"After two years' labour, Mr. (the minister he sat under) "took for his text Psalm xxxiv. 7: The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. It was made a great blessing to me, and relieved my soul of the distress I had been in. The description of those that 'fear Him' was much blessed to me, and my heart went up in praise to God for what He had done for me." But that state did not long continue. He soon sank into a dark state of mind. Being," said he, "in the field one day, I was in great trouble about my soul. I crept behind the hedge, dropped upon my knees, and tried to pray, when these words came, 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee;' and that quite delivered me."

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It was at that period our young friend began to listen to the ministry with much interest; and during his affliction he mentioned many texts he had heard spoken from with profit to his soul, among which are the following: Psalm xxv. 17; John vii. 46; Psalm ciii. 9; Psalm xxvi. 8; 1 Peter iv. 12; Isaiah xxviii. 16; and on one occasion, when Psalm xxiii. was read, and a little said upon it, he said he should never forget how precious he felt the love of God to be to his soul.

During the first part of his affliction he was very quiet, and said but little. One night, soon after he was kept from his work, his mind became much exercised upon the subject of saving faith, when the Holy Spirit led his soul to meditate upon those brought before us in the Word of God who possessed saving faith, and to compare his own with theirs, when he was much encouraged by the case of the woman who said, "If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole." Speaking of this encouragement, he said, "If ever I had a manifestation, that was one, which I never can forget." After he was confined to his bed, a very happy state of mind was granted him, which continued to his dying day, with but little exception.

One night, after the prayer-meeting, I received a message requesting me to go up to his father's, as he wished to see me. Entering his room, I found him very ill, and apparently very near his end. Asking him how he was, he said, "I am better, and get better every day. I am happy." "That is a mercy. The Lord does favour you," said one present. "Yes, He does," was his reply. "I shall not need the light of the sun there." "No," said one sitting by his bed, "the Lord will be the light thereof." He said, "I am sure I shall go to heaven. I am sure I shall be happy. I would not change places with any one, not with that rich man Mackie. Why, if I am the King's son, I can't be more than that!" "You have met with us many times below. You

loved to go where the people of God met," said a friend. "Yes, I did, but they used to laugh at me" (meaning worldly young men); "but I knew I wanted something they could not bestow, and which I could not get among them. They may laugh now. The devil is beaten now. I have conquered-at least One has for me." "That is very much better," said one to him, “than if Satan had left of his own accord, because, had it been so, he would have taken the key himself, and then he could have returned and entered at his leisure." "I am happy! I am full! I long to be gone! I hope it won't be long, but I wish to be patient," said the afflicted one. A friend said to him, "You are going to see Him whose presence you have enjoyed here, and in the house of prayer, where you have often tried to hide your feelings." That made him smile, and he said, "Yes; and I used to think I never prayed, but I don't think so now, for only while we pray we live.'" One said to him, "You will soon enjoy what the poet has said

“There you will see His face,

And never, never sin;

There, from the rivers of His grace,

Drink endless pleasures in.""

"Yes," he said, "and no end." "Is it not wonderful," said one present, "that the Son of God should have come into this world, become a Man of Sorrows, take the place of His people, die for them, and present them as pure in God's sight as He is Himself?" He looked up, and said, "What a mystery! It is all of grace. Nothing else will do for me. It is grace first and grace last. No man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him'

"""Twas grace my wayward heart first won,

'Tis grace that holds it fast;

Grace will complete the work begun,

And save me to the last.'

"That verse has been very sweet to me since I have been afflicted."

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On one occasion, he said to his grandmother, "I have such a blessed view of heaven, it is impossible for me to stop long in this world." Many other things he said to the many, many friends that went to see him. About the last utterances were, 'Jesus, my All, to heaven is gone," &c. "Lord Jesus, do come quickly, and fetch my poor soul away! The Lord's time is best." So passed away Walter Golding, once a teacher in the Particular Baptist Sunday-school, Oakington, aged twenty years. May each teacher of that school have a like blessed end, if the Lord will. J. P.

A PLAIN TESTIMONY BY A PLAIN MAN.

TO S. SILVER.

SIR,-I was thinking what a blessed thing it is to hear that blessed name of Jesus preached in the church of Wilbraham! Who could have thought it? Who knows what the Lord is going to do? But it will be a savour of life unto life, or death unto death; and methinks what a blessed thing it is that you preached not unto us "another Jesus.' I would tell the blessed Apostle himself that I would have no other Jesus, for I will have Him or none, for He is that blessed Person that suits such poor, lost, ruined, sin-sick, broken-hearted souls as us, carrying about with us a body of sin and death, for we are constrained and made willing to believe what the Lord saith is true, and He saith that I am wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores, from my head to the sole of my foot; and I know that to be truth, that my heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" and I know that is truth, that my own righteousness is as filthy rags. I am, like Joshua, clothed with filthy garments; but we also know that blessed truth, "Their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord;" and, again, He is called, "The Lord our righteousness," and "whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” He " came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And what a merciful gift of God it was, that He sent Him to heal the poor broken-hearted to hear their poor groans and cries, and to set the prisoners free! And what a Pearl of great price He is made, to be called "Wonderful;" and He shall be wondered at. Oh, what a blessing hath God given us in His blessed Son! The blessing is so great that no comparison can be made, and we are forced to speak, with the blessed Apostle, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."

I am a poor man, and you are a gentleman, and I am not worthy of your coming under my roof. But Lazarus was a son of Abraham, as well as the rich man—yea, more, for he was one of Abraham's faithful children—but to complain of want I cannot in the least, for

"The Lord is our support,

And He that doth me feed;
How, then, can I want anything
Of what I stand in need?"

"He that is down need fear no fall;

He that is low no pride;

He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his Guide."

The blessed Lord was poor, a Man of Sorrows, and well

acquainted with grief. He loved poor humble souls. Mary Magdalene lay at His feet a blessed school. The valley of humiliation is a blessed place to walk in. I have thought that you might see the Lord's footsteps there; but poor souls are not always there, for they have darkness to go through as well as light, which makes light much the sweeter. David said, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me." That was a comfort to poor Christian in his narrow path, so dark as it was, and so narrow that, if he stepped his foot one side, he was in the ditch, and on the other side, in the quagmire. Into this King David fell, and, had it not been for great mercies, he would have perished there. David was a man of many sorrows and great grief. Poor man! He found it so when he lay on the ground with heart-feeling sorrow, mourning to God for his offspring; but he sowed in tears, and reaped in joy. He brought his sheaf with him. He said, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." Hezekiah was a good man, and it pleased the Lord to afflict him, and He sent the prophet to tell him that he should die, and not live. He did not ask the prophet to kneel down and beg of the Lord for him. No, not a word; but turned his face to the wall, and knocked so loud and hard at mercy's door, with such deep-felt sighs and groans, many of which the Lord could not deny-it had the right sound. He came to "buy wine and milk without money and without price." It would have been a disgrace to the Lord to deny it, for He hath proclaimed Himself to be the Lord of great mercies. Such groans and cries are feeling things, and the Lord knew it; therefore, the door of mercy was opened, and the prophet told to go back and comfort Hezekiah. Hannah's lips moved. Eli saw it, and thought she was drunk, but she answered, "I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit." Nathanael thought he was not seen under the fig-tree, but the Lord saw him, and heard his groans and cries. Thus the Lord bears our grief; and, though the wrath of angry men, sin, and devils nailed Him to the cruel, cursed tree, yet His tender heart moaned and groaned to His Father for His poor, needy few, with deep groans and cries, and mercy's door was forced to fly open, and love and mercy, flowing out through that blessed Person, broke down the middle wall of partition, some drops of which, I hope, have in great mercy reached me.

Little Wilbraham, 1848.

GEORGE BRADDY.

"Is the sermon done?" it was asked of one who returned from the church sooner than usual. 66 No, not yet," was the answer. "It is preached, but it still remains to be done" (James i. 22).

THE SECRET OPENED.

SOME years ago, a farmer in the West of England, being at what is usually called the parish church, was struck with the following text of Scripture, which was read by the clergyman-" Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

"The entrance of Thy words giveth light," saith the Psalmist, and he now saw the darkness he was in. Restless and distressed, he left the place; and, as soon as he reached his home, desired his wife to inform him what was meant by being "born again," for he had heard at the church that he could not see the kingdom of God" unless he was "born again." The Bible was brought, and there were found those words which had caused this uneasiness. She confessed she did not know the meaning of the words, but advised him by all means to go to the churchwarden, as the likeliest place to be informed what was meant by them.

After dinner, the farmer walked to the churchwarden's house; and, being introduced, told his errand, and begged to know what was meant by the words, "Ye must be born again." The churchwarden honestly confessed he could not tell, but advised him, as he was distressed, to go to the minister.

After some time (and not getting better), he assumed_courage and knocked at the clergyman's door. After bowing low, and making many apologies, he ventured to tell his errand. "Get you gone! Get what money you can, live a moral life, and do not trouble yourself about such things as these," was the answer he received; and he left the clergyman as unsatisfied as he went.

His distress still remaining, God had appointed the means of information. Going to Aon on a Saturday to market, the weather was so uncommonly stormy that he was forced to remain all night. In the morning, walking about the town, he heard singing, and seeing people entering a place of worship, he walked in, and, leaning over a seat, was all attention. But judge of his surprise when the minister named his text. It was the very words which had so distressed him. The preacher, a Mr. F―, described the feelings of a soul that was born of God-how sin was his burden; his ignorance of things caused him shame; what desires were wrought in the soul; what thirsting after peace with God, through Christ, &c. The poor man heard, and heard his own character described. After service he rode home, and told his wife he knew now what it was to be “born again.”

His wife was called by the Holy Ghost through his conversation; his family attended, and it was hoped that six of them had a knowledge of Christ Jesus, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."