subjects before I went to rest. I leave it with the Lord, and would only pray, that I may feel the operations of his Spirit as powerful upon my soul when awake, as I supposed I did when asleep. ―30. To-day has been much as yesterday; if any thing different, my soul is more confirmed in the belief of what the Lord hath done for me, though my sensible comfort has not been quite so great. A Divine calm has overspread my soul, and a secret testimony in my heart seems to say, that the Lord has in a small measure accomplished in me his promises. But this must be much stronger, and the fruit of the Spirit much more abundant, before I can be satisfied. In the evening, I heard a sermon from, 66 Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God." The text forcibly struck me, and the whole scrmon proved solid and substantial food to my soul. 31. A day in which my God made more of his goodness to pass before me, than I am able to convey a proper idea of, either by speaking or writing. It is better felt than expressed. I enjoyed a stronger sense than ever of the witness of God's Spirit. While in the church, Jesus appeared clear to the eye of faith, as the King in his beauty; and God the Father seemed to bind my heart to himself in a degree I had not formerly experienced, and in a manner I cannot express. I felt dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. My mind was kept in perfect peace, and sweetly solemnized with holy awe, because so surrounded with, and so immediately in, the presence of Jehovah. O my God, what shall I say unto thee? E am lost in wonder, love, and praise! O confirm my soul! O keep me humble, and let the great deeps of redeeming love be more than ever broken up in my soul.. 1776. Diary continued. January 3. THE last year ended on Sunday night; which I endeavoured to spend with God in prayer, and in recalling the blessings he had bestowed upon me in the course of it. I found abundant cause both for gratitude and humiliation. Many were the severe distresses, both of body and mind, under which he had supported me, and from which he had graciously delivered me. O how richly, how bountifully, has he dealt with my soul! I cannot express all his goodness since November last. He has been accomplishing the great and precious promises which relate to the prosperity of my soul; and he will assuredly perfect what remaineth to be done. Lord, make me more grateful, and more humble. Let not the foot of spiritual pride come against me. In the beginning of this year, I most solemnly and cheerfully devoted myself, with all I have, and am, or ever shall have, to the Lord. I trust this was done in his own strength, and in the name of his beloved Son and I asked many favours which I hope he will not withhold. May I more than ever find him as a wall of fire around me, and the glory in the midst; that I may be preserved from my foes. I am very weak, but O that I may be enabled to glorify him in soul, and body, and outward estate; and so enjoy him, that not one intervening cloud may ever obscure my path; but light, unsullied light, always shine on me. "He that followeth me," says the Saviour, "shall not walk in darkness." 15. I have had many precious visits from above lately, but I have also had many severe inward conflicts; at times, I felt as if in an agony, astonished and sore amazed. I was in hopes these severe trials were at an end, at least for a season, and that I should enjoy peace in all my borders; but it appears I must still fight on. Lord, thou seest what need I have to be more than ever clothed with the Divine armour. Let me not turn back in the day of battle, but grant me "A patient, a victorious mind, What has, and does still add to my present uneasiness, is a degree of uncertainty respecting. the true state of my soul. I dare not deny, or call in question, what the Lord has lately done for me, in reference to the blessing of entire devotion; and yet through the force of temptation, I cannot find that satisfactory evidence, from the witness and fruits of the Spirit, which I know to be the privilege of God's people :-not that I entertain any doubt of my acceptance in the Beloved; but I want to be more clear, as it respects the grace of sanctification. Lord, stand by me in fierce temptation's hour, and make me faithful. Keep me from grieving thy Spirit; and when this storm is past, may I experience more deep and lasting communion with thee. 16. My God has looked upon my distress, and rebuked the enemy. I now enjoy delightful fellowship with the Father and the Son ;-a holy serenity of mind—a Divine tranquillity of soul. Forbid it, Lord, that I should ever sink from this: O let it continually increase. I have indeed been made deeply sensible, within these last few days, that I have nothing, and am nothing, but what God makes me, and gives to me: I felt stripped of every thing, but a power to confide, by naked faith, in the promises of a faithful God. I fought, and feared, till I seemed to sink down into a degree of stupidity and indifference. This was very alarming to me, who but a few days before enjoyed communion with the Father of Mercies. O what is man! How unstable !-Was this great transition caused by sin? or, was it the effect of sore temptation, permitted and sent, to try and prove me, and by that means to fix me in a more permanent possession of the blessings bestowed? Lord, give me to know this, if it be thy will in thy light may I ever be able to distinguish between temptation and sin. O let me now walk more humbly with thee than ever: may I watch continually, and every moment prove, that Thou art love: "Love excludes the selfish passion, Love destroys the carnal mind, Love is here my full salvation, Love to thee and all mankind." O my God, fill me with this Divine principle: permit me to launch far out into the depths of this unfathomable ocean, which neither knows bottom nor shore. 26. Waked unwell in body, but O my God has been good to my soul. I have enjoyed sweet inward rest, a sinking into God. I have felt the gracious influences of his Spirit visiting my soul, and I would fain hope increasing the fruits of the Spirit in me. My heart seemed like a garden, laid open to the vivifying and meliorating beams of the sun. What the Lord has |