had preached from, and he had heard it, and felt it a good deal at the time. It now seemed brought to him with sweetness and power. Also these words: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee." I saw him just after this, and was struck with the alteration that was manifest in his countenance and manner. Light had evidently begun to dawn. A friend asked him, if he had begun to flee to the city of refuge? He said he thought he had. Thus he went on, hoping and fearing; sometimes comforted with a gracious promise, and again cast down in the darkness and distress of his soul. One day, when he was very ill and weak in his body, his distress and terror were very great. He cried out, "What will become of my poor soul?" He thought at the time he was dying. Still he kept on begging the Lord to appear; and one evening, after he had gone to bed, his many prayers and tears were answered. It was on his birthday that the Lord thus broke in upon his soul, and manifested himself to him. The poor boy sat up in bed, with his arms extended, crying out, "I have found him! I have found him!" He called his father and mother into the room, to come and hear what the Lord had done for his soul. He was filled with love, joy, and peace, and said he could not tell them how he felt. He began to sing,

and,

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,"

A friend who saw him, said his face shone with the glory that was upon him; and in this state he continued from Friday night till the following Lord's Day evening. Many friends called to see him, and he said to almost all that went in, "I have found him whom my soul longed for!" One said, "Well, and what has he done for you?" He answered, "He has pardoned my sins, and saved me from hell!"

After this he was troubled because he had told so many what the Lord had done for him, and feared he had done wrong. This was a sore exercise to him. He said he wished the Lord would come and take him to himself. He said, "Talk of delusion! This is no delusion!"

tress.

After this his head became affected, and his language and manner like one that was possessed by the devil. But this was entirely physical, and belonged to the nature of the disease. I should scarcely have noticed this circumstance, but simply have drawn a veil over it, had I not thought this a fit opportunity to drop a word to any dear children of God who may be called to witness similar scenes of disWhen the brain is on fire, the physician and the nurse alone have to do with the poor patient. What is said or done by him is no more to be regarded than the ravings of a madman. In fact, the case is one of temporary madness. Medical aid was much blessed to Joseph in this stage of the disorder; these symptoms were soon removed, and he had no subsequent return of the distressing affection. One Lord's Day evening he put a pin in his Bible to mark 1 John

1

V. 1: "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him." Also, Rev, ii. 10: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” At one time he awoke up, singing, "Without money, without price." At another time he said, "True faith! that is mine!" He was often tried and tempted, and he said the devil told him he would have him at last. A friend said to him, "You have felt the love of Christ to your soul." He said, "Yes, I thought I did. I felt such love as I never felt before." The next day he was asked if he felt the Lord's presence? He said, "I do feel his presence, and I trust in him; I feel sweet encouragements." About this time he longed to be gone from his poor frail body, but begged for patience to wait the Lord's time to take him to himself. Often did he say, "What a wretch I feel myself to be; I am unworthy of the mercy I am favored with;" and he would contrast the comforts he enjoyed with the privations and sufferings of his Lord and Master.

now.

He would sometimes say, I am on the Rock. Death has no sting I do not fear death now!" About a week before his departure he raised a quantity of blood, and seeing his mother weep, he said, "Mother, you are alarmed! I am not at all alarmed! I was the time before;" alluding to a former attack. His mother said, "It will bring your death nearer." He replied, "I think so too. This verse was sweet to him, and he repeated it:

A friend said, "I went to see him two days before he died, and spent an hour with him. He was even more cheerful and lively that morning than usual. He told me there were some nice pieces in the Gospel Standard,' and wanted me to read them, and especially the account of James Westall, whose death was recorded in the October Number. This account he quite enjoyed. We afterwards conversed on the subject of baptism, and he said he wondered how so many believers could pass that by. As for himself, he saw more and more beauty in it every day, and said if he were spared, he would go to Godmanchester, and be baptized, if the church would receive him."

Another friend called to see him on the Saturday. Joseph said he was glad he had come, and told him what a sweet night he had had, and how he had been carried above everything, and above the devil, who had so long harassed and tempted him, and how he had felt as if he were already in heaven. He said, "I am going home to heaven, and I shall meet you there." The friend said, "You are only going a little while before." Joseph replied, "Yes, we shall meet again there." He sang very sweetly:

"Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see thee as thou art,

I'll praise thee as I ought.".

བླ་ ཝ་ ན་

He expressed great love towards me, and once, in the simplicity and warmth of his affection, he said to his mother, "O how I do wish I could see Mr. B. now; I feel as if I should throw my arms around him, and kiss him. I'm sure I should, mother!" To some this may appear childish, but to me it was sweet. It is like the love of the early Christians.

The night before he died, his father sat up with him, and read to him both the word of God and also hymns. His father asked him if he was happy, and Jesus precious to him? His answer was, "I am ready to go when the Lord's time comes." He told his mother in the morning how he had been tempted during the night. The enemy of his soul had been at him. She said to him inquiringly," But you had some sweet portions to rest upon?" He answered, "Yes!" He was down stairs, not being able to lie down in bed, and as the morning sun shone in at the window, upon his face, he asked them to raise him up from his temporary bed that he might sit in his chair. He remarked that he could not see. His mother told him it was the approach of death, and said, "You will soon be landed. You will soon be fed with the bread of heaven." Joseph replied, "I hope I shall. I long to be gone, if it is the Lord's will."

Shortly after this, he laid his head on his pillow, and peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. So quietly did he depart that those around him could not ascertain the exact moment of his departure.

Godmanchester.

W.

B.

THE characters and cases of persons for whom Christ was anointed, appointed, and to whom he was sent, are all pointed out in the word of God; and those who reap no benefit by his death are described also; as, for instance, the self-righteous: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The insensibly secure and whole hearted: "The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick,' The wise, the prudent also: "Woe unto them that are wise in their own sight;" from these the mysteries of God are hid, and Christ thanks his Father for it. Those who trust in and boast of the light of nature: "If ye were blind ye should not have sin; but since ye say, we see, your sin remaineth." Those who vainly dream that they are right, and their state good, though never changed in heart: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And to the lost sheep among the gentiles: "I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and them I must bring, and they shall hear my voice." Those also that are alive under the law, while sin is dead in them; not those, but the self-condemned: "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.' And they that say, "Stand by, I am holier than thou." Those that sanctify and purify themselves shall go to confusion together; the strong man also: "I will feed the fat and the strong with judgment." The mere formalist comes in among them; these make many long prayers, but feel no need of the Spirit's aid; all they do is to be seen of men; verily they have their reward. Those that never at any time transgress the commandment. To these he gives not the robe, the ring, nor the shoes; nor to any others that hate Zion, and remain strangers to their own hearts.-Huntington.

ઃઃ

INQUIRIES.

Dear Sir,-Will you, or any of your correspondendents, be so kind as to give your thoughts on Proverbs xiv. 14, in the "Gospel Standard?" By so doing, you will greatly oblige,

Yours respectfully,

ANSWER.

J. F. K.

We see no difficulty in the first clause of the verse quoted by our correspondent. It is, indeed, a most certain truth, that, sooner or later, "the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." He has forsaken the Lord; he has gone after his idols; and, by so doing, has brought guilt, darkness, and bondage into his soul. The Lord, for wise reasons, suffered him to depart in heart from himself; but when he would return, he finds such mountains between him and the Lord that his very soul sinks within him. All his carnality, filth, and folly, come as it were trooping back upon him; he has sown the wind, and now reaps the whirlwind. The sensible anger of God is in his conscience, and thus he reaps the fruit of his own doings. This is being "filled with his own ways.'

There is, then, little difficulty in this clause of the text; nor do we see much more in the following: "And a good man shall be satisfied from himself." It does not mean that a good man is satisfied with his own doings, or that he reaps any satisfaction from the contemplation of self. But the springs of consolation are in his heart; and it is the wellings up of the faith, hope, and love, joy and peace, that flow into his soul, from which he is satisfied. The opposition meant, is between the satisfaction derived from outward things that contents the world, and the satisfaction that springs up in the soul from inward peace and joy in the Lord.

The worldly man is satisfied with, or if not satisfied with, seeks satisfaction from outward things, the mere objects of his senses. The professor is satisfied with the doctrine, without any experience of the power of the truth. But the good man, the child of God, is only satisfied with those things which are brought into his soul by a divine power, and thus become his own. His own faith, not another's; his own hope, not another's; his own experience of the mercy and love of God, not another's, alone can satisfy him. And thus he is "satisfied from and for himself." As the Lord said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" and it is the inward possession of this kingdom, which is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," that alone can satisfy the good man. The backslider in heart being filled with his own ways, is very far from enjoying this inward satisfaction; for he is full of dissatisfaction and discontent. The experience of both is here brought forward, for there seems to be some opposition intended between the backslider and the favored saint, who, by the grace of God, is enabled to live near to the Lord, and to maintain that sweet assurance of his love, which the other seems, for a time at least, to have forfeited.

Dear Sir,-Will you oblige by answering the following question? Allowing gutta percha tubes and their appendages, as externally fixed to pulpits in public places of worship, to be unsightly to the mixed multitude, is it right for the deacon or deacons to prohibit their use, and thus deprive the deaf of hearing the gospel preached?

Yours in Christ,

ANSWER.

R. D.

None but those who love the truth, but are afflicted with the infirmity of deafness, can tell the misery and wretchedness of being present with the family of God at public worship, and yet not able to hear a word of the prayer and sermon, or, at best, only just enough to tantalise them, because they can hear no more. It is worse than being at home, absent from the assembly altogether; for the endeavor to hear keeps up a stretch of attention which is often disappointed, and exhausts the mind whilst it leaves the soul unfed. None but these, therefore, can tell what a comfort, and we may add, what a blessing, the gutta percha hearing apparatus is to them. We know, ourselves, persons, who, before the invention of this apparatus, had not heard a gospel sermon for years; and they have invariably expressed their pleasure and gratitude at being once more restored by its means to the privilege of a hearer.

Viewing the matter then, generally, for there may be circumstances in a chapel which might interfere with its introduction in a particular case, and looking simply at the advantages named, we very much approve of the introduction of the apparatus where there are several deaf people, to whom it might be made a blessing. It might be a question where a cause is poor, and there is but one individual who might profit by it, how far the expense should be incurred, as an ear trumpet might be sufficient, if the person sat or stood near the pulpit.

are very

The objection mentioned by our correspondent, that it is unsightly, is not to be entertained for a single moment. We do not profess to look to external ornament. It is contrary to our character as separate from the world. Our chapels are usually unsightly; and many of the most favored saints of God in our churches and congregations far from being sightly as the world would esteem it, in person, dress, or appearance. Do we want sightly ministers, sightly deacons, and sightly members? "Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart;" and if the deacon or deacons prohibit the gutta percha hearing apparatus only on the ground of its being unsightly, we think that the sooner an objection of that kind is withdrawn, the better.

PAUL'S assurance of obtaining what he ran for was a mighty strengthening to him in his race. Who so crucified to the world as Paul, so abundant in all kind of service, or more ready to die for Christ than he? who yet had the fullest assurance of holding out, and of receiving the crown of righteousness at last; and that nothing should separate him from it.-Elisha Coles.