to direct perishing souls to Christ. There is no doubt that some of the various modes of worship are more agreeable to the example of the primitive Christians and the spirit of the New Testament than others, and it is unquestionably desirable to ascertain and practise those modes. I could wish all Christians were united in worshipping Jehovah in the same manner, but I esteem it the principal thing to worship him in spirit and in truth.

TO THE SAME."

Killingworth, October 11, 1809.

I RECEIVED your father's letter last week. The intelligence it contained of the death of your beloved sister, was truly distressing. The consolations of the religion of Christ, my dear E., invariably support the mind, if we have faith to apply them to ourselves; and these only can support it, when called to endure trials like yours. Your affliction is indeed great, and your loss no common one. In this light you are allowed to view it. Resignation does not imply insensibility. But still, a sense of the greatness of our loss should never be suffered to produce feelings of dissatisfaction with the dispensations of Providence. God has a right to visit us with greater as well as with less judgments; and it is our duty to be proportionably humbled and improved. If they promote these ends, they are only mercies in a more unpleasant form; for, as has been well remarked, "whatever draws us nearer to God cannot be real adversity, and whatever entices us from him deserves not the name of prosperity." Could we view objects in their proper light, many of those things which now overwhelm us with sorrow would appear desirable.

How happy it is for us that our lot is not at our own disposal. Were it so, I am certain we should be wretched; for the deficiency of our judgments, in connexion with our love of present ease, would lead us to reject

those afflictions which, like some unpleasant but salutary medicine, are bitter to the taste, but necessary to existence and health; and to grasp too eagerly those enjoyments which, if unaccompanied with sanctifying grace, only corrupt and vitiate the mind, and render the possession of them wearisome, and the deprivation of them insupportable, and which destroy both the means and the power of attaining true happiness, by drawing us away from Him, without whom we can no more acquire it, than animal life can be supported without breath. Let us always rejoice that God reigns, and that we are entirely at his disposal. How consolatory the thought; for the Judge of all the earth will do right. Let us, my dear sister, by this "awful warning heaven has sent," learn to esteem every thing in this life according to its Whatever cannot be depended upon, proper value. should never be trusted. Let us therefore cease to hope for happiness from the evanescent pleasures of life, and fix our eyes and our hearts upon those things which shall survive when heaven and earth have passed away.

TO A FRIEND AT B.

Killingworth, October 16, 1800.

You have, I understand, been disappointed about obtaining Dr. K. This, according to man's judgment, appears to be an inauspicious circumstance to your church. But very likely, nay most assuredly, it is designed to accomplish important purposes, and will be seen to have been productive of good in the end. Perhaps you trusted too much in an arm of flesh, and this is to teach you that all the power is of God, and to lead you to exercise stronger faith in him alone, without whose gracious assistance and blessing, every human effort to advance the Redeemer's kingdom will be ineffectual. It is desirable that very should obtain a faithful minister, one who will preach the truth in its simplicity, and who will not fear to declare the whole

you

counsel of God. And such an one, I trust, you will obtain. The people of B. have many prayers, and the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. We believe that you will yet have a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. There are many real Christians in that favoured metropolis. But some of them, though they are not dead, are sleeping. How necessary is watchfulness in order to preserve spiritual communion with the sacred THREE; without which the Christian cannot be happy, for lukewarmness in religion is as inimical to our enjoyment as it is offensive to God.

TO MISS L. OF N. H.

Boston, January 1, 1810.

THROUGH the kindness of Providence, I reached this place in safety; and now you doubtless wish to know where and how I am situated. We have been keeping house seven or eight weeks, and as I have for company one to whom the management of a family is familiar, I get along very well. Happiness, I find, is confined to no particular state or place; and I can say with the Psalmist, (I wish it were with the same pious gratitude,) Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. I also find, as I have always found, that no situation is exempt from trouble; and, while surrounded by blessings which demand my thankful acknowledgments, I see and feel in myself, and in those about me, numberless evils which excite pain, and should produce humiliation. To the soul which can, with unshaken faith, répose, not only its own cares, but those of others in whom it is interested, on the arm of Him who is mighty to save, and which can view every event, whatever be its nature or effects, as necessary to answer some wise design of providence, nothing can be so distressing as entirely to break its peace.

The truth of this remark is, I think, evinced by the

conduct of some Christians in this place, who, though they mourn the sad declension of vital piety here, are filled with joy and confidence in God, and feel that, should the times grow darker and darker, they could still trust in Him who is able to dispel the clouds of ignorance and sin which hang over us, and cause the righteousness of Zion to go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Nor does the persuasion that when God sees it most for his glory to pour out his Spirit upon us, he will do it, lead them to indulge in supineness and indifference in requesting it, and using the means to obtain it; for they remember that the promise is made to those who ask and knock and seek and strive, and that God has said he will be inquired of by the house of Israel to do these things for them. I be lieve, however, that this high degree of grace is acquir ed, and retained without interruption, by very few; though it is the duty, and, but for our wickedness, might be the privilege, of all believers to acquire and preserve it.

As to my own feelings in reference to the spiritual condition of the thousands around me, I acknowledge with shame, that they are very different from what they should be. At times, I feel a desire for their salvation, and a conviction that God is not far off. Some times I feel almost confident that he will soon cause the glorious rays of the sun of righteousness to shine upon us, with a power seldom before seen, because the darkness is greater than has commonly been known. At other times I am almost led to ask if the Lord has forgotten to be gracious, and cast off his people for ever; or I grow unmindful of the alarming situation of the impenitent, and feel little solicitude for the revival of the work of God. And in reference to my own situation, I sometimes feel as if the lines had fallen to me in pleasant places, and think my spiritual privileges greater than ever ; and at other times, I almost exclaim, Woe is me,

that I sojourn in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar! I know I am inexcusable for this inconstancy of religious feeling; but you would be less surprised at it, if you saw and heard the different persons I see, the different sermons I hear, and the different conversations I have. At one time I hear a sermon exalting to the pinnacle of praise, human virtue, and the excellence of our nature, and calling upon those to whom it is addressed, to improve those good tendencies which they naturally possess, and which, if cultivated, will lead to holiness and to heaven.* At another time I hear a sermon written with all the energy which the arguments, persuasions, and truths of Christianity can give to a discourse,—an energy in the cause of truth which appears almost irresistible. Sometimes I talk with a Christian whose every word breathes faith, humility, and love, and pours into my soul comfort and instruction. Soon after with another professed Christian who will maintain that truths, for which martyrs suffered the loss of all things, even of life, are unimportant. These things, perhaps, as I have already remarked, would not affect, so as to destroy his peace and his confidence in God, one who possessed that strong faith which views every thing, moral as well as natural evil, as under the divine direction and control. But, alas! though I know that God

*It is not said in what circumstances Mrs. H. heard such a sermon as is here described. We can easily conceive her taken by surprise by such a sermon being preached in support of some public institution, which she felt herself called to countenance, and it is likely that it was in such circumstances she heard it; but we cannot conceive an enlightened and consistent Christian deliberately and knowingly attending such preaching. We are convinced that he who said if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed," would not have done so, nor allowed others to do so with his sanction. This too quite accords with the language of the Apostle John. "If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." 2 John, 10. EDIT.