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JACOB HODGES.
4"
and this had opened to him his most
enrapturing visions, and drew from the
word of God its most precious truths.
There was a peculiar charm, a depth
and fervency in Jacob's devotional ex¬
pressions. They were always marked
with uncommon propriety and replete
with scriptural allusions. All that knew
him felt persuaded that he had commu¬
nion with God and was taught by the
Spirit how to pray.
There was also something peculiarly
deep and clear in the whole of Jacob's
religious experience, while under the in¬
struction of the chaplain in the solitude
of his cell. He heard the Bible read;
prayed often and fervently, and he often
received the kind sympathy and prayers
of those who came to teach him the way
of life. But no instructions, however
evangelical, no prayers of his own or those
of his Christian visiters lessened the burden
of Ms sins. Every new truth of the gos¬
pel, and every new view of his own heart,
i jenened his convictions of guilt and of