in a day of deep distress, and in an hour of bitter affliction, when hell opened her mouth, and eternal death stood ready to devour; when terrors unspeakable laid hold on my soul amazed, and suddenly arrested for a debt I could not number nor pay, and grim despair encompassed me round about; then cried I unto the Living Lord with exceeding lamentation, from the depth of affliction, and in true resignation to his Holy Will; and his mercy sprang in as the dawning of the morning.

"The day dawning, the night retires; and the substance coming, the shadow vanishes. My dear, though unknown Friend, when the beloved of thy soul appears, if the world and the things, and friendship, and glory of it, be not thy beloved, thou wilt not then mind his picture, if it were his picture; nor mind his shadow, though He had even said: 'Look upon this till I come.' It is true, thou wilt not then contemn his picture when He is with thee: No more do I; but have a due esteem for all He hath commanded, in their times, dispensations, and ends: Nor do I lightly esteem those who use that in imitation, with a good intent and sincere mind, but feel pity that they are come no nearer the kingdom; which, though at hand seventeen hundred years ago, is not yet come unto those who are set down contented under the shade of night, and dreaming of things of which they have no knowledge or enjoyment.

"Now go into the sunshine, and turn thy face towards the sun, and the shadow will be behind thee;

but turn thy back on the sun, and the shadow will be before thee; and the more thou followest it, the more it will fly from thee; and the more thou goest after it, the further from the sun. And this is the state of apostatized Christendom at hath been for many ages.

this day, and

"The kingdom of heaven is within, and stands not in eating and drinking, neither comes with outward observation, but in righteousness and peace, and in joy in the Holy Ghost; to which the only true and Living God, through the inward revelation of his Eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, bring thy precious soul. And that is the only thing that can truly satisfy, where the soul is alive by the breath of life from God, and is hungry and thirsty indeed;"

In the same letter the Author treating on a state of perfection, thus writes:

"Though the Lord Jesus closed his sermon upon the mount with these words: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;' yet it was not by the letter of the book only that I was first induced to believe this doctrine of sinless perfection in this life, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, as He is the Wisdom and Power of God, who condemns sin in mankind; and, by the manifest operation of his power within, condemns the man of sin, casts him out, and spoils his goods.

"And though we have many temptations, from time to time, to strive against, we find power in the

Spirit of Christ whereby to resist and overcome them : for it is not we alone that strive or resist the evil, but first the Spirit of Christ in us is lifted up as a standard or ensign against the enemy, and then we, through Him, become as co-workers in effecting our own salvation, by continuing in faith and obedience in well-doing.

"If thou considers only thy own weakness and infirmities, às in the nature and properties of the first Adam in the fall, in whom all die, thou wilt hardly believe the liberty of the sons of God; but, coming to the revealed power of Christ, the second Adam, the quickening Spirit, in whom all are made alive, thou wilt not only believe, but, through faithfulness to his power, which worketh in thee against all sin, thou mayst come to attain that perfection of righteousness and holiness, which thou canst not now conceive.

"And though we are tempted, as He was tempted but sinned not; yet if we do not yield, we are not charged for it is no sin to be tempted; but to consent and enter into the temptation, is sin. And how should we know the power of the Grace of God, or what degree of virtue we have thereby attained, if we were not tempted? And how should we distinguish the voice of the tempter, if we knew not the voice of the Word of Life? But as God tempteth no man, nor is Himself tempted of evil; so He suffers not any of his children, son or daughter, to be tried so as not to escape the evil, if they adhere to his Grace.

"By a sinless state in this life, we do not mean a degree of perfection wherein it is not possible for us to commit sin; but such a stability in Christ, in whom there is no sin, that we may resist all the temptations we meet with, after our old sins, in time of ignorance, are pardoned by faith in the blood of Christ, and our whole man sanctified, justified, and strengthened, by his power remaining in us, against the old adversary; who still seeks to regain, by his subtilty, his old place in us as before, by means of any passion or affection unmortified or unsubdued.

"Christ said to the Jews who did not believe: 'If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come.' And again to those who did believe: 'If ye CONTINUE in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free. And if the Truth make you free, then are you free indeed.' In this they did not understand Him, as appears by their answer. They thought He had meant some outward freedom; but He intended their freedom from sin, which is a greater deliverance than out of Egyptian bondage.

"By this it appears, that if we die in our sins, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. There is then great need that we come to Him in time, who alone is able to save us: As it is written: 'He shall save his people from their sins;' but not IN them.

"The more we obey the discoveries and leadings of the Spirit of Truth, the more He sets us free; b

and the more we are co-workers with Christ, the more perfect we are. And many things, which have formerly been temptations to us, being overcome by faith in his Grace, given by the Word of Faith working in our hearts by love, are now no temptations at all; so that the work becomes easier by degrees. And I know the Lord is able to carry on his own work, when, and how, and to what degree it pleaseth Him. And if the creature resists Him not, and quenches not the Holy Spirit, by wilful or known sinning against Him, his work of perfection, as all his works are perfect, can never fail.

"They who are God's workmanship. in his Son, are perfect, so far as He hath wrought; and they who have given way, and been co-workers with satan, so far are imperfect. If then satan, who is a creature, was able, through the subtil working of his power and cunning, which is finite, to deprave innocent man, and betray him into sin and death; much more is Gad, the Creator of all things, by his Infinite Power and Wisdom, revealed in man, through Jesus Christ, able to restore mankind to his first innocence and image of God, in righteousness and perfect holiness, to dissolve the chains of death, and fix him for ever in the bounds of eternal love, light, and glory; where no darkness, nor temptation, nor defilement, can approach, nor any fear of falling can appear for

evermore.

"O, my unknown friend! great is the mystery of the redemption of poor lost man, who, through his ignorance of the Almightiness of God's saving arm,