AN OUTLINE OF

MR. FORD'S EXPERIENCE,

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF,

PROBABLY WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO OF HIS DEATH.

IT pleased God, at an early age, to convince me of sin, and increasingly, though gradually, to discover some of the deceitfulness of my heart, so that I have trembled in myself, and often been alarmed at the sound of my own footsteps; yet I loved the way of sinners, and would have broken through the parental restraints under which, in the Lord's goodness, I was kept, but He prevented me. At times I prayed to the Lord for mercy, and felt a secret hope I should one day obtain it, which hope was strengthened by a dream:-I was with my brothers and sisters in a large room, where a person was expected at whose disposal was the certain earnest of heaven and hell. After waiting anxiously, a tall, comely person entered, and, coming to me, gave me something, and then passed to a sister and imparted to her, to whom I said, "We are the worst in the house, and yet we have got it." After this I felt at times more anxiety and more frequent crying that I might be born again, &c., and, when about the age of fourteen, was increasingly concerned about my soul; till, on Lord's day about this time, I heard the late Mr. Beeman from Isaiah xix. 18 and following verses ["In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of Hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar

to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and He shall deliver them "], when all to me seemed new; and such a measure of light broke upon my understanding, that my attention was fixed to what I was hearing, and "faith came by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," though I did not then know what it was. On returning home in the evening (a distance of nearly four miles), I was much in prayer, when, before I reached home, Isaiah_lxv. 24 ["It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear "] was an answer to my cries, from which I was still strengthened to cry to the Lord as a poor, needy sinner.

After several weeks passed over, Ephesians ii. 1 ["and you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins"] was to me an explanation and confirmation of what I had felt under Mr. Beeman's discourse; and ver. 8 ["By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"] conveyed some comfortable persuasion of the mercy of God to my soul, which was greatly strengthened by another discourse of Mr. Beeman's from Isaiah lvii. 15, 16 ["For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made "]. But shortly after, I feared, from the remembrance of two circumstances, prior to this time, that I had committed the unpardonable sin, for which I knew there is no forgiveness. I cried to the Lord in this my trouble; I searched Bunyan on the subject; I read an experience in Mr. Huntington's "Lamentations of Satan," which described the very particulars of my

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case, and encouraged me; but obtained no permanent relief till it pleased God, after many cries for some decision to my mind from His own Word when I next opened it, to let me fix on Isaiah i. 18 ["Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool"], which it pleased the Lord so to fix in my heart that I have never returned to that fiery trial since.

I passed through several changes after this, till, when about eighteen, I heard the late Mr. Chamberlain, in the Isle of Ely, from Proverbs xxiv. 13, 14 [" My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honey-comb, which is sweet to thy taste: so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul when thou hast found it; then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off"], during which discourse I was exceedingly happy, and sang freely with the closing hymn, as one that had obtained mercy-which I have never lost. About this time a godly aunt was afflicted with derangement very painfully, which greatly affected me, and concerning which I was caused to approach very near to the Lord; and He answered me with- "I have heard thy prayer; I have seen thy tears;" and in a few days my aunt was restored, and conversed freely with me on the goodness of God to her in her affliction.

Near this date the late Henry Cole began to preach, whose sermons were very searching, yet encouraging and establishing; and, for the most part, a peculiar power attended his ministry, the effects of which continue with me. After several years had passed away I became persuaded that believers' baptism was an ordinance of Christ, and eventually attended to it, notwithstanding I had entertained many prejudices against it; and, after many exercises of mind for years, ventured to open my mouth in the name of the Lord. Some marked dealings of the Lord were connected with this in answer to prayer. The history of Gideon was very helpful to me, and Isaiah xlii. 16 ["I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they

have not known; I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them "] so confirmed my mind, from the powerful effects of it upon my spirit, that it was of God, that I felt enabled to cast myself wholly upon Himself; and, having obtained help of Him, I continue to this day. Being in business, whereby it has pleased the Lord to prepare a table for me and all other necessaries of life, I have felt no leave to become burdensome to any at home or elsewhere. I am known by very few; I know very few, I have proved very much of the goodness of God both in providence and grace; and through many changing scenes in both have some comfortable persuasion that "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and that I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

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I have at times found the ministry of Mr. Tryon very profitable, and I believe the effects will never be lost. have had many proofs of different parts of the Word of God:-Romans iii. 3, 4 : “ What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid yea, let God be true, and every man a liar.” Hebrews iv. 12, 13: "For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Luke vi. 38: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Galatians vi. 7, 8: "Be not deceived: God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit read life everlasting;" and many others. I have had much to do of late with James iv. 7-10 ["Submit yourselves

therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up"] in connection with bodily infirmities that the Lord has seen needful to lay upon me and mine; and James v. 13-15 ["Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him "] has been my guide; in all which I have proved that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."

Extracts from two letters written by Mr. FORD to Mary Toovey, afterwards his wife:

Stepney, January 22nd, 1834. When the Almighty God reached my soul with His just and holy sentence, "Thou art the man," all hope of being saved by any performance of my own was, I believe, for ever dislodged from my breast; and, though I have vainly attempted to recommend myself to His favour by striving against those evils which have daily beset me sore, sometimes getting into pride to think what progress I was making in godliness, yet, to my shame, I have been brought to confess, "The more I strive against sin's power, I sin and stumble yet the more; " and have been made to feel something of the truth of Job's words, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean, yet shalt Thou plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor me." I was once led for about two minutes to see a peculiar glory in an expression of Isaiah prophetical of