whelming trouble.

Christ, and a sweet sense of forgiveness through his dying love; Christ, and the firm hope of being like him, and of being with him ; how much is contained in this, to relieve the bitterness of the bitterest cup, and silence every complaining thought! Luther said well, "Lord, pardon my sin, and strike me where thou wilt;" willing to receive the blow in his person, his estate, his relations,―any where, so that sin were pardoned, and love directed the hand that wounded him. And again, "Lord, strike; strike me any where, so sin may feel it." Let me have losses, crosses, sickness, poverty, any thing that thy fatherly wisdom and love shall appoint; so that my sins be subdued, and my precious soul prosper, and be in health. Oh the excellency, the suitableness, the fulness, that is in Christ Jesus! How often the heart of a poor man has revived at the sight of a kind benefactor; the heart of a sick man, at the approach of a physician; the heart of a captive, at the sound of his redeemer's footsteps! But "Christ is all, and in all.” Satan, as far as permitted, will be taking us from one mountain of vanity to another, that he might entangle our minds with creature-love; but where is the mountain from whence the spiritual sense will not determine, that the world, in its fairest appearance, possesses no glory in comparison of the glory that excelleth? The Lord Jesus too, blessed be his name, leads us about, that he may instruct us; leads us through vales of sorrow, and

over mountains of difficulty, and sometimes down into the depths of trouble: but sometimes, he reveals his arm, he sheds the beams of his glory around us. The further we go with him, the more we see of him, and the more we know him, the more we shall love him. Love is the centurion in our soul: it has a commanding power: it issues its orders to every power and faculty, and says to one, "Go," and he goeth; and to another, "Come," and he cometh. Blessed principle! It is pleasant to obey when love to Christ commands; and Christ cannot be known, where he is not beloved. What a privilege, then, to possess any thing of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord! This is eternal life. Well did one say, "I delight most in that sermon which discovereth most of sin in me, and most of Christ Jesus unto me." And have we not sometimes found reason to review with heart-felt gratitude one affliction and another, on the account of the advantage we thereby gained, in respect of our knowledge of Christ and fellowship with him. Then, when future trials come, clouds are passing over us, and storms seem to be rising, rather than yield to unbelieving fears, and the mutterings of flesh and blood, let us prepare to meet our Lord, and to hail the manifestations of his glory and his love in that stormy trial. How delighted will our souls be, when every vail shall be removed, and the God of salvation shall be seen, and his

works and ways shall be contemplated in the light of glory! Then nothing shall be heard but "Hallelujah! He hath done all things well!"

Truly, the present are times of great distress to many, and of great anxiety to all who have the interest of our country, and of Zion at heart. A heavy cloud hangs over our manufactories and commerce. It occasions alarm in several respects: many fear, lest the measure of national sin should be shortly filled up by decrees oppressive to many of the people of God. However, though God with indignation and wrath, he provide a hiding place for those

may pursue sin

will not fail to

who love him. Oh, to stand in the cleft of the rock, and only hear the thundering sound of his chariot, and see his flaming arrows as he passes in awful judgments by! The cup has gone round, and is not yet at rest. But there is a gracious call; "Come, my people, enter into thy chambers," &c.

I am, &c.

J. BOWDEN,

LETTER LIII.

TO MISS B

MANY times have I purposed, since your af fecting loss, to tell you how much I participate in your sorrows, and how much mercy, I think, is mingled in this bitter cup. Yes, we have to sing of mercy and of judgment; and mercy claims the first note, and deserves a very high strain of thanksgiving. Indeed, the loss is severe; the sufferings of grief cannot be, nor ought they to be, restrained. Jesus himself wept over the grave of Lazarus; yet it is the hand of Jesus that has struck this comfort dead. The breath of your gracious Lord has blasted that which, perhaps, you would call the fairest gourd in your earthly paradise; that from which you expected refreshment for many years to come. But has he done this for his own pleasure? What! to satiate himself with the griefs, and tears, and agonies of a widowed partner, of motherless children, and bereaved relations and friends? Oh, no: this is not after the manner of Him who came from his throne of glory, and paid our ransom with his own most precious blood. We know enough of his character, and of his heart, to assure us that he has some great, some most gracious design to answer. Who can tell but he means to effect an entrance as rightful Lord and

Saviour into some heart, and by this wound to open the way. Then you may hereafter hear such a confession as this: "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: iny soul refused to be comforted. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me." I lost a beloved earthly friend, or I had not found, nor sought, "the Chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely."

Is it not delightful to think of the end to which all his measures relating to his people are directed? "to the praise of the glory of his grace!" And is it hard to believe that measures, directed by Infinite Wisdom and Love, are well chosen? Let us be content at present, though the Ministers of Providence work with their hands "under their wings," and though their operations are wrapped up in cloud and mystery. Soon the whole work will be completed; the light of celestial glory will shine upon it: Jesus the Lamb in the midst of the throne will entertain us with a bright vision of it, will submit the whole to our inspection, and make his appeal to our reason and our sense. Then how shall we reflect on our complaints!

His own soft hand shall wipe the tears

From ev'ry weeping eye;

And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears,

And death itself shall die.

And is there not sometimes found a great deal of sweet peace and rich contentment in a time of afflic