A sixth lesson to be learned from this history, is the _happy effects produced by the possession of true religion_. In the case of Jolin, how speedily did it tranquillize and cheer his mind. It was like the word of its holy author, when he said, “Peace, be still, and there was a great calm.” Those who visited the chamber of death, where he dwelt, could not but feel a degree of surprise at their own feelings, when they remembered that they were with one who had been a drunkard and a murderer. But religion had softened his character, and created in him those genuine fruits which, as we are taught, spring from the work of the Holy Spirit. “The wilderness had become like Eden, and the desert like the garden of the Lord. Instead of the thorn had come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar had come up the myrtle-tree; to be for a name, and for an everlasting sign that should not be cut off.” Lastly, there _is a lesson of application to our own souls_. It may be asked, What is the intimate acquaintance which we have had with the experience which this poor dying criminal passed through? He, being dead, may speak to many of his own age, who have, perhaps, had far greater advantages of education and example; or he may speak to those who have seen more years, and yet have not attained to that ripeness of faith, and that full assurance of hope, which made Jolin climb with such eagerness the gallows hill, and long for the time when he should be with Christ. This history applies most emphatically to the case of _young men_; teaching them to avoid sin, even when it may have the sanction of parental example. The Bible, they must remember, and not men, especially ungodly men, should be their direction. By this law we shall all be judged, and must stand or fall. In Jolin’s last address, he said, “Avoid bad company, drinking spirits, vicious habits.” “I exhort young people not to violate the Sabbath, but to frequent church, and attend to their religious duties. Would that this tremendous example of punishment might lead every young person who hears it to inquire into his own state, and to remember how soon one act of sin may bring judgment upon him; and how tremendous will be his judgment, if, after this warning, he is found unprepared.”