To Mrs. C——­, a Lady near Boston.

“FEBRUARY 10, 1797.

“MY EVER DEAR FRIEND—­The desire of waiting you a long letter has occasioned too much delay on my part.  One thing I can assure you of, you have been much on my mind, and the subject of all our prayers.

“Tears of joy ran down my cheeks when J——­ told me the state of your mind, and I thank our good and gracious God for opening your eyes to see the vanity of this world, the corruption of your own heart, your need of atoning blood, and of a better righteousness than your own.  Hail, my sister in Jesus; flesh and blood hath not taught you this, but your Father who is in heaven:  the work is his, evidently his; and being begun, he will carry it on, and finish it too.  Commit your soul then into his hand; he ’came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;’ his errand to our world was to seek and to save the lost.  Trusting in his mercy, through Christ, your soul is as safe as his word is true; for none perish that trust in him.

“’Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not to thine own understanding;’ be not discouraged because of deadness, darkness, wandering, want of love, want of spirituality, want of any kind.  Who told you of these evils and wants? the Sun of righteousness shining into your soul has shown you many of the evils there, but the half you know not yet.  The more you learn of the holiness and purity of the divine nature and the spirituality of his law, the more you will be dissatisfied with every thing yours.  Even a holy apostle said, ’In me, that is, in my flesh,’ or natural mind, dwelleth no good thing.  The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; so that the things that I would, I do not; and the things that I would not, those I do.  Yet it is not I,’ not my new nature, ’but sin that dwelleth in me; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.’

“If this was the case with the apostle, who sealed his testimony with his life, is it strange that you and I should have hearts full of all abominable things?  These realities are cause of deep humility before God, but none of despair or doubt.  All are alike guilty and vile, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart unsound; therefore we need a whole Christ to atone for our sin, to cover our naked souls with his imputed righteousness, and to be surety for us; to sanctify us by his Spirit, and prepare us for the purchased inheritance.  O try to rest in him:  believe it, you are complete in him; give up, my dear friend, poring over and diving into your own heart and frames, and try to trust in an almighty Saviour to save you from foes without and foes within.  Read Romaine’s Walk and Life of Faith:  he himself attained to a high degree of holiness by getting out of himself, and trusting, resting, believing from day to day, for grace, for every duty, as it occurred.  The promise runs, ‘As thy days so shall thy strength be.’