thought that is good; and to whom we must go, for the continual supply of every want, and the relief of every sorrow and burden. Our blessed Lord left us a legacy, 'My peace I give unto you:' to which is annexed that which is ready to make us shrink, for he adds, ' In the world ye shall have tribulation.' I have often compared myself to a pursued bird, that lights first on one branch of a tree, and then on another. Something still disturbs, affrights, or molests it; and after many fruitless attempts to settle, or to rest, the poor thing at length flies quite away, and we see it no more. In our Christian journey, there are many spots where we make an attempt to rest. Sometimes it is on some favoured manifestation of the Divine love and presence; at which seasons we are ready to say, my mountain stands so strong I shall never be moved;' my enemies are slain, and will annoy me no more; my feet are delivered from the snare of the fowler, and I shall never more be thus entangled. Sometimes we are peculiarly blessed with the ordinances, both public and private; and sometimes the heart is cheered by the cordial of Christian friendship. Many other spots might be enumerated, on which we alight, and begin to plume our wings: but we are soon made to feel our mistake; and in every disappointment, we are reminded of our Lord's words, ' In me ye shall have peace.' Not in any rich experiences, or favoured moments; not in any ordinances, or creature helps, further than as they lead you, (as if our Lord had said,) simply to me, the only centre of peace and rest. Now when we are driven, like the poor bird, off every branch and sprig of nature's tree, and fly from 'good self and bad self,' to Christ for shelter and for rest, then have we reason for great thankfulness, let the cost of such teaching be ever so great.

"I would therefore, my dear madam, encourage you and myself, under all those heart-sinkings to which we are liable, from whatever cause they may arise ;whether from a sense of deadness and dulness in the ways of God; whether from the stirrings of heart-corruptions; whether from the assaults of the enemy; or from weariness and fainting, by reason of the length of the way; whether from difficult, dark, and perplexing providences, or from the absence of those advantages and comforts, with which other Christians are favoured,

-or if, like Job, we are constrained to say He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him;' or with Jonah, I am cast out of his sight;'-yet, in the strength of the Lord, let us make Jonah's resolution, 'I will look again towards thy holy temple."

In the month of January, 1812, MRS. HAWKES met with a slight accident, occasioned by a fall; which, however, was followed by consequences so serious to her health, that she was obliged early in the spring to return to town. Through the winter she had suffered much from the effects of damp, which had occasioned a serious, and long-continued inflammation of her eyes, as well as severe rheumatic pain in her face. These circumstances made it appear expedient that she should seek a residence in the dry and airy parts of London. The kind intentions of sincere friendship seemed thus defeated: But, in the end, it was shewn to have been overruled for good. Had MRS. HAWKES remained at Betchworth, the company of those dear friends, who were her only. society in that place, would not have been long afforded her, as a new sphere of usefulness was shortly opened to her valued friend and minister, Dr. Fearon, by his removal to Oare, near Hastings.

CHAPTER VII.

FROM HER SETTLEMENT AT PENTON PLACE TO HER REMOVAL TO QUEEN'S ROW.

From A. D. 1812 to 1817.

Kind weleome of Mrs. Collyer-MRS. HAWKES's reflections after severe illness-Her endeavours to become useful-Letters to Mrs. Ctt on the new year-Attacked by fever-Values prolonged life, and why-Her general correspondence and Christian intercourse-She refers to the change in political affairs, Easter Sunday, 1814-Her sentiments on indwelling sin, expressed in several letters-Fears of being again obliged to remove— Suffers from continual inflammation in her eyes-Letter on giving loose to a roving imagination-On faith and dependence-Conversion of Mr. Vaughan-Letter to a friend at Honduras-Reflections on opening the year 1817-Sufferings from nervous and bilious fever-She goes to ClaphamLetters to various friends.

ON arriving in London, MRS. HAWKES was welcomed to the house of her affectionate niece, Mrs. Collyer, where she remained till comfortable apartments, in a more airy situation, could be provided for her. Besides her usual sufferings from her complaint, she was, at this time, nearly deprived of sight, from constant inflammation in her eyes; and was also confined to a couch with a painful and serious wound, which had arisen in the first instance, from merely breaking the skin of her leg, in a fall. The great debility into which she had fallen,

rendered all these evils difficult to bear; and her state became critical. After some weeks, however it pleased God to bless the means used for her relief, and she was able to remove to Penton Place. Soon after her entering upon this new residence, she wrote the following memorial of her feelings:

Penton Place, 1812.-" Restored apparently from the very grasp of death, I seem to be put once more into a peaceful haven. But pain, sickness, and extreme feebleness are my allotted companions. However unlovely, and irksome, such companions must be, yet so far as they shall prove salutary to my soul, I welcome them. I need correction; I need purification; and the rod of affliction has not yet done its appointed work. I pray that I may not shrink from it. Why should I? seeing it is in my Saviour's hand, who does not chastise as earthly parents too often do, passionately, excessively, and unwisely: He corrects tenderly; In measure when it shooteth forth, he debateth with it.' I rejoice that the chastening rod is in his hand, and not in the hand of man. I pray Him to support me under it; I trust I do really and cheerfully submit myself to it. He once gave his back to the smiters for our sins. How much more should I submit to be smitten by him for my own sins. Why should I, who deserve to be destroyed, complain when only chastised? I will hope, and pray, and believe, that when the rod has done its work, it will be laid aside,"

MRS. HAWKES still continued her endeavours to be useful, under all impediments. Though writing became extremely difficult, from the weak state of her eyes, yet she was ever making efforts to meet the wishes of her cor

respondents, especially in the case of young persons, who desired to receive from her, either instruction or advice. She thus addresses a young friend, who was, for a time, removed from opportunities of hearing the Gospel ;

"Much have I wished to write to you, my dearest, under your new dispensation; particularly on account of your present privations on the Sunday, because I can feel for you, and well understand you. But whatever may be lacking to you in the public ordinances, I trust you are able to gain much by private exercises. I do not mean that you should shut yourself up always in your chamber, for we may spend many hours shut up, and yet do very little to purpose. A short space, spent in laying open the heart before God, and in stretching forth the empty vessel to receive out of his fulness,-to abase ourselves at his sacred footstool, and to cast ourselves on Christ, by simple and true faith,—will do more for us, than the longest and strongest efforts of our own. I trust you find an increasing humiliation of mind, and an increasing victory over every opposing evil principle, together with increasing simplicity of aim and dependence. But remember, that the graces of the Spirit, so very beautifully enumerated by St. Paul, will only grow in a soil where there has been much ploughing and harrowing, and weeding out the roots of bitterness, which are the natural and spontaneous productions of the soil and the plough, the harrow, and the hoe, are instruments we do not love; and they bring out many an ugly reptile, which lay beneath the surface, quite undiscovered before.

"I am grieved to hear so poor an account of your health. But spiritual strength is more important than

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