inadequately dwelt upon. The great end of justification, sanctification, was not indeed denied; it was at times to a certain extent developed, but it did not maintain that prominent place, it did not stand out in our picture as it did in that which was delineated by the unerring expositors of truth. There was an idea which we fondly embraced, that if the doctrines were preached, sanctification must be the necessary result; but it was forgotten that the very pressing the point of personal holiness upon the believer on the ground of a free justification is not only one great appointed means for its attainment, but the very means also of endearing the righteousness of Christ to the soul; that the very aim at conformity to the will and image of Christ exalts the glorious truth of our perfect acceptance in the work of the Saviour, and makes it exceedingly precious. It was not remembered that the Gospel to be really profitable must be wholly, not partially, received; that in the gloriously appointed remedy of the Great Physician, every ingredient is far too precious to be lost; yea, that not one particle of it can ever be systematically omitted, but to the serious injury of the patient himself.

I cannot but believe that to the above-mentioned source may be justly attributed many of those painful evils which ensued. The work of the Spirit being undervalued, the Spirit Himself was grieved, and He showed us that He was so, for not only did He permit us to fall into great confusion with regard to that new nature which is His own blessed work in the soul, but also in respect to His own Divine personality, and, at last, in reference to the gracious person of our dear Lord Himself.

Here was a dark and gloomy cloud hanging over that once bright landscape which at Milford glowed with the cheerfulness of the morning. In 1819, I was, for wise ends I doubt not, permitted to publish some of my crude undigested opinions, and scarcely was this done before that blessed Spirit began once more to guide me back to the fountain of light, and the good and tender Shepherd to restore my soul and lead me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. But as all this has been detailed at length in my "Letters to a Friend," published by

Nisbet, I need not now expatiate upon it. Suffice it to say, by degrees the thick film passed away. By degrees the mind was humbled, through the grace of God, and brought low; the spirit mortified and subdued; the soul was led into a healthier atmosphere; its faculties were placed in a better position for the reception of certain truths,-of those truths which God had ordained to be its spiritual food and nourishment in the midst of a vale of sorrow and of tears. We were once more brought to sit, I trust in our right minds, at the feet of Jesus.

But it will be asked, what was the state of my dear wife's temper and character during this painful interval?

To every reflecting person it must be, I conceive, obvious, that it is quite impossible to suppose that any errors, and especially those of the deep and vital character I have lately specified, could have been even partially received without their attendant evil. If truth sanctifies, the aberration from truth injures the soul. That, to a certain extent, this was the case with my dearest Caroline cannot be doubted. I only wonder at the grace, goodness, and most tender mercy of God, that these effects were not greater, were not more obvious, not more perceptible.

In retracing this deeply afflictive stage of our journey, it seems to me nothing short of the special interposition of a Father's love could have prevented the deadly poison from spreading over the whole system in us both. Truth, however, and I trust gratitude, compel me to add, that while there were undoubted symptoms of spiritual declension, such as having far lower thoughts than the Scriptures warrant of what the Holy Spirit can achieve in the soul, in the way of actual conformity to the image of Christ, and, consequently, less hopeful expectation of attaining it-and this was in itself a serious declension-while the work of grace in the soul was tried and sifted almost to the very uttermost; and this I cannot but think to have been one great end wherefore this fiery trial was permitted-yet did the spark, though surrounded with the mighty waves of inward temptation, still burn brightly; still did the fear of God strongly prevail in her soul. Even then the law of the Spirit of life made her free from the law of sin and death. Sin was her great grief, and

Christ her chief joy. She was still laboriously active in His blessed service, and in communion with God were the happiest moments of her life.

It would not be right to omit observing the way in which she was gradually led back, and brought to feel more intensely the vast importance of sanctification; that the great end of all the doctrines, of all the promises, of all the precepts, is holiness; that conformity to Christ is next to His own glory, after all, the one great design of God in all the purposes of His grace; that every truth is blessed to us only in proportion as it sanctifies.

Every truth that she had formerly received, she, in a sense, now received afresh from the hands of God. The Holy Spirit, as I have often heard her say, went over in her experience every doctrine of the Bible as at the first. Even the Bible itself was given to her anew from the heart of her covenant God and most gracious Father. The effect of all this was striking and obvious to all who knew her. Her views of sin were far more pungent, far more searching, far more influential. There was a decided growing into Christ for wisdom, for righteousness, and for redemption. While the principle of self was more decidedly crucified, secret prayer became now more than ever her delight, and the Word of God the man of her counsel, self-examination more the habit of her soul; and thus was conscience kept more tender, and Christ more effectually endeared and lived upon.

Thus, my beloved friends, was Satan taken in his own gin, and caught in his own net. Thus was this tremendous evil overruled for good. Thus, as the Spirit's work was really endeared to the soul, was (as it ever must be) the work of Christ more really apprehended, more really valued, more really precious. And although the remembrance of the evil had a pungency (truly, it was a sin ever before her) in the heart of my beloved Caroline, at times unutterable, yet out of this deadly poison did the Lord produce that which was to her profiting, and to the glory of His own blessed name. To us belong shame and confusion of face; to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, for His name's sake.

I am, &c.

LETTER V.

ONE effect produced in the character of my dear wife by those deep and distressing exercises of mind into which I have entered in the previous letter, was a timidity of spirit. She had too deeply felt the evil not to dread its recurrence. She had walked too much in the very fire not to greatly fear the least appearance of an approach to it. Whatever looked like a trenching upon the point of sanctification, of undermining its strength, or even undervaluing its importance, was the object of her utmost dread. This was a wholesome, healthy effect, the result of that fear of the Lord that leads men to depart from evil, and which is the instruction of wisdom. (Prov. xv. 33; xvi. 6.)

That it may occasionally at that period have existed in rather an excess, or, to express myself more correctly, that it may sometimes have degenerated into somewhat of a legal fear of what are really the privileges of true Christian liberty, I believe to have been in some degree the case, and this I know was the conviction of her own decided judgment during the later years of her life.

That such an effect should have arisen can excite no surprise. There is a counteraction that takes place in the operations of mind as well as of nature. A mind supported and restrained, through Divine grace, by uprightness and integrity of motive, has a reclaiming power in itself,-a self-correcting influence which, sooner or later, regulates its own movements; and it is quite consistent with this principle, that at times there may be a verging to one extreme, in order to counteract a previous tendency to its opposite.

Thus was it in the present instance. My dear wife had seen too much in others of the serious evils arising from a slighting of a certain portion of Divine truth,—yea, in her own immediate experience had, to a certain degree, felt them too deeply herself not to be exposed to the force of a counter influencing principle. Perhaps her state at that time might be safely termed an over timidity of spirit.

It was at this juncture an acquaintance with a Mr. Adams, in the Isle of Wight, proved to be one of the greatest blessings of her life. This event took place in September, 1823, and ever shall we have cause to praise and bless God for this his mercy towards us at this period of our existence. The gracious aspect of the Divine character, the compassions of God in Christ, His readiness to pardon, His delighting in mercy, His glory in forgiving freely, fully, readily,—were truths upon which he was led to insist and enlarge, and which she was led cordially and gratefully to welcome and receive. This exhibition of the grace and goodness of Jehovah,-so winning, so endearing, so overcoming, was, in a peculiar and prominent way, held up as the basis of all real sanctification,-the ground-work of all real holiness of heart and life. Upon this framework he loved to build the necessity of maintaining a constant sense of nearness to God, of watching over little declensions, keeping short accounts with our heavenly Father, of constant confession, and application to the blood of Jesus, for a sense of pardon, for cleansing from the guilt and cleansing from the power of sin.

This was precisely that view of truth that was peculiarly adapted to her existing circumstances. Anything of a less gracious, of a more severe character, any display of doctrine that would have exhibited Jehovah as clothed in terrors, as surrounded with thunder, and storm, and tempest, would have acted as a strong repellent; but this bright and beamy display of the holy, holy, holy God, became the most powerful *** (Here the MS. is unintelligible.) Such a basis for sanctified principle to stand and rest upon, such a touching representation of the heart of God moving,-yea, breaking the heart of man, was the very medicine for her soul; it was just adapted to her emergencies, and it was applied and administered to her spirit by the Spirit of God. This was the means of producing a tenderer view of the Divine character,-a more loving perception of His name and nature. The broadest views of His grace were

more clearly discerned to be not only compatible with the highest desires after holiness, but to be their very support and foundation.