CHAPTER V. 1817, Fifth Month 20th. -O! how fervently, how earnestly have my cries and breathings ascended to Him, who is the fountain and source of all good, that all the true wellwishers to Zion's welfare, all the hearty, zealous, living labourers may be preserved at this season,* on the right hand and on the left; that they may be kept in their proper places, and in subjection to the Great Master of our assemblies; that their spiritual eye and ear may be opened and enlivened by his healing hand; that their speech may be directed and their mouths filled in his own time and way, to his glory! May each one of these be kept low under his almighty hand; may that which is of the creature within them be abased, whilst that which comes from the source of life and glory, is exalted above every obstacle or opposition. O! thou, who art pleased at times to favour thy poor dependent little ones, those who have no hope, or help, or happiness, but in the smile of thy benignant countenance,-be pleased at this time so to refresh their hearts with the influence of thy paternal presence, so to overshadow them with a sense of thy continued protection and care, that they may be severally encouraged and confirmed to serve thee with greater diligence, to devote themselves afresh to thy service and disposal, and more sincerely and unreservedly to say and to feel, that thy will is best in all things! * Yearly Meeting. 1817, Sixth Month 1st. I have attended the sittings of this Yearly Meeting, as well as those of its large Committee on Epistles, of which I was nominated a member; and am inclined in this manner to notice it. I think I never saw the importance of our assemblies, or indeed of any system of church government, in so strong a light, as previously to this Yearly Meeting. For many days before it commenced, my mind seemed engrossed with a sense of the weighty act of duty, which we were going to take in hand: I was encompassed with earnest desires and great exercise of soul, that every individual attendant there, might be availingly instructed and benefited, whether it should fall to his lot to be more or less prominently engaged; and that thus whatever we might do in word or deed, we might do all to the glory of the Lord, and for the promotion of his great cause. I was favoured to continue in the same tender feeling frame of mind, with but little diminution, to the conclusion of our solemn engagement: at times, the Lord did extend his precious gathering wing over his poor dependent little ones, and enabled some to sing in their hearts to his praise ;-blessed be his holy name. O! what a privilege it is, to experience preservation on every hand, to be each of us kept in our proper places, and under our own fig tree, where none can make us afraid,—each of us abiding under our particular exercises, and upon the watch-tower. A FEW LINES AFFECTIONATELY OFFERED AND ADDRESSED TO EVERY YOUNG PERSON WHOM THEY MAY CONCERN. Dear fellow traveller, 1817, Sixth Month 10th. In a little of that love which has been extended to me by Him, who "sheweth mercy unto thousands," I send thee these few lines; sincerely desiring that the eye of thy soul may be so effectually opened and enlightened by the healing hand of the great physician, Christ Jesus, as to enable thee clearly to see the things which belong unto thy peace, before they are hidden from thee.. Dear fellow traveller, dost thou not at times, when thy mind is in some degree disengaged from the round of sin and folly, or when thy natural flow of health and spirits is somewhat broken, dost thou not feel within thee convictions of thy wickedness, and condemnation for the same? Hast thou not intelligibly heard at such intervals a language which whispers, all is not right?' Hast thou not felt that the end of these things, in which thy gratification is placed, can never be peace, can never be anything short of death, eternal death to the soul that persists in them? Be assured then, that although these are thy secret feelings, thou art still the object of infinite condescension and lovingkindness; He who desires not the death of the evildoer, but the death of the evil, is still near thee, notwithstanding all thy rebellion,-following thee in thy ways which are those of sin, and running after thee as a shepherd, in search of his strayed sheep. These pleadings of Divine grace, these convictions of the Spirit of Christ, which in spite of thy concealment of them are pursuing thee, and in spite of thy endeavours to appease them by partial reformations are galling thy soul,-even these are the evidences of His gracious hand upon thee; who wounds only to heal, and whose very judgments are in mercy. O! that thou mayst come to see with undoubted clearness the truth of this; that thou mayst be encouraged and emboldened unreservedly to follow that, which is, as I fully believe shewn thee to be right and acceptable in the sight of the great Judge of all the earth. Assuredly He has shown thee, what He is requiring at thy hands, and what his righteous controversy is with: He requires of thee nothing but that which has separated thee from Him, the only source and centre of true joy, nothing but that which, if not forsaken, will embitter thy present life, and plunge thee into utter darkness after it. Dear fellow traveller, it may be that thou hast been, within these few years, my companion in the walk of wickedness; that I have taken thee by the arm, have helped thee forward in the broad and beaten track which leadeth downwards; that we have taken delight to set at defiance the commandments of a great Creator; and have yielded ourselves, and all that we possess, the ready instruments of Satan :-our time, our talents, our means, our youth, our health, our peace, have been freely sacrificed at the altar of our soul's enemy. Be then entreated by one who has himself trod in this path; who has hurried forward with impetuosity down this fatal current, who, borne by the rushing waters to the very brink of a tremendous precipice, has been there snatched from the very mouth of destruction. There is indeed, dear young person, neither help, nor hope, nor happiness, even in this state of existence, but in the favour of Him, (in whose favour is life,) in implicit obedience to the Divine will as far as it is made known to us. It is to no purpose that we reckon ourselves, or are reckoned by others as belonging to this sect or the other church, to this class or the other division of professing Christians-if we fall short of those unalterable marks and evidences of true Christianity, by which we shall be known and distinguished in that great day, when every gloss will be removed, and every ceremony and shadow shall fade before the eternal sun of truth. We read that at that awful crisis, there shall be but two names or classes, by which the inhabitants of the whole world shall be known, the sheep and the goats,-the good and the bad. Well, dear fellow traveller, it remains for each of us, if we have any desire that this transient state of being may terminate in an unfading inheritance, to lay aside all the false and foolish reasonings all the vain suggestions, the cheating insinuations of an unwearied adversary; and with sincerity and simplicity of soul, to take up the holy resolution to seek and to serve the Lord our God, during the few remaining days that may be allotted us; and to this end, that we be found daily inquiring in his temple, the temple of our own hearts, and waiting upon him there, where his kingdom must come and his will be done; that so we may feel his presence and power, to direct and to guide us into the saving knowledge of himself. That thou and I, as well as all our poor brethren upon the face of the earth, may be of that gloriously happy number, who shall inherit an eternity of joy unspeakable in the kingdom of heaven, is the earnest desire of one who feels himself thy soul's true friend. TO A FRIEND. Clapham, 18th of Sixth Month, 1817. Whilst thinking of writing to thee, a part of a beautiful meditation of the Psalmist, on the works and wonders of Providence, occurs to me. After dwelling much on the variety and immensity, the order, the harmony, the excellent provision and appointment of all things both in heaven and upon the earth, the poor servant cries out, as if unequal to the task,-"O Lord! how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches." I remember it is somewhere said, “all |