work thy mind into; that, in the issue of all, thou mayest reap the quiet fruits of righteousness and heavenly peace from his hand.Amen, so be it from the Lord to thy soul,

DEAR FRIEND,

As I was lately retired in spirit and waiting upon the Lord, having a sense on me of thy long, sore, and deep, affliction and distress, there arose a scripture in my heart to lay before thee, namely, Hebrews xii. 5, 6, 7, which I entreat thee to call for a Bible, and hear read, before thou proceed to what follows.

O, my friend, after it hath pleased the Lord in tender mercy to visit us, and turn our minds from the world and ourselves towards him, and to beget and nourish that which is pure and living of himself in us; yet, notwithstanding this, there remains somewhat at first (yea and perhaps for a long time) which is to be searched out by the light of the Lord, and brought down and subdued by his afflicting hand. When there is indeed somewhat of an holy will formed in the day of God's power; and the soul, in some measure, begotten and brought forth to live to God in and out of the womb of the heavenly wisdom; yet all the earthly will and wisdom is not thereby presently removed, but there are hidden things of the old nature and spirit still remaining; which, perhaps, appear not, but sink inward into their root, that they may save their lives;

which man cannot possibly find out in his own heart, but as the Lord reveals them to him. But how doth the Lord find them out? O consider his fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. By his casting into the furnace of affliction, the fire searcheth the deep, sore, distressing, affliction, which rends and tears the very inwards, finds out both the seed and the chaff, purifying the pure gold from the dross; and there, at length, the quiet state is witnessed, and the quiet fruit of righteousness brought forth by the searching and consuming nature and operation of the fire. O, that thy soul may be tried unto victory, over all that is not of the pure life in thee; and that thou mayest wait to feel the pure seed, or measure of life, in thee, and die into the seed, feeling death unto all that is not of the seed in thee; and that thou mayest feel life, healing refreshment, support, and comfort from the God of thy life, in the seed; and no where else, nor at any time, but as the Lord pleaseth to administer it to thee there. O, the Lord guide thee daily, and keep thy mind to him; at least looking towards the holy place of the springing of his life and power in thy heart. Look unto him. Help, pity, salvation, will arise in his due time; but it will not arise from any thing thou canst do or think; and faith will spring and patience be given, and hope in the tender Father of mercies, and a meek and quiet spirit will be witnessed; and the Lamb's nature springing up and opening in thee, from his precious seed, which will excel in nature, kind, degree, and virtue, all

the faith, patience, hope, meekness, &c. which thou or any else otherwise can attain unto. O, look not at thy pain or sorrow, how great soever; but look from them, look off them, look beyond them to the Deliverer; whose power is over them, and whose loving, wise, and tender spirit is able to do thee good by them. And if the outward afflictions work out an exceeding weight of glory; O! what shall the inward do for those who are humbly, brokenly, and faithfully, exercised before the Lord by them. O, wait to feel the seed, and the cry of thy soul (in the breathing springing life of the seed) to its Father, with its sweet subjection to him. And wait for the risings of the power in thy heart, in the Father's seasons, and faith in the power, that thou mayest feel inward healing of all the inward wounds which the Lord makes in thy soul, through his love to thee for thy good.

If thou wilt receive the kingdom that cannot be shaken, thou must wait to have that discovered in thee which may be shaken; and the Lord arising terribly to shake the earth, and it removed out of its place as a cottage, and the heavens also rolled up like a scroll. And while the Lord is doing this, he will be hiding thee in the hollow of his hand (thy mind still retiring to the seed,) and will, in these troublesome and dismal times, inwardly be forming the new heavens and the new earth, wherein (when they are brought forth and established) dwells righteousness. And as sure as the Lord shakes and removes the old, so surely will he bring forth and es

tablish the new. And when the old will, and the old wisdom and understanding, is removed (which if the Lord God were not strong and wise, he could never bring forth and effect in the heart,) the place of the dragons, the place of the wicked inwardly, shall be found no more; but Zion shall be known and witnessed inwardly, the place of God's dwelling and rest, and Jerusalem a quiet habitation for ever; and the precious law of life shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and the soul shall hear and live by it, with full delight and satisfaction, on God's holy mountain, on the top of all other mountains, and nothing shall be able to disturb or make afraid any more. The Lord lead thee, day by day, in the right way, towards the witnessing and obtaining this; and keep thy mind stayed upon him, in whatever befalls thee, that the belief of his love and hope in his mercy (when thou art at the lowest ebb) may keep up thy head above the billows, and thou mayest go on in the disciples state, learning righteousness and holiness of him, who teacheth to deny and put off unholiness and unrighteousness, and to know, embrace, and put on newness of life, and the holiness and righteousness thereof.

The Lord God of my life be with thee, preserving and ordering thy heart for the great day of his love and mercy; which will come in the appointed season, when the heart is fully exercised and fitted by the Lord for it, and will not tarry. I. P.

TO FRIENDS IN AND ABOUT THE TWO CHALE

FONTS.

[FROM HIS WORKS.]

DEAR FRIENDS,

YE have a deep place in my heart, and my cries are to the Lord for you, that ye may live to him, and find his life springing up and abounding in you. What is it to have a distinct name, or distinct meetings from the world, unless the power of the Lord be felt in your hearts, and his presence in your assemblies? Oh! that the Lord would awaken you! Oh! that the Lord would quicken you! Oh! that it would please the Lord to raise up a strict watch in you, against all drowsiness, and carelessness, and temptations, and snares of the enemy, that ye may travel on your journey, with your backs upon the world, and your faces towards Sion; never looking back to the fleshly nature, desires, or lusts, to entertain any thing of that any more, which ye have parted with in the demonstrations and leadings of life, but still pressing on further and further, till ye come to apprehend and be possessed of that for which ye have been apprehended by God, and drawn in some measure towards.

0 my friends! There is a path of life in which ye must travel, even to the very end of it, or the crown of life is not to be received! Oh! that ye might travel on! Oh! that nothing might stop you! Oh! that ye might every day wait for and feel the leader, and walk on