As soon as I reached the water it went off as fast as I saw it before, and through the sea I went, hoping to get out on the opposite side: but no! it turned with me back again; and, when I had gone an immense way in the water, I came to the largest wheat stack I ever saw, which stood upon pillars. I begged so earnestly to stay by this stack of corn, and not to go any farther, that it waked me out of my sleep in great agitation, and in a few minutes after this scripture came upon my mind, "When thou passeth through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee," Isa. xliii. 2. Which kind promise has hitherto been fulfilled, for God hath been with me and supported me through all my afflictions, and he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," Heb. xiii. 5. So that we may boldly say the Lord is our helper; "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life," Jam. i. 12. Grace and strength have hitherto been equal to my day, and all has worked together for my good; "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot," Psalm xvi. 5. After Abraham had patiently endured he obtained the promise, Heb. vi. 15. The Lord will not forsake his people, nor does he willingly grieve nor afflict his children; but as every man's work is to be re

vealed by fire, faith, like gold, must be tried; and Peter informs us what this furnace is intended for, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ," 1 Peter i. 7. The Lord watcheth over his people for good, and he is nigh unto all that fear him; he keeps them night and day: and may the Lord enable me to stand fast, to fight the good fight of faith, and to finish my course with joy; he is able to keep that we commit unto him against that day, and has promised to bring all his ransomed people to Zion; "Happy are the people that are in such a case, yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."

Before I began to write this narrative I was quite at a loss to know how to proceed, and as if I knew not where to begin, nor what to say; when this scripture came upon my mind, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you," John xiv. 26. And as I went on things came fresh to my mind, which when I had time I wrote down, and the promise was fulfilled, "He shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you." Formerly when I was under heavy and grievous trials, I used to look at them as coming in anger and in a vin

dictive way, which sunk me very low but now, blessed be God, I am enabled to view them differently; Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee," Deut. viii. 5. And I believe the intention of the Most High, in all the sufferings that I have had to this day, has been to humble me, to prove me, and to do me good in my latter end; "All that I love," saith the Lord, "I rebuke and chasten." God will visit sin with the rod; but he hath promised, saying, "My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips," Psalm lxxxix. 33, 34.

I bless the Lord, and rejoice in my heart to hear of your success in bringing souls to Christ Jesus, the only friend of lost helpless sinners. "He that is our God is the God of salvation.” God Almighty be with and bless my dear friend, more and more, whom he hath been pleased to make the instrument of bringing to my heart the glad tidings of his most blessed salvation. Many I know have consulted to cast him down from his excellency; but in this they have failed, and brought ruin upon their own heads; none ever fought against God and prospered. that receiveth whomsoever I send," saith the Saviour, "receiveth me." The Lord's hand is made known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies: the council of the

"He

wicked he bringeth to nought.

"So let all thine

enemies perish, O Lord; but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might," Judges v. 31.

Most affectionately yours,

JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN.

LETTER LXI.

To Mrs. BERRY, Greek Street, Soho.

DEAR FRIEND,

By particular desire I take up my pen, though in a very unfit state, being weak in body, and dark, barren, and lifeless in soul, but hope it will not be so long; for we are told that, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." I have been till within this last month kept nearer to the Lord, and have had greater liberty with him in prayer, than I ever had before, which makes me more sensibly feel my deadness; but believe I shall soon be delivered from it. Hope, ere this, the Doctor is recovered of the illness you mentioned in your last; not only for the good of God's church and people, but to expose those heretics that write or preach against so faithful and valuable a servant of

the Lord as he is, of which we have had a recent witness in our own family. It is by the desire of my sister Gardner, of Bodicott, that I now write to inform you of the dealings of God with her soul, thinking you might sometime or other communicate the same to Mr. Huntington. Had it been in her power, she would have immediately sent him the whole account herself; but she says, that words cannot express the unutterable love she feels towards him. She has for many years been a sincere seeker of the Lord Jesus Christ, and almost as long an admirer of Mr. H. and a constant reader of his works; and very great establishment she has derived from them, which she has often told me, and declared, that, if that dear man of God (meaning Mr. H.) was right, so was she.

I was at Bodicott about a month before Christmas, when she appeared in great distress of soul, and complained that her temptations were very great, and of a different kind to any that she had ever experienced before; For,' continued she, 'I always from a child had very high and exalted thoughts of the Saviour; but now they are so mean, so base, and so blasphemous, as to make my blood rankle in my veins.' And she wept like a child; it grieved me to the very soul to see her in such a state.

At Christmas I saw her again, when she appeared more composed, as the temptation, though not removed, was much weakened, from the ef fects of a letter Mr. H. had sent to a Mr. Cort of