who in his estimate are the excellent ones of the earth. These things, my dear friend, I am convinced you now know by happy experience; and most certain it is, that if you do know them in truth, flesh and blood hath not revealed them unto you, 'For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned ;' and human nature can rise no higher than its source; but the anointing which you have received of God abideth in you, and shall teach you all things. Although, however, it has pleased the Lord to reveal himself in you, you must be earnest in prayer for fresh supplies of knowledge, faith, grace, and strength; and you have all possible encouragement to be so, since (as I observed before) in Christ all fulness dwells, and out of that fulness we receive grace for grace. Learn then to guard against self-dependance, and to live more upon Christ. Resign yourself to him in all his offices, as a Prophet to teach you, a Priest to make atonement and intercession for you, and a King to rule over you and in you. View him also in his pastoral office, in the character of a shepherd, the good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep.' Consider his watchfulness and care of his little chosen flock, that little flock to whom it is the Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom,' and of whom he himself says, that

V

none shall pluck them out of his hand.' O my dear fellow-traveller in the road to Zion, how are we bound to magnify and adore the good Shepherd, when we remember how that, when we like sheep had gone astray, he sought us and brought us back by the cords of love, and when we were wandering farther and farther from his fold, made us hear his voice and follow him.' O this indeed is love which passeth knowledge! May it fill our hearts with gratitude, and our

lips with praise! May it constrain us to live more to him who died for us, and to grow more and more in conformity to his blessed image! that so we may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, and by well-doing put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who would falsely accuse our good conversation in Christ. But I tire you, and engross too much of your time by the length of my letters. You will, I know, however, pardon the freedom with which I write, for with shame and sorrow I confess, that I am a miserable proficient in the school of Christ, and have great need myself to be taught. I love indeed to think, talk, and write of the blessed Jesus; my sinful soul seems refreshed when I meditate on the glories which compose his name. But O, how dark, how ignorant am I! how little, how exceedingly little do I know of him! O thou light of the world, enlighten my soul, teach me to know more of thy infinite and unsearchable riches, that I may love thee with increasing ardour, and serve thee with growing zeal, till thou bringest me to glory! Since I wrote the above, I have been very ill, but I thank God that I am now better. In the midst of my pain, I felt a sweet composure, and experienced a hope that God was my reconciled Father in Christ. When I looked at myself, the sight frightened me, for I saw nothing but a black catalogue of actual sins arising from the impure fountain of my corrupt nature; but in looking at Jesus, how was the view changed! I was enabled to see every sin blotted out by his precious blood, and that the law, as a covenant in its utmost rigour, could have no demands against In general, I find it the hardest thing in the world to believe this; a certain legal self-righteous spirit cleaves to me, and I am looking for that in myself which I can never find but in my blessed Surety.

me.

It is this that obstructs the actings of faith, and prevents us from submitting to the righteousness which is of God. I thought much of you, my beloved friend, and even almost wished that I could bear your sickness for you; but this was not a proper submission to the will of Him who orders all things well,' and thus visits you for the good of your immortal soul. I dedicate part of every day to pray to God for your recovery, and for your increase in grace, strength, faith, and holiness, so that you may come out of the furnace of affliction, refined as gold purified in the fire, and be made more and more meet for an inheritance amongst the saints in light. May the Lord vouchsafe an answer to my petitions! Sometimes the consideration of my great unworthiness would draw me back from the throne of grace; but I am encouraged by the reflection, that it is God's command that we should make our requests known to him, and that I shall be heard, not because I am worthy, but in virtue of the merits of my Redeemer. O what a privilege is it, that the God of heaven allows poor sinful worms to pour out their complaints before him! What an ease to an oppressed heart to breathe its wishes, and confess its fears, and tell its griefs to a loving Father, whose ears are open to the humblest prayer! O that the time spent in this heavenly exercise may be more and more delightful to me, and not to me only, but to all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity! I fear our prospect of meeting again is very distant; perhaps it may not be permitted us in this life; but we may, I trust, hope for a far happier meeting, where sickness, pain, disappointments, and sin, (the woeful cause of them and of every other evil), shall be no more!-Blessed existence! May God vouchsafe to bring us, together with the whole Israel of God, to the haven of everlasting peace and

rest, even to the eternal state of holiness and bliss, through the merits and intercession of our dear Redeemer ! Help me with your prayers, my dear friend, to the end that I may be enabled to experience in my own soul, what I most sincerely recommend to you, and most earnestly pray for you."

Lady Glenorchy passed this winter in London and Bath, where every means had been employed to induce her to return to the dissipated world. Her judgment and her conscience, however, were decidedly against it ; and neither severity nor art, both of which were put in practice, could divert her from her purpose. In this steadfastness Miss Hill rejoiced, and thus expressed the pleasure which she felt.

"January 17, 1766.

"I was last night made happy by the receipt of your kind letter, which I perused with uncommon interest and feeling. Greatly did I rejoice to find that there is any amendment in your bodily health, and above all, that you have once more through grace conquered the snares which Satan had industriously laid to seduce you again into the world—a world, friendship with which, the Scriptures declare, is enmity with God. It is truly amazing that so many people, professing to believe the Bible, should count it an act of prudence and good sense to cultivate, in the manner they do, the esteem and friendship of this vain and foolish world. Such persons certainly forget that there is no precept in Scripture laid down with more express authority than this, Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind; nor than this, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man

love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.' How does it happen then that so many love the world, and yet remain perfectly at ease with respect to the state of their souls? I can attribute this to nothing but to the fatal blindness and desperate deceitfulness of the heart, and to the temptations of Satan, the father of lies. This arch deceiver is ever persuading us to think, and to live, and to act in direct opposition to the sacred oracles of truth, in some point or other; well aware that as long as we are the willing servants of any known sin, so long are we his; as the Apostle emphatically expresses it, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" It is because the god of this world hath blinded their eyes, that worldly people are so contented and satisfied with themselves; and hence it is that the religion of the heart is so much despised amongst us, and that engaging in the round of ceremonies and formal services passes for the whole of religion. The Gospel, however, is the power of God unto salvation; and when its influence is truly felt, it purifies the heart, sets it upon God, and is as inconsistent with the love of this vain world, as light is with darkness. This accounts at once for all the opposition which has been raised against it. The Lord says, 'Son, give me thine heart; and when the heart, deeply affected with the love of the Redeemer, yields itself up to God, Satan has no more place there: this he well knows, and therefore stirs up the enmity of the world to use its utmost efforts to shake the pillars of the kingdom of God within the soul. This is evidently the cause why inward vital religion is so much rejected and despised, and why that dull, stupid, inefficacious lip-labour, in which worldly people are so fond of trusting, passes current amongst us. O that God may open the eyes