty towards God and towards man, I rest contented. I pray to God to pardon the horrible, but never premeditated crime of which I am guilty. If I ever had an intention of killing my poor father, I had a very favourable opportunity of doing so, when he was stretched upon a bed of sickness, unable to help himself. I was then the only person who took care of him, and administered to his wants, as there was no other person besides myself in the house. I beg pardon of all those whom I may have willingly or unwillingly offended. Gentlemen, after this declaration, I submit myself entirely to your wisdom. It is you who are going to decide my fate. I am ready to meet it, and I will submit to your judgment without a murmur.—PH. G. JOLIN.”

This paper is a translation from the French, in which language it was originally written. Whether it is accurately translated, or whether it was written by Jolin himself, or by his advocate, it is impossible to judge. The passage in it which relates to his parents, if his own, is liable to objection. The faults of a parent, especially faults so awfully punished, ought not to have made a part of his defence. If the language is that of his advocate, it is only the language of legal justification, and the facts are both true and of much weight for the extenuation of his crime.

It is said, that during his trial, his calmness was remarkable. His lips apparently were employed in prayer, and this he afterwards confessed was the case. He prayed for himself, that he might be strengthened to go through his trial, and also for his judges and his jury. There was no effrontery in his look; but, on the contrary, the appearance of deep humiliation. For four hours, during which time his trial lasted, he never lifted his eyes from the ground. On his return from the trial, he had to encounter the indignation of the populace against his crime. On the former occasion, a woman had cried, “Ah, le scelerat!” which had a good deal affected him. This time he addressed the people from the prison gates, and when they observed that he was half dead from fatigue, he said, amongst other things, “I have a strength within me ye know not. This supports me. Weep not for me, weep for yourselves.”

During the following days of his life, he received continual visits from a variety of persons. On the 28th, the Rev. P. Filluel; on the 29th, from both the chaplains of the Bishop of Winchester; Mr. Dallas was indeed as assiduous in his attendance at the gaol, as his many other duties at that time would permit; and all these gentlemen expressed the strongest conviction of the reality of Jolin’s conversion. Many ministers, and others beside, very kindly came, desiring to impart to him some spiritual gift. He received all gladly; but more especially those whose conversation led him to believe that they came to him in the fulness of Christian love. His discernment on this point was a striking evidence of the clear views of doctrine which he had attained. He perceived and felt the inadequacy of those religious systems which were not connected with deep and experimental views of personal corruption; and with exclusive dependence for salvation upon the atonement of Jesus Christ. With a sense of gratitude for the instruments made use of in awakening his mind, Jolin appeared remarkably independent of any outward help. He was by no means like a man who hung upon another’s teaching, but upon that of God. It was on this account that he was, perhaps, able to bear without injury the multifarious instruction which he received. His own language was most satisfactory; he always spoke of the salvation procured for him as a free and unmerited gift of God; and dwelt upon the peculiar manifestation of God’s grace to himself, inasmuch as he had twice saved him from shipwreck when he was in an entirely unprepared state to meet death, and now he had been brought to that prison that he might learn the way of salvation. His expressions of the sense of his own unworthiness were clear and strong. He told one of his friends that he had nothing to offer to God, but his heart; that all his repentance, all his resolutions, all his short conflict with the carnal heart, could never expiate his sin. On another occasion he said, that he was not worthy to pick up the crumbs under his Master’s table; and on another, that Christ was his only hope; that He had paid his ransom, and that He would receive him into glory. With another class of visitors, those of his family and friends, he was equally decided in declaring what great things God had done for his soul, and what necessity there was that they should turn and repent if they would be saved. Indeed, a discourse of this kind had made some of them think him insane. He had told his relations who had come to him, that he was formerly unclean and unholy; that they were so at that moment. He therefore entreated them to apply to _Him_ who had cast out the unclean devils into the swine, to cleanse their souls. On all occasions, when he could, he manifested the same desire to instruct others, and lead them to that refuge which he had found so precious to his own soul.

On Thursday, October 1, Mr. Durell records a very interesting visit which he paid the prisoner: interesting, as it showed the state of mind in which he found him. “As we approached the passage,” says Mr. Durell, “we could hear the loud ejaculations of the prisoner’s prayers.” The gaoler observed, that he always found him thus employed when he was left alone in the cell. Mr. Durell read to him the account of our Saviour’s death, from Matthew xxvii., and concluded with a prayer, at the end of which Jolin was much affected. He exhibited, on this occasion, the deepest sense of gratitude to all about him; and Mr. Hammond, his advocate, who was also present, bore witness to the calmness and the change of Jolin’s state of mind. To the latter gentleman, he, on that occasion, expressed his sense of the great services rendered to him on his trial. He sat up on his bed, and clasping both his hands together, said most earnestly, “Mr. Hammond, I thank you over and over again for the pains you have taken for me. I regret that I have nothing to give to reward you as you deserve.” This same sense of gratitude led him constantly to express his thanks to his gaoler, whose kindness and attention, those who were so often going out and in the prison can fully testify. But it was not on this occasion alone, for the evidence afforded to his state of mind was very remarkable. The acting lieutenant-governor, the dean, the mayor, a leading medical man who came to inquire into his insanity, clergymen, dissenting ministers, his advocate, his relations, his attendants, all appear to have come away from the prison with a common conviction, that the power of God had been at work in producing the wonderful change which they witnessed.

On the day previous to his execution, the event to which I have referred with regard to his relations occurred. They, not understanding the nature of the change which had taken place in him, and, judging from reports of blows which he had received, and other circumstances, endeavoured to establish the plea of insanity; and they brought a very eminent medical practitioner to examine into his state. But this interference was followed by the best consequences; for, whilst on the one hand it was clearly ascertained that Jolin was in no state of derangement, or delusion, or enthusiastic fervour; on the other, the clearest and most satisfactory evidence was given of his real state of mind. After this, the Dean of Jersey kindly attended to administer the sacrament to him. Before he received the holy communion, he underwent an examination; and to the dean, and three other clergymen, he gave, in answer to their questions, a reason of the hope that was in him. He explained with such clearness the object and the nature of his faith, testified so deep a sense of his own unworthiness, and showed so good a feeling towards all his fellow-creatures, that they had not, any of them, a doubt of his fitness to partake of the feast prepared for the penitent sinner. This examination, which was peculiarly solemn and affecting to Jolin, looking, as most of the people of that island do, with deep veneration on the high and sacred office of the dean, was remarkably calculated to detect any thing which might be suspicious in his views, or in his real state. Throughout this day, Mr. Hall reports, that Jolin was longing to depart, and to be with Christ, saying, “The hours pass slowly.” It was remarked that he must wait God’s time, who had yet work for him to do in his vineyard. And most faithfully was every hour devoted to the duties of his immediate calling. He warned, rebuked, exhorted, with all long-suffering and patience. He said he thought it would be better for him to die on the scaffold, than quietly in his cell, as he might thereby glorify God by his patience, and be an example to all of the fatal consequences of indulgence in sin.

Mr. Durell has given an account of his last visit to Jolin on the evening of this day. He chose the same subject to read to him as on the day before, but from another Evangelist. It was Luke xxiii., the account of our Saviour’s crucifixion. During the reading, Jolin’s sensibility was greatly excited, and his half-broken sobs were heard. Mr. Durell, thinking it proper to check this state of mind, pointed out the sufferings of Christ as a matter of holy joy, and threatened to lay down the book, and read no more, if Jolin continued to feel so much. Mr. Durell, wishing to avoid any thing which might discompose Jolin, carefully omitted making any comment on the most affecting part of our Saviour’s sufferings. He, on the other hand, sought to comfort him by an application of the promise, that “they who sow in tears, shall reap in joy;” and by the prospect of paradise held out to the penitent thief. He adds, in conclusion, “In the course of my profession, I have seen many individuals on the brink of the grave; but never before did I witness such coolness and such self-command—a scene so holy, so edifying, so sublime. Had he been in the full bloom of human prosperity, and with the prospect of adding half a century longer to his existence, he could not have been more collected. I was myself almost falling into a delusion contrary to the evidence of my own senses. I could not believe that one so near his end could retain so much courage, or such contempt of ignominy and death. I could not believe that one so gentle, and now so well instructed in religious duties, could have been ever capable of committing a crime for which he deserved to die—that he could have been a murderer.”

On the night previous to his execution, the kind relation who had first visited him in the prison, and brought him the first message of salvation, in bringing him the New Testament, and Mr. Gallachin, an excellent minister of the church, sat up with him. They endeavoured to sing a hymn, and, feeling the imperfection of the service, he said, “To-morrow I shall join in very different singing from this.” At half-past one in the morning, he fell into a kind of dozing stupor for an hour, but did not sleep. During that time he was heard repeating the fifty-first Psalm, and also repeatedly exclaiming, “Glory to the Lamb! glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!” and when he awoke, he said that he had seen glorious things in a dream. He also said, between sleeping and waking, as it appeared, “There is now, therefore, no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.” At waking he requested that a hymn might be sung. The next morning Mr. Hall went to him at half-past six o’clock. When he entered his cell, Jolin said, “Oh, Mr. Hall, I am so glad to see you; I am so happy. I have slept four hours, and the rest of the night we have spent in such delightful conversation. I feel so strong, but I will wait patiently the Lord’s time.” The day before, I have observed, he thought the hours passed slowly, he was so anxious to depart and to be with Christ. Mr. Hall took occasion to warn him, that he had still a work to do. He must not only glorify his Saviour by his conduct, and by his patient resignation, but he must again speak a word of warning to those about him. And he assured him that he might be able to do more for the praise and honour of his Master in his death upon the scaffold, by bearing testimony to his own exceeding wickedness, and to the unsearchable mercy and love of Christ, than if he had died in a more private manner. To this he assented, and took the resolution of doing all in his power. “Great, indeed,” says Mr. Hall, “were the grace and support which he enjoyed. He felt sick at breakfast time, and could not eat; but, to oblige me, he said he would try. About nine o’clock his irons were taken off; and I could not help thinking of this as symbolical of that liberty which soon, when passed beyond this life, he would enjoy for ever in the presence of his Saviour. Jolin immediately proposed to me to kneel down and thank God for what he had done for him; saying, ‘I have always before prayed in bed; now I can go on my knees in the proper posture for a sinner.’ Oh, at this time, how deep were his confessions of sin, committed both in thought, word, and deed; his acknowledgment of mercy through Jesus Christ; his expressions of dependence upon Him for grace, to keep him in his fiery trial, and to open for him the kingdom of heaven! When he drank his milk, he said, ‘Oh! God, I thank thee that thou hast been so merciful and good to me, who have been so great a sinner!’ His hand was never cold, and his pulse was always regular to the end. I never witnessed one to whom the Lord was pleased to give a stronger faith, which was proved by his conduct to the last. He sat calmly speaking and listening till about half-past twelve; when he left the prison, leaning on me and Mr. Gallachin. An immense concourse of people presented itself at the prison gates, and their rush and noise were greater than we expected. The newspaper account says—‘He was calm and collected, walked with steadiness, and evinced throughout the most decorous firmness. We could not perceive that he trembled. His mind seemed quite absorbed in religious exercises; and, from all we can learn, there was good and satisfactory evidence that he was a true penitent, and relied on the Divine mercy.’”

As he was leaving the gaol he was heard to repeat the fourth verse of the twenty-third Psalm, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Mr. Hall continues: “The noise of the people prevented my being heard by Jolin, who walked as firmly as myself: I therefore opened my hymn-book, and pointed out to him the sufficiency of the Redeemer, in one of those hymns which I had previously chosen for his perusal. The hymn chosen was one beginning—

‘He lives, the great Redeemer lives!
What joy the blest assurance gives!
And now, before his Father, God,
Pleads the full merit of his blood.

In every dark, distressful hour,
When sin and Satan join their power,
Let this dear hope repel the dart,
That Jesus bears us on his heart.’

“He told me, that he did not mind the people, that they were poor worms; 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.