t But the Saviour's power to know, Trials must and will befal; But, with humble faith to see Trials make the promise sweet ; Lay me low, and keep me there." ALSO COWPER. "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; Are big with mercies, and shall break AND NEWTON AGAIN. "Since all that I meet, shall work for my good; Tho' painful at present, 't will cease before long : Through grace, I think I have been enabled, under my great trial, to enter a little more deeply and fully into the spirit of the above lines, and of such sentiments and views as they express. And under the influence of them, and in some measure, of the experience of their power and efficacy, I think, I found and felt, that it was good, that it was desirable for me to be afflicted, as I was, in the tenderest feelings of my nature, and the dearest interests and comforts of this mortal life; and I believe I owe it as a debt of gratitude to the God of all grace, for his most unmerited, free, rich, sovereign grace experienced, to acknowledge to his praise, that as my afflictions abounded, so his consolations also were made to abound to me, by Christ Jesus, my Intercessor and Redeemer; so that the season which was in many respects the most trying that I have ever suffer ed, was at the same time made, in other respects, the most comfortable that I have ever known and enjoyed. I would hope that it has not thus far passed, without some important and desirable benefits and advantages attending it. But, alas! how transient will be the best impressions produced by it, without the continued influence of the Divine Comforter and Sanctifier! How soon have some of my best purposes, formed in this interesting, memorable season of conflict and com-* fort, been forgotten, or miserably failed in the execution! Oh, how soon has my evil heart of unbelief, wandered and departed from its rest, and establishment in the Lord my God and Saviour! With what various temptations has my soul been assaulted and shaken! What hours and days of darkness, stupidity, distraction, and dejection, all as the bitter fruits of my sins and follies, have I known within a few weeks past! Yet, when I deserved, for all my sins and folly in forsaking my own mercies, and following after lying vanities, to be cast off forever: I am still encouraged to hope, that the Lord has not utterly forsaken me, but has again and again restored to me his free spirit of grace, to draw me again to himself, at a throne of grace in prayer and supplication; to excite and enable me to renew my repentance, and application by faith, to the atoning and healing blood of Jesus my Redeemer; to repeat and ratify again my violated vows and engagements of a better obedience and submission to the holy will of God; and to raise me again to some renewed experiences of the consolations of his pardoning mercy, and of the joys of his salvation. Oh what a God and Saviour have we to deal with, to go, and return to, to trust and to hope in! Be humble, be thankful, O my : soul love and fear him with all thy power: rest in him alone as thy refuge and portion, and in promoting his glory, and shewing forth his praise, let all thy ac tivity and zeal, be henceforth employed! And may thy grace, my Lord and Saviour, be made sufficient for me, and thy strength perfect in my weakness, for these desirable purposes! Pray for me, my dear friends, for I feel my need of the helping prayers of all who love me, and feel any interest in my concerns. When I am enabled to pray at all, if ever I do pray, I endeavour, from time to time, to offer up some petitions for you : for you my dear Mrs. L. that the Lord may, in his own way be pleased (and I would hope, that your late afflictions is one of the means which he has appointed, and may be pleased to sanctify in order) to bring you home to himself, and to the happy experience of that rest, which your soul can find only in your Redeemer; and of that salvation which is in him, with eternal glory; and that you my dear Mrs. L. may be more and more established and built up in your faith in the Saviour, on whom you have believed, may more and more grow in the knowledge of him, and in grace and usefulness; and in meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light! While I very sensibly feel, and often lament, the want of the improving and comforting society of your dear father and mother, and those branches of their family, including yourself, that are now in the country, I rejoice in the prospect and hope of your being favoured now, for a short time at least, with the desirable advantages of the public means of grace among you there, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Waddell. May the Lord abundantly bless his labours among you, during his stay; and determine his final settlement there, if that would be most for his glory, and the good of his church! My health is rather better than some weeks ago, though still very tender and delicate. But it is a wonder of mercy, that it is restored to that measure in which I now enjoy it. May you and yours enjoy that degree of health, and every other comfort of this life, that may be best for you, and be abundantly blessed with all spiritual, heavenly, and everlasting blessings, in Christ Jesus! I am very sincerely, and affectionately, your friend, TO REV. DR. G. ISAAC S. KEITH CHARLESTON, DECEMBER 10, 1796. MY DEAR SIR, THE arrival of Capt. G. on the 30th ult. brought me three letters from you, under dates of September 21, October 24, and November 16; for all of which I cordially thank you, and particularly for the second, which is the longest; partly on that account, and partly as it is wholly occupied with a subject peculiarly, and very deeply interesting to me, in my present state of great and painful trial, and contains a variety of important observations, admirably suited to my feelings, my wants, and my experiences, in this trying situation, it is regarded and felt by me, as the best of the three, which are all indeed very good. The spirit of God, I trust, has directed your thoughts and your pen, so that you have been led to write a word, and many words indeed, in season, and with the skill of a distinguishing judgement, and the tenderness of christian sympathy and love, to a weary, wounded, and greatly afflicted and tempest-tossed soul. The greater part of the thoughts which you have suggested in the body of your letter, particularly alluded to, had indeed previously occurred to my own mind, and were impressed upon it, as I trust, by the divine Sanctifier and Comforter, with that divine light and energy, which for several weeks, made the season, which was in many respects, the most painfully trying that I have ever known, a time of the greatest refreshing, from the presence of the Lord; of the strongest consolation, the sweetest peace, and the liveliest hope, that I have ever experienced. Yet the new and excellent arrangement, and the forcible manner in which your fertile, judicious, and nervous pen, has again recalled them to my remembrance, and presented them to my view, has served to make me feel them with a new impression, and I would hope, not without some additional advantage and improvement. And shall I now acknowledge to you, that after following you step by step, and reading attentively, and with much satisfaction, what you had so kindly, and so well written, I was the most forcibly struck with some observations towards the conclusion of the letter, which are adapted to excite the most painful sensations, but which I have, to my great mortification, and with inexpressible regret, found wonderfully co-incident with my late bitter experience? Yes, my friend, I have thought, "that under the first pressure of my affliction, God was pleased to give me such views of his sovereign right to dispose of my dear partner," and of every thing that my heart was disposed to hold most dear and valuable, and important to me in my connex |