prayer in the woods, and the Lord broke in upon my foul afresh with his lovingkindness and tender mercy; my faith was in exercife, and I fet this as a criterion," that if the Lord would let me hear you on the next fabbath-day on fanctification, that "I then would believe that what my foul had paft "under was a work of God's grace;" and you spake from these words, Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth: I wondered at this, as you knew nothing of me. On the next Tuesday evening Į heard you from the 11th of the Revelations, and the Lord fet my foul at liberty from legal bondage. Oh the condefcenfion of Jefus to hear and answer the prayer of fo ungrateful a wretch as me! when you, Sir, little thought for whose fake your texts were given. No tongue can exprefs the love, joy, and peace, I have enjoyed in the prefence of God under your preaching; I never heard you preach but what there was fomething impreffed on my mind which gave lafting fatisfaction to my foul.

I have heard that you are coming to Bolney. There are a few people that defire the fincere milk of the word, and I have asked the Lord to bring you to us in God's ftrength, that you may separate the vile from the precious, and be as God's mouth: my foul is on the watch to hear what the Lord will fpeak to me by his fervant. Mr. J has been made very useful in the hands of the Lord in labouring amongst us; we have no other preacher near us who is any further than in the letter, and I blefs God

there

there has not been one of them hid from my eyes fince I heard you on the Revelations. I know you are a man in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and if I am worthy of an anfwer, let me hear from you as foon as time will permit. If you knew how my foul is knit to you in love, it would cause you to look over my blots, and pardon me for troubling you. My prayer is, that the Lord may blefs you, and make you useful to his people. I remain, the leaft of all God's faints,

M. R.

LETTER

LETTER VI.

To Mr. M R, Bolney.
M—

BELOVED OF GOD, AND DEAR BROTHER IN

CHRIST,

THINE epistle came fafe to hand. The contents are, glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will towards men. It is truly an original, an exact copy of the hand-writing within, written with the finger of God on the fleshly tables of thine heart, which hath made thee a living epistle known and read of all men. And God hath added his feal to the hand-writing; for it was attended with a great degree of affurance, which ratifies and confirms the truth of the gospel upon the foul, and seals it up to the day of redemption, which is to us a pledge and an earnest of the future inheritance; you may call it the first fruits of the Spirit, and of that glory which fhall be revealed in us.

The tidings are choice, fweet, and precious. I knew the voice as foon as the found of thy falutation reached my heart; for it is an echo of the voice of the Son of God reflected from an adopted child; a witness on earth, refounding from the records of heaven,

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heaven, proclaiming another branch of his work done, which is to purify the fons of Levi, that they may bring a pure offering in righteousness; and is a confirmation of the faithful faying, that Chrift Jefus came into the world to fave finners.

The fmell of my fon is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath bleffed. He whofe garments fmell of myrrh, aloes, and caffia, hath visited him, and virtue is gone out of him; from hence came the odour, unction, and the sweet favour, which are emitted from a manifestation of himfelf; which makes his name as ointment poured forth-and the ointment of thy right hand will foon betray itself. The cup of falvation hath its peculiar overflowings, and the words of wisdom are a flowing brook, becaufe the spring of the waters of life cannot be confined: Spring up, O well! Sing ye unto it; and well we may, feeing it fhall fpring up within us into everlafting life.

Thou art not the first poor man, my son, who hath had the fad hap to fall among thieves: they may ftrip us and wound us, but they cannot kill us quite; they are obliged to leave us as foon as we are half dead, that the good Samaritan may display his fkill. Gilead is never without a physician, nor yet without balm; and therefore the health of God's elect must be recovered, that they may bear witness to the truth-ye are my witneffes.

I know of no worfe trap to a wounded spirit than a minifter of the letter, who holds the truth in unrighteoufness;

nace.

unrighteousness; a doctrine of the gospel in his mouth deceives the fimple; and a hard heart deceives him, and drives him into rafh prefumption: fuch cannot allure, but through the luft of the flesh and much wantonnefs; nor can they encourage, but by arrogance and ignorance. Blind zeal, legal pride, felf conceit, and vain confidence, are communicated by too too many, which in the end is fure to make fad work for confcience; for it is no less than fuel to feed the furnace of affliction, or else a worse furBut it is by fuch men that the contrary part are made manifeft, and the precious feparated from the vile, for be that feareth God fhall come forth of them all; but the finner fhall be taken by them. All that come to us in this way (before Christ takes up his abode in the heart) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep will not hear them when once the sheep's nature is given to them; for when the Shepherd's voice of mercy, life, pardon, and peace, comes to be felt, enjoyed, and understood, then farewell to lo bere, and lo there. After this all preaching must agree with the unction within, and if any man teach us not as that anointing teacheth us, we need no fuch teachers, because their word contradicts the Spirit's work; they are altogether out of the secret, the mystery is hid from them, and the matter is not perceived by them. Nevertheless, we may fay with Paul, that by all things we are inAtructed; for by these we find out what the fcriptures mean by lamps without oil, wells without water, and

clouds