be difpofed of by him; to be filent till He commands me to speak; to watch his Eye and Hand, ⚫ for every Intimation of his Will, and to do it and • bear it, as far as my little Strength will carry me; waiting upon him for further Strength in Proportion to renewed Difficulties: And all my Interefts and Concerns I do moft cordially lodge in his Hands, ⚫ and leave myself and them to his wife and gracious Difpofal.'- -In one of his Reflections on the Frame of his Spirit in the Services of a Sacrament-day, he writes ; This Day my Heart hath been almost torn in Pieces with Sorrow; yet, bleffed be God, not a hopeless, not a repining Sorrow; but fo foftened and fo fweetened, that, with all its Diftress, I number it among the best Days of my Life; if that be good which teacheth us Faith and Love, and which cherisheth the Sentiments of Piety and • Benevolence. I defire very thankfully to acknowledge, that Days of the fharpeft Trial have often been Days of fingular Comfort. The repeated Views I have had of a dear dying Friend, who is expreffing fo much of the divine Prefence and Love, have comforted rather than dejected me. Blessed be GOD, who hath fealed us both with his Grace, as those that are to be Companions in eternal Glory! A Thought, which now hath a Relish, that nothing

can exceed, nothing can equal.'- -In a Letter to one of his Pupils, concerning the Joy and Triumph with which one of his Friends had died, he faith; O, what a Gospel is this! I proteft by our rejoicing in Chrift Jejus, that I fee and feel more and more of its Excellency; that I efteem it the greateft Mad• nefs in the World to oppose it, and, next to that, to • neglect

neglect it. Who would not rejoice in that Gospel, which is fuch a Cordial to the Soul, when every Thing else lofeth its Relish? Who would not delight to preach it, and adore that gracious Hand, which imparts the Confolations of it to our Companions in the Ways of Religion, when their Flesh • and Heart faileth? Thus, do I hope He will com• fort us, when we are capable of labouring no longer for him; and convey us into a blissful Eternity un• der his fenfible Smiles: But if not, we know whom we have believed, and the Surprize of Glory will ⚫ be but fo much the greater.' At another Time he thus writes; Such Things have lately befallen me in the Death of fome Friends and the Removal of others to a Distance, that had I not been peculiarly fupported, I know not how I fhould have borne ' them; but, thro' the undeferved Goodness of a gracious GOD, I have found very great Confolation. The divine Prefence hath made my Work my Joy amidst all its Fatigues, and hath caused my Soul to over-flow with fuch unutterable Delight, that I have hardly known how to quit it. Other Things, that used to be pleasant, have been painful to me, as feparating me from that delightful Intercourfe with GoD thro' Chrift, which I have known in Prayer, Meditation and reading devotional Pieces. It hath been like a Fire glowing in my Heart; fo that I could fearce forbear fp aking to every one I met with, about their Souls and divine Things; and have longed for Opportunities, both in public and private, of imparting the Ful• nefs of what I felt within.'

But

;

But there was no Affliction which lay with greater Weight upon his Mind, than the Death of his eldeft Daughter, who lived long enough to give him very agreeable Hopes as to her pious Difpofition. In the Sermon he published on that Occafion, the World hath feen how his Heart was affected, and what Confiderations fupported him under that Affliction and many mourning Parents have been comforted and inftructed by the Arguments and Confolations he hath fuggested in it. I wish fuch may reap a like Advantage from viewing fome of the Workings of his Heart in fecret, which he recorded at once for his Humiliation and Thankfulness: And then my Design will be answered; tho' others, who are Strangers to the tender Feelings of Nature on fuch an Occafion, may be unimpreffed with his Reflections. I have been preaching from thefe Words, Is it well with the Child? And she answered, It is well. But furely, there never was any Difpenfation of Pro'vidence, in which I found it fo difficult to say it. • Indeed fome hard Thoughts of GOD were ready to arife; and the Apprehenfion of his Difpleasure against me brought my Mind into a painful Situation. But it pleafed GOD to quiet it, and lead 6 me to a filent, cordial Submiffion to his Will. I fee that I doted too much upon her; my Heart was ' opened to her with a fond flattering Delight. And now, O my Soul, one of thy earthly Delights is gone. Seek thy greatest Delight in Heaven, where I trust my Child is; where I am fure my Saviour is; and where I truft, thro' Grace, notwithstanding fome Irregularities of Heart on this Occafion, I fhall fhortly be. This Circumftance I must re• cord,

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cord, that I recollected this Day, at the Lord's Ta⚫ble, that I had fome time ago taken the Cup at that • Ordinance with thefe Words, Lord, I take this Cup as a public, folemn Token, that, having re"ceived fo inestimable a Bleffing as this, I will re"fufe no other Cup, which Thou fhalt put into my "Hands.' I mentioned this again to-day, and publicly charged the Thought on myself, and chriftian • Friends who were prefent. God hath taken me at my Word; but I do not retract it. I repeat it again ' with Regard to every future Cup. Much Sweetness is mingled with this bitter Potion, chiefly in the Views and Hopes of the eternal World. May not 'this be the Beauty of this Providence, that instead of her living many Years upon Earth, GoD may have taken her away, that I may be better fitted for and reconciled to, my own Diffolution, perhaps nearly approaching? Lord, thy Will be done! May my Life be used for thy Service, while it is conti'nued; and then, put thou a Period to it, whenever thou pleasest.'The next Evening, after the Funeral, he adds, I have now been laying the Delight of my Eyes in the Duft, and it is for ever hid from them. We had a fuitable Sermon from thofe Words, Doft thou well to be angry for the Gourd? Gop knows, that I am not angry; but forrowful he furely allows me to be. Bleffed Lord, I trust thou haft received my Child, and pardoned

6

6

the Infirmities of her fhort, childish,

afflicted Life. I love thofe, who were kind to her, and those that 6 weep with me for her: Shall I not much more love Thee, who art at this Moment taking Care of her, and opening her Infant-faculties for the Bufinefs

' and

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• and Blessedness of Heaven? Lord, I would confider 'myself as a dying Creature. My first-born is laid in the Duft; I fhall fhortly follow her, and we shall lie down together. But, O, how much Pleasure doth it give me to hope, that my Soul will reft with her, and rejoice in her for ever! But let me not center my Thoughts here: It is a Reft with, and in, GOD, that is my ultimate Hope. Lord, may thy Grace fecure it to me; and in the mean Time give me a holy Acquiefcence of Soul in Thee; and now my Gourd is withered, fhelter me under the Shadow of thy Wings.

Thus did this good Man obferve the Hand of GOD in all the afflictive Events, in which he was concerned; and fo careful was he to improve every fuch Occurrence, in order to ftrengthen his Submiffion to the divine Will, to weaken his Attachment to the World and to increase his Value for the Supports and Confolations of Religion. And how happy an Effect this had to render his Trials eafy, and to make them fubfervient to his fpiritual Improvement, will be easily imagined by every pious Reader.

SECT.