LETTER XIX.

TO THE SAME.

I AM Sorry to find my poor Friend is so unwell, should be glad to see her on Friday if able to come, if not send word, and to-morrow morning I will come and see you. These are not times of refreshing, but of trial-hold fast, I long to see thee. The good Lord is still with the poor Coalheaver, and will favour them that cleave to himself in them that he sends, for he has made us one in love, one among ourselves, and one in him, that we may be perfect in one. Ever Yours,

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XX.

TO THE SAME.

My Dear Sister in Christ Jesus,

I AM glad at my heart and thankful to my God for his goodness to thee and to thine husband, hoping that his faithfulness and truth in delivering, in bringing into trouble and

bringing out, in laying low and lifting up will at a long run be productive of a little more credence.

Once more he hath put unbelief to the blush, and proved the father of lies to answer to his own name and character, and this God will do to the end. In this confidence I write to thee, being fully persuaded that there is a grain of mustard seed, an unfeigned faith in you both, which will not always lay hid, or be inactive; nay it does at times appear, and shews itself now; like that of Peter's, it will cry and plead mightily when in danger of sinking, or going to the bottom. This, Ann, is faith, and real faith, that will plead to the last; and which will not quit its hold, nor be put off, nor be said nay to. It comes from above, and there it will

Excuse haste; the Cart is going off.

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XXI.

TO THE SAME.

You cannot, you shall not, Ann, make me believe that your finches are better than my gold; for if yours make wings and fly away, mine does not. It often gets out of sight, and

sometimes seems to have lost credit, and not to pass and repass as current coin; but when the dross that adheres to it is purged off, it goes again as current as ever, and will as long as a bill of exchange is to be found in God's bankbook.

Last Saturday I was in the furnace. Come and breakfast with me on Wednesday morning, and dine also, and let us compare notes and see who gets most-I that earn by hard labour, or you that sit in idleness to see me work.

THE COALHEAVER.

LETTER XXII.

My Dear Friend,

TO THE SAME.

GRACE and peace be multiplied to you through our Lord Jesus Christ, to support thee under thy present and grievous affliction. God promises to be a present, a very present help in time of trouble; and those that know his name will put their trust in him, for he has never failed those that seek him.

I know the heart when overwhelmed will be continually conceiving grief, which fills the soul with sorrow, and when full it is unbear

able. The throne of grace is at such times our only resource; "Out of the abundance of my complaint and grief," said Hannah, "have I spoken hitherto ;" and if this method be pursued the mind will get ease, otherwise it will be swallowed up with over much sorrow; and when overcharged it is often seen the spirits dry up, the heart breaks, or the tabernacle fails and faints: " My flesh and my heart faileth," says one.

But we have a God to go to, and sighing, weeping, groaning, crying, complaining, and speaking, lighten the mind, assuage the grief, ease the soul, soften the heart, and raise the spirits. "I poured out my complaint before the Lord, I shewed before him my trouble;" and sensible relief, support, condolence, and sympathy are often felt. If no word of promise is spoken, no deliverance, or no saving discovery or manifestations be enjoyed or made, yet sure I am these are the fruits and effects of communion and fellowship both with the Father and the Son. In the day of my trouble thou strengthenedst me with might in my soul, Psal. cxxxviii. 3. When heart and flesh fail, God's strength is made perfect in our weak

ness.

The devil's principal work is to set off all our afflictions and trials in the worst light, not a's humbling dispensations, or purging draughts,

but as effects of divine anger; and then sets us to meditate terror, and to pore and ponder on this dark side of the question. When he has chained us down to pensive melancholy, then he draws over the old vail and blinds the mind, and hides and obscures all that is good, and every evidence. Hence reading counteracts his designs, and furnishes the mind with thought; and I know that Satan cannot endure a mind employed or fraught with heavenly things, it being unfurnished for hellish plots. Dear Friend, adieu!

Yours in Christ Jesus,

W. H.

LETTER XXIII.

TO THE SAME.

I AM Sorry to hear that my Friend is so poorly again, and especially as all pains in the stomach are so violent. But this is a comfort to the Lord's poor family, that they are not to abide for ever, for above, sorrow, pain, and weeping are to be no more.

It is a great encouragement to submission, that all things work for good to them that love God; but his divine wisdom is often seen in a point of light which to me exceeds all other