66 66 mighty horror. It rushed upon me and stupified my feelings. You bid me write you a religious letter; I am not a man who would attempt to "insult the greatness of your anguish by any "other consolation. Heaven knows that in the "easiest fortunes there is much dissatisfaction “and weariness of spirit; much that calls for "the exercise of patience and resignation; but "in storms, like these, that shake the dwelling "and make the heart tremble, there is no middle 66 way between despair and the yielding up of "the whole spirit unto the guidance of faith. "And surely it is a matter of joy, that your "faith in Jesus has been preserved; the Com"forter that should relieve you is not far from 66 66 66 you. But as you are a Christian, in the name "of that Saviour, who was filled with bitterness and made drunken with wormwood, I conjure you to have recourse in frequent prayer to 'his "God and your God,'* the God of mercies, and "father of all comfort. Your poor father is, I hope, almost senseless of the calamity; the "unconscious instrument of Divine Providence knows it not, and your mother is in heaven. "It is sweet to be roused from a frightful dream 66 by the song of birds, and the gladsome rays of "the morning. Ah, how infinitely more sweet "to be awakened from the blackness and amaze * Vide St. John, ch. xx. ver. 17. "ment of a sudden horror, by the glories of God "manifest, and the hallelujahs of angels. 66 66 "As to what regards yourself, I approve alto gether of your abandoning what you justly call "vanities. I look upon you as a man, called by "sorrow and anguish and a strange desolation of hopes into quietness, and a soul set apart and "made peculiar to God; we cannot arrive at any portion of heavenly bliss without in some mea"sure imitating Christ. And they arrive at the largest inheritance who imitate the most diffi"cult parts of his character, and bowed down “and crushed under foot, cry in fulness of faith, "Father, thy will be done.' 66 "I wish above measure to have you for a little "while here- no visitants shall blow on the "nakedness of your feelings-you shall be quiet, "and your spirit may be healed. I see no pos"sible objection, unless your father's helpless"ness prevent you, and unless you are necessary "to him. If this be not the case, I charge you "write me that you will come. 66 "I charge you, my dearest friend, not to dare "to encourage gloom or despair-you are a temsharer in human miseries, that you may porary "be an eternal partaker of the Divine nature. I "charge you, if by any means it be possible, I remain, your affectionate, 66 come to me. Accept my thanks for your kind remem"brance of me, and for the proof of it in the 66 present of your tribute of friendship, I have "read it with uninterrupted interest, and with "satisfaction scarcely less continuous. In add ing the three last words, I am taking the word "satisfaction in its strictest sense: for had I "written pleasure, there would have been no 66 ground for the limitation. Indeed as it was, it " is a being scrupulous over much. For at the "two only passages at which I made a moment's “halt (viz. p. 3, §, and p. 53, last line but five,) "she had seldom oppressive awe, my not objection but stoppage at the latter amounted only to a doubt, a quære, whether the trait of character here given should not have been followed by some little comment, as for instance, "that such a state of feeling, though not de"sirable in a regenerate person, in whom belief "had wrought love, and love obedience, must 66 66 One yet be ranked amongst those constitutional differences that may exist between the best and "wisest Christians, without any corresponding "difference in their spiritual progress. "saint fixes his eyes on the palm, another saint "thinks of the previous conflict, and closes them "in prayer. Both are waters of the same foun"tain this the basin, that the salient column, 66 "both equally dear to God, and both may be "used as examples for men, the one to invite the thoughtless sceptic, the other to alarm the reck"less believer. You will see, therefore, that I "do not object to the sentence itself; but as a "matter of feeling, it met me too singly and suddenly. I had not anticipated such a trait, and "the surprise counterfeited the sensation of per plexity for a moment or two. On as little ob"jection to any thing you have said, did the "desiderium the sense of not being quite satisfied, proceed in regard to the 44. p. 3. In the particular instance in the application of the "sentiment, I found nothing to question or qua 66 lify. It was the rule or principle which a cer“tain class of your readers might be inclined to "deduce from it, it was the possible generaliza"tion of the particular instance that made me pause. I am jealous of the disposition to turn Christianity or Religion into a particular bu"siness or line. Well, Miss, how does your 66 66 66 pencil go on, I was delighted with your last landscape.' 'Oh, sir, I have quite given up that, I have got into the religious line.' Now, my dear sir, the rule which I have deduced "from the writings of St. Paul and St. John, and 66 (permit me also to add) of Luther, would be this. Form and endeavour to strengthen into an “habitual and instinct-like feeling, the sense of "the utter incompatibility of Christianity with 66 66 every thing wrong or unseemly, with whatever "betrays or fosters the mind of flesh, the predominence of the animal within us, by having habitually present to the mind, the full and lively conviction of its perfect compatibility "with whatever is innocent of its harmony, with "whatever contra-distinguishes the HUMAN from "the animal; of its sympathy and coalescence "with the cultivation of the faculties, affections, "and fruitions, which God hath made peculiar to man, either wholly or in their ordained combi"nation with what is peculiar to humanity, the blurred, but not obliterated signatures of our original title deed, (and God said, man will we make in our own image.) What?-shall Chris tianity exclude or alienate us from those powers, "acquisitions, and attainments, which Christia"nity is so pre-eminently calculated to elevate "and enliven and sanctify? 66 66 66 66 "Far, very far, am I from suspecting in you, my dear sir, any participation in these preju"dices of a shrivelled proselyting and censorious religionist. But a numerous and stirring fac❝tion there is, in the so called Religious Public, "whose actual and actuating principles, with "whatever vehemence they may disclaim it in "words, is, that redemption is a something not "yet effected-that there is neither sense nor “force in our baptism—and that instead of the Apostolic command, Rejoice, and again I say 66 |