THE

GOSPEL TREASURY:

VOLUME THE FIRST.

CONTAINING A GREAT VARIETY OF

INTERESTING ANECDOTES, REMARKABLE PROVIDENCES,
AND PRECIOUS FRAGMENTS.

BY WILLIAM COLLIER, A. M.
PASTOR OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN CHARLESTOWN, MASS.

Gather up the Fragments. John vii. 12.

THIRD EDITION.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

BOSTON :

PRINTED BY NATHANIEL WILLIS,

No. 76, STATE-STREET.

1816.

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT.

BE it remembered, that on the twenty-sixth day of September, in the thirty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, William Collier, of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit:

"The Gospel Treasury: volume the first, containing a great variety of interesting anecdotes, remarkable providences, and precious fragments. Selected chiefly from the London Evangelical Magazine. By William Collier, A. M. Pastor of the Baptist Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Gather up the fragments. John vii. 12. Second edition. In four volumes."

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, intitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an act, intitled, " An act supplementary to an act, intitled, An act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." WM. S. SHAW,

Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

C69

V. I

THE DEDICATION.

X

THOU triune God! from whose rich stores of grace
All good proceeds, I now approach thy throne,
To lay myself, and this my weak attempt,
Beneath the smile of PATRONAGE SUPREME,
My eye keep single, and my aim direct;
That all my efforts in concurrence sweet,
May spread thy praise, and edify thy flock
In things divine. O let this select work
Stand up a faithful witness for thy truth;
Against the floods of error may it stand
A brazen bulwark, durable and firm.

FATHER OMNIPOTENT! Thy love doth sound
Along each line. Far as thy word reveals
Thy plans and counsels, I with joy have mark'd
The brilliant footsteps of eternal graee

Tow'rds guilty man. JESUS! Thy charming name,
Bright as the noonday sun, hath gilt each page.
The glories of thy bleeding love is now
My darling theme. Thy influence benign,
Thou sacred COMFORTER! shed on my heart.
Teach me t' indite the thunders of thy word
With sacred care; and point with steady hand,
The dread artillery of the flaming mount
Against the conscience of thy rebel foes.
When sinners, wounded by thy terrors, fall;
And rack'd with guilty pains, begin to lift
Towards thy mercy seat a tearful eye,
Or breathe a wish for peace; O for that balm,
So fam'd in sacred story for its power
To heal! O for the gracious words of pardon !
Free pardon promis'd through atoning blood,