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as will fully evince that I am not unmindful you, and will spur you on to send me the letter, which, as you tell your brother, you intend writing to me.

The account you give of the favorable reception my printed sermons meet with in Maryland, is very agreeable to me, and am glad you have been able to put so great sa number of copies into circulation. You join me in fervent prayers to the Father of Mercies to make them a real and extensive blessing which, as my Lord and Master knoweth, is the only reward I seek or expect for my trouble in writing them. Their meeting the approbation of many readers affords me hope that they will be useful, as I am satisfied there is nothing in their style and manner calculated to flatter mankind, for to please the ear of the delicate, and gratify the taste of the curious; and consequently, if they are accounted valuable by any, it must be for the sake of the plain and unadorned, but important truths they contain.-Jesus Christ, the author of eternal salvation, is the center and sum total of all my writing and preaching: He is all in all: and when he is the delightful theme, and the glorious object in contemplation, I cannot confine myself to the cold rules of studied composition, lest, by so doing,

216 THE LIFE OF THE REV. D. JARRATT.

something of that ardor should be abated, which the contemplation of such an object is calculated to inspire.-I fear neither books nor preaching have much influence on the minds of the people of Virginia, at present. Books are little studied or attended to; I mean good books: Infidelity is much sought after, by multitudes, as the last resort to still the honest remonstrances of conscience, and to help them to sin on securely; and books of this stamp are bought, borrowed, and read with great avidity they suit the taste of the times, which delights most in a black inspiration. What a blessing is it, that God has engaged to take care of his own church, so that "No weapon formed against her shall prosper." On this I rely, and can treat with just contempt all the machinations of satan and his accomplices. The church is built upon the Rock of Ages, and the gates of hell shall not prevail.

With my usual esteem and affection to you and your's, I hasten to subscribe myself

Your Friend and Brother in Christ,

D. JARRATT.

Virginia, October 24, 1795.

(ON AFFLICTION.)

My ever Dear Friend.

IT has so happened that your last letters to me (of July 6, and September 4.) were enclosed in letters to your brother Williamson, so as he happened to be at my house on the very days on which they were received; I have therefore had an oppertunity of reading not only your letter to me, but also that which was written and addressed to him, by the partner of your affliction. The contents are truly affecting. I sincerely sympathize with you both and wish to comfort you- But what shall I say? Topics of consolation are not wanting they abound in the blessed word. But I find, from yours that these are so familiar to your mind, that, should I write a volume, I could suggest nothing but what you already know. -My prayer is that the Lord may apply them to your hearts by his spirit, and then will they be consolatory. indeed. I cannot comfort you-but Jesus

can-and will in his own good time;-be therefore encouraged to hope and expect a happy issue.

I have often preached on the subject of afflictions-but as yours arise from a source with which I cannot be so well acquainted as many others, what I say on this occasion, may seem rather like speaking by rote, than from a real fellow feeling. However I think I have been in circumstances so nearly resembling yours (especially when my favorite nephew died) that I hope you will discover nothing of the stoic in what I write. It would be disingenuous and im pertinent in me to advise you to forget or even suspend the feelings, which such a repeated stroke must excite in a tender parent's breast. Sensibility is not a crime, especially in cases where it is impossible not to feel, and where the most indulgent of all parents intended we should feel; for unless we feel our trials, how can we exercise a becoming submission under them? Your grief must be great and I join you in thanks to the Lord in preserving you from a murmuring spirit: and, I trust, amidst all the pleadings of flesh and blood, you still found, and will still conti nue to find, something within you, which aims to say, without reserve or exception,

"Not my will but thine be done." That is a sweet portion of scripture, Heb. 12, 5, 11. It is so plain in itself, and so suitable to you that no comment will be necessary. You will here observe, that he who knows our frame is pleased to allow that af fictions, for the present, are not joyous but grievous: but here is a consideration which may afford some support under them, that they are well intended, and that those who are exercised thereby, shall come out of the furnace refined, more humble, more spiritual, more fruitfull in righteousness. The part assigned the people of God, in affliction, is pointed out by St. Jameslet them pray. It is our part and duty to pray for help in time of need, and to endeavor to turn our thoughts to that fountain of consolation, and thence derive such considerations as have a suitable tendency to alleviate our griefs and sorrows. The will of God concerning you and your's has been manifested by the late events-and all you can do is to look to him for strength to sustain, and grace to be still and know that he is God; that he has a right to dispose of us and our's as he pleases, and that in the exercise of this right he is certainly good and wise. I hope the Lord, the only comforter has brought, and will still bring,

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