myself to bear with them the issues of thy pleasure upon us; that we may glorify thee by life or by death, or whatsoever thou shalt ordain to us. Hear me, O gracious Lord, in the multitude of thy mercies, and prepare my heart for thy will, and to receive the decrees of thy infinite wisdom concerning me; prepare me always for thy holy presence; and whether I live or die, let me be ever thine. Grant the same mercy to all thy distressed servants in this place; and as thou hast visited us with one common trouble, so unite us in thy fear, and make us partake of the same grace and mercy: Lord, be glorified in us, and let our souls find acceptance with thee, through the beloved our Lord Jesus Christ and only advocate. Amen."

And lest any inward remorse might shock his dependance upon God, I find him about that time particularly diligent, to set all matters right between God and his soul, that being the true foundation of confidence in public troubles. To this purpose is the following meditation, written upon ChristmasDay in the morning, that very year of disorder and confusion.

"God hath said, In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.' But who can have confidence in God? St. John hath told us, He whose heart condemns him not.' And who is the happy man, whose heart condemns him not? St. Paul, by a reasonable inference, tells us, ' He that alloweth not himself in any thing which he condemneth,' (Rom. xiv. 22.) Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.' And again, Heb. x. 18, 19. Where there is remission of sins, we

have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus;' because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,' 1 John i. 7. So then the pardon of our sins gives us this confidence in God. Come, O my soul, let us go to the blood of Jesus, that we may be cleansed by it; that our body may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed by his precious blood: that we may obtain this confidence, our only means of strength and support in this time of danger.'

The effect of these exercises was a resolution of not attempting to remove from Dublin during the war, whatever dangers might threaten him there. He had quite different notions of the means of safety, from the generality of the world, as you may see by the following meditation, written not long after the former.

"It is not always the most fancied place for security is indeed the most secure. The remnant of Judah, after the captivity, thought Egypt most secure. Whereas abiding in the place where they were, would have been most secure for them. And the reason is, because it is God only can make any place secure to us. And a quiet confidence in him, arising from an humble walking with him, is the only means to engage him to secure our abode to us. If, because of the present distress, St. Paul advised the Corinthians not to marry, that they might better attend upon the Lord without distraction,' (1 Cor. vii. 35.) the same reason will hold against projecting removals, as a thing likely to distract our thoughts in distressed times, when we most need to have them recollected

and stayed upon God; to be every minute composed and ready to lay hold on his hand at the appearance of danger."

See a letter in

Kilmore's funeral sermon.

Thus armed with confidence in God, Mr. Bonnell waited the issue of our common dangers: and as he put himself into God's hands, so from God he had safety and protection, and even liberty during all our troubles. He was continued in his emthe Bishop of ployment without his desiring it, and it was happy for many Protestants that he was so; since whatever he received out of it, he distributed among them with a liberal hand. He sought out opportunities of relieving his needy brethren, and went about doing good to the necessitous and oppressed. He boldly pleaded for them to those who were then in power; and ventured, without concern, interest, favour, and even his necessary subsistence, (so courageous does piety and charity make men) to get the injured Protestants relieved.

And indeed, as bounty to the poor was one of those virtues which always shined eminently in him, though none more industrious to conceal it than he; so I find him in more places than one, offering arguments to himself why he should, in those times of distress, be more large in his alms than he used to be at others. I shall here insert two meditations exciting to charity, one written in the year 1688, the other in 1689.

The first is as follows:

"Man lives not by bread alone;' much less by gold and silver; for bread may maintain one, when money cannot keep from starving; 'but by every word of God,' by his favour and blessing; it is his com

mand, and giving the blessing, that makes any thing effectual to sustain us. And his command can make what is left as effectual to sustain thee, as what thou hast given away, and much more added to it, would have been. But without his command, what abundance can sustain thee? the rust and the canker will eat it up, and thy riches will make themselves wings, and fly away from thee. Insure then thy stock in a time of trouble and danger, in the great insurance office in heaven. It will be done at a reasonable rate, and all the world cannot give thee such security of being answered as thou wilt find there. Thou wilt certainly find thy principal here or hereafter with an hundred fold. It is infallibly certain as God is true; as God is God, thou mayest depend upon it."

The other meditation was written June 19th, 1689. "This day being the public fast-day in England for this kingdom, had for its second lesson in the morning, Luke iii. wherein is remarkable John Baptist's discourse to the people: The axe is laid to the root of the tree' Now no longer to be forborne, either immediately to bring forth good fruit, or to be cut down and to the people, demanding what they should do; his answer is, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.' Teaching us, that in a time of public trial, when matters are come to extremity, and God arises to judgment against a people, works of mercy and charity are most likely to prevail for a blessing; either to the turning away the public scourge, or saving particular persons from the general calamity. And are not works of mercy at

D

such times particularly reasonable? For what sig. nifies keeping of superfluities, when we know not how long we shall live to use them? or if we live, is it not better to give them now to those that need them, than to keep them to be taken away by such as will only destroy them!"

Though Mr. Bonnell bore his own share of the calamities of that time, with a very calm and serene mind; yet there was one thing that gave him no small disturbance, and that was, our troubles not producing that reformation among Protestants which might have been expected while the rod was upon them, though no doubt, a great many were very much bettered by it. What his sense of these things was, will sufficiently appear by the ensuing meditation, composed on Whit-Sunday, 1689.

"To have a heart full of concern for the glory of God and the souls of men; to see the world lie in wickedness and ignorance of God, and not be able to remedy it; is it not an uncomfortable state? but to be filled with a divine power and ability to work upon the hearts of men, to convince them and bring them off from this sin and ignorance, as the apostles were by the coming down of the Holy Ghost, can any thing be a greater comfort? to force the world to believe the truth of what they witnessed, and acquit them from being deceivers, is it not an exceeding comfort? but how is this comfort fulfilled to us? we see a world, in which we are, lying in wickedness; the judgments of God gone out against it, and yet the inhabitants of it do not learn righteousness; God seems resolved to reform or cut us off, and yet little