trust that, through the kind providence of God, I shall be enabled to defeat the counsels which are taken against me. I hope soon to have the pleasure of seeing you at Islington, unless my dear parent should alter his resolution, which I have no reason to expect. I frequently think that but little food is requisite for the preservation of life. I am the worst off with respect to clothes, having few that will suit my mean condition: but I have a trifling sum of money, which is a great mercy. I shall not show my brother this letter, being determined not to inform him how I intend to extricate myself out of my present difficulties. He is truly all I could wish in so near and dear a relation: but I am determined not to involve him in my misfortunes. Besides, such a double shock might be more than my dear parent could bear.

I am, with the best respects to you and my other kind friends, dear Madam,

Yours very sincerely,

EUSEBÍA NEVILLE.

LETTER XXXVI.

From Miss Neville to Mrs. Worthington.

DEAR MADAM,

I HAVE received your kind letter, enclosing one from my excellent but much injured sister; injured by no one more than by myself. My mind is so much agitated, that nothing less than the obligations which I and my dear sister are under to Mrs. Worthington could have made me put pen to paper. I thank you for your good wishes and seasonable instruction, and entreat your prayers that I may never turn my back on the good ways of God. How much have I been mistaken! I pity and pray for my dear parent and Signior Albino, who know not what they are doing.

It would give me great pleasure, Madam, to hear that my dear sister were under your friendly roof. As it is her intention to make an attempt to escape, the moments will appear to me very tedious till I shall hear of her having effected her purpose. With regard to myself and my dear brother, we have undoubtedly much to fear, if we carry

our views no further than to a furious priest, and an incensed parent: but I trust I have in some measure been enabled to rely upon him who said to the boisterous waves, Peace, be still.

I am convinced that the doctrine of election is true. The divine sovereignty, as you justly observe, is inscribed upon every thing which we behold. And my dear Miss Barnwell has proved to me, that it is far from wearing an unfriendly aspect, even to the unconverted and the chief of sinners. It does, indeed, said she, put an insurmountable obstacle in the way of working for life; but that ought not to be lamented, since it lays the axe at the root of pride. It puts no bar in the way of salvation; for every one that asken receiveth; and he that se keth find th and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

How forcible are right words. How wise and excellent are the ways of God. How far does our wisdom fall short of those things of the most High, which we esteem unreasonable, weak, or foolish. My friend was a mean, in the hand of God, of making me fall in love with a doctrine which seemed before to wear the most terrific aspect. The truth is this: those parts of divine revelation which appear unfriendly, or even unreasonable, in theory, are salutary in practice.

Notwithstanding the magnitude of my crimes, I hope I have not committed the unpardonable sin. In addition to what you have said concerning that sin, Miss Barnwell ascribes its unpardonableness, not to the insufficiency of the blood of Christ, but to its being a proud or malicious rejection of the way of salvation. The first ray of divine light which shone into my soul, was a conviction that I had trampled under foot the blood of the son of God; and the moment I saw what I had done, floods of tears accompanied the happy discovery; I fled for refuge to that Being whom I had injured; and my grief was swallowed up by joy.

It remains that I labour continually to make my calling and election sure. If Mrs. Worthington will be so kind as to send me, in her next letter, a description of a true Christian, it will be a valuable addition to the favours conferred on,

Dear Madam,

Your much obliged friend,
MARIA NEVILLE,

R

LETTER XXXVII.

From Miss Barnwell to Mrs. Worthington.

DEAR MADAM,

I STILL continue with Miss Neville. We expect a letter from you every post, containing news from our dear Eusebia, and in the meantime console ourselves with the consideration that she is under the protection of an almighty Guardian.

About five o'clock this evening, as we were sitting in the court, Mr. Clifford rode by in his way to his own house. He stopped to tell me that he had received a letter from Ireland from his son, whose return to Foplar Grange he expects every day. We invited him to tea. In the course of the conversation, he told us that the letters he received from him were full of religion, which, cried he, is thrown away upon me. This produced the following conversation.

Mir. Is it because you really think that if you were a believer, you would be unhappy, that you so obstinately resist the evidenees of Christianity?

Mr. C. Undoubtedly. Pray what should I gain by its being true?

Mir. Nothing, Sir, if you were to live and die in unbelief. But permit me to assert, that if you were to believe it, you would be a great gainer.

Mr. C. I think you cannot defend your assertion. Suppose I were to believe this moment every thing written by the apostles, I should immediately become a miserable

creature.

Mir. I must beg leave to deny this. And I challenge you, Sir, to lay your finger upon any one proposition in the New Testament, and to prove that the belief of it would make you miserable.

Mr. C. It is every where declared that the wicked will be damned. I know that I am a wicked man. Can you perSuade me that to believe I shall be damned would make me happy?

Mir. If, Sir, you were to believe that the threatenings of the gospel will be executed, what effect would it have upon you

Mr. C. I say again, it would make me miserable.

Mir. And what do miserable people do?

Mr. C. They try to get rid of their misery. But the Christian religion does not encourage men to try to save themselves. Heaven is not to be purchased by good works.

Mir. It is true. Go then to the Almighty Parent of the universe for mercy. Implore the pardon of your sins for the sake of Jesus Christ, and your suit will not be rejected.

Mr. C. Alas, Miss Barnwell, it is a vain attempt to endeavour to cleanse this Augean stable. Answer this question, Was the reputed son of the carpenter the Creator of the world?

Mir. I believe he was.

Mr. C. Well done, girl, that is honest. I hate those who defend the religion of Jesus by asserting that the deity of the Messiah, and the doctrine of the atonement, are no parts of it. Do you think they believe themselves what they endeavour to impose upon others? Not a tittle, not a tittle of it, I assure you.

Mir. I cannot say that, Sir. partial believers.

They undoubtedly are but

Mr. C. I am too honest to become a Christian upon those terms. If Jesus did not assert his divinity, and if his death is not maintained to be an atonement for the sins of his followers, there is no meaning in language. He was condemned and crucified for blasphemy. If his enemies had misunderstood him, would not his disciples have declared after his death that he laid no claim to deity? I require that you show the reasonableness of the divinity of Jesus. How could that Being who fills the universe become a man, and be brought up to a trade? Indeed, how can he become the object of sight, who being every where, is necessarily invisible.

Mir. You appear to allow that there is a great Being who created the world?

Mr. C. I cannot doubt it.

Wonderful contrivance is

displayed in every thing which I behold.

Mir. I am glad you believe the existence of a God.-I further ask, Wherein does man eminently differ from the brute creation?

Mr. C. In his ability to contemplate and admire the works of God, and to reverence their Almighty but invisible Author.

Mir. Is it not probable that a part of the rational crea

tion will be the companions of that God whose works they now contemplate and admire, and whom they now reverence and love?

Mr. C. Companions, my friend? God is every where, and beholds his creatures; but his creatures cannot see him. Mir. Cannot God visibly manifest himself to them?

Mr. C. Such a manifestation would not display a thousandth part of his perfections.

Mir. I do not ask whether creatures can comprehend their Creator, but whether he can visibly appear to them? Mr. C. Suppose I grant it.

Mir. If you grant it, you cannot tax with absurdity the appearance of God as a man, a poor man, and a carpenter. The great possessions of the rich, and the martial robes of the warrior, attract the notice of the giddy throng; but every thing is valued by the sovereign of the universe according to its moral excellence.

Mr. C. All the world shall never persuade me that there are three Gods.

Mir. I shall not attempt to do it.

Mr. C. But does not Athanasius in his creed declare that there are three Gods?

Mir. He tells us that the Father is God, that the Son is God, and that the holy Spirit is God; yet that there are not three Gods, but one God. This is equal to saying, that the one Jehovah is both the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit. Every Athanasian maintains this; and you, Sir, have acknowledged the possibility of it.

To this Mr. Clifford could only reply by saying that I argued tolerably well, but that I had chosen a very improper subject to work upon. I told him the greater was his misfortune; but that I would pray for him, for which he thanked me.

He has been at the Hall since I left it, and he tells me that my father and mother live very much at variance. They quarrelled before him about what she had lost at play, and about debts that he had paid which were contracted before her marriage.

Miss Neville unites with me in the best wishes for your happiness.

I am, dear Madam,

Your affectionate niece,

MIRANDA BARNWELL.