in spite of light, love, and knowledge-redeeming love. It is truly humbling, that nothing less than God can make us understand what is plain, desire what is good, avoid what is evil; how much more so is it, that at the very moment our judgment tells us, there is but one path of pleasantness and peace, at the moment conscience is convincing us how grievous and bitter a thing it is to depart from our God, when past experience with an enlightened understanding unite in exclaiming, "To whom shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life; even at that very moment, nothing less than an Almighty spirit can make us will, not to forsake the fountain of living water which we have tasted, and to hew out with labour, to our misery, cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water. Oh! let us beware of our first neglect of our Lord. Our beloved can bear any thing better than neglect. Let us with John, lean on the bosom of Jesus; there learn love, as he learned it. Thus shall the mind be in us that was in Christ; for love is the fulfilling of the law. I did hear something lately unbecoming a Christian, of dwelling on it, I hope to benefit myself; for it is a point, alas, I particularly fail in, as, no doubt, you have observed. I mean, speaking severely of God's children, forgetting that he that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye; that words aimed at them, pierce him; that all is laid at the charge of and in that cause for which we profess to live, and to be willing to die. I think we should be very sure of an action, before we speak of it, which we do not consider commendable, and not then unless for good. LETTER XVII. October 23, 1827. Often, often has Satan stopped my way, not only by the idea that those I spoke to might think I practised what I said, but because I found hid in some chamber of imagery a desire that they should think so; but at last I found out the idea came out of Satan's opiate box. Some lessons we do not learn till after long experience, such as these-First, we are not to do evil that good may come. Second, when sin lies heavy on our conscience, we are to force ourselves into the presence of God-not skulk from him, &c. Third, we are not to flee from Satan, but resist, in order that he may flee from us; blessed to be under the Lord's teaching, to be trained up by him in the way we should go, to have Jesus representing God to us, representing us to God, to have Jesus interceding for the sinner with God, to have the Spirit interceding for God with the sinner. Blest to be rising in his school, though every class presents a more difficult lesson. Blessed to have a waste heart, to feel it a wilderness, a desert fitted to receive and rejoice in such promises as this, (true with regard to us though stolen from Jews,) "The Lord shall comfort thee; he shall comfort all thy waste places; he will make thy wilderness like Eden, thy desert as the garden of the Lord," "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." LETTER XVIII. May 30, 1828. In what a ruinous heap is all God's work, once declared to be very good; from the top, to the bottom of creation, from the lion, to the spider, each carrying on the history of Cain and Abel; man most like Satan of all, for instance, slaves. And shall it be always so? Shall this be Messiah's conquest? that his saints are to take flight and leave his handy work to be destroyed? What a triumph to Satan to sweep away in his destruction that lovely work of six days, on which Jehovah looked with delight, over which "Wisdom" rejoiced and delighted-the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy! No! let creation groan and wait a little longer for difficult lesson. Blessed to have a waste heart, to feel it a wilderness, a desert fitted to receive and rejoice in such promises as this, (true with regard to us though stolen from Jews,) “The Lord shall comfort thee; he shall comfort all thy waste places; he will make thy wilderness like Eden, thy desert as the garden of the Lord," "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." LETTER XVIII. May 30, 1828. In what a ruinous heap is all God's work, once declared to be very good; from the top, to the bottom of creation, from the lion, to the spider, each carrying on the history of Cain and Abel; man most like Satan of all, for instance, slaves. And shall it be always so? Shall this be Messiah's conquest? that his saints are to take flight and leave his handy work to be destroyed? What a tri struction Satan to sweep away in his ix days, on wha ich "Wisuur ng star ad Juted i |