his children. Yet his grace must be tried; "The Lord trieth the righteous." If we knew nothing of the light of his countenance being withdrawn, leaving us to mourn his absence, we should never need him as a comforter. What love! so amazing, so great, so unparalleled. Well may it be said, “Many waters cannot quench love;” “Having loved his own that are in the world, he loveth them to the end." Not all our departures and rebellions can cause him to alter his purpose towards his chosen, nor all the fires of persecution, nor hell itself. This love is (like its divine Author) eternal. But though saved from the consequences of sin, we are not at liberty to sin. "God forbid that we who are dead to sin should live any longer therein." May the Lord bless us with a tender conscience, that we may fear him and daily show forth his praise in all we do and say. May we, and all the elect of God, experience his leading us to enjoy more and more of the streams of that river which makes glad the city of God, and the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths of the love of God, that passeth knowledge fully to comprehend.

I did think that the Lord would have appeared before this, in the manifestation of his love to your soul, enabling you to read your interest in his atoning blood and electing love by precious faith, to see your call to the ministry, and for a little to go on your way rejoicing; but he is faithful who hath promised. He hides the purpose of his grace to make it "better known." He will fulfil his promise; "I will lead the blind by a way they know not." His footsteps are in the great deep, and his goings are unknown to carnal reason; but

"God is his own interpreter;

And he will make it plain."

May the Lord come with you to B. Many of our people desire again to hear you. May the Lord instruct, support, and richly lade you with gospel food and the fulness of Christ's power in blessing, that we may experience a great watering-time and overflowing of the influences of his Spirit upon the church, so that he that sows and they that reap may rejoice together, "in that the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." May he enable you, by his wisdom, strength, and power, to feed the sheep and lambs of his flock with the milk and strong meat of the kingdom. The Lord bless you and keep you on your way, make your face brass and your shoulder adamant, your shoes iron and brass, and lead you to see the Almighty bringing you out between the mountains of brass spoken of by the prophet. May you be a vessel laden with precious wares and rich treasures for the people. The Lord preserve you from the fear or applause of men, and the pride of your own heart, make you teachable and submissive, direct, instruct, and guard you through the dreary, waste, howling wilderness, until you reach the paradise above, beyond the reach of care and pain. Such is the prayer of your unworthy brother in the path of tribulation,

Blackburn, Nov. 4, 1838.

J. F.

Highly favoured, and greatly beloved in Christ,-Grace, mercy, and peace to you and yours.-1 can scarcely find words to express what I have felt since I read your epistle to me respecting what the Lord has been pleased to show you by those sweet and secret manifestations with which but few, even of his own children, are favoured. Surely, Mrs. T., the Lord has now convinced you that salvation, with all its delightful pleasures and powerful realities, is the free and unmixed gift of his

own sovereign will. Surely you must say, "By the grace of God, I am what I am;" and that "he will have mercy on whom he will." But, let us adore his loving-kindness by reflecting upon the past for a few moments. Call to remembrance the darkness and anxiety of your mind previous to hearing the word of truth. Reflect how you ran hither and thither, seeking rest and finding none. Call to remembrance also the enmity which arose in your heart when you did hear his voice; how you struggled to disentangle yourself from the hook with which the Saviour caught you. Did you not say that I had thrown you off from your foundation? Did you not declare that you would never come to hear me again? Did you not conclude that I was but a false prophet, and that all my preaching was lies? and would you not have forsaken it all, if you could? Ah, my sister in the covenant of grace, and in the bonds of gospel, my Lord who sent me with a message for YOU, would not suffer that message to be spoken in vain. He says, "My word shall not return unto me void;" he says, "All that the Father hath given me shall come;" he says, "I have loved thee, and with loving-kindness drawn thee." Yes, everlasting praises to our adorable Redeemer, "he makes his own sheep willing in the day of his power." Pause, then, my sister, and remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee. And further; even after he had convinced you of truth, did you not contend and say that you did not think it possible for any one feelingly to say, "My Lord, and MY God?" But now, in your own experience, the Lord has justified his promise where he says, "They shall call on me, and they shall say, 'The Lord is MY God,' and I will say, 'They are my people.' It well becometh you, then, to raise an Ebenezer of gratitude and thankfulness for all that he hath shown you. The anointing which you have received abideth in you; and you have an unction from the Holy One. The exhortation of Paul is applicable to you; "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again." As long as the Bridegroom is with you, you will not fast; but the day may come when the Bridegroom may withdraw, and then for a season you will fust. But now, my sister, reflect, for a moment, and see how exactly the Scriptures have been fulfilled in you; "He that goeth forth weeping shall come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." You have gone forth weeping, desiring, seeking; the eye of Christ was over every step; the Spirit of Christ created every desire; and now you have come home to him, even to his banqueting house. His banner over you is love.

I can now understand how it was that I was so powerfully constrained to come to S-last Thursday night; and now I fully believe that the Spirit of Christ gave me that word to speak; for you were a living witness to the truth that though the vision may tarry, yet it shall come. God shall not lie. O glory to his loving name!

C. W. B.

THE DAY OF ESPOUSALS.

Dear Messrs. Editors,-Those of your readers who are experimentally convinced that signs and wonders are not ceased in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion, will, I think, be pleased with the following extracts from two letters I lately received from a sister of mine in the flesh, who has for some years, I believe, been seeking the Lord, if haply she might feel after him

N

and find him, but who, until now, had no personal knowledge of him as her Redeemer. I honestly confess that had she written in Greek or Hebrew, I could not have been more astonished; and as her simple statement did my soul good, and the savour of it abode with me several days, I trust a blessing may rest upon it, and that it may prove an encouragement to every travailing soul that has come to the birth, and has not strength to bring forth.

Stamford, November 7th, 1839.

J. C. P.

"For the last two days it has been in my mind to write to you. I then thought I would not, but I have got up this morning with a strong desire to do so. "I have always felt unwilling to make any profession of religion, or to confess the desire I had for eternal life; but as it has pleased Jesus in his great mercy to reveal himself to my soul in a singular, but in his own way, I cannot help testifying that I have escaped from the bondage of Egypt, and have been sweetly brought into the land of promise. Men may sneer, and devils rage, but this I know from his own clear manifestation, that I am his, and he is mine. Even you may doubt; but the way has been so truly his own, that I must relate it. For some years I have been at times anxious about the state of my soul. Sometimes I fancied I was a child of God, and at times circumstances occurred to incline me to believe it. Then months passed in a lifeless, dead manner, even without the form of prayer, for I felt I mocked God, and that it was only lipservice. Our dear sister's dangerous illness, in the summer of last year, brought me in humbleness of spirit to the foot of the cross; and my nights of watching by her were spent in tears and prayers for her recovery. I laid before the Lord his mercy to Hezekiah, and to the Shunammite. The dry bones in Ezekiel also rested on my mind. Her surprising recovery gave me a little assurance that my prayer, and turning my face to the wall like Hezekiah had been answered. Since then my mind has gone through various changes; sometimes hoping, and at other times thinking I was too corrupt to be saved. If I went to church, the singing and chanting, and the mockery of the responses smote me, and my conscience whispered, ought you to be here? I gained no spiritual benefit from any of the doctrinal ministers in, or out of the Establishment that I heard; nothing that stayed by me. I heard Mr. I.* once, but had been prejudiced against him by a misrepresentation of his doctrines, and returned equally prejudiced. I still shrunk from dissent; my long illness made no impression, and when I got pretty well I went (still ashamed) to Mr. I.'s chapel, because Dwas too far for me in my weak state to reach. Circumstances occurred about this time which led me much to prayer and searching the Scriptures; and my conscience becoming more tender, I was obliged to make a stand upon a point which was most painful to the flesh, and on which, though Satan much harassed me, I was enabled to maintain my ground. On Monday morning I did pray and I did petition the Lord that he would in mercy give me an answer to what I desired; that he would show me I was in the way to heaven, and would give me some proof that I was a child of his. It was what I had often asked for, but had never been plainly answered. I begged that he would show me that he had thoughts of good towards me during that evening service. To chapel I went. The hymns, the prayer, the portion of Scripture read, gave me no promise that my prayer had reached the throne of grace. The sermon was nearly ended when suddenly Mr. I. changed the subject, and read Isaiah lix. My soul caught hold of the 10th verse; the veil dropped from my eyes. I saw Jesus ready to receive me, and all my sins were washed away in his blood. I had found and entered the gate after long groping for the wall. The concluding prayer satisfied my soul that my prayer was answered, and I rejoiced exceedingly in heart. I came home, went to my room, and on my knees could say, "My Saviour, and my Lord," without a fear, or a doubt. All this time my heart is filled with Jesus' love, and rejoicing in the Spirit. Every part of scripture that I open, and every hymn that I turn to, suits my mind. I am so certain that I have been removed from darkness into light, that no human power can take it from me.

O pray for me, that the Lord may shine more brightly and gloriously into my soul, that I may stand steadfast in his faith through his upholding me, and that he will keep me from the temptation of an evil world, and my own inward corruption. I know that I cannot long continue in these joyful feelings. I never was so happy, nor so satisfied that Jesus alone could have drawn the cords of love so sweetly and so closely around me. I know shortly I must expect coldness, the wiles of Satan, and my own corrupt heart to go hand in hand against me, but the manifestation has been drunk in so fully that I can never forget that, once chosen always a child. And if the apostle's warfare was so great what must not I expect? But with the Lord's help I will wrestle and wrestle, and will not let him go. I can say no more now, my heart is too full. Pray to the throne of grace that this sudden and joyful change may not be too much for my mind. I feel as if some wonderful thing had taken place, which almost incapacitates me from thinking at all. Let the issue be what it may, I know that I am safe. I can only weep and rejoice. I am too happy to talk much, and my body has suffered under it.

"PS. Mr. I. has since told me that for several days previous he had been much drawn out on my behalf, pleading and praying that the Lord would bless the word to my soul. The issue has proved that it was true prayer.

"Stoke, Oct. 10th, 1839."

"F. M. P.

*G. J. of the Gospel Standard, January, 1839, p. 10; G. I. of April No., p. 78; and June No., p. 126.

Extract from a second Letter.

"For ten days after the Lord revealed himself in my soul, I was ill with a violent cold in my chest, and all that time my dear Saviour did not take his presence from me. How anxious was I to go to him, hoping that, as I had felt I had seen his face, I should not live, though such a blessing was almost too much to expect, much less ask. Blessed days and hours I spent, without any other prayer than that he would not take his presence from me. I wished for nothing but to be gone to him. I had no fear of death, the sting was gone; my sins were pardoned, and I a child of God, and a sister of Jesus for ever. I had bitter feelings coming down stairs again, but I know all is right, and I sincerely trust he will now never forsake me for whom he has done so much. Of course, much of that sweet communion with him has fled, still, I can call upon him comfortably, and feel a sweet desire to go to prayer to him. His word is very precious, and the simple truths are no longer as a sealed book. I can take his promises, particularly in Isaiah, to myself, and can still rejoice and sing his praises. I feel acutely that sin, inbred sin must be, and is hateful to God. I dare not sin in thought or act wilfully, and sincerely do I pray that I may have grace to resist all inward and outward temptation.

"I have since had a text powerfully applied to my soul, Prepare thou the way of the Lord,' and I have a sweet assurance that it is a harbinger of blessings for those so naturally dear to us. How humble should I feel that I have in mercy received the greatest of all blessings, which no outward nor inward circumstances can deprive me of. Blessed be the Lord for all his mercies. "God bless you, my dear brother, ah! in the strongest of all ties. "Your affectionate sister,"

"Oct. 25th, 1839."

"F. M. P.

THE LAW WORKETH WRATH.

Messrs. Editors,-In reply to your correspondent J. F., of Norwich, (July No., p. 160,) I shall make only a very few remarks; but one thing I must say, and that without alluding personally to J. F., that if no persons attempted to meddle with religion till religion meddled with them, and even then only vindicated that which, under the divine teachings of the Holy Ghost, their eyes had seen, and they had looked upon, and that which, under the life-giving

power of the same Spirit, their hands had handled of the word of life, there would not be so many errors in the world as there are. I am sure that every man who has had the law brought to his conscience by a divine power, has felt that "the law worketh wrath." (Rom. iv. 15.) It is one thing to talk about the law, and another thing to feel its solemn workings. A man who has felt a revelation of the just wrath of God in his conscience by the law, will never be offended at Berridge for composing the following lines:

"The law provokes men oft to ill,

And churlish hearts makes harder still."

Nor at Hart for saying,

"Law and terrors do but harden,

All the while they work alone."

When God reveals his wrath in the conscience by the law, the man feels horror, wrath, hardness, and rebellion, and the poor soul is then bordering on distraction, and can feelingly say with the psalmist, "While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted." (Ps. lxxxviii. 19.) Nor was Job a stranger to such feelings, for he said, "The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me." (Job vi. 4.) Paul also knew it well, as recorded in Rom. vii. 8, 9; "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." Sin took occasion by the commandment, (mind that,) and wrought in him all manner of concupiscence; and so it will in the characters to whom your correspondent alludes, if ever God reveal his wrath by the law in their conscience, and if that is never done, they will never be proper witnesses in this matter. They may appear to be very zealous of the law, and make great strides in a fleshly religion, and bring forth a deal of what they call fruit, and after all not take one step out of Rom. vii. 5; "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." Now if "the law worketh wrath," and if "sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worketh all manner of concupiscence," and if "the motions of sins, which were by the law, work in the members to bring forth fruit unto death," then Berridge tells truth; and sure I am that it is so, for God has said it, and I have powerfully felt it, and am, consequently, a witness that God is true; and I am fully persuaded that every heaven-born soul, who is brought into the liberty of the gospel of God's grace, has, in a greater or less degree, felt it too. We only know the real work and power of either law or gospel, as God reveals it in the conscience.

"True religion's more than notion,

Something must be known and felt."

It is one thing for men to go to the commandment, and be zealous both of God and the law, though in reality ignorant of both (Rom. x. 3); but it is quite another thing for the commandment to come to them. Paul had experienced both states, and could therefore speak to the point; and while he was satisfied with going to the commandment, never having felt its power in his conscience, all appeared to go on pretty well, and he could vainly vamp up his fleshly mind with the presumptuous idea that as "touching the righteousness which is in the law, he was blameless," (Phil. iii. 6,) and think himself alive, and lively too; yea, he could zealously move on in a variety of branches of fleshly religion; but how did it fare with him when the commandment came to him, and wrath was revealed in his conscience? Why, sin revived; not died; no, no; but revived, and Paul died, to his vain and presumptuous confidence in the flesh. (Rom. vii. 9.) Before the commandment came, he could strut about as brisk and as lively, and make his boast of the law as zealously as any dry doctrinal, dead professor in this day; but when the law revived sin, and worked wrath, down he in the end tumbled, dead and damned for anything he could do to help his own soul; and sure I am that it was so with myself. Not one particle of tenderness of conscience, meekness of mind, or love to a Three-One God, to his word, to his worship, or to his people, ever sprung up in my heart, by or from the law. No; that came from the free grace of God, as revealed in the gospel; and the least glimpse of