us, in his own time and way, and finally to bring us home to glory— There we shall see his face, And never, never sin; There, from the rivers of his grace, Drink endless pleasures in. There we may meet to celebrate the riches of divine grace, and experience the joys of that friendship, which is only begun in this world, but is often sadly interrupted by sin and sorrow. Fearing you will leave town, I thought it right to drop this token of my most sincere regard and gratitude. May every good be thine, and God be glorified in our eternal salvation. What is there in this lower world worth living for?—it is full of changes, trials, and sorrow. May we come up out of the wilderness, leaning on the beloved, longing to get home, and daily dying to all the world. Getting better acquainted with Jesus, by the teachings of the Holy Spirit. I feel at times very much deprest indeed, but have no doubt but that all things will work for good, and, Though painful at present ’twill cease before long, And then, O how pleasant the conqueror’s song. God bless you, my dear, my much-loved friend—time is on the wing—soon we shall look back and say, He hath done all things well. I remain, Your’s truly, _Ruhamah_. LETTER XXI. _Achor’s Vale_, _Dec._ 6, 1818. Mrs. DARBY, MY DEAR SISTER IN THE LORD, I have read your letter, with sacred pleasure, containing an account of the Lord’s gracious dealings with your soul. I wish every member of the Church would write me something of their experience, that I might judge of their state, for, as experience worketh hope, when we know a person’s experience we can judge of their hope. It is the custom of some Churches, when persons are admitted, to give in a written experience; this is a good custom, as many people are too timid to appear and speak of the dealings of God with them, in the whole face of an assembly, not that they are ashamed of the work of God upon them, but they may be naturally timid. I have always endeavoured to be as familiar to those who come to me about spiritual things as I could, with any propriety, and even that has been attended with a disadvantage, as the enemy has turned _that_ against one. I wish I could never speak to any but the Lord’s own children. I never found _them_ any snare to my soul, but I have found mere empty gay professors to be a snare. David personated Christ when he expressed the feelings of his soul, in the 16th Psalm, “The saints, the excellent of the earth, are my delight.” The Lord made David sick of every body else, yet no man was ever so plagued with a parcel of hypocrites as he was. His prime minister, Achithophel, was a snare to him. His chief captain, Joab, was always a trouble, and his darling son, Absalom, was always a most profound, ungrateful, cruel hypocrite. Yet