Vows.

allure through the luft of the fleih, and be touched with the feelings of their infirmities, and not only spread his skirt over them who creep to his feet in the barn floor, but he must have a mantle of love, of fuch dimenfions as will cover all their works of darkness; he must hear confeffions, fay mass, and be fure to vifit when the good man is not at home; he must receive peace-offerings, and be present when Mrs. Piety wipes her mouth and pays her Most of this stamp who herded with us, are now led captive, being zealously affected; and, I believe, fome of them will, ere long, be made more fruitful under the prefent paftor than they have been with us; for, I believe, he is a paftor after their own hearts, whether he feeds them with knowledge and understanding, or not. The Almighty feems to make me a fharp threshing inftrument, having teeth; and, as he ufes me to beat them off, this wind of doctrine which blows to and fro carries them away, and when I have taken the vile from the precious I shall be as God's mouth.

Another fort which God hath cut off from us, are the wife, the fat, and the ftrong, which he has promised to feed with judgment; these have long loathed the manna, and pined after the garlic, cucumbers, and melons, of Egypt; they have been pecking at the king in Jefburun a good while, and have at laft appointed a captain over them, having for fome time, in heart, returned into the land of Ham. Thefe, for a few weeks, have reigned as

kings without us, for we were quite a dead weight upon their afpiring excellency; but better is a young and wife child, than one of these old and foolish kings, who know not to be admonished; but these crowned locufts are gone-and fince the Lord bath fcattered thefe kings in it, it hath been as white as the fnow in Salmon. In a great house there are not only veffels of gold and filver, but alfo of wood and of earth; and fome to honour, and fome to dishonour: God hath in mercy purged us from fome of these; and, indeed, we have too long lain among these pots; but when this old furniture is purged out, we fhall be as the wings of a dove, covered with filver, and her feathers with yellow gold, having more of the heavenly Dove, and his grace, defcending upon us. Since the departure of these smoking firebrands, the live coals from the altar have revived and glowed, and brought the children of light a little more together. Many confefs they can feel a difference in the climate, and are struggling hard for the torrid zone. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee, and lift the light of his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace, is the prayer of thine to serve,

W. H. S. S.

P. S. I am told, by a perfon who had lately the curiofity to count them, that the audience of a certain preacher amounted to twenty-three ladies, and eleven gentlemen.

LETTER

LETTER LXI.

To the Rev. Mr. HUNTINGTON.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

I HAVE been much indifpofed through a cold, almost ever fince you left L, and am now indeed very ill with it; but this is not the worst; I am very much diftreffed in foul. Such darkness and bondage have gathered over me, as I think never did before. I have much wondered why it Thould be thus, especially as I have had lately the sweetest frame, and the most comfortable prospect, I ever experienced. Under your preaching I know I felt the power; I found it fuitable, fweet, and comfortable; but now all is gone, and I am in a worse state than ever. I have prefumed in believing that any good that I have ever heard belongs to me. I have always been forward and bold from my youth up, and this will be my deftruction. You have endeavoured to bring me on by encouragements, and I have taken them at times, but they could not belong to me; nor do I know what can do me good, fince the truth cannot; but, notwithstanding all, I

know your labour will not be in vain, you will receive the reward, though I may not be the fruit; and your ministry has been bleffed at L

(though fome speak evil of it), many have been revived, and begin to look out of obfcurity; this I can plainly fee: but the worst of it is, that I envy them, and I think hate them. This is awful! and I believe this has brought me into this bondage. I thought, fhall I ferve as a drudge to hunt them from their falfe coverts, and drive them out of their refuges of lies? and will they come out before me at laft? I determined, in my heart, to strip them of every morfel they had received, and make them as black as the devil, and as miferable as myfelf. I was angry with you for comforting them, and with them for receiving it when they had no business with it. And now all the corruptions of my heart boil like a pot, and there is not a fin that can be named but what is alive in me, and fure I am to fall by fome of them. This is the miferable state I am in, pray I cannot, neither can I think or meditate, and my heart is as hard as a ftone; filled with darkness, confufion, evil thoughts, hard thoughts of God, envy, hatred, obftinacy, and as rebellious as the devil himself, and it appears to me as if it would be perpetual. I know not where to go. I wish, in my foul, I could run from this work. If I had but the opportunity of hearing you, I would not mention these things even to you, but would watch and wait what the Lord fhould fay to me, without troubling

troubling you with fuch ftuff; but this feems to be the only remedy left, therefore I hope you will forgive me, and pray for me; and God Almighty blefs you, is the earnest desire of,

Your affectionate friend,

J. J.

LETTER LXII.

To the Rev. Mr. J—————.

I WAS just going to fay, that I have received the laft dying speech and confeffion of my dearly beloved fon in the faith. He dies daily, and yet believes that he shall never die at all; he is chaftened, but not killed; perfecuted, but not forfaken; caft down, but not destroyed: for I fhall fee him again, bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jefus. Chrift was once a bond fervant, fo were we; he was a man of forrows and acquainted with grief, so must we; he was defpifed by the world and deferted by friends, fo fhall we; he died under the curfe of the law, the commandment comes, fin revives, and we