they were all great professors of religion, this made me think that true religion was gone out of doors; for I had as good an opinion of the man I sent the letter to, as I had of any one I knew. But their answer made me say with David

"Since godly men decay, O Lord,
"Do thou my cause defend;

"For scarce these wretched times afford
"One just and faithful friend."
My soul was overwhelm'd with woe,

When tidings to me came

The anger of the Lord was great
If I conceal'd his name:

The things that he reveal'd to me
Should public fly abroad,

That all the world may see and know
He is the living Lord.

I ask'd the world what they could do
In this my grand concern;
But not a word of answer then
I to such question learn'd.
But all that they could do for me
It plainly did

appear,

That if I was oppress'd with grief,
My burden I might bear:
As I had fish'd so might I fry,

For ought that they could tell;
And as I'd liv'd so might I die,
And in the darkness dwell.
Their thoughts were otherwise employ'd
On whom they should court next,
For the great things they all enjoy'd,
And laugh'd to see me vex'd.

Oh, then I turn'd about to him
Who faithful is and true,

And bid this false, deceitful world,

And all mankind adieu.

With broken heart, and broken speech,
Most earnestly I pray'd,

That I might live to be set free

From this false-hearted world;

At whose false smiles God was estrang'd,
Whilst I on rocks was hurl'd.

For all the former things of old

Came quickly to my mind,

And how the conduct of most men

To me had prov'd unkind.

I'll do no more to court their love,
Nor seek their friendship more;
The happiness that I shall prove
Lies not within their power.
I want the pinions of a dove
To climb the heavenly road;
There sits my Saviour dress'd in love,
And there's my smiling God.
For now the world I bid adieu,
Since now I plainly see

The hearts of men in checker'd lines
Lie open unto me:

For some have my destruction sought,
With arts as deep as hell,
When disappointed of their wiles,
With malice next did swell.
I then thought on religious men,
Some comfort there to find;
But disappointed were my hopes;
Their conduct prov'd unkind.
So now the world I plainly see
In colours black and white:
Farewell, vain world! adieu to thee!
For God is my delight.

Now I've been tried, as gold by fire:
But blessed be the cross
Which purifies my soul thereby

To cleanse me from the dress.
Lord, in thy Spirit may I drink
Much deeper every day,
'Till I arrive at Jordan's brink,
And thou direct the way;
Then lead me up to Pisgah's top,
The promis'd land to see;

There would my spirit long to drop;

And dwell, dear Lord, with thee!

When I had written this I was stopped with

the following words:

"Now stop thy hand ere thou dost further go;
Read back thy writings, I do bid thee do;
For in the end I heard thy mournful tale-
I am not man; thy God will never fail.
The top and bottom must together come-
Drink in the spirit of thy God, not man;
Then as a God to reason I'll begin ;
For now I say I heard thy mournful tale :
Here is the woman left unto herself;

Cast out by all, when miseries did come on.
Bring forth your arguments, ye sons of men;
As all your conduct I did clearly spy:

I am not man: the truth I'll not deny;
For all thou'st written I well know is true;
Thou well may'st say, thou bidd'st the world adieu.
For in it thou'st not found a faithful friend,

But these two women of whom thou hast penn'd ;
And of the world they both may say the same.
Bring forth your arguments, ye sons of men,
Your hearts are broken all by cruelty;
I'll break the hearts of men, they all shall see.
I made the WOMAN to complete your bliss;
But you have robb'd her of her every peace;
And now, I say, I'll be the woman's friend,
And prove the truth of all that thou hast penn’d.”

This was written in 1794, when I had not one friend in the world to depend upon, amongst all my religious acquaintance, but only Mrs. Woolland and Mrs. Minifie; and, as to my father's house, they had all forsaken me, brothers and sisters, through unbelief.

The ANSWER of the SPIRIT.

December 31st, 1813.

"Now I shall answer thee. Know the answer I gave thee then, when thou wert sinking in des- pair; I said that thou shouldest find me God, and not man; and therefore I should not fail thee. And now appeal to thy own conscience, whether I have not fulfilled the promise that I made thee, to deliver thee out of the hands of these people, who so wounded and dejected thy spirits; because they could not see that thy visitation was from the Lord, but expected the visitation to be to theirselves; and so to theirselves I left them; and, according to my promises, I raised friends for thee; then now on my promises do thou rely, and thou wilt find all fulfilled in the end.

"Now I shall call thee back, to judge of thy

feelings for man, at that time when in thy heart thou wast wearied with all; and had it not been my command, thou wouldest never have gone to them afterwards; but shunned them, as they shunned thee.

"This was the feeling of thy heart then-a resentment against all men, and those thou callest religious men; but now come to the feeling of thy heart at this present time, and remember the words thou saidst, that from the sincere friendship thou hadst met with in mankind, and the great regard they had shewed thee, and the great persecution they went through for thy sake, as believing thy visitation was from the Lord, that thou couldest die a martyr, if it was my command, sooner than have thy friends thus persecuted; and it is for such a time as this, to shew how great is the difference in thee, in thy love and feeling for men now, to what it was in 1794, when thou wast slighted and neglected by men; it is to shew the difference in thy heart, that I ordered thee to put in print, what hazards thou wouldest run, that thou wouldest sooner die, in love to God and man, than let thy foes go on to triumph as they did, against thy friends. Because I tell thee, the coldness of thy heart, and what thou didst write in the bitterness of thy soul against mankind, condemning all men, will yet be in public print. Then let men weigh thy different feelings together; because they will all find that the shadows in thee are the substance in ME; and it is to see the warmth of men, their zeal, and love, to wish for my coming to establish my kingdom in righteousness and peace, and to free them from the temptations of Satan, to prove, though they are tempted to evil, yet they wish to be freed from that temptation; it is this desire in the hearts of men, and their suffering of temptations for my sake, that will kindle a fire of love

in my heart, to feel for man, as thou hast begun; and therefore I said in my Gospel, that the publicans and harlots will enter into the kingdom of heaven, before the scribes and pharisees, who boasted of their religion, and made long prayers, to be seen of men; and on their religion they relied; and by their great profession many were deceived, as they are to this day; but know what I said of the publican and the pharisee-the pharisee boasted of his religion, but the publican professed himself a sinner; and therefore he prayed the Lord to have mercy on him. Know I said that he went down to his house justified rather than the proud pharisee. And now call to thy remembrance, how many men, who made no profession of religion at all, as well as the professors of religion, who have shewed great kindness to thee, in supporting thee to carry on the work of the Lord; and this is done for my sake, while the great boasters of religion will not put forth a little finger, or give theirselves the least trouble, to know whether I have spoken or not. From this different conduct in men, let them discern my Gospel, what I said of receiving sinners, what I said of the publicans and harlots, that they should enter the kingdom of heaven, before the proud, boasting pharisees.

"And now discern the difference of their love,
From thy own feelings, I'll my Gospel prove;
And so thy early days I'll now call back ;
Because the sinners thou didst never like;
It was religion drew the heart of thee;

For there thou thought'st my likeness thou didst see,
That it was plac'd in true religious men,

And, from thy heart, thou judg'dst the same of them:
And so religious men thou sought'st to find,
When leaving the world and tired of mankind.
Because from it I broke the heart of thee;
So from the world and sinners thou didst flee,
When thy petition was to ME in prayer,
From my directions, I'd direct thee where