LONDON.

Execution of JOHN VARTIE, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 1817.

A few minutes after 8 o'clock, John Vartie, for forging a check for 4007. with an intent to defraud Messrs. Brenchly and Co. Bankers, at Gravesend, to whom he was clerk; George Pearson, for forging a warrant for the payment of 2251. with an intent to defraud Messrs. Williams and Co. Bankers, Birchin Lane; and Thomas Dealtry, for highway robbery, were executed before Newgate.

The case of John Vartie, who was only 19 years of age, excited unusual interest and commisseration. He was the son of respectable parents, who are now living near Kirby Steven, in Westmoreland. He procured gratuitous education at a grammar school in that county, and is said to have made such a proficiency in languages, &c. that he became the usher of that school at 10 years of age, and tutor in a gentleman's family at 13. At 15 he engaged with an Attorney; when he began the fatal course of Novel reading, and the perusal of infidel writings. He then removed to London, and soon after became a teacher at a respectable school at Gravesend; when his good conduct recommended him to the notice of the gentlemen who keep a bank in that town, by whom he was accepted as a clerk.

This change of situation, and its consequences, will be best described in his own words, taken from a paper which he left in the hands of the Rev. Mr.. Rudge:

'In this innocent and amusing manner (alluding to his literary pursuits,) nearly two years passed sweetly over, when a vacancy occuring in the Gravesend Bank, I was engaged as a clerk by the firm, who considering my general good character as a sufficient security, required no other. Now becoming more public, the sphere of my acquaintance was extended; and, as a consequence, my former habits of retirement began gradually to wear off. The pleasure that I had hitherto found in the closet, was now sought in the gay circle of my companions. The seeds of infidelity which had been sown, began now to make their appearance. Christianity I considered a grand political scheme, invented to preserve order and subordination among the people; but, thanks to its Author, I now view it in another light. Is it to be wondered at, that one standing on such fallacious ground could not withstand the temptation by which I fell ?' The transaction which occasioned the forfeiture of his life, is said to have been as follows:

Having written a letter on business from the firm at Gravesend, to the house of Williams and Co. Birchin Lane, he took it to the principals for signature. Before the letter was sent off, he added a postcript, requesting the house in London to pay to Lieut. (a fictitious person) 4007. on their account; and informing them, that. the gentleman would call for it in a few days. Vartie then slipped away to town, and personating the supposed Lieutenant, received the money and gave a receipt; by which last act it was rendered a

forgery but which Vartie vainly considered, to the very day of his trial, could be regarded only as a fraud.

Having obtained the cash, he proceeded to France and entered as a student at a College in Abbeville, intending, it is said, to study the Hebrew language. Here he might have remained in privacy, had he not inadvertently written to a friend in Gravesend, informing him of the whole affair. This came abroad, and led to his apprehension, trial, and death.

Now a prisoner, with the prospect of eternity before his eyes, he readily listened to the instructions of the Ordinary, and of several clergymen and dissenting ministers, who visited him. Paley and Chalmers on the Evidences of Christianity, were put into his hands, which in concurrence with the Village Sermons, and other religious treatises, appear to have been rendered useful to him. His behaviour was sedate and becoming; and he frequently declared his having removed his infidel principles, looking upon his awful situation as the means which God in his mysterious Providence had permitted to bring him to proper views of himself and of salvation.

During his confinement in the cell he wrote the following lines on the wall, a translation of which he gave to a person who asked him for the meaning of them :

"Tu, fata quem dura huc trahunt, infelix, audi

Coeli, hades ve vestibulum hic locus est ipse.'

In cru

ce Fides.

1

Thou, hapless wretch, whom Justice calls
To breathe within these dreary walls;
Know, guilty man, this very cell
May be to thee the porch of hell.
Thy guilt confess'd, thro' Him forgiv❜n,
Mysterious change! it leads to heaven.

The change which, it is charitably hoped, took place in his mind, is fully expressed in the following letter to the Rev. Mr. Chapman, of Greenwich:

REV. AND DEAR SIR,

In compliance to your request, and the desire of my unknown friend, to whose Christian benevolence I am indebted, I shall in this letter expatiate on the subject of our interview. But before I describe the present state of my mind, I will advert to its state previous to my

imprisonment before it was roused by the sudden view of approaching death. From a course of novel-reading, which I pursued three or four years ago, I had contracted principles of infidelity, which I never rejected till within these few weeks past; when naturally examining the grounds on which I stood, relative to a future state, I found them defective in an alarming degree; and therefore had recourse to that Gospel which alone was able to impart the consolation my circumstances required. Here I soon found a basis on which I could safely rest-a basis which the refined subtlety of false philo sophy could not afford. Blessed be that God who has thus graciously opened my eyes, and decided me in the right, the only way to salvation! Have I not ample reason then, Sir, to view my calamity in the Jight of a mercy? Providence is mysterious, whose secret operations we are too apt to misconstrue, till their effects are manifest-Here is a striking instance. Had I been suffered to proceed in error, who knows but that, like Voltaire and some other infamous names, an aspiring genius might have rendered me an embittered foe to the Chris tian religion, and have plunged me at last, as they were, into inextri cable ruin and wo? Such are the effects of that Gospel which now beams comfort and consolation on my few remaining days, and will light me to the regions of bliss as their end. Supported by this lively hope, death, even in his most hideous form, will be met with compo sure and resignation by,

A

Rev. and dear Sir.

With due acknowledgement to
yourself and friend,

Cells, Newgate, 6th Nov. 1817.

The unfortunate JOHN VARTIE

He preserved his composure to the last, aud slept a good part of the night before his execution. He declared to the Ordinary just before he left the prison, that he died depending solely on the atonement of Jesus Christ.

We consider the ruin of this amiable young man as holding forth an admonition of most solemn import to the rising generation. Let them beware of those infidel writings which seduce the mind and destroy the principles of moral obligation. But for those abominable books which poisoned his mind, Vartie might have lived to prove a blessing and an ornament to society. But let his retractation of these sentiments teach our youth that they cannot but fail their possessor in the time of trial and in the prospect of eternity; and that the mind of a sinful mortal can find no solid rest but on Jesus Christ, the rock of ages.

SUDDEN DEATH OF A GENTLEMAN

AT A BIBLE MEETING.

THE Greasley and Eastwood Branch Bible Society held their Fourth Anniversary in Greasley Church, Sept. 23, 1817. The same spirit of harmony that had characterized the preceding meetings was again manifested. Persons of various religious denominations took

a lively interest in conducting the proceedings of the meeting. All seemed anxious to express their Christian affection towards each other, and discovered their readiness to unite and co-operate in the glorious work of giving universal circulation to the Divine volume.

But a very affecting event took place, just before the meeting commenced; which, while it occasioned a solemn gloom, and was very distressing to many friends, rendered the meeting particularly interesting. It was the sudden and unexpected death of Richard Leaver, Esq. of Mansfield (one of the Society of Friends,) who came, accompanied by several persons of his own connexion, to witness the transactions of the day: one of the party was expected to address the meeting. This interesting company came to the place with high expectations of enjoying a mental repast. But Mr. Leaver had no sooner entered the church, and taken a seat, than he became extremely ill, so that he appeared to be dying. Though many friends, and a medical gentleman, readily tendered their assistance, in less than a quarter of an hour he was a corpse. How soon was the anticipated joy turned into mourning and lamentation! How thin is the partition between life and death!

The deceased was a warm advocate for the Bible Society, and we trust he enjoyed the consolations of that blessed Book he was so anxious to circulate. He was a generous friend to the poor, and distinguished for his Christian candour towards the lovers of Jesus, of all religious communities. His house was always open to admit them, and there they met with a kind and Christian reception. This event is a loud call to serious reflection, and a striking illustration of several appropriate passages of scripture. What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away! Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth! Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh!'

ON KNOWING EACH OTHER IN HEAVEN.

Or all the afflictions to which we are liable, there is none so painful as the death of our friends; for which the Gospel affords us the only consolation that deserves the name-the prospect of being reunited, at no distant period, to those of them who die in the Lord. I believe, however, that many pious persons bave feared lest they should not recognize their friends in the other world; and that apprehension has rendered the parting pang more exquisitely painful; and prevented the wound inflicted on their hearts from being healed. I shall endeavour, in this Essay, to demonstrate that we shall know our friends in heaven, and that their society will form an important feature in our happiness. I shall draw my proofs from Scrip

ture:

I. 2 Samuel xii. 23. When the child of David died in its infancy, the Psalmist consoled himself with this reflection,' I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.' This passage of Scripture proves, 1st. The salvation of those who die in their infancy. 2dly. There

"

newal in heaven of the delightful intercourse of friendships and affections which had been suspended by death.

II. 1 Thessalonians ii. 19. For what is our hope, joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not ye even in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.' The knowledge that Christ was awarding glory to a number of persons converted by his instrumentality, could not be so gratifying to St. Paul, as seeing him confer it on those whom he recognized as his former friends and conIf he knew them not, his success in preaching, abstracted from the persons of his converts, would be his joy and crown of rejoicing but he speaks of his converts themselves as composing his crown and joy.

verts.

II. 1 Thess. iv. 13. Concerning them which are asleep, sorrow not even as others which have no hope.' The belief that our friends exist and are happy, is gratifying, as far as it goes: but the thought of being separated from them for ever is exquisitely painful; and pleasure, strongly tinctured with pain, is inconsistent with the happiness of heaven.

IV. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. A parable is truth arrayed in a fictitious dress to render it more striking, pleasing, luminous, instructive, and impressive. The parable in question teaches (among other things) that the inhabitants of heaven and of hell know each other. Is it possible that the inhabitants of heaven should fail of recognizing one another?

V. The sacred writers compare death to sleep. Our recollection of past events, our friendships, and affections, return the moment we awake. The simile is flagrantly incorrect if they do not survive the grave.

Besides, we cannot remember our redemption and its attendant circumstances, without remembering those who were useful to us, and with whom ' we took sweet counsel.'

God is laying on earth the foundation of universal love in heaven; ordaining and overruling for this gracious purpose, the inequality of the talents and conditions of men, their mutual wants and good offices, and the ministry of angels. Sympathy strengthens love on one side, and gratitude on the other. But if they are ignorant of each other, this noble, this finely constructed plan, is abortive: it is frail as the life of man, though it might have exerted a commanding influence in eternity.

Peculiarly strong love to individuals is perfectly consistent with that intense universal love which the law of God requires, with absolute perfection, and with the most perfect state of society. It would have existed in Eden, had man continued holy; for Adam declares, that a man would forsake his father and mother, and cleave his wife; and our Lord loved John better than his other

unto

disciples.

Love and friendship have little scope for action here; indeed they frequently inflict on us nearly as much pain as they administer pleasure, for we share the sufferings of our friends, and lament their loss,