io<" s. ii. Am:, is,
NOTES AND QUERIES.
123-
an answer to prayer, as any that has fallen within
my experience. The Lord make me thankful to
Him, for the continuance of this, and all His
mercies, which I deserve every day to be deprived
of : but He is an unchangeable God, and delights in
showing mercy.
I remain, my dear Aunt,
Yours affectionately, etc. etc.
P. 58 :-
Letter 11. Dated O y (Olney), June 11, 1768.
I had a letter from Lady * by the last
post to inform me, she had read my narrative. t She seems to have been much affected by it ; and I should have been very happy, if she had been enabled to learn from it, the only lesson it is in- tended to teach, the sovereignty of God's free grace, /.e., the deliverance of a sinful soul from the nethermost hell : but the Lord has not seen fit, to bless it to that effect, for she says : She cannot see how such a life as mine has been, could merit such bitter sufferings at the hand of a merciful God, and bestows all the honour of the repentance that followed them, entirely upon myself. How is the word of the Redeemer concealed from the natural man ! So that though His grace be as evidently displayed in the salvation of a lost sinner, as His power is, in the works of creation, not a beam breaks through to enlighten it, till His own hand takes away the veil.
My dear Aunt, believe me
Your affectionate nephew, etc. etc.
Pp. 59-61 :
Letter 12. Ol-y (Olney), June 18, 1768.
MY DEAR AUNT, I know not by what means Lady H[esketh] came to hear, that there was such a thing in the world, as my narrative! but the news of it having reached her, she wrote to me to beg a sight of it. At first I was very unwilling to shew it to her, but having consulted with Mr. Newton about the propriety of doing so, and finding him of opinion that it might be done safely, I consented ; but restrained it absolutely to her own perusal, and she assures me no eye has seen it but her own. I have always thought it unfit to be trusted in the hands of an unenlightened person ; the Lord having dealt with me in a way so much out of the common course of His proceeding ; nor do I intend that any such shall hereafter read it. However, if she has got no light from it, I do not perceive that she has been stumbled by it, and it may possibly at some future time be made useful to her. Temporal trouble is often the forerunner of spiritual ; and I pray the Lord to sanctify her sufferings to her, that it might be so with her.
We have had a holiday week at Ol y (Olney). The Association of Baptist Ministers met here on Wednesday. We had three sermons from them
- Hesketh.
t Mrs. Cowper's note : " N.B. It may, I believe, be concluded, that this narratire is by some looked on as madness in another form. This is the un- worthy judgement passed by too many amongst us. on the strangeness of His salvation, so far beyond all that they looked for (or as yet will be persuaded to look after !), but what is all that to him, ' who is numbered among the children of (!od, and his lot is among the saints . 'Wisdom v. '2, 5."
that day, and one on Thursday, besides Mr-
Newton's in the evening. One of the preachers-
was Mr. Booth,* who has lately published an
excellent book called ' The Reign of Grace.' He
was bred a weaver, and has been forced to work
with his hands hitherto, for the maintenance of
himself and a large family : but the Lord, who has
given him excellent endowments, has now called
him from the small congregation, he ministered to
in Nottinghamshire, to supply Mr. Burford'sf place
in London. It was a comfortable sight to see
thirteen gospel ministers together. Most of them
either preached or prayed, and all that did so,
approved themselves sound in the word andi
doctrine : whence a good presumption arises in
favour of the rest.
I should be glad if the partition wall, between* Christians of different denominations, would every- where fall down flat, as it has done at 01 y (Olney).. The dissenters here (most of them at least, who are- serious) forget that our meeting-house has a steeple to it, and we, that theirs has none. This shall be the case universally : may the Lord hasten it in His time.
1 am, my dear Aunt,
Your very affectionate nephew, etc. etc.
P.S. I am sorry for poor A (?). Thoughtless a a child, he stands upon the shore of eternity, and laughs in circumstances that are frightful to those that understand them. Indeed my heart was. troubled when I read that part of your letter whichv relates to him.
Pp. 61-62':
Letter 13. Ol-y (Olney), June 28, 1768.
Printed in Wright, i. 103-4. The first paragraph, "I write ...... behind him," omitted
in MS. P. 103, 1. 4 from foot, "he is with us," MS. "he is with us at present"; last line, " Jesus," MS. " things of moment." On the words (p. 104) "and may He in His due- time afford me an occasion of thanking Hin> for the same unspeakable mercy bestowed upon my brother," Mrs. Cowper notes : "N.B. This so fell out, some few years after- wards "; less than two years afterwards John Cowper died in College. P. 104, 1. 11, "con- cern/' MS. " belong to"; 1. 12. "on," MS. " upon "; 1. 15, "able," MS. "enabled."
JOHN E. B. MAYOR.
Cambridge.
(To be continued.)
Abraham Booth (1734-1806), pastor from 17<i'.i
to a congregation of Particular Baptists in London.
See his 'Life' by W. Jones, 1808, 8vo. Funeral
Sermon on A. B. by James Dore ; with Memoir and
Address by Dr. Rippon, 1806, ' D.N.B.,' and.
Catalogue of B.M. In his 'Works' (Lond., 1813*
3 vols. 8vo) great part of vol. i. is filled by the ninth'
edition of ' The Reign of Grace from its Rise to its
Consummation.' The work has since been reprinted
separately. Mrs. Cowper has a note : " Account of
Mr. Booth."
t Samuel Burford's death in 1768 is recorded in Walter Wilson's ' Dissenting Churches,' ii. 607. No publication of his is in B.M.
