which I have spoken and preached when I was with you, for now I experience the truths which I taught you. Yes, now more than ever, I feel the importance, the absolute necessity of being a Christian indeed, and of living habitually in the communion of the Saviour, abiding in Him. It is in trials that we can speak of these things; a Christian without affliction is but a soldier on parade; but I now make proof by experience, and I wish to bear testimony boldly so long as God shall give me strength to do it. It is exactly true, that through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom, and it is necessary that we should personally prove, that which is said of the Prince of our salvation, that "it became him to be consecrated through sufferings." (Heb. ii. 10.) Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered, How much more then have we need of that kind of instruction! Yes, I can say it now, it is good for me to have been afflicted, I needed this trial. It was needful for me, I felt it before-hand, and I am not afraid of telling you, that I have asked it of the Lord. My condition is at the same time very painful. I, who pleased myself so much in a life of activity and change, have been for a long time reduced to the most complete inaction, scarcely able either to drink, or eat, or sleep, or speak, or listen to reading, or receive the visits of my brethren, and obliged to make a great effort to dictate these few lines; overwhelmed and worn out with pains arising from my malady, and oftentimes deprived, through them, or the devices of Satan, and my own heart, of the presence of God, and the spiritual consolations which it may bring to me.

N. S. NO. 90.

I can, notwithstanding, boldly declare that I would not change this state of trial, for that in which I was some years ago, nor even for my labours in the Gospel; for although my life may have been spent in the service of Christ, and may appear to have been exemplary in the eyes of man, I discover in it so many instances of unfaithfulness, so many sins, so many things which defile my work in my own eyes, and above all in the eyes of the Lord; I have spent so much time far from my God, that I would prefer a hundred times, if I had thirty years yet to live, to pass them on this bed of languor and pains than to recover my strength and health not to lead a life more truly Christian, more holy, more entirely consecrated to God than my preceding life. Ah! dear friends, how much time we lose, and of how many blessings and graces do we deprive ourselves in living separated from God, in levity, distraction, seeking after the things that perish, satisfaction of the flesh, and self-love! It is now that I feel it, and you will feel it also in the day of trial. Redeem, then, the time, I cannot repeat it too often; live to God by faith, by prayer, by sacred converse.

After having spoken to you of my sins, I believe I ought to say to you, if this is at all necessary, that I never felt more vividly than at present how happy it is for us, that salvation is absolutely all of grace; and I say with all my heart, concerning the best performance of my life, that as to merit, and as an object of trust, "I count it as dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord." Yes, it is in him, that I desire to be found, not having mine own righteous

X X

ness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith, Phil. iii. 8, 9. I cannot, and I do not wish to be saved but as the chief of sinners, as the penitent thief upon the cross; and I acknowledge fully before God, that from the first good desire that I have felt in my life, up to the last edifying word that I shall utter, all comes from God, and solely from God, who in his pure grace, and according to the good pleasure of his will, has deigned to choose me before the world began, and to call me in time, even me, poor and unworthy, that I might be a monument of his mercy; it is He who hath kept me by his power up to this hour, and who will save me in his celestial kingdom.

There is another thing about which I wish to speak to you. I think, my very dear friends, that the idea that we shall probably never see each other again here below, although it may grieve you, ought not to be to you an occasion of discouragement. You know too well, that he that sows is nothing, nor he that plants, but that it is God alone who can give the increase; for I have often told you by word of mouth and by writing, that, as John the Bap tist said of himself, I am but one of the voices that cry in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." What is, in effect, the mission of a preacher, if not to exhibit Jesus to the sinner, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world!" and what ought the sinner to do from the moment when he hears that voice, and comprehends the language, but to quit John the Bap tist in order to follow Jesus, and abide with him. (John i. 37.) And far from being jealous of this preference, the messenger of peace

ought strongly to confirm it, repeating with the same John the Baptist, 66 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; he must increase, but I must decrease." Yes, in proportion as Jesus increases in our souls, the preacher will decrease, until he be reduced altogether to nothing, and till all can say of him, "We no more need that thou shouldest teach us, we are taught of God. (Heb. viii. 11.) We no longer believe on thy word, but we have our. selves heard Jesus, and we know that he is the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Such are the principles of which I felt myself compelled to show to you the truth. I have also a firm hope, that being the ransomed and freed of the Lord, you will not yield yourselves to be the slaves of men; and that whatever may be the gifts of a servant of God, he will never be in the midst of you, but as your brother and your friend, as I have been myself, and as you still call me in all your letters. You will remember, that you are a people of Kings and Priests, and that if, as to God, the church is a kingdom; as to men, it is the commonwealth of Israel. (Ephes. ii. 12.) Read in the first book of Samuel, chap. viii. the judgment that God brought on the Israelites because they had demanded a King as the other nations, (ver. 5.) "They have not rejected thee; but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them," (ver. 7.) I recommend you much to read often the whole of that chapter as well as Hosea xiii. 9-11.

You ought to be as much afraid of resting upon man, and attaching yourselves exclusively to such or such servant, as you ought to be zealous and faithful in fulfilling towards

one another all those

duties which fraternal love requires, and the Scriptures enjoin; namely, mutually exhorting, consoling, reproving one another, remembering that you are but one body in Christ, of which Christ alone is the head, and that you are all reciprocally members of one another. (See Meditation on James v. 37, 38.) I particularly exhort you, then, not to neglect your mutual assemblies. I do not mean the assemblies where one only speaks, and the others hear; these, when the Gospel is faithfully preached in them, are, doubtless, a great blessing, and a powerful means of revival and establishment for the soul, that I need not recommend them to you; but this attendance on public worship ought not to suffice to the Christian, and is not that which is described, and recommended in the Scripture. (See 1 Cor. xii. 5-12. 22. 28; xiv. 23-31, &c.) The meetings of which I speak are those in which all may exhort, and where all are edified, or each one communicate to his brethren bis experience, the light and grace which he has received from the Lord; in one word, where each one gives and receives, teaches and learns, in turn. These are the only assemblies that can be truly called mutual, where brethren meet together, and where the Lord hath commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. cxxxiii.)

(Psalm

I repeat it then, oh, my dear brethren, take care to maintain such meetings among yourselves; let there be some, if necessary, for every age, and for each sex, in order that they may be more free, simple, and confiding. He who runs with haste to the assembly, when there is some brother, who is a stranger, or some eloquent preacher, and who neglects being

there when there are none but simple and plain persons present, is not a spiritual man. Should you be only a few shepherds or servants met together in a wretched hovel, if each one were to bring a spirit of prayer and recollection, the Lord would be in the midst of you, and your assembly might be as abundantly blessed as those of the first disciples, when they met together in an upper chamber on the day of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, and that other day, when the apostles counted themselves happy to have suffered for the name of Christ. (Acts iv.)

But can I recommend to you,

your

duties towards your brethren, without reminding you of those which you owe towards the multitude, who live in that darkness from which the Lord hath brought you by his grace? Should the church of Christ be content as the garrison of a besieged city, with guarding itself, and preserving its own ground? Should it not, on the contrary, make continual sorties, and advance as a victorious army over the enemy's territory? From the moment that a tree ceases to grow, it begins to perish; from the moment that a church ceases to make progress, it falls asleep, and begins to dwindle away,, Ah! if you could feel the infinite value of your heavenly vocation; if you knew the love of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, and the riches of the glory of his heritage in the saints, and what is the excellent grandeur of his power towards us who believe; if you have tasted how good the Lord is, and how precious is that portion which has fallen to us; if, at the same time, you knew the price of immortal souls, and how dreadful is the condition of those who know not Jesus, could you ever forget the

value of that glorious title, of child of God, which you bear? Could you be any thing else but Christians, if you knew what an immense happiness it is to be a Christian? You would then indeed be altogether one yourself, you would wish that all the world might become the same; each one of you would become a witness of grace, a missionary, a preacher, a minister of Christ. Your heart would burn with zeal for the salvation of souls, and would send up, as from a burning altar, sighs and prayers in their behalf. Work then for the kingdom of God, conduct yourselves courageously in this good warfare; give no rest to yourselves, nor to Jehovah, until he shall re-establish Jerusalem in a flourishing state upon earth.

As to myself, I have reason to believe that my task is finished; I am waiting for the Lord to accomplish in me, by means of trials and afflictions, that work of patience which ought to be perfect, and then to take me away, when and how it shall please him, to his eternal rest. Having scarcely any hope whatever of seeing you again in this world, and fearing that I shall not be able to write to you any more, I must take leave of you, and recommend henceforth to God, you and to the Word of his grace. Oh, dear friends, how many things there remain for me yet to say! how many things would I wish yet to recommend to you; but the Lord will supply them to you. Read over again sometimes these last counsels which 1 give you, and pray that the Lord would enable you to put them in practice; above all, read the Bible; go constantly to that tree of life, which bears fruit all the year; you will always find in it fruit

ripe for you, some word which will do your souls good. If you would read any thing else, let it be chosen according to God: I wish, for instance, that each of you had "The Pilgrim's Progress," and the " Life of Bunyan,” that Christian so conscientious and so full of experience. Make a point of reading also in the Journal of Missions of Paris, (2nd year, No. 3,) the Life of the Missionary Brainerd. I hope that the excellent Letters of the late Rev. Charles Rieu, who died in Denmark, will be published. Another work, which I hope will shortly appear, and which I cannot too much recommend beforehand, is the " Ancient and Modern History of the Brethren of Bohemia and Moravia."* There you will see what a Christian ought to be, and that which a true church of Jesus Christ may be. This work will be too dear for each of you to procure it for himself; but several of you may join together to get it in common. Further, I would recommend to you as a book of prayer and edification, as well as a collection of hymns, the collection published at Geneva, under the title of " Psalms,

*This work has just appeared under the title of "Histoire Ancienne et Moderne de L'Eglise des Freres de Bohème et de Moravie, depuis son origin jusqu'en, 1741. Par A. Bost." Two vols. 8vo. It is chiefly a compilation from several German works, written in a clear and beautiful style, full of interesting detail, and quite justifying the recommendation here given to it. It cannot be considered as a complete history, for it is professedly confined to the relation of those things which are interest

ing and edifying. "Mon desir," says the author in his preface, 66 a été qu'autant que possible, toute ame avide, non d'histoire mais d'edification, pût trouver ici, même à l'ouverture du livre, quelque chose qui satisfit ce besoin, et qui la conduisit ou la laissât dans la communion de son Sauveur."