as regards the unregenerate; and the ordinances of God's appointment will prove dry breasts even to the regenerate, unless his still small voice be heard in the heart, working faith and love.

During my stay at C. the people were generally observant of the outward ordinances; but those whom I met with, and who conversed with me, said that they had nought to say against the word delivered, except that there was no power with it; that there were no searchings of heart, no meltings of soul, no humblings before the Lord, on account of the much more aboundings of grace over the aboundings of sin. I think, therefore, that there is an importance in the word preach which is worthy of consideration; for the apostles were to "tarry" until they were "endued with power;" and it is said of them, that where they went, the Lord worked with them, and accompanied the same with signs; and that he manifested by them the "savour" of his knowledge, or the knowledge of himself, in every place. You, my dear brother, have known the truth of this for many years past in your experience; for the Lord hath worked and doth work with you.

It is a sad state for a man to be in, when he is satisfied with his ear being pleased whilst his heart is unaffected; for unless a man believes in his heart, it is only hypocrisy in him to make a confession with his mouth. If the apostle's prayer was to know more of Christ and "the power of his resurrection," we may be sure, as we know personally for ourselves, that the knowledge of Christ merely in the head is what the apostle calls "a form of godliness, whilst they deny the power thereof." To be under the deep experience of our own vileness, "black, but comely," is divine teaching, and will make a man a good disciple; for he will hate himself for all his abominations, and loathe himself for what is within him. And this divine teaching will make him rejoice in Christ Jesus, seeing that he is as much his sanctification as he is his righteousness, wisdom, and redemption. Blessed indeed are those who have unction from the Holy One, and know all things; for such are sanctified wholly by the very God of peace, who can "give power always, and by all means;" and such, like Job, have an experience of their own vileness, and abhor themselves; which agrees with the apostle's experience in Romans vii.

My dear brother will perceive that I have forgotten to whom I am writing; for you are much more capable of writing to me upon this subject than I am of writing to you. Forgive me, then, for this impertinence. Yours in the Lord,

AN INQUIRY.

F. S.

Messrs. Editors,-Permit me to ask the favour of some of your correspondents to give me their thoughts on Philippians iv. 4: " Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice." And may God the Holy Spirit so enable them to explain it that it may be the means, in his hands, to relieve a mind which has been thrown into much darkness, and many doubts and fears, by hearing a sermon preached

from it. The preacher declared that it was an absolute command of God to "rejoice always;" and, in order to strengthen the text, he alluded to the eunuch who, after coming up out of the water, went on his way rejoicing, quoting several other passages of scripture to prove the always rejoicing. Permit me to say that this kind of preaching is so diametrically opposed to my experience that if the preacher be right, I am wofully wrong; for "I am bowed down by reason of affliction;" and my soul is groaning, sighing, and longing after the sweet and precious manifestations of God's presence, pardon, and deliverance. I often feel a heavy burden of sin and guilt, a guilty conscience condemning me, and an artful devil tempting me. Bless the Lord, I have some seasons of rejoicing; I have sometimes a glimpse of the dear Redeemer through the lattice. Then I can view him as "the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely," and can feel his ever-precious name as "the ointment poured forth." But, alas! these rejoieings are but seldom.

The same preacher says that we have nothing to do with experience, or frames and feelings; but, without them, how am I to know that the Lord is working within me "to will and to do of his own good pleasure;" or how am I to know that the work of regeneration by God the Holy Ghost has taken place in my soul, if I do not feel it? It is my opinion that the dead soul cannot have any feeling, spiritually; but, when quickened by the Spirit of God, it becomes living soul, and has the most acute feeling.

I am, yours sincerely in the bonds of the gospel, London, Oct., 1843.

A DEBTOR TO GRACE AND MERCY.

THE BARREN FIG TREE.

Messrs Editors,-Our object in writing to you is that we may be favoured with your opinion upon the subject of the barren fig tree. (Luke xiii. 6-9.) It was represented to us by one of the gentlemen preachers of our day, that that tree was planted in the vineyard by God the Father, and that the dressers of the vineyard were first pious parents, then Sabbath school teachers, and afterwards ministers of the gospel; and when God the Son came to seek for fruit, these dressers pleaded with him to spare the tree, promising to be more zealous in their prayers and teachings, in order that they might better cultivate that barren (profession) tree. Then Christ himself was represented as being the dresser, and God the Father represented as coming to seek for fruit, and the Father, the Son, angels, ministers, teachers, and parents were alike disappointed, but God the Holy Ghost was left out altogether.

Now, dear Sirs, if you, or some of your correspondents, through the medium of your periodical, would oblige us with a few words. upon the above parable, we shall be truly thankful, and it may be made a blessing to some of the Lord's tried ones.-Yours affectionately for the truth's sake,

September 12, 1843.

THE OUTCAST BAND.

"I SOUGHT THE LORD, AND HE HEARD ME."

Dear Friends in the kingdom and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ,-Having been much exercised of late as it regards my personal interest in the everlasting love of the eternal Jehovah, I thought it might be of some use to the tried family of heaven were I to relate a few particulars how the Lord has graciously delivered me from all my fears.

I had for some time been favoured with much sweet communion with my heavenly Father, and had enjoyed free access to the throne of mercy, and often longed to be at home, in the presence of my best Beloved, that I might enjoy nearer communion, and gaze more fully on the smiles of his loving countenance for ever. But it pleased God to lay upon me a heavy trial concerning some things which I had thought to be his work, and in which I had frequently sought at the throne of mercy for his direction. My heart (with shame be it spoken) boiled up in such awful rebellion against the God of heaven, in his divine sovereignty, that I told him in my heart that I would never pray to him any more, nor ask another favour at his hands. But God knew well how to deal with his rebellious worm. He left me to fall, in soul feeling, almost into the pit of hell; I doubted my interest in the finished work of Jesus, nay, I may say I fully believed that I never had any standing in him at all. "Ah," thought I, "I am like wicked Cain, or Esau; God has set the mark of reprobation on my forehead, and every one that sees me shall know it too." O how ashamed 1 was to lift up my head before God's dear people! for I remembered the word of truth," which says, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them;" and similar awful portions of God's word rolled in upon my mind, amongst which was the following: "There remaineth nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." I thought myself worse than the lost spirits in hell, for they had never sinned against so much goodness and mercy, nor had they tasted of the grace of God, as I once thought I had. The covenant of mercy appeared to be for ever lost to my view; and I feared that God would never more be gracious to my poor soul, for he had driven me almost to the brink of despair, and, to my view, well nigh to destruction. But, to the honour of his great and holy name, I would tell of his matchless mercy and condescending love to a sinful worm, in bringing me up again from the gates of death. The Lord was pleased to put a cry into my poor heart, when I was in the depths of soul affliction, and I said if ever it was the will of his blessed Majesty to reach down the arm of his mercy, and to bring me out of this horrible pit, I would exclaim, as did Jonah, "Salvation is of the Lord." God heard my cry, and sent deliverance to his poor unworthy worm; and he gave me such a sweet view of a suffering Saviour bearing my sins in his own body upon the tree, that I wept with grief and joy at the same timewith grief at the tremendous load of suffering which Jesus endured

on account of my transgressions, and with joy at the rich aboundings of his love in pardoning my iniquity, and bringing salvation home to my poor soul. Thus you will see that God gave repentance unto life, and faith in the rich atonement of Christ, that I might magnify his mercy, and testify of his everlasting love to many generations.

May the blessing of the God of Israel be with both writer and reader for ever and ever. Amen.

MARY.

THE THREEFOLD CORD WHICH IS NOT

QUICKLY BROKEN.

Dear Brother and Beloved of God,-May the Lord of all lords sustain you with the bread of heaven, and with abundance of the good old wine of the kingdom, in all your trials whilst passing through this wilderness of sin and woe, out of the eternal fulness of Him who has never been a barren wilderness to his people. No, my brother, he has ever been, he still is, and he ever will be a hidingplace from the storm, a covert from the wind, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. How eternally blessed and everlastingly safe are all they who know the Father and the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, "for theirs is life eternal," saith our eternal Fulness of all blessedness, "that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Blessed be the name of the Lord, he has manifested himself to us, poor hell-deserving mortals, as a God of everlasting love, and made us accepted in the Beloved; and this, too, when we were enemies to him by wicked works, and "dead in trespasses and sins;" and by his free and all-powerful grace, he has brought us, poor helpless sinners, to his dear Son for life and endless salvation, notwithstanding all our sin, filth, guilt, temptations, and the terrors of the law. And bless the name of our dear Jesus, he has brought us to know the Father as a God of boundless mercy. Yes, my dear brother, He has shown us, by the power of his Spirit, that our sins are pardoned through his obedience, blood, and righteousness; and that, too, at a time when we stood trembling on the brink of ruin, looking for nothing but eternal torment, the just reward of our sin and rebellion. So that we have received the threefold witness of the eternal Jehovah, in and through that dearest name of all names, Jesus; and we are at times enabled to say with good old Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation;" and, blessed be God, it is a salvation of his own preparing, and in which alone he hath saved his beloved ones, and in which he, as a God of love, mercy, and grace, receiveth them, and that for ever: "Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Now, my brother, have we not received the threefold record of the Almighty? Yes, bless his glorious name, we have, let men or devils say what they will. The Father's voice within us was, I

have loved thee with an everlasting love, and have blotted out thy sins, and will not remember them any more;" the dear Saviour's voice was, and still is, "Peace be unto you; return unto me; I have redeemed you; ye are mine;" and the voice of the eternal Spirit of love in our hearts was, "Abba, Father," bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.

"Thus, God Three-One to sinners lost
Salvation sends, procures, and seals."

And this never-to-be-lost blessing is as free to us as the rain and dew from heaven, which never tarry for the goodness of men, nor wait for the merit of the sons of men. This I am a daily witness of, for none can be more unworthy than myself. Ah, my brother, I would not have salvation in any other way, nor in any other hands than it is for all the world. It is now out of the reach of both men and devils, and what is a still greater blessing, it is out of our own power to lose or forfeit it. This is a mercy we cannot fathom; it is above the heavens, and reaches to the lowest hell; it overtops all our sins, and goes lower than all our crimes: "I will praise thee with my whole heart, for thy mercy is above the heavens; and thou hast delivered me from the lowest hell." This boundless mercy is in the heart of Jesus, and praise be to him for it.

That God may ever bless you, is the prayer of, yours to serve in the bonds of the gospel, February, 1841.

E. P.

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S GRACIOUS · DEALINGS WITH ONE OF THE ELECT VESSELS OF MERCY.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."-2 Tim. i. 9.

It is not the intention of the writer of this account to particularize the vicissitudes of the first fourteen years of his existence, though, by the tender mercies of a covenant God, his worthless life was brought through many precarious ills. The object of the writer is to show forth the riches of God's free grace as flowing down to one of the vilest of the vile. There are two things which happened while under this age which I desire to mention with thankfulness to my God aud Father for preserving my life and frustrating the designs of wicked

men.

When about nine years of age I was at play with a school-fellow, and he having hid himself in a carpenter's shop, I ran in after him, when two young men seized me, and made me swallow a quantity of sugar of lead. I ran home as soon as I could, and it was soon manifest to those within that something was the matter. A doctor who lived near was soon on the spot, and the means used for removing the poison from my stomach were blessed, for I soon recovered. Two or three years after this, I took a very spirited young horse out of my father's stable, and after I got upon its back, away it went till it reached the top of the town, where it threw me with such violence