been tempted. Thou hadst a taste of his cup; like him thou didst endure the contradiction of sinners; like him thou didst experience the desertion of friends, even thine old mistress whom thou lately didst esteem as a sister in Christ, and to whom thou didst look for fresh communications from and through that written word, which she could read and thou couldst not. Oh! how did she prove as a broken reed unto thee? how did she neglect thy necessity, and her own opportunity of bringing forth fruit in its season? Thou hast been no loser. The Lord has shoved aside the slothful servant, the unfaithful steward, who neglected to give thee thy meat in due season, and himself stept into her place; taken thee from that household which was not worthy of thee, and led thee to those mansions of bliss which himself purchased and prepared; set thee at that table which shall never be drawn, where thou shalt feast on all the fulness of God, and drink of those pleasures which are at his right hand for ever more. No need of old mistress now; no need of any earthly vessel now, nor of that written word which thou didst so highly prize. The word made flesh, has removed the veil that shaded the glory of the Godman from thine eyes; flesh and blood could not behold it; of this he has unclothed thee; left it with us to look upon and mourn our sin. Thee he has introduced into the full vision of eternal day, where thou knowest as thou art known, and seest as thou art seen. O that full communion enjoyed between a holy soul and the perfection of holiness! O that Light of Life! that Ocean of Love! that inconceivable blessedness! How hast thou out-run us, brother Pero? How distanced us in a moment? Oh could I not watch with thee one hour! Oh that I had received thy last bles

sing, instead of which, conscious offence, deserved rebuke, painful compunction, wring my heart; and perhaps the rod of correction, may be suspended, and now ready to fall on my guilty head.

Father! O my Father! Am I not still thy child? still thy adopted? O have not I an Advocate with thee, Jesus Christ, the righteous, whom thou hearest always? does not the blood of Christ cleanse from all sin? yes, 0 yes. This is my universal remedy; thousands and ten thousands of times have I experienced its efficacy. Father, I again apply; Blessed Spirit, do thine office! Wash me and I shall be clean, purge me and I shall be whiter than the snow. I confess my sin, I acknowledge mine iniquity. Thou didst bring to me an old disciple, near and dear to his and my Saviour; thou didst require me to minister unto him all that he needed: the honour was great, the opportunity valuable. Thou didst empty thy servant for a time, hid his comfort, that I might, through thy written word, draw living waters for him, and give him to drink. O the honour! Oh the negligence! Thou didst send the call for thy disciple to come up to thee; in thy providence thou didst make it first known to me, that I might be instrumental in conveying to him through the same channel, oil, and trimming for his lamp. Great was the honour! Dignified the service! But lost to me for ever. I passed by on the other side. Blessed, blessed Jesus! The good Samaritan, who poured the oil and wine into his wounds, and took him, not to an inn, but to those mansions in the skies, which he with his own blood purchased for him; sanctify, O sanctify to me this thy providence ; pardon my sinful part in it. Saviour, wash me in thy blood, and sanctify, and bring good out of even my

transgression. O, by thy grace, let it be a mean of stirring me up to more watchfulness, that I may meet the opportunities afforded me in thy providence, to occupy, till thou come.

September, 1802.

This day has the Lord our God answered all our prayers, and enriched us beyond the ordinary lot of humanity. D. and I. B. and J. are restored to their preserved places, and to the bosom of their family. We are as men who dream; our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with melody; the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. turned our captivity as streams in the south. tears, we have reaped in joy. Bless the Lord, O our souls, ever true and faithful is his word, They that go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.

Thou hast We sowed in

O Lord, from thee is our fruit found; may our sheaves be many and weighty, thou working all our works in us, to thine own glory and our blessedness. Amen.

December, 1802.

The lovely plant which the Lord had blasted, which brought down our hearts with grief, which he had restored and clothed with smiling health and comfort, again sickened, declined, wasted; every mean proved ineffectual; the Lord refused the healing virtue. He was brought to town to be near the physicians, but the physician of Israel aided them not. Disease increased; with pain, sickness, convulsion, much he suffered, and long; he had a taste of the Redeemer's cup, and

of the bitterness of sin, but no part of the curse, that the Redeemer drank and expended; and having by his atoning blood purged this little one from his sins, and perfected all his redeeming work in his soul, he received him into his own heavenly abodes. It is well, all well. Amen.

March, 1803.

I READ this day the xxxvi. chapter of Ezekiel, and pleaded God's promises from the 22d verse to the end, for myself, for my children, and seed after them; for the church of God throughout the world, in particular for this country, for Britain and Ireland, France and Germany, where his name was once known, and his Gospel flourished. That the Lord would build the waste places and repair the breaches; that he would purify the sons of Levi, fill all pulpits with able, faithful ministers of the New Testament, who shall declare the whole counsel of God; and that wherever his name is recorded, the Holy Ghost might fill the place, and convince the hearts of preachers and hearers, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; might take of the things of Christ and shew unto them; and that the great head of the church might regulate and overrule all these breaches, differences, and shakings in his churches.

O Lord, I am ignorant, I know not the mind of the Spirit of promise as thou knowest it. The promise of the fruit of the tree and the increase of the earth, of the corn, the wine, and the oil, is thine, as are all others. I am ignorant how far this refers to spiritual prosperity, how far to temporal. I ask, O Lord, co

venant provision, the fruit of the seed sown in the hearts of men by thine own Spirit; and that thou mayest build the ruined cities of thy churches, and fill them with men like a flock, as the flock of Jerusalem, in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that thou art the Lord. Thy fair, thy rich, thy beautiful creation, is also the fruit

of grace. The wicked possess it, but they enjoy

it not. Thy people are the heirs, but thou, as a wise and merciful Father, givest them to possess according as thy wisdom sees safe and good for them. When with the things of this world they imbibe the spirit of the men of the world; when they nestle in thy gifts and forget the Giver; when they enjoy with a carnal spirit, and not with thankfulness, and a due sense of their dependence on thee, as the God of providence, as well as of grace; thou in mercy, as in sovereignty, blastest their pleasant things, mixest their cup of prosperity with wormwood and gall, or sweepest all away away with a turn of thine hand; that thou mayest teach them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; that thou mayest withdraw them from sinful purposes, and hide pride from them; that thou mayest open their ears to instruction, and seal it on their hearts; thou dashest to pieces their broken cisterns, that thou mayest lead them back to the fountain of living waters.

It is good, O Lord, all good; I lay hold upon it; be thou the provider of me and mine; feed us with food convenient for us. Thine own word testifies, that every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I and the children, for whom

I

pray, possess many, yea, an abundance of temporal