God hath quickened, and to whom he hath given a keen appetite after spiritual provision, but what can eat of the dishes of my cooking: "The full soul loatheth an honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet;" even reproofs, rebukes, burdens, fears, terrors, wrath, and bondage, to such a soul, are better than nothing; and if the heart be made honest, he had rather have these than be at ease in Zion. I am much delighted at thy admission into so large a field; I hope shortly to hear of thy getting out of that strait into a large place, where there shall be no straitness, and that he will set thy feet in a large room. Light is sweet only to those who have been in the dark regions of the shadow of death; all others hate the light, nor will they come to it. The wonders that you performed in the pulpit do not in the least surprise me; I expect shortly to hear the old report repeated, namely, That John is risen again from the dead, and that mighty works do shew forth themselves in him, Matt. xiv. 2. It is true, the terrors of God, and the flames of wrath, cannot woo nor win the heart, in the present state that man is in through the fall. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and the law worketh wrath. The more the terrors of the law operate on the sinner's heart, the more the enmity and rebellion of the sinner is stirred up against it, till the very gulf itself appears to be open between God and the soul; and, until

Christ appears, there can be no way of reconcilia tion open, nor any hope of nearness and access, much less of communion and fellowship, and an eternal enjoyment of his presence in heaven. The carnal mind cannot be subject to the law of God, but will rebel and fight against it, as long as the law discharges one curse at the sinner, even if this war should continue to all eternity; for there is no word of reconciliation, nor mediator, in the dismal regions of hopeless prisoners. Most seeking sinners are much out in their expectations of the first glorious appearance of Christ to them; they expect submission, meekness, contrition, godly sorrow, patience, repentance, humility, &c. &c. to operate previous to his coming, as so many preparatory operations, either to engage him, allure him, or else to pave the way for him; but for my part I had none of these harbingers or forerunners. There was nothing in me but guilt, shame, fear, rebellion, desperation, and downright madness, and a determination to seek his face and sue for At this time he came; and he mercy no more. brought all that was good along with him. His reward was with him, and his work before him; and the first view that ever my faith had of him, was that of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and out of his fulness I received, and that grace for grace; for the law came to me with the accusations of Moses, but grace and truth came to my soul by Jesus Christ, who

silenced Moses as my Advocate, and answered all his demands as my Surety, and sent him off from the mount of transfiguration, while Jesus and his poor disciple were left alone, admiring and wondering at each other. He seemed pleased that he had caught the lost sheep, and I wept for joy that I had found the chief Shepherd. I believe that the ministering angels attended on me before Jesus came, and that it was they who articulated the word that God spoke to me; but I believe that there were none standing near when the first glorious visit was paid, and the marriage knot tied. It was something like the marriage of our first parents; God the Father draws us to the second Adam, as Eve was brought to the first, or else we should never come; the Spirit reveals the wedding garment to faith, and faith puts it on, and Christ immediately embraces the soul in his own robe, and becomes one spirit with it, and the sole and whole possessor of it. Thy present sensations under the operation of the Spirit of God will humble thee, strip thee, and empty thee, more than all the terrors that have gone before; nothing can stand before the rushing mighty wind that fills the house, and that proclaims the great Deliverer, and the year of jubilee at hand. Thy expectations of more wrath spring from a consciousness of thy just deserts; but God exacts of us far less than our iniquities deserve; he hath never dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded according to our iniquities. He stays

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the rough wind in the day of the east wind, lest, like Jonah, we faint, and choose death rather than life.

God bless thee, &c.

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XI.

To the Rev. Mr. HUNTINGTON.

MY DEAR AND BELOVED FRIEND,

I HAVE been long expecting the favour of a few lines from you, and sometimes wondering what can be the cause of the delay. Satan cannot persuade me that you either neglect me or forget me, but that it is a multiplicity of concerns that occupy your time, head, and hands, and I doubt not but that they are all full enough; yet none upon earth would be more glad to hear of your welfare, success, and prosperity, than myself. It is true I have lost your burden for some time now, and perhaps before you lost it, or at least about the same time. I bore a part of it for a while, and I had strength for the time to do it, and to plead the righteous cause of his servant with God; but this was given me for your sake, and a debtor I am to you, and that of more than I ever shall be able to pay. When I was with

you last, I saw clear enough that God was on your side, and that none of them that had risen up against you would prevail; that he had given. you the necks of all your enemies; and that you would pinch them and gall them, till confusion, division, contradiction, distraction, and madness, would scatter them over the face of the whole earth. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that rises up in judgment against thee thou shalt condemn; this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. God sent you on that journey to discover the hypocrite, that he might no longer reign, lest the people should be ensnared. This is a part of the work which the Lord has called you to, and you must be content.

And now, my dear friend, my thoughts have returned much to their old channel; I am gone again, like the shadow that declineth, and am tossed up and down like the locusts, and have been sadly so for some weeks back, without light, life, or power, moping about in darkness that might be felt; often concluding to give all up, and to try at it no longer; and what prevents me sometimes from doing it I cannot tell. One day last week Mrs. H. shewed me two letters she had lately received from you; in one of them you touch on this passage, Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse: as soon as I glanced upon it, a ray appeared, and I saw where I was, and what I