strength of my heart and my portion for ever;" for I know not from day to day what may take place, and I am nightly expecting the end. But what mercy do we see in our compassionate and loving Lord in not revealing this secret; nevertheless, there is a secret which the Lord reveals to His seeking, waiting, watching people. Bless Him, oh, my soul, continually, till He takes His pilgrim home, then "I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." Oh, to be found in Him, even in Christ Jesus! Methinks "this is all my salvation and all my desire."

I must forbear, remaining yours in the dearest of ties, made worthy and brought nigh to God by the blood and righteousness of His only and well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, Saviour, and King.

September 24th.-I have not any new thing to set before you, but for myself I can say that to get a few drops of the good old wine is very refreshing and strengthening, and I am blessed by my Father above many of His children, even as regards this world's comforts; and though I cannot go forth as I used to do, to fill up the ranks in open battle, yet I rejoice that I have not found it in my heart to desert, or make a confederacy with the worldthe enemy of God and man. What a mercy to be kept in this dark and cloudy day! "Oh, to grace how great a debtor!" &c. So we must ever sing: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us." The Word of God tells us everything to encourage us, for, where He has begun a good work, He will perfect it, so that "the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger." "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end," says He who is "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" also, "I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." It is sweet to visit the cross often

66

Stay here, my soul, and on that tree
Behold the wondrous mystery;
The glories of the cross unfold,
For ever telling, yet untold."

I don't wonder at the Marys and the rest of the disciples loving Him so much. "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and opened to us the Scriptures?" I think I shall never forget when He said to me, “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me." I have not lost its sweetness yet, nor do I think He will allow me to, for I believe it implied all temporal and spiritual, present and future good, and was the promise of this life and of that which is to come, for "He will come again and receive me unto Himself," therefore "I will not fear what man can do unto me." We are to tell these things to the generations following, and I desire to do so. What a mercy

our God looketh at our desires, seeing we are still in the body! Let us pray, "Look Thou upon the works of Thine own hands," for sure I am He hath "wrought all our works in us," so we will again exclaim, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory." "Unto Him who hath loved us, and washed us in His own blood," to Him be glory, both now and evermore. Amen.

"Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness

My beauty are, my glorious dress;

Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

"When from the dust of death I rise
To take my mansion in the skies,
E'en then shall this be all my plea,
Jesus has lived and died for me.

"Thus Abraham, the friend of God,
Thus all the armies bought with blood,
Saviour of sinners, Thee proclaim-
Sinners, of whom the chief I am."

I remain, ever yours affectionately, J. BARNETT. It may not be out of place to close these extracts by relating one kind providence manifested to the dear departed one on the Saturday previous to his death. It had been customary for him to receive on Saturdays a light pudding, for which he looked with the peculiar expectation of an invalid. On that day, however, the roads were blocked with snow, so that it was impossible to convey it as usual. He asked if M- was come, and on being told that the roads were impassable, he quietly said, "No pudding then." It was but a short time after, when some one living near sent just such an one as he was accustomed to receive. He tried to eat, but the power of swallowing was gone; yet, to those who observed this special favour, and doubtless to him also, it was a verification of Christ's own word, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things."

"Thou art gone, blest one, and who shall say how blest
Thy wearied soul, reposed on Jesus' breast?

Life's stormy voyage o'er, thou'st entered in

That land unmarred, untainted by a sin.

"Thou art gone, loved one; full well thy heart did know That love which passeth knowledge e'en below;

And often like a golden thread it ran

In sympathy toward thy fellow-man.

"Thou are gone, dear one; twice dear to kindred hearts,
Who felt they shared with thee the better part;'

The shining of thy gracious light they miss,

And darker seems to grow this wilderness.

"Gone to the blest, rejoicing evermore;

Gone to that love which ever brimmeth o'er;
Gone to that dearest One whose matchless grace
Prepared and meetened thee to see His face.

"Thou art gone; we would not ask thee back again,
But follow on till we the prize obtain;
Until we meet beyond the starry skies,

And God's own hand shall wipe our weeping eyes."

RUTH.

MEMOIR OF THE LATE JOHN CLARK, OF

FIVEASHDOWN.

(Continued from page 240.)

We

It seems difficult from the relation of circumstances in a long and chequered life to select matter of interest for our general readers. Some things might be recorded that would interest a few, but our object is to profit the bulk of those who peruse these pages. shall, therefore, pass over the detail of controversy which our friend had with one or two individuals upon certain points of doctrine, whereby he became more than ever grounded and established upon some parts of truth, particularly such as related to the proper Deity and eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ; and thus believing and receiving the truth by the commendation of it to his conscience, and in the revelation of it to his heart, it became indelibly fixed, and enabled him to withstand, both publicly and privately, various errors upon which many have stranded and perished.

About this time he had an invitation to preach at Norwich, where the Word was received with such acceptance that some of the friends hoped the way would have been made plain for him to have become their pastor; but our friend felt that that was not to be his pathway, so he declined it. He also preached occasionally at Watford, in Hertfordshire. One of his visits there, was to him a time never to be forgotten. He was walking through the churchyard on his way to the chapel, when he was led to contemplate on the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, and he was led to see that he was united to Christ upon the cross (Gal. ii. 20), in the grave, and when He arose therefrom (Eph. ii. 5); and that he was with Him in heaven (ver. 6). The view of this so overcame him that he wept, as he says, with the "most unctuous feeling," and feared, on account of his tears flowing so freely, that he would not be able to preach. He says, "When a friend came into the vestry, just before I went into the pulpit, I broke into tears, and asked the Lord to hold back His hand, for I was so overcome. This He graciously did, and I was

enabled to go on with my preaching. I am well aware that some may wonder at such things as these, and say, 'Surely this can be nothing but natural feelings wrought up.' But the soul who is acquainted with this knows that neither the flesh nor the devil will ever move any one to love; for the soul at such times as these has the wings of a dove, and would fly away and be at rest. Mr. Romaine says, 'That which comes from God leads to God;' and the soul that is brought here wishes to be always here"My willing soul would stay

In such a frame as this,

And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.'

"I now went on more and more confirmed in a revealed religion, finding that nothing would stand but revealed truth, according to Holy Writ: 'I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth' (Jer. xxxiii. 6); and 'In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby He shall be called, the Lord our righteousness' (Jer. xxiii. 6). And what God thus gives to a poor sinner is his own, as Bunyan blessedly says, when speaking of one, I don't see wherein we differ, except it is in the robe that is on thy back, and that I trow was given to thee by a Neighbour;' and truly it was given by Him who was Neighbour to the man that fell among thieves, who poured in the oil and the wine, sat him on His own beast, took him to an inn, gave the host faith and love-faith to believe the work was genuine ; love to receive him—and a promise for the future (Luke x. 34, 35). And this is the way the Lord visits His Church; He clears up all doubts and rectifies all mistakes. He that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks observes everything, rebukes the lukewarm, and encourages the tempted to hold on, telling them there will be an end to those things which they suffer, that He setteth an end to darkness' (Job xxviii. 3), and turns the shadow of death into the morning' (Amos v. 8), and that He doeth great things, past finding out' (Job ix. 10). "I went on for some years preaching, and working at my trade, sometimes sorrowful, and sometimes rejoicing, my body generally very weak, so that I have had to bend my knees in my shop to ask the Lord to give me strength to do the labour He had assigned me, and, bless His dear name, He has often heard my request."

But afflictions attend the lot of the righteous; and now the Lord began to lay another burden upon the poor man's shoulders. His wife showed signs of imbecility, so that it became needful that she should be relieved of domestic responsibilities, and finally it became necessary that she herself should be watched like a child. This circumstance led to a removal to Merton, where a way was made for our friend to build a house; and, though this

house was threatened while building with destruction by water, on account of unusually heavy rains, and by wind, as well as by the breaking out of a fire, yet it took no harm. Mr. Clark felt, in building this house, he received the fulfilment of words given him some years previously. His poor wife gradually declined, both mentally and physically, and after a few years the Lord removed her from this world of sin and sorrow; and though, on account of her weakness of intellect, little could be gathered from her of her spiritual condition, yet her husband, as well as some others who knew her in former days, have borne testimony that she was a gracious person, and that her conduct as a wife, a mother, and a Christian, well became a woman professing godliness.

In the order of God's providence the people worshipping at Ebenezer Chapel, King Street, Deptford, having heard Mr. Clark with acceptance, desired him to come amongst them statedly. The cause was then in a very low condition, and the stipend offered to a minister was small, and therefore there was nothing, either temporally or spiritually, to induce a man of God to settle there. But a meeting of the people was held, when Mr. Clark attended, and at which meeting he very freely expressed his felt inability and unsuitability to be a pastor of a Church. However, this diffidence was considered by the friends a very proper qualification; so, being ruled perhaps by the voice of the people, our friend accepted the pastorate, and while contemplating coming there, he believed the Lord gave him these words: "I will raise up the decayed places" (Isa. xliv. 26); and it must be said that at first the Word was gladly received by many, and some obtained a permanent blessing thereby; but friends at distant places, who seemed to show more warmth of feeling than most who were at Deptford, won upon him, and invited our friend away, and, in accepting these invitations, it was felt by some that there was a want of watchfulness over, if not of affection for, the people over whom it had been hoped he had been placed by God. And this doubtless worked prejudicially on both sides, for that love and sympathy that should have been shown in a people to their pastor, and in a pastor to his people, appeared greatly lacking, so that the cause did not grow up as it was hoped it would have done. However, as it was with Paul at Athens, so it was with John Clark at Deptford-" certain clave unto him," of whom, if it were needful or prudent, mention might be made, as at Athens, of "Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them" (Acts xvii. 34). And, as the man of God had many sore trials and fierce temptations, he was enabled from time to time to speak a word in season to some of the Lord's weary ones.

Nor was he without