XLII.

July 3, 1808.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

YOUR good tidings came to hand, like the dove to the ark, with the olive leaf in her beak, the emblem of oil and of peace. Evil report and good report, as a deceiver and yet true, as unknown and yet well known, still abide with me. But my back gets broader, and my shoulders more inured to the burden and the yoke than in the days of old. All the time that Zion travails and brings forth, the barrel of meal, the cruse of oil, the springing well, and the breasts Of consolation, shall not fail. God has made me a father, and does honour me more and more at this work of begetting; and I know that this branch of the work cannot go on without the broad seal of heaven clothe the word. To this power unbelief yields, the heart opens, the secret of life enters, and the image of the second Adam is reinstamped. This, my friend, is the beauty of the Lord our God upon us; and this is the perfection of beauty in Zion, out of which God shines, and no other. This is the standard, and this is the perfect man in Christ's stature. And it is true that the offence of the cross follows this image as the shadow follows the sun. If thou sharest in the benefits, thou shalt share in the reproach and scandal of the cross as well as I. But God is on our side, and so are the consciences both of saints and of sinners.

Farewell! peace and truth be with thee. So prays

THE COALHEAVER.

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