19: 20. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. v. 33. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. vs. 35, 36. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

But we are not confined to scripture for the verification of these promises. Many a christian, in every age, has known and felt that his own prayers for particular blessings have been heard and favorably answered; and such instances in the life of a christian are numerous, just in proportion to the simplicity and uniformity with which he relies on God. A few insulated cases of this kind, might be explained on the ground of accidental coincidence; but when they occur uniformly and through a series of years, it is contrary to all the laws of sound reasoning to explain them in this manner.

I will illustrate my meaning by a few well authenticated examples. Henry Young Stilling was an eminent physician in the service of the Grand Duke of Baden. He died in the year 1812, and consequently was well known to many persons now living. His career was an extraordinary one. By his skill as an oculist, he restored more blind persons to sight than there are miracles recorded of our blessed Saviour himself. I have been acquainted with some of his children and grandchildren, and feel no doubt of the entire accuracy of the facts about to be related. Stilling was an intimate friend of the German poet Goethe, who will not be accused of credulity or superstition, and it was at Goethe's suggestion that he published the account of his own life from which the following incidents are taken. Goethe, in his autobiography, says of Stilling, "he had a round understanding—and an enthusiasm for all that is good, right, and true, in the utmost possible purity. His course of life had been very simple, and yet had abounded with events, and a manifold activity. The element of his energy was an impregnable faith in God, and in an assistance immediately proceeding from Him, which obviously justified itself in an uninterrupted provision,

and an infallible deliverance from every distress and every evil. He had experienced numerous instances of this kind in his life, and they had recently been frequently repeated; so that, though he led a frugal life, yet it was without care and with the greatest cheerfulness; and he applied himself most diligently to his studies, although he could not reckon on any certain subsistence from one quarter of a year to another. I urged him to write his life, and he promised to do so."

Such is the unequivocal testimony of Goethe, who was most intimately acquainted with him; and surely no one will say that Goethe was a man to be beguiled by religious fanaticism, especially towards the latter part of his life, when he wrote the sentences which I have just quoted.

In youth, Stilling was extremely poor, destitute of the common comforts and necessaries of life. After a long season of anxiety and prayer, he felt satisfied that it was the will of God, that he should go to a University and prepare himself for the medical profession. He did not, at first, make choice of a University, but waited for an intimation from his Heavenly Father; for as he intended to study simply from faith, he would not follow his own will in any thing. Three weeks after he had come to this determination, a friend asked him, whither he intended to go. He replied he did not know. "Oh," said she, "our neighbor Mr. T. is going to Strasburg to spend a winter there, go with him." This touched Stilling's heart; he felt that this was the intimation he had waited for. Meanwhile Mr. T. himself entered the room, and was heartily pleased with the proposition. The whole of his welfare now depended on his becoming a physician, and for this, a thousand dollars at least, were requisite, of which he could not tell in the whole world where to raise a hundred. He nevertheless fixed his confidence firmly on God, and reasoned as follows: "God begins nothing without terminating it gloriously; now it is most certainly true that He alone has ordered my present circumstances entirely without my co-operation. Consequently it is also most certainly true, that he will accomplish every thing regarding me in a manner worthy of himself." He smilingly said to his friends who were as poor as himself" I wonder from what quarter my Heavenly Father will provide me with money." When they expressed anxiety, he said, "Believe assuredly

that He who was able to feed a thousand people with a little bread lives still, and to Him I commit myself. He will certainly find out means. Do not be anxious, the Lord will provide."

Forty-six dollars was all that he could raise for his journey. He met unavoidable delay on the way, and while in Frankfort, three days ride from Strasburg, he had but a single dollar left. He said nothing of it to any one, but waited for the assistance of his Heavenly Father. As he was walking the street and praying inwardly to God, he met. Mr. L., a merchant from the place of his residence, who says to him: "Stilling, what brought you here?" "I am going to Strasburg to study medicine." "Where do you get your money to study with?” "I have a rich Father in heaven." Mr. L. looked steadily at him and inquired, "How much money have you on hand ?" "One dollar," says Stilling. "So," says Mr. L. "Well, I'm one of your Father's stewards," and handed him thirty-three dollars. Stilling felt warm tears in his eyes; says he, "I am now rich enough— I want no more.' This first trial made him so courageous, that he no longer doubted that God would help him through every thing.

He had been but a short time in Strasburg, when his thirtythree dollars had again been reduced to one, on which account he began again to pray very earnestly. Just at this time, one morning, his room-mate, Mr. T , says to him :"Stilling, I believe you did not bring much money with you," and offered him thirty dollars in gold, which he gladly accepted as in answer to his prayers. In a few months after this, the time arrived when he must pay the Lecturer's fee, or have his name struck from the list of students. The money was to be paid by six o'clock on Thursday evening. Thursday morning came and he had no money, and no means of getting any. The day was spent in prayer. Five o'clock in the evening came, and yet there was no money. His faith began almost to fail; he broke out into a perspiration-his face was wet with tears. Some one knocked at the door. "Come in," said he. It was Mr. R-, the gentleman of whom he rented the room. 66 I called," said Mr. R—————, to see how you like your room?" "Thank you," says Stilling, "I like it very much." Says Mr. R-, "I thought I would ask you one other question; have you brought any money with

*

you?" Stilling says he now felt like Habakkuk when the Angel took him by the hair of the head to carry him to Babylon. He answered, "No, I have no money." Mr. R looked at him with surprise, and at length said, “I see how it is, God has sent me to help you." He immediately left the room, and soon returned with forty dollars in gold.

He was

Stilling says he then felt like Daniel in the lion's den, when Habakkuk brought him his food. He threw himself on the floor and thanked God with tears. He then went to the College and paid his fee as well as the best. His whole College life was one series of just such circumstances. often in want of money, but he never asked man for it; for he had no man to ask; he asked God for it, and it always came when he needed it. Was he authorised to enter on a course of study with such prospects, and such expectations? The leadings of providence were such, that he had not a shadow of doubt that it was his duty to enter on this course of study; he prayed fervently for divine guidance, and felt that he had it; he availed himself of all the lawful means in his power for the supply of his own wants-and when he had no means of his own, he asked help of God-and never failed to receive what he asked for. He became one of the most useful physicians, and one of the greatest benefactors to the poor that the world has ever seen. He restored sight during his life, to nearly five thousand blind people, most of whom were very poor, and unable to render him any pecuniary reward.

What stronger proof can we have that God was his guide? Let us take a series of events of the same kind from the life of another person who lived a century previous, and was of a calling and character quite different from that of Stilling. Augustus Herman Franke was a parish minister in the city of Halle, with a small salary, barely sufficient for his own support, and no property except his books. He was a man of cool, deliberate judgment and extensive learning, and was benevolent on principle rather than impulse. His heart was affected with a view of the wretched condition of the children of the uneducated poor, in Halle, and was determined to

* See History of Bel and the Dragon in the Apocrypha, verses 33-39.

do something for their relief. In process of time he had a large orphan establishment, containing between three and four hundred children, entirely dependent on his exertions for their education, their clothing, and their daily food. His means of course were continually running short, and he had no other resource than prayer to God.

This was a resource which never failed. Hear his own testimony, as it has been confirmed by thousands of witnesses: "In the month of April, 1696, our funds were exhausted, and I knew not where to look for the necessary supplies for the next week. This caused me great distress; when some person, who is yet unknown to me, put into my hands a thousand dollars for the orphans. At another time when our stores were exhausted, we laid our case before the Lord, and had scarcely finished our prayer, when there was a knock at my door and a letter was handed in with $50 in gold: $20 soon after came, which completely supplied our wants, and we were taught that God will often hear prayer almost before it is offered. In the month of October, 1698, I sent a ducat to a poor and afflicted woman, who wrote me that it came to hand at a time when she greatly needed it, and she prayed God to give my poor orphans a heap of ducats for it. Soon after, I received from one friend two ducats; from another twenty-five; from two others forty-three; and from Prince Paul of Wertemburg five hundred. When I saw all this money on the table before me, I could not but think of the prayer of the poor woman, and how literally it had been fulfilled. In February, 1699, I was almost entirely without funds, though much was needed for the daily wants of the children and other poor. In this state of difficulty, I comforted myself with the promise of the Lord Jesus: Seek ye first the kingdom,' &c. When I had given out the last of our money, I prayed to the Lord. As I left my room to go into the college, I found a student waiting for me, who put $70 into my hands. Soon afterwards, we were in the greatest want, but I trusted in the Lord and determined to go to my closet and spread my wants before him. I arose to go to my closet, and while on my way, a letter was put into my hands from a merchant, informing me that he had received a cheque for a thousand dollars, to be paid me for the orphan house. How forcibly did I feel the truth of the promise, 'Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I