Crime & punishment > Notes of conversations with H. M'Donald, N. Sutherland, and H. M'Intosh, (who were executed at Edinburgh, April 22, 1812,) during the time they were under sentence of death

62
xvi. 62. “ And I will establish my covenant
with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the
Lord. That thou mayest remember, and be
confounded, and never open thy mouth any
more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified
toward thee, for (notwithstanding) all that thou
hast done, saith the Lord.” An overwhelming
sense of guilt is here inseparably connected with
a discovery, that the eternal God was pacified
toward the guilty, and could thus be viewed in
the endearing character of a reconciled Father.
Again, what a comfort is it, that, when called
to visit those in the near prospect of death, who
have formerly spent their lives in habits of ini¬
quity, we can even then announce to them the
good news, that God is willing to pardon the
guilty, and that none who come to Jesus shall
come in vain ! It is. well known what opposi¬
tion many express to this doctrine, from the
dread of its supposed tendency to licentious¬
ness. But let me for a moment request such
persons to consider, how they would address a
poor dying sinner on his death-bed, or in the
near prospect of his final hour, whose life had
been stained with innumerable crimes. Would
they tell such a man, that he must die in des¬
pair ; that he is now beyond the reach of mer¬
cy ? No ; they would revolt at such a suppo¬
sition. What instruction then would they com¬
municate ; what source of consolation would
they in such a case unfold ? They would talk
of a repentance, which no doubt ought to be