above, who can, as the Lord is their teacher, see through the mask of an empty profession of religion; having been circumcised in heart themselves, they feel necessitated to protest against those who substitute form for power. Knowing what it is to be deeply wounded in spirit, they can sympathise with those who feel the plague of their own hearts. The language of the Lord to them is, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned," &c. The fair inference to be drawn from what is cited above is, that the beholders or inspectors into this business are made by the Lord faithful to judge in matters of such vast importance. No man, under the old dispensation, was admitted to give a verdict against any of the children of Israel, but those who were appointed by the Lord for that office. We read, when Moses complained to the Lord of his having borne the burden of the people alone, the Lord in answer to his prayer selected seventy men from the tribes of Israel, and put his spirit upon them, and not till then were they adequate for that work. So that we may say with those that are addressed in the language of our text,

They are selected out from those
Who do salvation's scheme oppose,
According to his will;

The Holy Ghost on them descends
And they upon his aid depend

Their office to fulfil.

wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof; they mount up to the heavens, they go down to the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble; they reel to and fro, and stagger like drunken men, and are at their wit's end," &c. May we not affirm that the sea is a very striking emblem of the sea of indwelling sin; the ship or shipping, vessels of mercy; the wind, the breathings of the Spirit of God, which discover to those spiritual mariners the perilous condition they are in; the waves, the heavy affliction felt in the soul when the Lord the Spirit takes the sinner in hand; the storm, the severe temptations of Satan which the Lord's people feel; and the reeling to and fro, and staggering like drunken men, a representation of the great confusion felt in the mind of a poor sensible sinner. would say to my reader,

And canst thou understand my speech?

Dost thou do business here?
Then greater things thy Lord will teach-
Thou art his constant care.
The Spirit will his aid impart,

And draw thy mind above;
And thou shalt bless with all thine heart
The Lord, when drawn by love.

I

It is the office of the blessed Spirit, not only to discover to the elect sinner the malady but the remedy also, and to inspire the hearts of his people to seek healing with all diligence at the hands of the Great Physician of souls. Let it be observed that all diligence which proceeds not from the dictates of the ever blessed Spirit, is not acceptable in the sight of a heart-searching God. We read that the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (Prov. xiii. 4); and the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness (Prov. xxi. 5). Again," Give diligence to make your calling and election sure," 2 Peter i. 10. All of which set forth the precious work of God the Holy Ghost upon the hearts of the chosen seed, to make them feel the need of the following blessings,

and give them faith to believe they are all treasured up in a precious Christ, and makes them know that they have been and still are bestowed upon poor sinners freely, and they feel assured that they must perish if they die without them: namely, a sweet sense of forgiving love, flowing through the channel of the blood-shedding of a precious Redeemer, applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit-2. the bread and water of eternal life-3. the imputation of the spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which alone can screen them from the scrutiny of the justice of God-4 spiritual wisdom, spiritual eye-salve, spiritual weapons for the war, &c. : and for these blessings doth the sacred Indweller, namely, the Spirit of God, inspire the hearts of his people to pray for at a throne of grace; and in his own time he fulfils the desires of those that thus fear his name (Psalm cxlv. 19). May I not address you, ye watchmen on the walls of Zion, in the sublime language of our text, and say, 'Seest thou a man, or men, diligent in seeking under the reign of grace the above named blessings, and shall not the Lord give them their hearts' de sire?'

Oh yes! honours crown his sacred brow. Again I say,

Seest thou a man that's diligent,
With heart and mind towards Zion bent,
On whom both men and devils frown?
Such will the Lord with blessings crown.

But I proceed in the third and last place to inquire who those kings are, and show what we are to understand by those persons cited above standing before them, &c. The Holy Ghost declares that the great Head of the church was very diligent in doing his Father's business; and ancient prophecy declared that the kings of the earth who set themselves against him (Psalm ii. 2), should shut their mouths at him (Isa. lii. 10). But these were ungodly kings, they hated the gracious words which proceeded out of his sacred lips, and were emphatically

mean men. But the kings described in the words now before us, are not mean men, but rich in faith and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom viii. 17). They are called kings and priests (Rev. v. 10) and princes also, who are to rule in judgment (Isa. xxxii. 1). But where are they to bear rule, and with whom, but amongst the family of God? Know ye not," said one of those kings, "that we shall judge angels, how much more things that pertain to this life," 1 Cor. vi. 3. Again, literal kings in ancient times were famous for warlike achievements; they went in and out before the people, and defended them, and shewed no lenity to those potent adversaries who sought their destruction (see Josh. x. 24); and thus it is with these spiritual kings, they show no favour to Satan and his host of enemies, for when grace is in holy exercise they can rejoice and say Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear," Ps. xxvii. 8. If I am asked any thing relative to their instruments of war, I must tell you that

they are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong-holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. It is the King of saints that leads them forth to the battle, that bruises Satan under their feet, that enables them to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints; that influences their hearts to proclaim in the gates of Zion thus, This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

66

Thus I have given my readers a brief account of those kings recorded in the portion of holy writ at the head of this paper. And if my reader is one whom the Holy Ghost hath stript of all confidence in the flesh, and made willing to be saved in a

way that brings a revenue of glory to God, he will deem it a high honour conferred upon him to be permitted to stand before those kings, to listen to what the blessed Spirit influences them to speak. Thus it was with the man of God recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; it is said that one led him by the hand to those princes who then ruled in judgment (Acts ix. 8-27). Previous to this his mind was charmed with the honour of sitting at the feet of Gamaliel, but now he counted this only dung and dross compared to the excellency of Christ Jesus the Lord; yea, he could feelingly take up the language of one and say, that he would "rather suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a sea

son.

or "

But there appears to be a particular emphasis laid upon the word "stand standing" before these kings. And the fair inference to be drawn from it is, first, it implies that those diligent persons have been taught by God the Holy Ghost to speak a language that is in unison with the scriptures of truth. and the experience of all the living family of heaven. Secondly, it shews that their conversation relative to spiritual things, so attracts the attention and delights the hearts of those kings, that they become one spirit in the great mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. How often do the Lord's people prove this to be the case, when one or more individuals come forward to join the church militant below: they present themselves before those who are partakers of King Jesus' spirit, and when they begin to declare what the Lord hath done for their souls, each one of our ancient family that is present is often seen with a smile upon his or her brow; all of which indicate the great approval of what they hear. It is true that we read of some who could not stand before these kings, and the reason is obvious, because they came with a

falsehood upon their lips (Acts v. 4— 9.)

If it were not for intruding upon the limits of a Magazine, I might, as the Lord should instruct, make some further remarks respecting the spiritual diligence the Lord's people are possessed of, and show how it operates God-ward, in leading its recipients to attend to the ordinances of God's house, deadening the affections to the world, &c. But I must conclude by saying that

'T is good that we are taught of God
To love his saints, his name, his word,
And trust in Christ alone;
He will present, from blemish free,
Arrayed in his own purity,
His church before the throne.

I WOULD write you something worth your time to read, if I could, but find, alas, that I am a prisoner in bonds; and this I know, none but God can send out the wild ass free at any time. Never did a prayer suit me better than this—“ My soul cleaveth to the dust; quicken thou me according to thy word.' But even this prayer seems expressed without proper feeling. You know, my brother, that the utterance of the speech, and the utterance of the heart, are two very different things. God knows I would, every time I address him in prayer, pour out my whole heart before him: but here I am halt, and lame, and cannot pray without reserves, and without being pestered with wandering, vile, and often infidel or blasphemous thoughts. Oh the horrid depth of man's fall! How alienated from the life of God is man's nature! I most sensibly feel it as a

sore plague of leprosy, and am often staggered in my faith, and wonder what all these things mean, and where they will end. These thieves wound me, and strip me, and leave me more than half dead.

:

I have had trying times since I have been from home. One day last week I thought I should utterly sink and never did I feel the force of the church's complaint as I then did"The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me." The state of a man given up of God, to himself, to Satan and to sin, and last of all to black despair, was pourtrayed before me, and all in a very short time; and it seemed as if I must be the very character. I tried to feel after something of God's past dealings to rest upon, but could find no life from any thing, nor encouragement from any thing. But this thought discouraged me, so that I could not pray with any fervency to be delivered, and I felt as if I cared not how things went with

me.

Oh dreadful state for a living man to be in! I expected that if ever I was delivered out of this state it must be by some very conspicuous promise, but it was not so: my wife was reading a precious letter of the late Mrs. Ann Dutton, on the sufferings of Christ's church, and the tender sympathies of Jesus with all his members, in all their trials and temp tations, and the unction and sweetness attending it made me forget, or lose sight of my misery a few hours before. Oh, how sweet is a gospel word, when by the unctuous power of the Holy Ghost it is brought to the heart! and without that, though it may be truth, it is but truth in the letter.

My general health is better, though I still have some remains of my rheumatic complaint, and no doctor can ever cure me if the Lord see it fit to be one of my crosses down to the grave. My finger is healing but slowly from its bruised state.

I found your letter returned on my

return on Friday night, but from the bustle of the day, and having to attend to some family and other matters, I had scarce time to give it a perusal. I certainly should like to make room for friend Hardy, when I can prudently, but as I have been out of the pulpit so many Lord's days, and it will prevent our ordinance, and necssarily add to the church's expenses, I think it would not be advisable to engage him, though if the church have otherwise determined, let it remain so, and no unpleasant feeling will be occasioned in my bosom on that account.

My kind christian love to all the brethren, as if named. Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord and life, rest upon you and them, is the desire and prayer of,

Dear Brother,
Your's, for Christ's sake,

HENRY FOWLER.

Eastbourne, Aug. 23, 1830.

RECOLLECTIONS OF MY PILGRIMAGE.

BY AN OLD DISCIPLE.

No. 2.-To be Continued.

Dear Brother.

IN taking a survey of past years, how little can we discover of the goodness of God: no, not the thousandth part. I can sing with the poet

"When in the slippery paths of youth,

With heedless steps I ran;
Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe,
And led me up to man."

How little do we know of God, and that little is but through a glass darkly; yet I look by faith for the clear light of glory, when all our wilderness mercies will be swallowed up in the open vision of Christ. Two favours I have to notice; first, on my arrival at Exeter, I was conducted to the house of a kind widow

lady, who had been informed of my coming; she fed, lodged, and wept over me; sent me away with her blessing, and a present. She had only heard that I was the son of a mother in Israel. The second favour is, I had not gone far before I fell in with a soldier, who was on furlough, and going to Halifax, this kind man took me under his protection, until he delivered me up to my brother in London. I took notice of this in a letter to my mother, that one of those men we all feared had been a kind companion and protector; this was the Lord's doing, who had also provided a place of work before I arrived in London; but death soon deprived me of my employer. Yet before I was in want, the Lord opened another door, and I went to live with a single gentleman. Here I found a copious library stored with all descriptions of books, and to which I had free access with time to read them; I embraced every opportunity for nearly three years, went through Novels, Plays, Romance, Tales, History, Travels, and all the Britsh Poets. Many of these books were useful to imform my mind and to make me acquainted with past events, yet not one of them pointed out Christ, and salvation through him, except the works of the Rev. James Hervey from him I learned that I was a sinner, and far from God. It was on a Lord's-day evening, and alone in the house, whilst reading Hervey, that his observations came with power to my mind; it condemned me, I saw and felt I was a sinner before God. I wept and read on. I saw that my state and condition as a sinner, was as far below that of Mr. Hervey, as the earth is below heaven. I envied that holy man, and fell on my knees, and prayed that I might be brought into the same state of mind and spirit, as he was, to love God and Christ, to live holy that I might be happy. I felt enabled to express what I saw, and felt, and to weep on account of my sin. This

:

was a night to be remembered, as it was the first time that I felt my understanding enlightened to see the awfulness of my state as a sinner, and to cry earnestly for pardon; it was what I had never known or felt before, although from my first recollections I had been subject of many fears especially of death, judgment, and hell. This was but as entering into the first chamber of imagery; there were greater abominations yet to be seen in my heart. I was long over Hervey's Works, and copied some part on paper, and frequently thought on what passed before me this night, without being able to experience the like sensation. From this time I became uneasy and unsettled; I wanted a change of situation, and I perceived that instead of becoming like unto Mr. Hervey, I became worse than I was, before I desired to be like him. I read Blair, and Porteus, but felt no conviction of sin from them; they were pleasing, but by no means profitable to me. Hervey discovered the folly and emptiness of my religion. I know it was of the Lord, who caused this light to break in upon me, to make manifest the darkness, of which I was at that time ignorant; I knew not that I must be wounded for sin before I could be healed, and die unto sin before I could be made alive unto righteousness. I found the Poets the most bewitching of all; and more calculated to keep me from searching into divine things, than any other writings. It was long before I could forget and shake off Homer; yet it pleased the Lord in his own time to impress on my mind the emptiness of all such productions, and that when death and eternity stare us in the face, and all that we have learned from such writings must perish: nothing then but a clear manifestation of Christ as the Redeemer and Saviour of our souls, will profit us in that hour; of this I have had proofs. I well remember how at one time I grieved