on the head, but did not see a knife that was in E-'s hand. When E- saw the hand about to fall, he upraised his own to guard himself, when the knife entered his assailant's arm above the elbow, making a severe gash, and opening one of the arteries. E remained at Newgate nearly six weeks awaiting his trial; but the grand jury ignored the bill. earned When he attained the age of manhood, Egood wages; but, alas ! spent all he earned at the concertroom and theatre, and in gay amusements. Being a good singer, his company was much sought after by the frequenters of music-halls and public-houses. He spent his Sunday evenings at the Eagle, surrounded by his pot companions who admired him, and his money not less. Often would he spend thirty shillings on one of these evenings in drink and in treating his flatterers. It was thought that his marriage would be the means of his reformation; but as his wife was fond of amusements too, he still continued in his wild career. His friends set him up in business, which proved to be lucrative; but, as before, all his gains were misspent. Business became neglected, the trade fell off, and he was greatly reduced in circumstances. After a time he returned to shoemaking, and chose for his evening companions the men who are known as "blacklegs," many of whom were thieves. His wife set up a receiving house, and purchased of her husband's companions the goods which she well knew, because they confessed it, were stolen. The police suspected some of these men, and E― was persuaded to become a spy. He was therefore engaged to purchase goods of the thieves, and hand them over to the detectives, in order that they might compare them with other goods, and thus get a clue to the real offenders. One night there was a great jewel robbery to the amount of £13,000. Rightly or wrongly it was believed that E - knew who were the guilty parties, and that he was afraid to divulge the secret for fear of being murdered. On one occasion he bought a waggon-load of leather, and was introduced into a "thieves' garret ;" for, good reader, the most successful thieves are the least happy, and live mostly in the deepest obscurity. Here he saw at the top of a house, in a room, an entrance to which had to be gained by means of a ladder and a trap-door, the home of a gang of notorious burglars, who could find no securer place than this to hoard their ill-gotten gains. E—purchased the whole of the leather they had stolen, and worked it away by degrees, selling it in small quantities very cheaply, but succeeding in making a large profit out of the bargain. Cards, gambling, drinking, and other vices were followed greedily at this time, and E began to be known in the neighbourhood in which he lived as a confirmed drunkard and notorious blackguard. He was also a great scoffer at all holy things, and the deeper he descended into sin, the stronger were the words which he employed everywhere to express his detestation of religion. At last, however, he lost a child of which he was very fond, and this loss was followed by other family bereavements. His wife's sister, who was a member of a Christian Church, died, and E had to attend the funeral service. The minister's discourse deeply affected him, and, determined to change his life, he became a total abstainer from alcoholic drinks. It was a good resolution; but while the heart remained unchanged, there was little hope for a radical reformation of the conduct. He commenced again to rail at religion, and, like many other cowardly enemies of the saints of God, he persecuted those whose purity and godliness were a protest against his own sinful life. That which he could not understand he blasphemed; and his right mind were with his peace. those who sought to bring him into scouted as fools and intermeddlers One day, while in a state of deep poverty, he was seized with typhus fever. Friends, however, were kind; and when he became convalescent, they removed him to one of the bye streets in the Blackfriars Road. In the removal, however, a relapse occurred, and his life was despaired of. While in this condition he was visited by two Bible-women, who endeavoured to arouse him to a sense of his condition as a sinner. His feeling, however, was that he had not done harm to any one but himself, and that all through life he had only been his own enemy. When he recovered his sickness, he was invited to a tea meeting for the poor of the district, and he and his wife accepted the invitation. Both husband and wife were convinced that night of their need of the Divine forgiveness, and they realized its power. This occurred nearly five years ago; and now E-- is one of the most active and useful men who, in connection with Ned Wright's work, labour to bring souls to the Saviour. E may be heard preaching nearly every Sabbath evening in the New Cut, both indoors and in the open thoroughfare. |