Now pour out your soul in some such words as these : God of infinite mercy! behold a poor lost sinner, burdened with disease, and sin, and grief. Pity my distressed spirit, pardon my guilt, and purify my heart from sinful affections. Unworthy as I am of thy favour, I plead forgiveness through the sacrifice of atonement, which the great Redeemer has offered to thy justice. Thou hast promised that whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins, shall never perish,-shall have eternal life! Lord help my feeble and fearful soul to believe in him, and to enjoy the blessedness of the man, whose transgression is forgiven. Enable me to resign my wife, my children, and all my mortal interests to thy wise, equitable, and gracious providence. Fortify my mind patiently to bear my trials, to wait for thy salvation, to conquer the fears of death, and the love of life. If I am spared, let my remaining days be devoted to thy will; and if this affliction should terminate my earthly existence, "Lord Jesus! receive my spirit." Your's, faithfully, J. COOKE. LETTER XXIX.-To DoCTOR POULTON. Dear Sir, UNFEIGNED Concern for your welfare, and the consolation of an affectionate wife, so deeply interested in your present trial, suggested the propriety of sending you this letter. I have long observed the dispensations of divine providence towards you. In temporal things, God hath prospered you; and it is no uncommon thing, for prosperity to become a snare, by sensua lizing the affections and elating the mind with false hopes of increasing and long continued comfort on earth. This is the common, "waking dream" of prosperity; and when affliction is sent as a blessing, it removes the glare from worldly objects, and the film from our eyes: "the snare is then broken, and we are delivered." It is then the afflicted man feels Solomon's description of this world, in its full force," All is vanity and vexation of spirit.”—Then the mind can enter into the spirit and importance of our Lord's words, addressed to me and to you-" What shall it profit a man, though he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Unsanctified prosperity. defies and enslaves, deceives and enfeebles the mind. But sanctified sufferings rouse the mind from its lethargy, shake its presumptuous hopes to their foundations,-disturb its false peace, its "treacherous calm," and direct its chief concern to its spiritual and eternal interests. Blessed affliction! which through de grace, disposes a sufferer to mourn over the duties he has ommed, the opportunities he has lost, the sins he has committed, and the mercies he has abused! Salutary pain! by which a man "comes to himself," looks by faith to the Saviour, smites his guilty breat crying with the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner." teresting dispensation of infinite wisdom and goodness! under which, a fallen creature becomes acquainted with himself, with God, and with the book of God; and estimating the society, the opinions, and the pursuits of the world, in the light of scripture and of eternity, yields himself to God, through a Mediator, as his sovereign Lord and sovereign good. Are you, my dear sir, disposed to seek the Lord, while he may be found; to call upon him, whilst he is near? Are you inclined to listen to the voice of God in his word addressed to a suful creature in trouble, even should that trouble have been the natural effect of his own folly and sin? Then take courage, God is allsufficient! he can restore your body and save your soul, with “an everlasting salvation." If you make him your refuge in trouble, he 'will save your soul; perhaps, he may also restore your health Thus runs the divine counsel :-" Is any afflicted? let him pray. let him not presume on medical assistance, or his own prudence, like King Asa, who sought to the physicians, and not to the Lord' 2 Chron. xvi. 12. Let him not presume, but pray, for the success of the wisest agents, and the efficacy of the best means, are dependant on the divine will; let him pray and not despair; “ for nothing is too hard for the Lord." You read the divine encouragement wo follow this council in the fiftieth psalm, in the following words:"Call upon me, in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Endeavour, dear sir, in the day of your trouble. to follow the Lord's counsel, and receive his encouragement:"pour out your soul; your very soul, with all its sins and sorrows, its de sires and fears, to that God who never said to the seed of Jacob, have nor to any children of Adam," Seek ye me in vain"-you attended me in bodily disease and pain, when I expected my great change, a change of worlds! O that you, and your's, may feel that seasonable and proportionable succour, by which I was then enabled to think of death without dread, and of heaven with lively hope; to confide in the power, grace, and faithfulness of God in Christ, for pardon, consolation, and strength. Committing you, and the afflicted partner of your joys and sorrows, to the compassion of an infinite God, I am, with real sympathy, truly your's, JOHN COOKE. LETTER XXX.-To MR. H. KEMBLE Dear Sir, I FEEL myself greatly obliged by your letter, which contained so large a portion of Mr. C.'s sermon to young persons. I suppose it is your first effort. Not indeed from the letter itself, for that, to a person unacquainted with the writer, would suppose it to be the result of a habit in writing sermons. I despise flattery, but really think your letter does honour to your understanding. "Every good gift is from above," should be gratefully acknowledged, and improved, as a talent for which we must account to the Great Sovereign of our persons, our abilities, and our advantages. I would seriously recommend the cultivation of your ability to write sermons, from those advantages which may be derived from it. It will strengthen the disposition of thinking with order: and the proper arrangement of our thoughts, on the different parts of a subject, is of no small importance in the pursuit of knowledge. Some persons hear without thinking; others think with confusion; but few think with any profitable method in the disposition of their thoughts. This practice will also accustom you to examine principles, to think closely, and establish your judgment, by rejecting evidence which is false, doubtful, or weak; and furnish your memory with truths, which may afford you future entertainment and benefit, whilst it qualifies you to communicate pleasure and edification to others, in whose gratification, on such subjects, you may feel inter ested. But the consideration which most forcibly recommends this custom, is the effects which may be produced on your mind, by such familiarity with objects, with which the most valuable interests of your being require you to be intimately conversant. The great truths you will hear explained, illustrated, confirmed, and improved, will, through a divine blessing, guard your judgment from fatal errors, shield your heart from the perilous temptations of the world, and prove sources of support and consolation the most substantial and permanent, when your "heart and flesh shall fail." Your intercourse with the world will now rapidly increase. Some persons will be found, to whose mind religion is beneath praise or blame; indifference is the offspring of the most dangerous ignorance. Others will boldly condemn the Bible without examination, because the Bible condemns them; and the inconsistencies, and self-contradictions, which they pretend to find in the book of God, you will, without labour, discern in their dispositions, conversation, and pursuits. The true secret you will perceive is, that the reigning love of sin, and of the Bible which condemns it, cannot exist in the same heart. The frivolous and the gay worldling is absorbed by trifles: whilst the avaricious, the ambitious, and the sensualist, secure the present time for the acquisition of money, power, honour, or pleasure. In the light of Revelation you will see their folly, their sin, their misery, and their end! One glance at such characters, in the ligat of eternity, will strike your mind with a thousand reasons to pity them; and "lay fast hold on divine instruction," as your best guard against their ignorance and infidelity; their pride and sensuality; their insignificance, their sin, and their punishment. By a familiar intercourse with the objects of divine revelation, you will possess a perpetual source of the most interesting information, the noblest enjoyments, and improvement of character. This will make you scorn to be indebted to a play, a novel, or any other fashionable folly for an hour's recreation. Time, in its reference to God, the soul, the judgment day, and eternity, will appear infinitely important, and claim redemption from scenes so insipid, so criminal, and so hazardous. In fine, a serious and frequent attention to the duty I am now recommending, may be blessed to enable you to look back upon your principles, your disposition, and conduct, with self-approbation and gratitude, millions of ages hence. "Tis good to contemplate our future sclves!" Wishing you that grace, which shall enable you to enjoy a prospect of eternal happiness in Heaven, and qualify your character in this world, to bear an eternal review without pain or fear. I am your sincere friend, JOHN COOKE. LETTER XXXI.-TO A FRIEND. Illustration of 1 Cor. ii. 9. My Dear Friend, THE quotation 1 Cor. ii. 9, from Isa. Ixiv. 4, does not refer to heaven, as generally stated, and particularly in the" Remarks;" for the loan of which accept my thanks. No! What eye had never seen, was "God manifest in the flesh,"--God with a human face! God with a human voice! God in our nature, obeying the *moral law, and, more, the mediatorial law! This law was "the will of God, that the Son of God, in our nature, should bear the sin and curse of his people; and redeem them from both these evils." They had seen Moses; God in creation, God in providence, God in miracles, God in the ceremonial and moral law, God in judgments and mercies temporal,—but never, never saw " God manifest in the flesh,"-IMMANUEL! Here is the true " glory of Jehovah," in Christ crucified, ver. 2. "The wisdom of God," long a mystery, ver. 7. "The deep things of God," ver. 10. Before the INCARNATION of the Son of God, did the eye ever see "God in human flesh ?" Did the ear ever hear it, until God reported it? Did the heart ever conceive it? No! A heathen philosopher said,-If God and man should converse, man must become God, or God become man! but he never expected it, much less saw it. But God has revealed the latter. Here is "the brightness of the Fa ther's glory," Heb. i. 1-3. The fullness of the Godhead bodily; and he who hath seen him, hath seen or perceived the Father! God in my nature magnifying the law, atoning for sin, redeeming the soul, bestowing the Holy Spirit-giving me a title to heaven in his righteousness, a meetness for heaven by his sanctifying influence, and conducting me to heaven by his word, his providence, his grace, and his example. Such |