for the silver, and a place for gold where they
fine it." Pecuniary difficulties seem as if they would eat up every green
thing; but I hope and trust that He who has often said, Peace, be still,
will so regulate the heat of the furnace that I may be able to bear it
with becoming patience, until there be nothing left in me but what
resembles the pure gold fit for the Master's use. When I reflect on what
my poor mind has passed through for more than two years past, I am
convinced nothing short of that Arm which brought the Israelites through
the Red Sea could have supported me. And O, should he ever loose my hands,
that I may serve Him freely, may I never forget the many covenants made
with Him who has so often heard and answered my prayer when in deep
distress!

Through the assistance of some of his Barnsley friends, an offer was made
to him of a situation in a flax-spinning mill at Bentham, which was then
or had lately been the property of Charles Parker, a minister in the
Society of Friends. He accepted the offer; and an extract from a letter to
his wife, when on a journey, will show the motives under which he acted in
this important step.

Hawkshead, 6 mo. 28, 1817.

MY VERY PRECIOUS DEAR,

When I wrote thee last, my time and feelings would not permit me to say
much on our impending prospect of leaving Barnsley; but since then this
very important subject has obtained my most serious and weighty
consideration, and I am now free to communicate to thee my feelings, in
order that thou mayest weigh them duly and compare them with thy own while
we are separated. In the first place, in taking such a step, we must be
reconciled to sacrifice our present comfortable home, our relations and
friends--in short, all that may seem near and dear to us as to the
outward. With respect to our spiritual prospect, I must confess, if any
service is designed for me in the Church militant, I have sometimes
apprehended it might be within the compass of our present Particular and
Monthly Meetings; but should this be ordered otherwise in best wisdom, I
trust I shall be relieved from the oppressive feeling, and in a short time
see my way clear. On the other hand, if this change takes place, we have a
probability of a comfortable living, and of being relieved from the
extreme anxiety attendant on trade, when the whole responsibility rests on
our own shoulders.

H.R. [one of the firm who had offered to employ him] seemed rather
desirous