." The young woman blushed, and rose up to go away, but I desired
her to sit still; I told her she had a good work upon her hands, and I
hoped God would bless her in it.

We talked a little, and I did not perceive they had any book among them,
though I did not ask, but I put my hand in my pocket, and pulled out my
Bible. "Here," said I to Atkins, "I have brought you an assistant, that
perhaps you had not before." The man was so confounded, that he was not
able to speak for some time; but recovering himself, he takes it with
both hands, and turning to his wife, "Here, my dear," says he, "did not
I tell you our God, though he lives above, could hear what we said? Here
is the book I prayed for when you and I kneeled down under the bush; now
God has heard us, and sent it." When he had said thus, the man fell in
such transports of a passionate joy, that between the joy of having it,
and giving God thanks for it, the tears ran down his face like a child
that was crying.

The woman was surprised, and was like to have run into a mistake that
none of us were aware of; for she firmly believed God had sent the book
upon her husband's petition: it is true that providentially it was so,
and might be taken so in a consequent sense; but I believed it would
have been no difficult matter at that time to have persuaded the poor
woman to have believed that an express messenger came from Heaven on
purpose to bring that individual book; but it was too serious a matter
to suffer any delusion to take place: so I turned to the young woman,
and told her we did not desire to impose upon the convert in her first
and more ignorant understanding of things, and begged her to explain to
her that God may be very properly said to answer our petitions, when in
the course of his providence such things are in a particular manner
brought to pass as we petitioned for; but we do not expect returns from
Heaven in a miraculous and particular manner; and that it is our mercy
it is not so.

This the young woman did afterwards effectually; so that there was, I
assure you, no priestcraft used here; and I should have thought it one
of the most unjustifiable frauds in the world to have had it so: but the
surprise of joy upon Will Atkins is really not to be expressed; and
there we may be sure was no delusion. Sure no man was ever more thankful
in the world for any thing of its kind than he was for this Bible; and I
believe never any man was glad of a Bible from a b