possible to divest myself of fear and terror. We were now conducted back to prison, loaded with irons, and were thrust into the condemned room, a sorrowful, gloomy, and miserable apartment, to which none were admitted, save the clergy, and those who had business of importance with the prisoners. On the third day after my condemnation, my friend Mr. Weidenbecker, in company with another gentleman, came to visit me; they mentioned the expediency of petitioning His Excellency, the Earl of Dalhousie, the Governor, for my reprieve, and offered to prepare it, if I were willing. Of course I assented, and the next day Mr. W. returned with a petition, very ably drawn up for my signature. After signing it myself, he subscribed his own name, and having procured the signatures of the jurors of my trial, forwarded it to the Governor immediately. Such was the benevolence of this gentleman, and such his attachment towards me, that I shall never cease to remember his name with gratitude. His, was a love which approached nearest to disinterestedness of any thing I ever knew; he unexpectedly became my friend in my hour of extremity and danger, and his friendship remained inviolable, during my acquaintance with him. What acquisition is so precious as that of a friend? How strong the friendly heart controls, The prisoner's den, it lights with hope. Friendship on earth! 'tis nobler far, A friend whose love through woe will hold, Perhaps the reader would be pleased to learn something of the character and feelings of my fellow prisoners, while under condemnation, and in expectation of speedy death. Of our number, seven were Catholics, natives of Canada, except one, who was a South American; these were profane and disgusting in their conversation and manners, at first, a very natural consequence of the destructive faith they professed. If they sinned, they found a salvo for a guilty conscience in confession to the priest, who, poor man, affected to forgive them offences, committed against a holy and infinite God. The other was a protestant, a mulatto from the United States, whose demeanor was more serious and proper. We were visited daily, by Roman Catholic priests, to whom their adherents paid no small share of reverence and attention. We were also visited by a Clergyman of the establishment, who labored incessantly to instruct us in the wisdom of the Gospel, and to impress our minds with the importance of obedience to its precepts. Such, however, was our state, that we understood but little of the vitality of religion, or of its operation upon the heart. For my own part, although I had received some knowledge of God in my early life, yet I had supposed that a strict attention to morality, was all the Bible required. I knew, to be sure, that Jesus Christ had suffered death, but for what, and for whom I scarcely knew; hence, when questioned about the grace of God, repentance, and faith, all I could say, only tended to set forth my lamentable ignorance of these glorious truths. This discovery induced the Clergyman to spare no efforts, time, or pains, to pour instruction into our dark and benighted minds. He seriously exhorted us to attend to the salvation of our souls, pointing out the way in the simplest and most affectionate manner, and then joining in prayer, he would commit us to God, and leave us to our reflections. I became deeply serious, reflected much upon my past folly, and thought that then was the best time to seek religion, and the salvation of my soul; but alas! I went no further, though his labors were not in vain, inasmuch as they laid the foundation of my subsequent conversion. The effects of his visits, however, were glorious in regard to the mulatto; for he became deeply convicted, and began to call upon God through Jesus Christ, and soon found salvation through his most precious blood. He remained, during the rest of his life a most devoted and holy Christian, the work of grace upon his heart, was evident to every observer. While in this confinement, I received the |