led her Ladyship to state the matter to Mr.Wesley. This drew from him the following reply :— "Newcastle-upon-Tyne, May 6, 1766. "MY DEAR LADY, "It was well that I did not hear any thing of a trial you lately had, till it was past. You have great reason to bless God, that this did not turn you out of the way. You might very easily have inferred from it, that "all these people are alike:" and thence have given way to a thousand reasonings, which would have brought you into utter darkness. But it is plain, you are not left to your own weakness. You have a strong helper. The Lord stands on your right hand; therefore you are not moved. And I make no doubt that He will continue to help, till his arm brings you salvation. But, in the mean time, you have need of patience; and the more so, because you have a weak body. This, one may expect, will frequently press down the soul; especially till you are strong in faith. But how soon may that be, seeing it is the gift, yea, and the free gift of God? Therefore it is never far off. The word is nigh thee! Only believe!' Look unto Jesus! Be thou saved! Receive out of his fulness, grace upon grace; mercy, and grace to keep mercy. "On the 24th instant, I hope to be at Edinburgh, with my wife and daughter. But perhaps you will see the salvation of God, before you see, "My dear Lady, "Your ever affectionate servant, "J.WESLEY." During the year of 1767, Lady M→ appears to have suffered much from bodily indisposition: this might be partly occasioned by the exercises of her mind; but her constitution, ever since the death of her husband, had been extremely delicate. All that is necessary to throw light on her religious progress this year will be found in the following letter, and in two extracts from her papers. These shall be given in the order of their dates. "MY DEAR LADY, "Norwich, Feb. 23, 1767. "For a considerable time I was under apprehensions that you were in a state of tempta-tion. And as I had no other way of helping you, this put me upon commending you the more frequently to Him that is able to save you. Your last therefore was doubly acceptable to me, as it relieved me from my fears concerning you, and gave me the occasion of rejoicing over one, for whom I have the most sincere and tender affection. Sure it is, that the grace of God is sufficient for you, in this and in every trying hour. So you have happily experienced it to be already: and so I trust you will experience to the end. But you must not imagine that you are yet out of the reach of temptation: thoughts will be suggested again and again: So that you have still need to be 'For ever standing on your guard, And watching unto prayer.' And let my dear friend keep at the utmost dis tance from temptation, and carefully shun all occasions of evil. O it is a good, though painful fight! You find you are not sent a warfare at your own cost. You have Him with you, who can have compassion on your infirmities, who remembers you are but dust: and who, at the same time, has all power in heaven and earth, and so is able to save you to the uttermost. Exercise, especially as the spring comes on, will be of greater service to your health than a hundred medicines: and I know not whether it will not be restored in a larger measure than for many years, when the peace of God fixes in your heart. Is it far off? Do not think so! His ear is not heavy! He now hears the cry of your heart! And will he not answer? Why not to-day? Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Your openness obliges me to be more than ever, "My dear Lady, "Your affectionate friend and servant, "March 14, 1767. Having a view of going to the Lord's table to-day, though distressed in mind, and weak in body, and without those comfortable views which I have formerly had; yet, being convinced that without God I must be miserable, and knowing that there is no access to him but through the Son of his love; I desire, in his strength, to give myself up to him, Lord, make me more willing, remove what hinders ; make this surrender effectual; and ratify it in 3 heaven, for Christ's sake. O give me to profit more by the ordinance than formerly: Lord, draw me, and I will run after thee: O quicken me, and I will call upon thee; and make me, O Jesus, thine in time and for ever. D. M." "October. The Lord in mercy having spared me until now, and as he is now giving me another opportunity of going to his Son's table, and having been very merciful to me since I was last there, I would here record his goodness; take shame and confusion to myself for past unfaithfulness, and renew my engagements to be his for ever. O God, thou hast been good: to thee be endless praise! Upon mature deliberation, I still see it my greatest honour, and desire it as my highest privilege, to be devoted to God; and therefore, in thy strength, O Jehovah; in thy name, O Jesus, I again cheerfully desire to give myself to the Lord, soul, body, and spirit, for time and eternity. O let it be effectual; and to-morrow, at thy table, shine upon me, and give me power to live more to thec - than hitherto, for Christ's sake. D. M." And now the day of her redemption drew near. The vision had tarried, but she had also waited for it. She had long gone on her way weeping, bearing precious seed; now, she returns bringing her sheaves with her. The horizon had been dark, and at times cheerless; but the overhanging cloud of condemnation passeth away, being dissipated by the glorious Sun of Righteousness: servile fear gives place to ୮ filial love; faith lays hold of the atonement, and her heart is filled with joy and gladness ;—or to speak in Scripture language, a language which nothing but barefaced infidelity will attempt either to deride or explain away: "Being justified by faith, she had peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ," and "rejoiced in hope of the glory of God." This happy change, alluded to in a former extract, she has stated in the following explicit and circumstantial manner. "April 4, 1768. For some weeks the Lord had more than ever given me to see my great wretchedness by nature, and had written tekel, upon all I had done, or could do. This greatly distressed me; I knew not which way to turn. My foes were increasing; and to my apprehension, my strength weakening. I thought God dealt hardly with me ;-my carnal mind boiled in enmity against him. I was impatient and fretful, the terrors of hell often took hold of me, and the fears of death were strong. I sunk down, and a cloud overshadowed me. My reason was utterly unable to assist me; nay, I seemed to be denied the use of it, so as to be able to draw any rational conclusion respecting my state. To heighten my distress, I was in a sea of temptation :-it seemed a critical time; either God must help, or I perish. In great mercy he did send me some help, by the prayer and conversation of one of his servants; who, among other things, told mè, the Lord was humbling me previous to deliverance. I obtained a |