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and righteous altogether. O Lord, support my mind, give strength to my body, give energy to my nerves, give a greater clearness and soundness to my mind and judgment, put me into that blessed position to prove Thee, and try Thee, whether Thou wilt not be to me more than all my fears, and groans, and tears. Be Thou my Friend and Comforter, my Support, and my everlasting joy.

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Sunday, Oct. 30th.-Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me;' so the words have just come to me to console my wandering, distracted mind. Troubled again, but the Lord is my Support and Comfort. What a happiness to look forward to the time when sorrow, and sighing, and parting, yea, and sinning, shall be done away with for ever. Dear Lord, support me during the coming week, take away this deep anxiety, and enable me to trust all to Thy Fatherly

care.

"Sunday, Nov. 13th.-A fortnight's difficulties and trials for ever gone and past, no more to be experienced; and what a mercy that we cannot see what lies before us. What anxiety it would cause us to be the subjects of, if we could look a few days hence, and picture before our minds the pathway we shall have to tread in. How miserable, downcast, and wretched we should be if it were so. But, in great kindness, the Lord is pleased to lead step by step. Mr. Lt, our superintendent, being away, I was obliged to act for him. I did not appreciate the exalted position; I felt awkward and strange. The last week was one of great anxiety. The words come into my mind-oh, that they may come into my heart! The Lord will provide;' 'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.' Oh, may the Lord teach me, and lead me in the right way. Bless me, O Lord! Bless my mother! Give her health and strength to live a few years longer for us; and may she find in her children all that she would desire-yea, born again from above. Give me more of a cheerful mind and disposition, if it be in accordance with Thy blessed will. Remember me in all my troubles and temptations, my inward and outward trials, my hopes and fears, my joys and sorrows, for Christ's sake.

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Sunday, Dec. 4th.-The first Sunday of the last month of another year; and what the Lord has made me to pass through during the year now drawing to a close! I seem to grow in this way-the more I know, the less I really seem to know. The Lord is making me to see great abominations in myself; and this keeps me from seeing the glory and beauty in Christ. I am but a poor sin-burdened sinner, and need salvation and grace every moment.

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Thursday night, Dec. 8th.-I have been to Clifton, to see the suspension bridge opened. It has been a day of gladness to some; to me, one of deep mental and heart sorrow. The Lord is indeed causing me to pass through deep waters. Oh, that He would give me a lift heavenward! All things shall work together for good to them that love God.' "Saturday night, Dec. 10th.-Oh, how the pangs of hell seem to get hold upon me! I feel to be trembling over the pit at times; yet a glorious thought comes, and a glorious reality-underneath are the everlasting arms of the eternal Jehovah. The Holy Spirit has whispered some sweet thoughts of consolation into my soul. O Lord, Thou art teaching me, by little and little, what human nature is, when left alone to its own corrupt will and way. Do Thou, Lord, comfort and sustain my soul on the morrow, and may I feed upon theBread of Life.'

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"Sunday, Dec. 11th.-In the midst of my trials and difficulties the Lord is still very gracious to me. I have been bowed down the past week with sore trouble and temptation; yet at times the Lord melts my heart when He gives me but a thought of Himself. Oh, how vain and trifling does everything in this earth appear when the Lord shows the poor soul what is in Himself-His love, His mercy, His faithfulness, His kindness, His eternal covenant. 'None shall pluck them out of His hand.'

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"New Year's Day, Sunday evening, Jan. 1st, 1865.-Another year's trials for ever passed away. May the Lord graciously condescend to relieve my poor mind of many bitter recollections of the past year. I have felt comfort at times by a ray of divine light being dropped into my soul; yet so worldly is my mind that carnal things seem to take up more of my time than my heavenly and eternal home. The Lord has led me through some difficult and thorny paths, but I am constrained to leave the result with Him. He doeth all things well.'

Sunday, Jan. 29th.--'Surely goodness and mercy have followed me up to the present moment; and what can I do but adore His great name, and admire the richness of His glorious grace, that has been exercised towards a poor sinner like me?

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Sunday, Feb. 19th.-I still desire to record the Lord's mercies and providential dealings with us, as a family of fatherless ones. Be it to His praise and glory. He has given us what He has promised: Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water sure.' And, though at times we think we shall sink under the weight of our cares, yet, hitherto the Lord has helped us;' and in every difficulty the 'Lord has delivered, yea, and will deliver.'

"Sunday, March 5th.-How time flies! Three years to-day since dear father was taken to his rest, and the remainder of us, as a family, still spared. What changes have passed through our poor minds during those three years; yea, a lifetime of mercies. What grace! what love! what patience! what forbearance! what loving-kindness! Dear Jesus, help me to adore Thee. Lead me to Thyself as my Refuge, my strong Tower, my Hiding-place. May I behold Thee, dear Jesus, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' I feel the world pressing me very hard at times; wicked thoughts will intrude, sinful words and actions will break out; but Thy blood is the only remedy to blot out all sin and shortcomings.

"Sunday evening, March 12th.-My mind is still a little perplexed. O Lord, draw me from seeking sin, from following sin, from cleaving to sin. Deliver me from the power and bondage of Satan. Make me to feel heavenly influences, as Thy Church of old did, when she said, 'Draw me; we will run after Thee.' Give me, O Lord, a patient, humble, watchful, prayerful spirit.

"Easter Sunday-Hitherto has the Lord brought me, and what is still before me I know not. Do Thou, O Lord, keep me from desiring to know. Give me a grateful sense of Thy providential blessings bestowed on me, and graciously give me to realize more the workings of grace in my soul. Be beforehand with me in every circumstance of life, and take away the satisfaction I feel in earthly things. Bless me, Lord; bless my mother and all of us, as a family, for Christ's sake.

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Sunday, April 23rd.-Through divine love and mercy, I am enabled to desire heavenly gifts-yea, above all gifts, the gift purchased by thedeath of the Lord Jesus Christ, that precious gift, 'eternal life.'

"Sunday, May 7th.-I do not seem to be very spiritually minded lately. My desires run after the world and worldly things; alas! not bent upon heavenly things.

"Sunday evening, May 14th.-We have had a melting meeting this evening. A few of us met at Mr. L- -t's house to pray for our minister (Mr. Doudney), who has gone through the services of the sanctuary to-day with great difficulty, on account of hearing that his brother-in-law (the Rev. G. D. Doudney) is dying. He is going to Plymouth to-night by the mail train, hoping to see him before he passes away. May the Lord be with them both."

(To be concluded in our next.)

Pilgrim Papers.

"CHASTENED, BUT NOT KILLED."

"In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."—Isa. liv. 8. How exceedingly subtle are the allurements of this world-so pleasant to the eye (of sense) and to be desired, but, as surely as indulged in, so surely have we to smart for that sin. And, when we have been privileged with the smiles of our heavenly Father, how doubly does it grieve and cast us down in spirit to experience the hidings of His face! We then sometimes conclude, or rather, Satan suggests, that, after all, perhaps our religion has been merely a fancied one; at all events, God will not again look upon us in mercy, therefore we had better give it all up. Ah, it is our mercy the religion we possess is not of our own making, and the matter does not rest with us—our thoughts and ways are not as Hisand, whatever we may, when so cast down, think about giving up our God, our covenant-keeping God will not give us up! Hence our security. It was He first loved us, and our love to Him is but the result of His to us. And

"Whom once He loves, He never leaves,
But loves them to the end."

What an example have we in the life of David of the powerlessness of all evil things upon a man when upheld by Jehovah! David had wisdom and strength, because the Lord was with him-He also enquired of the Lord, and encouraged himself in his God; but yet, when less sensible of His Lord's presence, He is saying, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Yes, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," and, when grace divine reigns, we can often rejoicingly sing,

"Oh, the happiness arising

From the life of grace within, When the soul is realizing Conquests over hell and sin; Happy moments Heavenly joys on earth begin.

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Nearer, nearer to Him clinging,
Let my helpless soul be found;
All my sorrows to Him bringing,
May His grace in me abound.
Happy moments,

With new covenant blessings crowned."

How invulnerable was David when, "in the name of the Lord, he appeared before the Philistine! This was the armour he had proved, and well protected him too; for "the name of the Lord is a strong tower." We are secure from any real harm if the Lord be the Strength of our life. And hath He not said, he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye? Were we but more alive to the reality of these blessed truths, we should pursue our journey in life with far less misgivings, and enjoy much more of that sweet experience which must have been David's when he wrote probably his first Psalm, viz., the eighth. Neither does the Lord let His people lack friends. For David He raised up Jonathan. And how they loved each other, as well they might when taught by the same blessed Schoolmaster, whose name is Love.

May our chief desire be to know Him, and the power of His resurrection; then shall we see of His wondrous love, which eternity alone will unfold in its fulness; for

Chelmsford.

"Nor earth, nor seas, nor sun, nor stars,
Nor heaven His full resemblance bears;
His beauties we can never trace,
Till we behold Him face to face."

CLEMENT J. COWELL.

A BOOK FOR THE TIMES.

OFTEN our intelligent readers are asked, "Can you recommend me a book?" "The Huguenots in France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes" is a book that should have a place in the library of every Protestant, lie on the table of every literary institution throughout the kingdom, become a prize book in true Protestant schools, and in every attainable way circulated among the rising generation. Popery of late has put forth a velvet paw, whereby the real character of her unchanged and unchangeable doctrines have been concealed; and so countless multitudes are deceived, till at last they are fully persuaded that Popery has no claws left, and that it is want of charity that makes a few bigots assert that what Popery was it is, and what it has done it would do again if only it had the power. The root of Popery is Arminianism, and its practical bearings exhibit the doctrine that Roman Catholics deny-total depravity-a condition which grace alone can meet. As a substitute for divine and sovereign grace, we have in Popery all sorts of Satanic contrivances to effect a salvation which Christ wrought out and perfected for ever when He cried, "It is finished!" from which salvation nothing can be taken, to which nothing can be added."

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In the valuable volume before us we see a portraiture of Popery acting out its principles; and this fact must be borne in mind, that the records given in these pages do not represent the result and outbreak of natural cruelty which belongs to humanity in its savage state. France stood high among nations as the patron of civilization, science, arts, literature, manufactures, and refinement; but the motive power that produced the cruelties that these pages record was more than human-it was Satanicand the cruelties were the outcome of "the doctrine of devils." Kings were but the puppets that appeared on the stage and gave their authority to the beast, but the doctrines of Popery were the wires, and the hands that guided them were under the rule and governance of Satan, till the land of "fair France" was soaked with blood.

"The Huguenots in France" is a book for all nations and all sects; it has to do simply with well-attested facts.

The following extract is of vast importance to the lovers of truth, for it opens up the spring and source of that mysterious endurance which enabled this noble army of martyrs to die for "the faith once delivered to the saints." Regenerated, upheld, and enlightened in the doctrines of the grace of God-commonly called Calvinism-they confessed their faith, fearless of all the terrific consequences which that acknowledgment involved. Hunted like beasts of prey, they, like their spiritual ancestors, "wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, afflicted, tormented, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection."

Thus writes Mr. Smiles:

"Whether it be that Calvinism is electic as regards races and individuals, or that it has (as is most probably the case) a powerful formative influence upon individual character, certain it is that the Calvinists of all countries have presented the strongest possible resemblance to each other; the Calvinists of Geneva and Holland, the Huguenots of France, the Covenanters of Scotland, and the Puritans of New and Old England, seeming as it were, to be but members of the same family.

The sufferings of the Huguenots* were something terrific to chronicle. In 1572 upwards of 70,000 were butchered in various parts of France on the eve of St. Bartholomew, but in 1598 Henry IV. published the famous Edict of Nantes, by which the free exercise of religion was secured to all the king's subjects. In 1685 this edict, through the machinations of the Jesuits, in their influence over Louis XIV., was revoked, and free licence was given for all sorts of persecution against the Huguenots. Their churches were destroyed, their property confiscated, and their persons insulted, tortured, and put to death; 500,000 were driven to exile and took refuge in foreign countries, and those who remained in France did so at the peril of their lives. The patient endurance of these grace-taught followers of a despised Saviour was the wonder of their persecutors for more than fifty years. Their religion neither originated nor was maintained by excitement; it came from God, was preserved by God, and had its origin in the decree of eternal election flowing out of eternal love. Their religion was based upon divine truth, revealed to the heart by the Spirit of God; and thus "they endured as seeing Him who is invisible.'

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Terrible to all Romanists is the doctrines of Calvinism, for they know they are irresistible. Much as Popery boasts of unity, the better instructed can refer to facts that contradict all such assertions. The Jansenists, who were the Calvinistic party in the Church of Rome, have been a mark for bitter persecution at all times. No attachment to her community, no servile submission to many unscriptural dogmas, could atone for the unpardonable crime of holding Jansenist opinions. This was the secret cause of the destruction of Port Royal, and the annals of eternity alone will reveal the cruelties practised by Rome upon her sons and daughters. who dared to believe, long before Calvin was born, that the doctrines known by his name are the doctrines of God, revealed in the Word, and engraved on the hearts of God's Spirit-taught people. Archbishop

* A term of contempt, derived from a gate at Tours, called Hugon, near which the Protestants assembled for worship in a house that had been occupied by a notoriously wicked man, whose ghost was believed by the Tour's people to haunt the house.

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