from a far country; "as apples of gold in pictures of silver." And I know that my God will reward you. He says that a cup of cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose its reward. And those that water others shall be watered themselves. Was it not

so,

I think the favours he heaps on me would make me miserable. I am happy to find you are better. I hope it will not be long before I see you in the Dale. I hope you will favour me with a letter soon. In the mean time, let me have an interest in your prayers, that I may be kept humble, watchful, and near to the Lord. May the Lord bless you in body and soul, in your basket and store, in your goings out and in your comings in, is the prayer of

Your very sincere friend

and sister in Christ Jesus,

The King's Dale.

PHILOMELA.

LETTER XIII.

TO PHILOMELA, in the King's Dale.

THUS saith the Lord God, I will take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on an high mountain and eminent. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell," Ezek. xvii. 22. From the royal house of David was this young twig cropped, and on mount Zion it is planted, where the fulness of the everblessed Godhead, which dwells in Jesse's Branch, displays his omnipresence and omnipotence in the souls of thousands of poor sinners, and unites them, as boughs in the cedar, to himself; in which almighty power, love and goodness, manifested and put forth in the heart of the sinner, the soul rests satisfied and contented, and finds and feels his shadow a sweet screen from Satan's fiery darts, and from the piercing sentences of a fiery law. In the shadowing branches of this goodly cedar shall the birds of paradise dwell. Sing care

away, Philomela; for our beloved giveth songs in the night. Sing of his right hand and stretchedout arm, which got himself the victory over thy heart, and over all thy foes. Sing of mercy and of judgment; of judgment past, and of mercy come. Sing of thy well beloved touching his vineyard, and of union with the living vine. Sing of his glorious triumph, of his dying love, and of his redeeming blood; and sing glory to the righJoy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody; for as well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there; all my springs are in thee."

teous.

He that receives his testimony into his heart, namely, that we must be born again, and that he that believes in him shall be saved, and he that follows him shall have the light of life, is sealed; the testimony is come home to his soul with power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; which assurance is the sealing, confirming, and establishing, the soul in the certainty and enjoyment of the testimony received; and of a part and lot in all the blessings and benefits promised and testified of. He sets his hand to the seal that God is true; he subscribes the evidence, and the book of the purchase. "One shall say, I am the Lord's," for he hath taken me as a prey from the mighty; "and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob," saying, I have got both the birthright and the blessing; "and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by

the name of Israel," crying aloud, I have prevailed in prayer; I have looked at my beloved till I have overcome him; and I shall be more than conqueror, over heaven and earth, through him that hath loved me; for as a prince have I power with God and with man, and have prevailed.

These are golden days, Philomela! Make the most of them now, while the evil days come not; now, while Wisdom leads thy soul through all her mystic gates, wards, and doors, and exhibits her glorious and visionary scenes before thee. “She stands on the top of high places," Prov. viii; on Calvary, on mount Zion, and on every little hill thereof; on the munition of rocks, and on all the ancient mountains, and on the everlasting hills of electing love, and "by the way in the places of the paths." Here she stands, in all these watering places, breathing places, resting places, halting places, and fainting places, in order to give caution, encouragement, refreshment, seasonable counsel, strength, and comfort; by all which they go from strength to strength, "while passing through the valley of Baca." Heavenly showers fill the pools: "I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will make the wilderness pools of water, and the dry land springs of water.'

"She crieth at the gates ;" and the voice of her cry is, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation, which keepeth

the truth, may enter." "This is the gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter."

"She crieth at the entry of the city," saying, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Therefore thou art no more a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-citizen of the saints and of the household of God. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh."

"She crieth at the coming in of the doors." The first doors she cries at are the doors of death's shadow: "Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?" Job xxxviii. 17. These doors are the covering and veil that is spread over all nations, Isa. xxv. 7; and the dismal gloom that the god of this world hath blinded our minds with, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine into us, and we should be saved. But Wisdom cries at these doors, saying, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." The light of the Lord pene