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Also that you may from thence sound out far and near those blessed truths of the gospel which are the stay and support of His own; comforting, refreshing, and enriching their souls both in speaking and writing and may your own soul be so abundantly watered, that you may experience the rain come down in copious showers, bringing peace to your inner man, and many seals to your ministry; that you be not faint by the

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way, but abounding in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I have extended my letter further than I anticipated; but I felt constrained, on reading the two articles referred to, to write to you, therefore forgive my tediousness; and begging an interest in your supplications at the throne of grace, believe me, in much Christian love, yours very affectionately in covenant union, N. Y. A.

THE SWEETS OF AFFLICTION.

MY DEAR BROTHER IN EVERLASTING | way, and make us lie low at His feet. BONDS,-As I was spending last even- But we get the sweets out of them; by ing with Miss M., she told me you these things men live, and this is the life would like to see the little Memoir of our spirit. We cannot know the which I wrote of one who was once the healing branch, unless the waters are idol of my heart; but the dear Lord in bitter. I am glad to see, by your Old tenderest love took her from me, and, Jonathan, that there is a spirit of hearing from my heart of hearts, I do bless His among the people where you are labourholy name for the stroke. He made ing, and that you get the temporary indeed a void, but it was to fill it Him- church full. The Lord bless you abunself; and He has caused me often to dantly in your work, and give you sweet say, Blessed affliction! blessed weaning! tokens from time to time that He has Son of man, behold I take from thee much people there. As you will have the desire of thine eyes with a stroke." many trials, crosses, and oppositions, But though I could not then under- may your soul be strengthened and stand why the stroke was so severe, I encouraged by the assurance that the now see and feel it was in love to my Lord is working with you, and confirmsoul, that I might find my all in Him. ing the Word in the hearts of His elect I have given just her own simple people by signs following. The circumthoughts, which, though sometimes for stances connected with building a new want of more light, are rather confused, church will no doubt gather around you yet it shows Spirit-teaching in the soul, a large number of all sorts; but the and the true experience of one who separating Word of truth will be sure to knew the plague of her own heart, and mark out the precious from the vile; was longing to know more of Jesus. and out of the heap of rubbish may the She had not been favoured with such dear Lord enable you to search out faithful, discriminating, and experi- many precious jewels, who shall spangle mental preaching as some are privileged in the crown of our Immanuel in the to enjoy; for she had been years listen- day of His coming. The richest coming to the yea-nay teaching of the forts of the God of all grace and consomerit-mongers, as Luther calls them. lation rest on you in your labours, that But towards the last she was pretty His Word by your mouth may wound well weaned from such uncertain sounds, and heal, kill and make alive, and the and found a delight in the full, finished, savour of the knowledge of His dear free, sovereign, and everlasting work of name be made manifest to the glory of a precious Christ, on which alone her our God and Saviour. soul rested. Ah! how much pruning, weaning, humbling, and breaking down we want all the while to keep us in the

Yours in Him who is our hope,
Bath.
A. S. G.

THOUGH Faith may look upon God, and to stare too much upon Him, is the way that with much comfort; yet, for Reason to lose her sight.-Arrowsmith.

LETTERS OF THE LATE MR. A. TRIGGS.

3, Angell Road, Brixton, London, Sept. 10, 1857.

TO MR. AND MRS. SEWELL.

I desire to stand with you at the threshold of these depths of God, and to ponder them over in their fulness, believing the truth of what the Holy MY BROTHER AND SISTER, BELOVED Ghost saith to us, "All are yours, and OF AND IN THE LORD,-The peace of ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's;" God rule in your hearts, and the Word and this God is our God for ever and of Christ dwell in you richly. Love, ever, and He will be our guide over blood, and salvation abound in you, and death. We are now passed from death you abound in hope by the power of the unto life, being partakers of the first Holy Ghost, and so live and walk in the resurrection; and raised up together Spirit in peace with God, through Jesus with Christ, the resurrection and the Christ our Lord; for He, Jesus only, is life, cannot die any more; are the chilour peace, and He is the peace of God, the dren of God, being the children of the God of peace, and hath made peace resurrection, that we should be to the through the blood of His cross; and we praise of the glory of His grace, that have redemption in His blood, the for- hath made us accepted in the Beloved. giveness of sins, and He, the most high And of Him the Father saith, "This is God, is our Redeemer, and obtained my beloved Son, in whom my soul deeternal redemption for us, and we have lighteth and is well pleased;" and the salvation in Him with eternal glory. Lord is well pleased with us for His Who can calculate the vast blessed-righteousness' sake; and that we should ness we have in Christ? To live in a be to the praise of His glory, who first knowledge of Him is eternal life; and trusted in Christ, in whom also we having received Him, Christ Jesus the trusted after we heard the word of Lord, we walk in Him, the way of life, above sin, death, Satan, curse, and wrath, reconciled unto God; and who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ?

truth, &c.; and they that trust in the Lord shall be, and are, as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever, and we trust in the Lord for ever, and pour out our hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us.

Beloved ones, we are as free from condemnation and the power of sin as our What a precious Lord Jesus ours is! most glorious Christ, who saith, "If the He is our all and in all; He is God, the Son therefore shall make you free, ye author of life and of eternal salvation; shall be free indeed;" and though we and He hath saved us in Himself with say, "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwell-an eternal salvation. An heart-expeeth no good thing," yet we are more than rience of these things, by the power and conquerors through Him that loved us; demonstration of the Spirit, maketh the and in the assurance of this, we freely lame man leap like an hart, and the say, "Who shall lay anything to the tongue of the dumb to sing of the charge of God's elect? it is God that mercies of the Lord for ever, and, with justifieth," &c. And as the inhabitants David, to each other say, "O come, let of the Rock, we sing, "Behold God is us sing unto the Lord a new song, for my salvation: I will trust and not be He hath done marvellous things; His afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my right hand and holy arm hath gotten strength and my song. He also is be- Him the victory." And all is put down. come my salvation." And because of this, to our account; and we daily exult in sin shall not have dominion over us, for the mercy, saying, "Thanks be unto we are not under the law but under God who giveth us the victory through grace; and grace reigns through our Lord Jesus Christ." And this righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus" experience worketh hope, and hope Christ our Lord, who was made sin maketh not ashamed," because the love for us, who knew no sin, that we might of God is shed abroad in the heart by be made the righteousness of God in the Holy Ghost. And in and by the Him. Oh! the depth of the riches, &c. fellowship of the Spirit we say, "Truly

our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ;" and if we suffer with Him (not for Him) we shall be also glorified together; and as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation aboundeth by Christ, and Himself is the consolation of Israel. I have thus far ran on without let or hinderance; and again I salute you, saying, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. I do not wonder at the statement you make relative to the preaching of the gospel in Oxford; it is a city of priests, and there is no room for Jesus the High Priest after the order of Melchisedec.

The language of such men-made priests hath been, and is now, "We will not have this man to reign over us." Yet, I doubt not but there are a few grains of salt hid in holes and corners as the preservative of the city; and who can yet tell what the Lord hath directed your steps there for? Wait, watch, and look, the word of our God shall stand for ever. My leg continues very sadly and painful, and produces sleepless hours. I am ready to depart to be with Christ. My Mary unites with me in love to you, because you belong to Christ.

Yours in our precious Lord Jesus,
A. TRIGGS.

3, Angell Road, Brixton, London, June 30, 1859. MY BROTHER, BELOVED OF AND IN THE LORD,-Paul declares, and we believe the truth, "All things are yours;

ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's;" yet our privilege is to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the naine of the Lord." All her sufferings and afflictions are ended : a few days more and so will ours; and God will wipe all tears away. Jesus suffered, "the just for the unjust," and we have fellowship with Him in His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; and being partakers of Him, the first resurrection, we cannot die any more; we are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection, "Heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, joined to the Lord and one Spirit."

My wife unites with me in love to you, because you belong to Christ; and we pray the Lord to give you patience, and cause you to stand still and see the salvation of God, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost, and we will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever.

I have been suffering much for many weeks past from wounds and inflammation in my left foot; many a sleepless hour it hath produced; but there is no anger nor wrath manifested, nor is it punishment for sin. I am obliged to sit with my foot up, and I have need of patience. I am ordered to ride out; that I leave with my gracious Lord and God: I feel no desire only to stand before the people and preach Jesus and the resurrection. A few words from you will be very acceptable.

Yours in our precious Lord Jesus,
A. TRIGGS.

LOOK TO JESUS! LOOK ABOVE!

WAY-WORN labourer of the cross,
Called to suffer pain and loss,
From this earth thine eyes remove-
Look to Jesus-look above.
Former friends are far away,
None to aid thee-none to pray;
None to soothe thee-none to love-
Look to Jesus-look above.

Satan may thy soul surprise,
And his agents thee despise ;

One there is-oh! test His love-
Look to Jesus-look above.

Brooke.

Fears within and foes without,
Toiling saint, yield not to doubt;
Can thy Saviour cease to love?
Look to Jesus-look above.

Roll thy burden on the Lord,
Trust Him, and His faithful word;
Will He not thy faith approve ?
Look to Jesus-look above.
Soon thy toiling will be o'er,
Thou shalt sorrow never more;
Through the plains of glory rove,
See thy Jesus-look and love.

D. J.

GOD manifests most of His love to us when we are in the lowest abasement.Romaine.

LIFE, AS WELL AS LIGHT.

FOR the information of merely intellectual professors, dissertations upon doctrines, and opinions, and prophecy, and duties, will pass current and satisfy. Not so, however, when a trembling, sin-burdened Rahab is anxiously awaiting her deliverance from wrath to come, from the impending and certain destruction of doomed Jericho. Here the true token must consist of home-brought and inwrought testimony by the Spirit, respecting that precious blood which cleanseth from all sin; and I know of no way so sweetly calculated to confirm the anxious sinner in the knowledge of this grand token, or to convince him that what he now knows and perceives of its soul-sustaining power, is the beginning of the very deliverance he so earnestly desires and seeks, as to say to him, "Come, dear brother, for you fear God, and I will tell you what He hath done for my soul."

Windows have two uses: they are inlets of both air and light. The Spirit of life enters the windows of the soul first, and the true light of spiritual life is borne upon its wings. The experience of a child of God, in his new creation, corresponds with the Lord's description of the old creation. The great work is done at one grand creation-stroke by the Almighty Spirit, but its developments come into open visibility and order by a series of successive manifestations of power, wisdom, and love, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." But when this creative power is put forth in the dark soul of a dead sinner, at first-just as it was with the old creation-"The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." How formless and how void was thy poor soul, my brother, when first thy windows were

opened and the Spirit entered! But the Spirit of the Lord was there, moving upon the waters, or brooding-a word full of sweet teaching when applied to the new creation, since it contains in it the tender, dove-like care of the parent fluttering over its brood, just then springing into life. And can it be that a soul brought thus far can ever be left to perish? No! eternal praises to the Lord. That blessed Holy Comforter, who is the great operator in this mighty work-far mightier than the creation of worlds, which, when they have run their race, and have grown old as doth a garment, Jesus Himself as a vesture shall fold them up (Heb. i. 12)—shall brood over and carry on His grand work until, in one eternal chorus, the morning stars shall sing together, and the sons of God shall shout aloud for joy.

If the safe conduct through the pilgrim-journey, and the growth in grace depended upon the poor, feeble little brood, then indeed there would be ground for terror and dismay; yea, for black despair! Every truly Spirittaught child of God feels that no word of Jesus could be more true than that "without me ye can do nothing!" But since the Holy Ghost knows that we are total helplessness, while, at the same time, it is by His own divine power we have been brought into spiritual being; and while His own eternal glory, arising from the perfect accomplishment of that branch of the salvation of the church which was assigned to Him in the covenant of grace, depends upon our final presentation among the redeemed of the Lord, does it not follow of necessity, that having called the passive recipient of His grace into spiritual life, He will so brood over His own work that it shall finally grow up, under His divine ministry, to the fulness of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus ?-Gospel Lecturer.

I HOPE this will find you with your soul | even my own mother's children, nay, winged for heaven, and this poor, my spiritual children, will cease from earthly, good-for-nothing world, under troubling me, and my weary soul will your feet. Could I fly away, you should enjoy an everlasting rest.—Whitefield. never see me till we meet at the right hand of God. There the wicked, and

What we win by prayer, we shall wear with comfort.-Dodd.

'WAYSIDE NOTES.

"Here a little and there a little."-Isa. xxviii. 10.

belongs to Jesus, and you have had no hand in the matter. And, beloved, surely such convictions tend to make us always on the look out for the Spirit. There is the captain on the gangway, he has the management of the ship, and all eyes, from the man at the helm to the boy on the ladder, are fixed upon him. If a heavy sea threatens to break over the ship, it is not for the seaman to fly here, and let go this sail and the other rope, the captain's movement must command all, or general confusion would be the result; and so I want to feel it is the Holy Spirit that must alone guide, and the eye not be looking at the seas a-head, and the probable consequence of shipping them, but be kept upon the Captain of our salvation, who, through the Holy Spirit, will command all well; and, by frequent tackings, by here a little and there a little, will bring the weatherbeaten bark safe enough into the haven of eternal rest. And I think this shows us not to despise instrumentalities, however humble, because the Lord makes use of whom He will. We shall know nothing by-and-by of the wretched mud walls which separate Christians now, and it is a great drawback, individually and collectively, as Christians, to know so much of it here.

ОH, beloved, how various are the ways the Spirit uses to make Jesus increasingly precious to our souls! Perhaps great darkness of soul has, for some time past, existed, and all has been very cold and dreary, and in some way, in His own signal workings, He leads him into the company of the Lord's dear people. Perhaps he feels, for some time, increasingly chilly in their midst, and says within himself, This is no place for me; I had better have remained in solitude; I am fit society for none; when some little sentence is dropped from an unlooked-for source, or some fellow-sinner is led out in prayer; and oh! the snowy feelings are melted, the hard heart separates into pieces, and the refreshing water of life springs up through the broken fragments, and what a season of enjoyment follows. And the poor soul feels and knows that this is the Lord's leading, that he might get a little comfort, and, lifting up heart, forgets his burdens, and sings for joy that he can trace the good hand of his God still upon him, and that not yet has He failed in Ilis covenant promises concerning him; and so it is, step by step, here a little and there a little, that the dear Lord teaches us to profit, and is making us meet to be partakers with the saints of the inheritance in light. Great, and, if we may so term A few evenings ago we were drawn, it, regular means of grace, ofttimes prove by unlooked-for influences, into a prayera dull formality, while little springs are meeting; and as we entered, a man, apmade to refresh us most; and it is there-parently a groom or horse-keeper, was at fore that we should so wait upon the Holy prayer, and if ever we heard true prayer Spirit with the inquiry, Blessed Spirit, it was there; and we were told afterwhat is next thy will? And though it wards that the man "could not read a is surely difficult always to say, Well, I word." What matter; there was the firmly believe this step is of the Spirit, channel, or minor-pipe, which led down when our inner man hardly felt His gra- through the great golden pipe the golden cious presence, yet He clears up the oil into my poor soul, and I felt it was matter by the fruits and effects, as if to one of the "here a little' "that the show us, Now you must not merely Spirit had appointed for my spiritual throw yourself into my hands for guid- advancement and encouragement. And ance, but also for " every good thing again, who that frequents the bed-side which is promised; you must decrease of the Lord's afflicted ones, has not felt to very nothingness, while Jesus in- that such opportunities are never-to-becreases in your experience. You must forgotten seasons with him? Ofttimes he wait in the exercise of soul itself, and learns much more from the afflicted one believe, though you see not my hand than he can impart, although the Spirit immediately that it is close by, because pleases to make it mutually edifying. I want to show you that all the glory We felt this peculiarly a short time ago.

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