fortable, yet my chief comfort in my situation there latterly, sprang from a persuasion that I was in the post the Lord had assigned me; that he knew I was there, and why I was there; that, as a centinel, it would be unsoldierly to indulge a wish of being relieved sooner than my commander appointed. I thought, so far as my concern was dictated by a regard to the honor of the gospel and the good of souls, it was right; but it was the smallest part which I durst assign simply to that cause; and that all the uneasy feelings of Mr. Self, on his own account, were not of that importance which he pretended. There were a few who loved me for the Lord's sake, and who, I could perceive, were fed and brought forward by my ministry; and, though they were but few, I durst not say that their edification and affection were not an over-recompense for all the disagreeables.-Such considerations as these are present with you likewise. The Lord will support you and comfort you, and can, whenever he pleases, either make your service more pleasant at Olney, or assign you a more comfortable situation elsewhere. I never had one serious thought of a removal, till the evening I received Mr. Thornton's offer of St. Mary Woolnoth. Even then, when it came to the point, it cost me something to part with them: and had the proposal been made a year or two sooner, I should have found more difficulty in accepting it. His hour and His methods are best, and it is good to wait for him and upon him; for none who so wait shall be disappointed. When I first went to Olney, and for a good while afterwards, I had no more reason to expect such a post as I am now in, than I have now to expect a removal to Lambeth. But the Lord never is at a loss for means to effect his own purposes. He can provide friends, open doors, remove mountains, and bring the most unlikely things to pass.....And, when we have finished our course, if he is pleased to accept us, it will make no difference whether we die curates, or rectors, or bishops.

"One thing is needful: but this one thing includes many, and may be considered in various respects. The one thing for a sinner is to know Jesus and his salvation. The one thing for a believer is to live to his will, and to make him his all; to admire, contemplate, resemble, and serve him. A believer is a child of God; a minister is, in an especial and appropriate sense, a servant, though a child likewise. The one thing for a servant, or a steward in the house of God is to be faithful; that is, to be simply and without reserve, or any allowed interfering motive, devoted and re

signed to his will; to have no plan, connexion, prospect, or interest, but under his direction, and in an immediate and clear subserviency to his interest. Happy the man who is brought to this point! How honorable, how safe his state! He is engaged in a league offensive and defensive with the Lord of heaven and earth: and, in the midst of changes and exercises which can but affect the surface, ifI may so speak, he has an abiding peace in the bottom of his soul, well knowing whose he is, and whom he serves.

"Indeed, my friend, I see: or think I see, such interested views, such height of spirit, such obvious blemishes, in some, who, on account of gifts and abilities, are eminent in the church of God, as are truly lamentable. I adore the mercy of the Lord who has preserved you and me, and a few men whom I love, from those snares and temptations, by which some, as good and wise as ourselves, have been entangled and hurt. If I must blame, I would do it with gentleness, well knowing that had I been left to myself, in similar circumstances, I should not have acted better. Ah! deceitful sin-deceitful world-deceitful, heart! How can we stand an hour against such a combination, unless upheld by the arm that upholds the heaven and the earth....

"I can say nothing about coming to Olney, but that I am willing if the Lord please. If I do, it must be soon after Whitsunday: a long while to look forward to! I cannot move without a supply, of which I have no present pros pect: but he can provide if he would have me go. With him I would leave all. It is pleasant but not necessary to see each other. Oh! may we see him, and rejoice in him daily; and, as to all the rest, Not my will, but thine be done. So I wish to say.-With love to Mrs. Scott from us both, 1 remain your affectionate friend, JOHN NEWTON."

I now turn to my father's own letters. The following, addressed to my mother's brother-in-law, to his correspondence with whom we have before adverted, will shew his motives for undertaking the cure of Olney, and his view of the service in which he was engaging. It is dated Weston, February 15, 1781.

"I have undertaken the curacy of Olney along with Weston, leaving Ravenstone; which will be attended with my removal to Olney at Ladyday, and a considerable consequent expense in furniture, &c. But on the other hand, it will I apprehend be some increase of income, and more

of a settlement than my present situation; as I have good reason to believe I shall be presented to the living, when the incumbent dies. At present the curacy, taking one thing with another, is about equal to Ravenstone, or rather preferable; and there have been for many years subscriptions for a lecture, which have amounted to £40 or better, but may probably be £20 or £30. The living is but small, £70 per annum, and the house; and the incumbent is very old. I mention these things because, as relations, you will probably wish to hear of them: otherwise, they are to me very unimportant. I have this day finished my thirty-fourth year. I lived without God in the world for nearly twentyeight: then he did not starve me, nay, he provided well for me, though I knew him not, asked him not, thanked him not. I have now in some measure trusted, and poorly served him the other six years, or nearly, and he has not failed me. Sometimes he has proved my faith, and made me ready to question whether he would provide for me or not, at least in that plentiful manner I had been accustomed to, but he has always in the end made me ashamed of my suspicions.-Mercy and goodness have followed me all the days of my life, and the same Jehovah is still my Shepherd; therefore I shall not want. I do not therefore embrace this offer, as if I were either dissatisfied, or distrustful, or avaricious. I trust the Lord knows these are not my motives. The advance of income, (if it be any,) is not at all a leading object with me; but, the situation being offered, I verily judged it, upon the most deliberate consideration, I trust in the spirit of prayer, my bounden duty to accept it; because the vicar of Ravenstone's life is very precarious, and his death would probably have been followed with my removal to a greater distance from the place of my present abode, and from the people to whom I have been made useful, and whom I dearly love; who will now be near, within reach of me, and I of them: because I hope the Lord hath some good work to do by me at Olney: and because many good people there have been this last year as sheep not having a shepherd. At the same time I am aware that I am about to be plunged into the midst of difficulties and trials, and shall have to regret the loss of many of my present comforts; that I shall need vastly more wisdom, patience, and meekness, than I have hitherto attained to. But he who sends me will support me, supply me, stand by me, and carry me through. And indeed I am not to expect that the Lord Je

sus has enlisted me into his army, and commissioned me as an officer, and given me a complete suit of armor, and directions, and encouragement for the fight, and assurance of victory, for nothing. He bids me endure hardships, fight the good fight, carry war into Satan's dominion, down with his strong holds, spoil his goods; and resistance, and conflict, and wrestlings I must expect. Now for the fight, by and by the victory, and then the conqueror's rest. He has, I trust, also enlisted you: be not discouraged at the number and rage of your enemies. Your captain leads you forth 'to conquest and a crown.' He will cover your head in the day of battle, heal all your wounds, renew your strength, and at last crown you more than conqueror.

"Indeed Olney is, I apprehend, as difficult a charge for a minister as can well be imagined, and I greatly feel my insufficiency; but if I look to Jesus, I cannot be discouraged: his strength shall be perfected in my weakness, and his wisdom in my foolishness: I must, however, enjoin you to pray for me: I have prayed for you long and often, and I trust the Lord has heard, and taught you to pray; now pay me in kind. I need this return, and shall much value it.

"Mr. (the last minister of Olney,) having set Olney in a flame by his contentious behavior, is to succeed me at Ravenstone, which is a sensible affliction to me; but the Lord knows better than I do, and there I leave it. It will probably prevent my future usefulness at Ravenstone. This Satan doubtless intends, but I hope the Lord will turn his counsel into foolishness."

To the same person he wrote July 4th, following: "You desire me to inform you how I like Olney: but it is impossible. I trust the Lord is with me, and I love his presence, and the light of his countenance, which entirely reconciles me to the numerous disagreeables that otherwise I do and must expect to encounter. I am satisfied that the Lord will not leave me to be needlessly discouraged; and, further, that I shall learn many a profitable lesson from the things I meet with: and, if I acquire humility, meekness, patience, prudence, experience in this school, though it be not pleasing to the flesh, the spirit will rejoice.—As to the people they are pretty much as I expected: rather more divided. But I cannot tell how things will issue. I have taken a farm, which is a good deal out of heart; I am breaking up the fallow ground, ploughing, and harrowing, and sowing: but what sort of a crop 1 shall have, harvest

time will best shew. Only I am sure I shall reap in due season if I faint not. I do not, however, repent coming."

Indications have already appeared of the spiritual happiness which my father enjoyed after the settlement of his religious views. Several passages also in the Force of Truth, and in the Discourse on Repentance, demonstrate the same state of mind. This continued for some years, but was afterwards succeeded, as by scenes of greater effort, so also by more internal conflict. He always looked back upon the seven years which followed his first cordial reception of Scriptural truth, as those of greatest personal enjoyment. The following passages of letters to his younger sister, Mrs. Ford: may be added to those which contain intimations of this kind; and they, at the same time, continue the history of his intercourse with that branch of his family.

...

"January 29, 1782. To see you as happy in that peace of God, which passeth understanding, and which, through Jesus Christ, keepeth the heart and mind, as I feel myself, is my ardent wish, and frequent, fervent prayer. . . . On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, I am at your service; but I preach on the other evenings . . . You may likewise depend upon it, that I will not make your continuance at Olney disagreeable by religious disputes: for the Lord has almost spoiled me for a disputant. Waiting and praying are the weapons of my warfare, which I trust will in due time prove mighty, through God, for the pulling down of all strong holds which hinder Christ's entering into, and dwelling in your heart by faith, and bringing every thought into captivity to obedience to himself.... One expression in your letter encourages me to hope that we shall, before many more years have elapsed, be like-minded; namely, where you seem to entertain a doubt of your being right, and do offer a prayer to God to set you right. Thus I began: in this I persevered, and do persevere, and have no more doubt, that it is God who taught me what I now believe and preach, as to the great outlines, than I have that God is faithful and hears prayer. . . You wonder at my condemning you unheard, and think I have a worse opinion of you than you deserve. I will promise you I have not so bad an opinion of you as I have of myself. But the Bible condemns us all, moral and immoral, great sinners and little sinners, (if there be such a thing:) that every mouth may stopped. Rom. iii, 19, and the following. Let me beg of you to read

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