the sleepy devil be still upon her; for the body sleeps, but conscience does not. "I sleep, but my heart waketh; it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh;" conscience was awake, and the knowledge of her beloved's voice was still with her. God's blessing attend this, and my poor prayers shall follow it.

THE COALHEAVER.

LETTER XLIII.

To Mrs. W.

Mr dear Mother acts a wise part in all her epistles to me; she keeps back part of the price of the field; she supposes me to be a man of great property, and therefore lays out the lark-lines, in hope of her being able to draw something out of the immense treasure which she vainly supposes is in my possession. Hence I have nothing from her but complaints, real desires, accounts of poverty, beggary, insolvency, and the fears of bankruptcy, and of coming to want, and of dying in a workhouse; and as she is informed that "The simple believeth every word," she is in

hopes of making me believe that these things are true of her, when at the same time she does not believe one word that she writes of all this herself; nor does she dare lay her hand on her heart, and appeal to God that the contents of any one of her letters are strictly true; and how can she expect me to believe the packet of complaints, when she does not believe them herself? My mother knows many now who, in their own opinion, are very wise, and stand high in profession, with whom she would not change states; nor are you without an appetite for the bread of life, the righteousness of faith, and for the favour of God; and you know that they are blessed of God who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Besides, you do not deal honestly with me, you never inform me of any melting, humbling, meekening, and softening sensations which you are sometimes favoured with; I have no account of the self-abasing views, hopeful prospects, and encouraging expectations, with which my old mother is sometimes indulged; you send me no word about the promises which at times encourage you; you send me no account of any enlargements, or comfortable meditations; continual trouble, distress, doubts, fears, unbelief, enmity, rebellion, hardness of heart, vile thoughts, and dark despondency, are all that fall to my mother's share; she has nothing but rebukes, reproofs, contentions, confusion, blindness of mind, hardness of heart, with cross upon cross, and stripe upon

stripe; this, according to my mother's account, is her constant entertainment: but I do not believe a word of all this, for God says, when they fall into trouble they shall be holpen with a little help; he will uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness; yea, when they pass through the fire he will be with them, and through the waters they shall not overflow them; and that he will speak a word in due season to them that are weary, and will dwell with the contrite soul that trembles at his word. Nevertheless let my mother pursue her old method, let her send me nothing but the chaff, the refuse of the heap, the scum of the pot, and the dregs of the cask; but every promise, every ray of light, grain of faith, or beam of hope, let her be sure to keep these things to herself. Asses are made to bear burdens, and every thing that is bad or heavy lay that upon him, but be sure to give him no provender.

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XLIV.

To Mr. A. B.

THIS is Saturday morning; yesterday noon I received yours, and when I received it a confi

dence sprung up that God would condescend to hear my poor petitions in your behalf, and that for his dear Son's sake; and I was encouraged and drawn to venture, which I did twice, and found liberty, and much enlargement of heart, and so strong a confidence that he did hear and would grant the petitions I put up; and I told my dame to watch and observe if it came not to pass. Under various temptations of Satan, and much darkness of mind with which I have been exercised of late, my faith has been but little in exercise; it has lain dormant, and worked but little; it has stayed at home to prop up the heart, but has seldom ventured abroad; it has just maintained its hold of what it has got, and that is all, but it hath brought in nothing new. Sudden springs of matter, and bright but contracted views have often been displayed just before preaching time, and this has been all poured forth abroad, while my own state has remained just as it was; and this has been the case ever since this fiery trial began, only at some hard pinches when prayer has carried all before it, and faith has been almost omnipotent; but in the general faith has seldom moved, no divine approaches have drawn her forth, no divine rays have given her fresh views, no heavenly smiles have invited her abroad, no new-moon feasts have given her any entertainment. But she has assisted me in violent struggles, especially in prayer, which has gone up with a compounded energy of resolute determinations,

and some anger and resentment; some love to the blessed object, and some high and hot displeasure; a powerful bent to persevere, and yet little or no alteration made; faith I found would take no denial, and yet all amounted to no more than this, "The vision is for an appointed time, at the end it shall speak." Yesterday was the first day that the blue sky appeared; the clouds blew over, much meekness came down, and my bowels were moved when his finger was felt; and then came this your epistle to carry off all the profits of this long, dark, and dangerous voyage: and shall I praise you for this? I praise you not; "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works." God has heard me, and you shall own it.

Ever yours,

W. H. S. S.

LETTER XLV.

To Mrs. W.

THE troubler of Israel is coming once more to inquire after the welfare of my poor old mother, hoping in the Lord that she is well, and though