Nor are the miracles of opening the mouth of the dumb, unstopping the ears of the deaf, and strengthening the limbs of cripples, ceased; for I read that "the eyes of the blind, [understanding] shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters [or the Spirit of God] break out, and streams shall run in the desert," Isa. xxxv. 5, 6.

When this becomes the experience of a soul, he shakes off the galling yoke of priestcraft, and throws away his sheep's clothing, that so many wolves assume; I mean his forms of prayer; for, if the Holy Ghost makes the lame man leap as an hart or deer, he certainly can walk to God without crutches; and, if he does not, he acts like an impostor, in leaning on his wooden props without cause, when he ought (to the honour of the Spirit) to convince the world that by a miracle he has got the use of his limbs. And this brings to my mind what I once read in a sweet tract on Divine Providence, written by Professor Franck; who, in his relation of the efficacy of the Spirit on the hearts of sinners, says, "The number of prayer-books and communion-books, wherein too many place the whole substance of their religion, has begun to abate, and people put in the way more to mind their experience within them than the book without them. Some

have laid by the crutches, for fear of losing the use of their own limbs, by walking too constantly on them."

Nor has the miracle of cursing the fruitless fig-tree ceased; for many such withering trees there still are, who are fruitless, Luke xiii. 6-7; or their fruit is so vile that it cannot be eaten, Jer. xxiv. 8; and God's awful axe is at their root; yea, and their countenance and lips both declare that they are withered beneath the burning wrath of God, Luke viii. 6. Joel i. 12.

Nor has the miracle of enclosing the multitude of fishes ceased; for I read that every gospel minister is a fisher of men, Matt. iv. 19; Ezek. xlvii. 9, 10; and every real believer that is entangled in the gospel net is a fish; and such shall be gathered into the kingdom, when the bad are thrown away.

Nor has the miracle of rebuking the winds ceased; for I read that he still forbids the winds of error to blow, till he has sealed the servants of the Lord in their foreheads, Rev. vii. 3.

All these miracles, in their spiritual meaning, are still to be found in the world, though they are bound up in the hearts of God's hidden ones, in whom are all the springs of God; as it is writ ten; "all my springs are in thee."

Thus, reader, the scriptures inform us of the dealings of God with his servants in old time; and he is the same God now as he was then; as

you read, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8. Thou seest, likewise, that miracles have not ceased in their spiritual operations; no, not even the miracle of speaking with new tongues, Mark xvi. 17; for I firmly believe that if ten men, out of ten different countries, and each of them of a different language, were to come and hear a discourse delivered in the English tongue, if God intended to convert those men, his own Spirit would carry the word with such convincing power as to make them know what were their own thoughts; and would make them feel and understand his displeasure against their sins, and make them know their wretched life, and their present state before God, even in the language wherein they were born. The Spirit of God would make them understand, by feeling that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power; 1 Cor. iv. 20. I could find a living witness of the above assertion, if I chose; but I forbear. However, I myself appear as great a mystery to myself as any I find in the word of God, and as great a miracle; and can just as soon unriddle the whole Bible as unriddle myself.

When God writes his laws on the heart, and puts them in the mind of a man, just as far as he feels this, so far he can with comfort understand the Bible. "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter," John xiii. 7.

He finds his heart a sealed book, as well as the Bible; and he can just as soon unseal the one as the other. This he often finds when critical questions are put to him; and he is, at times, enabled to bring out what he never considered before; which appears as wonderful to himself as to him that hears it; but the time will come when the vail, that is rent at the top, shall open down to the bottom; "For when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away," 1 Cor. xiii. 16; then we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known, 1 Cor, xiii. 12. But in our present state "it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is," 1John iii. 2. Reader, let this be thy expectation and thy hope, and hope for what thou seest not; and let patience bring up the rear; as it is written, "But, if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." The vision will surely speak in the end, when the mystery of God and the mystery of iniquity are finished.

Perhaps my reader has heard of the report that is lately gone abroad: namely, that the little treatises written by me are not my own: but thou mayest tell them that I defy the world to produce any book that I have plundered, except the Bible; and that blessed book I call my own, because God has written it on my heart, and

given it me freely, John xvii. 8; therefore the divinity and the language is all my own, as Archbishop Bunyan says;-nor have I one commentator in my possession; nor was I ever owner of one, nor ever intend to be. And the reason why I would not have them is, that I feared they would quench the Spirit, and that I should get slothful in my studies, and then fly to a commentator for matter to preach, instead of praying to God for it.

In short, as God has hitherto supplied me, I choose to cleave to my old friend, and to ask wisdom of him; and I find, in this way, that I generally get something new. And indeed I have often been without a word on my mind till within a few minutes of going into the pulpit; when, in answer to a few petitions, I have got matter enough to last me an hour and a half: and it was poured in as fast as I could pour.it out; as it is written, "He that watereth shall be watered also himself," Prov. xi. 25.

Indeed I found the wise man's words true to me-the more I have scattered the more I have increased, Prov. xi. 24; or, as the Saviour says, "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given;" and so it has often appeared, insomuch that I have left off with my cruse springing as fast as when I began.

I believe the reader will never find that I publish any thing but my own divinity, which