ever clothed the hills or valleys of Great Britain. God sends a plenty, and men make a famine; and so the ears of the Lord God of sabaoth are perpetually filled with the cries of the Egyptians for bread. But where is Joseph, where is Zaphnathpaaneah, the Revealer of secrets and the Saviour of the land? The heir of all things is at the right hand of God; send your prayers there in this matter; you are encouraged both by the books and the parchments.

An oppressor is a character that is excluded the glorious visions of heaven." He that shall dwell on high, and see the king in his beauty, and the land that is very far off, is one that despiseth the gain of oppression, and that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes." Isaiah xxxiii. 14, 15, 16, 17. This is the language of the books; and the parchments tell you to let your requests be made known unto God, and in due time you shall reap if you faint not. And, the books say, "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him." Psalm xii. 5.

Your perpetual prayers will hasten the coming and kingdom of the great Messiah; and the first work that shall ever be performed at his appearing shall be to avenge the poor and needy, by an entire destruction of this engine of the devil called oppression and by this hospitable act the King of Zion will spread his fame from pole to pole, when all the inhabitants of the terraqueous globe will welcome

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his reign, Bless his appearance, and hail their great Deliverer for so saith the books, He shall judge « te the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, a and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures. His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun, and inen shall be blessed in him. shall call him blessed." Psalm lxxii.

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der this artificial famine, let fly the anguish of their souls in open rebellion against the higher powers. This is adding sin to sin; this rebellion is strictly forbidden by the books, and it is condemned by all moo & brd male od an : 500kc the parchments.

This satanic art of oppression was carried on under the government of one of the best of kings that ever lived, and under one of the wisest that ever. reigned. David and Solomon both complain of it; and, though they were both despotic princes, yet neither of them could destroy it. In David's days the devil had a privy council of these engineers. "Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish; they are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak lostily; they set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth; therefore his people return hither; and waters of a full cup are cup1are wrung out to out to them." Psalm lxxiii. 7, 8, 9, 10. If

you would know what is meant by waters of a full cup in the books, you will find it explained in the parchments, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil." 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. fe

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Solomon complains of this sin, of this evident token of perdition." So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun; and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter; wherefore I praised the dead more than the living.' Ecc. iv.1% The oppressed here is in the same state of the oppressor; that is, destitute of the grace of God; neither of them had a comforter; the first had leanness in his soul, and the latter leanness in both soul and body; and so it was the the poor oppressing the poor, which is a sweeping rain that leaves no food, behind, molod bns bet

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But, blessed be God, this is not our case; God hath put gladness in our hearts, which is of better nature than that which springs from an increase of corn and wine." Psalm iv. 7... yo no IT?

Godt was the cry that Israel put up under this yoke that brought the God of Abraham from the third heaven into the bush. Now therefore behold, the and cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and

I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Ex. iii. 9, 10. And what did they get by this their oppression? Why, they got ten of the heaviest plagues that ever fell upon a nation; the destruction of their first-born, the spoiling and ruin of their country, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and all his host in the Red sea. 0 ༞,།*』་

When God intends that a man shall fill up the measure of his iniquity in haste, he generally gives him up to his own heart's lust; and then his eye and heart are never satisfied. Thus he gave up Pharaoh, thus he gave up Nabal, and those also that beat his people in pieces, and grind the faces of the poor." Isaiah iii. 15. And those whose souls were plotting fresh schemes of oppression, while they were engaged in the very service of God. "And the songs of the temple shall be howling in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place, they shall cast them forth with silence. Hear this,

ye that swallow up the poor and needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying. When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works." Amos viii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. To give a man up to this infatuation is one of the

worst judgments from God that is to be found in the land of hope. if For he shall have judgment without merey that, hath shewed no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."

Those at the helm of affairs have struggled hard to undermine this soul-damning sin; but many of the landholders, it is to be feared, have their eyes upon raising the rent of their farms, and therefore will not be very forward to make head against an evil that brings grist to their mill,

"The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and a high wall in his own conceit," saith Solomon. But he adds, "A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof." This is done by prayer; for there is no wall, no bulwark, no human oppressor, no, nor even the very council of devils, that are proof against the prayer of faith. Call upon me in the time of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." This is the language of the books; and the parchments say the same. "All things are possible to them that believe."

Those that are rebelling against the higher powers imagine that it is in the power of their hand to destroy this root of all evil, and to break in pieces the oppressor. But this is a work that none but the King of kings can do, and which he hath promised he will do but the oppressed must cry and pray it. Hear the language of the books, "Thou shalt not vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child: if thou afflict them

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