Mr. P told me this morning, that it is supposed Jersey is taken. Thus the cloud grows darker. The flames of war are still speading wider, and difficulties seem increasing on every side. The Lord's hand is lifted up; men will not see : thus far the prophecy is fulfilled. I tremble at what may further concern us in the following clause, "But they shall see !" If he undertakes to make this insensible nation know that he is the Lord, he will certainly accomplish his purpose. What it may cost us before we learn the lesson, who can say ? but he will be mindful of those that fear him. That word, "It shall be well with the righteous," cannot be broken. Hitherto the nation is in a deep sleep and professors, I am afraid, are sadly slumbering. I can hardly find any where around me (alas! that I cannot find in myself), a spirit of humiliation and prayer, in any degree answerable to the state of the times. Oh that the Lord would graciously revive us! We have, indeed, abundance of preaching and abundance of hearers; there are, doubtless, many individuals alive and in earnest, but the bulk of those who avow an attachment to the Gospel, are too little affected either for themselves or others.

Mrs. is pretty well, she has had but little complaint since P has been ill, who likewise is now getting better. The child scalded her foot on new-year's day, through mercy but slightly: it was a gentle memorial to us how entirely dependent we are on his protection for safety in our smoothest hours. We are frail and feeble creatures, it is not needful to raise a hurricane to destroy us; were he only to withdraw his arm for a moment, some unthought of evil would presently overwhelm us. It did not prevent her hearing my sermon to young people that night, but she has been confined to the house since.

My

health continues firm, and I am enabled to preach with apparent liberty, with what effect God only knows, but I am sometimes afraid there is more sound than power. I am well attended, and encouraged to hope that I do not labour wholly in vain.

May the grace of our good Shepherd be with us all. Let us praise him for what is past, and cheerfully trust him for what is to come. He knows where and what we are, and numbers the very hairs of our heads.

I am, most affectionately,

your much obliged, &c.

LETTER IV.

MY DEAR MISS M,

March 13, 1781.

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IF wishes and purposes were always effectual, should not have been so long three letters in debt to you house: I would answer all if I could, but perhaps it will take the leisure of two or three mornings to answer one, and the first must be to you, because it is so seldom I have one from you to answer.

I saw Mr. yesterday, he informed me of Mr. 's death! though I knew him not, I felt it as an event in which my dear Mr. B is concerned; and indeed the suddenness of it struck me. The uncertainty of life has been a theme for declamation in all ages, but by how few is it practically laid to heart! Happy they who know whom they have believed, and are waiting with desire his recall home to himself, that they may see him as he is! I am bound to pray that this bereaving stroke may be sanctified to his family. But Mr. told me something that af

fected me still more nearly. He says that Mrs. B— has been worse this fortnight past. I believe I am foolish and inconsistent, but I cannot help it. When the Lord has taken her to himself, I hope I shall say," Thy will be done." I hope I shall follow her with my thoughts, and feel soine satisfaction in think. ing-Now she is out of the reach of pain and sorrow for ever; now she sees her Saviour's face without a veil, and sings his praise without the interruption of a single sigh; now she is a pillar of the heavenly tem ple, and shall go no more out. But at present, and while she is continued with us, I feel an anxiety and a desire, which I fear are wrong; I feel unwilling to lose such a friend; and I am sure I feel for those who are more nearly interested in her than myself.

Tell her, dear Miss M. that Mrs. N. and I are not willing to think any but her own children can exceed us in love and sympathy; that we shall be thinking of her, speaking of her, and (I hope) praying for her daily, and for you all. Well, let the flesh say what it will, we know that all is well. We cannot

love her so well as He that bought her with his blood. And, ah! how faint is our tenderness compared with his. He will not let his children feel one pain too many, or too sharp. He will enable them to glorify him even in the fire, and he will soon wipe away every

tear.

I am glad to find that the Lord leads you farther and deeper into the mysteries of his salvation. As a theory it may be expressed in a few words, but to live a life of faith on the Son of God as our wisdom, righteousness, and strength, considered as a matter of experience, is what we usually attain to by slow degrees, and at best but imperfectly. We are always capable of further advances, and are frequently obliged to learn over again that which we thought we had Vol. II.

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learned already. My sentiments on this point seem tolerably clear, but in practice I fall sadly short, and feel that the principles of self and unbelief, are still deeply rooted in me. However, I trust I am in the school of the great Teacher, and I humbly hope he will carry on the work he has begun. What I want, what I pray for, is a simple dependent spirit, to be willing to put myself entirely into his hands, to follow him without asking questions, to believe him without making objections, and to receive and expect every thing in his own time, and in his way. This is the course we take when we consult an earthly physician; we consult him, but we do not pretend to direct him. Thus would I give myself up to my heavenly infallible Physician; but this is one branch of the good which when I would do, I find evil is present with me. But it is likewise one part of the sickness I groan under, and which He has in mercy undertaken to cure; and therefore, though I am very sick indeed, I trust I shall not die, but live and declare his wonderful works.

I long aimed to be something. I now wish I was more heartily willing to be nothing. A cipher, a round O is by itself a thing of no value, and a million of them set in a row amount to no more than a single one; but place a significant figure before the row, and you may soon express a larger number than you can well conceive. Thus my wisdom is 0, my righteousness is O, my strength is 0. But put the wisdom, power, and grace of Jesus before them, let me be united to him, let his power rest upon my weakness, and be magnified in it, in this way I shall be something. Not in and of myself, but in and from Him. Thus the apostle speaks of being filled with all the fulness of God. What an amazing expression! Thus, so far as we die to self, Christ liveth in us. He is the light by which we see; He is the life by which

we live; He is the strength by which we walk, and by his immediate virtue and influence, all our works and fruits are produced. We have no sufficiency in ourselves, but we have all sufficiency in Him, and at one and the same time we feel a conviction that we can do nothing, and ability to do all things that fall within the line of our calling. When I am weak, then I am strong. I am, dear Miss M

Your very affectionate and obliged servant.

LETTER V.

April 12, 1781.

MY DEAR MISS M

ACCEPT my sincere, though rather tardy thanks for your favour of the 11th February; I beg you likewise to accept my assurance, that if leisure and opportunity were with me in any proportion to my inclination, your letters would be very speedily answered.

I knew you would be a favourable reader of Cardiphonia. Your kind partiality to the writer would dispose you to put the best construction on what you read; and your attachment to the design and principal subject of the letters, would make them welcome to you. We can put up with smaller faults when a person is disposed to praise them whom we dearly love. I trust my pen is chiefly devoted to the praise of Jesus your beloved, and so far as I succeed, I am sure what I write will be acceptable to you. How can I but wish to praise him, when he has snatched me as a brand from the burning and quench,