he has his own reason taken away, and becomes spiritual, and to become so, is to become a fool in the world's eyes. 'But if any man will be wise in this world' (ie., in the spiritual world) 'let him become a fool, that he may be wise' (1 Cor. iii. 18).

Now before I conclude I must remark further-I have shown you the house of Onesiphorus, and the mercy promised them, and I have said that the Lord must be in disguise as he now is, for a while, and no distinction made as to outward things, no respect (seemingly) paid to us by God, more than to others:-For your sakes first, that your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men (or by means of outward things being done, by God displaying his power in that way), but by the power of God, in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness: this will be a heaven of heavens to those that follow the Shepherd for the charms of his voice only, and to enjoy his life; believing while (as it were) they see not. They will be blest with Onesiphorus, this faith is 'the first fruits of Achaia, unto Christ,'1 (Rom. xvi. 5). But those that do not believe will persecute, because they think that it is an impostor, or an enthusiast is here, and they are so headstrong in their own ways, and so full of the falsehood, that they will not even search to know whether the report they hear reported, be true or not; and in their self-confidence they go on, puffing themselves up with the thought that they know all about Christ, so they believe not that he is now on the earth in disguise; but they will be convinced that they have persecuted and

1 Achaia signifies 'grief and trouble,' from which state we are delivered by Christ, i.e., through faith in him,

ill-used the Lord. Now, if the Lord did not thus appear, in (as I before said) the base shape of Man, how was their wisdom to be betrayed, and their boasted profession of scriptural and evangelical knowledge brought to judgment, and they convinced that they know nothing!— For the Lord is here, as the Scriptures have said, and they know him not, and that course is being adopted that will yet bring them to it.

From ZION, THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.

Dear Charles, I have not the most distant thought that you would wish to hurt my mind, no, by no means, but I do mean to hurt yours my Lad. A pretty return you will say, well, will you be offended? God forbid. 'Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.' But I rejoice that I have an honest brother that tells his mind outright, and I am ready Dear Charles to answer whatever question may be put to me. I do nothing in a dark corner, and therefore am not ashamed, and I would choose to remain in this prison upon water gruel all my life than I would please man unlawfully, or utter a word that was not the truth. And when that Wizard, that infernal peeper, that familiar spirit comes to you again, and says, 'Four are dead: all may die: Zion may die our little association may be broken up, by the cholera, or some such thing.' Tell him his time is come, to depart into his own black regions, and no more to follow his trade of peeping, for soon he will be so shut up, and closed in, that he will not have a hole to peep out at.

CRITERION OF A TRUE REFORMER-BIBLE

REFORMATION, ETC.

To C. Bradley, Junr.

To have a certain criterion by which we can judge rightly in any matter, is a very pleasant and a very valuable thing, and it becomes the more so according to the importance of the subject upon which we might be called to give our judgment. If the subject respects God and His truth, it is of infinite importance; and, if it respects all the race of mankind, including ourselves, if our happiness or discomfort is involved in the decision, and that one or the other of these must be established, and the other finally done with, by the decision, it is of the utmost consequence to us. Therefore in all things, in my opinion, a criterion to go by-a just criterion-is an excellent thing.

You know, Dear Charles, we profess to be Reformers, not Rebels against our King, nor against our Government : such ideas of Reformation, both myself and you discard, as not worthy of a place in our vocabulary. Let the King live I say; and I am sure you heartily respond to it: and our Government, let it prosper! Amen, you will say, I know, and so will all true Shilohites. Why then we are loyal subjects, and we reform upon Bible principles. And now let me tell you how you will know a true Reformer, and make no mistake, and this is no trivial

matter to form a judgment upon; and if you could guess the pains that it cost your humble friend and willing servant, to get hold of this criterion that I am going to tell you of, and the distance I had to go to fetch it, and introduce it into this country, you would say it was worth something; for it was not in this world that I got it, neither was it by the pains that this world call pains, that I obtained it. I had to go down under the globe for it, simple as it might seem, and had to wander from sea to sea, and to be slung from one end of the world to the other, and many more things which I cannot tell you in this letter.

The being they call man, you know, is naturally a selfish being, and it is quite common to hear him say, 'Self-preservation is the first law of nature.' Certainly it is so; and this is the principle of all the old world. But we reformers reform from that principle, to follow the example of him of whom it is said (Luke xix. 10), 'The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.' And again it is said of him (Matt. xxvii. 42), ' He saved others, himself he cannot save.' Well, and must not we try to save ourselves? it might be asked; O dear Charles, no! that is the mere law of nature, and no more; Reformers must reform from such meanness, and from such selfishness; and you know it is written (Luke xvii. 33), 'He that would save his life, shall lose it.' Were you to go among a sect of religious people called Ranters, you would frequently hear them express the feelings and sentiments of all the world, such as this, 'O Lord, what shall I do to be saved, O how shall I be saved, how shall my poor soul be saved, O I am afraid I shall be lost, I am such a

wicked sinner, O Lord save me!' Well, this is quite natural, it is the law of nature. But such a man is no reformer, no, nor is he reformed. I would ask him, Why, what's the matter, my friend? he would answer, Why, I am afraid I sha'n't be saved. This is the cry, self is all. Well, it might be said, is it not natural that we should all seek to be saved? Yes, I say, it is quite natural, for it is for this we read and pray, and go to a place of worship on a Sunday, and all that we do is to try to be saved, and that our souls may be happy. I know you do, and it is quite natural, but you have no occasion to be afraid at all about it, you will sure to be all right. Some place will be found to save you in when you die, I have not the least doubt about that, there's room for you in the place appointed for you, as well as for all others. You will save yourself, I'll be bound, while you live, for it is the law of nature to save yourself as well as you can, and then when you die, somebody will put you in a place of safety.

Now this is the way that I should speak to the Ranters, but especially to their foolish leaders, who terrify the poor people so about the salvation of their never-dying souls, as they gravely say. Now see the Church of England people, they go to their church and conduct themselves orderly and quiet, and I'll be bound they'll be saved just as well as those poor people that are making such an ado about their poor souls. The Church of England are admirable for taking it quiet and easy: there's no ranting and raving amongst them, and they are very much to be commended for their conduct in this respect, though of course their object is to save their souls; only I say, they do well not to make such a noise about it, for they are in VOL. XIII

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