my commandments; then thall thy peace be as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the fea. For a fmall moment did I forfake thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee: in a little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment; but with everlafting kindness will I have mercy on thee. I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: I have feen thy ways, and will heal thee; I will lead thee alfo, and reftore comforts unto thy mourning foul. I will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning fhall be ended. Then did I alfo fay, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my foul fhall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of falvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteoufnefs. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardonest iniquity, that paffeft by the tranfgreffion of the remnant of thine heritage? thou retaineft not thine anger for ever, because thou delighteft in mercy. Thou wilt turn again, thou wilt have compaffion upon me, thou wilt fubdue mine iniquities, and caft all my fins into the depths of the fea. Thus the Lord towards me was mighty and gracious; he faved me, he rejoiced over me with joy; he refted in his love, he joyed over me with finging. My terrors were changed into fmiles, and my wearifome days and nights fucceeded by joyful and gladfome feafons. I repented, I abhorred myself; I faid, Is this the manner of man, O Lord? and what can I feek, what can I defire more? I never had fuch a view of the infinite evil that is in fin before. Formerly I confidered it as a great evil, pregnant with all mifchiefs and mifery; and I was made to hate it, rather through fear of its fatal confequences, than through any fuitable conviction of its intrinfic evil and real demerit. But now I fee it to be an infinite evil, that abominable thing which God hateth;

D 2

bateth; that nothing can purge away the guilt and defilement of it, but the blood of Jefus Chrift; and that nothing can break its power, but the mighty power of the King of Zion. Nevertheless I ftill feel the workings of corrupt nature and of unbelief. I find a law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. O that Chrift, my mighty Redeemer, may break the power of fin and unbelief in me, afford me fresh fupplies of his Spirit and grace, fo as the body of fin and death in me may wafte and decay daily, until I be tranfplanted from this valley of tears to the land of glory, Immanuel's land, the inḥabitant whereof fhall not say, he is fick, and the people that dwell in it are forgiven their iniquities! Haften the happy day, O Lord my Saviour and Redeemer.

I hope you will praise God on my account, for his wonderful love and grace to me, the chief of finners; and afcribe this amazing change made upon me to the exceeding greatnefs of the power of God, excited in its operation by the moft ama zing and unparallelled love and grace. I now make particular mention of you in my prayers to the God of all grace, that the Lord, who hath begun a good work in you, may perform it unto the day of Jefus Chrift, and preferve you from every evil work and way to his kingdom and glory, I long much for your return to this place, that we may join together in prayer and praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, for his marvellous mercy, for his wonderful love and grace to us, who were fuch remarkable and criminal offenders against his glo. rious Majefty. As I am growing weaker and weaker every day, and my diftemper turns ftill more inveterate, in fpite of all medicines; I earneftly defire to fee you before I die, that I may be

comforted

comforted in you. I feldom get a vifit from any body; and pass the day in reading, meditation, and prayer. A visit from you will be more acceptable than from any perfon I know. To God the preferver of man and beast I recommend you on your journey. The grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift be with you. Amen! I am,

My DEAR SIR,

T

Your affectionate friend and brother in Chrift,

J. TS

This letter I read with tranfport and joy. It was the most acceptable one I ever received. I read it again and again with the utmost pleasure and fatisfaction of mind, while tears of joy dropped from my eyes. When I confidered the difmal fituation I left my dear friend in; when I reflected upon the horrors of his confcience, the anguish of his mind, his mournful foliloquies, his ghaftly looks, and melancholy groans; and when I now viewed his cafe as beautifully defcribed by himself, as refcued from the gulf of defpair, a believer in the Lord Jefus, a Chriftian indeed, à partaker of Chrift, filled with the joys of the Holy Ghoft; as a miracle of fovereign grace and redeeming love; I could not but exult and rejoice, and magnify the great name of Jehovah, for his abundant mercy and amazing favour to my dear friend and brother. The advices and inftructions he gave me, were fo weighty and powerful, and fo impreffed on my heart, as it were, with a divine efficacy, that I refolved, through the aid of the almighty Lord, to act in conformity to them. I wept, I prayed, I praised over my friend's comfortable. letter, and longed to be with him, that I might be comforted by him, and further inftructed by him in the great things of God. CHAP.

D 3

The author's return from the country to his friend; their joyful meeting. Mr Ts's reasons for not afking the affiftance of clergymen, with his affectionate advices to the author.

I

Set out, on my return to the place where my friend was, next morning after the receipt of his letter, earnestly defirous to be with him. On my arrival, I went straight to his room. The tender and tranfporting fcene is rather to be figured, than expreffed. We embraced one another with joy and delight, mutually rejoiced in the happy change of our internal ftate, and praised the Lord for his wonderful love, his gracious beneficence and kindness to us both. I found my worthy friend in a moft defirable fituation. His ghaftly and frightful looks were changed into a ferene afpect, a pleasant smile dwelt upon his pale cheeks, and joy was diffused through every feature of his face. He feemed to be even stronger in body than when I left him. These circumftances made me hope he would recover, notwithstanding the accounts he had given me in his letter, and at our meeting. But I foon perceived, that any feeming strength he had, was purely the effect of the ferenity of his mind, and did not proceed from any abatement of his dif temper. It is juftly observed, that trouble and anxiety of mind wastes the body; whereas a peaceful and ferene temper promoteth health. A found heart is the life of the flesh, but fin the rottennefs of the bones. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by forrow of the heart the spirit is broken. He that is of a merry heart, hath a continual feast. A merry heart doth good like a medicine, but a broken fpirit

drieth the bones. I found my friend grow weaker and weaker every day, till death put a period to all his diftempers, troubles, and complaints, and God received his foul to glory. Hence the pleafing hopes I had once formed, that my friend. would live to be an ornament to religion, a credit to his family, a cheerful and ufeful companion for life, to the dear young lady, whom he had loved from his infancy, and an inftructive friend to me, were fatally difappointed.

As I was wearied with my long journey, I staid but a fhort while with him that day. But from that day to the day of his happy death, I feldom left him. He earnestly entreated me to be as much with him as poffible; and my own inclination led me to be as conftantly with him as I could. I thought I could not spend my time better, than in the company of an amiable young gentleman, who had been inftrumental in turning me from ignorance and fenfuality to religion and purity. And I rightly conceived, that I might reap great advantage from his prayers and converfation, for my own inftruction and improvement.

After I had been with him fome days, as I ob, served that no minifter came to vifit him, I asked him, if he had ever fent for any clergyman to converfe with him? He answered, he had not: and that his reafon for it was, that as he never had had any acquaintance with clergymen in the place where he lived, so he did not chufe to contract acquaintance with them now, as in all pro bability his days would be foon ended; that he did. not incline to reveal his condition to every body, or be disturbed with vifits. "Another reafon," faid he, "I have for not fending for minifters, is, That as the Lord hath been graciously pleased to bless the reading of the Bible for my inftruc