our greatest trials proved to be but disguised blessings, and from the most deadly bitters in this world are extracted immortal sweets. By afflictions sanctified, the mind is humbled and the will bent; our strong grasp of the world is broken; the vanity. of its enjoyments, and their insufficiency to meet the wants of the mind, are fully displayed. By afflictions the heart is often softened, and opened for the admission of truth, and disposed to seek a portion above. Seasons of affliction ought, therefore, to be improved, both in respect of ourselves and others-in the former, as affording a mean of getting good-and in the latter, as furnishing an advantageous season of being useful to others. For not Lady Maxwell only, but hundreds in the church militant, and thousands in the church triumphant say, "God brought me to himself by afflictions." Nor because, in the first instance, God has not thundered into the soul terrific peals from Mount Horeb, shaking the heart like an earthquake; nor by the melting strains of Zion moved the rock to contrition, are we thence to question the reality of conviction of sin, nor the genuineness of conversion to God. For these afflictions are useful only as they drive or draw us to that gospel which is full of Christ, and hence is "the power of God unto salvation."

It was while Lady Maxwell remained the child of sorrow, that she became acquainted with that part of the church of Christ with which she was afterward associated, and of which she remained a distinguished and useful member until she was united to the church of the first-born. The inducing circumstances which first led to this union are at present but indistinctly known; a few principal and well known facts may be mentioned. "The ministry of the Rev. John Wesley and of the Rev. George Whitefield was, at that time, generally approved in Scotland, and their congregations, wherever they went, were large and respectable. The ministers also in connection with the former had attained a degree of popularity, and were made the honoured instruments in the conversion of many souls. Nor were their acceptance and usefulness confined to the lower or middle classes of the community; for ministers of the Establishment and members of the university, persons of rank and title, were found mingled in their audiences. And it is probable that some of those pious nobles who were among the admirers of Wesley and Whitefield, were the instruments of first bringing Lady Maxwell to the Wesleyan chapel."

But leaving what is only conjectural, it appears certain that she became personally acquainted with Mr. Wesley in the year 1764. At this early period a mutual attachment was formed, which continued steady and unabated until his spirit returned to God; and in its results, doubtless, tended in a measure to regulate her views, and to guide her determinations throughout the whole remainder of her life. On referring to Mr. Wesley's

journal, we find him preaching at Edinburgh, May 27th, of the above year, and after visiting Elgin, Aberdeen, and other places in the north, he returned to the metropolis on the 16th of June, and again preached to very large congregations, both on the Calton Hill, and in the high-school yard. (Wesley's Works, vol. iv, p. 179.) Four days after this, Mr. Wesley wrote to her ladyship the following letter, and a regular correspondence now commenced. As Mr. Wesley's letters (Wesley's Works, vol. vii, p. 15) tend to develope the state of her mind at this period, and contain important instruction, there need be no apology for the appearance of a few of them in this place.

"Newcastle-upon-Tyne, June 20, 1764. "Will it be agreeable to my dear Lady Maxwell that I trouble her with a letter so soon? And that I write with so little ceremony? That I use no compliment, but all plainness of speech? If it be not, you must tell me so, and I shall know better how to speak for the time to come. Índeed it would be unpleasing to me to use reserve the regard I feel for you strongly inclines me to think aloud,' to tell you every thought which rises in my heart. I think God has taken unusual pains, so to speak, to make you a Christian: a Christian, in deed, (not in name,) worshipping God in spirit and in truth: having in you the mind that was in Christ, and walking as Christ also walked. He has given you affliction upon affliction; he has used every possible means to unhinge your soul from the things of earth, that it might fix on him alone. How far the design of his love has succeeded, I could not well judge from a short conversation. Your ladyship will therefore give me leave to inquire, Is the heaviness you frequently feel merely owing to weakness of body, and the loss of near relations? I will hope it is not. It might, indeed, at first spring from these outward pressures. But did not the gracious Spirit of God strike in and take occasion from these to convince you of sin, of unbelief, of the want of Christ? And is not the want of this one great cause, if not the greatest, of your present distress? If so the greatest danger is, either that you should stifle that conviction, not suffering yourself to be convinced that you are all sin, the chief of sinners; or, that you should heal the wound slightly, that you should rest before you know Christ is yours, before his Spirit witnesses with your spirit that you are a child of God. My dear lady, be not afraid to know yourself; yea, to know yourself as you are known. How soon then will you know your Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous! And why not this day? Why not this hour if you feel your want? I beseech the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to look upon you now! O give thy servant power to believe; to see and feel how thou hast loved her! Now let her sink down into the arms of thy love, and say unto her soul, I am thy salvation'

"With regard to particular advices, I know not how far your ladyship would have me to proceed. I would not be backward to do any thing in my power; and yet I would not obtrude. But in any respect you may command, my dear lady, your ladyship's affectionate servant, J. WESLEY."

The above letter appears to have been written at the request of Lady Maxwell. In her reply, she had evidently opened her mind to this eminent minister of Christ with frankness and candour. This produced the following, from which it may be safely inferred she had not yet attained redemption in the blood of Jesus; but saw her need, and was seeking for it with increasing ardour, though not perhaps in the way of simple faith.

66

Manchester, July 10, 1764. "MY DEAR LADY,-Till I had the pleasure of receiving yours, I was almost in doubt whether you would think it worth your while to write or not. So much the more I rejoiced when the doubt was removed in so agreeable a manner. I cannot but think of you often: I seem to see you just by me, panting after God, under the heavy pressure of bodily weakness and faintness, bereaved of your dearest relatives, convinced that you are a sinner, a debtor that has nothing to pay, and just ready to cry out,

'Jesus, now I've lost my all,

Let me on thy bosom fall.'

"Amen, Lord Jesus! Speak, for thy servant heareth! Speak thyself into her heart! Lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees. Let her see thee full of grace and truth, and make her glad with the light of thy countenance !

"Do not stop, my dear lady, one moment, because you have not felt sorrow enough. Your friend above has felt enough of it for you:

'O Lamb of God, was ever pain,
Was ever love like thine.'

Look, look unto him, and be thou saved! He is not a God far off. He is now hovering over you with eyes of tenderness and love! Only believe. Then he turns your heaviness into joy. Do not think you are not humble enough, not contrite enough, not earnest enough. You are nothing: but Christ is all. And he is yours! The Lord God write it upon your heart, and take you for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

"O that you may be ever as dead to the world as you are now. I apprehend the greatest danger from that quarter. If you should be induced to seek happiness out of Christ, how soon would your good desires vanish! Especially, if you should give way to the temptation, to which your person, your youth, and your fortune will not fail to expose you. If you escape this snare I trust you will be a real Christian, having the power as well as the form

of religion. I expect you will then have likewise better health and spirits: perhaps to-morrow. But O, take Christ to-day! I long to have you happy in him! Surely few have a more earnest desire of your happiness than, my very dear lady, your ladyship's most affectionate servant, J. WESLEY."

The nature and progress of Lady Maxwell's experience may be farther gathered from a covenant with God, into which she now entered, and afterward renewed at different times during a

succession of years. The practice of covenanting with God must be acknowledged to be very ancient, and, as it has a scriptural warrant, a divine sanction, so its utility has frequently been proved both by individuals and collective bodies of Christians. That which is here copied is dated August 9th, 1764, and is as follows:

"I am this day renewing a covenant made with God in January, 1762, but never written until now. Lord, help me in this great work. It is in the view of thy great strength alone that I am attempting it, being altogether unable in myself to vow unto thee or to perform. Yet I would, in obedience to thy command, lay hold on thy strength, that I may be able to make peace with thee; and, blessed be thy great name, thou hast said that such shall make peace with thee. Isa. xxvii, 5. If thou, Lord, wilt manifest thy dear Son to me, clear up my evidence of my interest in him, shed abroad his love at all times in my heart, and let me feel him ever drawing me to himself with the cords of love, and with the bands of a man, and in times of trial make his strength perfect in my weakness, and not desert me in duty nor in temptation; if thou, Lord, wilt do these great things for me, then, in thy strength, I give myself unto thee, soul, body, and spirit, in the bonds of an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten. Despairing in myself, I flee to the great refuge set before me, Jesus Christ the righteous, desiring to accept of him as my Prophet, my Priest, and my King. I give up my heart wholly to him, earnestly praying that he may empty it of sin and vanity, and fill it with his immortal Self, that he at all times may be the object of my warmest wishes. I engage, Lord, if thou wilt give me thy strength, ever to espouse thy cause and interest in the world, however it may be despised; and to esteem thy reproach more than fine gold.

'No cross, no suffering I decline,

Only make my heart all thine!'

"But, Lord, if thou dost not that, I shall fall a prey to every temptation, and so perish; for thou knowest the deceitfulness of my heart, and how hardened it is by sin, so that nothing but thy love can allure it. But, Lord, as thou art in Christ reconciling the world to thyself, I believe that in him thou art pure, universal love; that thy tenderness to those who are seeking thee

through him is inconceivable; therefore into that ocean of mercy I desire to plunge myself. O give me strong faith to lay hold on those precious promises which thou hast given, for divine teaching, pardon, and sanctification; and now, Lord, I give myself and my resolutions into thy hand; do thou make them good, and let none pluck them out of thy hand, that I may be thine in that day when thou makest up thy jewels.-Signed, Darcy Maxwell.' 999

'The parents of Lady Maxwell were members of the Established Church of Scotland: a church which, for its approximation to Scripture in its constitution; the learning, talents, and respectability of its ministers; the extent of information on religious subjects among its members, and the general tone of doctrine held forth in it, was, in the opinion of Whitefield, and is, in the opinion of many equally unprejudiced and uninterested, the best NATIONAL establishment in the world. In this church Lady Maxwell had been educated; in it she received much spiritual profit, from the stated labours of many pious and able ministers then resident in Edinburgh; and continued occasionally to attend the ministry of the word, and regularly to communicate with its members, to the end of her life." But she possessed a mind superior to party views or party distinctions: her soul was truly catholic. She soon began to distinguish between what is merely human in the varied modes of religion, and what is divine. To its circumstantials she was not indifferent, but she attached a paramount importance to what is essential. These enlarged and benevolent views led her to admire true piety wherever she found it, whether within or without the precincts of this or that particular denomination; and to avail herself of every mean Providence held out to her for the attainment of this pearl of great price. And believing, after mature deliberation, that many additional means would be afforded her by forming a closer union with that body of Christians in connection with the Rev. John Wesley, she about this period became a regular member of his society. In doing this, she relinquished no privilege formerly enjoyed; suffered no abatement of attachment to the establishment of her country; but continued equally to revere and love whatever in it was excellent, and still to the utmost of her power afforded, "without partiality," her countenance and aid for the furtherance of true religion in every varied department of the Church of Christ. On her informing Mr. Wesley of the important step she had taken, he sent her the following seasonable advice.

Sept. 22, 1764.

"MY DEAR LADY,-You need be under no manner of apprehension of writing too often to me. The more frequent your letters are, the more welcome they will be. When I have not heard from you for some time, I begin to be full of fears: I am