My daughter in the Faith, what a mercy to know and understand these truths, with others of like nature; and, being taught of the Lord, to believe that every event that takes place in our little eventful lives, was fixed for us by Love and in Love, as also all our life's blessedness in Christ, before the foundation of the world! And, as the Divine properties of the same are realised by faith, it will constrain ns to be joyful in tribulation, rejoicing in hope, looking unto Jesus, and waiting patiently for His coming. And we shall say, our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; and every fresh deliverance strengthens faith; produces the abounding of hope; and we say, unless the Lord had been our help when men rose up against us, "they had swallowed us up quick;" and by these things we know the truth of what you wrote unto me, He delivereth and rescueth, and we rejoice, saying, He hath delivered, He doth deliver, in whom also we trust that He will yet deliver.

By the experience of the preceding truths, we are constrained to say our help cometh from the Name Jehovah; and in and by these things He shows us His love, grace, and mercy; and, through all our weakness, we learn that the Lord is our strength, and a very present help in trouble. And I believe that it is in this way that the Lord endears Himself unto us; and we cleave to Him with full purpose of heart, and trust in Him at all times, casting all our care upon Him, for He areth for us. And, as I have been a witness of these truths for years pas', I write the more freely unto you in tribulation, and pray that the salt of the covenant may not be found wanting unto you; that the Lord at all times may be your confidence and the rejoicing of your heart. Hope firm unto the end, for He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Be of good cheer, beloved; more are they that are for us, than they that are against us; for if God be for us, who can be against us? I felt sympathy with you by the hint you drop, but there have always been Christ despisers and Holy Ghost deniers, and of truth; but the purpose of God, according to election, must, and the Word of our God shall, stand for ever. And the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. The time is drawing nigh with you and me, when flesh, with its feelings and all wilderness trials, will for ever end; and, beyond all these things, it will be, Jehovah shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

Ah, beloved! how loving, gracious, and merciful the Lord is unto us. As Peter saith, that the trial of your faith being more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, we are still learning what it is to walk in that path no vulture's eye hath seen, nor lion's whelp trod thereon; yet it is the right way to the City of Habitation, and though it is very exercising to flesh and blood, it is all in love, and the truth is always the same to and for us. The Eternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and the Lord is our Defence, and the Holy One of Israel is our King; and we have found, and still do, and shall find, the strength of the Lord is made perfect in weakness, and we have no control over any thing or circumstance; but the Lord performeth the thing appointed for us, and many such things are with Him, and He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will; and through all things we shall safety, and it will be as He saith: "Where I am, there you may be also." These dear truths are encouraging, comforting, and Christ-endearing, and they constrain us to cleave to Him with full purpose of heart; and it is of small moment, and of short duration, if our little eventful lives are filled in with afflictions, grief, persecution, and tribulation. Yet in and through all this, Christ is our All and in all; and we are not only called to believe in His Name, but to suffer for His sake; and because of this, we learn another truth: that as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation aboundeth by Christ Jesus, and we count the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. And the Lord saith to us, "Fear

pass

in

none of these things which thou shalt suffer; fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isa. xli. 10.

66

In and by the experience of these truths we are constrained by love to say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name; He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." And well might the apostle say, Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice; for happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." And the hope that is given unto us is a good hope through grace, and is as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus; and the Lord is the Hope of Israel; the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble; and the Lord is our Hope and Shield, Refuge, and Strength. His Name is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe.

Beloved, how very blessed to live on daily, casting all our care upon the Lord, for He careth for us, and saith, He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. The Lord give unto us an increasing knowledge of these unchanging truths, and also that we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and no plague can come nigh our dwelling.

What a sweet employ it is to me to sit and write to you of Jesus, the friend of publicans and sinners, who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and hath been tempted in all points, like unto His brethren; and He knoweth how to succour them that are tempted, and He knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Amen.

Yours, in our precious Lord Jesus,

A. TRIGGS.

John Ryland's Poetical Letter.

The

JOHN RYLAND, Sen., the father of the hymn writer whose hymns were last month the subject of remark in the Gospel Herald, was a Baptist minister of considerable eminence in his day, first at Warwick, afterwards, for twenty-six years, at Northampton. He died at Enfield, July 24th, 1792, aged sixty-nine years. subjoined letter was written on his return from a meeting of an association of Baptist churches held at Sheepshead in 1764, and was put into rhyme by his son, John Ryland, Junior, then in the twelfth year of his age. It is a remarkable production, and, although repeatedly published, may be new to many of the readers of the Gospel Herald, and cannot fail to prove interesting to all. A wish for its insertion was expressed by an esteemed sister in Christ some months ago.

"My dear brother CHRISTIAN, whom much I esteem,
As one whom the Lord by His blood did redeem;
As you, when we parted, desired that I
Would write very soon-so now I comply.
And for once have taken a fancy to send
A few rambling lines to you, my dear friend.

If my verse be but awkward, my friendship is true,
Nor need I make any excuses to you.

To my friend, Mr. Guy, I have briefly sent word,
That I got safely home, through the care of the Lord.
To His Name be all honour, and glory, and praise,

Whose providence graciously prospers our ways.
My friends at Northampton in health I all found,
With manifold blessings encompass'd around.
I was glad of a pleasant church-meeting to hear,
Although I regretted that I was not there.

By the pow'r of God's Spirit, five persons reveal'd,
And told how He wounded, and then how He heal'd;
One woman especial, brother Chorus's sister,
Spoke choicely indeed, for the Lord did assist her:
But poor Thomas Tilley could hardly go on,
Satan told him he'd die as soon as he'd done;
He trembled and quak'd every word that he said,
And in earnest expected to tumble down dead.
Charles Tilworth, poor lad, tho' propos'd, was not there,
I heard he was kidnapp'd by Giant Despair ;
But we hope that his heart will be better in tune
To speak, with five more, the beginning of June.
May their tongues be untied, that they boldly may tell
How the arm of Jehovah redeem'd them from hell!
How He sought them, and found them, far going astray,
And taught them to travel in Zion's right way.
O! what a bless'd day is approaching, dear brother,
When I trust we, in glory, shall meet one another.
What singing, what shouting, what heavenly greeting,
Will be at that general triumphant church-meeting!
Where all the Lord's chosen together shall join
To tell of the wonders of mercy Divine.
Not idleness, business, or length of the way,
Shall keep from that meeting one member away.
Temptations and trials no more shall be known,
Nor Satan, nor sin shall then make us to groan.
Doubts, fears, nor distress, shall our souls then invade,
Nor scoffs of the world longer make us afraid.
No parties, no quarrels the saints then divide,
They'll be free from all shyness, and free from all pride.
Well met shall be all, both the great and the small-
Poor I may shake hands with the blessed St. Paul.
Each strange dispensation, not now understood,
We then shall see clearly all work'd for our good.
What merciful dealings we then shall be told;
What wisdom, what goodness, we then shall behold!
When each tale is ended, how will they all sing?
The loud-sounding chorus will make heaven ring.
But O, it seems long to that blessed day,
And I'm often discourag'd because of the way:

We must travel, you know, as we go to Mount Zion,
O'er mountains of leopards, by the den of the lion;

And though they're all chain'd, and Christ over them rules,
Yet their horrible roaring frights children and fools.
Such short-sighted creatures as you and I be,

Can often the lions-but not the chain see;
And to see but their shadow, if Christ be not there,
Is enough to make any one tremble for fear.
However, our Saviour has broken their head,
And promis'd that I on the dragon shall tread.

O that He would give me more courage and faith,
To believe, and rely on, whatever He saith;
In His strength to resist all the armies of hell,
With the sword of the Spirit their might to repel ;
Like the brave sons of God, at my Saviour's command,
To fight till my sword shall cleave fast to my hand.
But the worst of all is, that, from want of faith, I
Am apt to take fright, like a coward, and fly;
And none but my Captain, with shame I may say,
But would long since have hang'd me, or turn'd me away;
But His patience is boundless, and boundless His grace,
And still doth He bear with a rebel so base!

God grant that His goodness my soul may excite,
With firmness and courage in order to fight;
May the foresight of glory constrain you and me
To consider what persons we now ought to be.

-

Sons of God!-heirs of heaven!-the purchase of blood!
Forbid it, dear Lord-we should wallow in mud.
Leave the earth to the moles, we are bound to the skies,
There's nothing deserves our affection besides.
Still to pray hard for me, my dear brother, cease not;
Alas! you can't think what a heart I have got :-
So stubborn, so stupid, so carnal, so cold;
The half of its wickedness cannot be told!
Above all things deceitful, and desp'rately bad-
Good Lord, 'tis enough to make JOHN RYLAND mad!
Thou only canst know it-Thou only canst mend it!
O search it, and wash it, and break it, and cleanse it!
But I shall rhyme on, 'till you'll surely be tir'd,
My paper is fill'd, and my time is expir'd.
May God bless you all, and may you increase
In love and in holiness, knowledge and peace.

To your aunt, Mrs. Barnes, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Pratt,

The lady whose house we all breakfasted at ;

The good man, whose name-sake, without food or lights,

In the sea-monster's belly liv'd three days and three nights: To ev'ry one else, to Christ Jesus a friend,

My Christian respects I most cordially send;

And pray God to prosper his Gospel, and bring
All His people to own the Lord Jesus as King.

Farewell! and, believe me, there's none in this island
That wishes you better than I do.—JOHN RYLAND.”

"These lines, which the postman to you will convey,
Were wrote at Northampton, the seventh of May,
In one thousand seven hundred and sixty and four-
Since I left you at Sheepshead, six days and no more."

Gospel Ministers of Former Days.

THE people of God are told by the Apostle to remember those who have spoken the Word of God unto them; to follow their faith-i.e., to hold fast the truths they preached, and to consider their conversation-i.e., their godly example-and to imitate them in their holy lives. This is the evident import of the exhortation in Heb. xiii. 7, which appears to refer to ministers then deceased; the exhortation in v. 17, referring to those who were living pastors at the time the Apostle wrote, both of whom, whether past or present teachers, taught the same doctrine of Christ, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, in His Person, His grace, His love, His example, His testimony.

What was good for the Hebrew Christians in Paul's day, may not be unuseful for Gentile believers in the present day, considering what changes are taking place around us in men's belief and teaching; whilst the true Gospel of Christ is just the same now as when the Blessed Spirit caused it to be inscribed in the Holy Book of God many centuries ago. It is, therefore, intended to give a few sketches in these pages of departed men of God whose faithful teaching and godly lives rendered them worthy of remembrance and imitation, hoping they may prove acceptable and profitable to our readers. And we begin with Thomas Sutton; not for any special reason placing him first, but simply because his is the first name occurring at the moment, having been brought to remembrance in a recent conversation with a minister of the Gospel who knew him. He was born at Cottenham, Cambs, January 21st, 1779. His parents were persons in very humble life; so that, at the age of ten, he was called upon by "stern necessity" to assist his father in his occupation as a shepherd, in which calling he continued, without the omission of a single week, for the long period of thirty-one years; when, having become pastor of a church in his native village, he relinquished his field employment. He was thus, like David of old, called from the sheepfolds to minister to the people of God, whom he led in the integrity of his heart, according to the gift and ability bestowed upon him by God. His powers of mind appear to have been of an extraordinary order, but not greatly developed until near middle life. Still, from very early years, he had peculiar thoughts and wonderings of mind respecting God, the world of which he was become an inhabitant, and the heavens above him. These, and many other things connected with his life, are depicted by him in a very interesting manner in an original poem, published in 1838, entitled "The Powers of Memory," which contains a brief record of his history up to the age of fifty-seven. From the description of his call, by grace, at the age of twenty-three, we take the following lines:

"God, in His wisdom, infinite and good

(Grace still is sov'reign, absolute, and free),

Saw me, a wretch, polluted in my blood,
And, oh, His love had thoughts of love to me!

"Condemned, as yet, a helpless wretch I lay,

Nor hoped for heaven, but feared to think of God,
When, lo! His bleeding woes He did display,
Which raised my soul to ecstacy and love.