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SERMONS AND L.ETTEUS 
 
 01 THE LATE 
 
 Rev. ALEX. PRINGLE, D.D. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR, 
 
 BY HIS SURVIVING COLLEAGUE, 
 
 The Rev. DAVID YOUNG, D D. 
 
 PERTH: 
 
 J. DEWAR; C. G. SIDEY; D. WOOD. 
 
 EDINBURGH— M. PATERSON. 
 
 GLASGOW— D. ROBERTSON. 
 
 NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE— W. PRINGLE. 
 
 MDCCCXL 
 
PERTH j-PRINTED BY WILLIAM BELFORD- 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page. 
 
 Memoir, 1 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 I. — "Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God 
 and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant de- 
 part in peace, according to thy word : for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation." — Luke ii. 28, 29, 30, 5 1 
 II.—. Simeon's Prayer, with Christ in his Arms — "Lord, 
 now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac- 
 cording to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation," CO 
 
 III — Simeon's Prayer for Death — "Lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart," . . 73 
 
 IV. — The kind of Death for which Simeon prayed — " Let 
 
 thy servant depart in peace," . . . .82 
 
 LETTERS. 
 To the Author's Brother, Mr. W— P— , . . .105 
 To the same, 109 
 
VI CONTENT* 
 
 Paf 
 
 To the Author's Brother, Mr W— ?— , . . Ill 
 
 To the same, . .113 
 
 To the same, 115 
 
 To the same, 117 
 
 To the same, 119 
 
 To the same, 123 
 
 To the same, 125 
 
 To the same, 12G 
 
 To the same, 121) 
 
 To the same, ........ 131 
 
 To the same, 132 
 
 To the same, 134 
 
 To the same, 13G 
 
 To the same, 138 
 
 To the same, 140 
 
 To the Author's Brother, Mr. T— P— , . 143 
 
 To the Author's Nephew, the Rev. J— P— , . . .144 
 
 To the same, .... .... 14G 
 
 To the same, 1 49 
 
 To the same, .151 
 
 To the same, 152 
 
 To the same, 154 
 
 To the same, 155 
 
 To the same, 158 
 
 To the same, 160 
 
 To the same, . . . 162 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. F— r of P— y, . . . . .164 
 
 To Mrs. J — n, Edinburgh, 165 
 
 To Mr. J— , Edinburgh, 168 
 
 To the same, 170 
 
 To the same, 171 
 
CONTENTS. vn 
 
 Tape. 
 
 Mr ,1— , Edinburgh J 7^ 
 
 To the same, ........ 174 
 
 To the same, . .175 
 
 To the same, 177 
 
 To the same, 178 
 
 To the Kcv. It— F— , C— d 181 
 
 To the same, 182 
 
 To Mrs. G— B— of D— , 184 
 
 To Mr. W— B— of G— , 180 
 
 To the liev. Mr. J— n of M— n, 188 
 
 To the same, 190 
 
 To the same, . . . . . . . .191 
 
 To the same, 192 
 
 To the same, 194 
 
 To Grandchildren at M — n, 195 
 
 To the same, 197 
 
 To the same, 199 
 
 To Mr. A— r J— n, 201 
 
 To the same, .... .... 203 
 
 To the same, 204 
 
 To the same, 207 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. W — m J — n, Jamaica, . . . 209 
 
 To Mr. J— J— , M— , 211 
 
 To Mrs. M— of G— , 214 
 
 To the same, . . . . . . . . 21(> 
 
 To Mr. Thomas Pringle, London, 218 
 
 To the same, . . 221 
 
 To Mrs. Thomas Pringle, London, 223 
 
 To Friends in Business, 225 
 
 To a Young Friend, . . 227 
 
 To the same, ........ 230 
 
VIII 
 
 I ONTENTS. 
 
 To Mrs. L — of F — , .... 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, . . . • 
 To the Rev. R— C— of D— , 
 To the Rev. J— H— of A — , 
 To a Friend, ....•• 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the Author's Nephew, Mr. R— T— , . 
 
 To Mrs. M— , 
 
 To a Cousin in the south of Scotland, 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, . . • 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, 
 
 To the same, ..... 
 
 Ta fi c 
 
 . 231 
 
 233 
 . 235 
 
 236 
 . 238 
 
 240 
 . 242 
 
 245 
 . 247 
 
 249 
 . 251 
 
 253 
 . 255 
 
 257 
 . 259 
 
 200 
 . 2G2 
 
 203 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 The Rev. Alexander Pringle, D.D. was born in 
 June, 1752. His ancestors were Border farmers, who, 
 for several generations back, seem to have been men of 
 much respectability and private worth. His father, 
 William Pringle of Blaiklaw, in Roxburghshire, was a 
 true specimen of the Scottish farmer of the olden times, 
 whose servants were, to a great extent, incorporated 
 with his family, and were so treated as to feel that the 
 austerity of the master was, to a great extent, sunk in 
 the kindliness of the father and the friend. The father 
 of this reputable man, whose name was also William, 
 held the farm of Yair by a feudal tenure, from his near 
 kinsman, the Laird of Whitbank. Of his family no de- 
 tailed account can be here given ; but his son of Blaiklaw 
 had seven sons and one daughter, most of whom lived 
 to a great age, and the only survivor of whom is Adam 
 Pringle, Esq. late Lord Provost of Perth. Alexander, 
 the subject of this Memoir, was the third son of the 
 family, and is said to have been a high-spirited, manly 
 boy, not easily turned from his purpose, and giving 
 promise, even in childhood, of those qualities by which 
 his manhood was characterized. Being the inmate of 
 a pious family, he was early initiated into the exercise 
 
 B 
 
2 MEMOIR. 
 
 of prayer, and it would seem that, when very young, 
 he had contracted a love to this exercise. When he 
 was about eight years of age, a pious female servant of 
 his father, who probably watched over the morals of 
 the children, and was, in her place, the guide of their 
 piety, told him one day that she thought he should be- 
 come a minister, assigning as her reason, that he re- 
 mained longer at his prayers than did the other boys. 
 He hinted, that his father might be averse to the ex- 
 pense of making him a minister ; to which she replied, 
 " Then I must speak to him about it." It is every way 
 likely that she did speak, and that what she said, aided 
 by her prayers to the Father of all, had not a little 
 influence in opening to her young favourite his future 
 course of life. 
 
 This incident is but a small specimen of the simple 
 familiarity and mutual respect which bound together 
 the master and servants at Blaiklaw, and to which, as 
 not uncommon in the days of his youth, Dr. Pringle 
 often referred with high satisfaction ; contrasting it 
 with the moral degeneracy which has since come over 
 our rural population. " My father's servants," he 
 would often say, " were not only sober and industrious, 
 true to their master, and guides to one another, but 
 men of decided piety, whose meetings for prayer and 
 conference were regularly attended, and whose godly 
 sincerity made them a blessing to all with whom they 
 were connected.'' This he ascribed, in no small de- 
 gree, to the treatment servants received in their masters' 
 houses, where they were mixed up with the religion of 
 the family, shared freely of family comforts, were es- 
 teemed as fellow-christians by their masters and mis- 
 
MEMOIR. ti 
 
 tresses, and taught in every way to feel themselves at 
 home. Such was the attention paid to the farm-servants 
 of olden times ; and in general it was well repaid, in 
 the trustiness of their characters, and the generous con- 
 cern which they shewed for the honour and prosperity 
 of their master's house. 
 
 About the tenth year of his age, Dr. Pringle was 
 sent to the High School at Dunse, then under the super- 
 intendence of Mr. Cruikshanks, a man of creditable 
 scholarship, and somewhat advanced in life. At this 
 seminary he made respectable proficiency in studies 
 preparatory for the University ; but it was there also, 
 and probably about the thirteenth year of his age, that 
 his religious impressions became fixed and decided. 
 He used to mention the eighth chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Romans, the fifty-third chapter, and the eighteenth 
 verse of the first chapter of the Prophecies of Isaiah, as 
 portions of the Word of God which then* took a deep 
 hold of his mind. So intense, about this time, was his 
 religious exercise, that, active as he was, it destroyed 
 his relish for youthful recreation; and he used to remain 
 in the school-room to meditate and pray, while his 
 classmates were engaged in games of amusement. In 
 his own opinion, this was the time when he was first 
 brought to a saving reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 " Ever after this," he used to say, " the Lord kept hold 
 of me, amidst many sad declensions on my part." 
 
 Another scene of special religious exercise, on which 
 his memory rested with delight, occurred at Edinburgh 
 the first year he was at College, and about the fifteenth 
 year of his age. He had been attacked by a violent 
 inflammation of the throat, a disease to which he conti- 
 
4 MEMOIR. 
 
 nued subject till about the meridian of life. His com- 
 panion and bed-fellow was Mr. Colville, afterwards 
 minister of the Secession Church in Lauder. They 
 were in the habit of keeping family worship together ; 
 and he often mentioned, with a glow of feeling, that 
 one evening during his illness, as Mr. Colville was 
 sitting by the bedside, and singing, at his request, the 
 sixty-third Psalm, preparatory to reading and prayer, 
 he got such a " grip" of that portion of scripture that 
 he could never forget it. The eighth chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Romans being read on the same occa- 
 sion, the impressions he had derived from it in the 
 school at Dunse were suddenly revived, and he was 
 filled with inexpressible delight. It would appear that 
 on both these occasions the exercise was soothing rather 
 than searching, and this was much the manner of God's 
 dealing with him through life. Indeed, it seemed 
 suited to his cast of mind; for such was his constitu- 
 tional temperament, that, even when his heart departed 
 from God, it was more likely to be won back by the 
 grace of the gospel than stormed into submission by 
 the terrors of the law. From this time forward he 
 looked for, and often experienced, seasons of special 
 fellowship with God, although these were divided by 
 intervals of comparative desolation, which cost him 
 much sorrow and searching of heart, although they 
 seldom shook his confidence in the God of salvation. 
 
 From this period, down to the time when he was 
 licensed to preach the gospel, little is known to us 
 worthy of notice. After finishing his studies at the 
 University, in which he seems to have made good pro- 
 ficiency, he studied theology at Alloa under the Rev. 
 
MKMOIK. 5 
 
 William Moncrieff, then Professor of Divinity to the 
 General Associate Synod, and received his license as a 
 Preacher in the year 1776, being about 24 years of 
 age. Thus he advanced on public service by slow 
 and deliberate steps ; and the state of his mind, in the 
 near view of it, is disclosed in the following extract 
 from a letter written by him to a very dear friend, and 
 dated June of the year aforesaid. 
 
 " On Tuesday, the 4th current, I was examined by 
 the Presbytery [with a view to receiving trial dis- 
 courses], and was very gently dealt with. All was 
 over in little more than half an hour. I got out for a 
 subject [of discourse], 2 Peter, i. 4. I have my pre- 
 parations for license nearly finished, Mr. Morison [the 
 Presbytery Clerk] being so kind as to inform me of 
 all the subjects, so that my trials in this respect will, 
 I think, give me very little trouble. But when I look 
 at what is before me, my spirits are like to sink. Still 
 I think I am in the way of duty ; and in the strength 
 of my Great Head I design to go forward, leaving all 
 events to his disposal. I desire to be entirely in his 
 hand, believing that, if he has any work for me in the 
 service of the altar, he will give wherewith to serve 
 him. It well becomes me to trust his word." " My 
 desire to honour Christ in the work of the gospel is 
 daily increasing, and I am now willing to enter on 
 public service whenever he is pleased to call for me. 
 If this language were spoken before the men of the 
 world, I am sure they would call me presumptuous ; 
 but I think I have ground for what I am saying, and 
 can tell it without a blush to my dearest friend on 
 earth. I would not for the world run unsent, or take 
 
 b2 
 
b MEMOIR. 
 
 up the office of a preacher of the gospel without Christ's 
 commission. O no ! may I rather be buried as deep 
 as the centre of the earth, never more to be heard of 
 in the land of the living." In this extract, we see a 
 strong desire for the Christian ministry, governed by 
 a fear of offending, which every'youth, in similar cir- 
 cumstances, should be anxious to imitate ; for, of all 
 the evils which befal the church, by far the most deso- 
 lating, and, alas, it must be added, not the least com- 
 mon, is a tendency to covet the ministry of the gospel 
 for ease, or honour, or emolument, without caring to 
 be actuated by the spirit which such a ministry re- 
 quires. 
 
 Soon after he began to preach, Dr. Pringle received 
 a call from the congregation of Minihive, in Dumfries- 
 shire; and not long after lie received another from the 
 congregation in Perth, to which the labours of his long 
 and useful life were subsequently devoted. It would 
 seem that he was preaching in Perth at the time when 
 this latter call was given to him ; and, in reference to 
 it, he writes as follows to the friend referred to above : 
 
 « Perth, 29th January, 1777. 
 " I would, ere now, have sent my friend an account 
 of what took place here on Thursday last, had I been 
 at home; but on Tuesday, the week previous, I went to 
 Methven to be out of the way, and preached last Sab- 
 bath at Logiealmond. When Mr. Wilson [of Methven] 
 came home from the moderation, he told us that four 
 candidates were on the list." After detailing the state 
 of the vote, which shows that all the members of the 
 congregation who were present, except 23, gave their 
 
MEMOIR. 7 
 
 votes for him, while nearly Jill of the 23 afterwards 
 subscribed his call, he thus concludes his letter : — " So, 
 my dear friend, you see there is more work carved 
 out for the synod. Whatever way it go, I am resolved 
 cheerfully to abide by the synod's decision. The con- 
 gregation is for two ministers, and I am resolved not 
 to accept of it as a single charge ; but nothing will be 
 done till the synod's determination is known." 
 
 The synod preferred this call to that from Minihive, 
 and, to the great joy of the congregation at Perth, he 
 was ordained to be one of its pastors on the 14th of 
 August, 1777. About a year thereafter, he was mar- 
 ried to Jane, daughter of the Rev. Alexander Mon- 
 crieff of Culfargie, minister of the Secession congrega- 
 tion at Abernethy, in Perthshire. Mrs. Pringle was 
 the youngest of fifteen children born to Mr. MoneriefT 
 by a second marriage. He w r as first married to a 
 daughter of Sir James Clark of Pennycuick, and after- 
 wards to Jane, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Lyon, minister 
 of the parish of Airlie. Mr. MoncriefT was one of the 
 four brethren who were separated from the Church of 
 Scotland in the year 1733, and founded the Secession 
 Church, with so much honour to themselves and spi- 
 ritual benefit to the people of Scotland. He succeeded 
 Mr. Wilson as Professor of Divinity in the Secession 
 Church, and was himself succeeded in that office by his 
 own son, the Rev. William MoncriefT of Alloa, to whom 
 reference has already been made. 
 
 Dr. Pringle had two sons and four daughters. One 
 of his sons died in infancy ; and the other, the Rev. 
 William Pringle, is a minister of the Secession Church 
 in the United States of America. His two oldest 
 
8 MEMOIR. 
 
 daughters and the youngest still survive ; but the third 
 died about sixteen years ago, leaving behind her a large 
 family. She was the wife of the Rev. John Jameson, 
 late of Methven, who was the grandson of another of 
 the four seceding brethren, the Rev. William Wilson 
 of Perth. 
 
 At the time of Dr. Prinale's settlement the congre- 
 gation was very large, consisting probably of three 
 thousand souls. The first time he dispensed the 
 Lord's Supper, there were about three hundred young 
 persons and others who applied for fellowship; two 
 hundred of whom were admitted after suitable exa- 
 mination. His labour about this time was very great, 
 and his situation altogether not a little trying to a 
 young man in the commencement of his ministry. Al- 
 though he accepted of the charge on the express con- 
 dition that it was to be collegiate, yet ten vears had 
 nearly elapsed ere a colleague could be obtained for 
 him. No fewer than five attempts to obtain one proved 
 abortive. As a matter of course, there was dissatis- 
 faction ; the people were broken into parties, and be- 
 gan to criminate one another; it was scarcely possible 
 that, in these circumstances, the minister should escape 
 from blame ; he did not escape; one party or another 
 accused him of opposing its wishes ; and he was sub- 
 jected to years of harassing vexation, on which he 
 never could look back without pain. After these 
 troubles had continued for a considerable time, he began 
 seriously to inquire what might be his share in the con- 
 troversy which God was so obviously pleading with his 
 people. This led him to search himself with special 
 prayer and fasting ; and the result was, a conviction, 
 
MEMOIR. 5i 
 
 wrought deep into his mind, that his estimate of the 
 trust committed to him, in the charge of so large a 
 
 congregation, had hecn hitherto very defective — that his 
 concern for the wellbeing of souls had been neither so 
 earnest nor so exclusive as it ought to have been — and 
 that, however guilty others might be in causing" dissen- 
 sions, he could neither have peace within, nor expect 
 peace on the field of his labours, till his own sins, as 
 thus discovered to him, were confessed and forsaken. 
 
 By the blessing of God on these exercises, his heart 
 was greatly softened, and willingly laid itself very low 
 in devout humiliation. The fruit of them was sweet, 
 and it was abiding. He has often remarked, with holy 
 gratitude, and the blush of self-abasement, that about 
 this time he began to enjoy the gracious presence of 
 God, in his private studies and public ministrations, to 
 an extent which was entirely new to him. This greatly 
 encouraged his heart, and caused him to hope for a 
 happy issue to the course of trial through which he was 
 passing. Before being led to suspect himself, or to 
 deal in earnest with his own heart, he seems to have 
 thought of demitting his charge ; but afterwards he 
 resolved to abide at his post, unless they who were 
 over him in the Lord should, without any solicitation 
 from him, deem it their duty to set him free. In this 
 change of mind the hand of God was conspicuously 
 seen ; it was the turning point of his pastoral history, 
 and involved blessings to many who were then unborn. 
 As his own spirit was corrected and improved by the 
 power of divine grace, the spirits of his people were 
 improved also; and in a short time measures were taken, 
 if not with unanimity, at least with comparative har- 
 
10 MEMOIR, 
 
 mony, which led to the settlement of the Rev. Richard 
 Black as his fellow-labourer in the work of the gospel, 
 on the 3d of April, 1787. There is here a lesson to 
 Christian ministers which they all need to study. When 
 contentions come and evil ensues, they cannot be silent, 
 but are bound, by their divine Master, to show the 
 people their sin ; but neither can they speak, it maybe, 
 without giving offence to one party, or to both ; and, 
 when so situated, it becomes them to suspect their own 
 hearts and govern their own spirits, to drink deep into 
 the spirit of their Master, and to exemplify, in times of 
 trial, that patient self-denial of which he has left them 
 so rich an example. 
 
 The collegiate connection between Dr. Pringle and 
 Mr. Black continued, to the peace and profit of the 
 congregation, and with a measure of mutual affection 
 and esteem, for about thirty-three years, till at last it 
 was dissolved by difference of view about the late happy 
 union between the two great branches of the Secession 
 Church. To this union Dr. Pringle, after carefully 
 considering its terms, became a cordial friend ; for? 
 whatever may have been his previous views, he had 
 lived long enough to see the evils of division, as well 
 as the very insufficient grounds on which even good 
 men are often left to maintain it. He belonged to the 
 committee chosen by his synod to aid in framing a basis 
 of union ; and by his influence with brethren on both 
 sides, by whom lie was held in much esteem, he contri- 
 buted not a little to its consummation. Mr. Black 
 opposed him in this, and, in common with a few others, 
 insisted on stipulations which a great majority deemed 
 uncalled for. When the union was formed he protested 
 
MEMOIR* ] 1 
 
 against it ; not considering his protest sufficient, he 
 Withdrew from the fellowship of the united church, 
 with a few of the people who adopted his views ; and 
 his connection with his colleague and congregation was. 
 ou the 21st of November, 1820, formally dissolved by 
 the Preshytery. That Mr. Black, however much mis- 
 taken, was actuated, in taking this course, by a strong 
 sense of duty, there is no room to doubt ; the sacrifice 
 to which he submitted shows that he was disinterested ; 
 and justice to his memory requires us to say, that if his 
 views were indefensible they were honestly maintained. 
 He, also, is now gathered to his fathers, having sur- 
 vived Dr. Pringle a little less than six months ; and it 
 is pleasing to record, that although diversity of view, 
 aggravated, it may be, by some infirmity of temper, 
 did separate them in the church below, yet they still 
 looked on each other, and loved each other, as children 
 of the same family, and heirs of the same heavenly 
 inheritance. During the last illness of Dr. Pringle, 
 they met and prayed together in sweet and holy 
 fellowship, as a foretaste, no doubt, of that higher fel- 
 lowship where prayer is lost in praise and desire in 
 fruition. As servants in the house of God, they were 
 faithful, each according to his own view of what his 
 Master required of him; and now they rest in peace, 
 " waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of 
 the bodv." 
 
 The vacancy occasioned by Mr. Black's retirement 
 was supplied in rather less than a year, by the call and 
 subsequent ordination of the writer of this Memoir. 
 In the movements which led on to this event, Dr, 
 Pringle took a lively interest; the unanimity of the 
 
12 MEMOIR. 
 
 congregation pleased him exceedingly; and it is known 
 that lie anticipated from the result considerable satis- 
 faction. Between him and his second colleague a 
 friendship was formed, which, if auspicious in its com- 
 mencement, was deepened and confirmed by the lapse 
 of years. Few relations of the kind were ever more 
 agreeable ; and if, in any degree, " it was the staff of 
 his old age," let God he magnified. This second col- 
 legiate relation lasted for nearly eighteen years, and 
 although, as was seemly in the circumstances, Dr. 
 Pringle only took one of the three services each Lord's 
 day, yet he was ever ready to extend his labours, when, 
 by illness or otherwise, his colleague was prevented 
 from officiating. He seemed to have a growing delight 
 in conducting the public services of the church ; and 
 even in accepting proffered assistance, which occasion- 
 ally came in his way, he was more frequently actuated 
 by respect for the fellowship of the gospel than by a 
 desire for personal ease. Of him it may be said, with 
 emphatic truth, not only that love to the gospel, and 
 delight in preaching it, grew with his growth and 
 strengthened with his strength, but that they stood out, 
 fresh and vigorous, to the very end of his declining 
 years. 
 
 When, after the fiftieth year of his* ministry, the 
 congregation invited him to a public entertainment, and 
 made him a handsome present of plate, he was greatly 
 pleased w r ith this mark of attention from a people who 
 had shown him so much kindness; yet he disliked the 
 public notice to which it exposed him, and felt the whole 
 scene to be like a solemn leave-taking, little expecting 
 that twelve years of pretty active ministration were yet 
 
MEMOIR. 13 
 
 to reserve for him. Although, during the most of 
 these years, his bodily strength and even agility re- 
 mained with but little abatement, yet about two years 
 before his death the signs of decay became more and 
 more evident. He felt a degree of fatigue after preach- 
 ing to which he had been formerly a stranger. His 
 memory, also, began to fail him in preaching, although 
 rarely in prayer; and of this he now and then com- 
 plained with a submissive sadness which was not a little 
 affecting. The last public service he performed was on 
 the forenoon of the first Sabbath of March, 1839. His 
 disease had then begun to operate, but he insisted on 
 preaching, and would not allow his colleague, who was 
 then also slightly indisposed, to know of his illness till 
 the Sabbath was over. After preaching, he was more 
 than usually exhausted, looked yellow and bilious, but 
 returned to church in the afternoon. His disease turned 
 out to be jaundice ; but in so mild a form, that his 
 medical friend had hopes of being able to check its 
 progress. As he had been liable to slight bilious at- 
 tacks, from which be often recovered with surprising 
 rapidity, his family also indulged hope of recovery ; 
 but it was otherwise determined — his hour was nearly 
 come — the messenger had arrived who was to carry 
 him away to his Father's house — and, after an illness 
 of ten weeks, he died in the morning of Sabbath, the 
 12th May, 1839, in the 87th year of his age, and 62d 
 of his ministry. 
 
 These ten weeks were in fine keeping with the 
 deep-toned godliness of Dr. Pringle's previous life, 
 and exceedingly confirming to the Christian friends 
 who had access to his bedside. There was scarcely a 
 
 c 
 
14 MEMOIR. 
 
 cloud to darken his horizon, except on a few brief 
 occasions, when weakness, or a slight increase of 
 disease, partially disturbed his recollections, or inter- 
 rupted for a little the tenor of his thoughts. Nor, 
 on the other hand, was there anything of what might 
 be called rapture ; the whole scene was marked by holy 
 tranquillity arising from settled confidence in God, and 
 sustained by constant meditation on the promises of 
 his grace. Most impressively was it evident that the 
 struggle with sin was well nigh over ere the struggle 
 with death began ; his soul was ripe for glory ; and he 
 seemed to have little else to do than to sing with the 
 holy Psalmist, " Bless the Lord, O my soul ; and all 
 that is within me, bless his holv name. Bless the 
 Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits ; who 
 forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy dis- 
 eases ; who redeemetli thy life from destruction; who 
 crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mer- 
 cies ; who satisfieth thy mouth with good ; so that thy 
 youth is renewed like the eagles." There is one ex- 
 ception to this tranquillity, which prevailed but for a 
 little while ; and as the pain which it occasioned marks 
 the tenderness of his conscience, it is worthy of being 
 recorded. On being asked, one morning, how he had 
 passed the night ? he replied, " I was a good deal dis- 
 turbed by what I now see to have been a temptation 
 of Satan, inducing me to magnify the usefulness of my 
 past life, in various things connected with the public 
 interests of religion ; but after a white the Lord let 
 me see the snare, and these words were seasonably 
 suggested to me, ' The God of peace shall bruise Satan 
 under your feet shortly.'" 
 
MEMOIR. 15 
 
 His bodily affliction was throughout remarkably 
 mild ; of sickness or pain he experienced but little ; 
 and even his weakness, although towards the end it 
 was great, was not so oppressive as in many cases it 
 becomes. Of this he often spoke with devout thank- 
 fulness. " The kindness of God to me," he would say, 
 " is wonderful, in loosening the pins of this tabernacle, 
 and taking it down so gently. It is all mercy — mercy 
 — mercy." The Supper was dispensed in the congre- 
 gation on the second Sabbath of April, about a month 
 before his death ; and after loosing all hope of officiat- 
 ing on that occasion, he seemed anxious to be able to 
 sit down among his people, for the last time, at the 
 Lord's table. In this also he was disappointed ; for 
 although he had revived a little ere the day arrived, 
 yet leaving his house, or even his room, was altogether 
 out of the cjuestion. Still, he took a deep interest in 
 that season of holy fellowship, inquired about the mes- 
 sages delivered to the people, and thanked God with 
 much emotion that the services of the sanctuary were 
 still carried on. On Thursday, before this dispensa- 
 tion of the Supper, a number of elders were ordained 
 over the congregation, and in this also he felt much 
 interested, the more so, no doubt, that, much to his 
 gratification, Mr. John Jameson, his own grandson, 
 was one of those set apart to office. It was in the 
 forenoon that this service was performed ; about the 
 time that public worship began, he fell into a kind of 
 slumber, but after a while awoke, and asked the hour; 
 and being lold it was about twelve o'clock, he hastily 
 requested to be set up in bed, directed his daughter to 
 read over to him several portions of scripture which 
 
16 MEMOIR. 
 
 relate to the office and ordination of elders, and then 
 presented an earnest prayer for the blessing of God on 
 the men who were that day set apart to the office. 
 This little incident bespeaks the man ; the hand of his 
 God had laid him low, but the spirit of the office he 
 had so long borne was still vigorous w T ithin him ; and 
 although he could not, as heretofore, preside among his 
 people in scenes of solemn interest, yet neither could 
 he refrain from taking part with them, according to 
 the circumstances in w T hich he was placed. The assem- 
 blies of the saints were the home of his heart, and to 
 their God he could say, with a sincerity and pathos 
 seldom surpassed, " Lord, I have loved the habita- 
 tion of thy house, and the place where thine honour 
 dwelleth." 
 
 Daring his illness, many friends, and these of various 
 denominations, but chiefly of his own session and flock, 
 were admitted to short interviews with him, most of 
 which will be long remembered. In these interviews, 
 he spoke briefly but strikingly to the point. On see- 
 ing the faces of individuals, he recollected, with unusual 
 readiness, their personal and domestic circumstances, 
 and shaped his address accordingly, touching freely on 
 their besetting sins, as well as on their trials or mer- 
 cies ; so that while some retired under the convictions 
 -which his parting faithfulness had produced, others 
 were confirmed in the faith, and soothed by the conso- 
 lations of that gospel which he had so long preached 
 to them from the pulpit, and was now preaching from 
 the bed of death. By these efforts his remaining 
 strength was often much exhausted ; but as he could 
 not be easily induced to desist from them, and as it 
 
MEMOIR. 17 
 
 pained him that any should be disappointed who de- 
 sired a parting" word from him, his medical advisers 
 judged it best that, to a considerable extent, his wish 
 should be gratified. Nay, the privilege of speaking for 
 Christ, and beseeching* others to cleave to him, amidst 
 the solemnities of his last illness, seems to have been 
 specially desired by him. Not long before his depar- 
 ture, he remarked to his daughter, " I have often prayed 
 to God, in my closet, that he would enable me, on my 
 deathbed, to speak a word in season to those who may 
 come to visit me; and I think that, in a great measure, 
 he has granted my request." 
 
 From beginning to end of his illness, his mind was 
 almost constantly occupied with the things of the 
 heavenly world. This earth and its concerns, except 
 in so far as they relate to the church, seemed to have 
 completely sunk from his view. Whether awake or 
 asleep, his meditations turned on "the things which 
 are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of 
 God ;" and to those about him he often spoke of the 
 happiness he experienced in having the hope of the 
 gospel as the anchor of his soul, both sure and stedfast, 
 entering into that within the vail. " O, sirs," he would 
 say, " what a comfort is it, after a long journey, and 
 sometimes a rough road, to have a home, a happy home, 
 at night, ' an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens !' " His previous familiarity with the scriptures 
 was of great use to him on his deathbed. Whole chap- 
 ters of them, and even books, such as the Epistles of 
 Peter, would pass though his mind with great dis- 
 tinctness ; and, by something like a revival of memory, 
 he quoted scripture more accurately than, after care- 
 
 c 2 
 
18 MEMOIR. 
 
 ful preparation, he had been able to do in the pulpit 
 during the few last years of his ministry. The fifth, 
 sixth, seventh, and eighth chapers of the Epistle to the 
 Romans, were passages in which he greatly delighted ; 
 he called them his charter ; they had been much the 
 food of his early piety, and they cheered and sustained 
 him in age and in death. To a friend who, one day, 
 asked him how he felt, he replied with great interest, 
 " All peace ; I have just been going over my charter 
 for an eternal world, and I find all safe in Christ Jesus." 
 Soon after the disease commenced, he became conscious 
 that it was the last messenger, and was so pleased to 
 have it so, that he did not like to hear of recovery. 
 Prayers for it he considered as scarcely becoming; and 
 to one of his daughters, who, one morning on entering 
 his room, said to him, M Father, you look well this 
 morning;" he replied, " I will never look well till I 
 get on my shining garments, which no jaundice can 
 tarnish" The child-like simplicity with which he 
 cleaved to the word of God, and drew his meditations 
 directly from it, even when too weak to read it for 
 himself, was peculiarly edifying. " Read at leisure,' 7 
 he would say, " and let me have time to meditate ;" 
 and on one occasion, when the third chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Philippians was read to him, the words, 
 " that I may win Christ, and be found in him," so com- 
 pletely overpowered him, that, in broken utterance, he 
 said to the reader, " Stop, stop, and let me think !" 
 
 His delight in the word of God increased very re- 
 markably after he was confined to the chamber of 
 affliction. M Formerly," he would say, " I was engaged 
 in studying the scriptures for others ; but now I have 
 
MEMOIR. 10 
 
 nothing to do but feed on them for myself, and I find 
 them unspeakably refreshing." On the afternoon of 
 Saturday before the communion above referred to, he 
 said, after getting some refreshment, " I'll go to sleep 
 now ; for if the body sleeps in Jesus in the grave, it is 
 surely better to sleep in him here, where soul and 
 body are still united." Then his heart seeming to 
 overflow with heavenly delight, he spoke as follows : 
 — u Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, 
 for I am sick of love I O, what a blessed sickness I 
 Come, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young 
 hart on the mountains of separation, and these moun- 
 tains will soon be all demolished before me. Then 
 poor, unworthy I will be taken up, and set down be- 
 fore the throne, one of the greatest miracles of mercy. 
 — His left hand is under my head, and his right hand 
 doth embrace me. — O, sirs, I think this is eminently the 
 case with me. Before I lay down here, I never got such 
 clear views of the Lord's kindness to me, and of his 
 providential dealings with me; and it is all from his 
 own sweet word." Although, as already remarked, he 
 suffered little pain, yet he had occasionally a fit of 
 retching, which, connected with his extreme weakness, 
 was a considerable trial to his patience. After one of 
 these fits, he remarked, " I am sometimes like to say, 
 How long, O Lord, wilt thou not relieve thy pri- 
 soner ? But no : I will bear the indignation of the 
 Lord, because I have sinned against him. Although 
 the fig-tree shall not blossom — yet will I rejoice ia 
 the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 
 He was full of Christ himself, and eager that all 
 who were dear to him might also be filled with him, 
 
20 MEMOIR. 
 
 Observing the extent to which the time of his daugh- 
 ters and granddaughters was taken up in attending on 
 him, and on those who called to inquire for him, he 
 one day said to them, with much emotion, " O, it is a 
 sad thing to go through a house like this for a whole 
 day, bustling about your work, and speaking about 
 common concerns, without getting any attention paid 
 to the welfare of your immortal souls. Let the Lord 
 be always before you. Acknowledge him in all your 
 ways, that he may direct your steps. Pray with and 
 for one another. Read the word of God, and medi- 
 tate upon it." 
 
 The last text from which Dr. Pringle preached was 
 Psalm cxvi. 7, — " Return unto thy rest, O my soul ; 
 for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." This 
 subject, so suitable to his own case, took a deep hold 
 of his mind ; and during the early part of his illness 
 he expressed a desire to preach from it again, that he 
 might warn the people of God against those things 
 which tend to draw them away from their rest. All 
 who knew his domestic habits are aware that lie at- 
 tached great importance to the worship of the family, 
 as at once a homage due to God, a testimony against 
 domestic ungodliness, and a special means of sanctify- 
 ing domestic providences, whether prosperous or ad- 
 verse. This also shewed itself strong to the end. His 
 grandson, already referred to, was in the habit of 
 coming in to conduct the evening worship at the usual 
 family hour. On one of these occasions he found his 
 grandfather asleep ; and as he was now very weak, it 
 was judged expedient not to disturb him, but to wor- 
 ship in a separate room. This accordingly was done. 
 
MEMOIR. 21 
 
 and on discovering it lie felt hurt, and charged the 
 family not to do so again, assuring them that the 
 worship of God, instead of disturbing him, refreshed 
 his spirits ; and exacting from them a promise to 
 awake him, if at any time he should be asleep when 
 the hour arrived. A week or two before his death, a 
 tendency to fainting came occasionally over him. On 
 recovering from one of these, he smilingly said to his 
 granddaughter, Miss Jameson, who, being with him 
 alone, was a good deal alarmed, " O, Jeanie, woman, 
 let not your heart be troubled; the end is not just 
 yet ; I was only sick a little." On his daughters 
 coming in, he said to them, " O, children, I am very 
 weak." " Yes, father," was the reply ; " but your 
 God is very strong ; and what a mercy is it that you 
 are so free from pain." " Aye," he rejoined, u mercy, 
 mercy ! I have begun to sing of it here, when enter- 
 ing on the dark valley, and it will be the burden of 
 my song throughout eternity." 
 
 About three weeks before his death, when it ap- 
 peared to himself and to others that he could not 
 survive for more than a day or two, he one morning 
 expressed a wish to have every thing said or done 
 which remained on his heart, as to this world, that 
 when death came, he might have nothing to do but 
 simply to meet it in the Lord. With this view he 
 said to his daughter, " I wish you all to come around 
 my bed this evening, that, if I am able, I may com- 
 mit you all to the Lord, and leave you on his care." 
 His three daughters and three grandchildren came 
 around him accordingly, and after being set up on his 
 bed he addressed them as follows : — 
 
22 MEMOIR. 
 
 " My dear children, for I consider you all as one 
 family, I am about to leave you ; but the Lord will be 
 your guide, your counsellor, and your everlasting* Fa- 
 ther. See to it that you set him always before you ; 
 trust him, and he will not forsake you. I have often 
 exhorted you to pray with each ether : now you must 
 do it. Believe me, that in going through this world, 
 nothing strengthens the heart like prayer, and medita- 
 tion on the word of God. Pray much in secret ; that 
 will make other duties comparatively easy. Remem- 
 ber to keep up the worship of God in your family 
 morning and evening. I go away in the hope — I may 
 say in the confirmed hope — of meeting you all in that 
 happy world where there is no separation." Then, after 
 committing his daughters and granddaughters to the 
 care of Mr. John Jameson, in whose discretion and kind- 
 ness of heart he placed great confidence, he lifted up 
 his hands to heaven, and said with great solemnity, 
 " I commend you all to that merciful God who has led 
 me, and fed me all my life long in the wilderness,, and 
 who, I trust, is about to receive me home to his eternal 
 rest in glory." 
 
 This effort had well nigh accelerated the crisis, but 
 a little repose recruited him, and he lived on for three 
 weeks, exemplifying the power of divine grace, and his 
 own remarkable ripeness for heavenly glory. 
 
 Not long after this, as Miss Jameson one day was 
 standing by his bedside, feeling very sorrowful and 
 shedding tears, he looked up and asked her why she 
 wept ? u Oh," said she, " what is to become of us poor 
 children when you are taken away? We never were 
 fatherless till now." At this he felt displeased, and 
 
MEMOIR. 29 
 
 looking at her rather sharply, said, " O, Jeanie, have 
 
 you do faith in the promise of God ? Can you not say, 
 1 when my father and my mother forsake me, then the 
 Lord will take me up'? lie who has taken your father 
 home to he with him in glory, and who is now about 
 to take your old grandfather, will take care of you. 
 Put your trust in him, my dear child ; he will be better 
 to you than ten fathers; he will keep you while in the 
 wilderness ; he will perfect that which concerneth you ; 
 he will be with you when you come to the Jordan of 
 death; and he will be your portion for ever and ever." 
 Thus did he check the excesses of sorrow, and invite 
 to confidence in that undying Father whose grace heals 
 the wounds inflicted by his providence, and whose love 
 is a fountain of endless consolation to all who rely on 
 him. 
 
 The length of time that life continued, after he was 
 reduced to great debility, was surprising to his medical 
 friends, as well as to others. On the evening before 
 his death, there was little more evidence of its being at 
 hand than there had been weeks before. About mid- 
 night, however, a change came over him, which, al- 
 though slight at first, was so discernible as to induce 
 his daughter in attendance to awaken the rest of the 
 family, who in a little were all around his bed. About 
 three o'clock in the morning he seemed to be a little 
 relieved, and said to them, u You may all go to bed 
 again, for there is no death in the cup to-night.'' 
 Some left the room, but others lingered; and soon it 
 became evident that he was sinking rapidly. A little 
 after five o'clock in the morning his colleague came in, 
 and on being informed of this, he said, u He is ever 
 
24 MEMOIR. 
 
 welcome." The scene was sweetly solemn, and invested 
 with a moral grandeur which the mortal eye does not 
 behold. Its sorrows were great, but they were illu- 
 mined and relieved by that light which the gospel sheds 
 on the bed of death. Children, and children's children, 
 were weeping around, while, in the tranquillity of his 
 sanctified spirit, the venerable object of their solicitude 
 was welcoming death as the portal of life, and waiting 
 till that grace which had supported him hitherto should 
 burst into glory. After his colleague had engaged in 
 prayer, one of his daughters whispered in his ear, " My 
 dear father, Christ is waiting to receive you." " Yes," 
 was his reply, " he will receive me to glory, and he will 
 be better to you than many fathers." Although he 
 now spoke with difficulty, yet he seemed inclined to 
 speak on in that heavenly strain which was so natural 
 to him, when his colleague said to him, " Doctor, you 
 must not speak so much, you cannot stand it now." 
 To this he replied in his usual quick way, although 
 with slow and burdened utterance, " Well, man, speak 
 ye, and I'll hear." This led to the repeating of some 
 passages of scripture in which he was known to have 
 much delight ; and at the words, " Fear not for I am 
 with thee ; be not dismayed for I am thy God," he 
 interposed, saying, " 1 am thy God! Man, there is a 
 great deal there !" " Yes," it was replied, " there is 
 more there than can be seen here, and even although 
 you were yonder, it will be beyond your conception ; 
 but when you arrive yonder you will see enough." 
 With great energy he rejoined, " Aye, man, plenty, 
 plenty ; but Til not can fathom the half of it." After 
 this he scarcely spoke, and in a few minutes breathed 
 
MEMOIR. 2.) 
 
 his last. lie hud often spoken of the morning of the 
 Sahhiith as a desirable season for a Christian to die, and 
 it was the season appointed for him; for his spirit left 
 its tenement of clay just about the hour when he usually 
 rose from bed to enter on the exercises of the Lord's 
 day. 
 
 Of the high estimation in which Dr. Pringle was 
 held by the inhabitants of Perth, a very pleasing 
 specimen was given on the day of his interment. Up- 
 wards of a thousand persons, decently attired in mourn- 
 ings, attended his funeral. Many of these, as a matter 
 of course, were members of his bereaved congregation, 
 or ministers of the gospel, or other friends of the family 
 who had received invitations ; but not a few, who had 
 received no invitation, attended of their own accord, 
 being eager to show this mark of respect for the re- 
 mains of the man who had so long been an ornament 
 to their city, and in whose character the Christian mi- 
 nister had shone forth so conspicuously. Opposite his 
 house the crowd was great; and the instant his coffin, 
 borne shoulder high, became visible, there was a deep 
 silence, interrupted only by the sob of sorrow, or here 
 and there the wail of an infant in the arms of its mo- 
 ther. Through the whole line of procession, to the 
 place of interment, shops were shut and business sus- 
 pended, while the streets on either side were lined 
 with people, whose tearful eyes and calm deportment 
 betokened the sadness of their hearts. The city felt 
 it had lost a friend, and so in particular did the mem- 
 bers of his own congregation, who, when they saw 
 borne to the house of silence the remains of their de- 
 voted pastor, wept for themselves and for their children, 
 
 D 
 
26 MEMOIR. 
 
 remembering the affectionate fidelity with which he had 
 beseeched and warned them, and sorrowing most of all 
 that they should see his face no more in the land of the 
 living. 
 
 On the day after his interment, being the Lord's 
 day, his people were addressed, in the forenoon, by 
 the Rev. John Jamieson of Scone, between whom and 
 Dr. Pr ingle there had long existed a very intimate 
 friendship, and a strong feeling of mutual esteem. In 
 the afternoon they were addressed by his old friend, 
 the Rev. Dr. Mitchell from Glasgow, and in the even- 
 ing by his colleague. The passages of scripture on 
 which these addresses were founded are, Gen. xlix. 33 ; 
 Deut. xxxiv. 5 ; Acts viii. 2 : — " When Jacob had 
 made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up 
 Lis feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and 
 was gathered unto his people." — " So Moses the ser- 
 vant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, ac- 
 cording to the word of the Lord." — " Devout men 
 carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamenta- 
 tion over him." The interest shown by the public on 
 the previous day was renewed on this occasion. The 
 church, throughout the day, was crowded to excess, 
 but particularly in the afternoon, when hundreds eager 
 for admission had to retire disappointed ; and it is 
 hoped the impression produced will be long remem- 
 bered, as a call to searchings of heart, and a warning 
 to prepare for that eventful day which is so certainly 
 and so soon to overtake us all. 
 
 In personal appearance, Dr. Pringle was peculiarly 
 prepossessing. His stature, although not tall, was 
 above the middle size ; his figure compact and well- 
 
MEMOIR. 27 
 
 proportioned ; and his countenance bold, open, and 
 expressive ; while his quick and penetrating eye was a 
 ready index to the promptitude of character. With a 
 sound and healthy constitution, he combined great 
 muscular power and proneness to activity, particularly 
 in walking 1 , which, aided by his habits of early rising-, 
 and strict regularity in eating* and drinking*, contributed 
 not a little to preserve him from corpulency, and other 
 unhealthy tendencies which are so apt to creep in upon 
 the man of years. Attention to these things he re- 
 garded as, in its place, a religious duty, the neglect 
 of which in others was offensive to him ; and when 
 brethren somewhat his juniors complained of their 
 growing inability to walk, he used to say to them re- 
 provingly, " Had you made more use of your limbs in 
 time past, they would have served you better in time 
 to come." Without being a stickler for matters of 
 mere etiquette, he was remarkable for good breeding — 
 the gentleman in deportment as well as in heart ; and 
 although, on special occasions, his manners partook a 
 little of that olden formality which latter usage has 
 smoothed away, they sat well on his character, and 
 conciliated respect as well as expressed it. 
 
 As " a steward of the mysteries of God," he was 
 well furnished for the service of his Master. To a 
 good understanding and lively imagination, which sel- 
 dom escaped from proper restraint, he added very re- 
 spectable professional acquirements. His acquaintance 
 with the Word of God, which he studied much in its 
 original tongues, was correct and extensive ; with the 
 details of systematic theology he was quite familiar ; 
 and his knowledge of geography and history, common 
 
'28 MEMOIR. 
 
 as well as ecclesiastical, with a considerable extent of 
 miscellaneous reading, opened to him the fields of 
 creation and providence, and contributed not a little 
 to augment and diversify the treasures of his mind. 
 These acquirements he contrived, amidst many avoca- 
 tions, to keep fresh for use by constant study, and 
 brought them out in his ordinary ministrations as oc- 
 casion required. As a preacher, he enjoyed from the 
 first, and retained till near the end, a high degree of 
 popular acceptance. His commanding appearance and 
 clear melodious voice gave him every external advan- 
 tage ; while the sincerity and heart so conspicuous in 
 his addresses had a happy effect in commending them 
 to his hearers. There were times when he fell below 
 himself; his memory, though retentive, was not always 
 ready ; and this, as a matter of course, produced a 
 hesitancy which interrupted the stream of sentiment, 
 and marred the general effect. But when he was free 
 from such embarrassment, as was often the case, there 
 was a fluency and warmth and cogency in his utterance 
 which arrested the audience, and caught them away 
 into deep sympathy with the mind of the speaker. 
 
 Although he did not hesitate to preach from little 
 previous study when circumstances shut him up to it, 
 yet he made conscience of rigid preparation for the pulpit, 
 and thought it his duty to write and mandate his dis- 
 courses even in extreme old age, when a more relaxed 
 preparation would have been much less painful to him- 
 self, and as much, at least, to the advantage of the 
 people. Seldom, it is believed, did he fix on a text 
 without seeking it from God in prayer ; and when, in 
 connection with prayer, he found a text which opened 
 
MEMOIK. 
 
 with ease and interest to his mind, lie proceeded under 
 the pleasing anticipation that God would bless it to the 
 souls of Iiis people. In thus judging from the State of 
 his feelings, however, he was sometimes misled ; for 
 when study went ill with him, he was apt to suppose 
 that he had chosen the wrong subject or the wrong 
 way of managing it, and thus, under an impression that 
 God was forbidding him to proceed, he was occasionally- 
 driven from his subject when near the hour of public 
 service, and thrown into considerable perplexity. Good 
 men in the ministry of the gospel have often fallen into 
 this snare ; they have forgotten that liberty of spirir, 
 although exceedingly desirable, is a very dubious index 
 of duty — that the choice of a subject deliberately made 
 in the exercise of faith and prayer, should, in ordinary 
 eases, be followed out without regard to fitfulness of 
 feeling — and that messages, prepared amidst much diffi- 
 culty and many painful misgivings, are often remark- 
 ably owned of God for the edification of his church. 
 
 Although the good man of whom we speak kept 
 strictly within the limits of his office, yet there was an 
 edifying diversity and fulness in his ministrations. For 
 a long time past, at least, he dealt but little in doctrinal 
 disquisition ; but in dealing with the consciences of 
 sinners, in pouring the consolations of the gospel into 
 the wounded spirit, and in delineating the varieties of 
 Christian experience, he had peculiar address ; and 
 being observant of his own people, as well as of others 
 to whom he occasionally ministered, he recurred to one 
 or another of these topics as circumstances seemed to 
 require ; so that, both at home and abroad, he was felt 
 to speak words in season more frequently, perhaps, 
 than most of his contemporaries. 
 
 d 2 
 
30 MEMOIR. 
 
 In speaking" of Dr. Pi ingle's personal character, the 
 first thing that strikes us is his piety. This was the 
 leading feature of his character, the secret of his 
 happy superiority to the casualties of this world, and 
 the source of that holy tranquillity which marked his 
 end. He was a godly man — a man of prayer. So 
 much was this the case, that it seems impossible for 
 those who knew him ever to think of him without 
 thinking of the throne of grace. Piety, with him, as with 
 all who possess it here below, had its seasons and its 
 varieties, its high times and its low times ; but it was 
 not a thing of fits and starts. No ; he was habitually 
 devout. Confidence in God, and delight in praying 
 to him, was deeply wrought into his nature, and gave 
 itself out in fine accordance with the varied circum- 
 stances in which he was placed. His piety flowed in 
 contrition, it flowed in supplication, it flowed in heart- 
 felt gratitude for the mercy which followed him ; it 
 pervaded his character ; it made intercession for the 
 whole family of man, but especially for the church, and 
 for that portion of the church which God had been 
 pleased to place under his pastoral care. Many a time 
 and oft did he pray for his flock, and for his colleague 
 in the ministry, and all the people of God on the earth, 
 when no ear heard him but that which is uncreated, 
 and no eye saw him but that of the omniscient God. 
 From between six and seven o'clock in the morning, 
 the time when he usually arose, till nine, the hour of 
 breakfast, he was generally employed in prayer and 
 the reading of the Scriptures, as matter *of personal 
 exercise. Every returning first day of the week he 
 regarded as specially a season for prayer ; and the 
 
MEMOIR. 31 
 
 easy, artless fervour with which he conducted public 
 devotion betokened a reverend familiarity with that 
 heavenly country whence the children of God in this 
 world derive all their supplies. It was his prac- 
 tice, three or four times a-year, to set apart a por- 
 tion of time for family prayer and fasting*. On these 
 occasions his spirit was often peculiarly soft and ten- 
 der ; while the spiritual necessities of his family, of 
 his congregation, of the church, and of the world at 
 large, were all made the matter of earnest supplication. 
 The times of dispensing the Lord's Supper were, 
 with him, special seasons of devotional excitement, 
 particularly when it was his turn to preside ; and in 
 presenting the prayer which immediately precedes the 
 distribution of the elements, his spirit was, in most 
 cases, remarkably elevated. His people will not soon 
 forget the earnestness, the fervour, the liberty, the 
 solemnity, with which, on such occasions, he poured 
 out his heart in thanksgiving for the Holy Supper, 
 and in supplication for the blessing of its great Lord 
 on all who were to partake of it. He had great de- 
 light in this ordinance ; he considered it as the grand 
 instrument of confirmation and joy to the people of 
 God in this world ; and he found it indeed to be the 
 " Eucharist,'' for it filled his heart with gratitude and 
 his lips with praise. Of him it may be said, more than 
 of most of the godly, that prayer was the guide of his 
 footsteps, and the solace of his spirit amidst the thorny 
 paths of life. Whatever gave him particular uneasi- 
 ness in his own exercise, or in his family, or in his 
 congregation, or in the church, or in the world, lie not 
 only touched in his ordinary devotions, but usually 
 
02 MEMOIR. 
 
 made the matter of separate prayer. The apostolic 
 injunction, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything 
 by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let 
 your requests be made known unto God," seemed 
 written on his heart. This injunction he acted out, 
 and he was blest in doing so. His spirit, when ruffled 
 by irritation, was speedily tranquillized by it ; he was 
 freed from many anxieties which the less devout have 
 to endure ; and he was raised to a degree of heaven- 
 liness of mind which made prayer the very element in 
 which he delighted to move. So much was this the 
 case, that a respectable minister of the Church of Scot- 
 land is said to have lately remarked, " I have known 
 many men who felt much at home in prayer ; but as 
 for Dr. Pringle, he seems just to lift up his hands and 
 enter heaven." 
 
 He had a peculiar facility at introducing religious 
 subjects into common conversation — not only at fune- 
 rals, where scenes of sadness opened the way to it, 
 but also in promiscuous parties, or when travelling, or 
 in his incidental walks. Often did he succeed in this 
 way in arresting the attention of the gay or the frivo- 
 lous, and in producing a good impression, where bre- 
 thren in the ministry, of considerable standing, could 
 not have ventured on it. On such occasions his per- 
 sonal worth ensured respect for him where he w r as 
 known ; and even where he was not known, his vener- 
 able appearance and obliging deportment were sure to 
 repress every thing like rudeness, and often to con- 
 ciliate esteem. A variety of incidents, illustrative of 
 this view of his character, occurred in the course of 
 his life ; but as many of them, although floating in 
 
MEMOIR. 33 
 
 tlio circle of his friends, are not duly authenticated, 
 
 they cannot with propriety be recorded. One Sabbath 
 morning', about twenty years ago, he had occasion to 
 ride ont from Perth to preach in the neighbourhood. 
 After proceeding a little way, he was overtaken by a 
 gentleman, also on horseback, who seemed equipped 
 for a long- journey. They soon got into conversation; 
 and on Dr. Pringle expressing his surprise that a per- 
 son seemingly on secular business should be travelling 
 on the Lord's day, the gentleman replied, that he 
 was a stranger in Perth, and, as the morning was fine, 
 he thought it better to proceed a stage or two than to 
 remain in the inn, especially as he happened to be 
 travelling for the benefit of his health. The excuse 
 was a better one than can often be furnished on such 
 occasions ; but it led to a conversation on the sanctifi- 
 cation of the Sabbath, which induced the gentleman to 
 say at parting, " Sir, you have convinced me that I 
 am wrong; and I give you my hand, that, except in 
 cases of obvious necessity, I shall not again be found 
 travelling on the Sabbath day." 
 
 This is a mere specimen of what was very much the 
 manner of the man. As a travelling companion he 
 was always agreeable, and often facetious, but he rarely 
 forgot what was due to his character as a minister of 
 Christ, and in all circumstances stirred himself up to 
 impress, if possible, the thoughtless or the profane. The 
 good done by him in this incidental way it is impos- 
 sible for us to estimate ; we must wait till the day 
 declare it ; but his example points us to a field of use- 
 fulness which, by many Christians and Christian minis- 
 ters, is too much neglected, and which, if cultivated with 
 
34 MEMOIR. 
 
 wisdom and faithfulness, might yield far more fruit 
 unto holiness than has yet been reaped from it. 
 
 It will easily be inferred from what has been said, 
 that Dr. Pringle was a man of very considerable de- 
 cision of character. Decision was a part of his physi- 
 cal temperament, and it was sanctified by grace into 
 an instrument of usefulness. He might be misled in 
 forming his purpose, but he could not be easily driven 
 from it after it was formed. There was a holy daring 
 about him, which, whenever he saw a thing to be right, 
 urged him on to the doing of it without staying to 
 count the cost ; and if the seeming excess of this 
 power sometimes hurried him into indiscretion, there 
 was yet an honesty about him, and a zeal for God, 
 which half redeemed the indiscretion, or caused it 
 speedily to be forgotten. Although decided, he was 
 not obstinate, especially in the latter part of his life. 
 If he had the courage to proceed when he thought he 
 was right, he had also the courage — a much more 
 rare and peculiar quality — to retrace his steps when 
 he saw he was wrong. The mere pride of consistency, 
 or the fear of censure from man, seldom led him astray ; 
 and although, in every case of importance, he took time 
 to reflect and to pray before he would depart from his 
 meditated purpose, yet, when treated with that respect 
 which was due to himself, and to the subject which oc- 
 cupied his mind, he was remarkably open to persua- 
 sion, and confessed his mistakes with the manly frank- 
 ness which bespeaks the upright and the noble mind. 
 
 Another peculiarity about Dr. Pringle was the very 
 unusual extent to which he was kept free from the in- 
 firmities of the aged. Bodily infirmity he scarcely 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 knew till very near the end of his pilgrimage; infirmity 
 of temper, which is so apt to grow with years, seemed 
 in his case to diminish with years ; and as to that in- 
 firmity of understanding which creeps so surely on 
 with the decay of those organs on which mind in flesh 
 so much depends, his share of it was much less than 
 usually falls to the lot of the aged — as the volume 
 which he lately gave to the public, nearly the whole 
 of which was planned and composed after lie had en- 
 tered on his eighty-fourth year, very strikingly shows. 
 But what requires to be particularly noticed here is 
 that infirmity of character, if we may so describe it, 
 by which the aged are so apt to drop behind their 
 times, or to become fixtures in society ; and from this 
 Dr. Pringle was remarkably free, although he lived in 
 times of onward movement which distanced many of 
 his contemporaries. It is the manner of aged Chris- 
 tians to dislike change just because it is change, with- 
 out caring to inquire whether it is for the better or for 
 the worse. The very depth and sincerity of their piety 
 is often made the occasion of increasing this dislike ; 
 their habits of thought and practice are not only form- 
 ed, but consecrated, as it were, by devout association ; 
 and they are usually very averse to be disturbed by 
 what is new. In all the evangelical churches of Bri- 
 tain which are not fettered by human legislation, but 
 have the liberty necessary to going on to perfection, 
 this has been a trial to many of the aged for a consi- 
 derable time, and particularly for the last twenty years. 
 A spirit of inquiry has been abroad in the church as 
 well as in civil society ; the one has, in fact, been a 
 stimulus to the other ; and while, in many cases, the 
 
S6 MEMOIR. 
 
 result has been a nearer approach to the great stand- 
 ard of belief and practice, yet many of the aged have 
 taken offence. They stand in doubt of their juniors ; 
 they are alarmed at the want of reverence for ancient 
 landmarks of human erection ; and give themselves up 
 to lamentation over the fancied degeneracy of the times. 
 Of this feeling Dr. Pringle partook very little. He 
 lived in an age of progression, and he progressed along 
 with it ; he saw that the church, in all her departments, 
 has much to learn, and much to unlearn ; and when 
 change was proposed, he was not alarmed, but set 
 himself to examine it with the predetermination to 
 adopt or reject it, according to his view of its intrin- 
 sic merits. Nay, years, in this respect, seem to have 
 produced upon him the very opposite of their usual 
 effect. As they rolled on, he learned to look more 
 freely about him, and devoutly to compare the present 
 with the past ; and thus it was that, instead of con- 
 tracting, they liberalized his mind, and set him freer 
 from the influence of custom and prejudice than he had 
 been in earlier life. Of the narrow views he had for- 
 merly entertained, he became quite sensible, and deep- 
 ly regretted their interference with the exercise of that 
 charity which Christians in a state of imperfection owe 
 to each other. From these narrow views, however, 
 he was happily delivered, and various incidents in his 
 later history give very pleasing proof of this. He was 
 an old man when the union was proposed between the 
 two great branches of the Secession Church. At first 
 he saw considerable difficulty in the way of its being 
 scripturally effected, and a large portion of that diffi- 
 culty no doubt arose from the predilections of his early 
 
MEMOIR. 37 
 
 life ; but he set himself to consider the subject in the 
 spirit of candour and prayer, and the consequence w ; 
 that his difficulties were removed ; lie became a decided 
 friend to the union, and rejoiced in it till the day of 
 his death, as a special token of the divine goodne- 
 and a happy means of strength and prosperity to an 
 important department of the Christian church. It is 
 likely that, at the commencement of his ministry, he 
 was opposed to the corruptions of our state churches, 
 rather than to the principle of a civil establishment of 
 religion. Afterwards, however, he became more de- 
 cided in his opposition to that principle ; the discussion 
 of the question about the magistrate's power in religion, 
 which agitated the Secession Church about forty years 
 ago, carried him forward very considerably ; and when, 
 about seven years before his death, the same question 
 was brought into national discussion under the name 
 of Voluntaryism in religion, as opposed to secular com- 
 pulsion, he hailed that discussion as the harbinger of 
 good, urged his colleague to take part in it, and avow- 
 ed his opposition to all state churches, as unscriptural 
 in themselves, and grievous obstructions to the pro- 
 gress of the gospel. 
 
 When he was first settled in Perth, the Lord's Sup- 
 per was dispensed only once in the year, and as crowds 
 of people were in the habit of attending, there was a 
 long succession of Table services, and no fewer than 
 eight or nine ministers usually employed, with three 
 separate worshipping assemblies on the Sabbath, and 
 two on the Saturday and Monday. About twenty 
 years after his settlement, the Supper began to be dis- 
 pensed twice a-year ; after this had continued for a 
 
 E 
 
38 MEMOIR. 
 
 time, it was dispensed thrice a-year; a few years ago 
 it was extended to four times, with a considerable 
 abridgment of the week-day services, and such an al- 
 teration of external arrangements as rendered the ex- 
 ercise of communicating as nearly simultaneous as the 
 circumstances of the congregation would admit. In 
 all these changes Dr. Pringle entirely concurred ; nay, 
 he was active in promoting them. He came to see 
 that, however interesting or useful the gatherings above 
 referred to may have been in their day, that day was 
 gone by — that they interfered injuriously with the 
 regular services of congregations — that the extent to 
 which Preaching-days were carried interfered with 
 due frequency in the administration of the Lord's 
 Supper — and that the process of filling and emptying 
 tables created a confusion in the house of God alto- 
 gether out of keeping with the solemnity of the ser- 
 vice which was going on. It were wrong to suppose 
 that he had no difficulty in adopting these alterations ; 
 he had, at first, great difficulty ; his attachment to the 
 olden practice was strong ; it was strengthened by 
 hallowed remembrances of the most pleasing and im- 
 pressive kind; but when circumstances required him 
 to consider the subject, he took it up on its own merits, 
 and his past attachment gave way to his sense of pre- 
 sent duty. 
 
 In short, the liberality of his spirit, in all its bearings, 
 grew with the growth of his general character, and re- 
 markably increased in warmth and expansion as his end 
 drew near. In maintaining what he believed to be the 
 truth of God, or due to the prerogative of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, he was unbending, and men of dubious 
 
MEMOIR. 89 
 
 piety or purity could not easily gain his confidence ; 
 but his heart opened to the people of God of every de- 
 nomination; he had no difficulty in giving a good man 
 credit for honesty, or piety, or good intention, although 
 he differed from him ; love to Christ, and to the caus< 
 of Christ, was ever a passport to his heart and his 
 home ; and often did he please himself with the thought, 
 that after all their party contendings, the true followers 
 of Jesus Christ are much nearer to one another than 
 they are aware of. It were superfluous to speak of his 
 zeal for the spread of the gospel, for that is known to 
 all who knew him. Being himself a partaker of re- 
 deeming mercy, he was anxious that all the world 
 should partake of it along with him ; and as he felt 
 himself approaching the confines of eternity this anxiety 
 gathered strength, breaking out frequently into earnest 
 supplication, and in appeals to his people on behalf of 
 the heathen, which they will not soon forget. To Bible 
 and Missionary Societies, and measures for reclaiming 
 the heathen at home, he was ever a devoted friend, keep- 
 ing himself familiar with the history of their operations, 
 and doing every thing in his power to promote their suc- 
 cess. In the Foreign Missions of our own church he was 
 profoundly interested; he regarded them as the com- 
 mencement of an auspicious era in her history; and when 
 they touched himself in a tender part — when the Lord 
 called to them an excellent youth on whom he greatly 
 doated — he made the sacrifice although it cost him a 
 pang, and willingly bade hisgrandson* a last farewell, that 
 he might go far hence to the Gentiles. Most ardently 
 did he long for the conversion of the Jews, as an event 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Jamieson, of Goshen, Jamaica. 
 
40 MEMOIR. 
 
 fraught with unspeakable benefit to the cause of Chris* 
 ttanity ; and not only did he study with great care, the 
 modern history of that people, and the reports of Chris- 
 tian efforts on their behalf, but kept himself till the 
 last, or at least till very near it, at the head of a little 
 private circle, which sent its annual contribution to the 
 society for their conversion. 
 
 Dr. Pringle was as remarkable for his confidence in 
 Providence as for his reliance on the promises of 
 grace. These two, indeed, usually go together ; and 
 in his case their union was beautifully exemplified. 
 The delightful truth, that " all things," in providence 
 as well as in grace, " work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them who are the called according 
 to his purpose/' had a deep hold of his mind. The 
 consequence was, that while he was alive to adverse 
 providences, whether national or local, public or private, 
 and observed them very closely, he seldom, if ever, 
 fell into despondency. No : when the storm of ad- 
 versity beat heavily upon himself, or upon others 
 around him — and during the years of his pilgrimage 
 there came much evil as well as much good — his heart 
 found rest in the God of its salvation, and sang to itself 
 in strains of heavenly hope, as well as of holy resigna- 
 tion, " God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
 help in trouble ; therefore will not we fear, though 
 the earth be removed, and though the mountains be 
 carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters 
 thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains 
 shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, 
 the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the 
 holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.'' 
 
MEMOIR. 41 
 
 The great political movements of Britain and of 
 Europe are a department of Providence in which he 
 took a lively interest; not because lie cared for poli- 
 tics as a mere matter of human speculation, but 1" 
 cause he considered Europe, and particularly Britain, 
 as the scene pointed out by prophecy, on which God 
 will do great things for the establishment of civil and 
 religious liberty ; and in this way for the advance- 
 ment of the spiritual reign of Christ on the earth. He 
 did not believe that piety will prosper to any extent 
 till faith is emancipated from human authority ; nor 
 did he expect that this emancipation can be effected 
 till, in countries called Christian, the principles of civil 
 liberty, and the proper sphere of civil rulers, are better 
 understood. With him it was matter of confident 
 belief, that political despotism, particularly in its en- 
 croachments on religion, is the grand obstruction to 
 those reforms in the church which are necessary to 
 render her a nursery of piety. Thus, the zeal for 
 civil liberty which burned in his bosom through life 
 was kindled from the altar of his piety ; and as, to- 
 wards the end of his life, he was actuated by a strong 
 conviction that great changes for the good of the 
 church are now at hand, his interest in the great ques- 
 tions which are agitating our own country w r as sus- 
 tained to the last. Not long before his death, and 
 when it was supposed that he had bidden adieu to all 
 such matters, he one day said to his colleague, " Sit 
 down, and tell me about public events ; for since I lay 
 here I have fallen out of the world, and do not know 
 what the Lord is doing ;" — and after being informed 
 about a number of things, chiefly in answer to ques- 
 
 e 2 
 
42 MEMOIR. 
 
 tions put by himself, he said, referring to a change of 
 her Majesty's Ministers which, about this time, was 
 attempted, " Well, well, the Lord will do his own 
 work, but he will do it in his own way/' 
 
 But he delighted in contemplating the providence 
 of God on a small as well as a large scale — in relation 
 to individuals and families, as well as in relation to 
 nations or the church. He considered himself and his 
 family as pensioners on Providence ; and when diffi- 
 culties occurred, of which he had his own share, he 
 confidently anticipated that God would provide. It 
 was his manner to carry all such difficulties to the 
 throne of grace, to spread them out before Him who 
 feeds the ravens and makes the lilies to grow ; and 
 often had he the high satisfaction of receiving a tem- 
 poral mercy, sweetened and enriched by the considera- 
 tion that it was sent in answer to prayer. Many in- 
 stances of this kind occurred in the course of his life ; 
 but there was one which struck him very particularly. 
 A good many years ago, a demand was made on him 
 for a considerable sum of money, which, in point of 
 fact, he did not owe, and the payment of which he 
 might have easily resisted. After reflecting, however, 
 on the circumstances of the case, he resolved to admit 
 the demand, but was greatly perplexed by the consi- 
 deration that he had not the means of meeting it. 
 This led him to spread out his complaint, and to seek 
 direction where the solace of his sorrows had so often 
 been found ; and a short time thereafter, as he was 
 retiring from a meeting of the Bible Society, an indi- 
 vidual who knew nothing of the case, and from whom 
 he had previously no expectations, put a small parcel 
 
MEMOIR. 43 
 
 into his band, saying, " There are a few notes to you; 
 give ten of them to the society, and keep the rest for 
 your own use." On going home and examining the 
 parcel, he found that, after deducting the ten pounds 
 for the Bible Society, there remained the exact sum 
 referred to above. It was not in everv case that his 
 difficulties were so remarkably removed ; but so sub- 
 missive was his piety, even in cases of sore bereave- 
 ment, that whatever pleased God, in matters connected 
 with his lot in life, soon came to be pleasing to him ; 
 and in this way he learnt, after the manner of the 
 apostle of the Gentiles, in whatsoever state he was 
 therewith to be content. 
 
 It will easily be supposed that so close a student of 
 Providence would make many references to passing 
 events in his public ministrations : and it is well known 
 that Dr. Pringle was not only much in the habit of this, 
 but managed it with peculiar skill. The maxim, that 
 Providence is the handmaid of grace, was ever present 
 to his mind, and it was his daily aim to reduce it to 
 practice. Sometimes he would interweave a reference 
 to cheering or trying events with his ordinary course 
 of instruction ; at other times he would choose a sub- 
 ject suited to the circumstances in which he, or his 
 people, or the general community, happened to be 
 placed; and on these occasions he seldom failed to 
 produce a deep impression, magnifying to his audience 
 the goodness of God, or unfolding the vanity of earth 
 and its attractions, and setting the importance of eternal 
 things in a very, striking point of view. His allusions, 
 in prayer, to passing providences were very instruc- 
 tive ; and although they might sometimes be rather 
 
44 ME3I0IR* 
 
 minute, or now and then embrace an incident known 
 to himself, but too recent or remote to be generally 
 understood, yet, upon the whole, they were greatly 
 edifying, as a development of his own devotional 
 habits, and a specimen of that pious emotion with 
 which the Christian should ever contemplate the ways 
 of God upon the earth. 
 
 In discharging the duties cf the pastoral office, Dr. 
 Pringle was most exemplary. He had chosen this 
 office in his youth; and neither the maturer judgment 
 of his after yearsj nor the many difficulties he had to 
 encounter, ever induced him to repent of the choice. 
 Next to a personal interest in the gospel, his highest 
 ambition was to proclaim it to others; and when it 
 seemed good to the Holy Ghost to connect him with 
 that flock of which he was so long an under-shep- 
 herd, he was eager to promote their best interests, and 
 studied to show himself "approved unto God, a work- 
 man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing 
 the word of truth." " It is required in stewards that 
 a man be found faithful ;" and at this attainment he, 
 through grace, arrived, although not, as he often confess- 
 ed, in all its perfection, yet to a degree highly creditable 
 to the Christian ministry, and encouraging to those who 
 come after him in the discharge of its arduous duties. 
 The preaching of the gospel he ever regarded as the lead- 
 ing part of a minister's work, and to it he gave his chief 
 attention, making conscience, as already hinted, of pre- 
 paring for it with great care, and taking pains to diversify 
 his messages with doctrine, and reproof, and correction, 
 and instruction in righteousness, as circumstances seem* 
 ed to require. He felt that, in order to seasonable 
 
MEMOIR. 45 
 
 preaching, there must be intimate acquaintance with 
 the people — with the state of their knowledge — with 
 their spiritual attainments or deficiencies, their domes- 
 tic circumstances, and the temptations to which they 
 are exposed ; and this led him to be very assiduous in 
 the more private duties of his office. 
 
 The good old Scottish practice of diets of examina- 
 tion, and of pastoral visitation from house to house, he 
 kept up with great punctuality, not only in the prime 
 of his life but even in extreme old age. It was only 
 about a year before his death that he fell materially 
 behind in these services, and so great was the import- 
 ance he attached to them, that he could not be induced 
 to give them up sooner, although both his family and 
 many of his people entreated him to do so, as they saw 
 he had no longer strength to sustain them. In his at- 
 tentions to the afflicted he was also most exemplary. 
 To the house of mourning, and the bedside of the sick 
 or the dying, his visits w r ere ever w T elcome, and ever 
 willingly paid to the utmost of his power. Many, who 
 could have borne witness to him in this respect, are 
 fallen asleep ; but not a few survive whose hearts can 
 tell, not only of the holy fidelity with which he prob- 
 ed the consciences of the afflicted in cases where he 
 stood in doubt, but also of the kindliness of affection, 
 with which, in cases where he had little doubt, he 
 soothed the spirit of the dying Christian, sympathizing 
 with his infirmities, correcting his mistakes, or fanning 
 the flame of his heavenly delight. Nor did he content 
 himself with spiritual ministrations to those whom God 
 had touched with affliction, but gave liberally of his 
 substance, in cases which were known to require it, or 
 
46 MEMOIR. 
 
 stirred up others to give for the supply of their tem- 
 poral necessities. The poor he considered as commit- 
 ted by Christ to the affectionate care of their brethren ; 
 and so deep was his conviction that every thing exter- 
 nal connected with the church should be provided by 
 her own members, that, when his own hand could no 
 longer be stretched out to give, he directed his family 
 to see to it, that his weekly contributions for the poor 
 and for missions, as well as for other things connected 
 with the congregation, should be punctually continued 
 till the end of his life. 
 
 Next to the preaching of the gospel, that part of his 
 pastoral work in which he most delighted was the reli- 
 gious instruction of the young. At an early period of 
 his ministry, he began to have separate classes for the 
 young, one for males and another for females, which 
 met every week, during the months of winter and 
 spring. In these classes he laboured with much de- 
 light; and, to a very gratifying extent, he reaped the 
 fruit of his labour in the spiritual improvement of his 
 charge — the lambs of the flock — which is ever an ob- 
 ject of tender interest to the right-hearted minister of 
 Christ. His winning way of addressing the young soon 
 gained him their confidence ; and in bringing down re- 
 ligious truth to the level of their capacity he was pe- 
 culiarly skilful. As a matter of course they became 
 strongly attached to him, and expressed their attach- 
 ment in a variety of ways, alike gratifying to his feel- 
 ings and creditable to their own. The pastoral atten- 
 tion to the young, which, early in his ministry he thus 
 exemplified, has now become general in the churches 
 of Britain ; it is one of the most auspicious signs of our 
 
MEMOIR. 47 
 
 times; a change of which lie often spoke with delight, 
 as likely to operate very powerfully on the religious 
 improvement of the church at large. 
 
 Thus did it come to pass, that with the young and 
 with the old — with all, according to their circumstanc 
 — he was constantly endeavouring to make full proof 
 of his ministry ; and it pleased God to place him in cir- 
 cumstances which tended not a little to cheer him on. 
 His people knew his worth, and esteemed him very 
 highly in love, for his work's sake. Whatever might 
 be his trials with individuals — and who, in so wide a 
 field of labour, can expect to be free from trials? — the 
 congregation, as a body, appreciated his character, con- 
 sulted his feelings, and showed a laudable concern for 
 his comfort and success. Their affection for him — 
 which was great — showed itself most when it was most 
 needed. Repeatedly did they come forward, in the 
 most frank and liberal manner, to supply his wants, 
 when unforeseen occurrences had brought him into 
 pecuniary difficulties; and even at the time when his 
 public labours began to be diminished, they made a 
 handsome addition to his stated income, which was con- 
 tinued without abatement as long as he lived. 
 
 Although, as a member of Church Courts, Dr. Pringle 
 seldom entered into prolonged discussion, yet his piety 
 and weight of character gave him great influence with 
 his brethren. In attending meetings of Presbytery and 
 Synod, he made conscience of punctuality ; his opinions 
 on matters of business before them were always listen- 
 ed to with respect ; and often did he succeed in bring- 
 cases of very considerable difficulty to a wise and ami- 
 cable issue. 
 
48 MEMOIR. 
 
 Such is a short account of the man who occupied so 
 long, and so efficiently, a place among the ministers of 
 the Secession Church. Had he no infirmities? He 
 had, and he knew that he had ; he saw and confessed 
 them every day. His temper was naturally quick; 
 and his bold determined spirit, which could not easily 
 brook resistance, occasionally got the better of him, 
 especially in the earlier part of his life. His faults, 
 however, which were few, and generally connected 
 with good intentions, were lost to the eye of charity in 
 the luxuriance of his Christian graces. And how de- 
 lightful is it to reflect, that whatever they were they 
 are his no more ; they dropped from his spirit when it 
 let fall its mantle of clay ; and now he is joined to that 
 mighty throng who stand " before the throne, and be- 
 fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in 
 their hands ; and cry with a loud voice, saying, Salva- 
 tion to our God that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the Lamb." 
 
 Although the numerous duties of his pastoral charge 
 left Dr. Pringle little leisure for authorship, yet this 
 medium of usefulness in the cause of his Lord was 
 not altogether neglected by him. In the year 
 1781, he published a very useful little tract, entitled, 
 " The Duty of Prayer Recommended, with some 
 Thoughts upon Societies for Prayer and Reli- 
 gious Conference," chiefly for the use of his own 
 congregation, and as a means of aiding his oral in- 
 structions on a subject which through life he had much 
 at heart. In 1796, or about the time w r hen, in some 
 of the British Churches, the spirit of Missions began to 
 
MEMOIR. 49 
 
 show itself in some vigour, there came from his pen a 
 much larger production, " On Prayer for the Revi- 
 val of Religion in all the Protestant Churchbi 
 and for the spread of the gospel among ii ea- 
 then Nations." While this work gives an interesting 
 view of the state of evangelical instruction in most of 
 the churches of Europe and America, at the time when 
 it was written, it also exemplifies the heavenly delight 
 with which its author hailed the beginnings of revival, 
 and the importance which he ever attached to the 
 prayers of the godly, as the grand means of preparing 
 the church for her own extension and prosperity. 
 About twenty-seven years ago he published another 
 work much larger than either of the former, and en- 
 titled, " A Practical View of Christ's Divine and 
 Mediatory Character." This volume was intended 
 as an antidote to what he considered as " new and 
 dangerous opinions," vended about the time of its pub- 
 lication ; and, independently of its controversial bear- 
 ings, which produced but a local and transient excite- 
 ment, it gives a view of the mediatory character of 
 Christ, which is well fitted to be permanently useful. 
 
 His largest and last work, however, entitled, " Scrip- 
 tural Gleanings," a volume of between five and six 
 hundred pages, and published only about nine months 
 before his death, is that in which posterity is likely 
 to feel the deepest interest. With the exception of 
 that part of it which treats of the being and attributes 
 of God, this work was planned and composed by him 
 after he had entered on his eighty-fourth year, — an 
 achievement, the literary labour of which has sel- 
 dom been attempted at so advanced an age. On this 
 
 F 
 
50 MEMOIR. 
 
 work the Christian public have already pronounced a 
 favourable verdict. It is an epitome of the doctrines 
 which its author preached as well as through life en- 
 deavoured to practise ; and there is little doubt it will 
 long be read, not only by his own people, who delight 
 to recognize in it much of his wonted manner of ad- 
 dress, but also by many in various communions who 
 never listened to his living voice. It not only traverses 
 the whole field of revealed truth, but, without the stiff- 
 ness or formality of system, divides it into suitable 
 compartments, and is so executed as to keep up a suc- 
 cession of thought so rapid and sketchy, and yet so 
 satisfactory, that while the less informed are encouraged 
 to proceed, the man of intelligence is pleased and edified. 
 Still there is a desire expressed by not a few, that 
 something in shorter compass and still liker the man — 
 some little Christian keepsake, exemplifying the blunt 
 but holy simplicity with which, especially in latter 
 years, the warm strains of piety flowed from his lips — 
 might be provided for them. In compliance with this 
 desire, the following Sermons and Letters have been 
 put to press, not on account of their literary merit — for 
 to this they make no pretensions — but because they 
 call up the living man in all the ease of his heavenly 
 habitudes, and are likely to be read by many of his 
 friends as a softly cogent admonition to be followers of 
 them who, through faith and patience, are inheriting 
 the promises. 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 
 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord- 
 ing to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. — 
 Luke ii. 28, 29, 30. 
 
 It is a fact fully attested in the history of militant 
 saints, that although there is a substantial sameness 
 in the leading traits of their character, yet there has, 
 in all ages, been found a striking variety in their 
 exercises, their experiences, their trials, their attain- 
 ments, while in this world. Many passages of scrip- 
 ture, I apprehend, warrant us to conclude, that when 
 they arrive at their Father's house above, they will be 
 able to remember and record all the way which the 
 Lord led them in the wilderness, to prove them, and 
 try them, and humble them, and do them good. May 
 we not, then, hope to hear Abraham tell over both 
 what he saw and what he felt on the mount, where he 
 received his Isaac safe from the altar? and listen to 
 Jacob while rehearsing the interesting particulars of 
 the gracious interview he had with the angel at Peniel ? 
 and when all the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, 
 
52 SERMONS. 
 
 and martyrs, with the whole assembly and church of 
 the firstborn, shall, with all the confidence and liberty 
 of saints made perfect, unbosom their inmost thoughts 
 and recollections to one another, that all may unite in 
 one harmonious anthem of praise and thanksgiving to 
 God that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for 
 ever and ever ? 
 
 But our text invites us to contemplate the singular 
 attitude and exercise of a saint on earth, and to listen to 
 the rapturous praises and fervent prayers which he sent 
 up to God on a most singular occasion. The name of 
 this saint was Simeon. As scripture is silent concern- 
 ing his genealogy, it would be vain to hazard con- 
 jecture; only, it is probable he was a person of some 
 eminence among the few fearers of God in those times, 
 as he was brought forward to give so clear and explicit 
 testimony to the divine character and honour of the 
 Redeemer when only a babe in his mother's arms, and 
 that, too, in the presence and hearing of all the priests 
 and people then in the temple. His character is drawn 
 in these few emphatic lines — " He was a just man, and 
 devout, and waited for the consolation of Israel." 
 
 A remarkable circumstance is recorded concerning 
 him, ver. 25, 26, — " The Holy Ghost was upon him, 
 and it was revealed unto him, by the Holy Ghost, that 
 he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's 
 Christ." We are not told when Simeon got this inte- 
 resting revelation ; but it assured him of two things — 
 namely, that he should see the Saviour in the flesh 
 before his death; and that this remarkable sight would 
 belong to the concluding scene of his mortal life. Let 
 us now contemplate the good old saint's holy rap- 
 
SERMONS. 5 
 
 Q 
 
 ture when lie received the full accomplishment of the 
 prophetic revelation formerly granted him. " lie took 
 him (the Lord's Christ) in his arms, and blessed God, 
 and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
 peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have seen 
 thy salvation." — I shall call your attention, 
 
 First, To Simeon's attitude and action, in taking up 
 the child Jesus in his arms ; — and, 
 
 Second, To his exercise: Praising God, and praying 
 for his departure from this world. 
 
 I. With reference to his attitude and action, when 
 he first saw Mary bring her holy babe into the temple, 
 he seems to have been suddenly moved by the Holy 
 Ghost to know that this lovely infant was the Lord's 
 Christ, formerly so designed in the revelation given 
 concerning him. In an ecstacy of holy joy and delight, 
 he quickly advanced to meet the happy mother, and 
 gently lifted the tender babe from her bosom, and took 
 him in his arms. 
 
 There are some peculiarities in the circumstances and 
 external conduct of Simeon, on this extraordinary oc- 
 casion, which never did and never will again take place 
 in the case of any other believer. But these are re- 
 corded by the Holy Ghost, both as a testimony of the 
 Lord's favour to this holy man, and as an instructive 
 lesson to the followers and friends of Jesus to the end 
 of time. They that honour God, he will honour. The 
 obvious lessons which we may learn from this interest- 
 ing scene are, 
 
 1. That Simeon clearly knew this child was the pro- 
 
 f 2 
 
54 SERMONS. 
 
 inised Messiah, the Saviour of the church. — He no 
 sooner saw him, than he instantly concluded that this 
 child was the incarnate Son of God, whom all the pa- 
 triarchs and prophets had been long expecting to see, 
 and had not seen him. Two very important lines of 
 Christian character here present themselves to view, 
 common to Simeon and every believer: — First, They 
 all obtain a saving knowledge of Christ. Simeon im- 
 mediately knew that this child was the Saviour sent 
 from God; — and, Secondly, He obtained this knowledge 
 from the Holy Ghost. This is clearly hinted in ver. 27. 
 He came by the Spirit into the temple, just when Jo- 
 seph and Mary entered with the child. There are no 
 doctrines more prominently brought forward in the 
 word of God than these two, viz. that the knowledge 
 of Christ is absolutely necessary to salvation, and that 
 such knowledge can only come from God, by the saving 
 illumination of the Spirit. It is this alone which dis- 
 tinguishes true knowledge from that speculative and 
 notional acquaintance with the doctrines of the gospel 
 which many acquire by mere human education and 
 study. These may illuminate the mind and store the 
 memory, but they never shed any renovating influence 
 on the heart. The knowledge which the Spirit of 
 God pours into the soul is the light of the knowledge 
 of the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Jesus. 
 Now, each true believer is as really the subject of this 
 internal illumination of the Spirit as was good Simeon. 
 2. Simeon believed in the Lord with all his heart. — 
 He held the blessed babe in the arms of this body. 
 This was the literal fulfilment of the promise formerly 
 given him ; but it was only an outward sign of some- 
 
SERMON OJ 
 
 thing- far more important and spiritual. While lie 
 clasped the body of the Saviour in the arms of his flesh, 
 his faith embraced him as his Saviour and his God, and 
 thus led him with delight to exclaim, " I have seen 
 thy salvation. " His eyes saw, his hands could handle, 
 the body of his dear Lord ; but his faith realized and 
 terminated on the person, the divine character, and work 
 of the Saviour. In this there is an exact resemblance 
 between Simeon's exercise and that of all saints. They 
 see not, they handle not, the body of their Lord ; but 
 by faith they see him in the glass of the word ; they 
 embrace him too in the arms of their affection, saying, 
 " My Lord, and my God! My beloved is mine, and 
 I am his." I do not say that the faith of believers 
 always acts with the same degree of strength and evi- 
 dence. The mind may often be darkened with temp- 
 tations and unbelieving perplexities, and then it stag- 
 gers at the promise. But even then it will put forth 
 its trembling finger to touch if it were only the hem 
 of Christ's garment, and the compassionate Saviour 
 will not reject this feeble effort, — Matt. ix. 20. 
 
 Saving faith is always represented in scripture as 
 that active principle in the soul by which we receive 
 and rest on Christ alone for salvation. Hence it is 
 figuratively set forth as coming to Christ — looking to 
 him — leaning on him — trusting in him — eating his 
 flesh and drinking his blood. All these varied forms 
 of expression are intended by our Lord to simplify and 
 explain the nature of this exercise, and bring it down 
 to the level of the weakest capacity in the church. It 
 consists simply in a cordial reception of Christ in his 
 person, righteousness, grace, and fulness, as he is freely 
 
5Q SERMONS. 
 
 offered to us in the gospel, — John i. 12. " To as 
 many as received him, to them gave he power to be- 
 come the sons of God ; even to them that believe on 
 his name." 
 
 3. Simeon's faith wrought by love. — The act of 
 taking the child in his arms strongly expresses the 
 ardour of his love to Christ. We naturally attach the 
 idea of strong affection to the action of the mother, 
 when she presses the babe to her bosom. So was it 
 now with this good man. His love to Christ ran out 
 in such a strong current, that he took the Saviour in 
 his arms and pressed him to his bosom. The Lord 
 himself explains the woman's caresses, who washed his 
 feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of 
 her head, as a strong expression of her ardent love to 
 his person, — Luke vii. 38. He also showed his pecu- 
 liar love to John at the passover supper, by admitting 
 him to lean on his bosom. It is so also with the grace 
 of faith, when it acts with liveliness and vigour. It 
 always terminates on Christ Jesus in the word, and em- 
 braces him with strong spiritualized affections. Hence 
 says the spouse, " I found him whom my soul loveth : 
 I held him, and would not let him go." When Jacob 
 found him at Peniel, he refused to let him go until he 
 obtained the blessing. Faith is said to work by love, 
 first toward Christ Jesus, as immediately presented in 
 the gospel, and then, through him, it ascends to God 
 himself as its ultimate object. " By him," says the 
 apostle, " we believe in God, that raised him up from 
 the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and 
 hope might be in God." 
 
 4. Simeon made a noble confession of his faith in 
 
SERMONS. 57 
 
 Christ. — Tlie murderous intention of Herod against 
 the Saviour was not yet known in Jerusalem. But it 
 must have been generally known that the priests and 
 rulers, and Rabbis of the Jews, were all expecting- a 
 temporal Messiah to appear in great external pomp 
 and power, to set up a worldly kingdom, and free that 
 nation from the Roman yoke. It was, therefore, a 
 very bold and noble act of Simeon's faith, to stand 
 forward in the midst of these proud and haughty rulers 
 and priests, with the infant Saviour in his arms, and 
 proclaim him the true Messiah who had, only six weeks 
 before, been born in a stable at Bethlehem, and laid in 
 a manger. But true and strong faith can leap over 
 all mountains of difficulties, and beat them small as the 
 dust. When we believe with the heart unto righteous- 
 ness, we can then with the mouth make confession unto 
 salvation, in the face of all enemies and dangers. The 
 blind man, whose eyes the Lord had opened, was uot 
 afraid to go to the bar of the Jewish council, and plead 
 the cause of the Saviour in the face of his bitter foes, 
 — John ix. It was a sign that the faith of Joseph and 
 of Nicodemus was very weak when they dared not con- 
 fess their Lord in the Jewish council. But at last 
 their faith triumphed over their fears, when they boldly 
 stepped forward and put honour on the very corpse of 
 their dear Lord at his burial. 
 
 5. Simeon's heart was filled with joy on this occa- 
 sion. — While he held the blessed babe in his arms, his 
 soul was filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory : 
 " He took him up in his arms, and blessed God*' The 
 word signifies both to bless and give thanks. His soul 
 was wrapt up in an ecstacy of holy wonder at this as- 
 
OS SERMONS. 
 
 tonishing manifestation of the love of God, in sending 
 his own beloved Son into onr guilty world, in human 
 nature, to finish the redemption of sinners ; and he was 
 amazed, also, at the goodness and condescension of 
 God, in honouring him to see this great sight, and to 
 give an open testimony to the honour of the Redeemer 
 ere he should close his eyes in death. He was thus 
 filled with all joy and peace in believing, and vented 
 the joy of his heart in a song of praise and thanksgiv- 
 ing. It is so also with the believer when he obtains a 
 spiritual view of the King in his beauty : u Though 
 we see him not with the mortal eye, yet believing we 
 rejoice, w r ith joy unspeakable and full of glory. — We 
 joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 we have now received the atonement/' 
 
 Let me now ask you, Christian reader, Have you 
 got a hold of the Saviour by faith? This is an inquiry 
 of the last importance to your present comfort and 
 your eternal felicity. Thousands in Judea heard of 
 him ; multitudes, in all the cities and villages of that 
 land, both saw him and heard him proclaim the mes- 
 sage of mercy; — nay, some were the subjects of his 
 miraculous cures, who did not believe on him. He 
 once cured ten lepers, and only one of them returned 
 to give God thanks. You must not deceive yourselves, 
 by imagining that because you have sat under a gospel 
 dispensation all your days — have heard the gospel of 
 salvation proclaiming, in your ears, the doctrines of 
 eternal life — nor believe that the mere intellectual 
 knowledge of these doctrines — you must not suppose, 
 I say, that any or all these attainments do amount to 
 what the scriptures denominate a reception of Christ. 
 
SERMONS. 59 
 
 Our Lord, in the parable of the man who sought the 
 goodly pearl, says, that when he found the field where 
 the pearl was, he sold all and bought that field, and so 
 obtained possession of the pearl of great price. So the 
 sinner who has got possession of Christ by faith, has 
 been brought to give up all for his sake ; to give up 
 not only the world and all its allurements, so far as 
 these would rival Christ in his affections, but he must 
 also put down and cast off every passion and principle 
 of corruption in bis soul, which would oppose the reign 
 of grace in his heart and life. His language must be, 
 " Yea doubtless I count all things but loss, for the ex- 
 cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; 
 and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, 
 and be found in him." Have you, then, been brought 
 to make this choice for eternity ? • "Why, then, you 
 have got a saving discovery of the suitableness and ex- 
 cellency of Christ as a Saviour — you have actively 
 accepted of him as your own Saviour, according to the 
 free offer made of him in the gospel — you have done 
 this under the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit, 
 who can only persuade and enable the sinner to believe 
 — and then you will not be ashamed to confess your 
 love to Christ before an evil and gainsaying world. 
 
60 SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 simeon's prayer, with christ ix his arms. 
 
 ' l Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according 
 to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 Every thing which we see and hear, in this remark- 
 able passage, is altogether singular and extremely in- 
 teresting. This was the first time the Saviour of the 
 world had appeared in his own temple. He was the 
 great Lord of that temple ; and an ancient prophecy 
 foretold, that Messiah would fill it with his glory. 
 Though he was carried into it only in swaddling 
 bands, yet he was recognized and greeted by two 
 distinguished witnesses, under an immediate impulse 
 of the spirit of prophecy, viz. Simeon and Anna. 
 Good Simeon was so transported with what he saw 
 and felt, that he ardently prays for a present dismissal 
 from this vale of tears, to his eternal home in his 
 Father's house. It is always very interesting and in- 
 structive to witness what passes in the deathbed- 
 scene of a fellow-mortal — especially of a near and 
 beloved relation — and still more if that relation be a 
 lively saint, dying with his eyes fixed on heaven, his 
 Saviour enfolded in the arms of his faith, and his lips 
 filled with the high praises of his God. And such 
 was Simeon, standing in the temple with Jesus in his 
 arms, praising God, and praying for his dismissal from 
 this sublunary scene. 
 
SERMONS. 61 
 
 We can easily imagine a case which has often oc- 
 curred in common life. A child of a family has left his 
 father's home — has traversed many foreign countries — 
 struggled through many difficulties — weathered many 
 storms — narrowly escaped many dangers — at last re- 
 turns homeward, and arrives on the summit of a moun- 
 tain, from which lie has a distant view of his father's 
 house, where he hopes to spend the remainder of his 
 life, in peace and comfort, in the bosom of his beloved 
 family. The cheering prospect fills his soul with joy 
 and rapture. Such was the transporting view which 
 Moses got on the top of Pisgah; and such was Simeon's, 
 now standing in the temple, when, with the Lord of 
 the temple in his arms, he cried out, " Lord, now let- 
 test thou thy servant depart in peace." And no won- 
 der, when we reflect on his present high attainments. 
 He held God incarnate in the arms of sense ; his faith 
 clearly perceived the divine dignity of the child born 
 and the son given. What more could he enjoy on 
 earth ? what higher could he expect in heaven, except 
 the more full manifestation of the same glory, and a 
 more adequate capacity for perceiving and enjoying it 
 in the upper world ? " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation." There are four ideas 
 here expressed, which demand attention, viz. 
 
 I. The denomination which Simeon gives to death 
 — a departure. 
 
 II. His prayer for death — " Lord, lettest thou thy 
 servant depart." 
 
 III. The kind of death for which he prays — " Let 
 thy servant depart in peace." o 
 
62 SERMONS. 
 
 IV. The argument with which he urges his prayer 
 — " For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'* 
 
 I. Let us consider the denomination which Simeon 
 gives to death. It is a departure. 
 
 At death the soul departs from the body. It is lite- 
 rally so both with the righteous and the wicked : death 
 is the termination of the union now subsisting between 
 their soul and body. But the term here employed in- 
 cludes two ideas, which are only applicable to the 
 death of believers, namely, the liberation of a pri- 
 soner from confinement, by the act of a righteous 
 judge; and the departure of a ship from her moorings, 
 when all things are prepared for the voyage. In none 
 of these senses does any sinner die. Not the former; 
 for God, the righteous judge, does not dismiss him 
 from prison as a liberated captive. No : his guilty 
 spirit is driven away in his wickedness as a condemned 
 criminal, to be shut up for ever in the inner prison of 
 eternal darkness. In the departure of the sinner at 
 death, he is dragged away and delivered over to the 
 tormentors, bound under the chain of the curse of an 
 angry God. His dead body is left behind, and may 
 be deposited in the grave with all the honours of a 
 pompous funeral, yet the curse of God rests upon it, 
 and it will be brought forth at the general resurrec- 
 tion, reunited to its own spirit, to receive that awful 
 sentence from the lips of the righteous Judge, " Depart 
 from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for 
 the devil and his angels." 
 
 How different is the departure of a child of God 
 when his soul is separated from the body ! He dies 
 
SERMONS. 63 
 
 in peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 The Saviour comes and receives his departing spirit ; 
 the Holy Ghost, who has completed his sanctification, 
 fills his heart with the joyful anticipations of a happy 
 immortality ; and his spirit departs in the well-grounded 
 hope of being ever with the Lord : " They shall enter 
 into peace : they shall rest in their body, each one 
 walking in his uprightness/' — Psalm lvii. 2. Their 
 body they must leave behind, and nature may shrink 
 at the prospect of being unclothed with the outer gar- 
 ment of flesh and blood ; but as it is the established 
 law of their heavenly Father, they bow in submission 
 to his good and sovereign will, consigning their dust 
 to their Saviour's keeping, in the assurance of a happy 
 resurrection at his second coming. 
 
 I said that we may consider the term departure, in the 
 text, as a figure borrowed from the conduct of mariners 
 setting sail from a foreign shore. In this sense, the 
 word departure is taken actively. All hands are busy 
 completing the lading; while some lift the anchor, 
 others unfurl the sails ; and when all things are ready 
 the vessel floats away. Human life, in this world, has 
 often been compared to a voyage at sea. The body is 
 a frail bark launched on a sea of trouble, at our very 
 entrance on life. We are constantly exposed to all the 
 varieties of calm and storm — of sudden squalls and 
 cross currents. These occurrences are the common 
 lot of saints and sinners. But the grand difference 
 is this, they are bound for quite opposite shores. The 
 believer has taken out his clearance for Immanuers 
 land; he sails by the chart of the holy word of God; 
 the Lord himself is his pilot ; the gale which carries 
 
64 SERMONS. 
 
 him forward to the desired haven is the influence of the 
 Spirit; and his anchor is faith in the promises of God. 
 He may meet with some cross blasts in Providence, but 
 his vessel cannot sink until he arrive at the shore of 
 glory. There the body cannot as yet enter, because 
 flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 It must be laid in the dust, to be dissolved and ulti- 
 mately refined and purified, that it may be brought 
 forth, on the morning of the resurrection, in all the 
 beauty and glory of its resemblance to Christ's own 
 glorious body. The prospect of this happy reunion 
 may cheer the departing spirit of the child of God, even 
 in the moment of his departure. 
 
 But oh, how different the sinner's voyage through 
 life! and how immensely different his departure at 
 death ! He sets sail without needle or compass on the 
 stormy ocean of human life. A God of grace hath pro- 
 vided all things needful for every Christian voyager ; 
 but the proud sinner will not stoop to take the benefit 
 of the provisions of mercy. He will launch out in the 
 fulness of his own sufficiency. For a season, through 
 the patience and forbearance of God, he may float along 
 the smooth surface of a calm and prosperous external 
 lot — he may flatter himself that he is approaching the 
 haven of eternal rest — but ere ever he is aware, the 
 heavens above him begin to gather blackness, the stormy 
 wind blows, the waves of affliction dash over his little 
 frail bark, and it is broken to pieces on the rocky shore 
 of eternity. He then discovers, to his utter confusion, 
 that he had been all his life steering in a wrong direc- 
 tion. Instead of taking the course leading to the haven 
 of eternal rest, he had pursued the way to everlasting 
 
SKKMONS. 65 
 
 destruction; and now his wretched spirit departs into 
 everlasting darkness, and leaves the wretched body t<> 
 be imprisoned in the grave, to be brought forth, at the 
 second coining of Christ, to receive, in union with its 
 kindred spirit, the last sentence of condemnation from 
 the lips of the great Judge of the quick and the dead : 
 " The wicked shall be cast into hell, and all the nations 
 that forget God. These shall go into everlasting pu- 
 nishment; but the righteous into life eternal." 
 
 At death the believer takes his departure from this 
 present world of sin and sorrow. At our birth we are 
 constituted members of the great family of man. This 
 holds true of both saints and sinners. They compose a 
 mixed society, out of which the church of God is selected, 
 and prepared for glory. But at death the children of 
 God are for ever separated from all sublunary con- 
 nections, relations, and pursuits. For, 
 
 1. They depart for ever from the society of ungodly 
 men. — The church of God, though not of the world, 
 is yet in the world ; and not a few, even of them who 
 are the children of this world, creep into the church 
 under false pretexts, and greatly mar her spiritual 
 beauty as well as disturb her peace. The great 
 Head of the church hath ordained that the tares should 
 grow among the wheat until the harvest. But at 
 death the believer departs to that pure society around 
 the throne, who have all washed their robes and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. Nothing which 
 defileth, or is unclean, can enter there. Abraham, in 
 the parable, told the rich man that a great gulph was 
 fixed between the righteous and the wicked in the fu- 
 
 o 2 
 
66 SERMONS. 
 
 tnre world ; so that there could be no intercourse kept 
 up between them, — Luke xvi. 26-31. 
 
 2. They depart from their dearest relations on earth. 
 — The domestic and social relations which subsist in 
 the present life constitute a sweet bond of union, and 
 prove a strong stimulus to these reciprocal duties and 
 kind offices of mutual friendship which embalm human 
 society, and give a peculiar zest to the intercourse of 
 life. "What a miserable world would this be were all 
 the endearing bonds of our social relations dissolved ! 
 Were there no father nor mother, brother or sister, 
 friend or favourite, the parts of the moral world would be 
 thrown loose from one another, without any strong bond 
 of attachment to love, and serve, and sympathize with 
 any around us. But at death all these endearing rela- 
 tions are for ever terminated. They served the pur- 
 pose which God designed by them while the believer 
 lived on earth. When the disembodied spirit arrives 
 in heaven there will be no occasion for them. In that 
 happy world there will be neither marrying nor giving 
 in marriage, but the saints will be as the angels of God. 
 A spiritual relation between the eternal Father and his 
 spiritual children, between the Lamb in the midst of 
 the throne and all the members of his mystical body, 
 both in heaven and on earth, formed and preserved by 
 their common interest in the Divine Spirit, and their 
 delightful and holy fellowship with the angels of God, 
 will consummate their everlasting felicity, and cement 
 their hearts to God and to each other in the strongest 
 bonds of pure and perfect love. It sometimes occasions 
 a sore struggle, even to the dying believer, to quit his 
 hold of those dear relatives who have entwined them- 
 
SEUMONS. 67 
 
 selves around his heart by many kind offices of tender 
 regard. I>ut as death approaches, and the glories of 
 the heavenly world open to his view, lie is enabled by 
 faith to roll them all upon the Lord, and to depart, sing- 
 ing as he goes, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ; 
 and there is none on earth whom I desire beside thee." 
 3. At death they depart from all the pleasures ami 
 pursuits of this life. — While the children of God remain 
 on earth, they are entrusted with their Lord's talents, 
 and get a commission to occupy them. A certain sphere 
 of usefulness is appointed to each servant, which he 
 ought to fill up, to his Master's honour and the good of 
 others, and he must fill it up if he would wish to re- 
 ceive the joyful sentence at last of " Well done, good 
 and faithful servant.'' The people of God must mingle 
 with others, in the common and lawful occupations of 
 life, connected with the several stations in which they 
 move. The conduct of the sluggard is as inconsistent 
 with Christian character as that of a carnal worldling; 
 the worldling makes the world his god, but the Chris- 
 tian must subordinate the things of earth to his spiritual 
 and eternal concerns. He may go to his farm and his 
 merchandize on proper occasions, but he must go in the 
 spirit of a Christian, who sets the Lord always before 
 him ; and if he practically do so he is safe, although the 
 last messenger may meet him in the house or in the 
 field, and call him away at once from all these objects 
 of pursuit. He must obey the summons, depart, and 
 leave all his worldly schemes, to be perfected or ne- 
 glected by others who may succeed him. Moses led 
 the children of Israel to the plains of Moab, but there 
 he had to leave them, deliver them over to Joshua, and 
 go up to Nebo and die there. But, 
 
68 SERMONS. 
 
 4. At death the believer departs from all the sorrows 
 of life. — Who can count the long catalogue of sorrows 
 which sin has brought upon a guilty world ? Our days 
 are said to be few and full of trouble : the holy dis- 
 ciples of the Redeemer have often a great share of them. 
 11 Many," says the Psalmist, " are the afflictions of the 
 righteous." Christ warns all his followers to expect 
 them : w In the world ye shall have tribulation." He 
 makes special use of them as means, under his direc- 
 tion, for promoting their sanctification ; but at death 
 they are finally delivered out of them all. Death is 
 the last enemy which shall be destroyed. They leave 
 the cross behind them in Jordan, and get the crown of 
 glory set upon their head, and all tears shall be wiped 
 from their eyes. Into that happy world to which they 
 go, neither pain, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor death, 
 can enter; but the Lamb will feed them, and lead them 
 to living fountains of water, and they shall sorrow no 
 more at all. 
 
 5. The believer at death departs from all his spiritual 
 enemies I said before, that he departs from an un- 
 godly world, whose inhabitants often prove sore ene- 
 mies to the people of God ; but his spiritual enemies 
 are his most dangerous foes. He is no sooner brought 
 into the family of God by conversion, than the devil 
 employs every method, by stratagem and force, to 
 draw him aside from the paths of holiness. He studies 
 the characters of the people of God, and knows well their 
 vulnerable points of attack — their besetting sin — their 
 favourite lust — their constitutional sinful bias of temper. 
 He knows well how to adapt his temptations to their 
 natural infirmities or acquired evil habits; and thus 
 even strong believers have been often cast down by 
 
SEUMOXS. GO 
 
 him. But at death the child of God for over departs 
 from this region of temptation, where the prince of 
 darkness hath his seat. The body of sin and death is 
 for ever put off; indwelling corruption is purged from 
 the soul ; and the departing spirit appears before God 
 completely washed, sanctified, and justified — without 
 spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. The spiritual 
 bride of Christ enters the King's palace, all glorious 
 within, and covered with raiment of needle-work, — 
 Psal. xlv. 13, 14. 
 
 6. At death believers depart from the present means 
 of grace. — The exalted Head of the church hath or- 
 dained a system of external means of grace, admirably 
 adapted to the state of his church on earth, for gather- 
 ing in his chosen vessels from the world lying in 
 wickedness, and for building them up in holiness into 
 eternal life, — Eph. iv. 11-13. " He gave apostles, pro- 
 phets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the per- 
 fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Christ : till we all come 
 to the unity of the faith, and to the knowledge of the 
 Son of God, into a perfect man." These means have 
 justly been compared to the scaffolding employed in 
 the erection of a great building, which is taken down 
 when the building is completed. It is completed, with 
 regard to each believer, when he is removed from the 
 church on earth ; he is then made perfect in holiness, 
 and immediately passes into glory. What may be the 
 form of administration in the upper world, we cannot 
 say ; but the scripture clearly teaches us, that the dy- 
 ing saint leaves behind him all the external means of 
 grace which were so precious to him in his passage 
 
70 SERMONS. 
 
 through life. The reading* of the word of God, the 
 preaching of the gospel, the dispensation of the Lord's 
 Supper, secret and social prayer, are the appointed 
 mediums through which God communicates his gracious 
 influence to the souls of his people on earth, and by 
 which they hold communion with their heavenly Fa- 
 ther ; but when they go home to their Father's house, 
 these external means are no more needed : when that 
 which is perfect is come, then that which is in part 
 is done away. There will be no occasion for prayers, 
 for bibles, nor for ministers of the gospel, when 
 they shall stand in the immediate presence of the 
 Lamb in the midst of the throne, and see him as he is. 
 Nay, more, the very exercise of those graces, which 
 are denominated militant, will cease in that happy 
 world. The internal principles of faith, hope, repent- 
 ance, patience, &c. which take the lead, and constitute 
 the very life of the Christian's exercise in this world, 
 will there have no object directly to call them forth to 
 exercise. These graces essentially belong to the consti- 
 tution of the new man in every believer, and will for 
 ever remain in their principle in the glorified saint ; 
 but how they can be exercised when the promises are 
 all fulfilled, the prayers of the believers all answered, 
 and their enemies all subdued, we cannot easily con- 
 ceive. The apostle, indeed, represents the departed 
 souls of believers waiting for the adoption, even the 
 redemption of their bodies from the dust, at the second 
 coming of Christ, — Rom. viii. 23. And the Apostle 
 John represents the souls under the altar, who had 
 been slain for the word of God and the testimony 
 which they held, crying with a loud voice, saying, 
 
SERMONS. 71 
 
 " How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not 
 judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on tin 
 earth, 91 — Kev r . vi. 10. But both these passages refer to 
 events yet future with respect to the bodies of the 
 saints and the external state of the church of Christ 
 on earth. But, in this particular, I am contemplating 
 the heavenly state in all its perfection, as distinguished 
 from the present imperfect state of believers in this 
 world ; and the apostle thus distinguishes them, " Now 
 we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : 
 now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as 
 also I am known. Now abideth faith, hope, charity ; 
 but the greatest of these is charity," — 1 Cor. xiii. 12, 13. 
 7. The believer at death departs from his body for 
 a season. — This seems to have been immediately in 
 Simeon's eye at this time. The death threatened, as 
 the penalty of the Covenant of Works, included tem- 
 poral, spiritual, and eternal death, as the punishment 
 of sin. But the substitution of Christ in the room of 
 sinners secured deliverance to all believers from spi- 
 ritual and eternal death ; and a holy God was pleased 
 to appoint that all his chosen people should pass to fu- 
 ture glory through the dark vale of natural death, and 
 leave their earthly tabernacle to moulder in the dust 
 until the general resurrection. Hence said he to Adam 
 after the fall, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
 return. "' The apostle seems to have this law directly 
 in his eye, Heb. ix. 27, " It is appointed unto men once 
 to die ; but after this the judgment." Pie is speaking 
 of Christ's appearing once, in the end of the world, to 
 put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, in order to 
 deliver his people from spiritual and eternal death ; but 
 
72 SERMONS. 
 
 as fur temporal death, he did not intend to deliver them 
 from it, seeing God had ordained, by a law posterior 
 to the fall, that all men, both saints and sinners, should 
 once die, and leave their dusty part behind them in the 
 grave until the resurrection. But what a vast differ- 
 ence between the death of the godly and the wicked! 
 The sinner leaves his miserable remains in the hand of 
 divine justice, locked up in the prison of the grave, to 
 be brought forth, at the second appearance of Christ, 
 to receive its eternal doom, in union with its miserable 
 soul ; while the precious dust of the believer shall be 
 raised from the grave as a bride adorned with the lovely 
 image of her glorious Husband, to celebrate the ever- 
 lasting espousals in the palace of the King of Glory. 
 The assured hope of this happy consummation may 
 well cheer the departing spirit of the child of God 
 when entering the dark vale of death. The righteous 
 hath hope in his death. He sleeps in Jesus ; and his 
 very flesh may rest in hope of a joyful resurrection. 
 
 How many interesting recollections, child of God, 
 may this subject suggest to you. You are not yet at 
 home. You are still wandering in a waste and howling 
 wilderness — a land of drought and the shadow of death 
 — walking among the graves and sepulchres of the 
 dead, and the last messenger pursuing you every mo- 
 ment, waiting the commission to summon your soul to 
 depart to the eternal world. Consider, then, your lat- 
 ter end, and apply your heart to wisdom. Despatch the 
 work of every day in the season thereof; night cometh, 
 when no man can work. The present day, the passing 
 hour, may be the last. Leave nothing until to-morrow 
 which should be done to-dav, as vou know not what a 
 
SERMONS. 73 
 
 night may bring forth. Above all, be sure to have your 
 eternal concerns settled every night, lest you should 
 be called to depart ere the dawn of another morning. 
 Keep your eye constantly fixed on the death and re- 
 surrection of Jesus, as your only stay and polar star in 
 view of passing- through the valley and shadow of 
 death. By his death he destroyed death, and him that 
 had the power of death, that is, the devil. He went 
 down to the chamber of the grave, to prepare for the 
 reception of all the members of his mystical body ; 
 and he rose again to secure the happy resurrection of 
 all his people in due time. Keeping this in your view 
 by faith, you may welcome the king of terrors, and 
 sing, " O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where 
 is thy victory? For me to die is gain. I have a de- 
 sire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far 
 
 better." 
 
 SERMON III. 
 II. — simeon's prayer for death. 
 
 " Lettest thou thy servant depart." 
 
 It may here be premised, that death, abstractly viewed, 
 cannot and ought not to be an object of prayer 
 to any mortal. We have a natural desire, implanted 
 in us by God himself, to seek, by all lawful means, 
 the preservation of our natural life. Self-preser- 
 vation has been often styled the first law of our 
 
 H 
 
74 SERMONS. 
 
 nature. *VVe have this law in common with all the 
 animal creation. Every living creature has a na- 
 tural abhorrence of death. Nay, the voice of God, 
 in the moral law, accords with the dictate of natural 
 conscience in this; for his command is, " Thou shalt 
 not kill." He hath, indeed, given man liberty to take 
 away the life of inferior animals, as one source of food 
 to the human race; but no man may take away the 
 life of man, except in self-defence, or as a punishment 
 on criminals, justly condemned for capital offences 
 against the laws of the country. If so, then the in- 
 quiry is, In what light should we view the exercise of 
 Simeon, praying for his departure out of this world ? 
 It may be remarked more generally, 
 
 That death belongs properly to the broken cove- 
 nant, and is to the wicked the execution of its dreadful 
 penalty, consigning them over to eternal ruin. For 
 such to wish or pray for death is to pray for the 
 consummation of their everlasting misery. But even 
 with respect to believers, although its qualities and 
 consequences be entirely changed by their union to 
 Christ, yet death in itself, even to them, is the effect of 
 sin ; it is still their enemy, and the last enemy with 
 which they must grapple. It hath no sting to a 
 believer, because Christ, by his meritorious and tri- 
 umphant death, fully satisfied the holy law, and bore 
 the curse for them. It is clear, then, that it cannot 
 strike any child of God as the messenger of vindictive 
 justice. This power is taken away by the death of 
 Christ, their surety. Yet it strikes the body of the 
 believer dead, by bursting asunder the bond of union 
 between soul and body; and this separation gives such 
 
SERMONS. 75 
 
 a shake to the whole person, that even the holiest be- 
 liever recoils from it. It is the violent separation or* 
 the two constituent parts of human nature, endeared 
 to one another by the closest natural union and a 
 most endeared sympathy. Death, therefore, in itself, 
 cannot be an object of desire to a believer, and conse- 
 quently is not to be prayed for. Nothing can be an 
 object of desire to a rational creature except things 
 which are viewed as intrinsically good, but death is 
 the very opposite of good. Again, things which may 
 be directly prayed for are all the fruits of Christ's pur- 
 chase, and belonging to the Covenant of Grace ; but 
 Christ came not to purchase death, but to destroy it. 
 But does not the apostle say, that he desired to de- 
 part, and to be with Christ? — Phil. i. 23. And again, 
 2 Cor. v. 2, " That in this earthly house we groan, 
 earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house 
 which is from heaven " ? He does ; but in a follow- 
 ing verse he guards us against supposing that he had 
 any wish to part with his earthly frame : not, says 
 he, " that we would be unclothed ; but clothed upon, 
 that mortality might be swallowed, up of life." Were 
 it lawful to desire and pray for our death, then it also 
 would be lawful to use means for procuring it to our- 
 selves ; but the command of God not only prohibits 
 murder, but requires us to use all lawful means to 
 preserve our own life and the life of others. 
 
 Is it asked, may we not pray for death, in order to be 
 freed from great and agonizing trouble ? I reply, that 
 the sharpest trials are the visitations of God, even to his 
 own children. He gives these trials their commission, 
 measures their quantity, and marks out their duration. 
 
76 SERMONS. 
 
 We may lawfully employ all proper means for alleviat- 
 ing their pressure as natural evils, and ought to pray 
 for God's blessing on them, and may ask also the miti- 
 gation of their severity, provided we go to our heavenly 
 Father's throne in a humble and submissive spirit ; but 
 to pray for death, merely to be delivered from pain and 
 sorrow, is the expression of a proud, peevish, fretful, 
 and impatient spirit, indicating that we are wearied of 
 the cross. It is constructively saying to God that he 
 is an hard master, afflicting us more and longer than we 
 are able to bear, and that we are wiser than God. We 
 find God reproving Job, Jeremiah, and other saints in 
 scripture, for this very fault. Why should a living 
 man complain, as a man, for the punishment of his sin ? 
 On all occasions we should adopt the language of the 
 church — " I will bear the indignation of the Lord, be- 
 cause I have sinned against him, until he arise and plead 
 my cause;" or of David, "Here am I, let the Lord 
 do what seemeth him good." 
 
 These things being premised, let us now look more 
 particularly at the exercise of good Simeon in this 
 prayer. And, 
 
 1. He pours out this fervent prayer with heaven di- 
 rectly in his eye, and Jesus in his arms. — None can 
 properly form a judgment of the exercise of this good 
 man, unless he has been brought into a situation 
 somewhat analogous to his. But let the child of God 
 be admitted, like the spouse, to sit down under the 
 shadow of the apple-tree, under the banner of the love 
 of Christ — that is, let him be admitted to intimate and 
 sensible communion with God in Christ Jesus — and then 
 he will feel the desires of his soul naturally soaring 
 
SERMONS. / / 
 
 aloft, and earnestly longing to depart to be with Christ, 
 which is far better. It is really impossible for a saint 
 on earth to be admitted to intimate communion with 
 God, and not desire immediate and perfect fellowship 
 with him in his exercise. This was eminently Simeons 
 happy attainment on this occasion, when he breathed 
 out this fervent prayer ; and it will also be the ar- 
 dent desire of each gracious soul when elevated above 
 the enjoyments of this imperfect state. The apostle 
 expresses himself in very similar language, 2 Cor. v. 
 6-8, " Therefore we are always confident, knowing 
 that while we are at home in the body, we are absent 
 from the Lord ; we are confident, I say, and willing 
 rather to be absent from the body, and to be present 
 with the Lord." 
 
 2. This prayer is presented to God in very humble 
 and submissive terms — " Lord, lettest thou thy servant 
 depart." — He has not even a wish to move one step 
 from the place where he stood without the Lords per- 
 mission. Why, says he, " I am thy servant ; and 
 while I love thy service, I feel a strong desire to be 
 at home with thee ; but I leave the whole determi- 
 nation of the matter with thyself. If it be thy sove- 
 reign will that I should depart, I am willing to leave 
 this mortal state, and go instantly home to be for ever 
 in heaven ; but if not, thy will be done." This, Chris- 
 tian, is the proper style in which we should address our 
 heavenly Father, in reference to all temporal events, 
 both comfortable and trying. We have no warrant to 
 ask any temporal blessing in positive language, because 
 we have no absolute promise assuring us that God will 
 certainly bestow it upon us. We have general assur- 
 
 h 2 
 
78 SERMONS. 
 
 ances that God will give what is good. We are directed 
 to pray for daily bread ; but the quantity must be left 
 entirely to God himself. In reference to spiritual bless- 
 ings, however, the case is different. God has been gra- 
 ciously pleased to give believers absolute security that 
 all these shall be certainly conferred upon each indi- 
 vidual believer, either in time or eternity, — Ezek. 
 xxxvi. 37. 
 
 3. This is the prayer of a servant who supposed that 
 his work on earth w r as done — " Lord, now lettest thou 
 thy servant depart." — His words plainly indicate the 
 state of his heart. He had, been forewarned by the 
 Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen 
 the Lord's Christ; and now that he had both seen 
 and got him in his arms, he views the great design of 
 God in lengthening out his life on earth as fully ac- 
 complished, and so he begs to be loosed from his 
 earthly tabernacle : " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart." As if he had said, " Now that thy word 
 is fulfilled in me, and fulfilled to my utmost satisfaction 
 
 now that I have been honoured to see and embrace 
 
 the great Messiah in human nature — I ask no more ; I 
 consider my work on earth as finished. I pray thee to 
 loose me and let me go." We are not told whether Si- 
 meon's request was immediately granted or not; but 
 it is plain that his mind was much in the same state with 
 that of the Apostle Paul when he said, " I have fought a 
 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith ; and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
 of righteousness, which God will give to me, and not to 
 me only, but to all them also who love his appearing," 
 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. However desirous the child of God 
 
SERMONS. 79 
 
 may be to go home to his father's house, yet, if he is in 
 proper exercise, he would not wish to leave this world 
 era all his work for God on earth was finished. It was 
 this very thought which reconciled the holy mind of 
 Paul to tarry a while in the church, at the expense of 
 postponing his own personal enjoyment of heavenly 
 happiness. He knew it would have been far better 
 for himself to depart and be with Christ in heaven ; but 
 then he saw that the infant Christian churches could 
 not well want his presence and ministry. He was thus 
 in a dilemma which to choose; but the Lord solved 
 his difficulty, and showed him that he should abide yet 
 a little season in the church, for the furtherance and 
 joy of their faith. 
 
 4. This is the prayer of one who had got above the 
 fear of death : " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant de- 
 part." — He speaks to God as one standing on the brink 
 of the grave, anxiously waiting to obtain a literal sight 
 of the Saviour in human nature, according to the reve- 
 lation formerly given him. He had probably been cal- 
 culating, many a day before this, upon receiving the 
 accomplishment of the promise, as the sign of his dis- 
 missal from earth to heaven ; and now when the pro- 
 mised blessing arrived, he speaks as one who had set 
 his heart and house in order, and was ready to de- 
 part at his Lord's call. He knew that he must meet 
 with the king of terrors ; but, with heaven in his eye, 
 and the Saviour in his arms, death had no terrors to 
 him. " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart." 
 What a vast difference between Simeon's exercise and 
 that of Hezekiah, when the Lord sent him a message 
 of death by the prophet Isaiah, — Isa.xxxviii. 1.: " Set 
 
80 SERMONS. 
 
 thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.'' 
 The king turned his face to the wall, and prayed, and 
 wept sore. The apostle informs us that some of the 
 Lords people are all their lifetime under bondage 
 through fear of death, — Heb. ii. 14, 15. But death 
 loses all its terrors to the child of God, whose faith di- 
 rectly terminates on the meritorious death of Christ on 
 
 w 
 
 Calvary — on his triumphant victory over all the powers 
 of darkness — and on the power of his intercession in 
 heaven. He died to deliver them from the fear of 
 death, by depriving it of its sting ; and he lives in glory, 
 praying that they may be all brought home to behold 
 his glory. 
 
 This subject, then, presents to our view an example of 
 one both ready and willing to die. Let me ask, hast thou 
 attained this happy degree of sanctification, Christian 
 reader ? Of all the events to which mortals are ex- 
 posed in this world, death is certainly the most inte- 
 resting. It is the connecting link between time and 
 eternity. It is the concluding step of our worldly pil- 
 grimage, and lands us in eternal weal or woe. These 
 eves, which may now survey the beauties of a sur- 
 rounding world, will then be sealed up by the cold 
 hand of death, to be opened no more until the sound 
 of the last trumpet summon the dead to awake and to 
 stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. All our 
 other bodily members will be laid under a long em- 
 bargo, to act no more until the dead be raised from the 
 grave to receive their final sentence. At death we 
 leave behind us all the former associates of our labours, 
 our pleasures, and our sorrows — the friend of our bo- 
 som, dear to us as our own soul. Believers must leave 
 
SERMONS. 81 
 
 behind them even those ordinances of grace which had 
 often been as the house of God and the gate of heaven 
 to their soul ; their pastors, who had, under God, es- 
 poused them to Christ, and often been the instruments 
 
 feeding them with knowledge and understanding ; 
 and they must also depart for a season from those 
 Christian companions with whom they often took sweet 
 counsel, and went to the house of God in company. 
 Nay, death will tear asunder the two constituent parts 
 of our nature ; and the body, which was the dear asso- 
 ciate of the soul in all the actions of life, shall be left 
 behind to moulder in the grave until the second coming 
 of the Lord. And this separation, too, must be effected 
 with a degree of violence from which even the sancti- 
 fied nature of a child of God shrinks. 
 
 Now, if these things be so, I ask, Christian, are you 
 making preparation for this solemn and deeply inte- 
 resting result? The text exhibits to our view the 
 example of one standing on the watch for the coming 
 of the Lord, with his lamp trimmed, and his light 
 burning, longing to depart. But observe, 1st, That 
 he holds Jesus in his arms. Have you believed unto 
 salvation ? Have you received the unspeakable gift of 
 God as all your salvation and all your desire ? Are 
 you watching and warring against corruption within 
 and temptations from without? 2d, Simeon was pray- 
 ing. If you be a believer you are a man of prayer. 
 If you have received the spirit of adoption you will be 
 taught by him to cry Abba, Father. This will be 
 your daily exercise. You will delight in drawing near 
 to your father's throne. 3d, This good man was look- 
 ing out for the coming of his Lord. It is very strange 
 
82 SERMONS. 
 
 and affecting to observe how few, even of the profes- 
 sors of religion, seem to be on the out-look for the 
 coming of the Bridegroom. We are daily witnessing 
 the ravages which death is making among our neigh- 
 bours, our acquaintance, and our near relations. We 
 are called often to accompany some of them to the 
 brink of the grave, and see their lifeless remains de- 
 posited in the dust ; and yet the multitude can witness 
 this solemn scene with as much indifference apparently 
 as if they had got an exemption from death and the 
 grave. Now, are you, like Simeon, looking for the 
 coming of the Lord? Are you hasting through the 
 work of every day, as if it were the last which you 
 had to live ? Go on then, Christian, in your work of 
 faith and labour of love, and in due time you shall 
 reap, if you faint not. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 III. — THE KIND OF DEATH FOR WHICH SIMEON 
 
 PRAYED. 
 
 " Let thy servant depart in peace." 
 
 The scriptural character of the people of God is, that 
 they are men of peace. They live as much as possible 
 in peace with all men; as blameless and harmless, 
 the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a 
 crooked and perverse nation, among whom they shine 
 
SERMONS. 83 
 
 as lights in the world. As they love the truth and 
 the peace while they live, it is natural that they should 
 desire to die in peace. And O, how important is it k> 
 have the mind composed and serene when the soul is 
 entering tiie passage to the eternal world ! It is pre- 
 sumable that Simeon, during his life, had been a man 
 of peace, and now he is desirous to finish his course in 
 the enjoyment of peace. Let me then inquire into the 
 nature of that peace which he so earnestly prays for. 
 
 1. It is to die in peace with God This is to under- 
 stand and use the term peace in its highest and most 
 noble sense. Sinners may possess a degree of quiet 
 in their mind, may have much external tranquillity in 
 their lot, and may even have no bands in their death, 
 and yet be utter strangers to peace with God. This 
 peace is the distinguishing privilege of the children of 
 God. It enters the soul in regeneration, when the 
 God of peace takes possession of the heart by the 
 Spirit, and proclaims to the guilty conscience, " I am 
 pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done." 
 But how is it consistent with the rectoral holiness of 
 the eternal Jehovah to grant peace to rebel sinners ? 
 I answer, the gospel plan of reconciliation clearly 
 settles this difficulty. It exhibits the plan of salvation 
 as originating in the sovereign love of God, and repre- 
 sents him as openly declaring to a guilty world, " I know 
 the thoughts which I think toward you : thoughts of 
 peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end." 
 But how was this great design of mercy to be accom- 
 plished ? Here the great doctrine of mediation is 
 brought forward. God spared not his own Son, but 
 gave him to be the great substitute and surety of a 
 
84 SERMONS. 
 
 chosen company of human transgressors. He was ap- 
 pointed to bear their guilt and their punishment at the 
 hand of justice, and redeem them unto God by his 
 blood. On this great work he came at his incarnation, 
 finished it by his death on the cross, and the God of 
 peace brought him again from the dead at his resur- 
 rection, that he might preach peace to them that were 
 afar off, and to them that were nigh. Now this short 
 outline of God's plan of peace directs the sinner s view, 
 first, to the sovereign love of God as the grand source 
 of our peace, and then to the atoning blood of Christ 
 as the meritorious cause of our peace with God ; and 
 this in perfect harmony with the whole gospel revela- 
 tion. Hence says the apostle, " Christ is our peace." 
 Again, " When the fulness of the time was come, God 
 sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the 
 law, to redeem them that were under the law." Again, 
 " Justified by faith, we have peace with God, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ.' , This peace is brought into the 
 soul by union to Christ through faith, which brings us 
 to remark, 
 
 2. That to die in peace, is to die in the possession of 
 internal peace. — This thought is intimately connected 
 with the doctrine of the preceding particular. When 
 the sinner enters into a state of peace with God in 
 justification, the peace of God enters his soul in a work 
 of begun sanctification. " The peace of God," says the 
 apostle, " which passeth all understanding, shall keep 
 your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." It is a 
 sense of sin pressing the guilty conscience which fills 
 the sinner with terror ; but the application of the 
 blood of Christ to the soul purges the conscience 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 from dead works, and the believer enters into a state 
 of peace. Whence is it, then, may you say, that we 
 often find some of the most eminent saints in scrip- 
 ture complaining of the want of this internal peace? 
 J reply, that we must distinguish between the actual 
 possession of a privilege and the present enjoyment of 
 it. How often do we see a person really possessing 
 natural life, and yet wanting the present enjoyment of 
 it. Bodily distress, mental derangement, or some un- 
 expected disaster in his lot, may deprive him, for the 
 present, of all his peace and quiet. It is so also in the 
 Christian life. Sore personal affliction, a sore stroke 
 of God upon his worldly comforts, a very small de- 
 rangement of his mental powers, or the hiding of God's 
 face for a season, or the assault of temptation, may so 
 becloud the Christian's mind, darken his evidences, and 
 perplex his spirit, as to rob him of all present peace. 
 Such was the sore trial of Job, David, Asaph, and 
 others. But did they lose their peace with God ? No. 
 The Redeemer says to all his saints, " Peace I leave 
 with you ; my peace I give unto you : not as the world 
 giveth, do I give unto you ; let not your hearts be 
 troubled, neither be afraid.'* We must, then, distin- 
 guish between the Christian's possession of peace and his 
 present enjoyment of that peace ; — the former belongs 
 to his state as a believer, but the latter to his exercise 
 and experience as a lively believer. " Wisdom's ways are 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace ;" but 
 if the child of God do not keep closely by wisdom's ways, 
 or by the law of God, in the way of duty, he shall not 
 experience internal peace. If he walk contrary to God, 
 God will also walk contrary unto him ; yet, after all, 
 
 I 
 
$6 SERMONS. 
 
 he declares, " I will not take away my love from 
 htm, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail" Thev only 
 have great peace who keep his law; nothing shall of- 
 fend them. But I remark, 
 
 3. That to die in peace is to die in the exercise of 
 faith. — There is clear evidence that Simeon's faith was 
 now predominant in his exercise. He could say to 
 God, M I have seen thy salvation ;" and therefore he 
 could say, u I am not afraid to meet the king of ter- 
 rors. I desire to depart, if it please thee, O Lord, to 
 let me go." Now, Christian, this is the only way in 
 which any soul can comfortably meet death. It is said 
 of the ancient patriarchs, that "these all died in faith.'' 
 It may be affirmed of every genuine believer, that he 
 also dies in faith ; but then there is a great difference 
 between dying in union to Christ, with the grace 
 of faith existing in the heart, and that grace in lively 
 exercise. In many instances the faith of the children 
 
 ■ 
 
 of God may be so overpowered with bodily trouble, 
 and the powers of the mind so paralyzed, that the dying 
 believer is incapable of the vigorous actings of the gra- 
 cious principles in his heart ; yet he dies in Christ, and 
 falls asleep in Jesus. By dying in the exercise of 
 faith I mean, the believer's meeting the last messenger 
 under the protecting shadow of the shield of faith, or 
 depending on the atoning blood of Christ for defence 
 against the sting of death, and for acceptance at the 
 bar of God. In this manner the dying saint can repose 
 his departing spirit on the bosom of his loving Saviour, 
 bid a cordial farewell to a surrounding world, and wel- 
 come the joys of immortality, now opening to his view. 
 It was thus that Stephen, and Paul, and many of the 
 
SKRMONS. 87 
 
 martyrs for religion, triumphed over the king" of ter- 
 rors in their last moments ; and even without going to 
 such exalted examples of triumphant faith, we may 
 often witness the cool, steady, and established believer, 
 meeting death in the firm confidence of faith, when his 
 exercise does not rise to joy and triumph. He meets 
 the last enemy, wrapt in the righteousness of Christ, 
 and leaning on the staff of the promise, and thus he 
 quietly reclines his head on his deathbed pillow, in the 
 sure hope of a joyful resurrection ; he departs in peace 
 to rest in his bed, in the firm hope that his soul will 
 walk in uprightness among the nation of them that 
 are saved. 
 
 Mark the distinction, Christian, between a state ot 
 peace with God, and the internal experience of peace in 
 the soul. The former consists in the removal of all 
 the legal grounds of quarrel which a holy God had 
 against the sinner before conversion ; but, by his union 
 to Christ as his justifying head, God views him as now 
 clothed with the righteousness of the surety, and fully 
 accepted in the beloved. God is at peace with him in 
 Christ Jesus ; and this peace is his sure, permanent, 
 and unchangeable privilege, because God rests in his 
 love. But internal peace of conscience, arising from 
 experimental assurance of our interest in the love ot 
 God, is a fruit and consequence of faith, which often ac- 
 companies the exercise of that grace, but is also often 
 awanting. How often did the Saviour blame his dis- 
 ciples for the weakness of their faith? He said to 
 Peter, " O tbou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
 doubt ?" There is a species of assurance in the very 
 nature of faith; but it is only assurance of the truth of the 
 
88 SERMONS. 
 
 divine testimony and promise which we believe; where- 
 as assurance concerning our interest in the good of the 
 promise arises from the internal evidence of sense and 
 feeling, confirmed by the testimony of a pure con- 
 science, and accompanied with the external evidence of 
 a holy life. It is easy to see how all this bears on the 
 believer's peace, both in life and death. Does he walk 
 by faith ? does he live a life of faith upon the Son of 
 God ? Then u God will keep him in perfect peace, 
 whose mind is staid upon him ; because he trusteth in 
 him." Troubles may arise — the waters may swell up 
 to the brim, but they shall not overwhelm his soul. 
 Deep may call unto deep, but if faith be in present ex- 
 ercise, he can, like Peter, walk to Jesus on the top of 
 the billows. When death approaches with his sum- 
 mons, he can meet the messenger, saying, " I will not 
 fear, though I go through the valley of the shadow of 
 death : for thou, my God, art with me ; thy rod and 
 staff they comfort me." He may not be filled with the 
 raptures of sensible comfort, but his heart is staid on 
 the Lord his God, and he can quietly breathe out his 
 last prayer on earth in the words of the Psalmist, " Into 
 thine hand I commit my spirit : thou hast redeemed 
 me, O Lord God of truth." I knew a young man, 
 who died in his seventeenth year, who said to a friend 
 asking him how it was with him now, when he was on 
 the brink of the eternal world ? He immediately re- 
 plied, " My sense is as dead as a stone ; but my faith 
 is as firm as a rock." In this manner a believer 
 may die not only safe, but even glorify God in his 
 death ; — in this manner the ancient patriarchs seem 
 to have died, — Heb. xi. 13. There is no record of 
 
SERMONS* 81) 
 
 any thing remarkable said by the most eminent saints 
 mentioned in scripture when they came to die. When 
 the Christian has been honoured to give a living 
 testimony to the truth of religion and the glory of 
 God, little seems to be left for him on his deathbed 
 but to seal his testimony with his dying breath; yet 
 the Lord is plefised, on some occasions, to favour some 
 individuals with remarkable enlargement and comfort 
 on their deathbed ; sometimes, perhaps, to put honour 
 on dying believers themselves — or for the sake of some 
 witnessing the scene — or to leave a strong testimony 
 against some prevailing sin — or for confirming others 
 in the faith and profession of the gospel — or to leave 
 some careless and loose professor without excuse — or, 
 in fine, for reasons of his own which we cannot now un- 
 derstand. God giveth no account to us of many of his 
 matters ; but we may rest in this, that to die in faith 
 is to die in peace with God ; and so an entrance shall 
 be ministered to us into the everlasting kingdom of 
 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Though to some 
 the entrance will be more abundant and glorious than to 
 others, yet they shall all die in faith. 
 
 i2 
 
90 SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 IV. — THE ARGUMENTS BY WHICH SIMEON URGES 
 
 HIS PETITION. 
 
 " Let thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word : for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 In these words there are two arguments employed tc 
 enforce his petition ; but as the petition is one, I shall 
 consider the arguments in conjunction. They clearly 
 intimate, 
 
 1. That he kept the promise of God in view while 
 he thus prayed. — It had been revealed to him by the 
 Holy Ghost, that he should not see death until he had 
 seen the Lord's Christ, — ver. 25, 26. On the fulfil- 
 ment of this prediction was his death suspended ; and 
 now that this had been accomplished, he prays for the 
 fulfilment of the other part of the promise. He con- 
 sidered the promise of Christ's appearing to him in the 
 flesh as the certain prelude to his departure, and the 
 one having taken place he felt himself warranted to 
 pray for the other. May we not, from this, draw the 
 general conclusion, that the word and promise of God 
 are the only rule of acceptable prayer. He hath 
 there told us what he will do for us, what blessings 
 he will confer on us for Christ's sake, and what we 
 may ask of him in prayer. If we ask what he has not 
 promised to give, we go beyond the limits which he 
 hath prescribed, and so cannot hope for an answer of 
 
SEltMOXS. 91 
 
 peace. Our Lord's direction is, " If ye abide in me, 
 and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
 and it shall be done unto you." 
 
 2. He took God at his word. — God had told him 
 that he should not see death before he had seen the 
 Lord's Christ. Well, says he, " Lord, I have seen him 
 — I am now embracing" him in mine arms : O, let me 
 now depart in peace, according to thy word." This 
 particularly marks the actings of Simeon's faith in his 
 prayer. It is the prayer of faith which God will re- 
 gard and answer. Whatsoever things ye desire, says 
 Christ, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, 
 and ve shall have them. But to believe that we shall 
 receive them from God necessarily supposes that we 
 have Gods word before our mind in the prayer, and 
 that our faith is resting upon it as the ground of our 
 confidence before him. This was Jacob's plea in 
 supplicating God's presence and protection when he 
 was about to meet his brother Esau and his armed 
 followers. Jacob drew near to God in prayer, and 
 pleaded the promise which God had given him twenty 
 years before at Bethel : M Thou saidst, I will surely do 
 thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea," 
 — Gen. xxxii. 12. We may repeat the word of God 
 in prayer — we may repeat many precious promises 
 with ease and fluency — the simple repetition of them 
 is not praying, in God's account, unless our faiih recog- 
 nise them as the gracious declarations of God to us in 
 particular, and rest on the truth and faithfulness of tin 
 great Promiser, that he will make them out to us for 
 Christ's sake in his own time. 
 
 3. Simeon expected and waited for his death in the 
 
92 SERMONS. 
 
 way of the promise : " Lord, lettest thou thy servant 
 depart, according to thy word." — He viewed his death as 
 wrapped up in the bosom of the promise that he should 
 obtain a sight of the Lord's Christ before death should 
 be permitted to summon him to depart. Having now 
 received the greater blessing, he humbly cries for the 
 lesser. Death is indeed a common event to all men ; 
 but it comes in a very different channel to saints and 
 sinners. To the sinner it comes as the executioner of 
 the curse of a broken law, to summon the guilty crimi- 
 nal to the bar of the righteous Judge to answer for all 
 his crimes. Death is therefore to him an object of 
 terror. But to the believer it comes as a summons 
 signed with a father's hand, calling home a beloved 
 child. Death is, in itself, an enemy still ; but being 
 deprived of its sting, it cannot materially injure the 
 child of God ; nay, it is made subservient to his 
 eternal advantage. A physician frequently mixes 
 up rank poison with such ingredients as convert it 
 into a powerful medicine to the diseased patient- 
 Such is death to the child of God. Our Lord Jesus 
 Christ having drank the bitter cup of death to the 
 bottom, filled full with the wrath of God due to us for 
 sin, he has destroyed death, and robbed it of its power 
 to hurt his people. Its precursors may indeed cause 
 great pain to the clay tabernacle. If faith be weak 
 and hope tremulous, even the spirit of the dying saint 
 may quail at the prospect before him ; but he shall die 
 in safety and land in glory, singing, O death, where is 
 thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? If we 
 are Christ's, all things are ours, death as well as life. 
 To die is gain. Nothing, not even death itself, can 
 
sermons. 9:) 
 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. 
 
 4. This good man had got all which he wanted and 
 wished for on earth. — " Let me now depart, O Lord, 
 for mineeyes have seen thysalvation." As if he had said. 
 M I have seen all that the holy patriarchs, and prophets, 
 and saints of God, have been looking and praying for 
 these four thousand years ; I have seen the greatest 
 blessing ever conferred on our guilty world — the most 
 signal display of thy glory among the children of men. 
 What more have I now to look for or expect ? O, let 
 me depart in peace." He had not seen the actual re- 
 demption of the church finished on the cross ; but having 
 seen the incarnate Saviour entering on his great work, 
 his faith could easily conclude that the whole design of 
 God by him would be most certainly accomplished, 
 though he could not anticipate the manner in which 
 the glorious achievement should be executed. He saw, 
 with wonder and delight, the commencement of the 
 great undertaking in the appearance of the Messiah in 
 our nature, and could entertain no doubt as to the full 
 execution of what remained of the glorious plan. In 
 full reliance, therefore, on the power and faithfulness 
 of God, he requested permission to depart to his 
 heavenly rest : " Lord, let-test thou thy servant depart/' 
 
 5. His present view of Christ made him willing to 
 die : " Lord, lettest thou thy servant now depart ; for 
 I have seen thy salvation." — What would this good 
 man have thought had he been called to depart before 
 he had got this confirming sight of the Lord's Christ ? 
 Must he not have departed amidst great perplexities 
 as to his own exercise and experience, and question- 
 
94 SERMON'S. 
 
 ing the truth of God's gracious promise? But now 
 that he had received a confirming testimony of the 
 truths of the promise, and the veracity of the Promiser, 
 he longs to depart to that happy world where he should 
 eternally celebrate the loving kindness of the Lord, 
 and his faithfulness to all generations. If we appeal to 
 fact and observation, it will be found universally to 
 hold true, in the experience of the saints, that the nearer 
 they live to Christ in their daily exercise, and the clearer 
 their views are of him when they come to die, so much 
 the more willing are they to depart, and to be with him 
 for ever in heaven. It is only when faith is weak, when 
 love is cold, when hope is feeble, when their evidences 
 for eternity are dark, and when they are too much en- 
 grossed in the cares or pleasures of this world, that the 
 people of God are reluctant to depart from time into 
 eternity. Many of them may be heard saying, If we 
 were sure of landing in heaven, and of being ever with 
 the Lord, then we could welcome death. But, believer, 
 why are you not sure of this ? why are you in the dark 
 as to this great concern ? Have you not yourself to 
 blame ? Has not God set life and immortality before 
 you in the gospel ? are you not daily invited to believe 
 unto salvation — to receive Christ by faith, and so walk 
 in him — and then, by a patient continuing in welldoing, 
 to hope for glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life? 
 But then you must give diligence to make your calling 
 and election sure, bv a life of faith on the Son of God, 
 and by evidencing the genuineness of your faith in a 
 holy and heavenly conversation. You have often heard 
 of believers being troubled with doubts and fears as to 
 their eternal state; but these maybe all traced up to their 
 
SERMONS. 95 
 
 own practical declining* from God and holiness. They 
 liave great peace who love the holy law of God : no- 
 thing shall be a stumbling-block to them. The path 
 of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day. 
 
 6. He hoped for a clearer manifestation of the glory 
 of Christ, and the mysteries of salvation in the heavenlv 
 world. — He said, " Lord, let thou thy servant depart in 
 peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation ;" intimating 
 that he expected to receive no clearer discovery of the 
 mysteries of salvation in this world than he had already 
 got. He had seen the Lord in the flesh ; but on leaving 
 this world — on leaving behind him the Saviour's bodily 
 presence, in order to finish the great errand on which 
 he came — he anticipated, with joy and transport, the 
 far more clear and full development of the wonderful 
 plan of redemption in the heavenly world. Here we 
 only see through a glass, darkly ; but there face to face. 
 Many a time the saints have felt a reluctance to depart 
 when the messenger of death put the summons into 
 their hand. Even Moses once and again begged per- 
 mission to go over Jordan to see the good land of 
 promise, and that goodly mountain, and Lebanon, after 
 God had repeatedly told him that he should not be per- 
 mitted. Hezekiah wept sore when he received the 
 message of death, and earnestly prayed for a respite ; 
 but Simeon, now standing with the Saviour in his arms, 
 longs to be gone, that he may contemplate in the light 
 of glory the mysteries of that salvation which now be- 
 gan to open to his mind, while he looks upon the holy 
 child now in his arms. — This subject may teach us, 
 
 1. That nothing can fill the soul of a sinner with 
 
96 SERMONS. 
 
 spiritual joy but a saving sight of Christ, and salvation 
 through him. We hear nothing of Simeon's former 
 character and exercise, except that the Holy Ghost had 
 revealed to him that he should see the Lord's Christ 
 ere he died. He was doubtless a good man, and wait- 
 ing for redemption in Israel ; but now that the promise 
 is accomplished, and that he had got the infant Saviour 
 in his arms, he is filled with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory. It was the most joyful day that ever Zaccheus 
 saw in this world, when Christ called him down from 
 the sycamore tree, went with him to his house, and 
 said, " This day is salvation come to this house." It is 
 said Zaccheus received him joyfully, — Luke xix. 5-9. 
 And no wonder. The Saviour entered his house, and 
 the joys of salvation entered his heart ; and how could 
 he fail to be joyful ? 
 
 Reader, have you got a spiritual discovery of Christ 
 and his salvation. ? A sight of him in the flesh is not 
 now to be expected, — the heavens must retain him 
 until the restitution of all things, — and though this were 
 possible, it could not, of itself, save your soul. Thou- 
 sands saw him in the days of his ministry on earth, 
 who died in their sin. Paul had a visible sight of Christ 
 in his glory, on his way to Damascus ; but it only con- 
 founded and struck him to the ground. He imputes 
 his saving discovery of him to an internal and spiritual 
 manifestation to his soul, which he afterwards received. 
 Hence says he, " It pleased God, who separated me 
 from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 
 to reveal his Son in me," — Gal. i. 15, 16. It is only by 
 the internal manifestation of the spiritual glory of 
 Christ to the heart, by the Holy Spirit, that the dar- 
 
SERMONS. 97 
 
 kened understanding of the sinner can be illuminated 
 to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus, — 2 Cor. 
 iv. 6. God, who commanded the light to shine out of 
 darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light 
 of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
 Jesus Christ. Now, have you received this divine 
 internal manifestation ? Then it follows, 
 
 2. That those who see Jesus by faith find complete 
 
 salvation in him Simeon could say, "Mine eyes have 
 
 seen thy salvation." Such as were in the temple could 
 see the babe in his arms ; but Simeon saw the great 
 mystery of redemption now brought to light in the 
 appearing of the Saviour in our nature. He saw the 
 Sun of Righteousness now risen with healing in his 
 wings, and that he was come on the errand of saving a 
 guilty world. Now, this is a discovery only got by 
 faith. This grace sees things which are invisible to 
 the natural man. It looks at the Saviour as embody- 
 ing in himself all the blessings of salvation : to procure 
 them by his meritorious death as a Priest — to reveal 
 them by his word as a Prophet — and to apply them by 
 his spirit to the heart as a King. Have you, Christian 
 reader, got this saving sight of Christ ? If so, then 
 you have seen that all the promises of God are in him 
 yea and amen ; and that it is his special work to dis- 
 pense all the blessings of the covenant to his chosen 
 people. You may adopt the last words of the holy 
 Psalmist, " He hath made to me the everlasting cove- 
 nant ; it is all my salvation and all my desire." 
 
 3. That saving faith approaches the throne of God 
 with humble confidence through Christ Jesus. — Good 
 Simeon no sooner got Christ in his arms than he 
 
 K 
 
98 SBRMOKS. 
 
 looked up to the throne of Jehovah, saying, " Lord, 
 lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes 
 have seen thy salvation/' Christ affirms, " that no 
 man can come to the Father but by him." He hath 
 removed all legal bars out of the way of the sinner's 
 access to God by his great sacrifice. A new and living 
 way is now consecrated into the holiest by the blood 
 of Christ, and every believer may draw near with a 
 true heart and in the full assurance of faith. You, 
 believer, are accepted in the beloved, and you may sail 
 him your Father and your God in Christ Jesus. You 
 may ask what you will at his throne, provided you 
 only ask in faith. By Christ, says the apostle, we all 
 have access by one Spirit to the Father. O, let us 
 daily improve this noble way of access. 
 
 4. Hence see how a child of God may die in peace 
 and comfort : By a firm reliance on Christ, and look- 
 ing forward to the land of promise. — In this holy 
 attitude Simeon, with the Saviour in his arms, looks 
 up to his heavenly Father and cries, Lord, let me now 
 depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. 
 As if he had said, " Thou hast sent thine only-begotten 
 Son into the world to repair the breach which sin 
 made between thee and guilty man — to destroy the 
 works of the devil — and, by dying, to open a safe pas- 
 sage home to thy eternal kingdom. Thou hast, ac- 
 cording to thy promise, favoured me with a sight of 
 him ; and now I long to depart in peace." When 
 Israel passed through the Red Sea, the pillar and cloud 
 went before them into the midst of the passage which 
 the Lord opened for them ; but when their enemies 
 pursued them into the passage, it is said the pillar of 
 
SERMON'S. 09 
 
 cloud and fire came and took its station between Israel 
 and the Egyptian array ; but the dark cloudy side of 
 the pillar was turned toward the Egyptians, while its 
 bright side was toward Israel. So, believer, may you 
 expect that when you pass through the dark valley of 
 death, the Lord will enlighten your darkness, and land 
 you safe on the shore of eternal peace and joy. We may 
 suppose that when the people of Israel saw Jordon over- 
 flowing all its banks, they had many anxious thoughts how 
 they could get over to the land of promise. But when 
 the day came that they must pass over, they had only 
 to march forward, keeping their eye fixed on the ark 
 stationed in the middle of the passage, and then to 
 behold the fruitful plain on the opposite shore. And 
 thus they all passed over dry-shod. It shall also be 
 so with you, Christian, if you look to Jesus by faith in 
 the hour of death, and keep your eye fixed on the 
 heavenly inheritance reserved for you beyond the 
 grave. 
 
 This is all very well, may some one say ; but the great 
 question is, How may I attain and maintain prepara- 
 tion for my departure out of this world ? I reply, 
 
 First, You must be at peace with God. — The gospel 
 proclaims peace to sinners in Christ Jesus ; it proclaims 
 peace on earth and glory in the highest. God's own 
 proclamation from the excellent glory is, " This is my 
 beloved Son, in whom I well pleased." He hath als<> 
 committed the word of reconciliation to men, to pro- 
 claim to all this important fact, " That God was in 
 Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing 
 unto them their trespasses." Now, the great question 
 which each gospel hearer should consider, and seriously 
 
100 SERMONS. 
 
 consider, is, " Am I reconciled to God ?" The testi- 
 mony of scripture is, that each descendant of fallen 
 Adam is in a state of enmity against God, — Rom. viii. 
 7. Some sinners show their enmity more openly than 
 others ; but all the unconverted are enemies in their 
 mind against him. To such God himself declared 
 there is no peace : " There is no peace, saith my God, 
 to the wicked." Now study to have this great point 
 ascertained, whether the peace of God as yet rules in 
 your heart. If so, then, 
 
 Secondly, You have accepted of Christ as your peace- 
 maker. — He was sent of God to make peace by the 
 blood of his cross ; he actually accomplished the great 
 undertaking ; and to show that his Father was well 
 pleased with him and his great sacrifice, he, as the God 
 of peace, brought him again from the dead, through the 
 blood of the everlasting covenant. Now there is no way 
 by which a guilty creature can enter into peace with 
 God but by union to Christ, his beloved son. " Justified 
 by faith," says the apostle, " we have peace with God, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ.'* He is our peace : 
 his own declaration is, " Peace I leave with you ; my 
 peace I give unto you." All the redeemed in heaven, 
 and all saints on earth, have received this precious 
 gift from Christ ; and the great God is at peace with 
 them for Christ's sake, and says, I am pacified towards 
 you for all that ye have done. But the question is, 
 are you at peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ? have you, by faith, accepted the offers of peac^ 
 and pardon proclaimed in the gospel, and cordially 
 said, I am the Lord's? It is here where a multitude of 
 professors fatally mistake. The voice of the word, of 
 
SBRMOXfc 101 
 
 conscience, and of providence, proclaims the necessity 01 
 being at peace with God ; but many will nut take God's 
 ippointed method of attaining it. They attempt to 
 make peace with God in their own way, by forsaking 
 the open practice of some favourite lusts — by profess- 
 ing sorrow for them — by commencing external refor- 
 mation — beginning to pray — to read the scriptures — to 
 attend public ordinances — and thus they persuade them- 
 selves that God is at peace with them, while sin retains 
 its secret dominion in their hearts. But genuine peace 
 with God commences by demolishing the strongholds 
 of sin in the heart, casting down imaginations, and 
 every high thing which exalteth itself against the know- 
 ledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought 
 to the obedience of Christ, — 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. The spirit 
 of grace brings the peace of God into the conscience, 
 purging it from dead works, purifying it with the peace- 
 speaking blood of Jesus, and thus shedding abroad 
 the love of God on the heart of the redeemed. The 
 captive sinner is thus laid low in his own sight at the 
 foot of the cross, crying, Guilty, guilty ! God be mer- 
 ciful to me a sinner ! I have sinned against heaven, 
 and in thy sight, O my Father ; but thou hast graci- 
 ously pardoned ! Not to me, not to me, but to thy name 
 be all the praise ! Then, 
 
 Thirdly, You must prosecute a life of practical holi- 
 ness. — It is an established law in the house of God, 
 that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 
 Eliphaz gave a sound counsel to Job, chap. xxii. 21, 
 tl Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace ; 
 and thereby good shall come into thee." As a man's 
 spiritual peace begins at his first gracious acquaintance 
 
 K 2 
 
102 SERMONS. 
 
 with God, so it can only be enjoyed in life and at death 
 by a holy walking with God. He meeteth him that 
 rejoiceth and worketh righteousness. God will never 
 finally cast away those whom he hath chosen ; but if 
 they practically depart from him they shall know, in 
 experience, that it is an evil and bitter thing to have 
 forsaken the Lord their God, and gone astray from 
 the paths of peace and holiness. But blessed is the 
 man that delights in the law of the Lord ; he shall be 
 like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth 
 forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not 
 wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper. 
 
 Fourth, You must be given to prayer. — Faith is the 
 first vital act which the renewed soul puts forth, and it 
 first flows out at our Father's footstool. The first 
 breathing of the restored prodigal was, " Father, I have 
 sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no 
 more worthy to be called thy son." God assured 
 Ananias that Saul of Tarsus was now a new creature ; 
 " for behold he prayeth." The last thing said concerning 
 Simeon is, that he sent up this fervent prayer to God 
 when standing on the brink of the grave. Prayer is 
 one special mean of maintaining daily fellowship with 
 God, and obtaining all those spiritual supplies which 
 your soul absolutely needs ; nay, our Lord directs us 
 daily to pray even for our daily bread. Every good 
 gift, and every perfect gift, co/neth down from our 
 Father in heaven ; and surely when the soul is about 
 taking its departure for the eternal world, it is highly 
 proper then to close the interesting scene by commit- 
 ting our all for time and eternity into the hand of 
 Him who keeps Israel. In this manner Jacob, David, 
 
SERMONS. 103 
 
 Stephen, and our blessed Lord himself, met the last 
 messenger and triumphed over him. 
 
 Poor sinner, your present condition is most lamentable ! 
 The God of heaven has formed your body, has given you 
 a rational and immortal soul, and has preserved you in 
 life while thousands around you have been summoned 
 into eternity. You live in a land where the light of 
 the glorious gospel is shining around you, and inviting 
 you to come to the Saviour ; but you are living with- 
 out God, neglecting the great salvation, forgetting the 
 great concerns of your immortal soul, and practically 
 saying, " I shall have peace, though I walk in the ima- 
 ginations of my own heart, adding drunkenness to 
 thirst." But shall it be so ? No, no: God hath said 
 and sworn that there shall be no peace to the wicked. 
 Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go un- 
 punished. O bethink yourself ere it be too late ; a 
 God of mercy is yet waiting that he may be gracious 
 unto you ; he is rich in mercy and ready to forgive. 
 His own declaration is, " Let the wicked forsake his 
 way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let 
 him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him, and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon." 
 Though your conscience tell you that you are among 
 the chief of sinners, be not discouraged. Jesus declares 
 that he is mighty to save — able to save to the utter- 
 most all that come to God through him ; but you must 
 come, and come with the finger on the sore, crying, 
 " For thy name's sake pardon mine iniquity, for it is 
 great !" and a God of mercy meets you saying, " Though 
 your sins be as scarlet, I will make them as snow; 
 though they be red like crimson, I will make them as 
 
104 SRRMONS. 
 
 wool/' When the best robe was put upon the prodigal, 
 his kind father saw no spot on him, but set him down to 
 feast with his family on the fatted calf. Delay not ; 
 time is flying, and the door of mercy will soon be shut. 
 Now is the accepted time, and now is the day^of sal- 
 vation. " The spirit and the bride say, Come ; and 
 whosoever will let him come, and take the water of 
 life freelv." 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 To the Author's Brother, Mr. W — P — . 
 
 Perth, 1781. 
 My Dear Wm. — I received yours some weeks ago. 
 I acknowledge I have been too long in writing ; but if 
 you consider how busy I am during summer, you will 
 not be surprised at my long silence. From the 1st 
 June to the 1st September I have so much public and 
 congregational work upon my hand, that I have not an 
 half-hour to myself. I hope your children are now all 
 recovered from small-pox ; and that you have this as 
 a new matter of song added to all former instances of 
 the Lord's kindness to you and your family. It is a 
 melancholy distemper, but so much the more is the 
 Lord's goodness displayed by preserving in and de- 
 livering from it. The harvest is now over here, and 
 the season was very threatening at the beginning, al- 
 though latterly it has been remarkably favourable. 
 But neither mercies nor judgments seem to have any 
 effect upon us. The generation are growing more 
 and more secure and hardened, notwithstanding all the 
 alarming providences passing over us as a nation. We 
 had none of the insects you mention, although last 
 year they did prodigious hurt to our corns ; but this, 
 like many other judgments, passed over us unnoticed. 
 
106 LETTERS. 
 
 We have ground to fear that the Lord is about to 
 make out his threatening, Isa. xxvi. 11, — " Lord when 
 thy hand is lifted up, they will not see : but they shall 
 see, and be ashamed ; for the fire of thine enemies shall 
 consume them." In a former letter I attempted an 
 answer to your first question about the little success 
 of the gospel, notwithstanding the clear dispensation of 
 it. Your second inquiry is more difficult, as it goes 
 into the deeps of Christian exercise, to which, alas ! I 
 am such a stranger. However, as it equally concerns 
 us both to know it, I shall now send you a few thoughts 
 upon it. You ask, How may one know whether he is 
 growing, standing still, or backsliding, under the means 
 of grace? As for your middle state, I apprehend 
 there is no such thing in fact as a standing still. Per- 
 sons must either be growing in grace or going back 
 with a continual backsliding. Not to make progress 
 more or less in the Christian race is to decline and go 
 back. Your question, therefore, has but one side, viz. 
 When may a believer be said to be growing in grace ; 
 or, how may he know that he is so ? The following 
 thoughts are what occur to me at present. 
 
 1. The believer is growing in grace when he is add- 
 ing grace to grace. For proof of this you may consult 
 1 Pet. i. 5, 6, 7. A man, you know, is said to grow- 
 in knowledge when he gets acquainted with new ob- 
 jects of knowledge. When a man grows in riches, he 
 adds pound to pound, house to house, and one estate 
 to another : so, in grace, the believer grows, when to 
 his faith he adds virtue, &c &c. The young child 
 does not walk safely and erectly all at once ; but first 
 he goes by a hold, then ventures alone for a step or 
 
LETTEK-. 107 
 
 two, until at length he acquires the art by practice. So 
 the Christian goes from grace to grace, and the exer- 
 186 of one grace leads to progress in another: " Tri- 
 bulation worketh patience," &c. &c. — Rom. v. 3, 4, 5. 
 
 '2. The believer is growing in grace when new de- 
 crees of strength are added to the same graces. Of 
 this wc have a clear instance in Abraham's faith. At 
 first this grace was but weak, and a fear of danger 
 made him deny his wife in the land of the Philistines ; 
 but when his faith grew stronger he faced every dan- 
 ger without dismay : " He staggered not at the pro- 
 mise through unbelief, but was strong in the faith, 
 giving glory to God." At first, when the faith of the 
 disciples was weak, every little trial put them all into 
 confusion ; but after they received the Spirit they could 
 glory in tribulation, and meet all the terrors of perse- 
 cution and death, because their grace was strong. 
 
 3. The believer is growing in grace when he cleaves 
 faster to Christ, and rests more and more on him. 
 Christ is the vine, you know, and believers are the 
 branches ; and the branch cannot bear fruit of itself 
 except it abide in the vine, no more can the believer 
 except he abide in Christ. " I am the green fir tree,'' 
 says Christ ; " from me is thy fruit found." The more 
 we cleave to Christ in duties and ordinances, so much 
 the more will we grow in grace. It is union to Christ 
 that quickens grace at first, and it is communion with 
 him that makes it to prosper. 
 
 4. A believer is growing in grace when he is fruit- 
 ful in good works. Good works are the genuine fruits 
 of grace ; faith without works is dead, says the apostle. 
 You know a fruit tree cannot be thriving when it brings 
 
108 LETTERS. 
 
 forth nothing but leaves; so when the Christian abounds 
 more in leaves than fruit, more in the profession than 
 the power of godliness, he is in a declining state. 
 
 5. A believer is growing in grace when he brings 
 forth fruit under trials and opposition. It would be a 
 sign that a tree is very vigorous were it to blossom and 
 bear fruit even in the winter season, amidst frost and 
 snow. Such a thing is not to be expected in the 
 natural world, but in the spiritual it is very common. 
 In many instances, a believer's graces never grow 
 faster than when the stormy blast of temptations and 
 fiery trials blow in his teeth. For instance, consider 
 the exercise of Jacob, Job, David, &c. 
 
 But to these marks of growth I subjoin the follow- 
 ing cautions : — 
 
 1. All saints grow not equally in the same graces. 
 There is a diversity of graces among the saints, as 
 well as of gifts. One is more remarkable for one 
 grace, and another for another. Abraham was re- 
 markable for faith, Moses for meekness, Job for pa- 
 tience, Peter for zeal, John for love, &c. &c. ; although, 
 wherever any one grace is growing, all the rest grow 
 in a certain proportion, though some one of them may 
 appear more than the rest. 
 
 2. A believer is often growing in grace when, to 
 appearance, and in his own apprehension, he is declin- 
 ing. There is not less growing in winter than in 
 summer, although there is not the same evidence of it. 
 The sap descends into the roots, and these cleave 
 faster into the soil, and this is as essential to the tree's 
 prosperity as a growth in branches and leaves. Just so 
 with the Christian. The Lord, to correct him, may 
 
LETTERS. lOO 
 
 for ■ season overcloud the sun of his comfort, trys! 
 him with humbling and self-emptying 1 providences, and 
 thus bring him to cleave faster to Christ, and to think 
 more of him and less of himself. 
 
 More might have been said on this interesting and 
 nl subject; but what I have said may sagged 
 other things in your own meditations. If we were 
 really growing in grace, we would not be difficulted to 
 find marks of it in ourselves. Farewell. — Ever your 
 loving brother, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1782. 
 
 My Dear W. — Your last favour came safe to hand, 
 fraught with the very sorrowful news of our dear 
 father's death. It struck us very much, it was so un- 
 expected, although we foresaw it would be the issue 
 of the distress. I believe it would occasion the same 
 surprise to you, who were around him, as is generally 
 the case when death comes. Had I thought his end 
 was so near, I would have paid him a last visit, how- 
 ever inconvenient. As the hurry of the funeral is now 
 over, I beg you will send me a particular account of 
 our father's exercise. Did he consider death as near ? 
 Did he seem to have comfort, and speak freely about 
 that solemn change? Now, my dear brother, we are 
 left of father and mother; but we have ground to pray 
 that the Lord would take us up, and to believe that ho 
 will do so. He is a father to the fatherless and the 
 orphan's stay. When we are stript of any earthly 
 comfort, it would be well for us could we turn to God 
 
110 LETTERS 
 
 and take him as our up-making 1 portion. His name 
 the repairer of breaches. When parents or friends die. 
 
 is comfortable that we mav sin*? and say, God lives, 
 blessed be our rock. A faith's persuasion of our inte- 
 rest in the best friend is the best cordial under everv 
 bereavement. This is a new and a very loud call to 
 consider our latter end. O that we were wise, and 
 understood this ! We have no reason to quarrel with 
 
 vine providence in any case, much less in one like 
 this, seeing we have been so highly favoured by having 
 our parents so long. How many are left orphans from 
 
 oil* mother's womb, or very soon after ! Let us be 
 thankful, and study through grace to be followers of 
 their good example, and to remember their godly in- 
 structions. 
 
 We must all have our share of personal and family 
 trials ; but the Spirit saith, Blessed is the man that en- 
 dureth temptation. The Lord's own people suffer no 
 
 is by their trials ; they all yield a good crop of pre- 
 vious fruit at the end of the day. And how could vou 
 
 i I fill up our measure of the sufferings of Christ. 
 
 ft behind for us to bear, without them? His own 
 children shall not be condemned with the world, and 
 therefore they must be chastened when others are 
 
 ■ 
 
 passed by. I suppose you have been engaged in sacra- 
 mental work last Sabbath. I hope the King was at the 
 banquet: and O, what joy does his presence diffuse 
 among the guests ! it makes a time of feasting and 
 gladness. We have like work in view, and crave a 
 e in your prayers — I am ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
LETTERS. Ill 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1789. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I would have written you 
 sooner about my distress and recovery, only I under- 
 stood you knew about both. I have very great reason 
 to bless the Lord for the mildness of the visitation ; 
 and I think he told me something about the ground of 
 the quarrel, as well as about the removal of it. A fa- 
 ther's rod may be sharp, but it is medicinal. To be 
 without chastisement is no sign of sonship. I am far 
 from saying that my exercise was as it ought to have 
 been, or as I would have wished it; yet I think the 
 Lord helped me to some measure of thankful submis- 
 sion to his will, and now that he has restored me to my 
 public work, he is bearing my charges. I'm sure he 
 never employed any one in his vineyard more weak 
 and unworthy; but I shall be the most ungrateful 
 creature in the world, if I do not, with my living and 
 dying breath, thank him, that he has been a kind and 
 liberal Lord and Master to me. Help me to praise 
 him for his kindness ! 
 
 I hope it is going well with you in your spiritual 
 exercise. A life of communion with Christ is a most 
 pleasant life — it is a heaven upon earth ; but it requires 
 much care, watchfulness, and diligence, to maintain it. 
 Our gracious Lord is holy, and he cannot, he will not 
 hold fellowship with his people, unless they walk in 
 the way of holiness. The deceitful, wicked, and carnal 
 heart is so very treacherous and cunning, that it is not 
 an easy thing to keep it with the Lord. Even when 
 the believer is striving with all diligence, it will turn 
 
112 LETTERS. 
 
 ;i?ide after its crooked ways ; but the watchful Christian 
 will hold on his way, and, when his heart turns aside, 
 will, by faith, prayer, and self-examination, endeavour 
 to bring it back to a centering in the Lord himself. I 
 believe the experience of all saints will attest, that no- 
 thing will keep the child of God lively but daily com- 
 munications of grace from above. These, my dear 
 brother, are to be got in the way of frequent and fer- 
 vent prayer ; the reading of the scriptures in secret, 
 accompanied by meditation ; and a conscientious attend- 
 ance on public ordinances. " Thou meetest him that 
 rejoiceth and worketh righteousness." 
 
 I am sorry to learn from your last, that you are not 
 bearing so well with the present trial the Lord sees 
 meet to lay upon you. Sure I am, our kind Father in 
 heaven both sees it, has sent it, and, I hope, will sanc- 
 tify it for good to you in the end. If God appoints 
 the bounds of our habitation, does he not work out all 
 the necessary crosses as well as the comforts in our 
 lot? And does he not all this in the exercise of infi- 
 nite wisdom ? Is it like a son, a child of his family, to 
 spurn at the cross, and endeavour to run from it? No; 
 it is both very sinful and dangerous. If his own chil- 
 dren attempt to flee from one trial, they may be sure a 
 greater will soon overtake them. But to wait on the 
 Lord in the day of trial is the short cut, both for ob- 
 taining comfort under it, and a sanctified deliverance 
 from it in due-time. 
 
 You may say, according to this mode of reasoning, a 
 person should use no means for removing trials when 
 sent, but indolently wait the issue. I do not say so. 
 A believing dependence on God is highly consistent 
 
LETTERS. 113 
 
 with the use of all lawful means for obtaining relief; 
 nay, not to use such means is presumption, and not 
 faith. But then we must be sure that the means we 
 use for the removal of trials are lawful, and agreeable to 
 God'tf word and will. 
 
 I assure you the Lord is performing the thing that 
 is appointed for you, and the trial will continue no 
 longer than is necessary. To kiss the rod is the only 
 safe course. Take care of consulting with flesh and 
 blood. Remember me at the throne. — Farewell, my 
 very dear brother ! A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 f Perth, 1792. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I see you are still complaining 
 of deadness, darkness, and barrenness, under the means 
 of grace, and of the workings of a carnal corrupt heart. 
 I am not at all surprised that you have cause of com- 
 plaint : " What will you see in the Shulamite, but, as 
 it were, the company of two armies." The Christian's 
 heart is a field of battle, where grace and corruption 
 are in constant conflict. It would be strange, indeed, 
 if this should not cause much uneasiness, especially as 
 grace is often foiled in the contest. It shall at last be 
 crowned with victory, but in the present state seems 
 often to be driven from the field. Hence the darkness 
 and despondency of saints. When they find corruption 
 more prevalent than grace, they are ready to east away 
 their confidence, and say their hope is perished from 
 the Lord. But this is as unreasonable as if an army 
 should cast down their arms, and give up all for lost. 
 
 l 2 
 
114 LETTERS. 
 
 when only a few skirmishing" parties are worsted. 
 David spake unadvisedly when he said, " All men are 
 liars," just because the promise was not so soon accom- 
 plished as he expected. I know the common reply 
 made by a doubting saint to such a doctrine as this — " I 
 could hope for victory at last too, were I sure that I 
 am a true believer." The answer is short : — If such a 
 person be not a believer, how comes he to have such a 
 daily conflict with indwelling sin ? A dead man is past 
 feeling ; grace struggling is as really alive as grace 
 triumphant. I never expect to meet with a believer 
 free from complaints while in this world, and do not 
 wish to meet with him, provided his complaints always 
 centre in himself. 
 
 Your case, I assure you, is not singular. The weak- 
 ness of grace and the strength of corruption will be 
 matter of complaint till we arrive at the measure of 
 the stature of perfect men. May the Lord enable us 
 to hold on in the conflict to the end ! Grace is sufficient. 
 
 I hope by this time you have heard from your sons 
 after landing at New York. The Lord, I hope, will 
 prosper them. It would be a sore pull for you all to 
 part with them. For feeling parents to part from chil- 
 dren, probably for life, cannot fail to go very near the 
 heart. But there are many reconciling considerations 
 in your case ; and I think it is none of the least of them 
 that they seem to be removed from the scene of heavy 
 trials, fast coming on us that remain. They will not 
 want troubles of various kinds, but I hope they will be 
 taken care of and supported. As for us, that awful 
 passage seems to be on the eve of accomplishment, 
 Zeph. i. 12-13. But the Lord will take care of his 
 
LETTERS. 115 
 
 own in the worst of times. Even when he roars out 
 of Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, he will be 
 the hope of his people, and the strength of the children 
 of Israel. 
 
 Considering- the peculiar nature of the controversy 
 now carrying on, seriously exercised Christians will be 
 very much helped of God if they are enabled to keep 
 quiet, and make no sinful compliances on the one hand, 
 nor imprudent appearances on the other. We need 
 much grace and direction. No doubt we may expect 
 hardships and difficulties ; but the Lord can bridle the 
 fury of men and devils. Much of our crop this season 
 is very light, but it far exceeds our expectation, and 
 farther still our desert. We had the Lord's Supper 
 dispensed here last Sabbath. The Master's presence, 
 I hope, was experienced by not a few. He outwardly 
 countenanced his work very much. Let us praise him. 
 — Farewell. Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1J98. 
 My Dear Brother — Your favour came the other 
 day, bringing the tidings of our friend's rapid decline. 
 What shall we say ? It is the will of the great Sove- 
 reign Lord. Tis a very quieting thought to the seri- 
 ous Christian, that a hair of his head cannot fall to the 
 ground without his Father's appointment and direc- 
 tion. We would think that her life could be ill spared, 
 and no doubt she will be very much missed by our 
 brother and his young family ; but if our heavenly 
 
116 LETTERS. 
 
 Father studied our worldly convenience and inclina- 
 tion in the management of his providence, we would 
 never meet with any trial or disappointment at all. 
 Blessed be his name, that he works according to the 
 counsel of his own will, and can bring his children to 
 acquiesce in those disposals that are most cross to their 
 worldly interest. 
 
 How often has he turned the wilderness of trial into 
 a fruitful field ! I am anxious to know if she is re- 
 signed to the will of the Lord ? if her exercise be in 
 any measure lively ? and if she enjoys the consolations 
 of Christ, and has good hope through grace? This 
 will make the prospect of death very light and pleasant 
 to herself, and ought to comfort us who are left be- 
 hind. You should not fail to be as useful to her as 
 possible, and bring eternal concerns before her as she 
 may be able to bear it. As to your worthy old friend, 
 he is, I hope, rich in faith and experience. To be sure, 
 past attainments cannot be a pillow to the Christian's 
 head on a bed of death, nor a staff to lean on in going 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, — nothing, 
 nothing but a present resting on Christ in the promise 
 can be our support in life or at death. But it is plea- 
 sant to hear an aged and experienced believer going 
 off the stage, like old Jacob, telling all around him of 
 the Lord's former loving kindness. O my dear W. 
 matters are fast going to wreck in this nation, — our 
 rulers seem to be judicially infatuated by God, — the 
 day of the Lord's controversy with this wicked land 
 seems to be come, — the general failure of the last 
 year's crop, — the present scarcity and dearth, — this 
 mad and iniquitous war, — the total stagnation of trade. 
 
LETTERS. 117 
 
 — the general bankruptcy taking' place, — the present 
 frowning season, which threatens a famine, — with a 
 great number of other things taking place, — are all so 
 many previous strokes of wrath going before the more 
 awful pleading of God's quarrel. I'm persuaded some 
 very sharp stroke of national calamity is just at the 
 door. The Lord only knows what it will be. Our 
 great concern should be to hide in the munition of 
 rocks, and study to be found in the Lord's way when 
 he cometh out of his place to punish. We have no 
 security against the deluge of temporal calamities ; 
 but the ark of the covenant is prepared as a safe hid- 
 ing place against the deluge of divine wrath. All the 
 friends of Jesus shall be safe come what will. Luther 
 was wont to say, in time of public danger, that the 
 Lord would hide him either in or under heaven. When 
 he saw danger approaching, he used to cry, Let us sing 
 the ninety-first psalm. Our Lord is a good strong- 
 hold in the time of trouble, and lie knoweth all them 
 that put their trust in him. Give us all a place in 
 your prayers. — Yours truly, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1799. 
 
 My dear Brother — Yours, announcing the removal 
 of your father-in-law, came in course. Our kind Lord 
 has given him a passage to eternal rest, which few 
 comparatively are favoured with. All saints die in a 
 state of peace with God ; but many of them are chas- 
 tened with sore pain, and often sit under a cloud. He, 
 
118 LETTERS. 
 
 on the contrary, seems to have enjoyed a calm serenity 
 of mind, and also a great degree of external ease 
 while the earthly tabernacle was dissolving. He was 
 a Christian very remarkable for equanimity and com- 
 posure, a man of very tender conscience, and one that 
 lived near the Lord. You have much cause of thank- 
 fulness that the Lord spared him so long as a blessing 
 to your young family, and a very exemplary Christian 
 to all around him. It should be our great concern to 
 be followers of them who, through faith and patience, 
 are now inheriting the promises. I may say an ami- 
 able head of your family is taken away ; but our ever- 
 lasting Father lives to be our guide and portion in life 
 and death. As an aged instructor is, by an all-wise 
 Providence, removed from your young family, I hope 
 the Lord will enable you to double your diligence 
 among them. You have much cause to be thankful 
 for what is promising among them. May the Lord 
 make them more and more your joy and crown of re- 
 joicing ! 
 
 You are at present, I am sorry to learn, smarting 
 under a very sharp trial from one of your family leav- 
 ing you, going to sea. This has a particular language 
 — it brings a special message from God ; and I hope 
 the Lord will tell you the meaning of the dispensation, 
 and help you to improve it aright. Parents may learn 
 very much of the mind of God about themselves, both 
 in the way of correction and comfort, in the conduct of 
 children toward them. It must be confessed that there 
 is often a dark veil hung over divine management, 
 which neither faith nor sense can remove while here. 
 In such cases it becomes us to adore sovereignty, and 
 
LETTERS. 110 
 
 live on our Lord's words to Peter, " What I do thou 
 knowett not now, but thou shalt know hereafter** 1 But 
 
 in otlier cases, when word, providence, and conscience, 
 concur in telling us that the Lord is displeased, our im- 
 mediate duty, and comfort too, lies in turning to the 
 hand that smiteth, and seeking the Lord. His re- 
 proofs are great blessings to a saint. There is not a 
 sorer judgment out of hell to a wicked man, nor under 
 heaven to a believer, than for God to cease to be a re- 
 prover, or to say, Let him alone. I have often found, 
 in my own experience, that all was well externally and 
 in the view of others ; when, alas ! a deep consumption 
 was begun within, and the heart sadly entangled with 
 some lust. The attentive Christian will often find this 
 to be the case upon a careful examination, when all the 
 outward forms of religion are kept up. I do not say 
 this is the case with you ; I hope not. But to make a 
 strict examination can be no loss to you, but I hope 
 great gain. Did you ever read Owen on Indwelling 
 Sin, and on Mortification and Temptation ? I would 
 recommend the serious perusal of these choice pieces 
 to you Ever yours in love, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1807. 
 My Dear Brother — I confess you have cause to 
 blame my long silence. I have often been favoured 
 with tidings about your family, and I am still grieved 
 to learn your anxiety about your son. Like them that 
 have gone before us, you have your mixture of crosses 
 
120 LETTERS. 
 
 and comforts. When the Lord gives children, and 
 spares them with us, we are under the strongest obli- 
 gation to train them up for him. But yet, after all 
 our anxious care about thorn, our instructions and 
 prayers, we must be taught that something more is 
 necessary in order to make them comforts to us. The 
 Lord often makes use of our children as a rod for cor- 
 recting us for our past miscarriages, and a very sharp 
 rod it is. But though this should not be the case, 
 we must be taught to reverence divine sovereignty in 
 the disposal of our offspring, both with regard to tem- 
 poral and eternal concerns. They sometimes take 
 courses which are trying in the meantime, but which 
 the Lord turns out for good in the issue. Many a day 
 good old Jacob mourned for Joseph as for one lost, 
 and yet you know how very comfortable was the end 
 that was brought about by this dark providence. Who 
 knows what may be brought out of this event, though 
 indeed very trying for the present. Let us try to 
 wrestle at the throne, that the Lord may pursue your 
 son with mercy, keep him from sin, and bring him back 
 to himself as another gained prodigal. You have much 
 comfort in your other children, and should not take it 
 amiss if the Lord see it meet to try you in him. 
 
 I was very happy to see J. so well at the synod ; 
 but he must take more exercise for the sake not 
 merely of himself, -but the church. He is a very valu- 
 able and promising young man. You and I, my dear 
 W. are far advanced on our journey, I hope, to a 
 better world. O what a happy attainment is it to be 
 daily ripening for, and to have clear views of, a safe 
 landing ! It is by faith that the believer first enters 
 
LETTERS. 121 
 
 into rest, and it is in the exercise of faith in Christ 
 in the promise, that we grow in meetness for the 
 inheritance of the saints in light. Assurance of the 
 love of God naturally springs out of believing. It 
 is a most prevalent and pernicious notion, now-a- 
 days among us, that assurance is only the attainment 
 of first-rate saints, and that others need not expect to 
 enjoy it: hence they rest satisfied without it, and 
 neglect the proper means of obtaining it ; whereas the 
 Spirit directs all to seek it, — 2 Cor. xiii. 5. I believe 
 that none fail of obtaining it who seek it in the way of 
 faith, in the promise, by prayer, meditation, and close 
 and frequent self-examination. 
 
 Now to come to the crosses of this world of a more 
 trivial nature. I am very sorry to learn you have met 
 with such a sharp stroke upon your substance, from 
 your neighbour. This is a new lesson to you, my dear 
 brother, and to me also, not to cumber ourselves with 
 the things of this world. How soon does an all- wise 
 Providence blow up our fairest prospects ! It is very 
 natural for the anxious, proud heart to suggest a num- 
 ber of very idle reflections on such events as this, and 
 our best friends are very apt to cast them in our teeth ; 
 such as, You had no call to enter into such close habits 
 
 with this Mr. , nor to give him so much credit ; 
 
 you might have suspected and foreseen what was com- 
 ing, &c. But such reflections are now of no avail, ex- 
 cept it be to make you more cautious for the future. 
 If you could have foreseen and prevented this loss, the 
 trial had not come, and you would have wanted an op- 
 portunity of profiting by it, which, I hope, the Lord 
 will make you experience. If you have not seen 
 
 M 
 
V2'2 LETTERS. 
 
 " Williams' Diary," I would recommend it to your 
 perusal. It will show you how much good the Lord 
 brought to that godly man by sweeping away two- 
 thirds of all he had in the world. Worldly losses 
 have often been overruled for raising the heart to God 
 himself, and deadening the affections to the things of 
 time. I believe such events seldom take place in the 
 Christian's lot ; but he has cause to look back and re- 
 proach himself for having given the world, in one 
 shape or another, more room in his heart, more of 
 his time and attention, than was meet for a disciple of 
 Jesus ; and when that is the case, God, and religion, 
 and eternal concerns, are too much shut up to a corner. 
 It is very amazing, and should be very humbling to 
 us, to think by how many ways and wiles the carnality 
 of the heart prevails against the children of God, to 
 draw them off from a holy frame, and from a close 
 walking with God, by a keen and restless pursuit of 
 what is called a lawful occupation. The thing itself is 
 lawful, but we are in danger of sinning by the degree 
 of our ardour in its pursuit. I don't charge you with 
 this, though I know you are constitutionally sanguine. 
 O, W — , cry to God that this stroke on your substance 
 may bring a deadly stroke on the corruptions of your 
 soul, and then the loss will prove ultimately a great 
 gain. Seek counsel of God as to the means of relief 
 which you should employ; he can bring you out of all 
 difficulty, and, what is far better, he can give you faith 
 and patience to bear the cross, and grace to support 
 you comfortably under it. In a very little you and I 
 will be done with seen things ; and it were well if we 
 could be taught, by all these occurrences, to live more 
 
LETTERS. 123 
 
 for eternity. This is the best, by far the best life. 
 You have only lost a little of the dross — the best trea- 
 sure cannot be lost. It is surprising how little of this 
 world's good things will satisfy a holy, humble, con- 
 tented mind. 
 
 Ponder and pray over Heb. xiii. 5, — " Let your con- 
 versation be in heaven," &c. We are living in evil 
 times ; but the forty-sixth Psalm is a song for such a 
 season. Let us mind one another at the throne. — T 
 am ever your loving brother, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1801. 
 
 My Dear Brother — As a series of trying dispen- 
 sations are passing over your family, it is my duty to 
 give you an expression of our most sincere sympathy 
 with you all. 
 
 • I shall begin by mentioning the very trying case of 
 poor C — . We were very much grieved to hear that the 
 Edinburgh physicians could be of so little service to 
 her, but much delighted to hear that she is in a calm, 
 resigned state of mind. I hope it springs from gospel 
 principles. Nothing can yield real support to the soul 
 at any time — nothing can sweeten the bitter waters of 
 affliction — but the love of God shed abroad in the heart. 
 Tell her, from me, to go straight to Jesus, as her only 
 physician : he rejects none that come to him. He may 
 not be pleased to remove the disease, but he can make 
 it a great blessing to her soul. If it prove the mean, 
 in his hand, of awakening her to a deep and saving 
 
124 LETTERS. 
 
 sense of her need of Christ, of the value of her soul, of 
 the sweetness and suitableness of the word, and of the 
 evil of sin, especially the sins of the heart, this will be 
 the best visitation she ever met with. I might say the 
 same to J — under her continued infirmity. I hope she 
 is blessing the God who brought her down to the mouth 
 of the grave, and has been pleased to raise her up again. 
 Let her read Matt. ix. and inquire if she has got such 
 a sweet intimation as the happy man there spoken of 
 got from the Saviour's lips. M — was in the furnace also, 
 but the Lord had mercy on her, and soon restored her 
 to health. I hope she has been often inquiring at her 
 own soul why the Lord chastened her, and whether 
 she left the dross behind her? It is a great matter to 
 come out of a trial in a cleanly way. 
 
 As for you, my dear brother, these dispensations are 
 speaking loudly to you, and I hope they have sent you 
 often to your knees, and that there you have got your 
 burdened soul poured into our heavenly father's bosom. 
 There is no cordial like this in the day of trouble ! 
 Let not earthly troubles sit too heavy on your mind. 
 If we can trust a good God for all spiritual and eternal 
 things, it may seem strange that we hesitate to trust 
 him with our worldly concerns. A full cup of tem- 
 poral blessings is not promised ; but faith can credit 
 the God of grace for all that is really good for us. 
 Little will serve you and me in this world ; we have 
 been richly provided for hitherto, and let us trust 
 him still. Put all your confidence in your best friend : 
 you know him well, I hope. Keep his way, and you 
 shall be remarkably carried through. Many have had 
 cause to bless God that they were sent to the school of 
 
LETTERS. 125 
 
 affliction ; for sanctified tribulation worketh patience, 
 patience experience, and experience hope : deliverance 
 will come in the best way and at the fittest time. It 
 seems the Lord has been smiting and trying A — also : 
 may he be caught among the thorns I Sovereign grace 
 is as able to reach his heart in the West Indies as in 
 Scotland. We that are parents have many causes of 
 anxiety, and many calls to pray for our families. We 
 should imitate the example of Job, and every day pre- 
 sent our spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise to 
 God on their account. Farewell, my dear brother ! — 
 Yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1813. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I think you never write me 
 unless I lay you under the necessity of answering 
 mine. You should think on my numerous engage- 
 ments, and not stand upon empty forms. The older I 
 grow I find that I have the more to do, and I am not 
 sorry at it, as I never feel so happy as when immersed 
 in my good Master's work. I am now reckoning on 
 the approaching termination of my poor labours in the 
 Lord's vineyard, and that I have much need to redeem 
 time lost in my youth, and likewise many lost oppor- 
 tunities. After all, it is a consoling thought that we 
 have a more noble ground of hope for acceptance with 
 God than the very best doings or experiences of the 
 holiest of saints. I am sorry to learn that still C — is no 
 better. What shall we say ? The medicinal waters 
 of Siloam had no efficacy till the angel of the covenant 
 
 m 2 
 
126 LETTERS. 
 
 troubled the pool. I hope she has learned some useful 
 lessons in this furnace which all the doctors in Scot- 
 land could not teach her, — viz. to love Christ more, to 
 hate sin more, to prize the word more, to value the 
 world less, to pray more frequently, more fervently, 
 more humbly, and more confidently. If trials send 
 us into ourselves to see, feel, and deplore our heart 
 plagues, our besetting sins — if they send us aw T ay to 
 the word for light, direction, and support — if they 
 send us up to God himself, by faith and prayer, for 
 help, healing, and comfort — they are undoubtedly sanc- 
 tified trials, yielding the peaceable fruits of righteous- 
 ness, and we may thank God for them, though they 
 may be very sharp to flesh and blood. 
 
 I should be very happy if my young afflicted niece 
 would write, and let me know how it is going with 
 her soul. Though we may never again meet in this 
 world, a little epistolary correspondence may be use- 
 ful to us both. Let me know in your next how you 
 keep your health. You and I are now far advanced 
 in life ; we should be looking over Jordan, and ex- 
 pecting the midnight cry. — I ever am, in sincere re- 
 gards, yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1816. 
 My dear Brother — I hope you will excuse my 
 not answering your letter sooner. You say that you 
 find it a difficult thing to write a letter even to a friend. 
 I assure you that the difficulty lies in overcoming your 
 aversion. Could you prevail on yourself to take the 
 
LETTERS. 127 
 
 pen in your hand, and write down your thoughts to 
 your friend just as they occur, and as you would speak 
 if you saw him face to face, you would never want 
 matter, particularly when writing to a Christian friend. 
 Look within to your own heart, and without to Christ 
 in the word, and you will never want a subject. You 
 are usually rather in the complaining way ; .this is the 
 common breath of Christians in our time, and I rather 
 suppose it has been the way in every age. There are 
 a few highly favoured saints in God's house who live 
 near himself, see his goings, and sit under his banner, 
 while the generality of his family are kept, not by him 
 but by their own sinful hearts, at a greater distance 
 and on shorter allowance. Their faith and patience 
 are put to the test by various occurrences which prove 
 very trying. The Lord sees it best to let them 
 feel that they are in the wilderness and the field of 
 battle. Heaven at last will more than make up for 
 all; but I am fully persuaded we would have more 
 light and comfort in our Christian course were we more 
 about God's hand, more at his throne wrestling for the 
 blessing, and more engaged in searching for him in the 
 word. The great evil is, that though we feel matters 
 not right between God and us, we either sink into a 
 listless indifference or into despondence : both are 
 equally dishonouring to God and hurtful to ourselves. 
 The directions of God are these, " Seek and ye shall 
 find ;" " then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye 
 search for me with all the heart \" " he meeteth him 
 that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness." Our great 
 concern should be to learn more and more the heavenly 
 art of living by faith on the Son of God; and such a 
 
128 LETTERS. 
 
 life cannot be without some measure of joy, peace, and 
 assurance. May the Lord teach us more the mystery 
 of this happy, happy life ! 
 
 Some time since I heard that you had got some ac- 
 count of your son A — 's death, but had no certainty as 
 to its truth. I am sorry to say it is too true. I was 
 last week visiting friends at Dundee, and met with a 
 gentleman there, direct from Grenada, who was per- 
 fectly well acquainted with him ; he was often visiting 
 in his house, and used to talk over Scottish affairs with 
 him ; he knew that A — was my nephew, and was anxi- 
 ous to give me the information ; he says he died of a 
 decline in April last. It is a melancholy satisfaction 
 to be assured of the fact as to this trying event. You 
 know where to look for direction and comfort. When 
 death enters our families, our sovereign Lord only as- 
 serts his divine right to take whom, and how, and 
 where it pleases him. Your late son had his course to 
 run, and the event shows where it was to end. Who 
 knows but mercy may have followed and apprehended 
 him even in that Sodom : the Lord has his small rem- 
 nant in these wicked islands. Our chief concern should 
 be to improve this dispensation for God's glory and 
 our own spiritual benefit. You and I are now old ; 
 yet, by this event, we are taught that the young and 
 vigorous may be arrested, while the old and grey 
 headed are spared for a little. Let us all be concerned 
 to get into the ark without delay. The believer in 
 Christ shall never taste of the second death. 
 
 This is a most adverse and threatening season ; a 
 great deal cut down but almost none got in, although 
 it is now the 30th of September. If we have a day 
 
LETTERS. 129 
 
 or two fair, a deluge of rain succeeds. The Lord is 
 angry with Britain and with Europe ; he is pouring 
 out the vials of his indignation ; we may therefore ex- 
 pect to drink of the bitter cup. Matters seem to be 
 hastening to a sad crisis with this country. Our duty 
 and safety will be to enter into our chambers, and 
 abide there for a little moment until the indignation 
 be over past. Let us be much at the throne. — Ever 
 yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1820. 
 
 My Dear Brother — You know that my dear 
 partner in life has been very ill for some weeks. Her 
 complaints had baffled all medical skill ; and the sove- 
 reign Lord called her home yesterday morning at 
 seven o'clock. But I cannot, I dare not complain, 
 after forty-two years' loan of such a pleasant com- 
 panion in this vale of tears. God himself lives to be 
 my stay, my guide, my counsellor, my all. The re- 
 mainder of my journey must be short, — I am looking 
 out for the coming of the blessed bridegroom. 
 
 He showed much mercy to my dear fellow-traveller 
 in her last moments. Her pain was much mitigated — 
 her mind was calm and resigned. I cannot say that 
 she had much comfort ; but she had no fear from the 
 apprehension of natural death. She w r as very much 
 in prayer, and had the full possession of her mind to 
 the last. The breach in this family is great; but the 
 Lord is the healer of breaches. She is taken away, 
 but he has left me daughters to sooth my mind in the 
 
130 LETTERS. 
 
 decline of life. Let us have your prayers, that we 
 may be enabled to improve this loud warning for 
 quickening our pace toward the goal. Let us keep 
 our eye on the great forerunner, who has entered 
 within the vail. Let us lean on his arm and press 
 forward. " We shall reap, if we faint not." 
 
 Your concern and mine now, my dear brother, 
 should be to honour God in all services and trials. 
 But I am afraid that you are under the temptation of 
 withdrawing too soon from active life. I don't mean 
 that you should still persevere in the bustle of the 
 world, as the Lord has kindly given you a son to 
 relieve you of this burden ; - but you should employ 
 your energies in useful pursuits. For instance, you 
 have been long an active member of the congregation 
 and session — attend to the public interests of religion 
 — attend all meetings of session when able for it- 
 embrace every opportunity for encouraging and stimu- 
 lating the young in a religious course — try to be as 
 useful as you can in your own family, especially 
 among careless servants brought under your charge. 
 
 You will find it for your health to take a little ex- 
 ercise every day in the field : the mind loses its spring 
 of activity when the body sinks into an inactive state. 
 Time is a very precious talent which the Lord re- 
 quires us to occupy. No man in this world, though 
 even laid on a sick-bed, should live unto himself. 
 Excuse these hints from a brother. It is my ear- 
 nest desire that you should be fat, and flourish even 
 in old age. Our comfort is, that precious Christ 
 is the green fir tree ; from hira is our fruit found. 
 We can have no life, nor sap, nor fruit, without living 
 
LETTERS. 131 
 
 daily on him, and for him. May the Lord enable us 
 both to aim at this in the daily exercise of faith and 
 diligence in prayer! Farewell, my dear brother! — 
 Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1822. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I learn, by your son, that 
 you are feeling the decays of old age creeping on. 
 After traversing this vale of tears threescore and 
 fifteen years, you have reason to wonder that you 
 retain so much strength, and particularly that your 
 mind is so vigorous. You see the great kindness of 
 God in providing a son and daughter to guard and 
 comfort you in the decline of life. You may now 
 occupy yourself only about the concerns of a better 
 world. To feel ourselves disentangled from the cares 
 of this life, to have some kind friends to relieve us 
 from the necessity of attending to them when we are 
 bowing down to meet the grave, is a great comfort. 
 
 But while I mention this as a favourable circum- 
 stance in your lot, you and I know that something 
 more — something infinitely better — is necessary to 
 carry on the heavenly life to perfection in the soul. 
 When the blessed spirit of grace forms the new man 
 in the heart, he will certainly carry on his own work. 
 It may seem to make very slow progress — it may get 
 many backsets from temptation ; but the hand of our 
 great Zerubbabel hath laid the foundation, and he also 
 will lay on the copestone. We must never forget, 
 however, that we are also to be workers together with 
 
132 LETTERS. 
 
 God. The Spirit of God, by Jude, verses 20, 21, 
 marks out our duty : " But ye beloved, building up 
 yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the 
 Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, look- 
 ing for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life." If we would make progress in the 
 Christian life, we must live daily at the throne of 
 grace in fervent prayer. This will fan the flame of 
 divine love in our soul, and keep us in the frame 
 which Jude recommends. In this way, death will 
 neither be a surprise nor a disappointment to us. O, 
 no: it will bring us to our father's house — our Re- 
 deemer's presence — to the delightful and eternal fel- 
 lowship of holy saints and angels — where, I hope, we 
 will meet and recognise many of our once fellow- 
 travellers who have gone home before us. It is plea- 
 sant to encourage one another with these delightful 
 prospects while we are by the way. I would have 
 been happy to learn, by a line from yourself, how you 
 seem bearing up under these infirmities ;^but I feer I 
 will not enjoy that pleasure again. May we often 
 meet at the throne ! — Your loving brother, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same, 
 
 Perth, 1823. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I now find that no entreaties 
 will prevail on you to drop me an answer to my 
 letters ; and this has the effect of making me write 
 more seldom than I otherwise would. An occasional 
 letter from a distant friend is as a voice crying for an 
 
LETTERS. 13o 
 
 answer. It is a stimulant to duty. What is an epistolary 
 oorretpoftdeace but two distant friends conversing to- 
 gether according to their circumstances? We have 
 both been long on the road of life — have seen and felt 
 many of its vicissitudes — have, I hope, tasted some- 
 what of the grapes of Eschol — and are now approach- 
 ing the confines of the promised land. We have made 
 a very bad use of time — of opportunities — of the 
 mercies and trials that have passed over us, if we have 
 nothing to say to one another concerning the way by 
 which the Lord hath led us these seventy years in the 
 wilderness. I think I hear you replying, " Yes, yes ; 
 I own that I have made a bad use of all the special 
 privileges and opportunities which God hath graciously 
 conferred on me." I most cordially join in the same 
 acknowledgment ; but we may be useful to one another 
 even in the way of reciprocating our complaints. It 
 gives relief to a mind oppressed with woe, to get it 
 emptied into the bosom of a friend. 
 
 We old people are in danger of falling under the 
 influence of gloomy impressions and too retired habits, 
 because we cannot now recall the vivacity of youth, 
 and the genial flow of animal spirits ; but we should 
 recollect that none will expect this of us, — it would be 
 unseemly. We may be grave and yet cheerful, com- 
 municative without being loquacious. May the living 
 Head of the church make you all lively members of 
 his body mystical ! Farewell ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 N 
 
184 LETTERS. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1327- 
 
 My Dear Brother — I have various reason* for 
 continuing my correspondence with you; for, besides 
 the claims of relationship, we are, I hope, fellow- 
 travellers toward the heavenly Jerusalem, — and the 
 pleasure of conversing together bv the way is crreat. 
 While the two disciples talked together by the way to 
 Emmans, the Lord himself drew near and joined their 
 company. 
 
 I ask you now again, my dear brother, is your soul 
 prospering ? I have no doubt that you have long ago 
 cast all your spiritual cares on the Lord ; nevertheless, 
 we must take care also, 1st, That we abide in Christ 
 by faith and humble dependence, drawing all our sup- 
 plies from him alone, of grace and strength for duty ; 
 2dly, We must take care that we keep the King's high- 
 way. There are many by-paths, many enemies waiting 
 for our halting, and seeking to retard and mislead us,, 
 but above them all are our heart-corruptions. You 
 have freed yourself from external entanglements ; but 
 I daresay you feel that it is not so easy to disburden 
 your soul, and keep the door shut against the intrusion 
 of vain and carnal imaginations, even at these time* 
 when vou would wish to be wholly with God. It is a 
 mournful fact in Christian experience, that ' ; when we 
 would do good, evil is present with us.'' But our daily 
 concern should be to watch, and wrestle, and pray that 
 the enemv may be restrained, and at last cast out. 
 3dly, We should daily be on our guard that we fall not 
 from our first love — spiritual decays often creep very 
 
LETTERS. 135 
 
 insensibly upon us. We, in old age, cannot expect the 
 same How of feeling, even in religion, as when we pos- 
 N <sed the warmth of youth ; but, at our day, the ex- 
 ercise of faith, hope, and humility, may be more pure, 
 and firm, and steady, than when the affections of tlu* 
 heart made a greater stir. When a fire is first kindled, 
 there is sometimes a greater flame than heat ; but when 
 it is burnt through, the flame is less and the heat 
 greater. The great point which we should strive after 
 is, that the heart become more humble, more spiritual, 
 and more heavenly ; and nothing will bring us to this 
 but a daily living on the Son of God, a growing ac- 
 quaintance with the mind of God in the word, and 
 frequent intimacy with God in prayer. 
 
 By your debility, you are cut off from waiting on 
 God in public ordinances. Be not discouraged ; the 
 God whom you serve can, and I hope, does, sweeten 
 your solitude. These are very gracious words, — Isa. 
 xl. 29-31 ; xli. 17, 18; xliii. 1-5, I might quote many 
 others ; but I know that the blessed Bible has been 
 your stay for many years, and you know where to find 
 its precious cordials. May the Divine Spirit bring all 
 things to your remembrance ! One of my tried friends 
 in this place, who has been twenty-eight years on a bed 
 of affliction, said one day to me, while visiting her, " O, 
 Sir, I have been in deep waters ; but faith has lang 
 legs." Yes, it can wade through the deepest waters of 
 affliction, and yet keep the head above ; and I hope 
 you can say, Though weak in body, I am strong in faith 
 and hope. Could we keep a firm hold of the promise 
 of God, we would stand 6teady amidst all difficulties 
 and dangers. You have a kind friend by you, saying. 
 
136 LETTERS. 
 
 " Fear thou not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, 
 for I am thy God." O, trust the faithful Promiser ! 
 He cannot and will not lie. He rests in his love. All 
 the faithful who have gone before us, have found this 
 world a thorny wilderness at the best ; but in patience 
 they got safe to the land of promise. We are going 
 on well here ; my colleague and I are happy together- 
 Farewell ! — Ever your loving brother, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1828. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I am happy to learn you are 
 much the same in your body as when I saw you last 
 year. An ordinary measure of health is a mercy far 
 too little prized, until we are laid on a bed of sickness, 
 and made to drink the bitter fruits of sin. When the 
 most holy and the most humble and active believer 
 looks back upon the days and years he has spent, and, 
 upon the whole, spent in doing the work which God 
 called him to do, how many blemishes will he discover 
 in his very best doings ! how many blanks, in which 
 nothing was done at all, for the honour of God, or the 
 good of our neighbour ! and how many misdoings may 
 he charge himself with before God ! Were not salva- 
 tion wholly of grace, from first to last, we could hare 
 no hope. The Arminian system may please and sooth 
 the pride of the corrupt heart, while the sinner is glid- 
 ing down the smooth current of external prosperity; 
 but when he is laid on the brink of eternity, with no- 
 thing to support his fainting soul but the baseless fabric 
 
LETTERS. 1 37 
 
 of his own good doings and good intentions, what a 
 deplorable prospect must he have before him ! The 
 genuine Christian, who has his hopes for eternity built on 
 the finished work of Christ, and glories only in the en 
 of Christ as the ground of his confidence, may calmly look 
 death and judgment in the face, and say — " My Re- 
 deemer hath answered all the demands of the law for 
 me : he hath finished transgression, and brought in 
 everlasting righteousness : he is the Lord my right- 
 eousness and strength ; yet I am not without the law 
 to God, but under the law to Christ. I love the law 
 because it is holy, and it is my study all the day to keep 
 it, as the evidence of my title to the everlasting king- 
 dom ; but I renounce all dependence on my best works, 
 and depend entirely for acceptance at the judgment- 
 seat on what precious Christ hath done for me." This, 
 dear brother, is the sure foundation of hope, on which 
 you and I may rest with confidence in life and at death. 
 It is an unspeakable mercy that our covenant God hath 
 laid this stable foundation of rest for us. Let us, by 
 faith, cling to it, whatever waves may pass over us. 
 " The foundation of God standeth sure :" nothing can 
 shake it. Our unbelief may deprive us of comfort, but 
 it cannot make the word of God of none effect. Though 
 we believe not, he abideth faithful, and cannot deny 
 himself. If you find any staggerings in your exercise, 
 any misgivings of heart, through the want of internal 
 evidence, go directly to God, in the gospel testimony 
 and promise ; put in your claim as a poor sinner, com- 
 ing to his throne for mercy, and grace to help you in 
 time of need, and trust him that lie will do as he hath 
 
 N 2 
 
138 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 said, and will do it because he hath said it. This is 
 the stronghold of faith which he will never reject. 
 
 These few hints I desire to take to myself; and 
 whether we ever meet again in this life or not, I hope 
 to meet you in that happy world where the inhabitant 
 shall not say, I am sick. Let us meet often at the 
 -King's throne on earth. Farewell ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1829. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I learn from a friend that you 
 have met with a fall at your own door. That we old 
 folks should sometimes stumble and fall is no wonder : 
 the frailties of old age enfeeble the external frame, and 
 we are less able to keep the balance even. Well, this 
 should daily tell us that the outward man is perishing, 
 that it must soon be dissolved. Can we say, with the 
 apostle, we " know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, 
 an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"? 
 To be able to say so, on good grounds, will keep our 
 minds in peace and quiet when we approach the con- 
 fines of eternity. It is so far from being presumption 
 in God's children, who have said amen to the everlast- 
 ing covenant, and accepted the great salvation, to use 
 such language, that it is their incumbent duty to use it, 
 and in this way to give evidence that they hold fast 
 their confidence stedfast to the end : yes, to hold it fast, 
 although it should be only as a drowning man would 
 hold a rope cast to him from the shore. 
 
LETTERS. 139 
 
 But true scriptural confidence does not arise from our 
 former experience : no, it arises from a present belief of 
 the promise— from a present improvement of Christ in the 
 promise — from the resting of the soul on his atoning blood 
 and sacrifice for eternal life, accompanied with the ex- 
 ercise of practical holiness. The Apostle Peter exhorts 
 to give diligence to make our calling and election sure, 
 but he also tells us to be diligent in hope. 
 
 Although clouds and darkness pass over us, we 
 should never give way to despondency : nothing dis- 
 honours God, or displeases him, so much as this. How 
 often does our Lord blame his disciples for their want 
 of confidence ! He said to Peter on the sea, " O thou 
 of little faith ! wherefore didst thou doubt?" Encou- 
 rage yourself in the Lord your God : say every day, 
 " This God is my God for ever and ever, and he will be 
 my guide even unto death." Cast your burden on the 
 Lord : sing Ps. lxxiii. 24-28, " Wait on the Lord ; be 
 of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart." 
 You and I, with our sister, have been long spared, to 
 see almost all the companions of our youth, the partners 
 of our bed, and some of the branches of our respective 
 families, laid in the dust. It is now a serious inquiry, 
 Why are we so long left to wander in this weary wil- 
 derness ? It is clear that our work on earth is not yet 
 done ; but are we doing whatsoever our hands find to 
 do with all our might? Ah! I fear none of us can 
 answer in the affirmative ! We are each moving in a 
 sphere of his or her own. I hope, too, that we are all, 
 in some measure, serving the same glorious Master; 
 but many a time my heart reproaches me for numerous 
 failures. As to personal and eternal concerns, you and 
 
140 LETTERS. 
 
 I are on a perfect level. Our great business should 
 be, to work out our own salvation with fear and 
 trembling, remembering always that it is God that 
 worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good plea- 
 sure. Thanks to our great and gracious Redeemer, 
 that he hath left nothing* for us to do in the wav of 
 working out a title to eternal life ! This was a work 
 only competent to himself, and he completely finished 
 it on the cross. But much — very much — is required 
 of us to be done, in order to evidence that we are heirs 
 of salvation ; and our great comfort is, that we are 
 workers together with God, without whom we can do 
 nothing. But if we would enjoy his gracious influence, 
 we must put forth our weak and withered arms at his 
 command ; and as our time is short, let us daily trim 
 our lamps, and be going out to meet our blessed bride- 
 groom. 
 
 May all your family have their feet shod with the 
 preparation of the gospel of peace ! This will prepare 
 them for going through the snares and troubles of life 
 with ease and comfort. May divine mercy compass 
 you all ! — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1830. 
 
 My Dear Brother — I occasionally hear, by indi- 
 rect channels, that you are tottering about, leaning on 
 your staff: I hope you are keeping a firm hold of the 
 staff of the promise of God. He has condescended to 
 confirm his word by his oath, " that by two immutable 
 
LETTERS. 141 
 
 tilings we might have strong consolation, who have fled 
 for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.'* 
 
 None except the true Christian can know the secret 
 consolation which flows from faith in the promises of 
 (iod. They are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. 
 They tell us both what our covenant God is in himself, 
 and what he will be and what he will do for us, both 
 in time and in eternity. They also assure us, that even 
 our own felt unworthiness and remaining corruption 
 shall not prevent the overflowings of his infinite love 
 and kindness to our souls. When we look within, we 
 may, in our best times, see so much vileness, coldness, 
 and carnality, as might justly provoke the Lord to cast 
 us off for ever. But the blessed Bible is full of graci- 
 ous declarations, assuring us that he rests in his love ; 
 that though the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
 removed, yet his loving-kindness shall not depart, nor 
 his covenant of peace be removed. When a child of 
 God reads such precious words coming from the mouth 
 of Him who cannot lie, what peace and consolation fills 
 his soul ! The captious and ignorant disputers of this 
 world say that such doctrines tend to licentiousness, 
 and encourage the Christian to sin. But, in their 
 ignorance, they speak evil of those things which they 
 know not. They never felt the heart-constraining love 
 of Christ in producing the deepest abhorrence of all sin, 
 and earnest pantings after perfection in holiness. My 
 dear brother, live near to the fountain-head of all gra- 
 cious communications by faith and earnest prayer ; 
 drink daily out of the pure river of the fountain of the 
 waters of life, which flows from beneath the throne of 
 God and the Lamb ! 
 
142 LETTERS. 
 
 You cannot go to drink at the stream which makes 
 glad the city of God in public ordinances, but you have 
 free and ready access to the stream which runs in every 
 page of the Bible. You can read it, and plead it at 
 the throne. In this way silent sabbaths will be days of 
 joy and feasting unto you. 
 
 I have had a letter from my son, in America. — 
 The Lord has tried him in various ways, and he has 
 also crowned him with many mercies. I entertain the 
 hope that he has been forming him, by these dispensa- 
 tions, for future usefulness in the church. He is now 
 about to be settled in a congregation. O carry him to 
 the throne, that the Lord may make him useful in 
 bringing many sinners to Christ ! 
 
 Now I must conclude by again reminding you, that 
 you have reached the utmost term of human life marked 
 out in Scripture ; and for some years past you have 
 found, in experience, that your threescore and ten, and 
 now your fourscore years, are, indeed, years of labour 
 and sorrow. Yet I hope, that though your outward 
 man is withered and wasted with old age and growing 
 infirmity, the inward man is renewed more and more. 
 You and I cannot be far from the goal of life, where 
 our race must end ; but I hope we are running for a 
 sure prize, secured to us by the death of our glorious 
 Redeemer. Our great forerunner hath for us entered 
 within the vail, and is saying, " Father, I will that these 
 whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that 
 they may behold my glory." Farewell, my dear bro- 
 ther ! — Yours, A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 143 
 
 To the Author's Brother, Mr. T — P — . 
 
 Terth, 1813. 
 Mv Dear Thomas — By a letter from \V — , I am sorry 
 to learn that you are again cast into God's furnace. 
 But though I most sincerely sympathize with you in 
 your affliction, yet I dare scarcely vindicate my expres- 
 sion of sorrow. What God does is always best ; and 
 if he designs to prove you, to humble and try you, that 
 he may do you good, O what a happy issue will the 
 affliction have ! We have been looking for your arrival 
 here for some time, and flattering ourselves that the 
 change of air might be beneficial. But it seems God 
 is ordering matters otherwise ; and what shall we say ? 
 M It is the Lord," said Hezekiah ; " let him do what 
 seemeth him good." He knows best when, and where, 
 and how to afflict. There are several links in this chain 
 of providence extremely observable ; such as, that you 
 should have left London at this time — that you should 
 have come to Scotland with the hope of gaining strength 
 — that you arrive at our elder brother's house — and that 
 there you should be laid down on a bed of distress, 
 which may prove the bed of death. 
 
 The Lord is able to raise you up again. Let us not 
 forget the remarkable deliverance he lately wrought 
 for you. He can do it again: but, my dear T — , the 
 safest course for you is to be looking out for death. 
 Permit me now to ask you, Have you made any provi- 
 sion for death and eternity ? This is the most solemn, 
 important, and deeply interesting step you ever took. 
 To appear before the eternal Judge without an interest 
 in Christ, and his all-perfect righteousness, is an awful 
 
144 LETTERS. 
 
 and overwhelming thought ! Think on our Lord's 
 words to Nicodemus : " Except a man be born again, 
 he shall not see the kingdom of God." Again, he says 
 to the disciples, " Except ye be converted, and become 
 as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the 
 kingdom of God." I doubt not that your conscience is 
 telling you, that you have spent above thirty years in 
 London in a very careless and thoughtless manner. 
 But I must tell you, dear brother, that it is not yet too 
 late to flee to the door of mercy, and knock, and cry 
 aloud for pardon and forgiveness. Jesus, our merciful 
 Redeemer, has brought in sons at the eleventh hour. 
 There is room for you in God's family. Jesus is able 
 to save to the uttermost : his blood cleanses from all 
 sin. You are yet a prisoner of hope : you cannot ho- 
 nour him more than by fleeing to him, and employing 
 him as your Saviour. Open your mind freely to your 
 brother W — ; he is able to give you wholesome advice ; 
 and it may be the Lord has brought you under his roof 
 that he may be made a spiritual director to you in 
 your present distress. But run to Jesus himself as 
 your only counsellor. Gracious acquaintance with him 
 will fill your mind with a joy and peace which pass 
 all understanding. We all sympathize deeply in your 
 affliction ; — and I ever am, dear brother, yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Author's Nephew, the Rev. J — P — . 
 
 Perth, 1799. 
 My Dear Nephew — I readily acknowledge that I 
 have been too long in answering your last favour, 
 
LKTTKH 14.") 
 
 especially as it was written from the furnace of afflic- 
 tion. I rind that an overgrowth has been the immedi- 
 ate cause of your distress. This has proved fatal to 
 many a young person ; but it seems that in your <-a 
 the sovereign Physician has been pleased to bless the 
 means of recovery. I hope you are now out of danger ; 
 but, my clear J — , the chief point is, to improve the 
 providence aright You have been rubbing shoulders 
 with the grave. Can you sing that note in good Heze- 
 kiah's song, " Behold, for peace I had great bitterness ; 
 but thou hast in love to mv soul delivered it from the 
 pit of corruption : for thou hast cast all my sins behind 
 thy back'? That godly man had been just delivered 
 from the grip of the king of terrors by a miracle, but 
 he reads love both in the trial and deliverance. The 
 love of God pulled back his body from the mouth of 
 the grave, and his soul from hell : " Thou hast loved 
 my soul from the pit of corruption." He lost nothing 
 in the furnace but his sins. What a singular mercy 
 to have the health of the soul promoted, even by pain- 
 ful remedies ! If the Lord has been setting you on 
 the brink of eternity, in order to show you the empti- 
 ness of all created things, and to bring you to more 
 close dealings with Christ for salvation, you will have 
 cause to thank him for the trial. General notions 
 about religion, and general exercises about salvation, 
 are like to banish all serious concern from among pro- 
 fessors. None had more need to be on their guard 
 against this prevailing spirit than ministers, and those 
 studying for the ministry. If the devil can get a set 
 of men brought into the ministry, with orthodox heads 
 and graceless hearts — with a moderate stock of litera- 
 
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146 LETTERS. 
 
 ture — with acute parts, but strangers to Christian ex- 
 perience — I say, if he succeed in this, then woe to the 
 church of Christ ! Be concerned, my dear J — , to 
 make sure work of being in Christ. He demands your 
 heart — he will be pleased with nothing less — earnestly 
 invite him to come in, and take the throne there. You 
 will never feel any solid pleasure in his service until 
 you see the glorious Master, and taste the sweetness 
 of his constraining love. I hope you are already ac- 
 quainted with him ; but press after more and more in- 
 tercourse. This is only to be got by living on him 
 daily in the word. Study the scriptures, not merely 
 as a student of divinity, but also as a Christian, seek- 
 ing the good of his souL 
 
 May the Lord direct all your studies to his own 
 glory, and confirm your health, and spare you for 
 much usefulness, when I am sleeping in the dust ! I 
 have not time to enlarge. We are pilgrims, I hope, to 
 the better country ; and though we meet sometimes 
 with foul weather, it is no more than has befallen our 
 precursors and fellow-travellers. We would not see 
 half of our heavenly Father's kindness and care about 
 us by the way, were we not oft in perils in the wilder- 
 ness. It is a great mercy for us that we are often so 
 hedged up that we cannot, by any foresight, escape 
 them. I hope for good accounts from you. — I am most 
 sincerely yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1800. 
 
 My Dear James — It gives me heartfelt satisfaction 
 
 to learn that your health is so far re-established that you 
 
LETTERS. 147 
 
 ean resume your studies ; but I must repeat the caution, 
 that it is needful to study with moderation. Your 
 plan of procedure seems to me very proper. I sin- 
 cerely wish and pray, that the spirit of wisdom and 
 revelation in the knowledge of Christ may rest upon 
 you, and richly store your mind both with all needful 
 graces and gifts. 
 
 I am glad to hear that the presbytery is giving you 
 discourses. I need not tell you about the pressure of 
 public calamities on this country, for all know it. 
 March is nearly ended, and there is very little seed 
 60wn. In high grounds the earth is completely covered 
 with a deep snow, and not a furrow teeled. The cattle 
 and sheep in the Highlands are dying fast for want of 
 food. The scarcity and dearth of provisions is extra- 
 ordinary : the poor can get a little barley, but no oat- 
 meal for some weeks back. No potatoes. How dis- 
 mal the prospect for six months yet to come ! But 
 the Lord is righteous. This is one of the judgments 
 of the latter times. In 1792 we attempted to starve 
 the whole nation of France, consisting of twenty-five 
 millions of people, and now a righteous God is serving 
 us with our own measure, pressed down and running 
 over. But we see not his just hand in the controversy. 
 
 Since the above was written, your father's letter has 
 reached me, with the tidings of your increasing dis- 
 tress. I would, therefore, remind you, my dear friend, 
 of your heavenly Father's kindness to you. You re- 
 remember that word, " As many as I love, I rebuke 
 and chasten." We are so foolish as ordinarily to con- 
 nect God's love with health, strength, and external 
 prosperity. But the wise orderings of our Father's 
 
148 LETTERS. 
 
 administrations are often the reverse. Read and con- 
 sider Heb. xii. Precious metals must be well refined. 
 I dare say you are satisfied that you need this trial, 
 and perhaps you may be reading the voice of reproof 
 in it for past transgressions. Well, be it so. Adore the 
 tender care of a kind Father, who is not ceasing to be 
 a reprover. He might have said, " Let him alone;" 
 and then, where had you been? He has, I hope, been 
 speaking to your conscience by the word, and now he 
 is speaking to you by the rod. This is very like 
 fatherly discipline : thank him for his paternal care — 
 welcome his visits — kiss the rod. You may say, these 
 advices are easily marked down on paper; but not so 
 easily copied in practice. I admit it : but, my dear J — , 
 I will tell you what will make the last as easy as the 
 first, — sickbed-grace coming along with the trial. It 
 was no more in Paul's power to glory in his infirmities 
 than it is in yours or mine, unless that precious word had 
 been made out to him, " My grace is sufficient for thee, 
 for my strength is made perfect in weakness." This 
 staff put into your hand will enable you to go through 
 your trial triumphing. Now what hinders you taking 
 hold of it ? It is brought to you in the word of grace : 
 the promise is to you and me. Have we not as good 
 warrant as the great apostle of the Gentiles to claim the 
 good of the promise, and to believe the great Promiser ? 
 Has he not said, " As thy day is, so shall thy strength 
 be"? The great work of a child of God, under the 
 cross, is, to stand on the ground of the promise, and 
 leave God to take his own way in providence. Be 
 much in prayer : there is no relief like that which 
 comes from a God of grace seated on a throne of grace. 
 
LETTERS. 149 
 
 This sweetens the bitterest waters of affliction, and 
 keeps the soul calm amidst the roaring billows. Cast 
 the anchor of hope on that within the vail, and you 
 need not fear shipwreck; none perish that trust him. 
 Leave the issue of this trouble with the Lord. Your 
 loving parents and connections are crying for your de- 
 liverance ; but we must cry submissively. What is 
 good the Lord will give. We know to whom the issues 
 from death belong, and he can deliver in seven troubles; 
 but a blessing on the trial is infinitely preferable to a 
 deliverance from it ; and to be with Christ is far better 
 than to abide in this vale of tears. I hope the Lord is 
 preparing you at this school for greater usefulness in 
 the church below; but if he should be pleased to 
 meeten you by it for the church above, sure you will 
 be a vast gainer. I leave you wholly in his hands, 
 hoping the next letter will bring me the intelligence of 
 your recovery, if it so please the wise Disposer of events. 
 May the Lord direct your heart to the love of God, 
 and to a patient waiting for Christ ! — I am affectionately 
 yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1802. 
 
 M* Dear James — Your acceptable favour came 
 duly to hand. You complain, with some degree of 
 justice, of my deferring to answer your letters. I have 
 no apology to offer except a multiplicity of cares press- 
 ing daily upon me. 
 
 I am thankful that your mother is continuing to re- 
 cover. I hope her valuable life will be spared for a sea- 
 
 o 2 
 
150 LETTERS. 
 
 sod, in kindness to your father and family; but our 
 clearest earthly comforts are held by an insecure tenure; 
 and yet they are the best that a child of God, in suitable 
 exercise, would wish for, — viz. his heavenly Father's 
 pleasure. What happy persons would we be, could we 
 live up to the sense and spirit of the third petition of 
 the Lord's Prayer ! It is often good to bear the yoke 
 in youth. Early afflictions have been most blessed dis- 
 pensations in the experience of many ; and, if I am 
 not mistaken, you may say so, to the praise of sove- 
 reign grace. I can read in your two last letters, the 
 most satisfactory marks of a soul broken, emptied, and 
 lying low before God. May your heart be always 
 kept in this happy frame by a daily life of faith on 
 Christ, and much intimate communion with him in his 
 grace and comforts. Nothing in this world — not the 
 heaviest trials of life — will wither the root of pride and 
 vanity, and other heart lusts ; nothing will do it but 
 vital influence, derived from Christ to the soul by the 
 word and spirit. The more we live upon him by faith, 
 the less will sin live in us; the more also will the life 
 of Christ be manifest in our mortal bodies, and in our 
 daily practice. I hope your health is more confirmed, 
 and that your studies are prosecuted with pleasure. 
 Try to make a proper selection of books. There are 
 two sorts of books that should be avoided, — viz. such 
 as would not increase your stock of knowledge, and 
 such as would vitiate the mind. All trifling publica- 
 tions belong to the former class ; and the world is filled 
 with these in every department. Your own discern- 
 ment and taste will point out to you the pernicious. 
 All the time spent in improper reading is lost. You 
 
LETTERS. 151 
 
 will find some difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply 
 of good authors ; but a few well chosen are better than 
 a multitude taken promiscuously. Remember always 
 my former advice, — reserve a proper quantum of time 
 for recreation. — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1803. 
 
 My Dear James — I received your acceptable fa- 
 vour, and am happy to observe that the Lord of the 
 vineyard is emptying you more and more of that vile 
 principle, which has been in many, many instances a 
 worm at the root of very promising gifts and graces, 
 and brought on very sad rebukes from God. There 
 is uo frame of heart more offensive to God, or more 
 unsuitable to the office and work of a gospel minister, 
 than high and self-sufficient thoughts. Pride of gifts, 
 and even of graces, has often provoked the Lord to 
 trample many great and good men in the dust. I 
 believe more ministers have fallen victims to their 
 spiritual pride than any other class of men. Where- 
 ever the Lord intends to make a man useful in his 
 service, he will have him humbled or lay him low by one 
 mean or another. The Lord has been pleased to fol- 
 low a way of his own for effecting this happy end in 
 you; I daresay you are now well pleased with the 
 way which he hath taken. But while the Lord has 
 been performing a kind work upon you, take care of 
 misconstructing him. He is holding you up to the 
 wind that he may winnow you, and blow away your 
 
1 52 LETTERS. 
 
 chaff, and show you yonr own emptiness ; but his de- 
 sign is not to drive you from his work. No, it is to 
 fit you for his work, and to teach you the need of the 
 staff of the promise in the very entry of your public 
 service. You remember that our Lord allowed his 
 apostles, in their first mission, to take nothing with 
 them but what they required for present use, — no 
 gold, no silver, no brass, only one coat, one pair of 
 shoes, and a staff in their hand, — and you remember 
 the honourable testimony they afterwards bore to their 
 kind Master's liberality — " They lacked nothing." 
 You have only now to learn what you will need to be 
 learning all your days, " To trust the Lord and go 
 forward." You cannot think more meanly of yourself 
 than thousands have done before you ; but let not un- 
 belief get shelter under the cloak of humility. You 
 will find Zion's King possesses a bountiful, royal heart 
 towards all his faithful servants. 
 
 I am sorry to hear that your mother is so frequently 
 attacked with her old complaint. Such is her kind 
 Physician's will ; and he never administers a needless 
 dose. — I am ever yours, in warm regard, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1803. 
 
 My Dear James — Will not impeach me with ne- 
 glect in failing to fulfil my promise sooner. 
 
 I hope that now the tide of feeling is ebbing, and 
 faith, accompanied by patience, resignation, and rest 
 in God, has succeeded. I do not blame you for feeling 
 
LETTERS. 153 
 
 the bitter stroke of a dear, gracious parent's death. 
 Not to feel a trial, and such a trial, argues a heart 
 greatly deficient, if not devoid, both of humanity and 
 religion. But our danger arises from indulging the 
 feeling to excess. When faith keeps its proper place 
 in the soul, grief for our greatest worldly losses is 
 counterbalanced by a sweet joy in the Lord. This 
 tills the mind with an object infinitely attractive and 
 glorious, and leads the attention away from what is 
 gloomy and grating to our feelings. Abraham never, 
 appeared so great as on the mount, when, at God's 
 call, he bound his beloved son, laid him on the altar, 
 and had his paternal hand lifted to inflict the mortal 
 wound. He was enabled to triumph over all the 
 feelings of a fond parent's heart, over all the false 
 reasonings of flesh and blood, and over all the proud 
 disputings of unbelief: he was " strong in the faith." 
 You have, indeed, lost a very dear, a most deservedly 
 dear mother ; but your everlasting Father lives. Could 
 we bring faith to that rich, emphatic, tender, and en- 
 dearing name, what would it not find wrapt up in it ! 
 What love, what compassion, what tenderness, what 
 care and comfort does it bespeak ! You are, I hope, 
 going to this full fountain with your empty pitcher : 
 draw and drink to the full, and you will go on your 
 way rejoicing, even in tribulation. How is your 
 father carrying under this sore stroke ? I expect to 
 hear from him soon. I hope the Lord, who com- 
 forteth those who are cast down, will stand by him, 
 and speak comfortably to him in the wilderness. 
 The loss will be heavy to you all, but he will need 
 special sympathy. Are you entered on your trials for 
 
1 54 LETTERS. 
 
 license ? Do you read any particular lesson in the 
 removal of your mother, just at the time when you 
 are about to enter on public work? 
 
 May the great Counsellor of Israel guide you in all 
 your ways ! Farewell ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1804. 
 
 My Dear James — Both your letters I received, 
 and must delay no longer to answer them. I bless 
 the Lord for bringing your mind to a determination 
 respecting your call. What difficulties soever may 
 cast up in your after lot, I hope you will always have 
 the consoling reflection that they are the wise order- 
 ings of the Lord, and you had no active hand in pro- 
 curing them. Our great concern should be, to know 
 present duty, and to leave events with the Lord. 
 Lot's choice was extremely natural : " He lifted up 
 his eyes, and beheld the plain of Jordan, that it was 
 well watered everywhere ; and he chose him all the 
 plain." But how much cause had the good man to 
 regret his rich choice ! How far to be preferred the 
 quiet life and bleaker lot of Abraham ! That you will 
 meet with difficulties in our good Lord's work at N — , 
 may be well supposed; but where would you have 
 escaped them ? Nay, what thriving servant of Christ 
 would wish to want them ? Should I have consulted 
 my inclination, I could tell you where I would have 
 wished you to have been stationed ; but we shall have 
 cause in the issue to say, that the Lord's ordering* 
 
LETTERS. 1 55 
 
 are best. And if the great Counseller go before you, 
 he will smooth the way, or guide you through thorns 
 and briars. I am such a stranger to the people and 
 the place, that I can venture to give you no advice, 
 except in general, — 1st, To take heed that all stand 
 well between God and your own soul. If there be a 
 breach here, nothing will go well in your public ad- 
 ministrations. 2d, Study to level your ministrations 
 directly to the conscience of your people. A plain, 
 practical, and searching ministry has been usually 
 most useful to souls. 3d, Study a faithful and impar- 
 tial exercise of discipline. Should you observe any of 
 your people, or hear of them, beginning to swerve 
 from the path of holiness, neglect not to deal first with 
 them by honest and private admonition. 4th, With 
 regard to your neighbour in the ministry, endeavour 
 to maintain a good understanding with him as much 
 as possible. If he has peculiarities, cover them on all 
 occasions so far as you honestly can. This will have 
 the best effect both among your own people and among 
 his. May an unction from above descend on you on 
 Wednesday se'ennight ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1804. 
 My Dear James — Your letter reached me in course, 
 but 1 have been so engaged that I never found time to 
 answer it so particularly as it merited till now. 
 
 I have seen Mr. G — since his return from N — , who 
 gave me an account of what passed at your settlement. 
 
156 LETTER-. 
 
 I am glad to see that your mind is deeply impressed 
 with the importance and difficulties of your work and 
 situation. For your encouragement, I will refer you 
 to two passages discoursed upon last Sabbath and Mon- 
 day at this place. Our Lord's Supper was then dis- 
 pensed in this congregation. The first passage I refer 
 you to, was Psal. xxxii. 8, — " I Mill instruct thee, and 
 teach thee in the way which thou shaJt go : I will guide 
 thee with mine eye." A promise more full, more suit- 
 able, and sweet to faith, you will not find in the book 
 of God. It plainly looks to believers in dark and dif- 
 ficult times; but the promise of safe conduct is abso- 
 lute. Observe the marginal reading : mine eye shall 
 be upon thee. It is the language of a loving father to 
 a poor, weakly, staggering, bewildered child. The 
 child, perhaps, does not perceive that his father's eye is 
 upon him at the time. Unbelief and temptation may 
 whisper, " My way is hid from the Lord." But no : 
 " I will counsel thee ; mine eye is upon thee." In the 
 faith of this we may face any work or difficulty. The 
 other text was, Phil. iv. 7, taken in connection with 
 verse 6. The important exhortation is, " Be careful 
 for nothing." We both know, from experience, how 
 much the heart is teased and torn asunder by sinful 
 and excessive anxiety. The great antidote which the 
 Divine Spirit prescribes is, to commit all matters to 
 God's management, by prayer and supplication with 
 thanksgiving; and the happy consequence will be as 
 expressed in verse 7, — " The peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and 
 minds, through Christ Jesus," — shall garrison the heart 
 in Christ Jesus. No where shall we find solid and 
 
LETTERS. 157 
 
 lasting peace but here. As I am on this subject, I may 
 tell you, in confidence, that I thought I got near the 
 throne on the evening of the fast-day, in secret, and 
 got leave to look into, and wonder at, the height and 
 depth, the length and breadth of the love of Christ, in 
 coming my length, and burying my great and number- 
 less sins out of God's sight. At the communion-table 
 on Sabbath, although I felt nothing of a lively frame, 
 I was helped to say amen to the everlasting covenant, 
 and got leave also to put the King in remembrance of 
 you, and got a hold, I trust, of Isa. xlii. 16, in relation 
 to you. Fear not, my dear nephew, you serve a kind 
 and bountiful master. Try to live near him, to depend 
 singly upon him, and make large demands upon his 
 fulness. 
 
 Are you not struck with the strange, awful, and 
 hopeful aspect of Providence at this time ? I should 
 imagine that no one who will be at the pains to read 
 his Bible, and will compare present events with Rev. 
 xvi. but may be satisfied that the sixth vial is at least 
 begun to be poured out. I don't think the history of 
 Europe presents us with such a number of emperors, 
 kings, and princes on the field at any one time. It is 
 not for us to say how long this great struggle will last, 
 nor what turns it may take ; but the issue, I apprehend, 
 is not dubious. Let the Lord do his own work ; our 
 duty is to stand still, and see the salvation of God. 
 The storm is fast making toward us. Blessed are they 
 that watch and keep their garments clean. — Ever yours 
 in sincere regard, A. P. 
 
158 SERMONS. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1805. 
 
 My Dear Nephew — Matters are going on with us 
 much in the usual way. We are loaded every day 
 with mercy, and every day we grieve the kind Giver. 
 If I do not deceive myself, my hardness of heart, my 
 coldness, my ingratitude, my pride, my unbelief, are 
 my burden ; and I sometimes get the length of bewail- 
 ing my case before the Lord. But yet mine enemies 
 are lively — they are strong ; and they that hate me are 
 multiplied. The conflict, however, is hopeful. Our 
 dear Lord has got the victory, and insured success to 
 all his poor followers. I'm often sore wounded, but 
 not forsaken. My good Master's work is more and 
 more pleasant to me. I have cause to blush for my 
 poor services ; but the Lord pities for his name's sake. 
 I hope you are going on in the strength of the Lord 
 God, and can say that you lack nothing. I can give 
 you no plan about visitation. It is common for every 
 minister to take his own method ; and, perhaps, the 
 best way may be, to vary it frequently according to 
 circumstances. The great object of it should be, to 
 stir up all to the duties of personal, family, and public 
 religion. If there be occasion for particular dealings 
 with individuals, it may be better to take them apart, 
 and deal closely with their consciences. In a congre- 
 gation formed like yours, I should think it very proper 
 to enrol all regular attendants on ordinances, when they 
 wait on your diets of visitation. It is common to ca- 
 techise all children ; and I should think it might be very 
 proper for you, and useful, to spend an afternoon or 
 
LETTERS. 159 
 
 evening, once a-week or fortnight, in catechising young 
 persons in public. 
 
 I most feelingly sympathize with you in consequence 
 of your late visitation ; but I am happy to learn that 
 our kind Lord hath countermanded the rod. Two 
 things should keep our mind quiet under all vicissi- 
 tudes — namely, that every event was marked out by 
 unerring wisdom, and that all shall be made conducive 
 to our eternal good. No class of servants in our Lord's 
 family needs more training at the school of trying ex- 
 perience than ministers ; and if the Lord makes any 
 use of us, he commonly leads us now and then to Bo- 
 ll im. I see you are breathing more ardently after more 
 holiness : may this happy frame be deepened and pre- 
 served, and you shall neither want comfort nor success. 
 I am becoming more and more sensible that no state 
 of mind is so congenial to our Christian character and 
 ministerial work as a humble, single, confident depend- 
 ence on God in the promise. We shall be covered 
 with confusion — and so we should — if we go to the 
 Lord's work in our own strength ; but, in the other 
 case, we shall not be disappointed. I am forgetting 
 myself, and what you required of me. I bless the Lord 
 for your recovery. 
 
 With reference to your missionary dilemma, I am 
 precisely of your mind. I feel a conviction that we 
 in the Secession do perhaps too little ; but I am con- 
 vinced that we cannot be said to be altogether neutral. 
 If we, as a body, do not formally co-operate in missions 
 to the heathen, individuals do ; and I conceive all of us 
 may, in a pecuniary way at least. The formation and 
 management of the London Society are such, that I, at 
 
160 LETTERS. 
 
 least, have not freedom to go along with them as a 
 member, for the reasons you mention ; and I have con- 
 sulted lately with some, both in the Establishment and 
 Independent connection, who have scruples, although 
 they act along with them. When I mentioned my diffi- 
 culties to them, they urged me to draw up the outline of 
 a plan in which we in the Secession and others might 
 consistently join in the great work, without committing 
 ourselves to what we think objectionable. I don't con- 
 ceive it impossible to devise such a plan, but have never 
 yet thought closely on the subject. Would you turn 
 your attention this way, and I will send you my views 
 iipon it more fully. I suppose a good many have 
 joined the London Society, because they can find no 
 other on the field with w r hich they can co-operate. I 
 have thought also that the Lord is employing the Se- 
 cession in the same work on a small scale, by spreading 
 the gospel in Orkney and the wilds of America ; and 
 I suppose there are few congregations among us but 
 are going on very actively with the Bible Society. 
 
 There is much affliction around me among my 
 brethren, and the Lord is saying to me, " Behold, I 
 come quickly." It is my desire to go out and meet 
 him. Kind love. — Ever vours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1820. 
 
 My Dear Nephew — I engaged to write you after 
 the meeting of synod. It could never have been sup- 
 posed that so few would have been stumbled and car- 
 
LETTERS. 161 
 
 i ied off at such an important and wonderful change in 
 our church as the union of two such extensively-spread 
 and widely-separated bodies. 
 
 The Lord keeps his vineyard night and day, lest any 
 hurt it. O that he may also water it every moment ! 
 The communion was dispensed in this town last Sab- 
 bath. Mr. Aikman and I exchanged our assistants, 
 which has given general satisfaction. All seems to be 
 peace, and harmony, and love. O that a fresh gale 
 from the four winds w r ere sent forth upon us ! I think 
 we have much reason for hope : our scattered bones 
 are brought together in the valley, and covered with 
 sinews, flesh, and skin. Let us ministers prophesy over 
 them, and cry, " Come from the four winds, O breath 
 of the Lord !" This is certainly a very remarkable 
 era : may the Lord enable us to make a suitable im- 
 provement of it, both in our exercise and ministry ! 
 
 June, 1821. — Our Presbytery met on Tuesday, and 
 appointed the ordination of my colleague on the 17th 
 of next month. The Lord has so mercifully displayed 
 his own management in all the previous steps which 
 have led to this result, that I am often made to stand 
 still and wonder at his goodness to me, and to this con- 
 gregation. But if the Lord do not fill the church and 
 the heart with his own glory, all will soon go to wreck. 
 May the God of grace and peace rest with you I — I 
 ever am your loving uncle, A. P. 
 
 p 2 
 
162 LETTERS. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1837- 
 
 My very Dear Nephew — I learn from Mr. R — , 
 that you have been visited with a bilious fever. This 
 was our Father's rod with which I was chastened in 
 1795. It brought me to the brink of the grave ; but 
 I will never forget, through grace, some useful and 
 some sweet lessons which the Lord taught me in that 
 furnace ; nor can I, without the most culpable crimi- 
 nality and stupidity, forget how soon I departed from 
 the fountain of living waters, and betook myself to 
 cisterns. O, Sir, the human heart, even where the good 
 work is mercifully begun, is a very mystery of iniquity. 
 When we look at Paul's disclosures (Rom. vii.), we 
 may weep and groan over our own sad and shameful 
 experiences ; but we must not despair. Nothing but 
 rich, omnipotent, sovereign grace can deliver us from 
 the pit of corruption at first, or keep us from falling 
 into final destruction at last. 
 
 These thoughts refer to my own former case ; but I 
 hope the latter class of them will not be exemplified in 
 you. I hear you are coming out of the furnace : may 
 our great and gracious Physician bring you out as gold 
 seven times purified, and spare you many years for 
 future usefulness in the church. 
 
 I may also let you know what I am doing in the close 
 of my long life. It has been impressed on my mind to 
 commence a small work — viz. a cursory view of the 
 work of God in the church, from the first revelation of 
 grace in Paradise down to the ascension of Christ. 
 You may be sure it can only be a mere gleaning on 
 
LETTERS. 163 
 
 this great field : no pretensions to anything new or 
 great : but our great Master has often perfected praise 
 from the pens, and out of the mouths, of babes and 
 sucklings. I am near a close in writing, and will soon 
 issue it from the press, and leave all in our gracious 
 Master's hand. I have been attacked by my old com- 
 plaint the week before the dispensation of the Lord's 
 Supper, and of course was shut out from the sanctuary; 
 but the work of God was acceptably, and, I hope, suc- 
 cessfully carried on by my excellent and warm-hearted 
 colleague, and by the condescending kindness of our 
 gracious God. I have been very gently handled in 
 this chastisement : love to my soul, and pity to my 
 poor, withering frame, have carried me through with 
 remarkable ease and quiet. I am now trying to tune 
 my harp to some of the sweet songs of Zion. 
 
 I for some time, through this week, thought that this 
 messenger was sent to lay the axe to the root of the 
 tree ; but convalescence is begun, and it would seem 
 that I am not yet ripe for the better world, and that 
 my poor service is not yet done. It becomes me hum- 
 bly to wait, and watch in faith and patience : our times 
 are in our Father's hand ; and I trust him that he will 
 perfect that which concerns me. He is filling my lot 
 with many mercies. Among others, with a growing 
 interest in the hearts of a loving people — with the un- 
 wearied, kind attentions of my loving children and 
 grandchildren — and, what I account better than all 
 these, increasing pleasure in our Lord's blessed work. 
 O, my dear J — , help me to praise him ! My days are 
 near a close ; and though we should never again meet 
 on earth, let us hope to spend an eternity together. — 
 Yours, A. P. 
 
164 LETTERS. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. F r of P y. 
 
 Methtek, 1808. 
 
 My very Dear FriEx\d — I embrace this opportunity 
 of conveyance to tell you that you are much on ray 
 heart under this fresh and severe bereavement. It is 
 Archbishop Leighton, I think, who has somewhere re- 
 marked, that the Lord deals with his people like a wise 
 commander, who picks out his most trusty and skilful 
 warriors for the most dangerous and important under- 
 takings. You are younger than I am in years, but 
 much older and more matured in Christian experience ; 
 and our kind Lord knows that you have strength given 
 you to bear a burden of trials which would crush me 
 to atoms. I can say nothing from personal acquaint- 
 ance ; but, from information, I find that you have lost 
 an invaluable treasure. 
 
 Be it so, my dear friend. You have enjoyed this 
 gift of God as long as infinite wisdom and love judged 
 it proper you should ; and setting flesh and blood aside, 
 I believe your settled judgment, reason, and faith would 
 not wish to have retained the dear pledge of love a 
 moment longer. I cannot speak from experience when 
 I address you on this occasion. The wife of my youth 
 is still, through the peculiar mercy of God, spared with 
 me ; but I can say that I have been in deaths often, 
 though not in Paul's sense. Even since last synod I 
 have been led to think that my race was nearly run. 
 I have been riding for relaxation, and am coming round 
 again. I may wear a little longer, but the day is at 
 hand, and I am calculating on the near approach of 
 eternity; and have deposited life, wife, children, church, 
 
LETTERS. 165 
 
 and all, in our Lord's trusty band. Let him dispose of 
 all in his own way. 
 
 I know that it is one thing to say so when we are 
 not taken at our word, and another to meet the trial 
 itself. But grace is sufficient, and our Lord's conde- 
 scension is infinite. I hope my dear friend is now ex- 
 periencing the kind support of tender mercy in this 
 hour of need. You rested sweetly under the grateful 
 shade of the gourd, — now when it is withered, go 
 directly to the broad-spreading shadow of the Rock of 
 Ages. No storms below, no casualties, can deprive us 
 of this cooling and refreshing retreat, if faith be in 
 exercise. May the Lord, that comforteth them that 
 are cast down, support you on this trying occasion! 
 You have the prayers and Christian sympathy of many ; 
 and, what is far better, I hope you have the everlasting 
 arms around you. Your motherless children are the 
 Lord's heritage, and he will take care of them. 
 
 Remember me most affectionately to your good and 
 aged mother. I hope she can sing the close of the 
 ninety-second Psalm. Farewell, my very dear brother ! 
 — Your most sympathizing and loving friend, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To Mrs. J n, Edinburgh. 
 
 Perth, 1807. 
 My Dear Friend — I was grieved to learn yesterday 
 the particulars of your present distress. Though it be 
 Saturday, I have laid aside my preparations to express 
 my most sincere Christian sympathy with you under 
 this visitation. I have been trying to follow the course 
 
166 LETTERS. 
 
 of the two good sisters at Bethany, when their brother 
 Lazarus was sick : they sent and told Jesus. I hope 
 he is already with you, with his left hand under your 
 head, and his right embracing you. There is no friend, 
 no physician like him: a glimpse of his lovely face, a 
 word from his blessed mouth, is a reviving cordial to 
 the drooping soul. Should he be carrying toward you 
 as he did to that good family — that is, trying your faith 
 and patience by delaying a comfortable visit — you must 
 not call in question the Saviour's love. His kind heart 
 was equally warm toward Lazarus and his sisters, when 
 he abode beyond Jordan, as when he came to their 
 house in Bethany. We are too apt to measure Christ's 
 love by the varying rule of our own sense and feelings, 
 or to imagine that his love to us is greatest when he 
 manifests it most, and when we taste its sweetness most. 
 But this is a great mistake. He rests in his love : it 
 is always the same, whether we experience its glad- 
 dening effects in the soul or not. The great thing 
 which Christ blamed Martha and Mary for, was the 
 weakness of their faith : " Said I not unto thee, if thou 
 wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God ?" 
 Faith in the promise of grace is the grand anchor-hold 
 of the gracious soul at all times, and is especially suited 
 to a dark and trying season. When waves and billows 
 are going over us, and deep calling unto deep, faith can 
 look to God in the promise and say, " Though he cause 
 grief, yet he will turn again and have compassion, ac- 
 cording to the multitude of his tender mercies. My 
 heart and my flesh faileth ; but God is the strength of 
 my heart, and my portion for ever." When we do not 
 feel the love of God shed abroad in our hearts as for- 
 
LETTERS. 167 
 
 nierly, it is glorifying to God, and a noble stay to the 
 soul, to believe the love which God hath toward us, — 
 that is, to look directly to God in the promise, and be- 
 lieve the blessed testimony of a faithful God with ap- 
 plication to ourselves. This would keep the mind calm 
 and serene amidst the greatest fights of affliction. 
 
 Many a believer has had that word made out in his 
 experience, Isaiah xxvi. 3, " Thou wilt keep him in 
 perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. ,, But the 
 objection recurs, " My troubled, or unsettled, or stupid 
 mind is not stayed on God, and therefore I want peace.'' 
 But why is it not stayed on him ? We will not credit 
 the divine testimony. We see and feel our heart dis- 
 orders, and conclude that such things are inconsistent 
 with a gracious state. But where is the Christian — 
 where was he ever found — who had not cause to be- 
 wail the plagues of his heart? The grand distinguish- 
 ing trait of the Christian life is, that we wrestle every 
 day with spiritual wickedness. 
 
 But, my dear Madam, where am I running ? What 
 I have said may be a little suited to your former com- 
 plaining frame ; but let me now hope, that as your 
 affliction abounds, your consolation also abounds by 
 Christ Jesus. If so, you will be hailing and welcoming 
 the approaching Bridegroom. The safety of Israel, in 
 passing Jordan, was, that the ark stood in the midst of 
 the channel until old and young had set their foot on 
 the land of promise. You know the significance of the 
 emblem. Study to keep your eye on our great High 
 Priest. He has already passed over, and has assured 
 us that an entrance shall be ministered to us abundantly 
 into his everlasting kingdom. He is infinitely kind and 
 
168 LETTERS. 
 
 faithful, and will do as he has said, — Isa. xii. 10. Fear 
 thou not, " for I am with thee." To his paternal care 
 I commend you. " As a father pitieth his children, so 
 the Lord pities them that fear him." 
 
 All here join me in affectionate sympathy and ear- 
 nest prayers for your gracious support, and recovery 
 too, should the great Physician so see meet. My dear 
 friend, stand still and observe the doing of the great 
 Angel of the Covenant. I know somewhat of your 
 feelings ; but try to sing Psalm xlvi. 1, 2, 3. May the 
 Lord be with you ! — I am yours, A. P. 
 
 To Mr. J , Edinburgh. 
 
 Perth, 1808. 
 
 My Dear Friend — Some weeks ago I had a kind 
 
 letter from Mr. , giving me a particular account 
 
 of Mr*. 's situation. He, I understand, wrote by 
 
 your desire. Please to thank him, in my name, for the 
 trouble he took to inform a distant friend, deeply inte- 
 rested in one so dear to us all. The Lord has honoured 
 her to be very useful in her day. Could the earnest 
 wishes and prayers of the saints ward off the king of 
 terrors, I believe your life and .her's would be long 
 preserved. 
 
 But our Sovereign Lord does whatsoever pleaseth 
 him in heaven and earth, in the sea, and all deep places. 
 One of the best of men said that he would not live 
 always. All saints agree with him : " To depart, and 
 be with Christ, is far better." Tell my good friend, 
 from me, not to fear. Do I say, Tell it her from me? 
 
LETTERS. 169 
 
 Nay, tell her so from the mouth of the Lord. It is 
 very observable that a vast number of the precious 
 promises begin with this caution and inhibition, " Fear 
 thou not." (See Isaiah xli. 10-14; xliii. 1, 2; and 
 xliv. 2, 3.) But where could I stop, should I recount 
 the whole? Now our compassionate Father clearly 
 foresaw, from everlasting, what a company of poor, 
 timid, unbelieving, and discouraged creatures his people 
 would be in this valley of tears — how ready they 
 would be, under a cloud of desertion, in the hours of 
 temptation, and under sharp bodily affliction, or when 
 looking into their hearts and exercises, to cry out, 
 " My hope is lost !" No, says a God of mercy, " Fear 
 thou not ! " " Be not dismayed." Such trials are amply 
 provided for in the covenant. Infinite wisdom marked 
 them out for the heirs of promise. Infinite love has 
 laid up provision in Christ, and brought it near to us 
 in the word, for such seasons. 'Tis true, that for the 
 present we may not enjoy the comfort of the promise. 
 Our faith may be weak — we may look too much, like 
 Peter, to the rolling waves and the roaring winds. 
 But our dear and compassionate Lord will not allow 
 his poor doubting disciple to sink for all that. The 
 waves may swell up to the brim, but they shall not 
 overwhelm his soul. His body, his outward and in- 
 ward comfort, may be overwhelmed ; but his soul is 
 in safe keeping. His better part, his eternal interests, 
 are in safety. " The Lord," says the Psalmigt, " shall 
 keep thy soul ; he shall preserve thee from all evil." 
 Tell our dear distressed friend to encourage herself in 
 the Lord her God. 
 
 At evening-time it shall be light. It was very un- 
 
 Q 
 
170 LETTERS 
 
 reasonable and groundless for the disciples to dread 
 shipwreck on the sea of Galilee when Jesus was in the 
 hinder part of the ship. He seemed not to be caring 
 about them — he was asleep. This was so ordered for 
 the trial of their faith. They, like us, were too much 
 Jed by sense. Had they remembered his Godhead 
 they had not feared. Let us try to keep in view his 
 everlasting, unchangeable love, and rest here under all 
 storms and darkness. Trials are going around. While 
 I write, good Mr. I — of Milnathort's son is dying in 
 the next room, — I don't think he will see the morning. 
 His father is carrying like a Christian who has com- 
 mitted his all to God. 
 
 I shall be happy to hear from you concerning our 
 worth v friend in the furnace. Mv tender love, svm- 
 pathy. and poor prayers are for you both. May the 
 Father of mercies support you ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Aug. 1815. 
 
 My Dear Friend — I was much concerned to learn 
 
 from Mr. that you had been visited with a very 
 
 severe affliction a few weeks ago. It pleased the 
 Lord to stay the rough wind in the day of the east 
 wind. I hope the waters of Marah have been sweet- 
 ened. The cup of affliction is very unpalatable to our 
 natural man, but the bitterest drugs are often the most 
 powerful. 
 
 We must be taught by experience that sin is a very 
 bitter thing, and that it cannot be brought down and 
 
LETTERS. 171 
 
 purged out without some very strong doses. But our 
 kind Father's hand always mixes up the potion. You 
 know, I hope, whom you have believed: you may 
 persuade yourself that he will faithfully keep that 
 which vou have committed unto him. 
 
 You and I are now far advanced in our wilderness 
 course : it behoves us much to be on the outlook for 
 our Lord's coming, and to have all ready for the last 
 call. We will find it the only way to attain peace and 
 comfort in life and at death, to study daily to maintain 
 a life of faith on the Son of God. This sweet life 
 consists in going to Christ for all, and with all — in 
 giving him absolute credit for all that he has promised, 
 whether it be well or ill with us in present exercise — 
 and taking in good part all his dispensations, whether 
 trying or comfortable. Let us try to learn more and 
 more of this blessed exercise. 
 
 Thanks to the kind Physician for your late deliver- 
 ance ! May the Lord spare you long for a blessing ! — 
 Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, May, 1818. 
 My Dear Friend — I left you last Saturday in a 
 gentle furnace. Duty called me away. I lost all 
 knowledge of your situation the moment I turned my 
 back. This letter will tell you what place you retain 
 in my heart. The very best friends on earth are poor 
 empty cisterns ; let us take our hearts off from them, 
 and keep them fixed on that blessed and glorious 
 Friend, who not only loveth at all times, but hath pro- 
 
172 LETTERS. 
 
 mised, " I will never leave vou, nor forsake vou." He 
 lias, of late, put you frequently into the furnace ; he 
 knows there is much dross about us ; we need to be 
 melted and tried ; but, like a skilful refiner, he stands 
 by, observing and directing the process, and scumming 
 off the dross. Trust him, Sir, that he will not lose a 
 single particle of the good metal. There are two 
 openings by which he takes out his tried gold : the 
 one is toward time, and the other toward eternity. 
 You and I have often been put in and drawn out again 
 by the former ; but the time is approaching when we 
 must pass through at that side of the furnace which 
 opens into eternity ; but let us not be afraid, the same 
 kind Lord presides in both worlds. I hope we have 
 both committed our souls to his everlasting keeping, 
 and may rest assured that he will keep that which we 
 have deposited in his hand. My dear Sir, endeavour 
 to live and lean on Christ in the promise, and you may 
 firmly trust hira that all will be well. — Yours truly, 
 
 A. P, 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Sept. 1820. 
 
 My Dear Friend — Having a leisure hour, I em- 
 brace it to fulfil my promise of sending you a few lines 
 to tell you, that through the goodness of God I got 
 safely home the day I left you, and found my family 
 all well. I did not meet a smiling spouse at the 
 door, to welcome me as formerly ; but I do not com- 
 plain of a gracious God for taking her home to that 
 happy place whence she will never go out. I cannot 
 
LETTERS. 173 
 
 help feeling the blank, but I must not dwell on it. It 
 is better to look up to him whose name is God- All- 
 sufficient. What shall I now tell you ? My good 
 colleague* has begun to preach by himself! * 
 I really feel much disappointed and sorry that he has 
 taken this step. Long intercourse and harmony had 
 brought us into settled friendship ; but in this hour of 
 temptation he has burst through all bonds. I have no 
 doubt that he acts from a sense of duty ; but I have 
 as little doubt that he is striving against the work 
 of God. The healing of our breach f is one of 
 the most remarkable events since the Reformation. 
 Some are disposed to cry it down, and heap many 
 hard sayings on our heads ; I much dread they are 
 fighting against God. The time seems to be at hand 
 when the Lord will gather his scattered sheep into one 
 fold ; they are beginning to look one another in the 
 face w r ith more complacency than formerly. The pub- 
 lic meetings for spreading the Bible, and sending the 
 gospel to perishing sinners, have been blessed of God 
 for bringing the friends of religion together, and show- 
 ing them that they are members of the same body, and 
 should not keep at such distance from one another. 
 The coming of Christ to build up his fallen-down taber- 
 nacle, in the latter days, will be accompanied with the 
 gathering together of the scattered fragments of his 
 church into one body ; and I think it is a token for good 
 that the gathering work is beginning with that body 
 who hold the clearest testimony for Reformation prin- 
 
 * The late Rev. Richard Black. 
 
 f The union of the two great Branches of the Secession Church, 
 then just effected. 
 
 Q2 
 
1 74 LETTERS. 
 
 fiples. I am sorry that any — especially such as I have 
 long enjoyed intimate fellowship with — should stumble 
 at this great work of God. May the Lord, who hath 
 chosen Jerusalem, level all mountains before them, and 
 make them to see light clearly in his own good time ! 
 
 I know that you have been in difficulties. My seri- 
 ous advice to you is, carry all your stumbling-blocks 
 to God, weigh them in the balance of the sanctuary, 
 and deliberately consider if you could venture to stand 
 upon them in a dying hour. Your time and mine is far 
 gone ; and it is a great matter to have all clear for eter- 
 nity when the last messenger arrives. 
 
 I commit you both to the care and counsel of that 
 great and good Friend who never will fail nor forsake 
 ns. Your complaint, I hope, is no worse. We have 
 a wise and compassionate Physician : trust him. — Ever 
 yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Sept. 1822. 
 
 My Dear Madam — I reached Perth the day I left 
 
 your hospitable home ; learned that my daughter, Mrs. 
 
 J — 9 was very poorly ; went off that afternoon to Meth- 
 
 ven, and found her very ill indeed ; severe inflammation ; 
 
 * ***** * * 
 
 pulsation, 160. But she is in a kind Father's hand, 
 who cannot do us any wrong ; nay, who has assured us 
 that all things shall work together for good. We 
 think she could be ill spared from such a numerous 
 young family ; but we are apt to lay too much of our 
 dependencies on creatures. God lives, and it shall be 
 well with them that fear him, come what w r ill. Yet 
 we have much cause to bless God for creature comforts. 
 
LETTERS. 175 
 
 I think there is every ground of hope that this useful 
 life may be a little longer spared ; but we have been 
 called to slacken our hold, and wait in faith and pa- 
 tience. She has continued since Wednesday calm and 
 easy, and slept well. Help us to praise the great Phy- 
 sician, who can make a way in the deep — a path in the 
 mighty waters ! He showed her much mercy when at 
 the worst. Her recollection was but very slightly af- 
 fected, nor is she yet laid on the bed of death. " The 
 goodness of God endureth continually." 
 
 I hope Mr. J — is getting better, or, at least, is no 
 worse. He and I are arrived at that period of life 
 when we may expect the monitors of death will be now 
 and then uttering their voice. But there is a cheering 
 voice, sounding far above them, saying, " I am he that 
 liveth and was dead ; and behold I am alive again, and 
 live for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of 
 death." Let us listen to this sweet proclamation, and 
 cherish a desire in God's time to depart and be with 
 Christ, which is far better. 
 
 Is Mr. F — better ? Tell him, from me, that there 
 is a Physician above the sky, who cures all manner of 
 sickness and diseases both of soul and body, and cures 
 them all gratis. O that all sin-sick souls would be 
 persuaded to apply to him by faith and prayer ! May 
 grace, and mercy, and peace, be multiplied to you from 
 God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ ! Fare- 
 well ! — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Oct. 1822. 
 
 My Dear Friends — You would receive the notice 
 
 of the heavy stroke sent upon the Methven family. 
 
17G SERxMONS. 
 
 Having this opportunity, I embrace it, to say that Mr. 
 J — is bearing* it, and carrying under the severe be- 
 reavement, like one who has given his whole heart (even 
 the throne of it) to Christ himself. Never was a man 
 more happy in a dear partner ; but when the Sovereign 
 Lord told him, by the trying event, that she was to be 
 no longer his, he meekly bowed submission to the di- 
 vine will, and is now leaning on that powerful arm 
 which can carry through the deepest waters. It was. 
 indeed, a very trying and unexpected blow to me and 
 all the family. We were foolishly anticipating that 
 for many years to come she would be our stay and 
 comfort. But man's thoughts are vanity. It was our 
 consolation to observe clear and decided evidences that 
 the Lord had made ber ready for the immortal crown. 
 Psal. xxvii, 1, Jer. xxix, 11, and Psal. cxxxviii, were 
 frequently in her mouth as she was going along the 
 valley of the shadow of death. On the morning of the 
 day of her departure, she sung the twenty-third Psalm 
 in company with a few of the family ; and, in some of 
 the notes, her melodious voice rose above them all. 
 During the preceding night the fever had been much 
 in her head, but the Lord granted her a lucid interval 
 of about an hour, and when family worship ended she 
 desired the children to be brought into the room. — 
 (Three of them were at Perth.) — She addressed them 
 in succession, and gave them a few suitable advices. 
 The scene was very moving — it was over ere I arrived. 
 I had been preaching at Kinkell the Sabbath before, 
 and did not arrive till eleven o'clock, forenoon. By 
 this time the delirium had again returned. My dear 
 M — knew me, but said nothing to me in answer to a 
 
LETTERS. 177 
 
 few suggestions from my bleeding heart. She took her 
 flight on high at two o'clock in the afternoon. I hope 
 the Lord is helping me to kiss this sharp rod, and sing 
 with Job, " The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away ; 
 blessed be the name of the Lord!" Eight young 
 children are left behind, having lost one of the best of 
 mothers ; but they have a good father on earth yet left 
 over them, and our Father in heaven claims special in- 
 terest in, and extends peculiar care towards, fatherless 
 and orphan children. 
 
 You expressed so deep a concern about my late dear 
 daughter, when I last parted from you, that I thought 
 it would gratify you to send a particular account of her 
 last illness and her deathbed exercise. The Lord has 
 done it, and he cannot do wrong; nay, he does all 
 things well. This is another link loosed which might 
 have enchained me too closely to this earth : I would 
 now arise and trim my lamp. I have no doubt that you 
 are giving us a place in your prayers. Continue to do 
 so. We will, I hope, soon mingle our praises together, 
 with the blessed company around the throne of the 
 glorious Lamb! — Yours sincerely, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Nov. 1825. 
 
 My Dear Friend — I cannot suffer my grandson to 
 go to Edinburgh without inquiring after you, as I left 
 you both poorly. I hope by this time you are both 
 recovered, by the kind ordering of the great Physician. 
 I trust your spiritual strength is recruited and invigo- 
 
178 LETTERS. 
 
 rated by this gentle rod. Many have had occasion to 
 say, with the apostle, " As our outward man decays, 
 the inward man is renewed." This is a happy experi- 
 ence. The Lord's chastisements to his children are all 
 intended for their spiritual profit, that they may be 
 partakers of his holiness. There is so much dross 
 about the best, they need often to be cast into the fur- 
 nace: the great Refiner will have every speck of pol- 
 lution removed from his jewels ere they be laid up in 
 the heavenly cabinet. He knows the best means to be 
 employed : let us believe that all, under his wise direc- 
 tion, shall work together for good. 
 
 We have had another pleasant communion. I trust 
 we had the great Master's presence ; and O, it is sweet 
 when the King brings in his own bride into the guest- 
 chamber, and causes her spikenard send forth its fra- 
 grance. We in this land, and we in the Secession, are 
 a highly-favoured people — if we be found, at last, cum- 
 berers of the ground, woe will be unto us ! 
 
 My best wishes and poor prayers ascend to the 
 throne for you all. May your souls prosper ! and 
 when you go to the footstool of the King, remember 
 me. — I am yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Aug. 1831. 
 
 My Dear Madam — The tidings of your late hus- 
 band's removal reached me some time before Mr. F — 's 
 kind letter arrived. I no sooner heard of the event, 
 than I determined to express my sympathy with you 
 by letter, but have been prevented by a pressure of 
 
LETTERS. 179 
 
 work. You have lost a kind husband, and I a kind 
 friend of forty years' standing; but, my dear Madam, 
 we have good cause to hope that he has gone home to 
 be ever with the Lord, and is now singing the new 
 song among the nations of them that are saved. 
 
 Though we are yet on the footstool, two things may 
 comfort us. One is, that though our dear fellow- 
 travellers are taken from us, with whom we took sweet 
 counsel, and walked to the house of God in company, 
 our everlasting Father, Husband, Friend, and Saviour, 
 assures us that he will never leave nor forsake us. 
 Another is, the promise, " I will come again, and re- 
 ceive you to myself." We both beheld our dear late 
 partners fall asleep in the arms of a loving Redeemer. 
 Though they be dead to us, they are alive, we have 
 reason to hope, within the vail, and their dust is resting 
 in hope of a glorious resurrection. Let this blessed 
 hope concerning them, and concerning ourselves, cheer 
 our spirits as we pass along this valley of tears. 
 
 It is observable, that the doctrine of the resurrection 
 is the grand cordial which the Lord administered to 
 weeping Martha, — John xi. In the bitterness of her 
 grief, she saluted her Lord in these words — " Lord, if 
 thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Ah ! 
 little did she know the gracious designs of her Lord in 
 that dispensation, both toward her and toward her 
 brother. " Thy brother shall rise again." I know it 
 said Martha ; " he shall rise again in the resurrection 
 at the last day." Well, said Christ, " I am the resur- 
 rection and the life : he that believeth in me, though 
 he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth 
 and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou 
 
180 LETTERS. 
 
 this?" The proper lessons we may learn from this 
 instructive passage are — 1. That it is only in the exer- 
 cise of faith that we can meet trying and bereaving 
 dispensations in a proper frame of mind. 2. That, in 
 the exercise of faith, the gracious soul looks away from 
 dead worldly comforts to a living Saviour, and rests 
 there. 3. That the day is coming when mourning be- 
 lievers will again meet their departed godly friends. 
 4. That the living believer has nothing to fear from 
 the stroke of natural death. My dear friend, encourage 
 yourself in the Lord your God. Though your earthly 
 husband's voice is now silent in the grave, your ever- 
 lasting Husband is saying, " I will not leave you com- 
 fortless, but will come to you " — and is not that enough ? 
 Nay, more ; he is leaving with you a kind nephew, to 
 perform the office of a loving son in your widowhood, 
 and, I hope, also to lead you to our heavenly Fathers 
 throne in family devotions, as well as to ease you of 
 many domestic cares. 
 
 ■ 
 
 I am well pleased to observe that Mr. F — , in his 
 letter, writes in the spirit of one who values the com- 
 forts of religion in the hour of trial. Tell him, from 
 me, that after sixty years', and upwards, experience of 
 the Lord's goodness, I can recommend Bible religion 
 as the only source of solid peace in life, and of safety 
 and joy in prospect of death and eternity. The sooner 
 we begin the service of Christ the better. The seed of 
 grace, early implanted in the heart by the Holy Spirit, 
 is the commencement of eternal life in the soul, and a 
 noble preservative against the temptations of an evil 
 world. May the Lord make you mutual comforts to 
 one another as you pass along the vale of tears, and 
 preserve you to his heavenly kingdom ! 
 
LETTERS. 181 
 
 I have a design of being at the next meeting of 
 synod if, the Lord will; and if so, I will see you. In 
 the meantime you have my warmest Christian sym- 
 pathy with you. Our God is the God of all comfort, 
 and he comforts mourners. — I am your affectionate 
 friend in Christ, A. P. 
 
 To the Rev. R— F— , C— d. 
 
 Perth, March, 1837. 
 
 My Dear Friend and Brother — You and I have 
 been long labouring in the vineyard of our Lord, and 
 seen many fellow-labourers called off who far excelled 
 us in gifts and grace too. The thought has, I daresay, 
 often crossed our minds, Why am I spared ? There 
 may be something of impatience, of pride, or presump- 
 tion in the inquiry. We may be sure of two things — 
 first, our work on earth is not yet done; and secondly, 
 we are not yet ready. Some Achan may be in the 
 camp, who must be executed ; or some corner of the 
 field must be dug over again and watered. Our great 
 Master has appointed us to wait at our post, and pur- 
 sue our work until he come. Happy is that servant 
 he shall find so doing ! I have learned that your 
 summons of removal seemed to your family, on Sab- 
 bath evening, to have been at hand; but the mes- 
 senger has been countermanded, and I hope you 
 are convalescent. I rejoice in it, and will cordially 
 join you in a song of thanksgiving. I, too, have had 
 a very gentle monitor of his coming to me with the 
 last summons. My indisposition has been light, seem- 
 ingly something of the general scourge which has 
 
 R 
 
1S2 LETTERS. 
 
 passed over the land. But blessed be God, and glory 
 to his name, I am at my work again ! You and I have 
 little time to count upon ; but I hope our inheritance 
 is secured in the happy land above. I hope we are 
 well pleased to leave the determination of the time, 
 and all circumstances, in the hand of our great and 
 good Master. I most sincerely thank him for your 
 begun recovery, and very much on good Mrs. F — 's 
 account. It seems, to outward view, that she could 
 have scarcely sustained the stroke of your removal. 
 Yet we know that he can support beyond all human 
 calculation. Let us leave all in our Father's hand, 
 and rejoice with trembling in one sense, and, in 
 another, rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 
 
 I would have seen you this week had it not been 
 this slight touch of the rod on myself. I shall be glad 
 to hear that your recovery is advancing. 
 
 I need not say, let us remember one another at our 
 Father's throne. We have often met, and our prayers 
 mingled in our great High Priest's censer before the 
 throne. 
 
 My dear son's removal* is a loud warning we should 
 never forget ; yet even in this cup of sorrow was mixed 
 up much mercy both to him and us left behind. His 
 family are wonderfully supported. God is good, good, 
 good! — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 Mv Beloved Friend in the House of Mourning — 
 How are you taking with this sudden and trying visi- 
 
 * The late Mr. Jamieson of Methven. 
 
LETTERS. 183 
 
 tation? I hope not as did Jacob, saying, " All these 
 things are against me ;" but rather as holy Job, " The 
 Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : blessed 
 be the name of the Lord." Your departed son was 
 the Lord's gift, or rather loan to you. He fulfilled 
 his day and duty to you with all the engaging kindness 
 of a loving and devoted heart to the very last, and 
 gave you satisfactory evidence that he acted from gra- 
 cious principle deeply engrained in his heart ; and his 
 work on earth being ended, our Father in heaven has 
 taken him home to himself, to sing the praises of re- 
 deeming love among the nations of them that are 
 saved. And have you not cause to rejoice? The 
 call was sudden, but he was, I hope, made ready ; it was 
 unexpected by you and us all, but, considering the 
 state of his health for some time past, I suppose, not 
 unexpected by himself. Reflecting on the way of our 
 kind heavenly Father with yourselves of late, and I 
 may say with me also, we may expect soon to follow ; but 
 he has got the start of us. I hope we will, in the Lord's 
 good time, meet him and our other departed friends 
 before the royal throne of God and the Lamb. Let 
 us praise the Lord, while we pursue after and press 
 forward to obtain the mark of our high calling. 
 
 But I, after all, must complain of your unkindness 
 in not advising me of E — 's distress, that I might have 
 put my feeble shoulder under your burden, and carried 
 our dear friend's case to our Father's throne. I never 
 knew of his distress till I heard of his decease. In 
 the meantime, I sincerely sympathize with you all, 
 and particularly with your aged and bowed-down 
 friend, hoping and praying that you may be abun- 
 
1£4 LETTERS. 
 
 dantly succoured from above by the God of all conso- 
 lation in Christ Jesus our Lord. Farewell for a little 
 space! Our gracious Lord will perfect that which 
 
 concerneth us all in his own time Your old steady 
 
 friend, A. P. 
 
 To Mrs. G— B— of D — 
 
 Perth, Aug. 1837. 
 My Dear Afflicted Friend — You are in the 
 valley of weeping, because he is gone to the house of 
 silence whose voice had so often soothed your heart 
 and thrilled on your ear. I have just come from read- 
 ing, in my morning course, our kind Redeemer's inter- 
 view with the weeping sisters at Bethany. Their loss 
 of a beloved brother wrung their feeling hearts with 
 sorrow; but Christ turned their attention to himself, 
 and told them who he was, and what he would do both 
 for Lazarus and for them. He did not blame them for 
 weeping. Jesus himself wept; although not merely 
 for the death of Lazarus, for he had said to his dis- 
 ciples, ere he came to the place, that he was glad he 
 was not at Bethany when his friend died, that they 
 might get a new display of his glory at Lazarus' grave, 
 and believe. A similar display of glory you and I 
 must not expect when we visit the tombs of our de- 
 parted friends ; but if we believe that Jesus himself 
 died and rose again, then, assuredly, all who sleep in 
 Jesus will God bring with him. I hope your dear 
 departed husband and beloved son will then occupy a 
 place among the glorious company. Now, comfort 
 yourself, dear friend, with these thoughts. Nay, more, 
 
LETTERS. 185 
 
 often look into the blessed book of God, and listen to 
 what your heavenly Father is there saying to you in 
 this hour of bereavement : " Wilt thou not from this 
 time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of 
 my youth ; thy Maker is thy husband." " The moun- 
 tains may depart, the hills may be removed ; but my 
 kindness shall not depart from thee, nor shall the co- 
 venant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee." I need not multiply quotations 
 from that blessed book: I hope you are daily, by faith 
 and prayer, drawing your spiritual supplies from it as 
 your richest treasure. Along with your many comforts 
 in your past lot, you have had a share of trials — and 
 why not ? But you may well say that you have some- 
 what seen the end of the Lord in them. He turned 
 again and had compassion for his own name's sake, and 
 took away your sackcloth and girded you with gladness. 
 Even now, when your conjugal and maternal relations 
 are dissolved, you can yet say, you have a kind father 
 on earth, and a far kinder Father in heaven, to care for 
 you. Well, my dear friend, encourage yourself in the 
 Lord your God, and cast all your cares upon him. You 
 have many friends praying for you, and our God is the 
 hearer of prayer. 
 
 I feel much for the congregation. They have lost 
 an able pastor, whose labours have been blessed for 
 gathering and feeding them. But as the great and good 
 Shepherd stands and feeds, he can send a man after his 
 own heart to fill the vacant pulpit. Let them pray, 
 and hope, and wait. 
 
 With the kindest expression of sympathy and con- 
 dolence, believe me to be yours, A. P. 
 
 r2 
 
186 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 To Mr. W— B— of G — 
 
 Perth, 1837- 
 My very Dear Friexd — Your acceptable letter 
 came to me some days ago bearing the mark of mourn- 
 ing. I had received a funeral notice of your late 
 friend's departure, which struck us much and excited 
 strong sympathetic feelings for you all, especially the 
 bereaved widow and fatherless children. Had not our 
 kind heavenly Father both foreseen and provided for 
 the support and comfort of his mourners, he would not 
 have caused them to mourn. Eternal wisdom sends 
 our trials ; and infinite love will always provide both 
 for the support of God's mourners, and for the ultimate 
 glory of his own name. But the great difficulty in 
 Christian experience lies in getting the proud rebelli- 
 ous heart to bow to our Father's sovereign will, and 
 meekly take up the cross. Alas ! we often — too often 
 — adopt the language of Naomi, " Call me not Naomi, 
 but call me Marah, for the Lord hath dealt bitterly 
 with my soul.' , In her haste she went so far as to say. 
 even to a prophet of the Lord, " I do well to be angry." 
 Now this is saying that we are wiser than God. I 
 hope your friend will be kept from such murmurings 
 even in heart, and will be brought to adopt the lan- 
 guage of the church, — " It is of the Lord's mercies I 
 am not consumed;" "His compassions fail not." I 
 have been sorely smitten, but God, my God, lives to 
 be my stay — my trust — my partner in the land of the 
 living — my everlasting all. Though she water her 
 pillow with tears of submissive sorrow she sins not, 
 for our compassionate Father permits the moderate 
 
LETTERS. 187 
 
 workings of human affections. It is given as a line of 
 a profane character, " That he cries not when the Lord 
 binds him." Yet let not your friend be swallowed up 
 of overmuch sorrow. It is true, she has lost an earthly 
 husband ; but let her take comfort from the thought 
 that the everlasting Husband lives, and is addressing 
 her in these gracious words, — Hos. ii. 19, 20, " I will 
 betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth 
 thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and 
 in loving-kindness, and in mercies ; I will even betroth 
 thee unto me in faithfulness ; and thou shalt know the 
 Lord." O, what consolation to the heart of a sorrow- 
 ful widow is embosomed in these gracious words ! 
 My earnest prayer for her is, that she may find them 
 to be the joy and rejoicing of her heart. Let her 
 carry her young children to the Lord, use all means for 
 bringing them up for the Lord, and he will make them 
 a comfort and a blessing to her. " The mercy of the 
 Lord is from generation to generation to them that 
 fear him, and his righteousness to children's children." 
 You know the pangs of bitter grief on the removal of 
 dear parents, and children too ; and I have met with 
 the sore trial of parting with two beloved children, 
 and a still more beloved spouse ; but the hope of find- 
 ing them again in our heavenly Father's home, cheered 
 us in the parting pang. We shall go to them ; they 
 shall not return to us. Let us try to sing with the 
 church, " Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, 
 neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the labour of the 
 olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the 
 flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be 
 no herd in the stalls : yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
 I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 
188 LETTERS. 
 
 My dear friend, the care of God displayed in your 
 family circumstances bespeaks much kindness. So 
 many of your children spared with you, made so use- 
 ful and comfortable to you and Mrs. B — , and so many 
 of them giving hopeful evidence that they are seeking 
 the better country, gives me very great pleasure. Even 
 W — , though deprived of external vision, gives decided 
 evidence of a mind enlightened in the things of God, 
 as well as of powers and acquirements, far above the 
 average attainment of students in ordinary circum- 
 stances. This seems to say that the Lord has some 
 useful department in the church and world in reserve 
 for him. We and you must wait in hope. Your little 
 delicate A — may occasion some anxious thoughts, and 
 send you often to our Father's throne on his account. 
 Leave him there ; many a weak child has waxed strong, 
 lived long, and turned out a great blessing to the church 
 and to civil society; but our chief comfort, in reference 
 to the little children, is, " That of such is the kingdom 
 of heaven.' , I have no doubt that Mrs. B — and you 
 are using all the appointed means for training up your 
 seed for Christ. I sincerely thank you for the deep 
 interest you take in my intended publication ; I ex- 
 pect it will go to the press next week. I have often 
 devoted it to the Lord in my closet. May the best 
 blessing of a God of love rest on you all in time and 
 eternity. — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. J n of M n. 
 
 Perth, 1803. 
 My very Dear Brother — Having just finished 
 my poor preparations for Sabbath, and closed them 
 
LETTERS. 189 
 
 with Dens juvabit, I sit down just to tell you that I 
 have done so. Is it presumption ? I have often done 
 so before, and have always found that when I could 
 study and preach in the spirit of these two words, all 
 went well. We have foundation enough, I am certain 
 of it, in the blessed promise for the conclusion which 
 they express. Were we helped always to go to our 
 good Master's work in firm persuasion that he will 
 help, how easy and pleasant would we find it ! 
 
 I understood you to be engaged also in thanksgiving 
 and humiliation yesterday, and hope you had freedom 
 of access to our Father's throne. You say that you 
 met me in the house of God ; that is just what I had 
 expressed in the language of hope before your letter 
 arrived. It is pleasant for friends to meet anywhere, 
 but especially in the sanctuary in the presence of the 
 best Friend. His presence sweetens and cements all 
 other friendships. I thought we had a good day in 
 public ; but my closet was my Bethel. I thought that 
 I was enabled to search and find out the old leaven — 
 to bemoan myself — to plunge myself anew in the foun- 
 tain — to wonder at the immensity, the riches, the free- 
 dom, the eternity of electing, redeeming, forgiving, 
 and sanctifying love. I got leave also to take you in. 
 May our kind Lord keep us both near himself, and en- 
 able us to be watchful against our enemies ! May the 
 text I have been writing upon be written out in our 
 experience ! Phil. iv. 7, " And the peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and 
 minds through Christ Jesus." 
 
 I thank you for all your kind inquiries after our 
 health. We are all well again, through divine mercy. 
 
190 LETTERS. 
 
 I think that I read love in these visitations to my young 
 folks, and hope they are blessed to them also. They 
 that are busied in the world need something to keep 
 them at bay. 
 
 You are to be at A — n. I hope the great Master 
 will go with you. Our autumn occasions have been 
 good times to many, as well as to myself. 
 
 Let us continue to remember each other at our Fa- 
 ther's throne; and never forget his bride, the Church. 
 — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1804. 
 
 My Dear Brother — The first news that met me at 
 landing last night were, that our dear and worthy friend 
 and brother, Mr. Brown, Abernethy. was, yesterday 
 morning, called home to his Master's joy. A new 
 stroke of palsy put an end to his valuable life in a few 
 minutes. His clothes were just on. He felt himself 
 a little indisposed in the chair ; and while the servant 
 adjusted his bed, and turned round to assist him to it, 
 she found him expiring in the chair. What a pleasant 
 summons ! what an instructive Providence to all, and 
 especially to me, the next on the roll ! Were I not 
 obliged to go off to Abernethy, I would certainly have 
 come out to-night to condole with you in your afflic- 
 tion ; but owing to what has taken place there, I cannot 
 be home until Tuesday. If spared, I will see you then ; 
 but our best Friend will abide with you. His presence 
 is sweet at all times, and especially in a day of trial. 
 He will tell you why he is correcting. His left hand 
 
LETTERS. 191 
 
 will be under your head. Remember your text at 
 Logiealmond, and your last subject at home. I shall 
 try to carry you with me to the footstool of the throne. 
 O, let us bless the God of all our mercies with grateful 
 hearts, and blush before him, that we have done so 
 little for God, and for one another's best interests. 
 Had we not the blood of sprinkling to depend upon for 
 acceptance at the throne, we would be undone for ever. 
 In great haste. — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1806. 
 
 My Dear Son — Though I never before addressed 
 you by this name, I have for some time past viewed 
 you in this character, and even in my most serious mo- 
 ments. I may call you my Seth ; for the Lord, who 
 took away my dear infant son, has been graciously 
 pleased to put you in his stead. May that kind Lord 
 who has joined you and my dear M — together, sweeten 
 and cement the relation with all the endearments of 
 his paternal love, and fill your outward lot with every 
 good thing most conducive to your best interests ! You 
 are both, I believe, better acquainted with your Bibles 
 than to expect or wish for a dead calm of prosperity in 
 your passage through life. Our great comfort is, that 
 our times and all coming events are in God's hand ; 
 and, come what will, it comes from a friend and a father 
 as a pledge of love, and is designed as a mean to draw 
 us nearer to himself as our only rest and portion. The 
 closer we walk with God in every relation, the more 
 
192 LETTERS. 
 
 real, unsullied comfort we enjoy in it. It needs daily 
 supplies from the throne to keep the heart in a spiritual 
 frame at any time, but especially when the cup of com- 
 fort is full. You will find in experience, that when 
 the heart becomes a little intoxicated, the Lord will, by 
 some little unexpected occurrence, bring you to your 
 senses, and your knees. Such admonitions are kindly 
 and seasonable. 
 
 I have little time to say more, only to request you 
 not to forget us, and the good work before us. There 
 is great need for a refreshing shower to our withering 
 branches. I hope you have interest at court. We are 
 sure He has, who speaks in Isa. lxii. 1. Let us try to 
 put him in remembrance ; and I hope some drops will 
 fall on your own heads. He will give the Holy Spirit 
 to them that ask him. I am glad to hear that M — is 
 to be with us ; I wish circumstances had allowed you 
 also ; but I hope to see you on Monday. It was said 
 of old, that the last day was the great day of the feast ; 
 it may be so again. The presence of the blessed Mas- 
 ter will make all go well. — Ever your loving father, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, May, 1807- 
 
 My Dear Children — Your kind letter was received 
 by Mr. M — . I thank you both for your affectionate 
 inquiries and invitations, but I am afraid I cannot stir 
 so early as next week. Through divine mercy, my 
 complaint is going off. The pain is almost gone ; but 
 a bit of my skin is also gone with the blister, which will 
 
LETTERS. 193 
 
 disable me for walking much for a few days. No 
 matter for that, if the Lord be pleased to promote my 
 spiritual health by this kind visitation. I am sure that 
 I needed this rod, and it comes most seasonably. Had 
 it come two weeks sooner it would have prevented me 
 from doing what I regarded as an important duty. If 
 matters go well in Zion, let us not be much moved at 
 little personal or family trials. 
 
 I know, my dear children, that a more treacherous, 
 proud, misgiving, and hard heart than mine, is not to 
 be found among the seed of Adam. My only depend- 
 ence is, that my God has taken it in hand, will break 
 and humble, will keep and heal it, by all-powerful 
 grace. Let him take his own way, and employ his own 
 means ; through grace I will wait the issue, in assured 
 expectation that he will keep that which I have com- 
 mitted to him against that day. This touch in my toe 
 may, by and bye, reach my head or my heart, and then 
 my course and my service will end on earth ; but the 
 Lord will be with you both, to bless you and to do you 
 good. 
 
 I have the prospect of being at several places soon 
 where the Lord's Supper is intended, and we will have 
 a feast, if the great Master be present. Why should I 
 say, if? All will be well. It is good to be about his 
 hand, and engaged in his work. I hope you'll get a 
 feast at L — nd next week. We much need a time of 
 refreshing to our dry and withered bones : wrestle for 
 a shower from above. — Ever your loving father, 
 
 A. P. 
 
194 LETTERS. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1o26. 
 
 My Dear Son — In your letter to-day, I see the issue 
 
 -with is still doubtful. We are sure all is right 
 
 which comes from the hand of a righteous Ruler, and 
 all is good for us which comes from the hand of our 
 kind and gracious Father. If we can lay finger and 
 thumb on these gracious words, — Isa. xli. 11, and xlii. 
 16, — we shall walk and not stumble even in the dark 
 
 valley. It has frequently crossed my mind that 
 
 lias been cast into this furnace most seasonably. His 
 situation in business demands so much attention, that 
 he was in danger of losing sight of what is infinitely 
 more important. He has had a long track of health, 
 and might think that nothing would ding him ; but the 
 Lord is now telling him, experimentally, that he is an 
 earthen vessel. I hope the Lord will refine, quicken, 
 and, in due time, recover and spare him to us for a 
 while. I daresay the women got much good by look- 
 ing into their Lord's empty grave, though they were 
 not called to lie down in it. Our kind Lord often 
 allures us, and brings us into the wilderness, that he 
 may there speak comfortably — speak to the heart. I 
 hope we can both set our seal to his promise. Let us 
 hear the apostolic direction — " Rejoicing in hope, pa- 
 tient in tribulation, instant in prayer." 
 
 A new year is now begun : many, many have been 
 the mercies of the past year to both our families ! Let 
 us bless the Lord with grateful hearts ! I am now 
 running my seventy-third year. I must have little 
 time before me ; but I hope my title-deeds for eternity 
 
LETTERS. £95 
 
 are signed and sealed. Let my Father in hearen take 
 his own way in preparing me for the inheritance ; I am 
 sure he will do all for the best. I have good reason 
 to say, he hath been mindful of me, and he will bless 
 me still. I desire, too, to join with you in thanksgiving 
 for his great kindness to you and your family during 
 the past year. The touches of his rod on our young 
 friends have been very gentle and of short continuance. 
 This is mercy. Let us pray these may be sanctified. 
 Farewell ! — Ever your loving father, A. P. 
 
 To Grandchildren at M n. 
 
 Perth, Sept. 1835. 
 My Dear Grandchildren — Your aunt brought me 
 a good report last night that you were both again con- 
 valescent. I feel lightened with the news. The Lord 
 hath smitten, and he is healing. But why did he smite? 
 This is the question. Well does he know why. He 
 afflicts not willingly : surely there is a cause. It is our 
 part to search for it. Job once spoke as one puzzled 
 to find it out, and prayed, saying, " Shew me wherefore 
 thou contendest with me." He no doubt knew that 
 God had just cause for it; but he wished to know the 
 particular cause of his particular affliction, that he might 
 mourn over it before the Lord. He was the holiest 
 man on the earth too ; yet there was a cause in himself 
 for his sorrow and suffering. Well, he prays that the 
 Lord would show it to him. He got an answer to his 
 prayer, and then he cries out, " I am vile ! What shall 
 I answer thee, O thou preserver of men ? I abhor my- 
 
196 LETTERS. 
 
 self: I repent in dust and ashes." Surely it is meet to 
 say to God, I have borne chastisement, I will sin no 
 more. They who come out of the furnace with a bro- 
 ken heart, kissing a father's rod, shall know the loving 
 kindness of the Lord. 
 
 What is the frame of your hearts, now that you are 
 recovering ? Can you say, Lord, thou knowest that I 
 love thee ! God has been saying, in this dispensation, 
 that he loves you : " As many as I love, I rebuke and 
 chasten. — Be zealous, therefore, and repent. — Whom 
 the Lord loveth, he chastens." O, it melts the heart 
 of a loving child when he sees the name, Father, writ- 
 ten on the smiting rod : " I will bear the indignation 
 of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. — It is 
 a mercy that I am out of hell. — I will praise the Lord : 
 he is taking away my sackcloth, and girding me with 
 gladness. — Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the 
 Lord hath dealt bountifully with you." I hope, my 
 dear children, you feel some stirrings of soul to tune 
 your harps to Psal. ciii. Well, you will find it is plea- 
 sant to render thanks unto the Lord : it is the only 
 return we can make for his great kindness. He asks 
 no more. But let the first part of your song of praise 
 be thanks to God for his unspeakable gift. 
 
 Nothing can melt and mellow our hard hearts but a 
 believing sight of the cross on Calvary. I hope you 
 have both been on that bloody mount, weeping and 
 saying, Jesus was wounded, bruised, slain for my trans- 
 gressions, and I will glory only in the cross of my dear 
 Redeemer. Lift up your heads, and say in faith, God 
 is my salvation : I will trust and not be afraid. Your 
 srood father on earth is at the throne for you : W — , 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 197 
 
 I know is there also, I hope your other brother and 
 I are joining them. Our great Father in heaven is 
 hearing us and healing you. O, what shall we render 
 for all this kindness? I leave you in his gracious 
 hand, believing that he will perfect his work on you 
 and in you. Farewell, my dears ; let us praise God 
 for his past and present mercies : " The goodness of 
 Almighty God endureth ever still." Tender love to 
 your father ; I am yours for ever, bearing you in my 
 heart. Amen. — From your grandfather, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1835. 
 
 My very Dear Children — It pleased me much to 
 learn that you retained so much command of your 
 tender feelings, as to give the parting embrace to our 
 dear friends yesterday with so much Christian com- 
 posure and self-possession. The few tears you shed, 
 mingled with fervent wishes and prayers for your de- 
 voted brother's happiness and success in his Master's 
 great and good work in a foreign land, were, I trust, 
 an odour of a sweet smell, acceptable and well pleasing 
 to God. Your tears are in our heavenly Father's 
 bottle, and your prayers had in remembrance before 
 his throne. The compassionate Redeemer did not chide 
 the sisters of Lazarus for weeping the supposed loss 
 of a dear brother. His kind and loving heart was so 
 affected with the moving scene around him, that he 
 groaned within himself and wept also. But, O, how 
 vastly different was the scene passing before the two 
 
 s 2 
 
198 LETTERS. 
 
 sisters at Bethany? Their brother was dead and 
 buried. They knew not the Saviour's intention for 
 coming on that occasion. They thought chiefly of the 
 rotting body of their beloved Lazarus. Now reflect, 
 my dear daughters, on the marvellous contrast in your 
 case. Your brother liveth ; his kind Master has come 
 and called him to go to Jamaica to blow the gospel 
 trumpet, to gather a company of his chosen sheep and 
 lambs into the Redeemer's fold. They are bleating 
 for their spiritual food ; they are wistfully looking 
 and longing for his arrival, crying to God to speed his 
 course over the bosom of the ocean, that they may 
 embrace him as the messenger of the church and the 
 Sflory of Christ. I have no doubt that the work going 
 on in the church below, and the spreading of the Sa- 
 viour's fame, is made known to the holy company 
 around the throne above, and will fill the blessed inha- 
 bitants (your glorified mother among the rest) with 
 transports of joy and praise. That you have a brother 
 so highly hoifoured of God, as to be called of God, and 
 selected by Rose Street Congregation to that great 
 work, should change your mourning into joy and me- 
 lody. Imitate your father's quiet composure and 
 cheerful contentment under this new testimony of the 
 Lord's kindness, in giving a son so pleasingly devoted 
 to the Lord's service in this work. The deep interest 
 taken in William's mission by the church in Edin- 
 burgh, Perth, and Methven, all testify that he has left 
 behind him a large body of Christians who will be re- 
 membrancers at the throne for him, and will daily help 
 him by their prayers. All things considered, let me 
 hear and see that you have, by faith and prayer, re- 
 
LETTERS. 199 
 
 signed him cheerfully to the Master's disposal, saying, 
 with the good woman of old, It is well. 
 
 Do come into town ; a change of air may do you 
 good with a blessing from above ; and a seat under the 
 banner of the King's love will cheer your heart. We 
 are to consecrate Thursday to the exercise of fasting ; 
 the call is loud from the state of the weather. My 
 kindest regards and prayer for your spiritual and tem- 
 poral health. Farewell, and carry me to our Father's 
 throne. — Ever your loving grandfather, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, Jan. 1836. 
 
 My Dear Children — I now really feel you a link 
 nearer me than before this great breach took place. 
 The chain of sublunary relation being now broken as 
 to your father, you and I are brought somewhat closer 
 together in this world. But let us not forget that the 
 chain is very brittle. O let us cleave closer and closer 
 to the great uppermost link in the chain of mercy. He 
 is fixed on his eternal throne, in the centre of all his 
 beloved members both in heaven and earth. We on 
 the footstool are as closely united to him as those 
 around his royal throne. His eye is upon us all ; his 
 hand holds us all, and none shall pluck us out of it. We 
 who are yet in this variable climate, are so much af- 
 fected with the changes of our cold and damp atmos- 
 phere that we contract rust ; our kind Lord above will 
 have the rust cleared off, and, for this purpose, he puts 
 us now and then into his furnace ; but he will not suf- 
 fer the flame to burn too strong nor too long. 
 
1200 LETTERS. 
 
 You are now, I hope, my dear children, feeling that 
 it is good for you to be touched with the rod of a 
 Father. That is a most kindly word, " As many as I 
 love, I rebuke and chasten." It appears to me that 
 consolation abounds in proportion as your affliction 
 abounds. Ah ! say then, " Most gladly will I there- 
 fore glory in mine infirmities ;" for when I feel weak 
 " then am I strong." The Lord has so remarkably 
 supported you both in this common trial which has 
 come upon us all, that your heads are lifted up above 
 the waves, and you are heard crying, " Why art thou 
 cast down, O my soul !" Well, go on in the strength 
 of the Lord God ; grip closer and closer to him who 
 says, " I will never leave you, nor forsake you." The 
 orphan's stay will be your only refuge ; your old grand- 
 father on earth is yet alive through the mercy of God ; 
 he feels a growing interest in you both, and in your 
 brothers ; but he is a withering, fading, leafless trunk, 
 though he hopes the root is fixed in a good soil. He is 
 desirous even in old age to bring forth some clusters : 
 O for the descent of the dew from heaven ! I would 
 come out, but I feel it not comfortable to leave my 
 own closet now ; you will, I hope, come to us. I am 
 much delighted with a letter from A — . The Lord 
 seems mercifullv to have sanctified the late trial to his 
 soul ; I hope the Lord will spare him long for a bless- 
 in^ to you. O what mercies he can bring out of trials 
 to his own ! Draw largely on the throne of grace ; 
 remember me when there ; my day is far spent, the 
 night is at hand, but a bright morning, I hope, will suc- 
 ceed, never, never to be beclouded. — The tenderest re- 
 gards of your old father, A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 201 
 
 To Mr. A — r J — n. 
 
 Perth, 1828. 
 
 My Dear A — r * * * • 
 
 • * You are arrived at an important 
 
 stage of life, in reference both to the things of time and 
 the things of eternity. With respect to the former, 
 your habits of order, diligence, despatch, and minute 
 attention to the details of business, are to be acquired. 
 If present opportunities are not improven for these 
 ends, there is little probability of any great success in 
 future life. You are, by your own choice, entered on 
 mercantile pursuits ; and you may — you ought — to in- 
 dulge an honest ambition, always under the direction 
 of God, to rise in your profession to a station of public 
 usefulness in society, and even to independence, if it be 
 the will of God to send a blessing on lawful industry. 
 But, while I say so, I should perhaps rather caution 
 you against an error very common in young minds — 
 viz. excessive ardour and precipitancy. From the na- 
 tural buoyancy of their spirits, the young are in danger 
 of building castles in the air, grasping at objects beyond 
 their reach, and plunging themselves into inextricable 
 difficulties at their very outset in life. The great point 
 should be, to attend faithfully to the business on hand, 
 and if the Lord plainly open a way of bettering our 
 situation, then let us thankfully embrace it. But we 
 should be sure that it be such an opening as will de- 
 mand no sacrifice of principle or spiritual privilege. 
 For instance, I learn that you had some thoughts of 
 accepting a situation in a house in Petersburgh. It 
 was a mercy to you that your youth prevented this ; 
 
202 LETTERS. 
 
 though the appointment had brought a hundred or 
 even a thousand a-year, would this have been any 
 compensation for the loss of your Christian privi- 
 leges ? A similar offer may again come in your way ; 
 but be on your guard against the temptation. The 
 great point of consideration with you should be, that 
 now is your time for securing your eternal interest. 
 You are in youth, and God expressly demands the ho- 
 mage of the youthful heart, — Prov. viii. 17; Eccles. 
 xii. 1. The fact that (generally speaking) conversion 
 to God takes place in this stage of life, is a great en- 
 couragement to early religion ; and it is a melancholy 
 fact, that if this period of life pass over without any 
 serious and saving work having begun in the soul, it 
 seldom takes place afterwards. This observation ap- 
 plies with special force to such young persons as have 
 been trained up in religious families, and under the 
 means of grace, as you have been. While I suggest 
 this serious admonition and warning to you, I must 
 add, that I know nothing which can be considered as a 
 decided evidence against your claim to rank among the 
 genuine converts to Christ. But O, my dear A — , re- 
 member that it is a very serious and important thing 
 to be a disciple of Christ in deed and in truth. Give dili- 
 gence to make your calling and election sure : that is, be 
 anxious at all pains to have this great point fully ascer- 
 tained to your own soul, upon sound scriptural evidence. 
 Consider what the word of God says concerning the 
 absolute necessity of a radical change of heart and na- 
 ture — the necessity of the Spirit's internal work in 
 convincing us of our guilty, undone, and helpless con- 
 dition — of union to Christ — of the mortification of the 
 
LETTERS. 203 
 
 lust of the heart — and a practically holy life. Consider 
 these things closely, and examine your heart and life, 
 and compare them with the word of God. This is the 
 unerring standard by which we must be tried at last; 
 and if we conscientiously judge ourselves by this rule 
 we shall not be condemned. 
 
 I have thrown together these few hints to you for 
 your consideration : may the Lord bless them ! I shall 
 be very glad to hear from you on this subject. Beware 
 of giving all your time to the world, except the mere 
 dry formality of bowing your knees morning and even- 
 ing. Ah, my young friend, this won't do. God must 
 have our heart and affections, else he will not regard 
 our prayers. — I commit you to the care of the Father 
 of mercies, and am yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1836. 
 
 My Dear Alexander — We are all wearying very 
 much to see you again. You will surely try to spend 
 a month or two at the end of the year with your friends. 
 I intend going to Edinburgh, to witness the ordination 
 of your brother W — on the 7th of next month, and 
 his marriage on the day following. Could you be pre- 
 sent it would be an additional pleasure ; but it is meet 
 there should be some blanks in all our present comforts. 
 
 I have heard that you are averse to William going 
 to the West Indies. But he feels his call to go, as 
 clear as Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiii.) to go out to the 
 Gentiles ; and he as cheerfully responded, " Here am 
 
204 LETTERS. 
 
 I, seud me." His heart has been set on missionary 
 enterprise for several years past ; and when a call came, 
 he viewed it a9 from the Lord, determining the scene 
 of his future labours. His way is remarkably cleared 
 by the cordial acquiescence of friends. We rejoice in 
 the prospect of his future success. A wide door is now 
 opened in Jamaica for the spread of the gospel. The 
 field there is white unto harvest, and he is going to aid 
 in reaping it. 
 
 My dear Alexander, try to ascertain the great point, 
 that you are a genuine plant in the Lord's garden. 
 You will find it difficult, amid the bustle of worldly 
 business, to keep the heart for Christ. The most se- 
 questered situation has its temptations to turn away 
 from the fountain of living waters, and to hew out 
 broken cisterns ; but a station like your's must be pe- 
 culiarly difficult. If, however, you are enabled to 
 watch, and pray, and study your Bible daily, you will 
 find water spring up, even in the wilderness, to refresh 
 your soul. O, pray earnestly for the descent of the 
 Spirit, as the dew of heaven, to keep your branches 
 green amidst the withering w r inds which blow in this 
 dangerous region. I pray you may enjoy the comfort 
 of Isa. xxvi. 3, and xxvii. 3. Believe, pray, hope. — 
 Ever your loving grandfather, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Feb. 1837. 
 My Dear Alexander — The occasion of your last 
 visit to this country was most distressing to us all ; it 
 
LETTERS. 205 
 
 was peculiarly so to you. We deeply felt the blow of 
 a Father's hand, in removing- from us a beloved friend, 
 from your family a tender and endeared father, and 
 from me a son whom I highly esteemed as a boon to 
 me and my family — a man who, like another Enoch, 
 walked with God, and was much favoured with the 
 knowledge of the mind of God. But when we saw 
 that the Lord took him home to himself, with so many 
 testimonies of his paternal love, our duty was plain : 
 11 Not our will but thine be done." I hope you have 
 been brought to say so on your knees to God. Your 
 last letter to your sister indicates the strong emotions 
 of filial and fraternal affections, wounded and bleeding 
 under your loss. These, I hope, will not be permitted 
 to mar your inward peace. Now, my dear Alexander, 
 I would caution you against indulging these feelings to 
 excess, lest you offend your kind heavenly Father. 
 Though he has taken one dear to us all, let us remem- 
 ber he has said, " My loving kindness will I not take 
 away from you." I can easily imagine your feelings, 
 from not seeing your father for such a long period, 
 business claiming all your time and attention. You 
 lived in the hope of an opportunity to gratify your 
 strong inclination ; and you never once suspected that 
 your father's death would deprive you of the pleasure 
 of a personal interview. 
 
 All these things kept you away ; and you now see 
 that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Humbly 
 acquiesce in the divine orderings, and say, with the 
 holy man of old, " Good is the will of the Lord." But 
 the question is, How may a poor, bereaved sinner at- 
 tain this holy, contented frame of mind? Why, there 
 
 T 
 
206 LETTERS. 
 
 is just one way: Take precious Christ into the bosom 
 of your love ; and then you may say, with the apostle, 
 fc; I count all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." 
 
 Perhaps, by a close examination of yourself, you 
 may find that you needed this arousing dispensation. 
 Perhaps the daily bustle of the warehouse had insen- 
 sibly carnalized the state of your mind, disordered your 
 religious frame, and induced a cold and carnal frame in 
 the closet and in the sanctuary. O, what a mercy it is 
 that our Father does not cease to be a reprover ! The 
 refiniug may be sharp and very trying, but not more 
 s(> than our Father judges necessary. He takes no 
 pleasure in grieving the hearts of his children : he cor- 
 rects for our profit. Justify the Lord, and say, " Re- 
 turn into thy rest, O my soul !" 
 
 Allow me to tender an advice to you, in reference to 
 your local situation. M — is the very focus of the 
 Socinian heresy. From what I know of that denomi- 
 nation, they are, of all others, the most insidious ene- 
 mies to the cross of Christ and the gospel of salvation, 
 and also most anxious to inject their poison into young 
 minds. The writings of Priestly (who at last confessed 
 himself a downright materialist), and of others follow- 
 ing him on the road to the same delusion, they recom- 
 mend wherever they go. Their whole system is to 
 exalt nature into the throne of nature's God, and to 
 banish the doctrines of revealed religion concerning the 
 Trinity, the divinity of Christ, his atonement, and the 
 influence of the Spirit, out of the church of God. Be 
 on your guard against them. I would recommend to 
 your notice Miss Jane Graham's Memoir — edited by 
 
LETTERS. 207 
 
 the late Mr. Bridges — a woman and a Christian of the 
 first rank for intelligence and religion. 
 
 I have only time to add, that we were all delighted 
 with your two last letters, they breathe such warn} 
 Christian feeling, and resignation to the divine will, 
 under this heavy bereavement. The Bible, the throne 
 of grace, and the sayings and doings of your late father, 
 must be now your only consolation. I commend you 
 to the care of the God of all grace ; — and I ever am 
 your sympathizing father, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 March, 1837- 
 
 My Dear Alexander — I thank you for your kind 
 and acceptable letter last sent me. Although I gave you 
 a hint concerning the infatuated followers of Priestly, 
 it proceeded from no suspicion of any leanings toward 
 them. But we are not the worse of a warning voice 
 from the lips of a friend when in a situation of danger. 
 Your reply pleased me much : it breathes the spirit of 
 one who has taken his stand for time and eternity 
 under the canopy of redeeming love. Study, my dear 
 son, to live near God, and he will guide you with his 
 counsel. Seethat you go out of your closet every 
 morning with your heart seasoned and steeped in the 
 love of Christ, and your hands will not stick to, nor 
 your heart be defiled by, the bustle of the warehouse. 
 Improve your Sabbaths as times of holy rest, conse- 
 crated to fellowship with the God of your life. It is 
 daily fellowship with God which alone will keep the 
 
208 LETTERS. 
 
 soul in a spiritual frame. Your young brother is 
 leaving us to seek employment where God may open 
 a door. It gives us all much peace of mind that he is 
 going to be under your eye, especially at night. He 
 is a very gentle and amiable youth, but a great stranger 
 to the world, and not aware of the many snares which 
 surround the young man at his outset in life. You 
 can from experience warn him of his danger. He has 
 shown no turn hitherto to take up or form intimacies 
 with strangers, which is so far good. He possesses a 
 talent which may prove very ensnaring if known in 
 M — . I mean high musical powers. This gift has 
 proved a snare to many a promising youth, as the 
 means of drawing him into company, frequently of the 
 very worst description. I intend to speak very parti- 
 cularly to him on this subject before he leave us ; but 
 you will act a kind part to him if you watch over him, 
 and prevail with him utterly to conceal his talent when 
 in company, and reserve it only for the service of God 
 in religion, or perhaps for the gratification of his 
 friends in private. I hope the Lord, who is the 
 orphan's stay, will be with him. He is a promising 
 youth. And we all join in the prayer, that our God 
 and your late father's God may guide, and guard, and 
 comfort you both in every step of your way through 
 this ensnaring, sorrowing world. — And believe me 
 your loving father, while life remains, 
 
 A. P, 
 
LETTERS. 209 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. \V — m J — n, Jamaica. 
 
 Cherrybank, 1837- 
 My Dear Children — So I address you now. Oar 
 all- wise and gracious Father in heaven has broken the 
 intermediate link which connected you to a father on 
 earth, more near, more dear, and more worthy of the 
 name father. But now that the Saviour, whom he 
 loved, has been pleased to take him to himself, and 
 place him in his mansion above, I feel more closely 
 joined to you both. The staff on which we were in 
 danger of leaning too much weight is broken. But 
 God lives ; he is the rock of salvation ; and the blessed 
 Kinsman is saying to us, " Because I live, ye shall live 
 also." Your warm breathings in your last letter to us 
 evidence that the sore blow which has fallen on us all 
 is causing much smarting in the flesh; but the spirit is 
 receiving that holy unction from above which is mak- 
 ing you sing even in your sorrow. He is writing so 
 much love in the various events passing over you, that 
 you may well sing, " In the multitude of thoughts 
 within, thy comforts delight my soul. — His mercy 
 endureth for ever.'* Be this your song, and we desire 
 cordially to join you in it. Your dear brothers and 
 sisters have been wonderfully supported in passing 
 through this Red Sea. And above all, we rejoice that 
 we have such sure hope that our dear departed is sing- 
 ing, with the happy company around the throne, " Sal- 
 vation to God and the Lamb for ever and ever. 
 Amen." The great void now made by the removal of 
 him so dear to us all can only be filled up — much 
 more than filled up — by giving our great and glorious 
 
 t 2 
 
210 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 Friend the throne of love in all our hearts. I see he 
 is at the very core of yours. We are all overjoyed at 
 the good tidings you send us. Your kind Lord has 
 set your feet in a large room after trying your faith 
 in your stormy passage. I have often thought and 
 said, since your letter arrived., that the Lord has dealt 
 with you as with the great apostle in his passage to 
 Rome. He was tossed when on the boisterous waves, 
 and at last shipwrecked. The prince of the power of 
 the air intended to drown him, and all with him in the 
 ship ; but God set him his boundary, over which he 
 could not pass. The ship was lost, but all the passen- 
 gers were saved, in answer to Paul's prayers. God 
 saved your vessel and all in it, except the poor boy, of 
 whom you speak with hope that the Lork took him. 
 Your landing on the shore of Jamaica gave you full 
 evidence that our kind Master had opened to you a 
 wide door of entrance. The hearty welcome with 
 which you were received was to you the voice of God, 
 saying, " Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, and lead 
 us to the Saviour. We are all here waiting to hear 
 what the Lord will say to us by thy mouth.'' The 
 very name of the place where you have pitched your 
 tent bespeaks mercy in store for you. God, who gave 
 his Joseph favour in the eyes of Pharoah the king, is 
 touching the hearts of the planters and overseers of 
 the land to favour you. We rejoice at this : but your 
 chief work is among the Negro population. Your 
 earnest cry for the assistance of teachers is very urgent 
 and powerful. I intend to proclaim it wherever I go. 
 I admire your wisdom and prudence in telling the 
 overseers the propriety of gaining the concurrence of 
 
LETTERS. 211 
 
 the people among whom you labour to the erection of 
 a house for worship ere you write home for assistance 
 in money. This is the true spirit of Voluntaryism. 
 They must and ought to feel their personal interest 
 in all the external accommodations for the worship of 
 God. I am glad to learn that you are within reach of 
 two or three of your fellow-labourers in the work of 
 God. I was also rejoiced to read the harmonious re- 
 solutions of a considerable number of the Missionaries, 
 of different denominations, to co-operate in all things 
 as brethren in the great work of God in the mission, 
 and thus guarding themselves against every thing that 
 would mar their common usefulness, without compre- 
 mising their distinctive principles. I hope the resolu- 
 tions will be universally approved and acted upon by 
 all in the island. Your next letter will, I hope, bring 
 farther intelligence of your success and prospects. — 
 Farewell ! Let us meet at a throne of grace, till He 
 who sits on it be pleased to take us to his throne of 
 glory. — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To Mr. J— J—, M — 
 
 Perth, 13th Feb. 1839. 
 My very Dear James — I am happy to receive no- 
 thing from M — concerning you but what is commen- 
 datory and what I anticipated. I at first thought of 
 addressing you in the language of congratulation, but, 
 on second thought, I concluded that it was more suit- 
 able to my old age and your youth to tender a few 
 warnings and encouragements to my young friend en- 
 tering on life in a strange place, and among many who 
 
212 LETTERS. 
 
 Will attempt to draw you aside from the path of holi- 
 ness. I hope, dear James, you have been enabled to 
 give a positive answer to that grave and solemn de- 
 mand from the mouth of a gracious Saviour, " My son, 
 give me thine heart." Remember and respect the de- 
 dication every day. You are gone to a place where 
 many new objects will present themselves to your view 
 with many alluring attractions ; take care lest any of 
 them get an undue place in your affections. Forget 
 not that this last temptation was the chief one present- 
 ed to our Lord himself in the wilderness, by which the 
 devil attempted to ensnare him in his net. The great 
 enemy of souls found nothing in him on which he 
 could fasten his bait ; but, alas ! in us he finds so many 
 evil principles ready to catch at the bait, that even the 
 most guarded are apt to be caught. 
 
 The inexperience of youth is apt to throw them off 
 their guard. The apostle warns young Timothy to 
 flee youthful lusts. You will meet with young men of 
 various characters in M — . Some of them may appear 
 so loose and unguarded in their conversation, that you 
 will easily see you should avoid all intimacy with them ; 
 but there may be others equally bad, but of a polished 
 and insinuating address, who may have a secret design 
 to draw you into the intimacy of friendship ; and hav- 
 ing gained this point, they will gradually broach some 
 loose principles against religion, as if it were gross 
 ignorance, blind superstition, or, at best, childish folly. 
 They will hint that the Bible must be brought down to 
 the bar of reason, and tried by this standard. Flee 
 such, as the worst enemies of your temporal and eter- 
 nal interests. Trv to find some one or two who mani- 
 
LETTERS. 213 
 
 fest acquaintance with serious religious and moral 
 principles, and occasionally associate with them as fel- 
 low-travellers in wisdom's pleasant paths. If you can 
 find such in your office, good and well; but do not 
 hesitate to keep on habits of common intercourse with 
 those with whom you mix in business. " If it be pos- 
 sible," says the Bible, " as much as in you lieth live 
 peaceably with all men." Be thankful that you have 
 a parent with you in your elder brother, who, from 
 experience, can give you suitable advice and direction. 
 You have also had the great enjoyment of your sister's 
 motherly kindness in your introduction into public life. 
 Nay, more ; you see, I hope, the kindness of your hea- 
 venly Father manifested by placing you in a situation 
 which you much relish. These are all marks of kind- 
 ness never to be forgotten. 
 
 All friends here are rejoicing in the goodness of God 
 to you in your outset in the world, and hope he will 
 continue to watch over you to the end. I can only add, 
 in a few words, study to make your closet your Bethel, 
 your Bible your counsellor, and the throne of grace your 
 daily resort for direction and supplies of grace, strength, 
 and comfort. Let the Sabbath and the sanctuary be 
 the chief time and place of your resort to God for the 
 good of your soul. Take care, my dear James, of fall- 
 ing into a cold and lifeless frame in the service of God. 
 Daily stir up your soul in the duties of personal reli- 
 gion. Cry that the peace of God, which passeth all 
 understanding, may keep your heart and mind by Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 I shall be happy to hear from you soon, to tell me 
 how you come on in the Christian life. You are often 
 
214 LETTERS. 
 
 on our minds, and in our mouths and prayers. Good 
 Mrs. D — of the G — left this vain world on Monday 
 night last. Her precious dust is to be laid in the grave 
 on Monday next. " Blessed are the dead who die in 
 the Lord." The removal of this warm friend makes a 
 great blank to us. But Jesus says, I live. In the 
 course of nature I cannot be lon^ behind her. O to 
 be ready when my Lord comes ! Farewell ! — Ever 
 your loving father, A. P. 
 
 To Mrs. M— of G — 
 
 Perth, 1835. 
 My Dear Madam — I had the pleasure of seeing for 
 a few moments your kind-hearted husband when last 
 in this place, on a mournful occasion — mournful to 
 earthly relations, but joyful to your departed friend, 
 who is, I hope, entered into the joy of her dear Lord ; 
 and joyful also to our gracious Redeemer, who hath 
 pleasure in the death of his saints. She has got the 
 start of you, who have been in deaths often, because 
 her work was done, and she was made ready and 
 willing to depart to be with Christ, which is far better. 
 You, and more especially I, who have been so long 
 spared in the wilderness, are yet in the field of battle. 
 Though we are placed in externally comfortable cir- 
 cumstances, I hope we both experimentally feel that 
 daily conflict with the enemy which the apostle so 
 strikingly describes in Rom. vii. 14-24. This is a 
 struggle which the ungodly world know nothing of. 
 But let us keep up our courage, we have a kind com- 
 passionate leader, a good cause, a joyful prospect, and 
 
LETTERS. 215 
 
 final victory secured, through the cross of our trium- 
 phant Captain of salvation. Paul's concluding sentence, 
 in the passage just referred to, is a shout of victory 
 anticipated, — " I thank God, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. " He identifies himself with all believers to 
 the end of time. We also shall reap, if we faint not. 
 
 I am delighted to hear, by Mr. M — , that you are 
 going on with your female associates in the way of the 
 Lord, when so many private friendships are broken off, 
 even among them who seem to be seeking the way to 
 the Zion above. This is a time when the Lord seems 
 to be coming to search Jerusalem as with lighted candles. 
 There is much dust to be swept away, both in churches 
 and nations, and we need not wonder that the eyes of 
 even good folks should be somewhat blind ; but light 
 will arise by and bye, and all the fearers of God will 
 see eye to eye, and sing together with one voice, and 
 also serve him with one consent. This glorious con- 
 summation I shall not see on earth ; but let us rejoice 
 that the happy news will be proclaimed to those around 
 the King's royal throne. 
 
 Your worthy husband informs me that you are still 
 labouring under your frequent infirmities ; yet, although 
 troubled, not distressed — though sometimes perplexed, 
 yet not in despair — though cast down, not forsaken — 
 though sometimes sorrowing, yet always rejoicing. 
 Go on, my dear friend, in the strength of the Lord 
 your God, singing the 130th Psalm, and your God will 
 perfect what concerns his glory in you and by you. 
 
 In G — k you began the plan of Maternal Associa- 
 tions. A few of our mothers in Perth have caught the 
 spirit, and commenced the good work. I hope the 
 
216 LETTERS. 
 
 example will be followed elsewhere. I need say no- 
 thing about myself — only that I am helped of my in- 
 dulgent Master to continue in his work with increasing 
 pleasure — my health is steady, through the Lord's re- 
 markable kindness — and I find that the Lord's way is 
 my strength. I hope he will be with me to the end of 
 my course. Pray, earnestly pray for this — it must be 
 near — and I am in some measure on the outlook for it, 
 yet willing to stay while the Lord is pleased to make 
 any use of my poor services. 
 
 I send this by my good colleague. My earnest wish 
 and prayer to God for you both is, that your souls may 
 more and more prosper. The Lord be with you in life 
 and death ! — Ever your affectionate friend and father, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1838. 
 
 My Dear Friend — I heard, the other day, that you 
 had been at Aithry Wells, and that the great and good 
 Physician had communicated to you some benefit from 
 these waters. The first thought suggested to my mind 
 was — Is my kind friend so near me, seeking a cordial 
 to her frail body, and I knew it not, that I might have 
 held up the case to our kind Father's throne. 
 
 But it is often wisely ordered that the particular 
 circumstances of our dearest friends on earth should 
 sometimes be concealed from fellow-travellers Zion- 
 ward, that we may be taught to cease from man, and 
 place our whole confidence in the Lord alone. You 
 have been a child of the family, inured to many fatherly 
 
LETTERS, 217 
 
 chastisements, and I am persuaded that, on the review, 
 you would not wish to have wanted one of them. They 
 have been the means, in your great Physician's hand, 
 of quickening your pace heavenward, — of clearing 
 your evidences for eternity, — of keeping you humble 
 in your spiritual frame, — of elevating your views above 
 this vain and ensnaring world, — and of giving you 
 many errands to your Father's footstool. The longer 
 we sojourn in this sinning world, and bear about us 
 such deceitful and carnal hearts, we feel that nothing 
 will keep us right except daily intercourse with 
 our heavenly Father by faith and prayer. Occa- 
 sional intercourse with a few lively and experimental 
 fellow-travellers may cheer and encourage us onward 
 in our course — " iron sharpeneth iron" — but it is only 
 the heavenly unction which will cause our faces to 
 shine and our hearts to sing as we press forward to- 
 ward the mark for the prize of eternal life. Even the 
 sweet singer of Israel confessed, that unless he had 
 believed he should have fainted. Lean, my friend, 
 lean daily on the beloved, and you shall mount upward 
 as on eagles' wings. Be thankful, too, that a kind 
 husband has been given you of the Lord to sympathize 
 with you, and help you forward by his fervent and 
 frequent prayers and Christian example. May the 
 tender mercies of our gracious Father rest on you 
 "both, and perfect his good work in your souls at last ! 
 I earnestly claim a deep interest in your prayers at 
 the footstool of mercy. I hope our mutual cries often 
 mingle in the censer of our great and glorious High 
 Priest before his Father's throne. 
 
 I again thank you for the kind memorial put into 
 
 u 
 
'218 LETTERS 
 
 my hand when leaving G . It has a treble value 
 
 me, as coming from a friend who is, I trust, sitting 
 md daily walking under the broad-spreading shadow 
 of the great Rock in this weary and sinning land. Not 
 e drop of wrath can reach those who are under the 
 covert of Immanuel's righteousness. The kind Keeper 
 and Shepherd of Israel watch over you both while on 
 earth, and at last minister to you an open and honour- 
 able entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
 and Saviour, Jesus Christ ! — I remain your loving and 
 lisred old friend, A. P. 
 
 To Mr. Thomas Pringle,* London. 
 
 Perth, Oct. 1834. 
 My Dear Nephew — Your last letter arrived the 
 her day; it came with a knell to my heart. When 
 
 I turned my mind to my distant friend, I saw him, in 
 ought, gently floating on a troubled sea ; but observed 
 
 the best of all Friends standing by him, holding him by 
 e hand, and saying, " It is I, be not afraid." My 
 Dining song to-day was Psalm cxlvi. and cxlvii. ; 
 
 you were in my mind while I sang it with delight. 
 
 You have been taught experimentally the truth of that 
 
 * Late Secretary to the Anti- Slavery Society in London. For a 
 
 ,es of years Mr. Pringle devoted himself to the business of this So- 
 cietv. His talents and literature, and extensive acquaintance with 
 
 lunial affairs, aided by untiring zeal and pure philanthropy, were of 
 ->?ential service in the cause of emancipation. But his labours were 
 
 . ond his strength ; just about the time that the victory was achieved 
 health gave way. As a means of bis recovery, a voyage to his 
 
 nds in Africa was recommended ; but before he was prepared for 
 the voyage be was too ill to embark ; and in a short time he died, la- 
 mented by the best in the naticD, who well knew his worth and still 
 vere his memory. 
 
LETTERS. 219 
 
 word, " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son 
 of man, in whom there is no help ;" but " happy is he 
 that hath the God of Jacob for his help" You have 
 felt that it is folly to lean on the staff of a broken 
 reed ; but he that trusteth in the Lord, happy is he ! 
 When the Lord seeth that human hope is gone, and 
 there seems to be none shut up or left, then he repents 
 himself for his servants. Your desire to return to the 
 Cape seems now to be granted ; your work in London 
 is finished, honourably finished, to the glory of God, 
 to the honour of your country, in the liberation of the 
 oppressed and abused African slaves, and, I hope, for 
 gathering in a multitude of them to the Redeemer. 
 As some compensation for your past labours, God is 
 putting it into the hearts of friends to minister to your 
 necessities. This is so like God's way that you cannot 
 mistake the kind hand of a father in this dispensation. 
 The kindness of the donors, too, will give them a 
 deeper hold on your heart. 
 
 But while I say all this concerning your external 
 circumstances, I do not forget that I am writing to a 
 dear friend labouring under a dangerous malady. You 
 tell me "that you placed the result, in reference to 
 travelling funds, in His hand who had so wisely and 
 kindly conducted you hitherto." Well, my dear friend, 
 make a similar deposit of your eternal all into the same 
 gracious and faithful hand, who will keep that whicli 
 is committed unto him against that day. All who are 
 now before the throne took this course, and have not 
 been disappointed. They, too, had to pass through 
 great tribulation ; but, having washed their robes in 
 the blood of the Lamb, they got a triumphant passage 
 
220 LETTERS. 
 
 over Jordan, and entered Immanuel's land singing, 
 " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain I" Keep your 
 eye steadily fixed on the cross of Christ by faith, and 
 lie will support you under all your weakness, and con- 
 vey you through all difficulties. What think you of 
 his dying bequest? — John xiv. 1, 2, 3-27. Put him in 
 remembrance of his precious promises, — Isaiah xl. 28- 
 31; xlii. 1-4; liv. 10. The book of God is full of 
 such precious cordials ; — drink and praise the Lord. 
 I feel much for Mrs. P — and Miss B — in present 
 circumstances. The prospect of another voyage to the 
 Cape would occasion comparatively small anxiety were 
 you in wonted health ; but tell them to encourage 
 themselves in the Lord ; he rules in the raging of the 
 sea, both in the literal and figurative sense. You and 
 they are as safe, under divine protection, in the cabin 
 of a ship, as on dry land. I entertain hope, if it be 
 the will of our heavenly Father, that the African tem- 
 perature may prove as beneficial to you as it was to 
 your brother W — At any rate, the Lord is pointing 
 it out as present duty to make the trial ; and how 
 pleasing is the prospect of again embracing your nearest 
 relations on earth ! You and I shall never again meet 
 on earth ; but the best wishes and prayers of all friends 
 in Scotland will follow you in your voyage. The Lord. 
 I hope, will give you a safe landing, and a comfortable 
 meeting with all friends in Glen Linden. Now, my 
 dear friends, I commit you to God and to the word of 
 his grace, which is able to keep you from falling, and 
 present you faultless before the presence of his glory 
 with exceeding joy. — We all join in this earnest prayer, 
 and remain yours, A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 221 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 18IU. 
 
 My Dear Nephew — I was much surprised yester- 
 day at the arrival of your letter, and deeply affected 
 with the details it brought me of your detention in 
 London, and especially with the cause of it. We had 
 often been speaking and praying for you as on the bo- 
 som of the mighty waters, hoping, however, that the 
 Lord had detained the vessel until the terrible winds in 
 the beginning of October had passed away. But God's 
 ways and thoughts are not ours ; only, let us believe 
 that he doth all things well. I must not dwell on these 
 things, but tell you a fact about myself, which took 
 place about forty years ago. I was laid down in a bi- 
 lious fever, which bade defiance to all medical prescrip- 
 tions for twenty-five days. I was so reduced that f 
 could not walk from the bed to the chair. I said to 
 my medical friends, quite from my own suggestion, or 
 rather, I believe, by suggestion from above, Did you 
 doctors never think of trying a blister in a case like 
 this ? They owned that the thought had never struck 
 them. The blister was immediately applied ; a blessing 
 came along with it, and my recovery began from that 
 moment. I merely mention this, to let you know that 
 I too was brought to the gates of death and yet raised 
 up again, and to suggest that the very same Physician 
 can do the same for you, if it so please him. This would 
 please me much ; but, dear friend, it pleases me far more 
 to see your spirit so much mellowed down, and brought 
 to say to your heavenly Father, " Not my will but thine 
 be done." This holy and happy frame of mind is a 
 
 u 2 
 
'2'22 L£TTERS= 
 
 satisfying evidence that the Lord's hand is supporting 
 you, and his spirit sanctifying the rod. I hope you 
 can say, on good ground, with the apostle, " Whether 
 I live, I live to the Lord, and whether I die, I die to the 
 Lord." When we look, bv faith, to the death of our 
 kind Redeemer, what have we to fear? His merito- 
 rious blood is a canopy to shield us from the sting of 
 the last messenger ; and, what is better, it is a complete 
 covering to hide all our guilt and defilement from the 
 eye of a righteous Judge. Under this covert God sees 
 no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. I am 
 glad to see you leaving all that concerns you personally, 
 and also your nearest and dearest relations, in the hand 
 of a gracious Father. He does all things well : he will 
 fulfil all that concerneth you, and them also. Let us 
 admire the kindness of God, in detaining you in London 
 by this messenger of affliction, because he knew a sea 
 voyage would have been fatal. Let us sing both of 
 mercy and judgment. You have had an useful life, 
 which has been devoted to God, and the promotion of 
 one of the greatest events of our eventful time. But 
 when we appear before God, we must throw all our 
 poor defective works and doings behind our back, and 
 cry, " Unprofitable servants !" 
 
 I am afraid you have exerted yourself above your 
 strength in your last kind letter. You must be very 
 careful of this. Having taken your station at the foot- 
 stool of the throne of a God of mercy, there remain 
 and cry, and wait, in faith, hope, and prayer, looking 
 on while the Angel of the Lord does wondrously. 
 Should it be our Father's will to advance your begun 
 recovery, I will be refreshed with a few lines from 
 
LETTERS. 223 
 
 your hand. If otherwise, the door of the bridechamber 
 is open ; and I hope an abundant entrance will be mi- 
 nistered to you into the everlasting kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, where the sun will no 
 more go down, nor the moon withdraw her shining. 
 
 You are on our hearts at our Father's throne. He 
 hears the prayers of the destitute. Farewell ! The 
 Lord bless you and keep you — the Lord lift up the 
 light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace, 
 both in life and at death, is the prayer of your affec- 
 tionate uncle, A. P. 
 
 To Mrs. T — P — , London. 
 
 Perth, 1834. 
 My Dear Mrs. P — By this day's newspaper, I 
 learned that your worthy husband was taken from 
 you on Friday last, — a happy change to him, though a 
 grievous loss to you ! But, dear friend, look at the 
 bright side of the cloud, and read the many tokens of 
 God's love to you. He gave you the good husband 
 now gone ; he spared him many years with you ; has 
 honoured him to fill a most useful sphere in society, 
 both at home and abroad ; has raised him many friends 
 in London, to sympathize with you in your trials, and 
 to be ready to administer comfort ; and now, when his 
 work is done, has, I hope, taken him home to himself 
 for ever. I would say to you, fear not; I have no 
 doubt he will take care of you and your sister. What 
 a blessing you had her with you on this trying occasion. 
 By looking at the date of his death, I perceive that he 
 would not see my last letter. But no matter; the 
 
224 LETTERS. 
 
 Lord, I hope, filled him with joy and peace in believ- 
 ing. I will thank you, when you find time and ability, 
 to send me a particular account of his last moments ; 
 and tell me, if, like good Stephen, he died calling on 
 the Lord Jesus. Look to the widow's gracious Hus- 
 band for direction in your course. Remember his 
 promise, and plead it in prayer, — " I will bring the 
 blind by a way which they knew not ; I will lead them 
 in paths which they have not trod." " I will make 
 darkness light before them, crooked things straight, 
 and rough places plain." He can turn the shadow of 
 death into the morning. His wise and kind hand 
 should be seen and acknowledged in all his providential 
 administrations. How are you supported under this 
 very trying event? Remember that when Christ fore- 
 told trials to his disciples, he said to them, When you 
 see these things coming on you, then lift up your heads. 
 There is no other quarter from whence we can obtain 
 effectual relief and comfort. Study the Bible — ply the 
 throne of grace — put in your claim to the everlasting 
 Husband as your only friend and counsellor — believe 
 his promise, and you shall be established. I have said 
 before, I expect to have the particulars of the trying 
 event as soon as possible. All here join me in the most 
 tender expressions of sympathy and affection. May a 
 gracious God sweeten your bitter cup of present sor- 
 row ! I leave you on the care of Him who only com- 
 forts his mourners ; and remain your affectionate uncle, 
 
 A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 225 
 
 To Friends in Business, 
 
 Perth. 
 
 My Dear Friends — You are very busy trading in 
 this world's business. Let me put the one question of 
 the greatest importance to you, — Are you trading 
 with heaven ? This is a trade of the most profitable 
 and lucrative kind. There are losses and gains in 
 this trade too ; but it is remarkable that the very 
 things which appear present losses turn out gains in 
 the end. On the side of loss you may mark down 
 carnal pleasure, carnal company, the gratification of 
 every heart lust ; and to these you may sometimes 
 add the loss of many worldly good things, such as 
 health, wealth, the esteem of the world, &c. Now, 
 can you say that you count all these things loss for 
 Christ ? On the side of gain you may mark down 
 union to Christ, the favour of God and communion 
 with him, the inhabitation of the Holy Spirit, pardon 
 of sin, adoption into God's family, holiness of heart 
 and life, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, 
 joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseve- 
 rance in it until you reach heaven at last. It is easy 
 to see that the side of gain far exceeds that of loss. 
 But it is of great moment to understand the proper 
 way of trading with heaven here. 
 
 1. You must be made citizens in regeneration. 
 
 2. You must learn the rules of the spiritual trade 
 from the Bible. 
 
 3. You must send new orders, by faith and prayer, 
 to heaven every day. 
 
 4. Your orders must all be made out in Christ's 
 name. 
 
226 LETTERS. 
 
 5. You must offer no payment except the incense 
 of gratitude and praise. 
 
 6. When your returns come, note them down in 
 your day-book. 
 
 7. Show what is sent you to the best advantage in 
 your practice, but don't sell it or give it away for 
 goods of this world. 
 
 8. Make large demands, — they cannot be too large 
 or too frequent. 
 
 9. Drive no contraband trade on earth. 
 
 It is lawfnl to traffic in the commodities of this 
 world ; but beware of giving them that time or atten- 
 tion which belongs to the things of a better. 
 
 You think you are, on the whole, gaining in the 
 trade of this world. O, can you say so as to your 
 traffic with heaven? Have you taken any time to 
 balance accounts for eternity? How do matters stand 
 between God and you ? You must allow that it will 
 be strange infatuation to study exactness as to your 
 worldly business, and leave all in uncertainty as to 
 your eternal concerns. 
 
 I have hinted, that from the nature of your employ- 
 ment you are apt to fall into carelessness, formality, 
 and spiritual deadness. Your frequent hurries, your 
 constant intercourse with the world, your increasing 
 acquaintance with persons who may be agreeable 
 enough, but sad hindrances as to religion — above all, 
 the workings of the pride, the vanity, and carnality of 
 the evil heart — will be a daily snare, and ought to be 
 your great burden. Your exercise will go to wreck if 
 you take not some time every morning for reading the 
 word of God, meditation, and prayer. I doubt not 
 
LETTERS. 227 
 
 that you keep up the form of religion ; but this is a 
 small matter if the heart is not in the work. You are 
 sometimes called to large parties of friends : O, take 
 care of any sinful compliances there, which may pro- 
 voke the Lord to desert you both in the house and 
 shop. It is not easy to go into company and come 
 away with an approving God and a good conscience. 
 I desire to exercise a constant jealousy over you and 
 myself too, and to hold you up constantly to Him that 
 is able to keep you from falling. May he always 
 stand at your right hand ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To a Young Friend. 
 
 Perth. 
 
 My Dear Friend — By a letter from your father 
 we learnt that you have been rescued from a watery 
 grave by a hair-breadth escape, and were much affected 
 by the intelligence. D — n Loch, in the beginning of 
 frost, has been for years past the spot where many incau- 
 tious youths have been launched into eternity. Fondness 
 for amusement on the ice has plunged many a family 
 
 in and around into mourning and woe. Many 
 
 admonitions have you got from God in his providence, 
 and many else from friends, to repress your youthful 
 propensity to ramble into scenes which expose you to 
 danger, but you have hitherto disregarded them. The 
 buoyancy of your spirits betrays you into many rash 
 adventures fraught with imminent danger to your 
 health. You seem to have despised past warnings as 
 quite unnecessary ; but now, my dear friend, you have 
 
228 LETTERS. 
 
 received a warning from the hand of God himself. I 
 seriously admonish you not to slight it, no, nor even 
 forget it. Had the water where you sank been only 
 a few inches deeper, or had none been at hand to draw 
 you out when you stood in it up to your chin, where 
 had you been ? I shudder at the very idea. Were 
 you ready to meet the Judge of all on his high throne? 
 or could you have said that you died in his servicer 
 Did you bow your knees that morning at his throne, 
 and seek his presence and care in your fond desire 
 after youthful and dangerous amusement? Did you 
 take time to open and consult the book of God for 
 direction? Did you consider the general character of 
 most of your companions ? Had you no forebodings 
 that the ice might give way? Did the thought never 
 cross your mind, that if it should, and your life be lost, 
 your untimely death would bring down the grey hairs 
 of your loving parents with sorrow to the grave, and 
 wring the hearts of all your friends with bitter grief? 
 Your father says that your own mind has got a 
 grievous shock when reflecting on the danger to which 
 you were exposed. This gives me some hope that 
 the great deliverance may be sanctified for your 
 merciful recovery from youthful inconsideration and 
 rambling habits. O, my dear friend, your years of 
 foolish rambling should have been over long ago. 
 You have seen some years ; you were early devoted 
 to God in baptism by your excellent father; your 
 parents and other friends have often been at the throne 
 of grace for you ; it is now time, it is high time, for 
 you to consider the value of your soul, and the im- 
 portance of real religion to every sinner. To live and 
 
LETTERS. 229 
 
 die without a personal interest in the Saviour of 
 sinners is the direct road to everlasting ruin. I hope 
 better things of you ; but I earnestly entreat you to 
 consider your ways. The word of God repeatedly 
 calls you to this important duty. Jesus himself says, 
 " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
 ness, and all other things shall be added unto you." 
 Read and study the blessed book of God. Mock not 
 the Father of mercy by a few hurried, rambling peti- 
 tions, morning and evening. O begin to pray like one 
 deeply sensible that your heart and nature are de- 
 praved, and cry earnestly for mercy at the footstool of 
 mercy: " Ask and you shall receive, seek and you 
 shall find." Youth is a precious time. God com- 
 mands the young to remember him, and seek him 
 early, with the promise that they shall find him. 
 Break off your connection with fashionable youths, 
 who make a mock at religion, and would lead you 
 astray, — avoid them particularly on the Lord's day. 
 
 If you have not entered yourself a public member 
 of the church, lose no time in taking this matter into 
 serious consideration. But let your connection with 
 the visible church be the consequence of accepting the 
 kind offer of that Saviour who seeks the chief place in 
 your heart. I need not say more. May the spirit of 
 all grace bless these few friendly hints to your soul ! 
 
 I put you into his gracious hand, and hope you will 
 excuse my free dealings with you, as a friend whom 
 I earnestly desire to see fleeing to the sinner's strong- 
 hold. All here join in tender expressions of regard 
 and thankfulness to God for your deliverance. — I ever 
 am yours, A. P. 
 
 x 
 
230 LETTERS. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth. 
 
 My Dear Friend — Your letter arrived in course. 
 I felt much pleased with the general strain of your 
 reply. You write like one beginning to awake out of 
 a deep and dangerous sleep of thoughtless insensibility, 
 lying on the brink of a tremendous precipice, and not 
 knowing whither to run for safety* 
 
 As you seem to be somewhat in the spirit of a con- 
 vinced and returning prodigal, I would remind you 
 that the Father of mercies, whom you have grievously 
 offended, is seated on the throne of mercy, ready to 
 receive you as a poor, forlorn child of woe, returning 
 with a throbbing heart, and weeping eyes, and down- 
 cast countenance, saying, " Father, I have sinned against 
 heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be 
 called thy son." 
 
 The compassionate Redeemer is able to save to the 
 uttermost all that come unto God by him. But, my 
 dear friend, you must come — come to him just as you 
 are, a poor, guilty, helpless sinner, ready to perish, 
 vet crying for mercy through the atoning blood of the 
 Lamb. You must claim a personal interest in the 
 Saviour of sinners. By faith cry that the Spirit of all 
 grace may enable you to hide your guilty head under 
 the glorious robe of Christ's righteousness, which can 
 only shield you from the storm of divine wrath, ready 
 to burst on you. You are a prisoner of hope. Flee 
 to the stronghold open to receive you. The blood o£ 
 Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. Open your Bible, 
 and pray for divine illumination to understand and 
 
LETTERS. 231 
 
 apply the few following passages from the mouth of 
 God himself, — Isa. i. 18; liii — lv. Consider closely 
 Jer. xxxi. 18-20; Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27; Matt. xi. 28, 
 29 ; Eph. ii. ; and 1 John i. 8. O, pray in earnest for 
 the heart-melting and heart-purifying influence of the 
 Spirit of grace and supplication ! A sight of that 
 Saviour who died for the chief of sinners will heal all 
 your diseases, and nothing else will. 
 
 I have often cried at the throne of mercy for you, 
 and hope not to forget you ; but you must be impor- 
 tunate with God for yourself. God hears the prayers 
 of the poor, broken-hearted, suppliant sinner. I shall 
 be glad to hear again from you. Break off all inti- 
 macy with those that would lead you astray. The 
 companion of fools shall be destroyed. Seriously study 
 our Lord's discourse to Nicodemus, John iii. — I remain 
 your sincere friend, A. P. 
 
 To Mrs. L of F- 
 
 Cherrybank, 1833. 
 My Dear Friend — I have been told that you have 
 got a twitch of the common rod which has been travel- 
 ling through the land. The stroke has been pretty 
 smart on several individuals ; it gently touched us in 
 this family also ; and why not ? Our heavenly Father 
 best knows what rod to use, and when to lay it on. 
 Such as have committed their all, for time and eter- 
 nity, to Israel's faithful Shepherd, may well leave such 
 matters in his kind and faithful hand. He has graciously 
 supported you these many years, and even kept you 
 from sinking when waves and billows were passing 
 
'232 LETTERS. 
 
 over you. O, let us trust him still ! Faith keeping- 
 hold of the promise, and of God in the promise, will 
 keep our hearts calm and quiet even in the dark and 
 stormy night. " I had fainted," says David, " unless I 
 had believed." I hope, through the Lord's goodness, 
 your health is established, and that you are going on 
 your way rejoicing in the Lord. 
 
 You perhaps have heard that my only sister, Mrs. 
 Riddel, has been called home about a month ago. She 
 was favoured with a very quick and easy passage over 
 Jordan. — only about twenty-four hours a little worse 
 than ordinary. She was unable to speak much, but 
 complained of little pain, and fell on sleep, I hope, in 
 the bosom of the Beloved, in the close of her 88th 
 year. This is a very loud call to me, now in my S2d 
 year. I am trying daily to be on the outlook for the 
 coming of my Lord ; and am sometimes helped to 
 say, " Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus !" My stay 
 cannot be long ; but I find my work more and more 
 light and pleasant. I hope you do not forget me in 
 your closet. If the Lord spare us to meet again when 
 you return to town, I hope we will again cheer one 
 another on the way to the Zion above. May the pre- 
 sence of God abide on you and your worthy husband 
 and niece; he blesses the habitation of the just; his 
 mercv is round about them that fear him. I had no 
 thought of saying so much at this time, but when 
 Christian regard w r arms the heart we do not soon 
 weary in talking to a dear friends — I ever am, my 
 dear madam, yours in the bond of the gospel, 
 
 A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 233 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Cherrybank, 1836. 
 
 Mir Dear Madam — I only received a parcel of 
 Jewish papers last Saturday, and embrace the first op- 
 portunity of sending some of each kind to you. In 
 sending this welcome messenger with good news from 
 afar, concerning the doings of the Lord among his 
 ancient Israel, I cannot suffer the messenger to go 
 without asking you if your own soul be still prosper- 
 ing ? O, my dear friend, it is good news to hear that 
 the great Captain of salvation is on the field, leading 
 forward the little bands of his servants with displayed 
 banners, and gathering in the lost sheep in the various 
 quarters of his world. Let us rejoice, that all whom 
 his Father has given him shall come to him ; none of 
 them shall be lost. I sometimes think what a goodly 
 company there must be, and how supremely happy, 
 when those of all nations are gathered before the 
 throne of the Lamb, and sing together the song of 
 triumph to that sovereign grace which brought them 
 there. The work is going on iu our land, and in our 
 own church, too, among the rest. I was visiting, yes- 
 day, some families in the neighbourhood, and met with 
 some plants among the young and the aged that seem 
 to be growing and flourishing. This cheers my spirits. 
 
 How have you stood the cold and wet of the season ? 
 It has been rather an unfavourable summer ; but what 
 shall we say ? an infinitely wise and good God orders 
 all in the best way. There is a good crop on the 
 ground, and a good deal safe in the stack. Much is 
 yet exposed ; but we should live by faith even as to 
 
 x2 
 
234 LETTERS. 
 
 temporal things. On the top of the Ochils you are 
 somewhat nearer the clouds than we in the valley ; 
 but few possess, as I hope we do, that eye which can 
 look beyond the visible heavens, and sometimes get a 
 peep within the vail through the telescope of the pro- 
 mises ; we may see the King of grace and glory on 
 his majestic throne, and hear him saying, " Be careful 
 for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and suppli- 
 cation, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made 
 known unto God." It is very pleasant to know that 
 we have a Father in heaven who knows all our wants 
 and woes ; and yet he condescends to hear his poor 
 children tell him of them at his footstool. He is too 
 high, too holy, too independent, to be governed by any 
 thing we can say at his footstool ; yet he is so kind, so 
 condescending, so compassionate, as to regard the 
 prayers of his poor children. He may, in paternal 
 kindness, deny us the very thing which we ask, but he 
 will always give what is good ; and, O ! what debtors 
 we are to his boundless generosity ! 
 
 I hope, my dear Christian friend, we often meet at 
 the King's throne. This is a mode of fellowship which 
 friends in Christ can only enjoy. My heart's desire 
 for you all is, that you may flourish in the Lord's vine- 
 yard. The Lord is again visiting our guilty land with 
 a merciful change of weather: O that the inhabitants 
 would praise him ! Let us remember one another at 
 the footstool of mercy. May your soul be fed under 
 the ministry of good Mr. L — e ! — Ever yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 135 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Cherry bank, 1837. 
 
 My very Dear Friend — Mr. L called yester- 
 day and informed me of your very dangerous fall, the 
 detail of which, affected me very considerably. He 
 told me also that you had been most mercifully pre- 
 served, having sustained comparatively but slight in- 
 jury. Davids words in the xciv. Psalm came in view, 
 " I said, my foot slippeth ; but thy mercy, O Lord, 
 held me up." O, the wonderful care and kindness of 
 our heavenly Father ! He directs all our goings with 
 infinite wisdom and love. The very disasters and 
 dangers we meet with in our way clearly show us the 
 truth of that gracious saying, " The mercy of God is 
 round about them that fear him." When we meet 
 with trying steps in our way which we looked not for, 
 he then shows us that his everlasting arms are under- 
 neath us ; and O how sweet it is for a child of God to 
 see and feel that promise made out, " Lest any hurt 
 it, I will keep it night and day." When the hand of 
 creatures is not seen in our trials and deliverances, 
 we are sweetly shut up to say, " It is the Lord : let 
 him do what seemeth him good." We are sure that 
 we need these monitors. Good Hezekiah said, after 
 he had time to reflect on his former ways, on the sharp 
 trial which the Lord had sent, and on his wonderful 
 deliverance, " What shall I say ? He hath both spoken 
 unto me, and himself hath done it." See Isa. xxxviii. 
 15, 16, 17. I most cordially join you in your song 
 of thanksgiving to Him who preserved you in that 
 hour of peril, and who, I trust, will complete the re- 
 
236 LETTERS. 
 
 covery. You have often had occasion to sing, u I was 
 brought low, and the Lord helped me." You know 
 that I feel deeply interested in you, and sometimes 
 carry you with me to the throne of the King. We 
 are to eat the Lord's Supper on Sabbath week : re- 
 member us, my dear friend, and I hope the kind Lord 
 of the feast will feed you with the fatness of his house, 
 even in your closet and family duties. You must be 
 a prisoner for some time — I hope not very long — and 
 kept from ordinances ; but the Lord filleth every long- 
 ing soul. I am, through the mercy of my bountiful 
 Master, able to do a little on Sabbath, and am begin- 
 ning visitation in the country. Let us never forget 
 that cheering promise, " As thy day is, so shall thy 
 strength be." 
 
 Please to accept these few thoughts from a distant 
 friend who has you on his heart. Leaving you in the 
 kind hand of Jehovah-Rophi, — I ever am yours, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Cherrybank, 1838. 
 
 My Dear Friend — For some weeks past you have 
 been often in my mind; and my first inquiry is, How 
 are your eyes keeping? This is only an infirmity in 
 the flesh ; and it is good to have to say, that the gra- 
 cious Lord who gave you your eyesight, has not only 
 preserved it long, but enabled you to make good use of 
 it, in consulting the book of God and other valuable 
 helps. May he be pleased to allow you the use of this 
 precious faculty a little longer, if it be his holy will. 
 
LETTERS. 237 
 
 But, dear madam, take courage; the eye of faitb, 
 seated in the renewed heart, shall never be totally 
 darkened. It may be occasionally much bedimmed by 
 dark dispensations — by the veil of unbelief, or by the 
 temptations of our great enemy ; but a new glimpse of 
 the King's face will dispel all clouds, and turn the sha- 
 dow of death into the morning. You have often had 
 experience of this ; and you may confidently trust the 
 faithful promise, " I will see you again, and your heart 
 shall rejoice." When men say there is a casting down, 
 the Lord often says there shall be a lifting up ; and he 
 will save the humble soul. I suspect that, owing to the 
 cold and wet summer, you would have several silent 
 Sabbaths, in your feeble state of bodily health ; but 
 even this great privation is often amply made up by 
 closet visits from our Father in heaven. He can make 
 streams in the desert, to give drink to his weary pil- 
 grim. We need only the lively exercise of faith to 
 enable us to hold on our way rejoicing. Fear not, only 
 believe, was our Lord's direction to a very distressed 
 petitioner. He said, to a weeping disciple, " If thou 
 wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God." 
 Our blessed Master put all these, and similar sayings 
 of his, on sacred record, because he knew that his chil- 
 dren, in after ages, would need these important direc- 
 tions in time of trouble. 
 
 You, I suppose, have seen the account of the terrible 
 wreck of the Hull steamer. It has caused a very ge- 
 neral sensation here, as well as elsewhere. When you 
 look back upon your sore trial, and compare it with 
 the bereaved widows and fatherless, who are mourning 
 over their relations, buried in a watery grave, amidst 
 
238 LETTERS. 
 
 all the horrors of a tempest, what reason have you to 
 say, that no strange thing happened unto you, but such 
 as is common to man. It seems a gospel minister was 
 among the victims. What shall we say ? " The Lord 
 is just in all his ways, and holy in all his works." O 
 may the eighteen survivors lay it to heart ! 
 
 That the Lord himself may give you all more and 
 more grace, with joy and peace in believing, is the 
 prayer of your ever-loving friend and fellow-traveller 
 Zionward, A. P. 
 
 To the Rev. R— C— of D— . 
 
 Cherrybank, 1836. 
 
 Mv Dear Brother — Through different mediums, 
 I frequently hear of Mrs. C — and your family. The 
 report, I hope, excites not only the emotions of friendly 
 sympathy, but sends us sometimes to our Father's 
 throne on your account ; and especially for supporting, 
 sanctifying, and comforting communications to your 
 afflicted bosom friend. Tell her, as you no doubt often 
 do, that the Christian's heaviest trials are only light in 
 comparison with the exceeding great and eternal weight 
 of glory in reserve within the vail. I trust she has 
 long ago fixed her anchor there, and thus she will have 
 that hope which maketh not ashamed, because the love 
 of God is shed abroad in her heart by the Holy Ghost 
 given to her. The kind Redeemer knows all those who 
 love and trust him. He may try them — he will do it ; 
 but he writes Isa. xli. 10, on the door of the furnace as 
 they enter, and he whispers as they proceed, " My 
 grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made 
 
LETTERS. 239 
 
 perfect in weakness." Should death be in the cup, I 
 have no doubt that our gracious Lord will make good 
 his farewell promise to her, — John xiv. 1-3. And, 
 O, how much better is it for the child of God to depart 
 and be with Christ, than stay in this sinful and polluted 
 world. " Ah," may you say, " it is an easy thing for 
 you to speak thus, when the trial is not your own." I 
 own, dear brother, this makes a great difference in our 
 present circumstances; but you know that, fifteen years 
 ago, the Lord called me to give up my hold of one of 
 the most endearing bosom friends ; and the delightful 
 hope that she went home to our Father's house above, 
 to the bosom of her everlasting Husband, when she 
 was made ready for the happy change, in a great mea- 
 sure quieted my agitated spirit, and brought me to bow 
 to his holy disposal. The Lord has been for some time 
 warning you of what seems to be approaching ; and I 
 hope you are brought to stand and look on, saying, 
 " Good is the will of the Lord." The kind Master whom 
 we serve — poorly serve — condescends to assure us, 
 " that he will not leave us nor forsake us." Let us try 
 to take up the cross and sing, " God lives : blessed be 
 my rock; the God of my salvation be exalted." It 
 seems your brother is also with you in a drooping state. 
 Deep called unto deep in David's case, yet he was ena- 
 bled to say, " Why art thou cast down, O my soul? 
 Hope in God. I shall yet praise him. — As thy day is, 
 so shall thy strength be." You know who says, " Be 
 still and know that I am God." I desire to meet you 
 at our Father's throne, supplicating mercy for the suf- 
 ferers in your family, and for ourselves, that the shadow 
 of death may be turned into a morning of joy to us all. 
 
240 LETTERS. 
 
 Accept of my tender Christian sympathy, and believe 
 me to be your loving brother in Christ, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Rev. J — H — of A — . 
 
 Cherrybaxk, August, 1837- 
 My Dear Brother — I got the history of your 
 journey to Kirriemuir, and your return from it : your 
 heart was there, and you wished to serve and meet 
 with our kind and gracious Master. The Lord, I hope, 
 accepted the will for the deed. By late accounts, you 
 seem to be a little convalescent ; your outward man 
 weak, but your mind cool and somewhat collected, and, 
 I hope, renewed day by day. Were I younger, the 
 distance shorter, myself less engaged, and the meeting 
 of Synod not so near, I might make an effort to see you 
 in your confinement. We have been long fellow- 
 travellers to the rest above — fellow-labourers in our 
 Lord's vineyard — and have, occasionally, spent some 
 pleasant hours in speaking together concerning the 
 kingdom of God. We are both, I trust on the confines 
 of Immanuel's land; should you arrive there first, you 
 will be the first gainer of the prize ; but your success, 
 instead of abating my joy, should, and I hope will, 
 excite my thanksgiving to God for you, and also sti- 
 mulate my hopes and exertions in finishing the small 
 remainder of my pilgrimage course. You have served 
 Christ near fifty years in your public ministry; and 
 have been often telling saints and sinners that the only 
 foundation on which they can safely rest for eternity- 
 is Christ Jesus, the rock of ages. On this stable rock, 
 
LETTERS. 241 
 
 I have no doubt, you have long ago taken your own 
 standing-, for life and death. Well, the billows of 
 affliction — the winds of temptation — cannot move, nor 
 eveu shake this foundation. But faith must daily keep 
 its anchor-hold; and if so, the inhabitant of the rock 
 may sing, " He hath made to me the everlasting cove- 
 nant, ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my 
 salvation and all my desire." This song can only be 
 learned in the school of Christ — the Spirit himself is 
 the teacher — and the first stanza is first uttered by the 
 young convert in the morning of conversion. You 
 and I have been long trying to school others in this 
 heavenly melody ; but, alas ! with little success as to 
 many. This we cannot help, though we should much 
 deplore. But when we come to the closing scene of 
 life, we will find it pleasant to reflect that these very 
 truths, which were the marrow of our ministry, and 
 the solace of our souls, in our great Master's service, 
 must be the stay of our spirits in the bed of sickness 
 and death. Paul was in a very happy frame of soul 
 when he penned 2 Cor. v. To carry about the earthly 
 house of this tabernacle near eighty years, groaning 
 under the burden of sin, temptation, and sorrow, may 
 well make the feeble groan for deliverance. But wait- 
 ing and watching are as much our duty, as believing 
 and hoping to the end. You have often, I dare say, 
 reminded others " to gird up the loins of their minds, 
 to be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that 
 shall be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ." I hope your mind is calm, your faith resting 
 on the finished work of Christ, and your anchor of hope 
 fixed on that within the vail. Well, I shall only add 
 
242 LETTERS. 
 
 the remarkable words of the Apostle, 1 Pet. v. 10, — 
 " But the God of all grace, who called us unto his 
 eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a 
 while, make you perfect, strengthen, stablish, settle 
 you." Amen, amen! Please tell Mr. J — to write 
 me particularly how you are in body and mind. The 
 great and gracious Physician abide with you as your 
 great Comforter ! — I ever am your sympathizing bro- 
 ther in Christ, A. P. 
 
 To a Friend. 
 
 Perth, 1828. 
 
 My Dear Friend — The last time I visited you, I 
 felt a wish to have some friendly and confidential con- 
 versation with you concerning matters of eternal 
 moment, but, by one occurrence or other, the time 
 passed by, and the opportunity was lost. I came away 
 with the settled determination of writing you ; and 
 you may now say, Why so tardy in fulfilling your 
 resolution ? I will honestly confess that the thought 
 has often since crossed my mind, but this morning it 
 took such hold of me that I could no longer procrasti- 
 nate. Now, my dear friend, I propose to enter into 
 no argument with you, but merely to expostulate with 
 you, as an old friend, who soon must dip his foot in 
 the Jordan. I hope you will not think me obtrusive 
 in earnestly soliciting your serious attention to the 
 things which concern your eternal peace. 
 
 The Bible tells us, and our own conscience often 
 whispers the same solemn truth, that we must soon 
 appear at the tribunal of Christ, to give in our account 
 
LETTERS. 243 
 
 of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good 
 or bad. The thought is awfully solemn and interest- 
 ing. One of the most holy men that ever lived said, 
 in viewing this subject, " If thou, Lord, shouldst 
 mark iniquities, who shall stand?'* The great Judge 
 is omniscient, and knows our inmost thoughts, — he is 
 essentially righteous, and will by no means clear the 
 guilty. The great question then is, How may a poor 
 sinner, covered with guilt and defilement, appear 
 before the glorious Judge with safety and acceptance ? 
 Blessed be God that we are not left like poor heathens 
 to grope in the dark as to this great and vital point. 
 The blessed Bible at once directs the inquiring sinner 
 to the compassionate Saviour — to his meritorious blood 
 —his efficacious grace — as infinitely able and sufficient 
 to save to the uttermost. But then this blood must 
 be applied to the soul by the Spirit. Christ and his 
 perfect righteousness must be received by faith, in 
 order that we may have a personal interest in him. 
 It is the established order of grace that every sinner 
 to be saved must be born again, — he must believe the 
 gospel report concerning Christ and salvation as God's 
 testimony to him in particular. He that believeth 
 shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be con- 
 demned. I am persuaded you know all these things 
 — you are a reader, and have a considerable portion of 
 knowledge; but something more, my dear friend, a 
 great deal more is needed than mere speculative 
 knowledge. Consider the meaning of the Apostle's 
 doctrine, — 2 Cor. iv. 1-6. The understanding must 
 not only perceive the truth, but the light of the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God, as it shines in the face, or 
 
244 LETTERS. 
 
 person, and work of Christ Jesus, must shine into 
 the heart, and so gain the free consent of the will and 
 affections, that the man accepts of Christ and his sal- 
 vation, and gives up the love and practice of all known 
 sin. This is the true evidence that we are believers 
 indeed. Now, put the questions — O put them seriously 
 to your own heart — Have I been really awakened out 
 of my natural security ? have I seen and felt my own 
 wretchedness and misery as a guilty and defiled sinner 
 before the heart-searching God? have I been enabled 
 to cast myself at the Saviour's feet, and cry, " Lord, 
 save me, I perish"? have I said amen to the offers of 
 mercy proclaimed in the gospel to the chief of sinners ? 
 have I made this choice for eternity? and do I show 
 that I have made it, by departing from all iniquity, 
 and walking in the paths of Christian holiness ? These 
 are inquiries of infinite moment, and you cannot have 
 solid peace in your mind until they are affirmatively 
 settled. 
 
 You must remember how near eternity you were 
 brought by a fall from your horse some time ago. 
 The thought has surely crossed your mind, Where 
 would my eternal destiny have been had I then died ? 
 Would I have been admitted among the happy com- 
 pany of the redeemed around the throne of the Lamb ? 
 or would I have been consigned to everlasting burn- 
 ing? Men may amuse themselves as they will in 
 speculating about religious truths ; but unless these 
 truths come home to the heart, obtain the consent and 
 acceptance of the soul, and be an active principle of 
 holiness in the life, they produce no saving fruits. 
 
 I suggest these few hints to you from a pure con- 
 
LETTERS. 245 
 
 cern for your best interests. You will naturally sup- 
 pose that they intimate a deep suspicion that all may 
 not stand aright between God and you. I do not 
 deny that it is so. You have many amiable qualities ; 
 but if the one thing needful be wanting, all is wanting 
 which can comfort you when you come to grapple 
 with the king of terrors. 
 
 If you will condescend to open your mind freely to 
 me in answer to this letter, or if you would come and 
 spend some time with me, it would make me very 
 happy. 
 
 I commit you and your best interests into the hana 
 of God, and pray that you may take all this in gooc 
 part — I ever am yours, sincerely desirous of your sal- 
 vation, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Perth, 1N28. 
 My Dear Friend — Your favour came in course 
 I respect your honesty in avowing yourself a doubter, 
 when an inward monitor tells you that such is the 
 state of your mind. But O, my friend, why is it thus 
 with you ? Is it from a defect of evidence in the 
 glorious doctrines of revelation ? or is it from a defect 
 in your own moral vision ? You remember that cer- 
 tain characters came to our Lord, when on earth, say- 
 ing, " How long dost thou make us to doubt ?" What 
 a strange, and groundless, and wicked complaint ! 
 Had they not the most abundant and striking evidence 
 every day before their eyes, that Jesus was the Christ 
 — the promised Messiah ? What kept them from see- 
 
 y2 
 
-46 LETTERS. 
 
 ing this great fact? Ah! it was something within — 
 the enmity, the carnality, the prejudices, the prepos- 
 sessions of their own hearts. If you examine well, 
 you will find that the cause of hesitation lodges within 
 you. That there are profound mysteries in the word 
 of God, which finite intellect cannot fully fathom, I ad- 
 mit ; but if there were nothing such in a revelation 
 from the infinite God, could we believe it to be di- 
 vine? Infidels affirm that there are contradictions in 
 the word of God, but this objection of theirs we totally 
 deny; nay, it has been a hundred times refuted. There 
 are a multitude of facts in nature which no philosopher 
 can explain ; and can we suppose that there should be 
 none in revelation ? But the shortest way of coming 
 to a point here is, by looking at yourself as a poor 
 guilty sinner, in the presence of that God whom you 
 admit to be holy and just. Take a close view of your 
 many trangressions against his holy law ; consider how 
 you can answer to him even for one of the many 
 thousands of your offences. Delude not yourself with 
 the idea, that, because he is a God of mercy, he will 
 not be strict in marking your iniquities. He is indeed 
 a God of mercy ; but he is also a God of justice, who 
 cannot pardon sin without a satisfaction to his justice. 
 Where is this satisfaction to be found except in the 
 atoning sacrifice of Christ? Look at your case, and 
 you will see that the provision made in Jesus Christ 
 is exactly suited to it. If you are brought to take up 
 your rest on this foundation for eternity — to rest in 
 him — yo u shall assuredly find peace in your soul ; wliile 
 such a delight in holiness and hatred of sin will spring 
 up within you as will enable you to perceive at once 
 
LETTERS. 247 
 
 the truth and the excellence of the Christian revela- 
 tion. May the spirit of all grace savingly illuminate 
 your mind, and lead you into all truth ! — I ever am 
 your loving friend, A. P. 
 
 To the Author's Nephew, Mr. R- 
 
 Perth, 1838. 
 
 My Dear R — If H — were only half the distance 
 from Perth I might make an effort, but, considering my 
 advanced age, I can never again expect to visit the 
 place of my nativity. I was sorry to learn that both 
 your sisters, M — and C — , were so poorly. I learned 
 from Mr. R — that they are pretty severely tried. 
 
 Tell them, from me, that when I was, some time 
 ago, brought to the brink of the grave, I called in to 
 my help a Physician who can heal all manner of sick- 
 ness and disease. He came, and gave me a sweet 
 medicine which powerfully effected my cure. He is 
 still alive, and is saying to them, " Call on me in the 
 day of trouble, and I will deliver thee." I cannot as- 
 sure them that he will deliver from bodily trouble; 
 but he can deliver from the mental disease of sin, which 
 is preying on the soul of every unconverted sinner; 
 and if this disease be brought under healing the soul 
 will be safe, come what may. 
 
 I hope and pray they may take this happy course, 
 for their present comfort and their future and eternal 
 felicity. If the Divine Spirit enable them to do so, 
 they will never perish : for them to live will be Christ, 
 and to die will be gain. Good Mary, in the Gospels, 
 made choice of the one thing needful, the better part, 
 
248 LETTERS. 
 
 which should not be taken from her. It will rejoice 
 ray heart to hear that my dear friends have made the 
 same choice. 
 
 Many are disposed to wonder at the measure of 
 health and vigour which God is continuing to me. I 
 am daily trying to bless him for it. But the recollection 
 of the lost days and neglected opportunities which pass- 
 ed over me in my youth often presses sore on my 
 mind. I often try to put up David's prayer, — Psal. 
 xxv. 6, 7. I am also often trying the exercise of the 
 two disciples at Emmaus : they constrained the Lord 
 to abide with them, saying, " The day is far spent, and 
 the night is at hand." 
 
 You have no doubt been informed of the death of 
 your cousin, Thomas Pringle. I had two letters from 
 him in the time of his distress. He spake, or wrote, 
 like one savingly acquainted with the great Saviour of 
 sinners, lying at the foot of the cross, and depending 
 on his great atonement as the only ground of his hope 
 for eternity. He was a very kind, warm-hearted friend, 
 had a well-stored understanding, and a cultivated taste. 
 His writings, both in verse and prose, do him great 
 credit, and will embalm his memory even to those who 
 had no personal acquaintance with him. But his ex- 
 traordinary exertions for the emancipation of the slaves 
 in our Colonies will associate his name with some of 
 the greatest friends of the human race. He, I believe, 
 fell a victim to his exertions in the cause of the Afri- 
 cans. He has finished his useful life in this world, and 
 is gone, I hope, to reap the fruits of his labours, in that 
 world where sin, and sorrow, and death, cannot enter. 
 Farewell, my dear nephew ! 0, neglect me not at the 
 throne ! — Yours, A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 249 
 
 To Mrs. M — 
 
 Perth, 30th October, 1824. 
 
 My Dear Madam — Mr. H *s letter of the 27th 
 
 instant brought us the distressing intelligence of Alex- 
 ander's departure to the other, and, I hope, better 
 world. It struck us all with deep concern. Our 
 warmest feelings flowed out toward all the family, and 
 especially towards you. I know well how a parent's 
 heart beats on such trying occasions. But there js no 
 solid relief to be got except by lying down under the 
 shadow of the throne, and crying, " Father, thy will be 
 done ! " We obtain all our comforts from the Lord, 
 and should cheerfully surrender them when he recalls 
 them. I know how our proud, selfish, and carnal 
 hearts wince and kick at such dispensations ; but if 
 faith be in proper exercise, it will take the bitter cup, 
 and say, " It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth him 
 good." Good Hannah was a very grieved person, and 
 weeped bitterly; but she took the proper course to 
 obtain comfort. She went to the sanctuary to God 
 himself — she met with the High Priest — she obtained 
 his blessing, and got a comfortable answer to her 
 prayers. Take the same course, dear madam, and 
 you shall have similar success. She asked a son from 
 the Lord, and she got him, and lent him to the Lord. 
 You got this your son from the Lord long ago — many 
 years ago — you have often, I have no doubt, given 
 him to the Lord, and now the sovereign Lord has 
 taken him, I hope, to himself, and is saying to you, 
 Go in peace, and be no more of a sad countenance. 
 The way in which he has taken him — the time and 
 
250 LETTERS, 
 
 other circumstances — were all wisely ordered in his 
 eternal counsels. A watery grave is just as good as 
 an earthly one to them that sleep in Jesus. The sea 
 must surrender its dead at the coming of our Lord as 
 well as the church-yards. None of Christ's members 
 will be amissing on that day. Such premature deaths 
 (as we commonly but incorrectly speak) should put all 
 on the outlook, especially us parents, who see those we 
 have nursed and fondled plucked away before our eyes. 
 What think you of the kindness of God, in sparing so 
 many of your young family, and placing them around 
 you, to be your comfort and your stay in advancing 
 years. We often count more on one trial than on a 
 thousand mercies. This is our sin, and should be 
 guarded against. When the heart is filled with the 
 love of Christ, worldly losses will be more easily sus- 
 tained. The Lord allowed the sisters at Bethany to 
 weep for Lazarus, but he was grieved at their unbelief 
 and excessive sorrow. You and family have a deep 
 interest in our sympathy and prayers. We salute you 
 all in the gracious words of Him who comforts them 
 that are cast down, saying, " Peace I leave with you, 
 my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, 
 give I unto you : let not your hearts be troubled, nei- 
 ther let them be afraid." Pray accept of our kindest 
 salutations and sympathy. Remember us affectionately 
 to all friends. — I ever am, my dear Madam, your af- 
 fectionate and sympathizing friend, 
 
 A. P. 
 
LETTERS. 251 
 
 [The Letters which follow were not found by Dr. Pringle's 
 family till after the foregoing were nearly through the press, 
 else their place in the series would have been much earlier. 
 They were written to a Cousin in the south of Scotland, 
 some of them before, and the rest soon after, he commenced 
 his fixed ministry ; and the reader will find in them pleasing 
 evidence that even then, when his years were comparatively 
 few, his heart was rich in Christian experience.] 
 
 Jan. 9, 1770'. 
 
 My Dear Cousin — I have, indeed, transgressed the 
 law of friendship; bat my fault rather flowed from 
 necessity than choice. Since I came here, you have 
 often, often been in my mind, and as often I have re- 
 solved to write you ; but some intervening accident has, 
 till now, hindered me. 
 
 I was very much surprised by meeting W— B — , 
 the other day, in coming from the class. The rogue 
 promised to come to dinner, but beguiled me. 
 
 Yesterday a most alarming accident occurred at 
 Leith. A sea captain, walking on the shore, slipped 
 his foot, fell into the water, and was drowned. The 
 fact is certain, and its language loud : " Be ye also 
 i;eady ; for ye know not at what hour the Son of Man 
 cometh." Death's grim summons we must obey, for 
 there is no discharge in that war. O, my dear cousin, 
 what is of so great importance as to die in Christ ? 
 This is the one great end of life itself, the chief design 
 of God in trying providences, and the direct tendency 
 of the gospel. If we improve not time for eternity, 
 we are the worst of murderers. It is an important 
 
252 LETTERS. 
 
 inquiry, How may time be so improved as not to sting 
 the conscience when death arrests? This, I think, is 
 answered in few words, by Solomon's pressing exhor- 
 tation : " Do, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, with 
 all thy might." When a person is conscientious in the 
 performance of every commanded duty, and dedicates 
 all his actions, and the all of his actions, to God's glory, 
 then he may be said to live to purpose ; but especially 
 when he is assiduous about the great work of his own 
 salvation, and proceeds in it, as it were, with fear and 
 trembling. " This," says Christ, when reasoning with 
 the Jews, " is the work of God, that ye believe on his 
 Son whom he hath sent." Just as if God required no 
 other work at our hands but to believe. Indeed, what- 
 ever we do besides, if a life of faith is not our main 
 employment — if we do not every thing in the exercise 
 of faith — our strength is spent in vain, and our labour 
 for that which doth not satisfy. We spend time in 
 our lawful callings — we trifle it away in religious du- 
 ties — nay, we abuse it egregiously eating and drinking 
 — while we overlook this great end, and suffer eternity 
 to slip out of our mind. 
 
 But who can say he is clean, and plead innocent of 
 the great transgression? We are verily guilty concern- 
 ing this thing. However, my dear friend, our glass is 
 not yet empty : let us redeem our time, and, as it were, 
 buy back our lost opportunities, by doubling our dili- 
 gence for the time to come. Eternity is posting upon 
 us ; time is flying apace ; and woe, woe to us, if our 
 time ends before our tasks ! This causes many to lie 
 down in sorrow, who might have gone singing to Im- 
 manuel's land. Oh, the ghost of murdered time ! It 
 
LETTERS. 253 
 
 pierces through with many bitter reflections on the 
 improvement we have made of it. These are suitable 
 subjects of reflection on the return of another season. 
 What may animate us to think of them is, the frequent 
 surprises that many are meeting with from the king of 
 terrors. Oh, time ! how earnestly it is desired by a 
 dying sinner ! That we may not be found laying up this 
 precious talent in a napkin is, and shall be, the daily 
 prayer of, dear cousin, your true soul-friend, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 16th Oct. 1776. 
 My very Dear Cousin — A sense of my many obli- 
 gations to you obliges me to break through every ob- 
 stacle to send you a few lines. When in health, my 
 situation was such as made it inconvenient to be re- 
 gular in my returns to a dear friend whom I value so 
 highly; but, for some weeks past, it has been out of 
 my power, through bodily indisposition, which, in the 
 Lord's kindness, is now removed. Although I ex- 
 pect to see you soon, yet I must pay you a previous 
 visit on paper, in return for your anxious care about 
 me in my affliction, for which I shall always feel grate- 
 ful. To spend time in giving you an account of my 
 bodily trouble would be of little avail ; but let me re- 
 hearse the mighty acts of the Lord, and tell of his 
 wondrous loving kindness. But here I may well use 
 the words of the Psalmist, — u Many, O Lord, my 
 God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, 
 and thy thoughts which are to us ward : they cannot 
 
 z 
 
•254 LETTERS. 
 
 be reckoned up in order unto thee . if I would declare 
 and speak of them, they are more than can be num- 
 bered." Yet I may venture to say, that if I can be 
 sure of any thing I am certain of this, that what proved 
 affliction to my body was the means of comfort to my 
 soul. I think I never enjoyed greater peace of mind, 
 nor more scripture comfort and reconciliation to any 
 dispensation, than on the occasion of which I speak. 
 O, it is easy going through the hottest furnance when 
 the violence of the flames are quenched by the waters 
 of spiritual consolation ! Far, far better to be in the 
 sorest affliction with the smiles of divine love, than to 
 wallow in the greatest worldly prosperity without them. 
 What is all without God ? Utter emptiness ! O, to 
 enjoy God in all, and all in God ! This is the true 
 Christian's prayer ; this his portion. But the best are 
 apt to lose sight of their portion, and fall a nestling 
 upon the creature. There is nothing so well fitted to 
 blast sensual, carnal affections, as the nipping wind of 
 adversity ; and this is often the Lord's method of pro- 
 cedure with his people in restoring his own work in 
 their hearts. He brings them into the wilderness, and 
 there speaks comfort to them. O, no matter what 
 be the tenor of God's dealings with us, if they issue in 
 the purging away of all our dross, and the taking away 
 of all our tin. God always corrects us for our profit, * 
 that we may be partakers of his holiness. 
 
 Now, my dear friend, I am in necessity shut up to 
 say, Amen ; and I have been very free, but I know it 
 is to one who understands the meaning of Christian 
 experience, and will make no bad use of what I have, 
 perhaps, too plainly expressed. Yet, after all, there 
 
LETTERS. 255 
 
 is no room for boasting, or resting on any thing re- 
 ceived — O, no ! It will soon become a withered gourd 
 if put in the place of precious Christ. I only mean to 
 give you an opportunity of praising the Father of mer- 
 cies, and the God of consolation, on my behalf. — Pray 
 for me, your loving cousin and heart's friend, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 January 20, 1777. 
 
 My Dear Friend — And so the Lord has been giv- 
 ing you an opportunity of adopting the submissive 
 language of a first-rate saint, " The Lord gave, and 
 the Lord hath taken away : blessed be the name of 
 the Lord." A lively picture this of worldly happiness ! 
 always fleeting, never fixed, a delusive shadow, that 
 may please in the idea, and then dwindle into nothing. 
 A gracious God has been experimentally teaching you 
 the truth of this observation in the death of your little 
 child — a promising, lovely boy, whom you now see 
 that you could not enjoy ! Why, my dear cousin, the 
 dispensation is heavy, but not singular ; our heavenly 
 Father transplants many very tender flowers into the 
 heavenly paradise before even their blossom is seen in 
 the world. They scarcely appear above ground when 
 they are suddenly cropt and brought home to glory, to 
 enjoy the residue of their days in Immanuel's land. 
 And is not this a good change ? No doubt, the loss of 
 promising children is a heavy trial to an affectionate 
 parent ; but, cousin, there is hope in this death ; not 
 but that children are guilty in their federal head, and, 
 
256 LETTERS. 
 
 by nature, deserve wrath as well as adults ; yet God 
 lias been graciously pleased to take the children of be- 
 lieving parents into the same covenant with them- 
 selves ; and when they die in infancy they die in that 
 covenant, having never uncovenanted themselves by 
 actual sinning. This I think a strong ground of con- 
 solation to all parents in my friend's situation. Though 
 it does not amount to certainty, yet I think it goes the 
 length of probability about their salvation. You cer- 
 tainly put a very proper construction upon the dispen- 
 sation, when you view it as a check for your security, 
 and, perhaps, for your idolatry. When we begin 
 to dote upon any earthly comfort, it is just with 
 God to blast it to us, or take it from us. This was 
 certainly one lesson that good old Jacob might have 
 learnt from God's way with him. He was dotingly 
 fond of his beloved Joseph ; but God, in his provi- 
 dence, wrote a blank upon that enjoyment, and Joseph 
 became as dead to his over-fond father till the very 
 close of his days. Again, my dear friend, the security 
 which prevailed when your trial was sent was no singu- 
 lar case ; it has often, often been the way of God with 
 his dearest children, to bring them to a sense of duty 
 by some sharp rod upon their person or family. This 
 was the course he took with a secure, backsliding 
 church, — Hos. v. 15. There are three things that 
 should reconcile the believer to crosses and trials : — 
 they tend mightily, through God's blessing, to pro- 
 mote a life of holiness ; they sweeten heaven to the 
 child of God ; and they supply the Christian with a 
 store of scripture experience, which will be as the 
 beginning of glory to his soul. Were it not for 
 
LETTERS. -J57 
 
 those dispensations* much of the Bible would he a 
 mere blank ; for the Spirit of God, who has indited 
 it, has framed the whole, as it were, to speak consola- 
 tion to the afflicted saint. Scarcely can we turn over 
 a leaf but some comforting cordial meets our view for 
 faith to draw out of these wells of salvation. This 
 should keep us humble in prosperity, and comfort us 
 in adversity. That this may be your attainment un- 
 der your present trial, is the prayer of your friend in 
 heart, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 6th Oct. 1777. 
 My Dearest Cousin — Suspect not my lasting 
 friendship, though, perhaps, my epistolary returns 
 should not be so very punctual. I know in my own 
 
 heart what place you hold there : a friend — a cousin 
 
 nay more, a fellow-traveller Zion-ward, who, I hope, 
 shall, by and bye, string her harp along with mine in 
 concert with the nations of them that are saved. This 
 is the chief relation in which I view you; and this 
 constitutes a nearer connection than earthly affection, 
 friendship, or blood. What so nearly related as the 
 members of the same body? and this all believers are, 
 — 1 Cor. xii. 13-27. The same spirit dwells in all 
 Christians, and will, in some measure, stir up to love 
 the members as well as the head. This is a cement 
 stronger than any earthly relation, — even life itself. 
 Death shall not separate, but consummate it. What 
 my dear friend laments over in her case is not peculiar 
 to her, but alas ! too, too general in these days of 
 
 z2 
 
258 LETTERS. 
 
 darkness and treading down. Perhaps the power of 
 godliness was never at a lower ebb, nor zeal for Christ 
 and his cause less discovered. The parable of the ten 
 virgins may, with the greatest propriety, be applied to 
 this generation. Are not the best in a midnight slum- 
 ber? God is visibly departing from us, and yet the 
 ancient complaint holds true, " none stirreth up himself 
 to take hold of me ; " as if God had said, " Though I am 
 gone just to the threshold, yet my professed people are 
 so insensible of my departure, that there is scarcely any 
 desiring me to return; for none stirreth himself from 
 his spiritual slumber to prevent me from going alto- 
 gether ." I have no doubt but the Lord has a numerous 
 seed, even in our day of grievous defection ; but they 
 are so much mingled with the heathen, that they have 
 learned of them their way. Matters are come to so 
 sad a pass with us, that there seems to be a necessity 
 for sifting times, and, by all appearance, the stroke of 
 judgment will fall heavy upon lukewarm professors. So 
 much dross is mixed with the good metal, that nothing 
 but fire will separate them. No doubt the metal will 
 stand the proof, but the trial may be very severe. The 
 Lord fit us for the day of his hot anger ! I cannot say, my 
 dear friend, but I have met with very much undeserved 
 pity since I moved in a public sphere of life. My charges 
 have been liberally borne by my gracious Master. I 
 think I never enjoyed more pleasure in any stage of 
 life than I do in the work of Christ. No doubt the 
 work is very arduous, but the promise is extensive — 
 " As thy day is, so shall thy strength be " — and if our 
 weakness for duty gives occasion for the display of di- 
 vine strength, we should rejoice and be exceeding glad. 
 
LETTERS. 259 
 
 This was the great Paul's exercise : yes, says he — " I 
 will glory in mine infirmities, that the power of Christ 
 may rest on me." I repeat my former petition for 
 your interest and entreaties at a throne of grace. — I 
 am, with the greatest complacency, yours affectionately, 
 
 A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 1779, July 13. 
 
 My Dear Cousin — I had your kind letter some time 
 ago, expected it long before it came, and was much de- 
 lighted with it when it arrived. But I must tell you 
 honestly, if you go on in this way of panegyrizing 
 (permit the odd-like word), I will give over writing 
 altogether; for you, my dear friend, speak in such 
 terms of my trifling letters, that I really am ashamed 
 to write unless I have something of importance to com- 
 municate, that may some way answer your expecta- 
 tions. But lower your ideas of my correspondence, 
 and I will write more freely, and now and then tell 
 you what is going on. 
 
 I heartily wish my dear cousin's exercise, with all 
 its imperfections, were more general among professors 
 than it is. You complain of disordered affections, 
 faint desires, strong corruptions, languishing graces, 
 and what not. Well, you will see a striking picture 
 of your heart in Paul's experience, — Rom. vii. — and a 
 blessed resemblance between you. I call it a blessed 
 resemblance ; because, in my opinion, there cannot 
 be a better evidence of a gracious state than a lively 
 and affecting sense of the workings of remaining 
 
260 LETTERS. 
 
 corruptions. To groan under the crushing weight of 
 a body of sin and death is a certain sign of spiritual 
 life and motion. Be not discouraged ; the first fruits 
 are a sure pledge of the full harvest — the begun victory 
 will issue in a complete and eternal triumph. 
 
 I think your sister, N — , intends matrimony, and I 
 know she has good sense to direct her in this matter in 
 making a proper choice ; and I can assure her, from expe- 
 rience, that, to those who are equally yoked, marriage 
 is the crown of worldly happiness. Pray, tell her this 
 from me. May I ever expect the pleasure of seeing 
 you under my roof? I can promise you a kind landlady 
 when you come. Write me as to this. Love to all 
 friends. In haste. — Ever yours, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 1779. 
 My Dear Cousin — The Lord's wavs are often in 
 
 m 
 
 the deeps, and his paths in the mighty waters ; but in 
 every case, we may say, he is a rock, and his work is 
 perfect. Though clouds and darkness are round about 
 him, yet justice and judgment are the habitation of his 
 throne. You have been trysted with personal and fa- 
 mily trials, but you can say, " He does all things well !" 
 Is not he kind even when he smites, and compassionate 
 in all his corrections? Whom he loves, he rebukes 
 and chastens. What although the potion is somewhat 
 bitter? a Father's hand compounded it, and a Father's 
 blessing is in it ; and, therefore, we should always say, 
 " The cup which my Father giveth me to drink, shall I 
 
LETTERS. 261 
 
 not drink it?'' Dear cousin, the Father of mercies 
 knows well how to sweeten a bitter cup, and how to 
 make a heavy rod produce the precious fruits of 
 righteousness, peace, and comfort; as says the poet, 
 11 Even crosses from his sovereign hand are blessings in 
 disguise." Observe, dear friend, the sovereignty of 
 God, and the profound deeps of his providence : your- 
 self was brought to the grave's mouth, as if to see the 
 burial of your sweet little infant. The Lord was show- 
 ing you that he might have directed the blow at the 
 root, though, for this time, it has only alighted upon 
 the branch. The tender-hearted mother was brought 
 to the brink of Jordan, to see her lovely child go 
 through before her; and can we say this was hard 
 usage ? No : the dispensation was full of love ! You 
 are thus taught, from experience, that, you yourself 
 must soon bid farewell to all sublunary comforts. 
 Death came so near, that you had almost taken your 
 last adieu, and left a disconsolate husband, and your 
 helpless children, to be tossed in the storm of worldly 
 vicissitudes. But the Father of mercies thought not 
 so : the afflicted parent is spared and recovered, and 
 the healthy, promising child is taken. Adore a sove- 
 reign God ! The child was God's lend, and you enjoy- 
 ed him three years ; and why should we complain when 
 he only recalls his own ? Have we any right to quarrel 
 with a person for plucking a flower in his own garden ? 
 How much less the Proprietor of all ! What though 
 the broken cisterns of earthly comforts run dry, while 
 the Fountain is, and will be, eternally undiminished. 
 What we have in the creature, we have in infinitely 
 greater perfection in the Creator, and this should silence 
 
'262 LETTERS. 
 
 us. We were much disappointed in not seeing* you in 
 Perth ; but you had too good reason for returning 
 home. 
 
 I am truly sorry to understand that my dear mother 
 has been poorly. Tell me candidly if you think her 
 case any way dangerous, and I will leave every thing 
 to pay her a visit ; but I will hope the best. Let me 
 know immediately. — I remain your sympathizing cou- 
 sin, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 January 31st, 1780. 
 
 My Dear Cousin — I have been too long in your 
 debt; but I know you will make allowance for my 
 many engagements, and pardon my seeming neglect. 
 In your last, as usual, you dwell on the plaintive 
 strain. This is the more common, but, I apprehend, 
 the least becoming part of Christian exercise. In this 
 imperfect, sinful, suffering state, I own the child of 
 God will have frequent occasion for dropping the tear 
 of sorrow; but to dwell always on this is to hinder 
 the work of grace, to embolden unbelief, and to dis- 
 hearten the believer. A cheerful spirit, says Solomon, 
 does good like a medicine ; and praise is comely for 
 the righteous, says the holy Psalmist: yes, and he 
 resolved to persist in this exercise as long as he had 
 any being. It is very remarkable that the scripture is 
 full of encomiums upon, and exhortations to, the exer- 
 cise of praise, just because the Spirit of God foresaw 
 how backward the sons of men, and even the ungrate- 
 ful children of God, would be to this heavenly exercise. 
 
letters. :263 
 
 The common reply of the disconsolate Christian is, 
 Alas, my wicked and deceitful heart — my disordered, 
 dead, and lifeless exercise — my weak and languishing 
 graces (if I have any) — and my strong and turbulent 
 corruptions — all set before me such a gloomy prospect, 
 that I cannot but complain 1 The pretext is, indeed, 
 plausible ; but it is not solid. Is the above case yours 
 or mine? Then, let us rejoice, it is not quite hope- 
 less ; the remedy is provided, the cure is at hand ; 
 there is balm in Gilead, and a physician there. Why 
 then, in sullen discontent, dwell on the dark and dis- 
 mal case ? Is it not more pleasant and profitable to 
 sing with Habakkuk, " Although the fig tree shall not 
 blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the labour 
 of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
 meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and 
 there shall be no herd in the stalls : yet I will rejoice 
 in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 O, my dear friend, if we had more faith we would 
 have more joy and comfort, for there is a joy and 
 peace in believing which neither outward fightings nor 
 inward fears can prevent or take away. Grace and 
 peace be with you and your family ! — I ever am yours 
 in the Lord, A. P. 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 October 12th, 1790. 
 My Dear Cousin — I cannot let the bearer go with- 
 out acknowledging your two last favours, as this would 
 not be consistent with friendship, gratitude, or dutv. 
 I rejoice to see you are trying to join in the church's 
 
264 LETTERS. 
 
 song: " I will sing of mercy and of judgment." The 
 Lord is giving you occasion for both. You are no 
 worse treated, I should rather say you are as well 
 treated, as the other members of our Father's family. 
 They that have gone before us had to go through fires 
 and waters — those that are on the way are treading in 
 the same paths — and can we expect, or should we 
 desire, to be conducted to our Father's house by 
 a separate road ; nay, by a road quite different from 
 that which our dear Lord and elder Brother trod? 
 No, no ; it would neither be for our interest nor 
 our comfort. I see you are not disposed to com- 
 plain of your personal or family trials, at least you 
 are striving against all hard thoughts of a correct- 
 ing Father ; but you are still complaining much of a 
 dead frame — of a carnal heart — of little progress in 
 sanetification. Continue to complain. Had you no 
 fault to find on this score, I should think a great deal 
 worse both of your frame and exercise. Only there is 
 an unavailing, an unprofitable kind of complaining that 
 even saints often fall into, — a complaining when the 
 heart is not deeply affected, — a complaining more to 
 men than to God at the throne, — a complaining more 
 than is meet. Bad habits are very easily contracted, 
 and, when contracted, it is very difficult to lay them 
 aside. It is so in the spiritual as well as in common 
 life. I have often found saints grieved for that which 
 was their mercy, and sighing when they should have 
 been singing. I do not say this is your case alto- 
 gether — I hope not. But one thing I am sure of — to 
 feel the workings of corruption so as to mourn over 
 them, to be enabled to pray, and watch, and fight 
 
LETTERS. 265 
 
 against them, is good exercise, and bespeaks a lively 
 frame. But I presume your greatest trial is, that you 
 feel sin strong and often prevailing, and yet you can- 
 not war, nor watch, nor pray against it, nor mourn 
 over it a9 you would and should. Alas, my dear 
 cousin, you have many, many fellows. I am sure I 
 may join you in this complaint. But to whom can we 
 go? Our Lord will give final victory in a little. 
 The triumph of our spiritual enemies shall be short. 
 Though the child of God fall, he shall rise ; though he 
 sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto him; 
 though he for a long time walk in the midst of trouble, 
 the Lord will revive him — he will stretch forth his 
 hand against the wrath of his enemies, and his right 
 hand will save him. Let us try to take Eliphaz's 
 counsel to Job : u I would seek unto God, and unto 
 God would I commit my cause ; which doeth great 
 things and unsearchable; marvellous things without 
 number : who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth 
 waters upon the fields : to set up on high those that 
 be # low ; that those which mourn may be exalted to 
 safety." — I am sincerely yours, A. P. 
 
 PERTH: — PRINTED J1Y WILLIAM RELFORD. 
 

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