manner is such, I fear the weaklings are terrified; I would that he made it his study to preach a full and free gospel, instead of adhering to the manners, and to me, anti-scriptural conduct of men; but enough about this matter, a great many of the people have left the chapel, and was there not a prospect of a speedy relief, it would be soon deserted. I understand Mr. S.- has written to offer his services for the month of February, which I also understand are accepted; I trust he will be instrumental in making way for your immediate return amongst us, We hope to enjoy some of the dainties and savoury matters he is in the habit of bringing before the people of God, and hope it will be a time of refreshing to them generally; but as the camps of Israel are ever infested with thieves and other disreputable characters, as the temple of old was, I hope the whip of small cords will come with him, and that he may use it wisely under the Spirit's teachings, that they may be driven out of their close places.

I now beg to thank you very sincerely for your kind solicitude for R-.; she is one of the purchase of the Redeemer's precious blood, and the devil knows it, and is not unacquainted with her weaknesses and infirmities, and coward-like brings all his power against her, poor dear weakling as she is, to cast her down from her excellency; he knows her enjoyments have arisen very high, and now that the Lord has permitted weakness of body, and nervous debility to be experienced, devil-like he pushes hard at her. But the promise is unalterably settled, "I will see you again," and your heart shall rejoice.' I remain, yours very, affectionately in the bonds of truth Brighton.

A WORD TO ENCOURAGE.

My very dear brother in

covenant love,

W. G.

I do hail you in his adored name, your best friend and mine.

you. I have it no less than yourself; three anonymous letters I have received, written in the most abusive language. I rejoice in it, yet the Lord's work goes on marvellously. The devil roars, but the chosen heritage feed and rejoice; all's well.

I have a volume to tell you had I time; but stand and your foes defy. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, there is a sharp threshing instrument for you, and none can stand before it. Spare not the Agags of the day; "they shall speak all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my name's sake.”

I hear you have had death in your house. I feel for dear Mrs. E—, though she could expect [no other; tell her these providences have a voice. The creature says, lean not on us; we have no happiness to bestow.

But to return: fear not the storm, your Captain fights the battles, you have only to shout victory.

Love, unchangeable love, immutable love, grace, faithfulness and blood, doth support the church of the first-born; 'tis an everlasting subject of eternal blessedness; the electing love of God the Father; the betrothing, redeeming love of God the Son; the anointing, regenerating, renewing love of God the Holy Ghost. My soul, dwell on the glorious theme! May my brother's mind catch the sacred flame, and be led up into the heights, depths, lengths and breadthis of this immortal subject, until kingdoms, men, and all sublunary things, appear not worth a thought.

Write me by the earliest post, and tell me how thy soul prospers. Sweet Jesus be with you, and all that love him in sincerity. Amen.

So prays ever your's in the rock of ages,

W. B.

THE WAY TO HEAVEN.

The way to heaven! 't is up the hill,
Steep difficulty's rough ascent;
And prickly thorns, and dangers still

Line the strait path the patriarchs went.
Oh, think not, young disciple, thou
Wilt, wiser, find a velvet road;
Anguish and toil will blanch the brow,
Of all who tread the way to God.

The way to heaven! 't is mid the gloom, Dark tribulation's mantling cloud; And pilgrims to yon heavenly home,

Must face full many a tempest loud. On all whose face towards Zion turns, Whose footsteps walk the narrow path; The world with indignation burns,

And Satan showers his wildest wrath.

The way to heaven! 't is in the vale,
Humiliation's vale of thorn;
Where slander's fabricated tale

Will bring you many a glance of scorn.
Privation, dread of shivering want,
Reproach, desertion, and despair;
With countless fears the pathway haunt ;-
The worst of all the road is there!

The way to heaven! bereavement waits
Affection's tenderest ties to rend;
And every step to Zion's gates,

We mourn some loved departed friend.
Yet in bereavement's hour of grief,
In anguish, slander, toil, or care;
The saint enjoys a sweet relief,

Earth cannot hinder, cannot share.

The way to heaven! 't is through the wave,
The cold, bleak, sable tide of death;
But he who shields through life, will save
When the grey pilgrim yields his breath.
Yea, though he die beneath a shed,

While pain and misery strive to scare;
Kind angels shall sustain his head,

And Christ himself speak comfort there.

The way to heaven! 'tis quickly learned,
For self-denial points the road;
And all along, by faith discerned,
Are emblems of a Saviour's blood.
Expect the snare,
the hurt. the frown,
And these by prayer alone repel ;
For he who seeks Emanuel's crown

Must bear Emanuel's cross as well.

Such is the way, but when he gains Admission through the pearly door, All the long catalogue of pains

The saint will ne'er remember more. Corroding grief, and deep distress,

The soul will leave within the tomb, And robed in glory's splendid dress, Bask in the bliss of heaven her home.

REZENEB.

"I am shut up and I cannot come forth," &c.-Psa. Ixxxviii. 8, 9.

Dear Lord, how strange thy children feel At times, when at thy throne they kneel; Their hearts feel hard to all that 's good, Yet still they long for living food.

Desires they have to see thy face; They fain would all thy leadings trace; But still "shut up," they cannot find One drop of love to cheer the mind.

In thine own house, in thine own ways, They strive to find some inward peace; Do what they will there seems no hope, And they are like a "spring shut up."

Where once thy grace was much reveal'd

Now it appears a fountain sealed;"

They walk in darkness-have no light," But still they know thy dealing 's right.

Though thus shut up they mourn and grieve,
And trust that thou wilt soon relieve;
And by thy Spirit's aid rely
On Christ to bring salvation nigh.

They daily cry to thee their King,
That thou wouldst ope' that secret spring,
From which their joys again shall flow,
And they thy glorious goodness know.

Oft in thy mercy thou dost hear,
And answer, too, their earnest prayer;
'Tis then they feel fresh springs arise,
And faith soars upward to the skies.

The fountain's seal for them is broke,
By Him who can't his word revoke ;
Whose promises, for ever firm,

Shall bear his own through ev'ry storm.

Afresh the streams of love divine
They drink, and find them choicest wine;
Refreshed, their march again pursue,
And find each spring is open'd too.

Each promise then appears more sweet;
In ev'ry prayer they comfort meet;
Along their road they move with joy,
For nought can e'er their souls destroy.
Then they rejoice in love divine;
Then in his glory richly shine.
They scorn the world's deceitful toys,
And up to heaven they raise their voice.

Their songs of heartfelt praise they tune,
And with their Jesus they commune.
He speaks to them in accents mild,
Calls each his "his dove, his undefil'd."
"To him who lov'd us," then they sing,
And wash'd us clean, all praise we bring;
To him our praise and love is due,
He hath for us made all things new.

What joyful tidings truth declare;
Salvation sweet salute my ear;
But not the sound, though sweet it be,
Can charm a wretch so vile as me.

I want the substance, not the sound,
To feel I stand on solid ground;
I want its power applied to heal
The wounds of sin which now I feel.

I want my hope fix'd sure and firm
By faith, on God's almighty arm.
On sovereign grace-on nothing less-
My trembling soul would anchor cast.

For if I'm sav'd I must confess
'Tis all of grace from first to last.
Death and corruption live within ;
My purest thoughts are full of sin.

No righteousness wherein to trust,
I'm nothing else but sintul dust;
My strength is weakness, and my heart
Doth always act the traitor's part.

Sometimes I charge it not to move,
But then, alas, 'tis sure to rove;
Anon with love I want it fed,
But then 'tis lifeless, cold, and dead.

Oh wretch, if mercy hold thee fast,
'Tis all of grace from first to last.
Sometimes I feel a lifting up,
And then I have a little hope.

Trust my poor soul shall live to prove
Its interest in a Saviour's love.

Then suddenly new doubts arise-
I fear I ne'er shall win the prize;

Then all is darkness, and I fear
The yawning gulph of black despair.
Great God, if still thou hold'st me fast,
'Tis all of grace from first to last.

Sometimes I hear the gospel sound, And hope that treasure I have found; I search God's precious book, but see No promise suitable to me.

I read the sweet experience given
Of precious saints, now gone to heaven;
But still my heart is hard as steel-
I want these precious truths to feel.

I want to know I have a part Within the dear Redeemer's heart; The book of life I want to see Contains the name of worthless me.

GOD'S PECULIAR CARE OF HIS CHURCH,

AND HIS

FIERY INDIGNATION ON HER ENEMIES.

"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salva

tion of the Lord."-Exod. xiv. 13. "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony."-Rev. xii. 11.

OUR glorious Redeemer having rescued his church out of the hands of her temporal enemies, and drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, is certainly a glorious type of the spiritual deliverance of the church, by the blood of Christ, to be seen by the eye of faith in all believers, who are come from the Egyptian bondage of sin, and have travelled through the wil derness, and horror of conviction; apprehensive they could not escape for their life by the way of the Ten Commandments, higher than Baalzephon's Mount, and broad as the sea, and the terrors of hell behind, when they saw the Lord their salvation a present help in time of trouble. In such straits was God's Israel of old, they saw they could not pass over the Red Sea, and if they went back, there were all their enemies, sword in hand, ready to slay them, so that they were sore afraid.

Thus it is with a sinner who has
August, 1841.]

seen the law so exceeding broad, cursing every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them (Gal. iii. 10), and if he goes back to his sins, then falls into the hands of the devil, and all his spiritual enemies, who war against the soul as with swords and spears and the terror of the Almighty drinks up his spirits. Thus the poor sinner is in the utmost distress; continually flying forward and backward in his imaginations, like Noah's dove, over the troubled waters of God's displeasure, and can find no rest for the sole of his foot, until he comes to Christ, the true gospel ark (Gen. viii. 9). Until then he feels the pangs of the new birth, and wanteth strength to bring forth (Isa. lxvi. 9). He is in sorrow as a woman in travail, and like sinking Peter, cries out, "Lord! save or I perish," Matt. xiv. 30.

Thus when Israel cried unto the Lord in their distress, Moses bid them

be uttered, Rom. viii. 26). And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward but lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea (for man's extremity is God's opportanity). And they were all safely led through the Red Sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on the left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered all the host of Pharaoh, that were in pursuit after them, there remained not so much as one of them. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians; and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses (Exod. xiv).

So when the soul, conscious of guilt, is apprehensive of falling a prey to that frightful enemy, the great red dragon, more terrible than Pharaoh and his host, following him with all the curses of God's law, which appear as so many glittering weapons formed for his destruction; then the cry is, I am undone, I have destroyed my poor soul for ever! For when sin reviveth the sinner dieth (Rom. vii. 9). For he is led to see he is a sinner by original and actual transgressions: he finds God's wrathful displeasure and fiery indignation burning within him, whereby sin appears exceeding sinful. And the trembling sinner, convinced of the absolute want of a Saviour, will esteem Christ exceeding precious, and in his extremity will cry mightily to God; and he who heareth the prayer of the poor and the destitute will attend to their cry. And Jesus, our great deliverer, who is always attentive to the good of his church, and zealous for his Father's glory, in the days of his flesh groaned in spirit (John xi. 33) to his Father in heaven, and with his voice called dead Lazarus from the

grave, and dried the mourners tears; he will compassionate the mourning sinner, and bid him "Fear not, but stand still, believe and see the salvation of God. For the Egyptians (or sins) which you have seen (and were sore afraid of) to day, you shall see them no more for ever. For the Lord will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." Then said the Lord unto Moses (and now unto Jesus), "Wherefore criest thou unto me? (God speaks now in Christ to man's heart as he did then to Moses;) speak unto the people (to the Israel of God) that they go forward. And lift thou up thy (shepherd's) rod, (thy word made effectual by the Spirit, with which thou dost rule, comfort, and guide the redeemed race,) and stretch forth thy (glorious) arm, (display the banner of thy love,) and lead the van through the Red Sea (of thy sufferings, thine agony and bloody sweat, thy cross and passion: and let the noble army of martyrs march boldly on, surrounded by the heavenly cloud before and behind, and conducted by an unerring guide—the Leader of Israel— whose arm brings forth salvation).

Thus the spiritual Israelites, who by faith commit their souls to his conduct, through the Red Sea of his blood to the promised inheritance, escape from the hands of all their enemies, and from all the demands of the law, and sing the triumphant anthem.

Thus he gently leads them that are with young-those in whose hearts Christ is formed, or the heavenly seed rooted.

He transplants them from the state of nature to a state of grace. And as Israel was not brought back to bondage again, so we receive not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption to cry Abba Father! The God that brings to the birth, gives strength to bring forth (Isa. lxvi. 9). And those whom he brings forth, and sets as a city on a hill, he will preserve for ever.