txhvaxy of CKe theological ^tminary PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Robert L. Stuart New York 1852 flX 8915 .R79 1851 Bonar, A. A. Letters of the Rev. Samuel Ruthe THE METHOD OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMNT, PHYSICAL AND MORAL. BY REV. JAMES M^COSH, A.M. $2,00. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. " In the writer of this work we meet with a man of extraordinary calibre alike re- markable for the vigor and originality of his thinking- for tlie fine tiste and freshne89 of his writmg— for the extent of his learning, and the breadth and minuteness of his acquaintance with those sciences, which, from the circumstance that they are prose cuted with avidity by the greater minds of the age, impart, more than the others color and tone to the age's thinking."— J/r. Hugh Miller, in Witness. " To the great task, which he has thus set himself, Mr. M'Cosh has brought great powers and ample resources. He is evidently a man of a profoundly philosophic spirit, and, at the same time, a man of extensive and varied culture in science and literature. His philosophic reading seems to have been very extensive, embracing not only all the better authors in theological, metaphysical, and ethical science but also the most approved writers in the various branches of physical speculation "— British Quarterly Review. " This is a book amongst a thousand, and one whose publication will hereafter be regarded as fixing a marked era in the history of philosophical and ethical inquirv in Great Britain." — Banner of Ulster. ^u ' ^1- *'j ^ ^'""'^ ^'^"*® *^'^ attraction of previous literary reputation in the author the disadvantage is compensated by the surpassing interest and peculiar seasonable- ness of Its subject. The mere title of the book, as indicating an inquiry that must needs embrace some of the deepest questions that have ever exercised the human in- tellect, IS sure to draw the attention of those who are addicted to speculative studies A glance at its contents will satisfy such that it is deserving of a careful perusal • and once perused, it cannot fail, we should think, to leave an impression of wonder 'that tor the farst time, the author should have become known to the public by a work of such pre-eminent merit. Nor do we fear to hazard the assertion, that he has thus by a single stride, secured for himself a position in literature such as few ever reached by a tirst publication, and one which he might never have attained had he put forth in separate and more liniited efforts the learning and thought which he has concen- trated on this."— A or To Lady Kenmure To the same To To 9fi To the same To 27. 28. To Marion Macknaught To Lady Kenmure To the same To To To 30. 31 To Marion Macknaught To the same To To 3-7 To the same To 33 To Lady Kenmure To 34. 3=> To Marion Macknaught To To 3G. 37. 38 To Marion Macknaught To Lady Kenmure To the same To To To 39. 40 To Marion Macknaught To the same To To 41 To the same To 49, To the same To 43 To 44 To the same .. 95 .. 96 .. 97 .. 98 .. 99 To 4^ To the same To 4(>. 47 To the same To the same To To 48 To the same To 49 50 To the same i . . To the same .. 100 .. 101 To To PAGE Marion Macknaught 102 the same 102 Earlston, Elder 103 Marion Macknaught 105 Lady Kenmure 106 the same 107 Marion Macknaught 108 the same Ill the same 112 the same 113 Lady Kenmure 1 14 Lady Culross 115 Mr. Robert Cunningham ... 117 Alexander Gordon 119 Robert Gordon 120 the same 120 William Fullerton 121 his Parishioners at Anwoth. 122 Lady Kenmure 124 the same 126 Huorh Mackail 128 John Fleming 129 Earlston, Elder 130 Lady Culross 131 William Gordon 132 John Kennedy 134 Lord Boyd 135 Margaret Ballantyne 136 Robert Gordon 138 Marion Macknaught 140 Mr. John Meine 140 Cardoness, Elder 141 the Earl of Lothian 144 Jean Brown 146 John Kennedy 148 Elizabeth Kennedy 150 Jonet Kennedy 153 a Christian Gentlewoman... 153 Lord Craighall 155 John Kennedy 157 Mr. Robert Blair 159 Mr. John Livinsgton 161 Mr. Ephraim Melvin 1 62 Robert Gordon 163 Lady Kenmure 166 the same 167 the same 168 the same 169 Alexander Gordon 170 Mr. Alexander Colville 172 IV CONTENTS. LBTTBR PAOE 101. To Earlston, Younger 173 102. To Lady Card oness 175 103. To Jon.-t Macculloch HO 104. To .-Vlexunder Gordon 177 105. To Lady Cardoness 178 lOfi. To Lady Kenmure 179 107. To a Gentlewoman 181 108. To Ladv Kenmure 182 109. To Lady Boyd 184 1 10. To Lady Kaskiberry 185 111. To Lady Earlston ." 18(; 112. To 3Ir. David Dickson 187 IKJ. To Jean Brown IHH 114. To iMr. John Fergushill 189 115. To Mr. Robert Douglas 190 lit;. To William Rigge 191 117. To Mr. Alexander Henderson .. 192 118. To Lord Loudon 193 119. To Mr. William Dalgleish 195 120. To Mr. Hugh Mackail VMi 121. To Ladv Bovd 197 122. To Mr. David Dickson 199 123. To Mr. Matthew Mowat 200 124. To William Halliday 202 125. To a Gentlewoman 203 120. To .John Gordon, Younger 204 127. To John Gordon, Elder 205 128. To Lady Forret 200 129. To Marion Macknaught 207 130. To John Carsen 207 131. To Lady Boyd 208 132. To the Karl of Cassillis 210 133. To Robert Gordon 211 134. To John Kennedy 212 135. To Jean Brown 214 130. To Jean Macmillan 210 137. To Lady Busbie 216 138. To John Ewart 218 139. To William Fullerton 219 140. To Robert Glendinning 219 141. To William Glendinning 221 142. To Mr. Hugh Henderson 221 143. To the Earl of Cassillis 222 144. To Lord Balmerino 224 145. To Lady Mar, Younger 225 14(). To James Macadam 225 147. To \Nilliam Livingston 220 148. To William Gordon 227 149. To Mr. George Gillespie 228 150. To Jean Gordon 229 151. To Mr. James Bruce 230 1.52. To John Gordon 230 1.53. To Lady Hallhill 231 1.54. To Jnliii Osburn 232 155. To John Henderson 233 150. To John Meine 234 157. To Mr. Thomas Gurven 234 158. To Bethaiu Aird 230 159. To Alexander Gordon 237 100. To Grizzel Fullerton 237 101. To I'atriek (;arspn 238 102. To Carlton 2:58 103. To Lady Busbie 2-10 104. To John Fleming 242 165. To Alexander Gordon 244 LETTER PAOK Kit;. To Lady Boyd 246 107. To Mr. David Dickson 248 1 08. To the Laird of Carlton 249 1 09. To Robert Gordon 251 1 70. To the Laird of Moncrieff. 253 171. To John Clark 255 172. To Cardoness, Elder 256 173. To Cardoness, Younger 258 174. To Lord Craighall 259 1 75. To John Laurie 262 170. To Carlton 264 177. To Marion Macknaught 267 1 78. To Lady Culross 269 179. To Mr. John Nevay 271 180. To John Gordon, El.ler 274 181. To Earlston, Younger 278 182. To Alexander Gordon 281 183. To Mr. J. R 284 184. To Mr. William Dalgleish 286 185. To Marion Macknaught 289 180. To John Gordon 290 187. To Mr. Hugh Henderson 292 188. To Ladv Largirie 293 189. To Earlston, Younger 294 190. To Mr. William Dalgleish 296 191. To the Laird ofCally 298 192. To John Gordon, Younger 299 193. To Robert Gordon ! 301 194. To Alexander Gordon 303 195. To Robert Stuart 305 190. To Lady Gaitgirth 308 197. To Mr. John Fergushill 309 198. To John Stuart 311 199. To Carsluth 313 200. To Cassincarrie 315 201. To Lady Cardoness 317 202. To Sibylla Macadam 318 203. To the Laird of Cally 319 204. To William Gordon 321 205. To Margaret Fullerton 323 200. To Lady Kenmure 324 207. To the same 325 208. To John Henderson 328 209. To Mr. Alexander Colville 328 210. To Mr. John Nevay 329 211. To Lady Bovd 330 212. To William Glendinning 332 213. To Robert Lennox 333 214. To Mr. James Hamilton 335 215. To Mistress Stuart 337 210. To Mr. Huo;h Mackail 338 217. To Alexander Gordon 340 218. To John Bell, Elder 341 21!l. To Mr. John Row 342 220. To Lord Craighall 343 221. To Marion Macknaught 343 222. To Lady Culross 344 223. To Alexander Gordon 346 224. To Fulwood, Younger 348 225. To his Parishioners 349 22<). To Lady Kilcoiu|uhair 355 227. To Lord Craighall 359 228. To Mr. James Fleming 301 229. To I^r. Hugh Mackail 303 230. To Lady Kenmure 364 CONTENTS. LITTER f\nr. 231 . To Lord Lindsay 3ti(> 23e. To I-ord Hoyd 3G8 233. To Fulk Elies 371 234. To Jaiiits Lindsay 373 23.). To Lord Cniijjhall 370 23(). To Mr James Hamilton 377 237. To the Laird of Gaittrirth 378 238. To Ladv Gaitgirth 379 23'.). To Mr Matthew Mowal 380 240. To Mr. Jolin Meine 382 241. To Jolin FleminjT 382 242. To Lady Kowullan 383 243. To Marion Macknaught 384 244. To the same 385 245. To Lady Boyd 387 246. To Mr. Thomas Garven 389 247. To .lonct Kennedy 389 248. To Margartt Reid 391 249. To James Bautie 392 250. To John Stuart 39(J 251 . To the same 399 252. To the same 400 253. To Lady Busbie 403 254. To Ninian Mure 404 255. To Mr. Thomas Garven 405 256. To the Earl of Cassillis 406 257. To Lady Largirie 408 2.58. To Lady Dungueigh 409 259. To JonttMacculloch 410 260. To Mr. George Gillespie 411 261. To Mr. Robert Blair 411 262. To Lady Carlton 413 263. To William Ricrcre 414 264. To Lady Craighall 416 265. To Lord Loudon 417 266. To Mr. David Dickson 420 267. To Alexander Gordon 421 268. To Lady Kilconquhair 422 269. To Robert Lennox 423 270. To Marion Macknaught 425 271. To Thomas Corbet 425 272. To Mr. George Dunbar 426 273. To John Fleming 428 274. To William Glendinning 428 275. To Earlston, Younger 429 276. To John Gordon 430 277. To William Rigge 432 278. To James Murray 433 279. To Mr. John Fergushill 433 280. To William Glendinning 436 281. To Marion MacknaughU 438 282. To Lady Robertland ! 438 283.. To Lord Loudon 440 284. To Professors ofChrist in Ireland 442 285. To Robert Gordon 448 286. To Parishioners of Kilmalcolm. 451 287. To Lady Kenmure 456 28S. To Persecuted Church in Ireland 458 289. To Dr. .Alexander Leighton . , . . 464 290. To Mr. Henry Stuart, etc 466 291. To Mrs. Pont 471 I.KTTER PAOB 292. To Mr. James Wilson 473 2!)3. To Lady Boyd 475 291. To John Fenwick 477 295. To Peter Stirlins 481 2".)6. To Lady Fingask '182 297. To Mr. "David Dickson 481 298. To Ladv Boyd 4Sb 299. To .Agnl s Macmath 488 300. To Mr. ^;atthe\v Mowat 489 301. To Lady Kenmure 490 302. To Lady Boyd 491 303. To James Murray's Wife 492 301. To Lady Kenmure 493 305 To the same 4;)4 306. To La.ly Boyd 495 307- To 3Iistress Taylor 496 308. To Barbara Hamilton 498 309. To Mistress Hume 500 310. To Lady Kenmure 501 311. To Barbara Hamilton 502 312 To a Christian Friend 503 313. To a Christian Brother 504 314. To a Christian Gentlewon)an. . . 505 315. To Ladv Kenmure ,508 316. To iMr. J. G ,509 317. To Lady Kenmure 510 318. To Lady Ardross 511 319. To M. 0 512 320. To EarLston. Elder 514 321. To Mr. George Gillespie 515 322. To Mistress Gillespie 516 323. To Col. Gilbert Ker 517 324. To the same 519 325. To Mr. William Guthrie 520 326. To Col. Gilbert Ker 521 327. To the same 522 328. To the same 521 329. To the same 527 330. To Lady Kenmure 528 331. To the same 529 332. To Grizzel Fullerton 530 333. To Lady Kenmure 531 334. To Col. Gilbert Ker 532 335. To Mr. John Scott 534 336. To Lady Kenmure 535 337. To the same 536 338. To the same 536 339. To Mr. John Scott 537 340. To the same 537 341. To Mr. James Durham 538 342. To Mr. John Scott 539 343. To Lady Kenmure 539 344. To the same 540 345. To Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Traill, etc. 542 346. To some Brethren 543 347. On Petitioning Charles II 544 348. To Lady Kenmure 546 349. To Mistress Craig 547 350. To Mr. James Guthrie 549 351 . To Mr. Robert Campbell 550 352. To Aberdeen 551 ADVERTISEMENT. In this adition of " The Letters" of that eminently holy minister of the Gospel, who suffered so much persecution for the Word of God, and for Scotland's Covenanted Work of Reformation, the Rev. Samuel Ruther- ford, the text — which, in later editions, had, through carelessness of print- ing, unacquaintance with the Scottish dialect, and attempts to substitute English words and phrases for Scotch ones, become very corrupt — has, by a careful collation of the earliest editions, been corrected and restored ; while the Scottish words, allusions, and idiomatic phrases are explained in notes at the bottom of the page ; and the Letters, which, in some of the former editions, had been very much mutilated, and had, in all of them, been printed without any regard to arrangement, have been aiTanged according to the dates, in as far as these could be ascertained, at which they were written, and are given without omission, abridgment, suppres- sion, or mutilation. It is not anticipated that any apology needs to be made for this endeavor to offer to the Christian Public "The Letters" of Rutherford, in a form somewhat worthy of their author's reputation, and of their own intrinsic excellence. It may, perhaps, indeed, be thought by some per- sons, that it would have been better had English words and phrases been substituted, in the text, for those peculiar to the Scottish dialect ; but, had this been attempted, much of the spirit of Rutherford would, in many instances, have evaporated, and the energy of his diction been impaired ; while the style, having ceased to be Scotch without becoming English, would have been greatly debased, enfeebled, and vulgarized. By the plan which has been adopted, it is hoped that the language, allowed to remain as Rutherford wrote it, will be rendered at once, and perfectly, intelligible to the southern reader, even though he never before may have seen or heard a word of the northern speech. No Scotchman can find the slightest difficulty in the diction. Other persons may, perhaps, think that some of the Letters might have been omitted, some of the sentences suppressed, and certain " homely and familiar expressions, which," Wodrow observes, " have been jested on by profane wits of his age," might have been altered, with advantage to this edition. It is true that there are some of the Letters not so valu- able to the Christian reader as others ; but, perhaps there is not one of them which does not present some useful, if not important instruction, respecting either doctrine or duty. There are, indeed, not a few repeti- tions, as was to be expected in familiar letters, written to friends and acquaintances, without the remotest anticipation of their ever being pub- lished ; but, those repetitions are generally statements of facts or feelings regarding matters of absorbing interest to the Christian ; and by those. Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. therefore, who penise these Letters with the view of spiritually profiting thereby, will not be complained of: and it must be confessed that there are some expressions which " profane wits" might, perhaps, succeed in turning into ridicule ; but, as there is no danger that they will be so dealt with by any one who can appreciate the poetic and evangelical beauty of the Song of Solomon, and as it is not very likely that any " profane wit" of this age will ever condescend to look into the Letters of the Rev. Samuel Rutherford, they have been allowed to stand as they came from the pen of that eminently pure and heavenly minded man. This edition, then, is thus offered respectfully to the Church of God, with humble but fervent supplication, that the Holy Ghost, who so fully dwelt in the venerable Author of these Letters, would bless it, to the promotion of His own glory, by rendering it the means of arousing some thoughtless sinners to consider the things which concern their everlasting peace, before they be forever hid from their eyes, and of building up some of the saints and edifying them in their most holy Faith. Editor. SKETCH OF SAMUEL RUTHERFORD AND HIS LETTERS. In the history of the Reformation we read of Brother Martin, a poor monk at Basle, whose hope of salvation rested solely on the Lord Jesus, long before Luther arose. Having written out his confession of reliance on the righteousness of Christ alone, the monk placed the parchment in a wooden box, and shut up the wooden box in a hole of the wall of his cell. It was not till last century that this box with its interesting contents was discovered ; but it was brought to light when the old wall of the monastery was taken down. And is it not an incident fitted to suggest to us that Basle may have been made a focus of light in its day very much in answer to the prayers, and in acknowledgment of the faith of this " hidden one," and others like him, who cried day and night to the Lord ? Now, there is a fact not unlike this in the history of the district where Samuel Rutherford labored so lovingly. The people of that shire tell that there was found, some generations ago, in the wall of the old chapel of Earlston, in Kirkcudbrightshire, a copy of Wickliffe's Bible. It seems to have been shut into that recep- tacle in order to be hid from the view of enemies, but no doubt it was the lamp of light to some godly souls — who, perhaps in the silence of night, found opportunity in that chapel to draw it out of its ark and peruse its pages. It seems that the Lollards of K^ (which is the adjoining district,) had brought it to Earlston; and there were friends or members of the family of Earlston who embraced the gospel even in those days.^ May we not believe that the Gordons of Earlston, in Rutherford's days, were not a little indebted to the faith and prayers of these ancient witnesses who hid the sacred treasure in the chapel wall ? Like the monk of ' Some of the ancestors of Viscount Kenmure embraced the principles of WickMB in the 16th century. X SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD Basle, their faith and patience were acknowledged in after days by the blessing sent down on that quarter, when the Lord, in re- membrance of his "hidden ones,"' both raised up the Gordons of Earlston, with many others of a like spirit, and also sent thither his servant Samuel Rutiierford, to sound the silver trumpet and make the lamp of truth blaze like a torch all over that region. Samuel Rutherford was born about the year IGOO. His father is supposed to have been a respectable farmer, and he had two brothers, James and George. The place of his birth was not near the scene of his after labors. It is almost certain that Nisbet, a village of Roxburghshire, close to the Teviot, in the parish of Crailing, was his birth-place ; not long ago, there were some old people in the parish who remembered the gable-end of the house in which he was born, and which, from respect to his memory, was permitted to stand as long as it could keep together. Some one may yet light upon the well where, when very young, Samuel nearly lost his life. He had been amusing himself with some companions when he fell in, and was left there till they ran and procured assistance ; but on reaching the spot, they found him seated on a knoll, cold and dripping, yet uninjured. He told them that " A bonnie white man came and drew him out of the well !" Whether or not he really fancied that an angel had delivered him we cannot tell, but it is plain that at all events his boyish thoughts were already wandering in the region of the sky. He owed little to his native place. There was not so much of Christ known in that parish then as there is now. For in after days he writes, " My soul's desire is, that the place to which I owe my first birth — in which I fear Christ was scarcely named as touching any reality of the power of godliness, — may blossom as the rose." We have no account of his revisiting these scenes of his early life, though he thus wrote to his friend, Mr. Scott, min- ister of the adjoining parish of Oxnam. Like Donald Cargill, born in Perthshire, yet never known to preach there even once, — Rutherford's labors were all in other parts of the land. In this arrangement we see the Master's Sovereignty the better ; the sphere thus appears evidently to be one of God's choosing for the man, and not the man's gratifying his natural predilections. It accords, too, with the Master's own example. He having never returned to Bethlehem, where he was born, to do any of his works. Jedburgh is a town three or four miles distant from Nisbet, and » Gea xix. 29. AND HIS LETTERS. Xl thither Samuel went for his education ; either walking to it and returning' home at evening, — as a school-boy would scarcely grudge to do, — or residing in the town for a season. The school at that time met in a part of the ancient abbey, called from this circumstance the Latiners' Abbey. In the year 1617, we find him farther from home — removed to Edinburgh, which, forty years before, had become the seat of a College, though not as yet a University. There he obtained, in 1021, the degree of A.M. Soon after, he was appointed Regent or Professor of Humanity, though there were three other competitors ; for his talents had attracted the notice of many. But, on occasion of a rumor that charged him with some irregularity, — whether with or without foundation, it is now difficult to ascertain, — he demitted his office in 1625, and led a private life, attending prelections on theology, and devoting himself to that study. It is not unlikely that this may have been the time of which Oj he says in a lettl^r, " I knew a man who wondered to see any in / this life laugh or sport." It may have been tben that he was led by the Spirit to know the things that are freely given us of God. We have no proof that he was converted at an earlier period, but rather the opposite. He writes, " Like a fool as I was, I suffered my sun to be high in the heaven and near afternoon, before ever I took the gate by the end." And again, "I had stood sure, if in my youth I had borrowed Christ for my bottom." Affliction fol- lowed ; the clouds returned after the rain ; family trials seemed to have been used by the Lord to promote the better growth of the plant of grace. All these dealings of Providence combined to form his character as a man of God and as a pastor. In 1627 he was settled at Anwoth, a parish situated in Kircud- brightshire, and though at this period Episcopacy had been ob- truded upon Scotland, and many faithful ministers were suffering on account of their resistance to its ceremonies and services, yet he appears to have been allowed to enter on his charge without any compliance being demanded, and "without giving any en- gagement to the Bishop." — He began his ministry from the text John ix. 39. The same Lord that would not let Paul and Timo- thy preach in Asia,' nor in Bithynia, and yet sent to the one region the beloved John,' and to the other the scarcely less be- loved Peter,' in this instance prevented John Livingstone going to Anwoth, (though the patron had designed it for him,) and sent Rutherford instead. This was the more remarkable, because 1 Acts, xvi 6, '7. 2 Rev. i. 11. '1 Peter, I 1. Xii SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD Livingstone was sent to Ancrum, the parish that borders on Nis- bet, while he who was by birth related to that place was dis- patched to another spot. This is the Lord's doing. Ministers must not choose according to the flesh. During the first years of his labors here the sore illness of his wife was a bitter grief to him. Her distress was very severe. He writes of it: — "She is sore tormented night and day. — My life is bitter unto me. — She sleeps none, and cries as a woman travailing in birth ; my life was never so wearisome." She con- tinued in this state for no less than a year and a month, ere she died. Besides all this, his two children had been taken from him. Such was the discipline by which he was trained for the duties of a pastor, and by which a shepherd's heart of true sympathy was imparted to him. Anwolh had no large village near the church. The people were scattered over a hilly district, and were quite a rural flock. But their shepherd found their souls worth the caring for, and did not feel that his learning and talents Avould be ill spent if laid out in seeking souls, obscure and unknown. See him setting out to visit ! passing along yonder field, or climbing that hill in his way to some cottage, his " quick eyes" occasionally glancing on the objects around, but his " face upward" for the most part, as if he were gazing into heaven. He has time to visit, for he rises at three in the morning, and then meets his God in prayer and meditation, and has space for study besides. He takes some days for catechizing. He never fails to be found at the sick-beds of his people. Men said of him, "He is always praying, always preach- ing, always visiting the sick, always catechiizng, ahvays writing and studying." He was known to fall asleep at night speaking of Christ, and even to speak of him during his sleep. Indeed, himself speaks of his dreams being of Christ. His preaching could not but arrest attention, though his elocu- tion was not good, and his voice rather shrill. He was, — accord- ing to Wodrow, — "one of the most moving and affectionate preachers in his time, or perhaps in any age of the Church."* Especially when he came to dwell upon the subject he so de- lighted in, Jesus Christ, his manner grew so animated that it seemed as if he would have flown out of tlie pulpit. An English merchant said of him in days when controversy might have turned him to other themes, " I went to St. Andrew's, where I heard a sweet, majestic looking man (R. Blair,) and he showed ' WodroVB Church Hist L 205. AND HIS LETTERS, Xlll me the majesty of God. After him I heard a httle fair man, (Rutherford,) and he showed me the loveliness of Christ ."'^ Anwoth was dear to him' as the sphere appointed him by his Master, more than because of the fruits of Ijis labors. Two years after being settled there, he writes, " I see exceedingly small fruit of my ministry. I would be glad of one soul, to be a crown of joy and rejoicing in the day of Christ." His people were " like hot iron, which cooleth when out of the fire." Still he lab.ored in hope, and labored often almost beyond his strength. Once he says, " I have a grieved heart daily in my calling." He speaks of his pained breast, at another time, on the evening of the Lord's Day, when his work was done. But he had seasons of refreshing to his own soul at least — especially when the Lord's Supper was dispensed. Of these seasons he frequently speaks. He asks his friend, Marion Macknaught, to help with her prayers on such an occasion, " that being one of the days wherein Christ was wont to make merry with his friends." It was often then that with special earnestness he besought the Father to distribute " the great Loaf, Christ, to the children of his family." Anwoth church was filled, but not altogether by parishioners. Many came from great distances ; among others, several that were converted, seventeen years before, under John Welsh, at Ayr. These all helped hiin by their prayers, as did also a goodly number of godly people in the parish itself, who were the fruit of the ministry of his predecessor. Yet over the unsaved he yearned most tenderly. At one time we hear him say, " I would lay my dearest joys in the gap between you and eternal destruction." At another, "My witness is in heaven, your heaven would be two heavens to me, and your salvation two salvations." He could ap- peal to his people, "My day-thoughts and my night-thoughts are of you ;" — and he could appeal to God, " O my Lord, judge if my ministry be not dear to me ; but not so dear by many degrees as Christ my Lord." All classes of people of Anwoth were objects of his care. He maintained a friendly intercourse with people of high rank, and ' M'Crie's Sketches. 2 The oak pulpit out of which he preached is still preserved. The old church is in the shape of a barn, and could hold only 250 sitters. The years 1631 and 1633 are carved on some of the seats, — perhaps the seats of the Gordons, or other heritors. Wo may add, — while speaking of tliis old edifice where " the swallows building their nest," seemed to the exiled pastor " blessed birds," — that the rusty key of that kirk door is now in the keeping of Mr. Rowan, Librarian to the New College, Edinburgli, sent to the college as a precious relic three years ago by a friend through Dr. WelsL xiv SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD many of his letters are addressed to such persons. — But the herd boys were not. beneath his special attention. He writes of them when at Aberdeen, and exclaims, " Oh if 1 might but speak to thee or your herd boys, of my worthy Master." He had a heart for the young of all classes, so that he would say of two children of one of iiis friends, "I pray for them by name," and could thus take time to notice one, "Your daughter desires a Bible and a gown. I hope, she shall use the Bible well, which if she do the gown is the better bestowed." He lamented over the few that cry " Ho- sanna" in their youth. " Christ is an unknown Christ to young ones, and therefore they seek him not because they know him not." He dealt with individual parishioners so closely and so per- "tonally as to be able to appeal to tiieui that he had so done. He addresses one of them, Jean M'Millan : "I did what I could to put you within grips of Christ; I told you Christ's testament and latter-will plainly." He so carried them about with him (like the priest with the twelve tribes on his breast-plate,) that he could declare to Gordon of Cardoness, " Thoughts of your soul depart not from me in my sleep." "My soul was taken up when others were sleeping, how to have Christ betrothed with a bride in that part of the land," viz. Anwoth. He so prayed over them and for them, that he fears not to say, " There I wrestled with the angel and prevailed. Woods, trees, meadows, and hills, are my wit- nesses that I drew on a fair match betwixt Christ and Anwoth." It is related that on first coming to the parish, there was a piece of ground on Mossrobin farm, where on Sabbath afternoon the people used to play at foot-ball. On one occasion he repaired to the spot and pointed out their sin, calling on the objects round to be witness against them if they persevered, especially three large stones,' two of which stilh remain, and are called " Rutherford^s witnesses." Once in Anwoth his labors were interrupted by a tertian fever wlii( h laid him aside for thirteen weeks. Even when well re- covered, he could only preach on the Sabbaths ; visiting and cate- chizing were at a stand. This was just before his wife's death in 1630, and he writes in the midst of it, " Welcome, welcome, cross of Clirist, if Christ be with it." "An afflicted life looks very like the way that leads to the kingdom." And souie years thereafter, when his mother, who resided with him six years after his first wife's death, was in a dangerous illness, he touchingly informs one of his corres')ondents, to whom he writes from Anwoth, " My ' Josh, xxiv, 27. AND HIS LETTERS. XV mother is weak, and I think shall leave me alone, but I am not alone, because Christ's Father is with me." The manse of Anwoth had many visits of kind friends, who in Rutherfoid's fellowship felt that saying verified, '■'• They that dwell under his shadow shall return ; they shall revive as the corn." ^ The righteous compassed him about, because the Lord had dealt boun- tifully with him. His letters would be enough of themselves to show that his company was sought by the godly on all sides. But besides this evidence, we have notices of such visitors as his own brother George, at Kirkcudbright. This good man was a teacher in that town, and often repaired to Anwoth to take sweet counsel with Samuel; and then together, they often talked of and prayed for their only other brother James, an officer in the Dutch service, who had sympathy with their views, and in after days conveyed to Samuel the invitation to become Professor at Utreciit. Visits of those friends who resided near were not un- frequent, such as the Gordons, Viscount Kenmure and his lady, and in humbler life, Marion Macknaught. But at times Anwoth manse was lighted up by the glad visit of unexpected guests. There is a tradition that Archbishop Usher, passing through Gal- loway, turned aside on a Saturday to enjoy the congenial society of Rutherford. He came, however, in disguise, and being wel- comed as a guest, took his place with the rest of the family when they were catechized, as was usual that evening. The stranger was asked, " How many commandments are there ?" His reply was '' Eleven.''^ The pastor corrected him ; but the stranger maintained his position, quoting our Lord's words, " A new com- mandment / give unto you, that you love oue another.''^ They retired to rest, all interested in the stranger. Sabbath morninsr dawned, Rutherford arose and repaired for meditation to a walk that bordered on a thicket,* but was startled by hearing the voice of prayer, — prayer too, from the heart, and in behalf of the souls of the people that day to assemble. It was no other than the holy Archbishop Usher ; and soon they came to an explanation, for Rutherford had begun to suspect he had " entertained angels unawares." With great mutual love they conversed together, and at the request of Rutherford, the Archbishop went up to the pulpit, conducted the usual service of the presbyterian pastor, and preached on " the New Commandment." Scarcely less interesting is the record of one of those incidental ' Hos. idv. 7. , * The place is still pointed out by tradition, as " Rutherford's Walk." XVI SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD meetings that are often so refreshing to the saints in their pilgri- mage. Rutherfoid had one day left home to go to the neighbor- ing town of Kirkcudbright, the next day being a day of humilia- tion in that place. Having no doubt spent some time with his like- minded brother, he had turned his steps to the house of another friend, Provost Fullerton, whose wife was Marion Macknaught. While sitting with them a knock at the door was heard, and then a step on the threshold. It was worthy Mr. Blair, who, on his way from London to Port Patrick, had sought out some of his godly friends, that with them he might be refreshed ere he returned to Ireland. He told them, when seated, that "he had a desire to visit both Mr. Rutherford at Anwoth, and Marion Macknaught at Kirkcudbright, but not knowing how to accomplish both, he had prayed for direction at the parting of the road, and laid the bridle on the horse's neck. Tlie horse took the way to Kirkcudbright, and there he found both the friends he so longed to see." It was a joyful and refreshing meeting on all sides. In 1634 he attended the remarkable death-bed of Lord Ken- mure, a narrative of which he published fifteen years after, in " The last heavenly speeches and glorious departure of John Viscount Kenmure." ' The inroads of Episcopacy were at this time threatening to disquiet Anwoth. His own domestic afflic- tions were still affecting him ; for he writes that same year, in re- ferring to his wife's death many years before, " which wound is not yet fully healed and cured." About that time, too, there was a proposal never carried into effect to call him to Cramond, near Edinburgh. Meanwhile he persevered in study as well as in labors, and with no common success. He had himself a metaphysical turn, as well as a great readiness in using the accumulated learning of other days. It might be instructive to inquire why it is that wherever Godliness is healthy and progressive we almost invari- ably find Learning in the Church of Christ attendant on it ; while on the other hand, an illiterate state is attended sooner or later by decay of vital godliness. Not that all are learned iii such 1 Referring to tho previous tempest that swept through Lord Kenmui'e's soul^ the preface says that we may be taught that, " the wound of a wounded conscience is a most inexpressible terror ; none can describe it but ho who has triwi and tasted the same. It impaireth the liealth, drieth up the blofjd, wasteth away the nuirrow, pineth away the flesh, consumctli away the bones, maketli pleasure painful, and shorteneth life. No wisdom can counsel it, no counsel can advise it, no advice can persuade it, no assuagement can cure it, no eloquence can move it, no power can overcome it, no •pectre affray it, no enelmutcr cliarm it." AND HIS LETTERS. XVU times; but there is always an ingredient of the kind among some of tliose whom the Lord is using. It may be that the energy of soul created by a revival leads on to the study of whatever is likely to be useful in the defence or propagation of the truth, whereas, when decay is progressing in a church, sloth and ease prevail, and are causes why theological learning is thought too heavy to be plodded through. With Samuel Rutherford and his contemporaries we fmd learning side by side with vital, and singu- larly deep godliness. Gillespie, Henderson, Blair, Dickson, and others, are well-known proofs. Circumstances led Rutherford in 1636 to publish his elaborate defences of grace against the Armin- ians, in Latin. Its title is " Exercitationes de Gratia." So highly was it esteemed at Amsterdam, where it was published, that a second edition was printed that very year ; and invitations were addressed soon after to the author to come over and occupy the chair of Professor of Divinity in Utrecht. The university of Hardewyrk had already offered him both its chair of Divinity and Hebrew. The contest for Chrisfs Kingly office had become hot and keen. To Rutherford it appeared no small matter. " I could wish many pounds added to my cross to know that by my suffer- ing Christ was set forward in his Kingly office in this land." July 27, 1636, was a day that put his principles to the test. He was called before the High Commission Court, because of non-con- formity to the acts of Episcopacy, and because of his work against the Arminians. The issue was not doubtful, though Lord Lorn made every exertion in his behalf, — they deprived him of his min- isterial office, which he had exercised at Anwolh for a period of nine years, and banished him to Aberdeen. The next day, writ- ing at evening on the subject, he tells of his sentence, and sub- joins, " The honor that I have prayed for these sixteen years." He made up his mind to leave Anwoth at once, o!>serving, with a submissiveness which we cannot help wondering at in the author of Lex Rex, " I purpose to obey the king, who has power over ray body." ' His only regret was lest this separation from his flock ^ The following is his own account of this whole matter, as given in a speech de- livered before the General Assembly of 29th Nov. 1638. "When asked by the Mod- erator, " Were you not sent to Aberdeen by the High Commission ?" his reply was, " Most true. I was sent in and summoned by the BQgh Commission for diverse points the Bishop of Galloway libelled against me, and there was nothing at all proven against me, notwithstanding three several days I was before them ; and the third day they had no other question to propose, but those wherewith they attempted me the first two days, — only the matter of non-conformity, which I stand by ; and upon this 2 XVlll SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD was a chastisement on him from the Lord, "Because I have not been so faithful in the end as 1 was in the two first years of my ministry, when sleep departed from mine eyes through care for Christ's lambs." On leaving Anwoth he directed his steps by Irvine, spending a night there with his beloved friend David Dickson. What a night it would be ! To hear tiiese two in solemn converse ! The one could not handle the harp so well as the other; for David Dick- son could express his soul's weary longings and its consoling hopes in such strains as that which has made his name familiar in Scot- land, " O mother^ dear Jerusalem^'' (fcc. But Rutlierford, never- theless, had so much of poetry and sublime enthusiasm in his soul, that any poet could sympathize with him to the full. Many of his lettters " from Ckrisfs jialace in Aberdeen" have strains of true poetry. What else is such an effusion as this, when rising on eagles' wings, he exclaims, "A land that has more than four summers in the year ! What a singing life is there ! There is not a dumb bird in all that large field, but all sing and breathe out heaven, joy, glory, dominion, to the High Prince of that new- found land. And verily the land is sweeter that He is the glory of that land." "O how sweet to be wholly Christ's, and wholly in Christ — to dwell in Immanuel's high and blessed land, and live in that sweetest air, where no wind bloweth but the breath- ings of the Holy Ghost — no sea nor floods flow but the pure water of life that floweth from under the throne and from the Lamb — no planting, but the tree of life that yieldeth twelve manner of fruits every month ! What do we here but sin and suffer ? O when shall the night be gone, the shadows flee away, and the morning of the long, long day, without cloud or night, dawn? they sentenced me, after I declared by AVTit, the unlawfidness of that act, and tliat I durst not be answerable to the king to acknowledge that judicatory, because it was against the standing law of the kingdom. Notwithstandhig of thisi, tliey proceeded against me, deprived me of my ministry in Anwoth, and confined me in Aberdeen. I watched on in Edinburgh, desiring the clerk to give me an extract of tlie sentence, but could not get it ; and the reason why he sliifted me was, because the Bishop of Galloway caused him to add a point to my sentence that I was not sentenced for, viz. that I should exercise no ministerial functions within tlie king's dominions. Tlie clerk denied it was a point of my sentence, notwithstanding the Bishop of Galloway caused to add that point, and I could never have the extract of it, only I got a copy." — Re- cords of the Church of Scotland, p. 150. Baillie says, "lie was silenced and confined to Aberdeen for preaching against the Articles of Terth, and such things. It is true he refused to give the Chancellor or any of tlie Bishops their styles. They were animat also against him for taxing Cameron in his book, and more for hia indiscreet railing at Jackson." — Baill. i. p. 8. AND HIS LETTERS. xix The Spirit and the bride say '■ Come !' O when shall the Lamb's wife be ready, and the Bridegroom say, Come ?" Whoever com- pares such breathings as this with David Dickson's hymn, will at once see how very congenial were their feelings and their hopes, and even their mode of expressing what they felt and hoped, though the one used prose and the other tried more memoral)le verse. We follow Rutherford to Aberdeen, the capital of the North, whither he was accompanied by a deputation of his affectionate parishioners from Anwoth, in whose company he would forget the length and tediousness of the way. He arrived here in Septem- ber, 1G3G. This town was at that time the stronghold of Episco- pacy and Arminianism, and in it the state of religion was very low. " It consisted of Papists, and men of Gallio's naughty faith." * The clergy and doctors took the opportunity of Rutherford's arrival, to commence a series of attacks on the doctrines he held. But in disputation he foiled them ; and when many began to feel drawn to his earnest dealings or private exhortations, there was a proposal made to remove him from the town. "So cold," writes he, "is northern love ! But (added he) Christ and I ic III bear itf^ deeply feeling his union to him who said to Saul, " why persecutes! thou me ?" Often on the streets,^ he was pointed out as " the Ban- ished 3Iinisierf^ and hearing of this, he remarked, "I am not ashamed of my garland." He had visitors from Orkney, and from Caithness, to the great annoyance of his persecutors. Some blamed iiim for not being ^^ prudent enough," as we have seen men ready to do in the case of Dr. Kalley at Madeira in our day ; but he replies, " It is ordinary that that should be part of the cross of those who suj^er for him." Still he enjoyed, in his solitude, occasional intercourse with some of the godly ones, among whom were Lady Pitsligo, Lady Burnet of Largs, Andrew Cant, and James Martin. His deepest affliction was separation from his flock at Anwoth. Nothing can exceed his tender sorrow over this flock. It was a saying of his own, "Gold may be gold and bear the king's stamp upon it, when it is trampled upon by men." And • Dr. James Sibbald, said to have been a naan of great learning, was minister in one of the churches of what was tlien called New Aberdeen, and Rutherford was a hearer of his ; he taught Arminianism, and Rutherford afterwards testified against liim oa tliis point from what he had himself Ustened to. — Gordon's Scots Affair, iii. 230. 2 The impression of some readers might be that he was in prison. But he never was so. He was in exile ; but the whole town was his prison, like Shimei confined to Jerusalem. XX SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD this was true of himself. But he came out of his trial unhurt ; or rather, as his many letters from Aberdeen show, greatly in- creased in every grace. He was part of two years closely confined to that town ; but in 1638 public events had taken another turn. The Lord had stirred up the spirit of the people of Scotland, and the Covenant was again triumphant in the land. Rutherford hastened hack to Anwoth. During his absence, " for six quarters of a year," say his parishioners, "no sound of the word of God was heard in our kirk." The swallows had made their nests undisturbed for two summers. His letters do not refer to the proceedings of the Glasgow As- sembly of 1638 ; still it is well known that he was no mere indif- ferent spectator to what then took place, but was member of sev- eral committees which at that time sat on the aflfairs of the Church ; and Presbytery being fully restored by that Assembly, it was thought right that one so gifted should now be brought forward to a more important sphere. He was sent by the Church to several districts to promote the cause of reformation and the covenant : and at length, in spite of his reluctance, arising chiefly from love to his flock, — his rural flock at Anwoth^ — he was con- strained by the united opinion of his brethren to remove to the Professor's Chair in St. Andrew's, in 1639, He bargained to be allowed to preach regularly every Sabbath in his new sphere ; for he could not endure silence when he might speak a word for his Lord. He seems to have preached, as occasion offered, in the parishes around, especially at Scoonie, where the village of Leven stands. His hands were necessarily filled with work in his new sphere ; yet still he relaxed nothing of his diligence in study. Nor did he lose anything of former blessing. It was here the English merchant heard him preach so afifectingly on the loveli- ness of Christ while such was his success as a Professor that " the university became a Lebanon out of which were taken cedars for building the house of God throughout the land." In the year 1640, he married his second wife, "a woman," says one, "of such worth, that I never knew any among men exceed him, nor any among women exceed her. He who heard either of them pray or speak might have learnt to bemoan his own ignorance. Oh how many times I have been convinced by ob- serving them, of the evil of unseriousness unto God, and unsa- voriness in discourse." They had seven children ; but only one AND HIS LETTERS. XXI survived the father, a little daughter Agnes, who does not seem to have been a comfort to her godl}'^ mother. In July, 1043, the Westminster Assembly sat ; and to it he was sent up as one of the Commissioners from Scotland. There exists m MS. in the library of the Edinburgli University, a sketch of the Shorter Catechism, in Rutherford's handwriting, very much resembling the Catechism as it now stands, as if he had had the principal hand in drawing it up for the Assembly. He continued four years attending the sittings of this famous synod, and was of much use in their deliberations. So prominent a part did he take, that the great Milton has singled him out for attack in his lines, "On the new forcers of conscience, under the Long Parliament." Milton knew him only as an opponent of his sectarian and Inde- pendent principles, and so could scorn measures proposed by " Mere A. S. and Rutherford." But had he known the soul of the man, would not even Milton have found that there was a subhmity of thought and feeling in his adversary, that at times might ap- proach his own lofty poesy? Yet how interesting, in any point of view, to find the devoted Pastor of Anwoth, on the streets of Lon- don, crossing the path of the greatest poet of modern times ! During his residence in London, several of his family died ; yet amid the trials and bustle of that time he wrote " the Due Right of Presbytery," " Lex Rex," and " Trial and Triumph of Faith." Returning home to St. Andrew's he resumed his labors both in the college and in the pulpit with all his former zeal.' He 1 " 1651, July 13. — Tlie comm. was given at Scoonie. Mr. Alex. Moncrieff, m. there, did preach the Preparation Sermon, and on Monday morning, Mr. Sa, Ruther- ford did preach ; his text at both occasions was Luke vii. 36 till 39 v. At this time vra,s present, besides Mr. Sa. Rutherford, Mr. Ja. Guthrie, and Mr. David Bennct, Mr. Ephraini Melven, and Mr. WilUam Oliphant, m. in Dumfernilin. Tliither did resort many strangers, so that the throng was great. Mr. Ephraim, and Mr. D. Bennet both did sit within the pulpit wliile the minister had his sermon." " 1654, Jaa 4. — Being Saturday, there was a Preparation Sermon for a Thanksgiving preached at Scoonie in Fyfe, for the continuance of the Gospel in the land, and for the spreading of it in 6ome places of the Highlands in Scotland, where in some families two, and in some fiimilies one, began to call on God by prayer. Mr. Samuel Rutherford, M. in St. An- drew's, preached on Saturday ; his text, Isai. xlix. 9, 10, 11, 12. On the Sabbath, Mr Alex. Moncrieff, M then preached ; his lecture, 1 Thess. I ch. ; his text, Coloss. i. 27. In the afternoon of the Sabbath, Mr. Samuel preached again upon his forementioned text. On Monday morning, Mr. Samuel had a Lecture on Psal. Ixxxviii. He did read the whole Psalm. Observe, that on Saturday Mr. Samuel had tliis expression in his prayer after sermon, desiring that the Lord would rebuke Presbyteries and others that had taken the keys and the power in their hands, and keeped out, and would suf- fer none to enter (meaning in the ministry) but such as said as they said." — Lamont't Diary. XXU SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD joined the Protesters in determinedly opposing the proceedings of the Commission of Assembly, who had censured such as pro- tested against the admission to power of persons in the class of MaUgnants. His friend David Dickson keenly opposed him, and Mr. Blair also, though less violently. It was this controversy that liiade John Livingstone say in a letter to Blair,' " Your and Mr. D. Dickson's accession to these resolutions, is the saddest thing I have seen in my time. My wife and I have had more bitterness in this respect, these several months, than ever we had since we knew what bitterness meant." Rutherford wrote too violently on this matter ; for all parties were greatly excited. Still he did not lose his brotherly love, the same brotherly love that led him to embrace Archbishop Usher as a fellow-believer. We may get a lesson for our times from his remarks on occasion of these bitter controversies. It is in 1646, that he writes ; " It is hard when saints rejoice in tlie sufferings of saints, and redeemed ones hurt, and go nigh to hate, redeemed ones. For contempt of the com- munion of saints, we have need of new-born crosses scarce ever heard of before. — Our star-light hideth us from ourselves, and hideth us from one another, and Christ from us all." And then he subjoins, (and is he not borne out by the words of the Lord in John xvii. 22.) "A doubt it is if we shall have fully one heart, till we shall enjoy one heaven." The state of things lay heavy on his mind : " I am broken and wasted by the wrath that is upon this land." Milton sings, " They also serve who only stand and wait ;" and Rutherford was longing now for such service. He sometimes refers to this desire; he wishes for a quiet harbor in his latter days ; onl}--, adds he, " sailing is serving" — and he did delight in serving his Lord. In 1660, his published work, " Lex Rex," was taken notice of by the government ; for reasonable as it is in defence of the lib- erty of subjects, its spirit of freedom was intolerable to rulers who were gradually advancing to acts of cruelty and death. Indeed, it was so hateful to them, that they burnt it, first at Edinburgh by the hands of the hangman ; and then some days after by the hands of the infamous Sharpe, under the windows of its author's College in St. Andrew's. He was next deposed from all his offices ; and last of all summoned to answer at next Parliament on a charge of high treason. But the sununons was too late. He was already on his death-bed, and on hearing of the summons, , ' Wodrow Select Biographies. AND HIS LETTERS. XXIU calmly remarked, that he had got another summons before a su- perior Judge and Judicatory, and sent the message, " I behove to answer my first summons ; and ere your day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks come." All that is told us of his death-bed is characteristic- of the man. He said when asked, " What think ye now of Christ?"—" I shall live and adore him. Glory dwelleth in Innnanuel's land." The same afternoon he said, " I shall sleep in Christ, and when I awake I shall be satisfied with his likeness." Once he cried aloud, " O for arms to embrace Him ! O for a well-tuned harp !" This last expression he used more than once, as if already stretch- ing out his hand to get his golden harp, and join the redeemed in their new song. He also said on another occasion, "I hear him saying to me, ' Come up hither.' " His little daughter, Agnes, only eleven years of age, stood by his bed-side ; he looked on her, and said, " 1 have left her upon the Lord." Well might the man say so, who could so fully testify of his portion in the Lord, as a goodly heritage. To four of his brethren, who came to see him, he said, "My Lord and Master is chief of ten thousands of thou- sands. None is comparable to Him in heaven, or in earth. Dear brethren, do all for Him. Pray ybr Christ. Preach /<>?■ Christ." He seemed to know the hour of his departure, not perhaps so surely as Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 6, or Peter, 2 Peter i. 14, yet still in a manner that seems to indicate that the Lord draws very near his servants in that hour, and gives glimpses of what he is doing. On the last day of his life, in the afternoon, he said, " This night will close the door, and fasten my anchor witliin the veil, and I shall go away in a sleep by five o'clock in the morning." And so it was. He entered Immanuel's land at that very hour, March 20, 1661, at his house in St. Andrew's, and is now (as himself would have said) " sleeping in the bosom of the Almighty," till the Lord come. One of his dying sayings was, " There is noth- ing now between me and the resurrection but, ' This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' " And Livingstone records that his last words were, " Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land !" — as if he had caught a glimpse of its mountain tops.' Had he lived a few weeks, his might have been the cruel death I "1661, Mar. 29, (a mistake for 20.) Mr. Samuel Rutherford, Principal of tlie New College in St. Andrew's, departed out of this hfe, at his dwelUng-liouse there, and was interred the 30th of Mar. at the ordinary burial place of the said city. Some weeks before he had a daughter that departed out of this hfe likewise. Also, the said 30 of Mar. Mr. Andrew Honeyman's mother-in-law was interred likewise. They were both carried at one time to their long home." — Lamont's Diary. XXIV SKETCH OF RUTHERFORD endured by his friend James Guthrie, whom he had encourag-ed by his letters to steadfastness to the end. The vote wliich the Parhament passed when told that he was dying- did him no dis- honor. When they had voted that he should not die in the Col- lege, Lord Burleigh rose and said, " Ye cannot vote him out of heaven." If ever there was any portrait of him, it is not now known. We are n^ost familiar with the likeness of his soul. There is one expressive line in the epitaph on his tomljstone, in the churchyard of the Chapel of St. Regulus : What toi^ue, -what pen, or skill of men, Can fiunous Rutherford commend ! His learning justly raksed his fame, True great ixjss did adorn liis name. He did converse with tilings above, Acqvmnted with ImmaniteVs love. His memory was long cherished, and it is said that so g^reat was the reverence which some of the godly had for this venerable man, that they requested to be buried near where his body was laid. It is also mentioned, that an old man in the parish of Crailing remembers the veneration entertained for him by the great-grand- father of the present Marquis of Lotiiian. This good Marquis used to lift his hat as he passed the spot where stood the cottage in which Samuel Rutherford was born. His " Lettejis" have long been famous among the godly. The collector was godly Mr. M'Ward, who, as a student, being: much beloved by Rutherford, went to the Westminster Assembly with him as his secretary. He was afterwards successor to An- drew Gray in Glasgow, and finally minister in Rotterdam. He published them with an enthusiastic recommendation ; but seems sometimes to have given us erroneous readings. At least, there are occasionally expressions or clauses that are obscure, as they stand in print. The first letter is dated April 23,1028; and on- ward from that date, we have occasional pieces up to the year of his death. It will be noticed, that at times, the pen of the ready writer ran on most rapidly. He has written many in one day, when his heart was overflowing. It was easy to write when the Lord was pouring on him the unction that teacheth all tilings. He would sometimes have written still more, but he had heard that people looked up to him and overpraised his letters. During his confinement at vVberdeen, he wrote about 220. There are a few unpleasant expressions in the letters, which AND HIS LETTERS. XXV are the sparks of a fancy that sought to appropriate everything to spiritual purposes ; but as to extravagance in the thougiits con- veyed, tliere is none. The extravagance alleged against them by some, is just that of Paul, when he spoke of knowing '• the height and depth, length and breadtii," of the love of Christ ; or that of Solomon, when the Holy Ghost inspired him to write " The Song of Songs." Rather would we say of these letters, what Living- stone in a letter says of John Welsh's dying words, '• O for a sweet fill of this fanatic humor !"' In modern days, Richard Cecil has said of Rutherford : " He is one of my classics ; he is a real origi- nal ;" and in older times, Richard Baxter, some of whose theo- logical leanings might have prejudiced him, if anything could, said of his letters : " Hold off the Bible, such a book the world never saw." They were long ago translated into Dutch, and of late years they have been translated into German. Both in these, and in his other writings, we see sufficient proof that had he cultivated Hterature as a pursuit, he might have stood high in the admira- tion of men.^ The letters often, by a few strokes, suggest very much that is edifying and impressive. There is something not easily forgotten in the words used to express the Church's indestructibleness in that letter, where he says, " the bush has been burning these five thousand years, and no man yet saw the ashes of that fire.'''' How much truth is conveyed by that saying, " Losses for Christ are but goods given out in bank in Christ's hand." There is an in- genious use of Scripture that often delights the reader, as when he speaks of " the corn on the house-tops that never got the hus- bandman's prayer," or of " Him that counteth the basons and knives of his house, (Ezra i. 9, 10,) and bringeth them back safe to his second temple." But the general characteristics of his let- ters are still more w^orthy of attentive consideration. ' His other works bear the stamp of the same lofty soul. In his Treatise, " De Divina Providentia," the following paragraph occurs extolling the glory of Godhead wisdom. " Comparentur cum ilia increata sapientia Dei Patris umbratiles scintilluUu creatae gloriolee quotquot nominis celebritate inclaruerunt. Delirat Plato. Mentitur Aristoteles. Cicero balbulit, haesitat, nescit Latme loqui. Demosthenes mutus et elinguis obstepescit ; virtutis viam ignorat Seneca, nOiil canit Ilomerus, — male canit Virgilius! Accedant ad Christum qui virtutis gloria fulgent! Arlstides virtutem mentitur. Fabhts cespitat, a via justitiae deviat. Socrates ne hoc quidem scit, se nihil scire. Cato levis et futiUs est, Solon est mundi et voluptatum servus et mancipium, non legislator. Pythagoras nee sophos, nee philosophus est. Bias nee mundi nee jianifl gloriae contemptor. Alexander Macedo ignavus est,"