liah's time of usurpation, down they came from the highest dignity to the lowest ignominy. Strange events happened between September 1659, and May 1660. God is in the heavens, and doeth whatsoever pleaseth him he hath glorified his great name, vindicated his truth and promises, and encouraged his people. He hath restored our civil rights, and given us hope of a just settlement. I must however confess, we are in a precarious state, being afraid lest the supreme governor should prove wicked, frown on the faithful of the land, obstruct the work of reformation, set up again the abrogated ceremonies, subject us to tyranny under an insulting hierarchy, corrupt God's pure worship, and turn gospel discipline into courts of formality. These things are feared from the flattering sycophants, who will flock about the newly created king. But shall our surmisings hinder our rejoicing? Who knows but the twelve years' banishment has prepared the king to be an understanding David? Let us wait on God, keep his ways, and trust him with events." The fears entertained by Mr. Heywood were but too soon realized. On the return of Charles, those who had been so violent in their opposition to Mr. H. became silent, and, for a short time, he peaceably and successfully exercised his ministry. This season of comfort was but of short duration; for in less than two years from the king's restoration, Mr. H. began to experience those trials for nonconformity, the particulars of which will be related in the subsequent history of his life. His sufferings for conscience' sake were preceded by a trial of a domestic nature, the most distressing to his feelings.

Mrs. Elizabeth Heywood was not only the wife of his youth, but the object of his pure choice and sincere affection. During the six years they had spent

in the matrimonial state, God gave them three sons, the youngest of whom was soon called to heaven; he helped them mutually to share each other's joys and sorrows, and maintained, if not increased, that love which brought them together. Mrs. Heywood's constitution, which was naturally weak, had been impaired by repeated bodily afflictions, especially since her marriage. Her kind father, perceiving the decayed state of her health, and hoping that her native air might be of some benefit, sent for her to Denton. April 18, 1661, Mr. H. his wife, and two children, took a journey into Lancashire. Soon after their arrival at Denton, Mrs. H. appeared to revive, and hopes were entertained of her recovery; but her disorder was incurable: she soon relapsed, and her rapid decline terminated in death, on the 26th of May. Mr. Heywood thus describes his feelings, and gives a portrait of her character: "What a sad breach hath the Lord made in my bosom comforts! O my soul, he hath taken away thy dear partner; the heaviest blow that ever I experienced in my outward enjoyments. I may say with Naomi, 'the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty.' We went with the whole of our family to visit our native country, and in less than two months, lost not only a member, but a main pillar thereof the wife of my youth, a plant of grace, strong in faith, though weak in body. Her old nature was long decaying, but her spiritual strength rapidly increased. The Lord had been long adorning her soul with heavenly graces, that she might be as a bride made ready for the marriage of the Lamb. I have no cause to lament her condition, but my own; the loss is mine, the gain hers; and both unspeakable. She is now put into the enjoyment of that which is

not attainable here; she is with Christ, which is best of all. Her many doubts and fears are lost in the beatific vision. Her sad complaints are changed for the triumphant song of Moses and the Lamb; her prayers and tears, for joys and praises; her sins and sufferings, for perfect holiness and happiness; her much lamented duties and performances, for uninterrupted communion with the Lord. She is removed from a tempestuous sea to a quiet haven, where the weary are at rest, and the wicked cease from troubling. She will never now have cause to complain of hard usage from friends or foes, of slanderous reports and falsehoods, of pains and sicknesses of body, of losses and crosses in estate, of sad tidings in church affairs, of mournful dissentions among brethren, and of the sins and licentiousness of the times: these things are to her as a tale that is told, and if there be any remembrance of them, it is without the least regret. Alas, we poor mortals speak of heaven enigmatically! But the veil of natural and sinful infirmity is withdrawn from the blessed eyes of her immortal spirit. I have not the least ground of fear relative to her; nay, while she was with me, I had always better hopes of her state than my own: and though she expressed not much to others, yet she was familiarly acquainted with the Lord in secret duties, and with her own heart, by observing its movements in self-examination. Her soul knew, in some degree, the way and fruit of ascending to heaven, and now she is gone to take possession. But here I am, a poor, bewildered creature, left behind to conflict with a world of sinful allurements, and anxious cares and fears, with legions of infernal spirits, and numerous troops of inward foes. Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech! When shall I go and appear before God? Had I made the same

haste in holiness, I had also made her haste to happiness; had my soul conversed as much with God as hers, I might have enjoyed the immediate presence of God as soon as she: Enoch was too good for earth, therefore God took him. Had I been as ready for heaven, I must not have stayed behind; but the will of the Lord be done! As I am satisfied her time was come, so I desire to wait my appointed time: I am not unwilling to live, nor afraid to die. O what is it that caused the Lord to make such a breach in my comforts? Surely he hath written bitter things against me, and made me to possess the sins of my youth. To lose a wife, and such a wife, is no small loss! How dear was 1 to her! and what reason have I that she should be as dear to me? O the prayers and tears she constantly poured forth with and for both me and mine! O what excellent counsel the Lord hath enabled her to give me! O what usefulness and faithfulness in the things of this life! yea, what abundant advantage I many times received from her in my public work and calling, both as a Christian and a minister! Methinks the house is lonely without her, and all my other comforts present to me but a mournful scene. But why do I deplore my state? My work is to mind the Lord's design. As she is made a partaker of happiness, may I be made a partaker of holiness! as she is an infinite gainer, may I be no loser! Should I reap no benefit from this sad affliction, I shall have more cause to lament than for the loss of her: I may expect some further blow if I do not profit by this. May the loss of so genuine a Christian, cause the existence or increase of some grace within me! May her prayers, counsels, covenants, and example appear in her offspring in after generations, that it may be said, this is the seed of the blessed of the Lord."

This event being one in which Mr. Heywood was so deeply interested, it is no wonder he repeatedly notices it in his private papers; and every record proves, not only the strength of his affection for his beloved partner, but the earnestness of his desire that it might be sanctified to his spiritual advantage. He says, "It was the heaviest personal stroke that ever I experienced; yet the Lord hath abundantly satisfied my heart, and supported my spirit under it, partly by the consideration of her happy condition, and partly by my serious apprehension of approaching calamities. True it is, there are many things that tend to aggravate, as well as on the other hand to moderate this affliction; but that which I would study is, what is God's design therein, that I may derive some advantage from it, for in all my loss the want of the fruit of affliction is the greatest evil. She was as much a comfort to her father as she was to her husband; she grew up to a wonderful maturity far beyond her years. I want her at every turn, in every place, and in every affair; methinks I am but half myself without her. But why should I complain? she is at rest, God's will is done, and I may shortly follow after. Sure I am she cannot return, nor doth she desire it; But if the affliction is deeper, and more painful than any thing I ever experienced; the supporting, quickening and comforting grace vouchsafed, is also beyond any thing I ever before enjoyed. My God supplies all my wants according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus; only I am afraid of losing this frame of spirit under the dispensation; but my encouragement is the same as Paul's, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.""

so then I ought not.

In alleviation of his distress, God had granted him a pious, faithful, and kind servant, Martha Bairstow, who remained in his family about sixteen years, and