You are now as ever I am persuaded, open to divine communication, and are frequently turning to heaven and eternal glory, as to the ultimate of all enjoyments. When providentially detained from those public ordinances, which have been and are your delight, by the attention your infant charge may claim, may the sacred scriptures open to you in your retirement, and through them as the grand medium of conveyance, may the living water flow to your refreshment. With Jesus is an infinite ́source, and the streams run from him in all directions, that they may follow after, and meet the subjects of his love in whatever situation the providence of God may place them. When he by his spirit excites a thirst in our souls, by that same spirit he will dispose us to look for that supply he only has to impart, and we shall experience that with him is the fountain of life. If we abide by him, we shall be sure to be well supplied, but if we leave him for cisterns, disappointment will be the consequence. Wherever I go I find they are the happiest, who make much of their Savior. He honors the confidence of his people, and whatever he promises he will give, none ever trusted in him and were disappointed.-On Monday evening I had a short interview with Mrs. W from whom I learned the state of your family. I hope all the afflictions with which it may be exercised will prove blessings. I supposed Mrs. B's health had acquired stability, and was surprised to hear that it had been so seriously attacked again. Mr. B I find is hardly strong enough for a soldier. I hope he never will be called to take the field. If an invalid, he had better consult his constitution, than stand upon a point of honor; and nurse himself, rather than hazard himself to wea¡thers which might endanger a life too valuable to be sacrificed by neglect. I hope he will accept my warmest salutations, and that he will consider himself a sharer with you in the congratulation, which I tender on the birth and continuance of the dear child; and if my prayers have efficacy enough to prevail, he with you will have days long upon earth, and at the end of them an abundant entrance ministered into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thither two valuable ministers have gained admission, whose usefulness I supposed might have been continued for years to come. I expect Mr. Newton will soon be on the list of the glorified. I had a most satisfactory interview with him yesterday morning. I wish I could give his conversation, his family exposition, and prayer upon paper, but I must reserve the recital for our meeting, if God permit. Accept in the mean while, these incoherent lines as they are directed, with a design to assure you, that "I am, dear madam,n is "London, "Nov. 23, 1803. "I have opened my letter on purpose to beg you to present my best respects to Mr. B B I think of him often, I detained this letter the longer in hope of meeting with a frank. I cannot bear to put my friends to the expence of postage, if it be possible to avoid it, but an unwillingness to appear to neglect when I really do not intend it, makes me send this through the common medium." To Mr. Wn: 1) "MY EVER AND VERY DEAR SIR, } "Having at an early hour conse+ crated myself unto God, a part of that time which he has graciously continued unto me, I dedicate in attention to you. In the course of my long absence you have often been in my thoughts, nor have you been excluded from my prayers. I am happy in the occasion now given me to address you, and wish any thing that may drop from my pen may be refreshing to you. I have attended to the prime object of your letter, and applied to a person who I think if he can be procured, would answer Mr. J's description. In a day or two I shall know his mind. It is probable, while I am throwing a few lines together, you are tossing upon the sea, but I trust it is under the protection of him who gives the waves their fury, who agitates the sea when it roars and is tempestuous, and who has power at any time to reduce into a calm, and make its surface as smooth as a looking glass. He has not only power over the sea to control it, but also over the passions and principles of wicked and unreasonable men, of which the raging waves are a true emblem. We have, as a people, to do with such, and whether they may have power to act against us at all, or with what degree of success is uncertain. Numbers are interceding with heaven, and pleading, Spare thy people, O Lord.'May he in answer to prayer raise a bulwark consisting of stronger materials than earth can produce, and then all the precautions we may take will be serviceable and successful; but if salvation be not of the Lord, vain is the wisdom, the foresight, and the help of man. Our dis couragement arises from our national sins, which may deservedly cause the Lord's ear to be heavy that it will not hear, and should it be the case that the over-flowing scourge should pass through the land, we who through grace are not partakers of her evil deeds, shall find support under the judgments which may be abroad in the earth, and shall be safe in those chambers which our covenant God may provide for his people. We must not expect our exemption from, but we may expect supports in trouble. An interest in his loving kindness will secure to us the interposition of his providential goodness on our behalf. What his word records relative to this point, may you, my dear sir, have an enlarged and continual experience of, and thus have authority to say to all around you 'O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him'. If I call your attention to myself, I must say with respect to the business I have in hand, I have been wonderfully led. I did not know for some time before I set out, what course to take; but I found my mind calm while my prospects were clouded. I was preparing for another journey at the instant that a letter, foreign to my business, required me to come to London, and I scarcely entered upon my application, than I was pressed |