Spirit, a savour of life unto life to them that believe, and a savour of death unto death to them that believe not. This is the rod of Christ's strength which is come out of Zion, and by which he rules in the midst of Jerusalem. "Mind what I say, and God give thee understanding in all things;" and walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. The Lord be with thy spirit. Amen.

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XXXIX.

To the Rev. Mr. HUNTINGTON

REVEREND AND HONOURED FATHER,

THE Concern, the tenderness, the sympathy, and the compassion, which you shewed me when I was sinking under the terrors of the Lord; when there was none, though I had looked on the right hand and on the left, that knew me, nor seemed to care for my soul; the light I received, and the power I felt from your ministry; the many wrestlings with God in prayer with me and for me; the many kind instructions you communicated in private, and which the good Lord was pleased to bless, have for ever united my soul to you. I know God is in you, and with you; I have felt his power and sweet influence from you; and all

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the attacks of open enemies have never shaken me in this confidence, nor do all the insinuations of pretended friends now move me: I know that Satan works by them, for his suggestions are the same as their insinuations; but he can find no place; no, my faith stands in the power I have felt, and God hath given me light to see both him and them. Nor can I sec, in the light of God's word, wherein you have acted wrong in any thing.

The contents of this letter are as clear as they are true. I know that where these joints and bands are wanting, that, sooner or latter, such members will either drop off, or be cut off. Such communications as these are profitable to my soul, and I thank you (under God) for what I have received, and I still hope for more. I know to whom God sent me at first to be taught and fed, and by that crib I mean by his help, to abide; I know as well as Elihu, and I have seen it in the same light as he did, that an interpreter is a rare thing; one among a thousand Job found that shewed him God's uprightness in chastening of him, and told him that he should be delivered from going down to the pit, for God had found a

ransom.

I can see, now, wherefore the Lord kept me above a year under a sore spirit of despondency, and sent me from place to place over a deal of England, and Wales too; and every where I went I searched for gospel preachers, and looked to

their pulpits for a little light and some hope; but in vain. Some preached the law, and holiness in the flesh, in such a manner, that I despaired of ever being saved; my very flesh moved on my bones at the hearing of it, and I cursed the day wherein I was born. Others preached the doctrines of the gospel with such a carnal glee, attempting to move the affections, and with such bold and presumptive expressions, tending to raise carnal confidence, that my soul was disgusted at the hearing of it; for I knew that I had been there long enough myself, and that it was from them I had fallen. All that they could advance was nothing but the ruins of a hypocrite's house, upon which he had leaned, but it would not bear him up. Some appeared to me to preach the word very clearly, and seemed to enjoy what they preached; but they did not come near my case, nor could they shew that any in my circumstances, and with my feelings, were ever saved; and therefore I concluded, at times, that I was cast away for ever, and expected every day my body would drop into the grave, and my soul into hell. But when I had read Hart's Preface, and your Kingdom of Heaven taken by Prayer,' which books I had never read before, I found a gleam of hope now and then rising within me; this led me to search for more of your books, and the books led me to you.

If I am not mistaken in my conjectures, the ring-leaders of the party that now rise up had

before this conceived a prejudice either against you or your ministry, if not against both; and the devil was permitted to send this preacher only to bring forward the birth; for I believe it works some time in them before we see it brought forth. But when lust to envy is conceived, it will bring forth sin; and when this is finished, it bringeth forth death; death on all their comforts for a while, if not on their souls for ever.

I believe the Lord shewed me something of this affair, as soon as you communicated ** to me: I saw that many would now be discovered, and some purged from you; there must be heresies, that those who are approved may be made manifest; that you would have some sorrow and grief for a while, but that you would come forth clothed with double power; and that new work would go forward, and many fresh volunteers come to the standard, is what I really believed. And now I find that some have a little joy, expecting the church will be rent to pieces; but we know that the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, and whilst it lasts it can hardly counterbalance the accusations within. Some weak ones seem to be staggered, but they will see ere long where the hand of the Lord will rest.

Your's most affectionately,

J. JENKINS.

LETTER XL.

To the Rev. Mr. JENKINS,

DEAR SIR,

THIS being a cloudy and dark morning, and finding myself inclined not to go abroad till the time of labour comes on, I thought I would employ myself, for an hour, in letting you know that I still gain by trading. The dealings of God with my soul, under this last burden of the word of the Lord, has been rather unusual to me. When the ungodly triumphed I went heavily, as one that ate the bread of mourners, and grieved for the honour of my Lord and my God; and this he let me feel severely, till at length he deigned to mingle his pity with my concern for his honour, which made my bowels yearn over him, and I felt the sounding of his bowels towards me; this dissolved me, and encouraged freedom and fervour in prayer, which I then gave myself wholly up to; and, as this familiarity went on, grief of course went off. In about a fortnight the whole burden was cast upon the Lord, and he sustained me. From that day I was equipt with might by his Spirit in the inner man, and clad with zeal as with a cloak; he furnished me with text upon text, truth upon truth, and argument upon argument; he mingled his jealousy with my cause,