all things are, matter for the pulpit, and the necessaries of life, must be included among them, for our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of these things. But enough of this; I would not pull you down from your excellency, nor wish you to exclude them that do not excel in faith. Jacob says, Reuben is unstable as water, he shall not excel, Gen. xlix. 4; yet the Israelitish Mediator does not exclude him, but says, "Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few,” though they were but unstable men at best: for he sometimes staid among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks, when he should have been at war; yet the Lord's host did not exclude him: but were cut at his instability. "For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart," Judges v. 16. But notwithstanding his instability, "of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand."

According to your letter, nothing is faith that is short of full assurance. Now, though I should have no objection to compare notes with you, with regard to the life, power, prevalency, trial, victory, and triumphs of faith, which I believe I enjoyed in a measure before you had any faith at all, yet I cannot be brought to believe that any man can be naturally born or brought forth into this world six feet high in stature: and I think it is as strange to expect the new creature just formed to appear in the full assurance of faith. Faith comes by hear

ing the word of God, and is produced by the Spirit, who applies the incorruptible seed to the heart: and, as faith is a grace of the Spirit, it is a part of the new creature, and is God's workmanship, and a creature of his own forming; for he hath created us anew in Christ Jesus, and declares us a people that he has formed for himself. We know that all God's works are perfect; yet I am of opinion that this new creature, though perfect in its parts at the first formation, is yet not so in degrees. If you object, then I ask, where is room for growing in grace? The full assurance of faith is the highest stature of the new creature. I know God can give this grace the first moment that the Spirit operates, if assurance be essential to salvation, and cut down a child in faith an hundred years old; yet the Almighty does not always so. It is God that deals to every believer the measure of faith; and an equal measure is not to be found in every one that believeth in Jesus. And, although you cannot allow this to be true, yet I take it for granted that in the course of your ministry, notwithstanding all your endeavours to enforce the full assurance of faith, and your opinion that all short of this stature are in unbelief, yet you find some of the royal family as Jesus Christ did, I mean without any faith in exercise or in appearance: and perhaps this might be the case with you, if your cross was proportionable to confidence: and very likely you would act with little better courage than the disciples did, who cried, saying, "Master, master,

your

we perish! He said unto them, Where is your faith?" Luke viii. 24, 25. If your faith, sir, was tossed on the same storm, it would manage the helm very little better than theirs did, unless the Lord appeared; for faith is but a single member of the new creature; and we know that the new creature, with all its parts, is but weak, unless the Father and Creator of it appears to support it. These, we find, had so lost their faith that the Saviour asked where it was.

There were others the Saviour owned had faith, though it was but little: "If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" The last account we had was, that their faith was out of sight, and yet Christ says, "Where is your faith?" There was faith, and it was theirs, otherwise there had been no inquiry about it: the Lord would have spoken as Moses did, and called them children in whom is no faith. But, in the last account that we considered, their faith did appear, though it did not appear great, "O ye of little faith!" But I shall not hang upon this point; for I find you do not countenance the day of small things.

We read of the woman of Canaan, who was immoveable in her confidence, whose faith had stood a threefold rebuff; to whom the Lord said, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt;" yet even this woman's faith does not rise to your stature; yours is the fullest assu

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rance. The Saviour found one in his days who was a match for you, and but one, and that was the centurion; who, in behalf of his sick servant, solicited the mercy of Jesus to heal him; who required no sign, nor the Saviour's personal presence to perform the cure: "But say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." "When Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him; and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel," Luke vii. 9. This man, Sir, according to your doctrine, was the Saviour's only faithful servant; for you assert, in this letter of yours, that nothing is faith short of the full assurance then what is to become of them whose faith the Saviour inquired after, and those of little faith? to say nothing about that faith that made many whole, and which could lay hold of the power of Christ, but not of his willingness, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole." Yet even this faith prevailed: "I will; be thou clean," saith the ever-loving and ever-blessed Saviour. But these weak ones are to go to the wall, according to your doctrine. You can take no notice, nor make any account, of these; and it is a comfort to such poor babes in Christ that you are not the author and finisher of faith: for he declares of his whole household, that "he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." Nor shall they ever be damned: "Even so it is not

the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish," Matt. xviii. 14.

Believe me, Sir, I am not contending for the world; for I trust I can say, as Paul did, “I endure all things for the elect's sake." Nor am I contending for unbelievers; I have ever asserted, that he that believes not shall be damned. Nor am I contending for unbelief; for I declare that, if you will undertake, with your full assurance, to preach all unbelief out of my heart, I will take you to be my chaplain upon these conditions, No cure, no pay: and, if you can cure me of all my unbelief, I can pay you a thousand per annum; for the earth is the Lord's, and it is but to ask, without doubting, and all things are possible to us. You are sure of your salary, if you can but cure me of unbelief; and I assure you I have the greatest reason to believe that I am not destitute of the grace of faith, therefore you will not have a soil altogether barren to work upon.

It is plain to me that there were no less than four degrees of faith among the Lord's followers, in the days of his flesh; and, if I am not mistaken, the scriptures divide the household of faith into four degrees with respect to age, growth, strength, We read of new-born babes, of little children, of young men, and of fathers; but you, it seems, will have nothing to do with any but the fathers. However, our Saviour gently leads those that are with young; carries the lambs in his bo

or stature.