THIS paſſage of the evangelical hiſtory, to a condemned, dying criminal, near, and in the cloſing ſcene of final execution, contains matter of inexpreſſible importance. A moſt amazing inſtance of ſtupidity and wickedneſs, in the one malefactor, acted out amidſt his expiring ſtruggles, and the tortures of crucifixion; and a moſt ſurprizing inſtance of the ſudden and ſaying converſion of the other, with the wonderful, infinite grace and power of the ſuffering Saviour, himſelf expiring on the croſs— yet then amidſt all the ignominy and anguiſh of it, giving immortal life, and enſuring a ſeat that day with himſelf in paradiſe, to a guilty, but penitent ſinner, then crucified and dying with him.— Theſe things are exhibited, in a manner, and with circumſtances the moſt affecting and inſtructive.

The enraged Jews, with their rulers at their head, having with unaccountable malice and zeal ſought the death of Jeſus, and obtained an unjuſt ſentence from Pilate, and offered him every indignity and cruel inſult, and now following him to the place of his crucifixion, the ſacred hiſtory informs us, "And there were alſo two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors; one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then ſaid Jeſus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and caſt lots. And the people ſtood beholding: and the rulers alſo with them derided him, ſaying, He ſaved others; let him ſave himſelf, if he be Chriſt, the choſen of God. And the ſoldiers alſo mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And ſaying, if thou be the king of the Jews, ſave thyſelf. And a ſuperſcription alſo was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, ſaying, If thou be Chriſt, ſave thyſelf and us. But the other anſwering, rebuked him, ſaying, Doſt not thou fear God, ſeeing thou art in the ſame condemnation? And we indeed juſtly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiſs. And he ſaid unto Jeſus, Lord, remember me when thou comeſt into thy kingdom. And Jeſus ſaid unto him, Verily I ſay unto thee, To-day ſhalt thou be with me in paradiſe." The ill temper of the Jews and of the ſoldiers towards the divine Saviour, on this tragical occaſion, certainly exceeded in malignity, what is common to mankind, againſt their worſt enemies, when they behold them in ſuch ſuffering, dying ſcenes. Few, very few, can be diſpoſed to mockery and deriſion in ſuch dreadful extremities. But the one of the malefactors which were hanged, "railing on him, ſaying, if thou be Chriſt, ſave thyſelf and us," argues a hardened, wicked heart, a mixture of ſtupidity and malignity of ſoul, hardly to be conceived; and to the ſenſibility of human, chriſtian feelings, moſt awful to contemplate. He impiouſly ſcoffs, he mocks at death, and when he himſelf is hanging and dying on the croſs: he ſcoffs, he mocks at the innocent, bleſſed expiring Saviour: he ſcoffs, he mocks at his Judge, on the verge of eternity, and when going immediately to appear before his dread tribunal. But what a contraſt of character to this appears in the other malefactor? "The other anſwering, rebuked him, ſaying, doſt thou not fear God, ſeeing thou art in the ſame condemnation? And we indeed juſtly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiſs. And he ſaid unto Jeſus, Lord; remember me, when thou comeſt into thy kingdom." What ſentiments are theſe? how ſuited to the occaſion? to his own circumſtances? to the ſtate of the other malefactor? and to the true character of the crucified Jeſus? A genuine thorough converſion, a ſincere, unfeigned repentance, a true faith, vigorous and active in the divine Redeemer, appears in a moſt conſpicuous manner, the fruits of it unequivocal, exerciſed and acted out, in the moſt evident and eminent degrees, in the moſt trying circumſtances. He moſt humbly acknowledges his guilt, moſt juſtly rebukes the dreadful impiety of the other malefactor, who railed on Chriſt, without any fear of God, in his own awful circumſtances, and when he himſelf was in the ſuburbs of Hell, launching into Eternity. And while he acknowledges that they both ſuffer juſtly, and receive the due reward of their deeds, he aſſerts the intire innocence of the ſuffering Saviour, and aſſents, with undoubting aſſurance, with hearty affiance and recumbency of ſoul, to the character he had aſſumed, as the Saviour of his people, the King of Iſrael, the King of Zion. "This man, ſays he, hath done nothing amiſs. Lord, remember me when thou comeſt into thy kingdom." He ſaw through all the darkneſs of the tragical ſcene, through all the contradictions and railings of ſinners, through all the tortures and ignominy of the croſs; he ſaw through all theſe things, through all ſurrounding circumſtances, however hardening to others, and made a ſubject for mocking and railing; he ſaw, inlightened by the divine ſpirit, and renewed and changed by the power of divine grace; he ſaw, he believed in the glorious, wonderful character of Immanuel, the deſign of his coming into the world, and that he, and he alone, was "able to ſave to the uttermoſt all them that come unto God by him." He had juſt views of his "kingdom" as not "of this world," but leading and advancing all his faithful followers and ſubjects to immortal life, happineſs and glory, in a future world. He aſks no relief from temporal ſufferings, he aſks not for temporal life, though doubtleſs, he knew that Chriſt was able, if he pleaſed, to grant it to him; and to come down from the croſs himſelf, and confound and deſtroy all his enemies in a moment. He owns the juſtice of his own puniſhment in the article of death, and meekly reſigns himſelf; only praying, and pouring out his ſoul, in penitence and faith, "Lord, remember me, when thou comeſt into thy kingdom," q. d. 'Bleſſed Jeſus, intereſt me in thy divine love, and graciouſly remember me, and number me amongſt thy redeemed, in that glorious and eternal kingdom, which thou doſt purchaſe for them, and in which thou wilt make them bleſſed and happy forever, at an infinite remove from all the ſins and ſufferings of the preſent ſtate.' With a chriſtian ſpirit he was willing to "ſuffer with him," that he might "alſo reign with him." He owned, he honored Chriſt—he committed himſelf, his immortal ſoul to his care, when others, his friends, and his own diſciples forſook him and fled. "I cannot, therefore, (ſays oneDoddridge—note upon this paſſage.) but look on this happy man, (for ſuch, amidſt all the ignominy and torture of the croſs, he ſurely was) as a glorious inſtance of the power, as well as ſovereignty of divine grace, which (as many have obſerved) perhaps taking the firſt occaſion from the preternatural darkneſs, wrought ſo powerfully, as to produce, by a ſudden and aſtoniſhing growth in his laſt moments, all the virtues that could be crouded into ſo ſmall a ſpace, and which were eminently manifeſted in his confeſſing his own guilt, in his admoniſhing his companion for a crime, which he feared would prove fatal to him, in his vindicating the character of Chriſt, and repoſing his confidence in him, as the Lord of a Kingdom beyond the grave, when his enemies were triumphing over him, and he himſelf, abandoned by moſt of his friends, was expiring on the croſs."

And the bleſſed Jeſus, who ſeems to have taken no other notice of his cruel murderers than to pray for them "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," no ſooner hears the meek, the humble, fervent petition of this dying penitent, than he returns a moſt gracious anſwer. "He ſaid unto Jeſus, Lord, remember me when thou comeſt into thy kingdom. And Jeſus ſaid unto him, verily I ſay unto thee, To-day ſhalt thou be with me in Paradiſe." What love and Grace! What dignity and power? What proof of his Divine miſſion and Goſpel! What encouragement! What ſure ground of Hope to every humble penitent, dying Sinner, appears here in the depth of the abaſement and ſufferings of the Son of God! in his own dying moments, giving immortal life to a dying ſinner, and aſſuring the believing penitent that he ſhould be with him that very day in Paradiſe! That notwithſtanding the crucifixion and death of the body, immediately upon his mortal diſſolution, his immortal ſpirit ſhould be with him, in another life and world, happy, completely happy in his preſence, and in the joys of the Paradiſe of God!

To comprize the ideas ſuggeſted in the text in a ſhort compaſs, and one connected view, and impreſs them the more ſtrongly upon the mind, I ſubjoin the paraphraſe of Dr. Doddridge. "And one of the malefactors alſo, who hung on the croſs with him, regardleſs of that innocence and dignity which Jeſus manifeſted under all his ſufferings, and unaffected with a ſenſe of his own aggravated guilt, upbraided him with the ſame reproach, and ſcornfully blaſphemed him as an impoſtor, ſaying, if thou art the Meſſiah, why doſt thou not ſave thyſelf and us, who are now dying with thee? But the other awakened to a ſenſe of his ſin, and convinced in his heart that Jeſus was indeed the promiſed Meſſiah, anſwered his companion, and rebuked him, ſaying, doſt thou not fear God, even now when thou thyſelf art in the ſame condemnation? In ſuch an awful circumſtance as this doſt thou dare to increaſe thy crimes with thy dying breath, and to behave thyſelf ſo inſolently in the immediate view of God's righteous tribunal? And we indeed are juſtly thus condemned; for we receive no more than what is due for the notorious crimes we have committed: but this man has done nothing by any means amiſs, nor is there the leaſt inſolence, or abſurdity in that high claim which he has made, though appearances be for the preſent ſo much againſt it. And having thus rebuked his companion, and teſtified his full perſuaſion of the innocence of Jeſus, he then directed his diſcourſe to him, and ſaid to Jeſus, looking upon him with the humbleſt and the moſt contrite regard. Lord, though this wretch derides thy miſſion, I firmly believe it; and I beg, that though wouldſt graciouſly remember me, when thou comeſt into that thy kingdom, to which I doubt not but God will raiſe thee in ſpite of death and hell. And Jeſus turning towards him, ſaid to him with a mixture of the greateſt dignity and mercy, Verily I ſay unto thee, and ſolemnly aſſure thee of it as a moſt certain truth, that this very day thou ſhalt be with me in Paradiſe, ſharing the entertainments of that garden of God, the abode of happy ſpirits when ſeparate from the body; and there ſhall thy departing ſoul, as ſoon as thou haſt breathed thy laſt, immediately begin to reap the fruits of that faith, which breaks through ſo dark a cloud, and honours me, in the midſt of this infamy and diſtreſs."

A man, a fellow mortal, an acquaintance, a relation, who hath by his crimes forfeited his life, and by the laws of God and man, muſt have his life taken from him, and die a violent death by the ſword of civil juſtice, affords a very awful ſpectacle; a ſpectacle, heart affecting, and affecting in proportion as we have feeling hearts, and are connected by any ſpecial ties of friendſhip or kindred with the ſuffering criminal. Yet ſuch an one, (neither murderers, nor any other the vileſt ſinners of mankind are excluded) may have recourſe to the mercies of God through Jeſus Chriſt, and by faith and repentance obtain forgiveneſs and acceptance with God, and on the day of his execution upon earth, be tranſlated from an ignominious death to be with Chriſt in Paradiſe: while the leaſt ſin, however unknown and irreprehenſible by men, unrepented of, and unforgiven, will ſink the impenitent and unbelieving into everlaſting darkneſs and deſpair. Alarming thought! Let formaliſts and hypocrites, whoſe chief concern is to make a fair ſhew in the fleſh, and appear well in the eyes of their fellow men, hear, fear and tremble; repent and believe and obey the goſpel, leſt while a penitent malefactor, expiring on a croſs or a gallows, is immediately received to be with his bleſſed Redeemer, they themſelves, though they die a natural death, and have a burial honorable in the ſight of men, lift up their eyes in torments, and can only ſee ſuch penitent redeemed ones afar off in manſions of bliſs, but muſt forever deſpair of joining them there. How? where? in what horror and debaſement muſt ſuch hypocritical ſinners appear, who are ſo fitly compared by our Lord, "to whited ſepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead mens' bones, and of all uncleanneſs." So they appear outwardly righteous in the ſight of men, but their hearts are full of all manner of iniquity and wickedneſs. "For (ſays our Saviour, ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them, are not aware of them." Not any kinds or degrees of ſin and guilt, ſinners of no ſort, nation, or character are excluded from mercy, except they exclude themſelves by an obſtinate refuſal of mercy, and by wilful, malignant perſeverance in impenitence and unbelief. The great God proclaims his name, Exod. 34.5, &c. "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long ſuffering, and abundant in goodneſs and truth, forgiving iniquity▪ tranſgreſſion and ſin;" and that will by no means clear the guilty, i. e. obſtinate offenders who will not be reclaimed.

Thomas Starr, to you my diſcourſe is directed, to you applied, and on your attention and improvement, your all depends. You have had, to my perſonal knowledge, a fair, a candid trial before man; you have had the aſſiſtance of moſt able counſellors and advocates, who in managing your cauſe appeared to adduce every argument and motive that might poſſibly operate in your favour.

Your caſe was ſuch as by the laws of God, as well as thoſe of your country, could not be otherwiſe juſtly decided by an earthly tribunal. Though the merciful God and Father of us all can and will pardon murder, as well as other ſins, with reſpect to the penitent and believing, yet he hath reſtricted human judicatories, and given us ſpecial direction, that whoſoever ſheddeth man's blood, by man ſhall his blood be ſhed. But as the Heavens are high above the Earth, ſo, ſaith the bleſſed God, are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. You are indeed in a great ſtrait, but in the article of death, and of mortal execution, bleſs God, that though you are falling under, yet, you will no longer fall into, the hands of men, but fall into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great. Serious, inexpreſſible ſerious, are your preſent circumſtances; your laſt hour, your laſt moment is this day haſtening upon you. You are condemned, and to be cut off from the land of the living. You are going from a temporal to an eternal ſentence, from a human to a divine tribunal, from the execution of a ſentence which reſpects only your body and mortal life, to ſtand before the judgment ſeat of Chriſt, and receive a ſentence from him for ſoul and body to all eternity. And what awful attention do the words of the bleſſed. Saviour to his diſciples in the days of his fleſh demand from you in your preſent condition? Luke 12.4, 5. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye ſhall fear: fear him which, after he hath killed, hath power to caſt into hell; yea, I ſay unto you, fear him."

You are juſtly under a ſentence of condemnation: The execution of it muſt fall upon you. No way of eſcape remains for you. The plain and awful words of holy ſcripture, ſhut you up in abſolute deſpair, with reſpect to the leaſt ray of hope to prolong your life to another day. You will never ſee the light of another ſun. "A man that doeth violence to the blood of any perſon, ſhall flee to the pit, let no man ſtay him." You have not only done violence to the blood of a fellow mortal—you have ſhed kindred blood. You have wounded the feelings of your deareſt friends, in the tendereſt manner. You will be ſoon in the place of execution, and ſuffer the puniſhment you juſtly deſerve from the laws of your country. A juſt and proper ſenſe of your ſin, deep repentance, faith in Jeſus Chriſt, in ſhort, a temper like that of the dying penitent in my text, you muſt now have, as you would wiſh for pardon and acceptance with God. You have the ſame bleſſed, almighty, moſt merciful Saviour, to look to, that he had. A new heart, and a new ſpirit you want; May the God of mercy give it to you. Pray, pray for it, while life, and any moment of life, before you are launched into eternity, ſhall remain to you: let your whole ſoul, in all the ardency of importunity, be going forth to Jeſus, the Saviour, in language like that in the text, "Lord, remember me in thy kingdom." And know, that though Jeſus is abſent now, in bodily preſence from you, yet from his exalted throne his eyes are upon you, and in his divine ſpirit he is preſent with you, and if you have but the temper, and make the petition of the dying penitent who was executed with his crucified Saviour, a like anſwer will be applied to you, as the Saviour made to him, and verily, this day ſhalt thou be with him in Paradiſe. Every humane ſpectator is tenderly moved, the hearts of your friends are bleeding for you. Can yours be leſs affected for yourſelf? The officers of juſtice ſurround you—the fatal machine from which you are to be launched into eternity is erected—the awful apparatus of the death before you made ready— your coffin is built—your grave is dug, it is open, and is waiting for your mortel remains to ſwallow them up. "Then ſhall the duſt return to the earth as it was; and the ſpirit ſhall return unto God who gave it." Not as the funerals of other mortals are attended when dead and gone, and the laſt reſpects paid them at their graves by a ſolemn mourning train,—the concourſe collected, on the awful occaſion, the multitude that follow you, follow and lament and bewail you living, and follow you, but to ſee your certain death and burial together, cut off in the midſt of your days by the ſword of juſtice, and ſent to your long home—to your final doom. Our ſouls plead for mercy, mercy to be granted to you, that your ſoul with ours may be bound up in the bundle of life, and ſaved in the day of the Lord. Your concerns with this world are at an end: but you have infinitely more important concerns in Eternity into which you are entering. The blood of Jeſus Chriſt cleanſes from all ſin, the blood of Jeſus ſpeaks better things than the blood of Abel, it calls, not for vengeance, but for mercy. He prayed for his murderers on his croſs, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do:" Oh! how precious is that blood! how prevalent his interceſſion! how infinitely valuable to you. He is an advocate that never pleadeth in vain: for him the Father heareth always. He has arguments to plead, merits of his own to produce for ſinners, blood infinitely more precious than the blood of ſinful mortals, which they ſhed in murdering one another, and by which he waſhes us from our ſins,—Such arguments, ſuch merits, ſuch precious blood he preſents in the court of Heaven, where he appears in the preſence of God for us as a Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world.: "He that ſpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how ſhall he not with him alſo freely give us all things? Who ſhall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that juſtifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Chriſt that died: yea, rather, that is riſen again, who is even at the right-hand of God, who alſo maketh interceſſion for us."—Fall down before him, acknowledge the juſtice of your ſentence, and of the puniſhment you are now to ſuffer from men, and the far more dreadful ſentence you deſerve from him; meekly ſubmit yourſelf to him, adore and truſt in his love and mercy, and may you be made an eternal trophy of the victories of his croſs, and be removed from the ignominy of a ſhameful death, to the enjoyment of a crown of everlaſting life with him in Paradiſe.

My Brethren and Hearers,

Late repeated inſtances of murder, in one part of the land, and another, are matter of humiliation to us as a people, and ſhould excite in us all an awful concern, and the moſt fervent prayer, that God, the God of our ſalvation would deliver us, and our land from blood-guiltineſs. And may all hear, and fear, and take warning from this example, that none may do ſo wickedly: and let this ſolemn thought ſink deep into every heart, that though the greateſt of criminals, who muſt be cut off from the land of the living by the ſword of civil juſtice, may by faith and repentance obtain forgiveneſs of God, and a ſeat in Paradiſe; every impenitent, unconverted ſinner, however unexceptionable or even commendable in the ſight of man, or honored and dignified in human life, muſt be condemned at the bar of the great ſupreme Judge. "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your ſins may be blotted out when the times of refreſhing ſhall come from the preſence of the Lord, and he ſhall ſend Jeſus Chriſt, who before was preached unto you, whom the heavens muſt receive until the times of reſtitution of all things, when he ſhall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that knew not God, and obey not the goſpel of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, who ſhall be puniſhed with everlaſting deſtruction, from the preſence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he ſhall come to be admired in his ſaints, and glorified in all them that believe."

Human judicatories, and the judgments and executions dependent upon them, may be erroneous; the righteous and innocent may be condemned and ſuffer irreparably by them, while the moſt vile tranſgreſſors and bold offenders are ſpared; and their power extends no farther than this life, and the time we are in the body. When they have killed the body they have no more that they can do. But there is ONE who is able to deſtroy both ſoul and body in bell forever; before HIM we muſt all ſhortly appear. "We muſt all ſtand before the judgment ſeat of Chriſt." How ſoon, and how ſuddenly the time will come we know not, but we are aſſured that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Was the time fixed to a day and an hour to our knowledge, as the execution before us this day is fixed, and did we know this was the day, and the hour appointed, ſuch a particular hour of this very day, when we ſhould be ſummoned away to death and judgment, how ſhould we be affected? But the very day and hour "is appointed unto all," though unknown to us, and is every moment drawing nearer and nearer. How ought we then to be affected, and watch and pray for we know not when the time is? far the day and hour will ſoon be as near to us, as this day, and any hour of the day—it will be upon us, and none can eſcape the •• erring deciſions and perfect retributions of the final Judge, and the execution of his ſentence, of which there can be no reverſion, and from which there •• es no appeal. The Lord grant that we may all find mercy of the Lord in that day▪ Amen.

THOMAS STARR was born in Middletown, April 23, 1753. His parents and family, and their connections were reputable. His youthful genius was promiſing. His improvements under the common advantages of ſchooling were uncommon. He manifeſted a taſte for books. In writing and penmanſhip he excelled. In muſic and pſalmody be made laudable proficiency, and was an approved leader in that part of public worſhip in the place where the Providence of God caſt his reſidence in early manhood. His manners and deportment were conciliating, and attracted the favourable notice of his acquaintance, whether of elder or younger, or of equal age with himſelf. Thus promiſing was the young man, when an unhappy ſtep CHANGED ALL THE COLOUR OF HIS FATE. Connected with a worthy family, and contracted in matrimonial engagements with an amiable and only daughter of it, by ungentlemanly and capricious conduct he loſt that affection of which he thought himſelf, in his vain confidence, too ſure, and met with a 〈…〉 •• om which his after miſconduct and wretchedneſs takes its firſt date. Conſcious, no doubt, of his ill behaviour to the friend of his choice, and feeling the ſtrong operation of that affection his heart bore her, and which before he knew not how properly to eſtimate—ſtung with ſhame and remorſe—from being ſociable and converſible with his friends, he ſhunned ſociety, eſpecially that ſociety which was once his choice and his honor, ſunk by degrees into the various ſtages of intemperance and debauchery; and choſe for his companions ſuch as were addicted to the ſame indulgencies, and with them in gloomy retirement, and with a manifeſt averſion to the company of the virtuous and reputable, and eſpecially of thoſe of the fairer ſex, he ſpent moſt of his ſocial hours, and particularly the Holy Sabbath, and Saturday and Sabbath Evenings. This abandonment of moral virtuous character paved the way, and was very conſpicuous immediately previous to his doing, in a moſt tragical manner, violence to innocent and kindred blood, for which awful Crime, by the Laws of God and his Country, he ſuffered a violent and untimely Death.