blown them up like a bladder, they began to sigh, cry, and groan for a similar blessing, and what they have sought they have found, or will find in God's time. Thus we hope and believe the weak have been strengthened, the erring reclaimed, the backsliding healed, the ignorant instructed, the lofty pulled down, and the lowly built up; and yet all in so silent a way that perhaps the very persons who have received the benefit could hardly trace out its steps, or some are perhaps too proud to own it. As under a preacher of righteousness there is often a silent and slow work going on which proves more solid than that which is more sudden and perceptible, so we believe our publication has had a gradual effect, which may prove deeper and sounder than a more immediate operation. If spiritual hearers in bondage to a letter preacher have, through us, seen his leanness, good has been done. If men and works of truth have become wider known, profit has been communicated. If a bond of union, amongst experimental people throughout England has been originated or continued through us, good has been effected. If secret encouragement has been given, through us, to champions of truth, if we have ever blown the coals or turned the grindstone so as to give their spiritual weapons a better temper or a keener edge, our publication has not been issued in vain. And if truth in our pages has stirred up and made manifest enemies, if that which has been crushed has broken out into a viper; and if experimental and heaven-sent ambassadors have been more widely separated from doctrinal preachers of the letter, our correspondents have not written, nor we published in vain. But we need every encouragement to keep our heads above water, and in the strength and name of the Tri-une God of Israel, do we hope still to continue our publication. December, 1839.

DAILY EXPERIENCE.

THE EDITORS.

My dear Friend,—1 received your kind letter, and hope I can say that I read it with some degree of comfort, for it has been the means of silencing, in some measure, the suggestions of Satan and the unbelief of my heart, and also of increasing that union which I hope is the production of the Spirit of God in my soul to you; and therefore I feel encouraged at this time, according to your request, to state some of the exercises of my mind. You do not ask for a particular account from the first of my experience until you came round these parts, but I feel as if I must say a little about it to come at what I have passed under since. For some time after I was brought into liberty I was favoured with the light of God's countenance, and from a feeling sense of the Lord's love and mercy was found attending upon the ordinances of his house; but afterwards I did not feel that nearness to, and communion with the Lord which I had experienced in earnestly supplicating him for his aid and support, nor yet in praising him for his delivering mercy; yet I hope I was not altogether without feeling, for I had checks of conscience that things were not right, for I really knew that where the grace of God was in exercise, it certainly had a different effect from what I then felt. When I have read about the trials and soul-conflicts which some of the people of God have passed under, I have found I did not come up to them; but I was soon eased in some such manner as this.

thought the Lord's family were not all led into the same depths of soultrouble; and as I was in the habit of hearing the everlasting love and decrees of God, with the security of the saints and the doctrines of grace, in a measure contended for, I was lulled into carnal security, without hearing the state of the soul in the day of prosperity or yet in adversity described, nor yet the effects of divine grace upon the soul traced out. Having stated so far, I would now say a little about what I have passed under whilst attending your ministry. From your first preaching at Rochford it has been very searching to me, for at times you have seemed to take away every prop and refuge, so that I have felt as if I had nothing to rest upon; and I have been tossed to and fro, and brought to my wit's end; and when you have been speaking of the effects of grace upon the soul, and tracing out what the fruits of the Spirit were, and showing, as well, how far hypocrites may go in embracing and contending for the doctrines of grace, I have felt my nature rise in rebellion against you to that degree that it seemed as if I could not hear you for any length of time, for you appeared to leave me without any hope at all; and yet, at times I have felt a softness of affection towards you, and have said to myself, he seems to cut me right off, and yet I feel a love to him, too. So that I can say, though it cut deep, yet there was a cleaving to it, for I have been obliged to say it is truth, and have felt persuaded that truth would stand, however I might fight against it; and my conscience told me that these things were essentially necessary to prove me a partaker of grace. You often speak against having to go back ten or twelve years for an experience, and that you firmly believe that where the grace of God is implanted in the soul, the person must meet with continual trials and soul-conflicts; for the effects of grace cannot be seen unless it be tried. And in such as did not meet with those things there was ground work enough to doubt whether ever they knew anything about a work of grace at all; and I can truly say, on account of the divisions that I felt within, there were great searchings of heart. But when you spoke from Jeremiah xxxi. 9, showing how the Lord led his people, and of the different stages of experience they passed through, and how they were enabled, by grace, to walk in a strait way, and testified of some of the things which they did not stumble at, it seemed as if I had no part in it, and I told you you had cut me off, and I found I had been weighed in the balances of God's truth, and been found wanting; and my mind was very much tried about it. I looked back for my way-marks, but could not find that I had any that I could say were real evidences of my being a child of God. I went back to what I called a beginning; but O dear! as I could not find any middle mark, I was left to doubt the beginning altogether; and under these feelings I wanted to speak to you about it, but I felt as if I could not. But if you recollect, I did say a word or two to you one night in going to Rochford about my first convictions of sin, and what you said I thought made against me, so that my feelings were worse than before; and from that time Satan set in upon me, that it was all over with me now, for I had plainly manifested what I was, and that I had been deceiving myself and others, and therefore it was of no use to make a profession any longer. I was in a sad state of confusion, for I dreaded the thought of going into the world; and yet I could not think I had anything to rest upon, for my hope seemed quite cut away; and what I felt I cannot fully relate. I felt fearful I should be quite given up to the power of the enemy. I could not plead with the Lord. I concluded I had no reason to think I was one of his children, but had been mocking him hitherto; and I thought it would

be presumption to beg for mercy any more; and how I should be able to come to Rochford I could not tell. I thought I could not bear to hear you, for I felt persuaded you would preach my condemnation; and I thought I should be forced to go out of the chapel, and it would be best for me not to go. When I was going after the horse in the morning to go to chapel, I felt of all persons the most miserable, for I could not see I had any evidence of being a partaker of grace. My first convictions, I concluded, were only from nature, and, if so, of course I had nothing to rest upon as an evidence, but, after making a profession so long, should be a cast-away at last. But as I was returning home, I felt a little relief from these words, and, in the bitterness of my soul, I exclaimed, "O Lord, deliver me, for thy name's sake." I did not know I was going to utter them, but they darted, as it were, into my soul, and then into words from my mouth, and I felt a little glimmering of hope; but when I came into the chapel, I was sunk very low in my feelings. You were in the pulpit when I came in, and I felt something like a man in the presence of his judge, expecting to hear the sentence of death passed upon him; but during your prayer I felt as if you really were praying particularly for me. Your words just suited my case; and I felt a going out of soul with you to the Lord for his mercy, and my soul was truly knit to yours. When you read your text, which was from 1 Cor. x. 13, it seemed as if you spoke it pointedly to me, and I felt crumbled down, as it were, to the dust in my feelings at the goodness and mercy of God; and as you spoke of the different conflicts and temptations which the children of God are called to pass through, I was enabled to see and believe that my distress was a temptation from the enemy of my soul, and that the Lord gave you that text to be the means of delivering me from it; and I could admire the faithfulness of God in bearing me up under the same, and of proving to me that what I thought would be to my condemnation was to be the very way of escape; and I could feelingly say, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped me." You say you had a little talk with friend D. concerning the exercises of his mind upon what you advanced in your preaching. I have spoken to him also myself, as it has been a matter of concern to me, and is to the present time, to know whether any of the Lord's family have been left so long without an anxious concern about their state. I feel yet many strugglings in my mind to know how the case stands with me. Sometimes I have hope in the Lord's mercy, but it seems almost impossible that I should be interested in so great a salvation. I want to feel more of the power of grace in my soul, and to have a spiritual discernment, to know whether what I feel is the effect of grace, or whether it only arises from Satan working upon the fleshly feelings of my nature. May the Lord bless you in your own soul, and give you encouragement by blessing your labours to the real good of his family.

Amen.

May 15, 1839.

AN ANSWER TO CLAUDIA.

M--a N-g.

Messrs. Editors,-I think, instead of being offended, we have reason rather to be pleased with "Claudia" for pointing out in your number for November, (p. 259) an error which had unwittingly crept into the "Address to the Friends of Vital Godliness." She (for I presume the writer is a female) objects, and, I believe, justly, to the expression, "their purchased inheritance;" and as I feel sure that none of those

whose names stand as trustees hold the doctrine of purchased grace, there will doubtless be a willingness to erase the expression, and substitute the word "promised," or "prepared," in its place.

It would, however, be doing injustice to the trustees to leave an impression that they drew up the address in concert, and published it as the expression of their faith. The address arose simply thus. When it was proposed to build a chapel for Mr. Tryon, it seemed necessary to state a few particulars of the principles upon which it was to be built. This was accordingly done by a friend of the cause at Deeping, and the statement was shown to myself as well as others who were considered friends to truth. In this statement I suggested some corrections, and the friend who drew it up left it in my hands to alter as I saw fit. After some vain attempts to correct it to my mind, I thought it best to model it afresh, and write a new piece altogether, which I accordingly did under the title of "An Address to the Friends of Vital Godliness." The intention was to circulate this in manuscript among the friends in the neighbourhood, but a zealous friend of truth offering to print it at his own expense, his kind proposal was embraced, and, being in print, it was thought desirable to send it for insertion in the Gospel Standard. Thus I am willing to take upon myself the blame of the error pointed out, whilst I exculpate my brother trustees, most of whom never saw the address till it was in print. It must have crept in as an oversight, for most assuredly I do not believe that Christ purchased the inheritance, though he purchased the church of God with his own blood, that it might inherit the kingdom prepared for the sheep from the foundation of the world.

And now, having acknowledged the error, as one good turn deserves another, let me ask Claudia what she means by the elect "being redeemed by the power of the Spirit?" The blessed office of the Holy Ghost is to apply and manifest redemption; but to talk of their being redeemed by the power of the Spirit is, I think, if not an erroneous, at least an unsafe and unwise expression, as confounding the distinct work of the second and third Person in the adorable Trinity. And what does Claudia mean by the elect "entering the same, (i. e., the inheritance incorruptible, &c., reserved in heaven) through Christ the door, by the almighty drawings of the Father and the propelling" (please to erase that word, Claudia, from your spiritual vocabulary) "influences of the Spirit ?" Does the inspired record tell us how the saints enter into glory? "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," said the dying Stephen. But how it is received we are not informed. As the saint passes through the valley of the shadow of death the Lord will be with him, and his rod and staff, they will comfort him; but we are no where told he will enter through Christ the door, &c. This he did when he entered into the first fruits of the inheritance below, for he then entered through Christ the door, by the almighty drawings of the Father and the influences of the Holy Spirit. But what means "propelling," Claudia? You have taken hold of my beam, suffer me to extract your mote. To propel is not in the Bible, but Johnson defines it, "drive forward." Does the Spirit drive the soul, Claudia? Ah! no. "leads," (Rom. viii. 14;) "guides," (John xvi. 13;) "teaches," (John xiv. 26;) "testifies of Jesus," &c.; but he never drives forward or propels the soul, much less propels it into heaven when it drops its mortal clay.

I am,

Messrs. Editors,

He

Stamford, Nov. 8, 1839.

Yours faithfully,

J. C. PHILPOT.

ALONE, BUT NOT ALONE.

Dear Father in the Lord,-I am never better employed than when writing of the Lord's favours. It struck me this morning that I was kept grazing on the common till I got my growth, which was the appointed time of the Father; then I was placed in the rich pastures of fatness, there to take my fill and lie down; then methought while I was feeding on the rich dainties, I desired not the common food, not but that it is pleasant still, but you cannot crave after a treasure which you are in full possession of. There is a perfume in the gospel that none can even smell the sweet scent of but the true believer, and they who are favoured with it cannot describe it, with their utmost strivings, only it has a peculiar flavour, a powerful scent that strikes the inmost part of the soul. Blessed be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is hid in him, or we should try to teach the professors that also.

I went to Parthrie Bourn on Friday, and in the church yard I had some sweet and awful reflections on the dying and the dead, and methought I could lie down beside the graves, and give up the ghost. I stood gazing on the graves, some stoned, some bricked, some brambled, some flat, and yet they will all open at the same call. Ah! what is all earthly security! On a tombstone it was written concerning a lady's pocket charity, that she had delighted every heart, and that her guardian angel could declare it, which I believe to be false. I looked up to the church with a heavy sigh, and exclaimed, "Dark and mournful are all thy ways." Blessed be God who has brought me out of it, and in sweet solitude I enjoyed myself very much indeed.

Sir, you do not understand me when I say, "What can I expect from men?" I do not mean they cannot be the means of instructing in the scripture, for I know they have instructed me very much, but the blessing belongeth to God only. When the Lord sends passages into my soul, and applies them to me as my own, and enables me to feed upon them, this is riches indeed which no man can bestow. When I used to sit under the word, it was mostly an inquiry with me, and when I got any thing, the answer within was, "Well, surely I can come in there," and so on. But when the Great King has taken me by the hand and said, "Come in," I could not walk back, and ask his subjects if I might go in. No, Sir; I think you could not. Pray, Sir, think not that I am haughty because I speak so firmly. I rejoice in nothing save in Christ Jesus my Lord and my everlasting Husband. Having once made love to me, will be deceive me? I firmly answer, with tears of love and gratitude, No. How good and merciful is the Lord in sending messages of consolation from his mouth to me. I had almost made up my mind not to go to Sturry chapel any more, but the moment I heard that wicked Balaam blessed the people, I was reconciled. I thought you were very beautiful on it. I knew the passage very well, but who but a man of God could have brought it forth and opened it so experimentally? I am happy to say, my heart being my companion, my tongue can faintly express the communion I have with Christ, and the sweet peace with which he blesses us under all the troubles we meet with on earth. Again, I do not see that worldly troubles belong to us any more than worldly pleasures. Nothing but the affliction of soul belongeth to us, and the blessed opening of the most holy Scriptures in my sight. No; even our children, as we call them, belong not to us. Why are we so troubled, at times, about them, to prolong their lives, and, in a word, to do as we please with them? We bring them not up for ourselves I plainly see by the inspiration of the blessed