which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

It is required according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. You want to be out of your fetters, to ascend the mount, and to view and describe the joys and glories of another world. But what then is to

become of the few poor sheep in the wilderness? What is a heavy heart to do with your songs? The mourner in Zion would hate the melody of your viols, and then conclude that they were guilty of the great transgression in this. I have no desire to see you upon the wing, and all the sheep in the bog; this would render you in speech a barbarian to them: it would provoke their souls to jealousy, and their hearts would fret against the Lord for releasing Barabbas and leaving Paul bound. You would appear in their eyes no better than a turncoat, or a deserter; one who had betrayed them into the hands of their enemies, and then, turned king's evidence. He has hammered us,' say they, 'out of all our superficial profession and false peace, till he has brought all our necks under the yoke, and now he has slipped his own head out.'

Furthermore, thy liberty would be attended with such joy and peace, that thou wouldest drink so abundantly as to forget thine own poverty, and remember thy misery no more; and out of the abundance of thy heart wouldest speak. You would be inviting them all to the mount, and thy zeal would be ready to curse them if they could

not ascend as well as you; forgetting, through the abundance of the heavenly wine, thine own weakness and helplessness when in their state. Is this becoming all things to all men, that thou mayest gain the more? Is it not becoming strong to the weak, healthy to the sick, free to the bound, and merry to the miserable? This is all discord, but no concord. Here would be little sympathy, little condolence. Christ himself began not here; he was "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," and so every way fit to preach that sympathetic sermon to his mourning followers on the mount, and to all those who were waiting for the consolation of Israel, or looking for redemption in Jerusalem. Yea, he was made perfect through sufferings, that he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest; tempted in all points as we are, that he might succour them that are tempted; for such an high-priest became us, who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

But my poor brother wants to be in the banqueting house, and the banner over him to be love; he must have nothing to bring forth but the feast of fat things, and wines on the lees well refined: but, was this the case, he might spread his table, and bid his guests, and eat the whole of it when he had done; for, few, if any, would at present banquet with him; and I think he is an unfeeling, pitiless father, that would wish to starve his children, and eat his morsel alone. Not so, my brother; it is given in our behalf, "Not only

to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his sake." We must drink of his cup as well as share in his triumphs, and be nurses to the feeble as well as helpers to the joyful. God has shook you all in the bag together, and you know not which will come out first; but there are many of them which attend you have a jealous eye over you, fearing your enlargement and their own perpetua! imprisonment. Moreover, should the Lord be pleased to proclaim liberty to thy soul by a sense of pardoning love, he would often lay thee by the heels again, that thou mightest speak to those that are bound: and this change would puzzle thy best judgment not a little, for thou wouldest draw such strange conclusions from it, as that his mercy was clean gone, that thou hadst sinned against the Holy Ghost, &c. And thou wouldest pine after that divine comfort till thou wouldest be fit for nothing but the house-top or the wilderness. Yea, and the poor flock would shout and clap their hands every time that they saw Samson bound, and would sit in sackcloth every time he snapped his cords; and this would provoke thee to indignation against them, that thou wouldest be ready to resolve to speak no more in his name. God will make Ephraim to ride in due time. At present thou art running with footmen; let them not weary thee, lest God call thee to contend with horses; for, if thou art wearied in a land of peace, what wilt thou do at the swellings of Jordan? "In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quiet

ness and in confidence shall be your strength." God calls you clay, therefore lie passive; he will form thee a vessel for himself in due time. To say, "Let him hasten his work," is the language of a rebel, not of a suppliant. Pay no regard to the treatment of those preachers that are puffed up; it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. Say with the Psalmist, "Let them all curse, but bless thou;" and again, "Let him curse, for God hath bidden him." Thy work is with thy God; to thine own master thou must stand or fall, by thine own testimony thou must abide, and to him alone thou art accountable. I fare no better from the disciples of Moses in London than you do at Lewes; but, blessed be God, I know where I stand, and I know where they do, and that they know neither. There are but two covenants and two foundations, the rock and the sand; and no more than the curse and the blessing, to be divided among all the children of Adam. "One shall call himself by the name of Jacob," saith the Lord; and for this reason, because he ran away with the blessing: therefore, let thy hands be strong, and hold Esau fast by the heel, and struggle with him from the womb to the grave, and never give it up till thou hast supplanted him. Never mind his threatening to kill thee; get the blessing, and God will then confirm it at Bethel, and the house of God shall be the gate of heaven.

Ever thine,

W. H.

LETTER XXXVII.

To Mrs. RoUMIEU.

To the mother in Israel, taking her joyful leave of this world, the son of her vows wishes grace, mercy, peace, and strength, equal to her day. She has acknowledged me in part, that my joy has been her joy; and I have no doubt but she will acknowledge me to the end, that that Jesus which I have preached is a sure foundation, and that the truth which I have advanced is a sufficient girdle, and the power that I have enforced is, and will be, her inward stay, and only comfort, when heart and flesh both fail.

Thou wilt not be hastily plucked by death, but gently gathered. The good thing that bends towards the Lord God of Israel will flourish in the next world's felicity, "in proportion as thy animal spirits wither to this. As every thought is gathered out of this world, they will meet with kind entertainment above; "O, how sweet are thy thoughts towards me!" saith the Psalmist. The outward man decays, the inward is renewed day by day. Sickness invades the body, health springs up in the soul. Death works in the former, but life in the latter. The first shall enter the joy of the Lord; the last shall sleep in hope,