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  A CHRISTIAN LIBRARY - PART2 - VOLUME 1
  by John Wesley
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The second part of Wesley's Christian Library featuring biographical accounts of
faithful ministers including Bishop Bedell and his efforts to learn the Irish
language for ministry. This volume covers key figures in post-Reformation church
history.

  Chapters: 98

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. Vol 16 - The Life Of Bishop Bedell Part I
    2. Vol 16 - The Life Of Bishop Bedell Part II
    3. Vol 16 - The Life Of Archbishop Usher
    4. Vol 16 - Letters Of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, Part I
    5. Vol 16 - TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
    6. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
    7. Vol 16 - TO THE PARISHIONERS OF KILMACOLME.
    8. Vol 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
    9. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
   10. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
   11. Vol 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY.
   12. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACNAUGHT.
   13. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACNAUGHT.
   14. Vol 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
   15. Vol 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
   16. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
   17. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   18. Vol 16 - TO MR. ROBERT CUNINGHAME,
   19. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   20. Vol 16 - TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX.
   21. Vol 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR.
   22. Vol 16 - TO MR. ROBERT BLAIR.
   23. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENAIURE.
   24. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE,
   25. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY CARDONNESS.
   26. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY CARDONNESS THE ELDER.
   27. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   28. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   29. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY HALHILL.
   30. Vol 16 - TO MR. THOMAS GARVEN.
   31. Vol 16 - TO THE LAIRD OF CARLETOUN.
   32. Vol 16 - TO JOHN BELL, THE ELDER.
   33. Vol 16 - TO WILLIAM GORDON, OF ROBERTOUN
   34. Vol 16 - TO CARDONESS, ELDER.
   35. Vol 16 - TO CARDONESS, YOUNGER.
   36. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY BUSBIE.
   37. Vol 16 - Letters Of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, Part II
   38. Vol 16 - TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX.
   39. Vol 16 - TO CARLETOUN.
   40. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
   41. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY CULROSS,
   42. Vol 16 - TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, ELDER.
   43. Vol 16 - TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIESH,
   44. Vol 16 - TO EARLESTOUN, YOUNGER.
   45. Vol 16 - TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF KNOCKGRAY.
   46. Vol 16 - TO ELIZABETH KENNEDY.
   47. Vol 16 - TO JONET KENNEDY.
   48. Vol 16 - TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIES.
   49. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY LARGIRIE.
   50. Vol 16 - TO EARLSTOUN, YOUNGER.
   51. Vol 16 - TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, YOUNGER.
   52. Vol 16 - TO MY LORD BOYD.
   53. Vol 16 - TO CARDONESS, ELDER.
   54. Vol 16 - TO THE LAIRD OF CALLY.
   55. Vol 16 - TO WILLIAM GORDON, AT KENMURE.
   56. Vol 16 - TO ROBERT LENOX, OF DISDOVE.
   57. Vol 16 - TO JOHN GORDON.
   58. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   59. Vol 16 - TO HIS PARISHIONERS.
   60. Vol 16 - TO MR. JAMES FLEMING.
   61. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   62. Vol 16 - TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD LINDSAY.
   63. Vol 16 - TO THE LORD BOYD.
   64. Vol 16 - TO THE LAIRD GAITGIRTH.
   65. Vol 16 - Letters Of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, Part III
   66. Vol 16 - TO JOHN FLEMYIMING, BAILLIE OF LEITH.
   67. Vol 16 - TO MARGARET BALLANTINE.
   68. Vol 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR.
   69. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY BOYD.
   70. Vol 16 - TO JONET KENNEDY.
   71. Vol 16 - TO MARGARET REBID.
   72. Vol 16 - TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR, Now in Ireland.
   73. Vol 16 - TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR.
   74. Vol 16 - TO THE LADY BUSBIE.
   75. Vol 16 - TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD.LOUDOUN.
   76. Vol 16 - TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF EARLSTOUN.
   77. Vol 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT
   78. Vol 16 - TO MR. GEORGE DUMBAR.
   79. Vol 16 - TO THE PROFESSORS OF CHRIST IN IRELAND.
   80. Vol 16 - TO HIS REVEREND AND MUCHHONORED BROTHER,
   81. Vol 16 - TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN IRELAND.
   82. Vol 16 - TO MR. HENRY STEWART, HIS WIFE, AND TWO DAUGHTERS
   83. Vol 16 - TO JOHN FENNICK.
   84. Vol 16 - TO LADY BOYD
   85. Vol 16 - TO MRS. HUME.
   86. Vol 16 - TO BARBARA HAMILTON
   87. Vol 16 - TO A CHRISTIAN GENTLEWOMAN.
   88. Vol 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
   89. Vol 16 - TO MRS. CRAIG, Upon the Death of her Son, who was drowned in a river.
   90. Vol 16 - TO MR. JAMES GUTHRIE,
   91. Vol 16 - The Works Of Anthony Horneck, Exercise I-VI
   92. Vol 16 - 1Ti_4:7. Exercise thyself unto Godliness.
   93. Vol 16 - THE DAILYAND CONSTANT EXERCISES OF GODLINESS ARE THESE:
   94. Vol 16 - THE FIRST EXERCISE.
   95. Vol 16 - THE SECOND EXERCISE.
   96. Vol 16 - THE THIRD EXERCISE.
   97. Vol 16 - THE FOURTH EXERCISE.
   98. Vol 16 - THE FIFTH EXERCISE.

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  CHAPTER 1: VOL 16 - THE LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL PART I
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THE LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL WILLIAM BEDEL L was born at Black-Notley, in Essex, in
the year 1570. He was the younger son of an ancient and good family. He was sent
to Emanuel College, in Cambridge, and put under the care of DR. CHADDERTON, the
famous Head of that House. And here all those extraordinary things, which
rendered him afterwards so conspicuous, began to show themselves in such a
manner, that, he came to have a very eminent character both for learning and
piety so that appeals were often made to him, as differences or controversies
arose in the University. He was put into Holy Orders by the Bishop-Suffragan of
Colchester. In 1593 he was chosen Fellow of the College, and took his Degree of
Bachelor of Divinity in the year 1599. From the University he was removed to St.
Edmund's-bury, in Suffolk, where he served long in the Gospel, with great
success; the opening of dark passages, and comparing many texts of Scripture,
together with a serious and practical application of them, being the chief
subject of his sermons. He had an occasion, not long after his settlement in
this charge, to show how little he. either courted preferment, or was afraid of
great men. For when the BISHOP of NORWIED proposed some things to his Clergy,
with which they Were generally dissatisfied, though they had not resolution
enough to oppose them, he took that - hard province upon himself; and did it
with so much strength of reason, as well as discretion, that many of those
things were let fall: upon which, when his brethren magnified him for it, he
checked them, and said, that he desired not the praises of men. His reputation
was so well established, both in the University and in Suffolk, that when KING
JAMES sent SIR HENRY WOTTON as Ambassador to Venice, at the time of the
Interdict, he was recommended as the fittest man to go as Chaplain in so
critical a conjuncture. He was very near being an instrument of a great and
happy change in that republic. I need not say much of a thing so well known as
were the quarrels of POPE PAUL 5: and that republic; especially since the
history of them is written so particularly by him that knew the matter best, P.
PAULO. Some laws made by the Senate, restraining the excessive donations
extorted from superstitious men, and the imprisonment of two lewd friars, in
order to the execution of justice upon them, were the grounds of the quarrel;
and upon those pretences, the ecclesiastical immunity from the secular tribunals
was asserted to such a degree, that after that high-spirited Pope had tried what
the spiritual sword could do, but without success, (his interdict not being
observed by any but the Jesuits, the Capuchins, and the Theatines, who were upon
that banished from the state,) he resolved to try the temporal sword next,
according to the advice given him by CARDINAL BARONIUS; who told him, in the
Consistory, that there were two things said to ST. PETER;-the first was, " Feed
my sheep," the other was, "Arise and kill;"-and therefore since he had executed
the first part of ST. PETER'S duty, in " feeding" the flock, by exhortations,
admonitions, and censures, without effect, he had nothing left but to " arise
and kill." Upon this the POPE, not finding any other Prince that would execute
his Bulls, resolved to make war upon them himself. But when he saw that his
censures had not created any distractions in the republic, and found their
treasure and force likely to prove a match for the Apostolical Chamber, and for
such forces as he could levy and pay, he was at last willing to accept of a
mediation; in which the Senate, though they were content to deliver up the two
profligate friars, yet asserted their right, and maintained their laws,
notwithstanding all his threatenings; nor would they so much as ask pardon, or
crave absolution. But without going further into matters so generally known, I
shall only mention those things in which MR. BEDELL had some share. P. PAULO was
then the Divine of the State; a man equally eminent for vast learning and
prudence, and who was at once one of the greatest Divines, and one of the wisest
men of his age. It must needs raise the character of BEDELL much, that an
Italian, who, besides the caution that is natural to the country, and the
prudence that obliged one in his circumstances to a more than ordinary distrust
of all the world, was tied up by the strictness of that government to a very
great reservedness with all people, yet took BEDELL into his very soul, and, as
SIR HENRY WOTTON assured the late King, communicated to him the inward thoughts
of his heart; and professed that he had learned more from him in all the parts
of divinity, whether speculative or practical, than from any he had ever
con-versed with in his whole life. So great an intimacy with so extraordinary a
person is enough to raise a character, were there no more to be added. P. PAULO
went further; for he assisted him in acquiring the Italian tongue, in which
BEDELL became such a master, that he spoke as one born in Italy, and penned all
the sermons he then preached, either in Italian or Latin., In this last it will
appear, by the productions of his pen yet remaining, that he had a true Roman
style, inferior to none of the modern writers, if not equal to the ancients. In
requital of the instruction which he received from P. PAULO in the Italian
tongue, he drew up a grammar of the English tongue for his use, and for that of
some others who desired to learn it, that so they might be able to understand
our books of Divinity. - He also translated the English Common-Prayer-Book into
Italian; and P. PAULO and the seven Divines, who, during the interdict, were
commanded by the Senate both to preach and write against the POPE's authority,
liked it so well, that they resolved to have made it their pattern, in case the
differences between the Pope and them had produced the effect which they hoped
and longed for. The intimacy between them grew so great and so public, that when
P. PAULO was wounded by those assassins who were set on by the court of Rome,
upon the, failing of which attempt a guard was set on him by the Senate, who
knew how to value and preserve so great a treasure, and much precaution was used
before any were admitted to come to him, BEDELL was excepted out of those,
rules, and had free access to him at all times. They had many and long
discourses concerning religion. He found that P. PAULO had read over the Greek
Testament with so much exactness, that having used to mark every word, when he
had fully weighed the importance of it, as he went through it, he had by going
often over it, and observing what he had passed over in a former reading, grown
up to that at last, that every word was marked of the whole New Testament. And
when BEDELL suggested to him critical explications of some passages which he had
not understood before, he received them with the transports of one that leaped
for joy, and that valued the discoveries of divine truth beyond all other
things. During his stay at Venice, the famous ANT. DE DOMNIS, Ancnsisi:op of
SPALATA, came to Venice; and having received a just character of MR. BEDELL, he
discovered his secret to him; and showing him his ten books, De Republica
Ecclesiastica, which he afterwards printed at London, BEDELL took the freedom
which he allowed him, and corrected many ill applications of texts of Scripture,
and quotations of Fathers. For that Prelate, being utterly ignorant of the Greek
tongue, could not but be guilty of many mistakes, both in the one and the other;
and if there remain some places still that discover his ignorance of that
language, yet there had been many more, if BEDELL had not corrected them. DE
DOMINIS took all this in good part from him; and did enter into such familiarity
with him, and found his assistance so useful, and indeed so necessary to
himself, that he used to say, he could do nothing without him. A passage fell
out, during the interdict, at made greater noise than perhaps the importance of
it could well amount to; but it was suited to the Italian genius.-There came a
Jesuit to Venice, THOMAS MARIA CARAFFA; who printed a thousand Theses of
Philosophy and Divinity, which he dedicated to the POPE with this extravagant
inscription PAULO 5:, VICE-DEO, Christiana; Reipublict Monarchw invictissimo, et
Pont ficice Omnipotentice conservatori acerrimo:--" To PAUL 5:, the Vice-GOD,
the most invincible Monarch of the Christian Commonwealth, and the most zealous
Asserter of the Papal Omnipotency."-All people were amazed at the impudence of
this title; but when MR. BEDELL observed that the numeral letters of the first
words," PAULO 5:, VICEDEO," being put together, made exactly 666, the number of
the Beast in the Revelation, he communicated this to P. PAULO, and the seven
Divines, and they carried it to the Duke and the Senate. It was entertained
almost as if it had come from heaven; and it was publicly preached over all
their territories, that here was a certain evidence that the Pops was
Antichrist. And it is likely that this was more promoted by them, because they
found it took with the Italians, than because they could build much upon it.
This flew so over Italy, that lest it should take too much among the people, the
POPE caused his emissaries to give it out every where, that Antichrist was, now
born in Babylon, and was descended of the tribe of Dan; that he was gathering a
vast army, with which he intended to come and destroy CHRISTendom; and that
therefore all Christian Princes were exhorted to prepare all their forces for
resisting so great an invasion. And with this piece of false news, which was
given out very confidently, the other conceit was choked. When the
reconciliation with Rome was concluded, P. PAULO wished he could have left
Venice, and come over to England with MR. BEDELL;.. but he was so much esteemed
by the Senate for his great wisdom, and trusted with their most important
secrets, that he saw it was impossible for him to obtain his conge. He therefore
made a shift to comply, as &r as he could, with the established way of their
worship; but he had in many things particular methods, by which he in a great
measure rather quieted than satisfied his conscience. In saying mass, he passed
over many parts of the canon, and in particular those prayers in which that
sacrifice was offered up to the honor of saints. He never prayed to saints, nor
joined in those parts of the offices that went against his conscience; and in
private confessions and discourses, he took people off from those abuses, and
gave them right notions of the purity of the Christian religion. Thus, he hoped,
he was sowing seeds that might be fruitful in another age; and thus, he
believed, he might live innocent in a church which he thought so defiled. And
when one pressed him hard in this matter, and objected that he still held
communion with an idolatrous church, and gave it credit by adhering outwardly to
it, all the answer he made to this was, that GOD had not given him the spirit of
LUTHER. He expressed great tenderness and concern for-BEDELL, when he parted
with him, and said that both he and many others would have gone over with him,
if it had been in their power: but that he might never be forgotten by him, he
gave him his picture, with a Hebrew Bible without points, and a little Hebrew
Psalter, in which he wrote some sentences expressing his esteem and friendship
for him; and with these he gave him the invaluable Manuscript of the History of
the Council of Trent, together with the History of the Interdict, and of the
Inquisition. The first of these will ever be reckoned the chief pattern, after
which all, who intend to succeed well in history, must copy. When BEDELL came
over, he brought along with him the ARCHBISHOP of SPALATA, and one DESPOTINE, a
Physician, who could no longer bear with the corruptions of the Roman worship,
and so chose a more free air. The latter lived near him in St. Edmund'sbury; and
was by his means introduced into much practice, which he maintained so well,
that he became eminent in his profession, and continued to his death to keep up
a constant correpondence with him. MR. BEDELL had now finished one of the scenes
of his life with great honor. The most considerable addition he made to his
learning at Venice, was in the improvements of the Hebrew, in which he made a
great progress by the assistance of R. LEO. In exchange for it, he communicated
to him, that which was much more valuable, the true understanding of many
passages in the Old Testament, with which that Rabbi expressed himself often to
be highly satisfied. And once, in a solemn dispute, he pressed his Rabbi with so
clear proofs of JESUS CHRIST being the true MESSIAS, that he, and several others
of his brethren, had no other way to escape, but to say, that their Rabbins
every where did expound those prophecies otherwise, ac-cording to the tradition
of their fathers. After eight years' stay, he returned to England; and, without
pretending to preferment, he went immediately to his charge at St. Edmund'sbury,
and there went on in his ministerial labors. He had a soul too generous to stoop
to those servile compliances, which are expected by those that have the
distribution of preferments. He thought that they implied an abjectness of
spirit which became not a Christian philosopher, much less a churchman, who
ought to express a contempt of the world, and a resignation to Divine
Providence. He was content to deserve preferment, and did not envy others who
arrived at it. But though he was forgotten at Court, yet Sin THOMAS JERMYN, who
was a Privy-Counsellor, and Vice-Chamberlain to KING CHARLES 1:, and a'great
patron of virtue and piety, took such a liking to him, that a considerable
living, in his gift, falling void, he presented him to it in the year 1615. When
he came to the BISHOP of NORWICH to take out his title to it, he demanded large
fees for his institution and induction: but BEDELL would give no more than
sufficient gratification for the writing, wax, and parchment; and refused to pay
the rest. He looked on it as Simony in the Bishop to demand more, and contrary
to the command of CHRIST, who said, "Freely ye have received, freely give: " and
he thought it a branch of Simony to sell spiritual things to spiritual persons;
and since whatsoever was asked, more than a decent gratification to the servant
for his pains, was asked by reason of the thing granted, he thought this
unbecoming the Gospel, and a sin both in the giver and in the taker. He had
observed, that nothing was more expressly contrary to all the primitive rules.
CHRYSOSTOM examined a complaint made against ATONINE, BISHOP of EPHESUS, for
exacting fees at ordination. AUTONINE died before the process was finished; but
some Bishops, that had paid those fees, were degraded. Afterwards, not only all
ordinations for money, but the taking money for any employment that depended
upon the Bishop's gift, was most severely condemned by the Council of Chalcedon.
The buyer was to lose his degree, and the seller was to be in danger of it. And
after that, severe, censures were every where decreed against all presents that
might be made to Bishops, either before or after ordinations, or upon the
account of writings, or of feasts, or any other expense that was brought in use
to be made upon that occasion; and even in the Council of Trent, it was decreed,
that nothing should be taken for letters dimissory, the certificates, the seals,
or upon any such like ground, either by Bishops or their servants, even though
it was freely offered. Upon these accounts MR. BEDELL resolved rather to lose
his presentation to the parsonage of Horingsheath, than to do that which he
thought Simony; and he left the Bishop, and went home. But some days after, the
Bishop sent for him, and gave him his titles, without exacting fees of him; and
so he removed to that place, where he stayed twelve years, during which time he
was a great honor to the church, as well as a pattern to churchmen. His habit
and way of living were becoming the simplicity of his profession. He was very
tender of those that were truly poor; but was so strict in examining vagabonds,
and so dexterous in discovering passes, and took such care of punishing those
that went abroad with them, that they came no more to him, nor to his town. In
all that time, no notice was ever taken of him, though he gave a very singular
evidence of his great capacity: for being provoked by the Letters of his old
acquaintance, WADSWORTH, he wrote upon the points in controversy with the Church
of Rome with so much learning and judgment, and in so mild a strain, that his
book had a good effect on him for whom it was in-tended. This book was printed,
and dedicated to the late KING, while PRINCE of WALES, in the year 1624. He was
well satisfied with that which GOD laid in his way, and went on in the duties of
his pastoral care; and was a great pattern thereof in Suffolk, in the lower
degree, as he proved afterwards in Ireland, in the higher order. He labored not
as a hireling, that only raised a revenue out of his parish, and abandoned his
flock, trusting them to the cheapest mercenary; nor did he satisfy himself with
a slight performance of his duty, only for fashion's sake; but watched over his
flock, like one that knew he was to answer to GOD for those souls committed to
his charge. So he preached to the understandings and consciences of his parish,
and catechised constantly. And, as the whole course of his own most exemplary
behavior was a continued sermon, so he was very exact in the more private
affairs of his function; visiting the sick, and dealing in secret with his
people, to excite or preserve in them a deep sense of religion. This he made his
work; and he followed it so closely, lived so much at home, and was so little
known, that when DIODATI came over to England, many years after, he could hear
of him from no person that he met with; though he was acquainted with many of
the clergy. He was much amazed to find that so extraordinary a man, who had been
so much admired at Venice, by so good judges, was not so much as known in his
own country, and so he was out of all hope of finding him out; but, by a mere
accident, he met him in the streets of London, at which there was a great deal
of joy on both sides. And upon that, DIODATI presented him to MORTON, the
learned and ancient Bishop of DURESME, and told how great a value P. PAULO set
on him; upon which that Bishop treated him in a very particular manner. It is
true, SIR HENRY WOTTON was always his faithful friend; but his credit at Court
had sunk: for he fell under necessities, having lived at Venice in an expense
above his appointments. And as necessitous courtiers must grow to forget all
concerns but their own; so the favor they are in lessens, when they come to need
it too much. While he was thus neglected at home, his fame was spread into
IRELAND; and though he was not known either to USHER, or to any of the Fellows
of Trinity College in Dublin, yet he was chosen, by their unanimous consent, to
be the Head of their College, in the year 1627; and as that worthy Primate of
Ireland, together with the Fellows of the College, wrote to him, inviting him to
come and accept of that Mastership, so an address was also made to the KING,
praying that he would command him to go over. And that this might be the more
successful, SIR HENRY WOTTON was moved to give his Majesty a true account of
him, which he did in the following letter. May it please your most gracious
MAJESTY, "Having been informed, that certain persons have, by the good wishes of
the ARCHBISHOP of ARMAGH, been' directed hither, with a most humble petition
unto your Majesty, that you will be pleased to make MR. WILLIAM BEDELL Governor
of your College at Dublin, for the good of that society;--_and I myself being
required to render to your Majesty some testimony of the said WILLIAM BEDELL,
who was long my Chaplain at Venice, in the time of my employment there;-I am
bound in all conscience and truth to affirm of him, that, I think, hardly a
fitter man could have been propounded to your Majesty in your whole kingdom, for
singular erudition and piety, conformity to the rites of the Church, and zeal to
advance the cause of Go n; wherein his travels abroad were not obscure, in the
time of the excommunication of the Venetians. For, may it please your Majesty to
know, that this is the man whom PADRE PAULO took (I may say) into his very soul;
with whom he did communicate the inwardest thoughts of his heart; from whom he
professed to have received more knowledge in all divinity, both scholastical and
positive, than from any in his days; of which all the passages were well known
unto the King your father, of blessed memory. And so, with your Majesty's good
favor, I will end this needless office: for the general fame of his learning,
his life, and Christian temper, and those religious labors which himself has
dedicated to your Majesty, better describe him than I am able. Your Majesty's
most humble and faithful servant, " H. WOTTON." But when this matter was
proposed to Mr. BEDELL, he expressed so much real Christianity in the answer,
that I will give it in his own words, in a letter he wrote to one employed to
deal with him in this matter. " SIR, " I have this day received both your
letters, dated the 2d of this month; for answer whereof, although I could have
desired so much respite as to have conferred with some of my friends, such as
possibly know the condition of that place better than I do, and my
insufficiencies better than my LORD Primate, yet since I perceive, by both your
letters, that the matter requires a speedy answer, thus I stand.-I am married,
and have three children; therefore if the place requires a single man, the
business is at an end. I have no want, I thank my GOD, of any thing necessary
for this life: I have a competent living of above a hundred pounds a year, in a
good air, with a very convenient house near my friends, and a little parish, not
exceeding the compass of my weak voice. " I have often heard, that changing
seldom brings the better; especially to those that are well. And I see well,
that my wife (though resolving, as she ought, to be con-tented with whatsoever
GOD shall appoint) had rather continue with her friends in her native country,
than put herself to the hazard of the seas, and a foreign land, with many
casualties in travel, which she perhaps, out of fear, apprehends more than there
is cause. " All these reasons I have, if I consult with flesh and blood, which
move me rather to reject this offer; yet with all humble and dutiful thanks to
my LORD Primate for his good opinion of me. On the other side, I consider the
end wherefore I came into the world, and the business of a subject to our Lon])
JESUS CHRIST, of a Minister of the Gospel, of a good patriot, and of an honest
man. If I may be of any better use to my country, to GOD's Church, or of any
better service to our common Master, I must close mine eyes against all private
respects; and if GOD call me, I must answer,' Here I am.' For my part,
therefore, I will not stir one foot, or lift up my finger, for or against this
motion; but if it proceed from the LORD, that is, if those whom it concerns
there, procure those, who may command me here, to send me thither, I shall obey,
if it were not only to go into Ireland, but into Virginia; yea, though I were
not only to meet with troubles, dangers, and difficulties, but death itself in
the performance. " Sir, I have as plainly as I can, showed you my mind; desiring
you, with my humble service, to represent it to my reverend good LORD, my LORD
Primate. And GOD Almighty direct this affair to the glory of his holy name and
have you in his merciful protection! So I rest, " From Bury, " Your loving
friend, " March 5, 1626. " WILLIAM BEDELL." The conclusion of this matter was,
that the KING, being well informed concerning him, commanded him to undertake
the charge, which he cheerfully obeyed; and he set about the duties incumbent on
him in such a manner, as showed how well he had improved the long time of
retirement he had hitherto enjoyed, and how ripely he had digested all his
observations. He had hitherto lived as if he had been fit for nothing but study;
and now, when he entered upon a more public scene, it appeared that he
understood government and human life so well, that no man seemed to be more cut
out for business. In the government of the College, he resolved to act nothing
till he both knew the statutes of the House perfectly well, and the tempers of
the people; therefore when he went over first, he carried himself so
abstractedly from all affairs, that he passed for a weak man. The zeal which
appeared afterwards in him, showed, that this coldness was only the effect of
his wisdom, and not of his temper. But when he found that some grew to think
meanly of him, and that even USHER himself began to change his opinion of him;
when he went over to England' some months after, to bring his family over to
Ireland, he was thinking to resign his new preferment, and return to his
benefice in Suffolk; but the Primate wrote so kind a letter to him, that, as it
made him lay down those thoughts, so it drew from him the following words, in
the answer that he wrote to him Touching my return, I thankfully accept your
Grace's exhortation, advising me to have faith in GOD, and not consult with
flesh and blood. Now I would to GOD, that your Grace could look into my heart,
and see how little I fear lack of provision, or any outward thing in this world.
My chief fear in truth was, and is, lest I should be unfit and unprofitable in
the place; in which case, if I might -have an honest retreat, I think no wise
man could blame me to retain it; especially having understood that your Grace,
whose authority I chiefly followed at the first, did, from your own judgment,
and that of other wise men, so truly pronounce of me, that I was a weak man. Now
that I have received your letters so full of encouragement, it puts some more
life in me. For, sure it cannot agree with that goodness of yours, praised among
all GOD's graces in you, by those that know you, to write one thing to me, and
to speak another thing to others of me, or to go about to be-guile my simplicity
with words, laying in the mean while a net for my feet; especially since my
weakness shall in truth redound to the blaming of your own discretion in
bringing me thither." Thus was he prevailed on to resign his benefice, and carry
his family to Ireland; and then he applied himself with that vigor of mind, that
was peculiar to him, to the government of the College. He corrected such abuses
as he found among them; he set such rules, and saw these so well executed, that
it quickly appeared how happy a choice they had made. And as he was a great
promoter of learning, so he thought it his particular province to instruct the
house in the principles of religion. In order to this, he catechized the youth
in the College once a week, and preached once on the Sundays, though he was not
obliged to it. And that he might acquaint them with a plain body of Divinity, he
divided the Church-Catechism into fifty-two parts, one for every Sunday; and
explained it in a way so mixed with speculative and practical matters, that his
sermons were both learned lectures of divinity, and excellent exhortations to
piety. He had not stayed there above two years, when, by means of his friend,
Sin THOMAS JERMYN, a patent was sent him to be BISHOP of KILMORE and
ARDAGH.--And now, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, he entered upon a
different course of life and employment; when it might have been thought, that
the vigor of his spirits was much broken and spent. But, by his administration
of his diocese, it appeared that there remained yet a vast force of spirit to
carry him through those difficult undertakings to which he found himself obliged
by his office; which, if it makes a man but a little lower than the angels, so
that the term angel is applied to that office in Scripture, he thought it did
oblige him to an angelical course of life, and to divide his time, as much as
could consist with a body made of flesh and blood, as those glorious spirits do,
between beholding the face of their Father which is in heaven, and ministering
to the heirs of salvation. He considered that the Bishop's office made him the
shepherd of the inferior shepherds, if not of the `whole diocese; and therefore
he resolved to spare himself in nothing by which he might advance the interest
of religion among them: and he thought it a disingenuous thing to vouch
antiquity for the authority and dignity of that function, and not at the same
time to express those virtues and practices that made it so venerable of old.
For the forms of Church-government must appear amiable and valuable, not so much
for the arguments which learned men use concerning them, as for the real
advantages that arise from them: so that he determined, with the great
NAZIANZEN, " to give wings to his soul, to rescue it wholly from the world, and
to dedicate it to GOD, as one that bad, got above all sensible things, and had
attained to a familiarity with divine matters; that so his mind might be as an
unsullied mirror, upon which he might receive and represent the impresses of GOD
and divine things, unallied with the characters of lower objects." He saw that
he should fall under envy, and meet with great oppositions; but he considered
that as a sort of martyrdom for GOD, and resolved cheerfully to undergo
whatsoever uneasy things he might suffer in the discharge of his duty. He found
his diocese under so many disorders, that there was scarcely a sound part
remaining. The revenue was wasted by excessive dilapidations, and all sacred
things had been exposed to sale in so sordid a manner, that it was grown to a
proverb.: One of his cathedrals, Ardagh, was fallen to the ground, and there was
scarcely enough remaining, of both these revenues, to support a Bishop that was
resolved not to supply himself by indirect and base methods. He had a very small
clergy,-only seven or eight, in each diocese, of good sufficiency; but every one
of these was multiplied into many parishes, they having many vicarages a-piece.
Besides, being English, and his whole diocese consisting of Irish, they were
barbarians to them; nor could they perform any part of divine offices among
them. But the state of his Clergy will appear best from a letter which he wrote.
to ARCHBISHOP LAUD concerning it; which I shall here insert. "RIGHT REVEREND
FATHER, " My honorable good LORD" " Since my coming to this place, I have not
been unmindful of your Lordship's commands, to advertise you of the state of the
Church; which I shall now the better do, because I have been about my dioceses,
and can set down, out of my knowledge, what I shall relate. And shortly, to
speak much ill matter in a few words, it is very miserable. The cathedral church
of Ardagh, together with the Bishop's house, is down to the ground: the church
is here built, but without bell or steeple, font or chalice: the parish-churches
are all, in a manner, ruined: the people, saving a few British planters, which
are not the tenth part of the remnant, are obstinate recusants: the Popish
Clergy are more numerous by far than we, and in full exercise of all
jurisdiction ecclesiastical, by their Vicar-General and Officials; who are so
confident as to excommunicate those that come to our courts, even in matrimonial
causes, which affront had), been offered to myself by the Popish Primate's
Vicar-General, for which I have begun a process against him. The Primate himself
lives in my parish, within two miles of my house; the Bishop in another part of
my diocese. Every parish has its priest, and some two or three a-piece; and so
their mass-houses also in some places mass is said in the churches. Friars there
are, in divers places, who go about, and by their importunate begging impoverish
the people; who indeed are generally very poor, as from that cause, so from
their paying double tithes to their own Clergy and ours, from the dearth of
corn, and the death of their cattle these late years, with the contributions to
their soldiers and their agents, and, (which they forget not to reckon, among
other causes,) the oppression of the Court Ecclesiastical, which, in very truth,
My LORD, I cannot excuse, and do seek to reform. For our own, there are seven or
eight Ministers, in each diocese, of good sufficiency, and (which is no small
cause of the continuance of the people in Popery still,) English, which have not
the tongue of the people, nor can perform any divine offices, or converse with
them: Even the clerkships themselves are in like manner conferred upon the
English, and sometimes two, or three, or more, upon one man; and are ordinarily
bought and sold, or let to farm. His Majesty is now, with the greatest part of
this country, as to their hearts and consciences, King only at the Pope's
discretion. " O Kilmore," WILL. KILMORE and ARDAGIL." April 1, 1630. Here was a
melancholy prospect to so good a mind enough to have disheartened him quite, if
he had not had a proportioned degree of courage to support him. After he had
recovered somewhat of the spoils made by his predecessor, and put himself into a
capacity to subsist, he went about the reforming of abuses. The first he
under-took was that of pluralities; by which one man had a care of souls in so
many different places, that it was not possible to discharge his duty to them,
nor to perform the vows, made at his ordination, of feeding and instructing the
flock committed to his care. And though most of the pluralists did mind all
their parishes alike, that is, neglected all equally; yet he thought this an
abuse contrary both to the nature of ecclesiastical functions, and to the
obligations which the care of souls imported, and to those solemn vows which
churchmen made at the altar when ordained: and he knew well that this corruption
was no sooner observed to have crept into the Christian church, than it was
condemned at the fourth General Council of Chalcedon.' He thought it a vain and
an impudent thing for a man to pretend, that he answered the obligation of so
sacred a trust and vow, by hiring some Curate to perform offices since the
obligation was personal, and the watching over souls had so many things involved
in it, besides officiating according to the rubric, that it drew this severe
reflection from a witty man, " That when such betrayers and abandoners of that
trust, which CHRIST purchased with his own blood, found good and faithful
Curates that performed worthily the obligations of the pastoral care, the
incumbent should be saved by proxy, but be damned in person." Therefore the
Bishop gathered a meeting of his Clergy, and laid before them, both out of
Scripture and antiquity, the institution, nature, and duties of the ministerial
employment; and exhorted them to reform that intolerable abuse, which, as it
brought a heavy scandal on the church, and gave their adversaries great
advantages, so it must very much endanger both their own souls, and the souls of
their flocks. And to let them see that he would not lay a heavy burden on them,
in which he would not bear his own share,. he resolved to part with one of his
own bishoprics. For though Ardagh was considered as a ruined see, and had long
gone as an accessory to Kilmore; yet, since they were really two different sees,
he thought he could not decently oblige his Clergy to renounce their
pluralities, unless he set them an example, and renounced his own. Even after he
had been at a considerable charge in recovering the patrimony of Ardagh, and
though he was sufficiently able to discharge the duty of both sees, (they being
contiguous and small) and though the revenue of both did not exceed a
competency, yet he would not seem to be guilty of that which he so severely
condemned in others; and therefore he resigned Ardagh to DR. RICHARDSON. The
authority of this example, and the efficacy of his discourse, made such an
impression on his Clergy, that they all renounced their pluralities. This
concurrence from his-Clergy in so sensible a point, was a great encouragement to
go on in his other designs. There seemed to be a finger of GOD in it, for he had
no authority to compel them; and he had managed the minds of his Clergy so
gently in this matter, that their compliance was not extorted, but free. One
only was excepted, and he, being Dean, exchanged his deanery with another; for
he was ashamed to live in the diocese where he would not submit to such terms,
after both the Bisnor himself and all his Clergy had agreed to them. The
opposition given him by the Dean, his sense of that matter, and his carriage in
it, will appear from the following letter, which he wroth concerning it to the
PRIMATE. MOST REVEREND FATHER, My honorable good LORD; I cannot easily express
what contentment I received at my late being with your Grace at Termonseckin.
There had nothing happened to me, I will not say, since I came into Ireland,
but, as far as I can call to remembrance, in my whole life, which did so much
affect me in this kind, as the hazard of your good opinion. For, loving and
honoring you in truth, without any private interest, and receiving so
unlooked-for a blow from your own hand, which should have tenderly applied some
remedy to me, when smitten by others, I had not present the defenses of reason
and grace. And although I knew it to be a fault in myself, since, in the
performance of our duties, the judgment of our Master, even alone, ought to
suffice us; yet I could not be so much master of mine affections as to cast out
this weakness. But blessed be GOD" who at my being with, you refreshed my spirit
by your kind renewing and confirming of your love to me; and all humble thanks
to you, who gave me place to make my defense, and took upon you the cognizance
of my innocency. And as for mine accuser, whose hatred I have incurred only by
not giving way to his covetous desire of heaping living upon living, I am glad,
and do give GOD thanks, that this malignity, which awhile masked itself in the
pretence of friendship, has at last discovered itself by public opposition. It
has not been, and I hope it shall not be, in his power to hurt me; he has rather
shamed himself. And, although his high heart cannot give his tongue leave to
acknowledge his folly, his understanding is not so weak and blind as not to see
it. I could be well content to leave him to taste the fruit of it also, without
being further troublesome to your Grace, save that I do not despair but your
Grace's authority will pull him out of the snare of SATAN, whose instrument he
has been to cross the work of GOD. " Your Grace's letters of August 23d were not
delivered to me till the 29th. In the mean space, what effect those that
accompanied them had with MR. DEAN, you shall perceive by the enclosed, which
were sent me the 28th, the evening before our communion. I answered them the
next morning, as is here annexed. As I was at the LORD'S-table, beginning the
service of the Communion before the sermon, he came in; and after the sermon was
done, - those that communicated not being departed, he stood forth and spoke to
this purpose:-" That whereas the Book of Common Prayer requires, that, before
the LORD'S-Supper, if there be any variance or breach of charity, there should
be reconciliation, this was much more requisite between Ministers: and because
they all knew that there had been some difference between me and him, he did
profess, that he bore me no malice nor hatred, and if he had offended me in any
thing, he was sorry." I answered, "That he had good reason to be sorry,
considering how he had behaved himself: for my part, I bore him no malice, and,
if it were in my power, would not make so much as his finger ache. Grieved I had
been that he, in whom I knew there were many good parts, would become an
instrument to oppose the work of Go', which I was assured he had called me to."
This was all that passed. He-offered him-self to the LORD's board, and I gave
him the Communion. After dinner he preached out of 1 John 4:21 : "And this!
commandment have we from him, that he that loves GOD, love his brother also."
When we came out of the church, DR. SHERIDAN delivered me your Grace's letters.
And thus MR. DEAN thinks he has healed all, as you may perceive by his next
letters of August 30; only he labors about Kildromfarten: whereabouts I proposed
to have spoken with your Grace at my being with you; but I know not how, it came
not to my mind;-whether it be that the soul, as well as the body, after some
travel easily falleth to rest; or else GOD, would have it reserved perhaps to a
more seasonable time. " It is now above a twelvemonth (the day, in many
respects, I may well wish may not be reckoned with the days of the year,) since
your Grace, as it were, delivered to me with your own hands, Mr. CRIAN, a
converted Friar. To him I offered myself as largely as my ability would extend;
though I had, already, at your Grace's commendation, received Mr. DUNSTERVILLE
to be in my house, with the allowance of twenty pounds per annum. The next day
before my; departing, Mr. HILTON made a motion to me, that whereas he had in his
hands sufficient to make the benefice of Kildromfarten void, if I would bestow
it upon Mr. DEAN, he would do so; otherwise it should remain in statu. I
answered with profession of my love and good opinion of Mr. DEAN, whereof I
showed the reasons. I added, I did not know the place nor the people;. but if
they were mere Irish, I did not see how MR. DEAN could discharge the duty of a
Minister to them. This motion was seconded by your Grace; but so, as I easily
conceived, that being solicited by your old servant, you could do no less than
you did. MR. DEAN afterwards pressed. me, that if, without my concurrence, your
Grace would confer that living upon him, I would not be against it; which I
promised, but heard no more of it till about April last. In the mean while,,,
the, benefice next unto that which MR. DUNSTERVILLE was already possessed of,
falling void, whose former benefice was unable, he said, to maintain him,
chiefly he promising residence, I united it to his former, and dismissed him to
go to his cure; wherein how carelessly he has behaved, I forbear to relate. To
return to MR. DEAN. About the middle of April, he brought me a presentation to
Kildromfarten under the broad seal. I could do no less than signify it to the
Incumbent, who came to me, and maintained his title,;requiring me not to admit.
Whereupon I returned the presentation, indorsing the reason of my refusal; and
being then occasioned to write to the LORDs Justices, I signified what I thought
of these pluralities, in a time when we are so far over-matched in number by the
adverse part. This passed on till the visitation; wherein MR. DEAN showed
himself in his colors. When the Vicar of Kildromfarten was called, he said he
was Vicar, but would exhibit no title. Afterwards, the Curate, Ma. SMITH,
signified to me, that his stipend was unpaid; and he feared it would be still in
the contention of two Incumbents. Upon these and other reasons, I sequestered
the profits, which I have heard, by a,Simonaical compact between them, should be
for this year the former Incumbent's. Neither did MR. DEAN write or speak a word
to me hereabout, till the day before the Communion, in the enclosed. That very
morning I was certified that he proposed to appeal to your Grace, which made me
in answer to his next to add, Quod fades, fac citius. Here I beseech your Grace
to give me leave to speak freely touching this matter; so much the rather,
because it is the only root of all MR. DEAN'S despite against me. I think that
of all the diseases of the Church in these times, next to that of the corruption
of our courts, this of pluralities is the most deadly and pestilent; especially
when those are instituted into charges ecclesiastical, who, were they never so
willing, yet for want of the language of the people, are unable to discharge
them. Concerning this very point, I know your Grace remembers the propositions
of the learned and zealous Bishop of LINCOLN before POPE INNOCENT. I will not
add the _confession of our adversaries themselves in the Council of Trent, nor
the judgment of that good Father, the Author of the History thereof, touching
non-residency. Let the thing itself speak. Whence flow the ignorance of the
people, the neglect of Gov's worship, and defrauding the poor of the remains of
dedicate things, the ruin of the mansion-houses of the Ministers, the desolation
of churches, the swallowing up of parishes by the farmers of them, but from this
fountain There may be cause, no doubt, why sometimes, in some place, and to some
man, many churches may be committed; but now that there are, besides the titular
Primate and Bishop, of Priests in the dioceses of Kilmore and Ardagh, sixty
six,-of Ministers and Curates but thirty-two,-in this so great odds as the
adversaries have of us in number, (to omit the advantage of the language, the
possession of people's hearts, and the countenance of the nobility and gentry,)
is it a time to commit many churches to one man Him I will not undervalue: but
what has he done in the parishes already committed to him, for the instruction
of the Irish, that we should commit another unto him He that cannot perform his
duty to one without a helper, or to that little part of it whose tongue he has,
is he sufficient to do it to three No; it is the wages which are sought, not the
work. And yet with the means he has already, that good.man his predecessor.
maintained a wife and a family; and cannot he in his solitary life defray
himself Well, if there,can none be found fit to discharge the duty, let him
have, the wages to better his maintenance. But when your Grace assureth us we
shall lack no men, when there is, besides Ma. CHIAN, (whom Dr. SHERIDAN has
heard preach as a friar in that very place; which I account would be more to
God's glory, if now he should plant the truth, which before he endeavored to
root out,) MR. NUGENT, who offereth himself, in an honest and discreet letter
lately written to me,-when we have sundry in the College, and two trained up at
the Irish lecture, one whereof has translated your Grace's Catechism into Irish,
besides Mr. DUNCAN and others;--with what color can we pass by these, and suffer
him to fatten himself with the blood of GOD's people Pardon me, I beseech your
Grace, when I say We; I mean not to prescribe any thing to you; my-self, I hope,
shall never do it. And so long as this is the cause of MR. DEAN'S wrath against
me, whether I suffer by his pen or his tongue, I shall rejoice, as suffering for
righteousness' sake. And, sith himself in his last letter excuses my intent, I
do submit my actions, after GOD, to your Grace's censure; ready to make him
satisfaction, if in any thing, in word or deed, I have wronged him. Since my
being with you, here was with me MR. BRADY, bringing with him the resignation of
the benefice of Mullagh, which I had conferred upon MR. DUNSTERVILLE, and united
to his. former of Moybolke. He brought with him letters from my Loin) of CORR,
and SIR WILLIAM PARSONS, to whom he is allied. But examining him, I found him
(besides a very raw Divine) unable to read the Irish; and therefore excused
myself to the LORDs from admitting him. A few days after, viz. the 10th of this
month, here was with me MR. DUNSTERVILLE himself, who signified unto me that he
had revoked his former resignation. Thus he plays fast and loose, and most
unconscionably neglects his duty. Omnes quw sua Bunt qucsrunt. Indeed I doubted
his resignation was not good; in as much as he retained still the former
benefice, whereunto this was united. Now I see clearly that there was a compact
between him and MR. BRADY, that if the second could not be admitted, he should
resume his benefice again. I Ashamed I am to be thus tedious. But I hope you
will pardon me, sith you required, and I promised, to write often; and heaving
now had opportunity to convey my letters, this must serve instead of many:
concluding with mine and my wife's humble service to your Grace and MRS. USHER,
and thanks for my kind entertainment, I de-sire the blessing of your prayers,
and remain always " Kilmore, " Your Grace's humble servant, "Sept. 18, 1630.
"WILL. KILMORE and ARDAGH." The condemning of pluralities was but half of his
project. The next part was to oblige his Clergy to reside in their parishes; but
in this he met with a great difficulty. KING JAMES, upon the last reduction of
Ulster, after TYRONE'S rebellion, had ordered glebe-lands to be as-signed to all
the Clergy; and they'were obliged to build houses upon them, within a limited
time. But, in assigning these glebe-lands, the commissioners had taken no care
of the conveniencies of the Clergy: for in many places these lands were not in
the parish, and often they lay not altogether, but were divided in parcels. - So
he found his Clergy were in a strait. For if they built houses upon these
glebe-lands, they would be thereby forced to live out of their parishes; and it
was very inconvenient for them to have their houses remote from their lands. In
order to remedy this, the Bishop, having lands in every parish assigned him,
resolved to make an exchange with them, for more convenient portions of equal
value. And that the exchange might be made upon a just estimate, so that neither
the Bishop nor the inferior.Clergy might suffer, he procured a commission from
the LORD-Lieutenant for some to examine and settle that matter; which was at
last brought to a conclusion with so universal a satisfaction to his whole
diocese, that, since the thing could not be finally determined with-out a great
seal from the King, confirming all that was done, there was one sent over, in
the name of them all, to obtain it. The LORD-Lieutenant at this time was SIR
Thomas WENTWORTH, afterwards EARL of STRAFFORD. At his first coming over to
Ireland, he was possessed with prejudices against the Bishop, upon the account
of a petition sent up by the county of Cavan, to which the Bishop had set his
hand, in which some complaints were made, and some regulations were proposed for
the army. This was thought an insolent attempt, and a matter of ill example; so
that STRAFFORD, who was severe in his administration, was highly displeased with
him: and when any commission or order was brought to him, in which he found his
name, he dashed it out with his own pen; and expressed great indignation against
him. When the Bishop under-stood this, he was not much moved at it, knowing his
own innocence; but he took prudent methods to overcome his displeasure. He did
not go to Dublin, upon his coming over, as all the other Bishops did, to
congratulate his coming to the government: but he wrote a full account of that
matter to his constant friend, SIR THOMAS JERMPH, who managed it with so much
zeal, that letters were sent to the Deputy from the Court, by which he was so
mollified towards the Bishop, that he well received, and was ever afterwards
treated by him, with a very particular kindness. So this storm went over, which
many thought would have ended in imprisonment, if not in deprivation. Yet how
much soever that petition was mistaken, he made it appear very plain, that he
did, not design the putting down of the army: the danger they were in from
Popery, or he saw too evidently long safe without it. But a to think he could be
vindication from that aspersion, carries in it likewise such a representation of
the state of the popish interest then in Ireland, and of their numbers, their
tempers, and their principles, that I will set it down. It was written to the
Archbishop of Canterbury. RIGHT HONORABLE, My very good LORD; " I have been
advertised from an honorable friend in England, that I am accused to his Majesty
to have opposed his service; and that my hand, with that of two other Bishops
only, was to a writing touching the money to be levied on the Papists for
maintenance of the men of war. Indeed, if I should have had such an intention,
this had been not only to oppose the service of his Majesty) expose, with the
public peace, mine own neck to the skeans of Romish cut-throats. I who knew that
of his Majesty's, the Pope has another kingdom in this far; greater in number,
and, as I have heretofore signified to the LORDs Justices and Council, constant
the order of the new constantly guided and directed by transmitted by the means
of he Pope's Nun iosdreat Rome, siding at Brussels; I who knew that the Pope has
here a Clergy, if I may guess by my own diocese, double in number to us, the
heads whereof are by corporal oath bound to him, to maintain him and his
regalities contra omnem hominem, and to execute his mandates to the uttermost of
their forces; which accordingly they do, styling themselves in print, " Ego N.
Dei et Apostolicce Sedis gratin Episcopus Fermien. et Ossorien.; "-I who knew
that there is in the kingdom, for the moulding of the people to the Pope's
obedience, a rabble of irregular Regulars, commonly younger brothers of good
houses, who are grown to that insolency, as to advance themselves to be members
of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in better ranks than priests;-- I who knew that
his Holiness has erected a new University in Dublin, to confront his Majesty's
College there, and to breed the youth of the kingdom to his devotion, of which
University one PAUL HARRIS styleth himself in print to be Dean;-I who knew, and
have given advertisement to the state, that these Regulars dare erect new
friaries in the country, since the dissolving of those in the city, and that
they have brought the people to such a sottish senselessness, as that they care
not to learn the commandments as GOD himself spoke and wrote. them, but flock in
great numbers to the preaching of new superstitious and detestable doctrines,
such as their own priests are ashamed of, at all which times they levy
collections, three, four, five, or six pounds at a sermon;-1 who knew that those
Regulars, and this Clergy, have at a general meeting, or synod, as themselves
style it, decreed that it is not lawful to take an oath of allegiance; and, if
they be constant to their own doctrine, do account his Majesty in their hearts
to be King at the Pope's discretion; in this state of this kingdom, to think the
bridle of the army may be taken away, would be the thought not of a brain-sick,
but of a brain-less man. " Your Lordship's " in all duty, " WILL. KILMORE." By
his cutting. off pluralities, there fell to be many vacancies in his diocese, so
the care he took to fill these comes to be considered in the next place. He was
very strict in his examinations before he gave orders to any. He went over the
Articles of the Church of Ireland so particularly, that one who was present at
the ordination of him that was afterwards his Archdeacon, MR. THOMAS PRICE,
reported, that though he was one of the senior Fellows of the College of Dublin,
when the Bishop was Provost, yet his examination lasted two full hours. And when
he had ended any examination, which was always done in the presence of his
Clergy, he desired every Clergyman present to examine the person further, if
they thought any material thing was omitted by him; by which a fuller discovery
of his temper and sufficiency might be made. When all was ended, he made all his
Clergy give their approbation, before he would proceed to ordination: for he
would never assume that singly to himself, nor take the load of it wholly on his
own soul. He took also great care to be well informed of the religious qualities
of those he ordained, as well as satisfied himself by his examination of their
capacity and knowledge. He had always a considerable number of his Clergy
assisting him at his ordinations; and he always preached and administered the
Sacrament on those occasions himself. And he never ordained one a Presbyter,
till he had been at least a year a Deacon, that so he might have a good account
of his behavior in that power degree, before he raised him higher. He looked
upon that power of ordination as the most sacred of a Bishop's trust, and that
in which the laws of the land had laid no sort of imposition on them; so that
this was entirely in their hands, and therefore, he thought, they had so much
the more to answer for to GOD on that account: and he weighed carefully the
importance of those words, "Lay hands suddenly on no man, and be not a partaker
of other men's sins." Therefore he used all the precaution that was possible in
so important an affair. He was never prevailed on by any recommendations or
importunities to ordain any; as if orders had been a sort of freedom in a
company, by which a man was to be enabled to hold as great a portion of the
ecclesiastical revenue' as he could compass. Nor would he ever ordain any
without a title to a particular flock. For he thought a title to a maintenance
was not enough, as if the church should only take care that none in orders might
be in want; but he saw the abuses of those false titles, and of the vagrant
priests that went about as journeymen, plying for work, to the great reproach of
that sacred employment. And in this he also followed the rule set by the Fourth
General Council, which carried this matter so high, as to annul all orders that
were given without a particular designation of the place where the person was to
serve. For he made the primitive times his standard; and resolved to come as
near it as he could, considering the corruption of the age in which he lived. He
remembered well the grounds he went on, when he refused to pay fees for the
title to his benefice in Suffolk; and therefore took care that those who were
ordained by him, or had titles to benefices from him, might be put to no charge:
for he wrote all the instruments himself, and delivered them to the persons to
whom they belonged, out of his. own hands; and adjured them, in a very solemn
manner, to give nothing to any of his servants. And, that he might hinder it all
that was possible, he waited on them always on those occasions to the gate of
his house; that so he might be sure that they should not give any gratification
to his servants. He thought it lay on him to pay them such convenient wages as
became them; and not to let his Clergy be burdened with his servants. And indeed
the abuses in that were grown to such a pitch, that it was necessary to correct
them in so exemplary a manner. His next care was to observe the behavior of his
Clergy. He knew that the lives of churchmen had generally much more efficacy
than their sermons, or other labors, could have; and so he set himself much to
watch the manners of his priests, and was very sensibly touched, when an
Irish-man said once to him, in open court, " That the King's priests were as bad
as the Pope's priests." These were so grossly ignorant, and so openly
scandalous, both for drunkenness, and all sorts of lewdness, that this was
indeed a very heavy reproach. Yet he was no rude nor remorseless reformer, but
considered what the times could bear. He had great tenderness for the weakness
of his Clergy, where he saw reason to think otherwise well of them: and he
helped them out of their troubles, with the care and compassion of a father. One
of his Clergy held two livings; but had been cozened, by a gentleman of quality,
to farm them to hint for less than either of them was worth. He acquainted the
Bishop with this; who, upon that, wrote very civilly, and yet as became a
Bishop, to the gentleman, persuading him to give up the bargain: but having
received a sullen and haughty answer from him, he made the Minister resign up
both to him, (for they belonged to his gift,) and he provided him with another
benefice, and put two other worthy men in these two churches; and so he put an
end to the gentleman's fraudulent bargain, and to the churchman's plurality. He
never gave a benefice to any, without obliging them by oath to perpetual and
personal residence, and that they should never hold any other benefice with
that. So, when. one BUCHANAN was recommended to him, and found by him to be well
qualified, he offered him a collation to a benefice; but when BUCHANAN saw that
he was to be bound to residence, and that to hold another benefice, he being
already possessed of one, with which he resolved not to part, would not accept
of it on those terms. And the Bishop was not to be prevailed upon to dispense
with it, though he liked this man so much the better, because he was akin to the
great BUCHANAN, whose Paraphrase of the Psalms he loved beyond all other Latin
Poetry. The Latin form of his Collations concluded thus: " Obtesting you in the
LORD, and enjoining you, by virtue of that obedience which you owe to the great
Shepherd, that you will diligently feed his flock committed to your care, which
he purchased with his own blood; that you instruct them in the catholic faith,
and perform divine offices in a tongue understood by the people; and, above all
things, that you show yourself a. pattern to believers in good works, so that
the adversaries may be put to shame, when they find nothing for which they can
reproach you." He put all the instruments in one; whereas devices had been found
out, for the increase of fees, to divide these into several writings. Nor was he
content to write this all with his own hand, but sometimes he gave induction
likewise to his Clergy; for he thought none of these offices were below a
Bishop, and he was ready to ease them of charge as far as he could. He had, by
his zeal and earnest endeavors, prevailed with all his Presbyters to reside in
their parishes; one only excepted, whose name was JOHNSTON. He was of a mean
education, yet he had very quick parts; but they lay more to the mechanical than
to the spiritual architecture: for the EARL of STAFFORD used him for an
engineer, and gave him the management of some great buildings which he was
raising in the county of Wicklow. But the Bishop finding that the man had a very
mercurial wit, and a great capacity, resolved to set him to work, that so he
might not be wholly useless to the church; and therefore he proposed to him the
composing of a universal character, that might be equally well understood by all
nations; and he showed him, that since there was already a universal
mathematical character received, both for arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy,
the other was not impossible to be done. JOHNSTON undertook it readily, and the
Bishop drew for him a scheme of the whole work, which he brought to such
perfection, that he put it under the press; but the rebellion prevented his
finishing it. After the Bishop had been for many years carrying on the
reformation of his diocese, he resolved to hold a Synod of all his Clergy, and
to establish some rules for the better government of the flock committed to him.
He appointed that a Synod should be held, thereafter, once a year, in the second
week of September; that, in the Bishop's absence, his Vicar-General, if he was a
priest, or his Archdeacon, should preside; and that no Vicar should be
constituted, after that, unless he were in orders, and should hold his place
only during the Bishop's pleasure. He revived the ancient custom of Rural Deans;
and appointed, that there should be three for the three divisions of his
diocese, who should be chosen by the clergy, and should have an inspection into
their deportment, and make report to the Bishop of what passed among them, and
transmit the Bishop's orders to them;-that once a month the Clergy of each
division should meet, and preach by turns, without long prayers or
preambles;-and that no excommunication should be made but by the Bishop in
person, with the assistance of such of his Clergy as should be present. The rest
related to some things of less importance, which required amendment. When the
news of this was carried to Dublin, some said it was an illegal assembly, and
that his presuming to make canons was against law; so that it was expected he
would be brought up as a delinquent, and censured in the Star-Chamber, or
High-Commission-Court. But others looked on what he had done, as nothing but the
necessary discharge of his episcopal function: and it seemed strange, if some
rules laid down by common con-sent, for the better government of the diocese,
should have furnished matter for an accusation or censure. His Arch-deacon, who
was afterwards Archbishop of Cashel, gave such an account of this matter to the
state, that nothing followed upon it. The Bishop had indeed prepared such a
justification of himself; as would have vindicated him fully before equitable
judges, if he had been questioned for it. ARCHBISHOP USHER, who knew well how
much he could say for himself upon this head, advised those who moved that he
might be brought up upon it, to let him alone, lest he should be thereby
provoked to say more for himself than any of his accusers could say against him.
When he made his visitations, he always preached him-self, and administered the
sacrament; and the business of his visitation was, what it ought truly to be, to
observe the state of his diocese, and to give good instructions both to Clergy
and Laity. The visitations in Ireland had been matter of great pomp and much
luxury, which lay heavy on the inferior Clergy. Some slight inquiries were made,
and those chiefly for form's-sake; and indeed nothing was so. much minded, as
that which was the reproach of them,-the fees, which were exacted to such an
intolerable degree, that they were a heavy grievance to the Clergy. And as the
Bishop's visitation came about every year; so, every third year, the Archbishop
made his metropolitan visitation, and every seventh year the King's visitation
went round: and in all these, as they were then managed, nothing seemed to be so
much aimed at, as how to squeeze and oppress the Clergy, who were glad to
purchase their peace, by paying all that was imposed on them by those severe
exactors. These fees at visitations were not known in the primitive times; in
which the Bishop had the whole stock of the Church in his hands to defray what
expense necessarily fell on him, or his Church. It is true, when the
Metropolitan, with other Bishops, came and ordained the Bishop at his see, it
was but reasonable that their expenses should be discharged, and these came to
be rated at a certain sum; and when these grew unreasonably high, the Emperors
reduced them to a certain proportion, according to the revenues of the sees. But
when the Bishops and the inferior Clergy came to have distinct properties, then
the Bishops exacted of their Clergy that which other vassals owed by their
tenure to the LORD of the Fee, which was the bearing the expense of their
progress. When they began first to demand those subsidies from their Clergy,
that practice was condemned; and provision was made, that in case a Bishop was
so poor that he could not bear the charge to which his visitation put him, he
should be supplied by the richer Bishops about him, but not prey upon his
Clergy. And both CHARLES the GREAT, and his son Louts, took care to see this
executed. Yet this abuse was still kept up; so that afterwards, instead of
putting it quite down, it was only regulated, that it might not exceed such a
proportion: but that was not observed; so that an arbitrary tax was in many
places levied upon the Clergy. But our Bishop re-formed all these excesses, and
took nothing but what was by law and custom established: and that was employed
in entertaining the Clergy; and when there was any overplus, he sent it always
to the prisons, for the relief of the poor. At his visitation, he made all his
Clergy sit with him, and be covered, whenever he himself was covered. For he did
not approve of the state in which others of his order made their visitations;
nor of the distance to which they obliged their Clergy. And he had that canon
often in his mouth, " That a presbyter ought not to be let stand, after the
Bishop was set." He was much troubled at another abuse, which was, that when the
metropolitan and regal visitations went round, a writ was served on the Bishops,
suspending their jurisdiction for that year: and when this was first brought to
him, he received it with great indignation, which was increased by two clauses
in the writ. By the one it was asserted, " that in the year of the
Metropolitan's visitation, the whole and entire jurisdiction of the diocese
belonged to him." The other was the reason given for it, " Because of the great
danger of the souls of the people." Whereas, the danger of souls arises from
that suspension of the Bishop's pastoral power; since during that year he either
could not do the duty of a Bishop, or, if he would exercise it, he must either
purchase a delegation to act as the Archbishop's deputy, and that could not be
had without paying for it, or be liable to a suit in the Prerogative Court. He
knew that the Arch-bishop's power over Bishops was not founded on divine or
apostolical right, but on ecclesiastical canons, and was only a matter of order;
and that therefore the Archbishop had no authority to come and invade his
pastoral office, and suspend him for a year. These were some of the worst of the
abuses that the canonists had introduced in the latter ages; by which they had
broken the episcopal authority, and had made way for vesting the whole power of
the church in the Pope. He laid those things often before ARCHBISHOP USHER, and
pressed him earnestly to set himself to the reforming of them; since they were
acted in his name, and by virtue of his authority deputed to his Chancellor, and
to the other officers of the court called the Spiritual Court.-No man was more
sensible of -those abuses than USHER was; no man knew the beginning and progress
of them better, nor was more touched with the ill effects of them; and, together
with his vast learning, no man had a better soul, and a more apostolical mind.
In his conversation he expressed the true simplicity of a Christian: for
passion, pride, self-will, or the love of the world, seemed not to be so much as
in his nature; so that he had all the innocence of the dove in him. He had a way
of gaining people's hearts, and of touching their consciences, that looked like
somewhat `of the apostolical age revived. ife spent much of his time in those
two best exercises, secret prayer, and dealing with other people's consciences,
either in his sermons or private discourses; and what remained he dedicated.to
his studies, in which those many volumes that came from him showed a most
amazing diligence, and exactness: so that he was certainly one of the greatest
and best men that the age, or perhaps the world, has produced. But he was not
made for the governing part of his function. He had too gentle a soul to manage
that rough work of reforming abuses; and therefore he left things as he found
them. He hoped a time of reformation would come. He saw the necessity of cutting
off many abuses; and confessed, that the tolerating of those abominable
corruptions, which the canonists had brought in, was such a stain upon our
church, that he apprehended it would bring a curse and ruin upon the whole
constitution. But though he prayed for a more favorable conjuncture, and would
have concurred in a joint reformation of these things very: heartily, yet he did
not bestir himself, suitably to the obligations that lay on him, for carrying it
on: and it is very likely that this sat. heavy on his thoughts when he came to
die; for he prayed often, and with great humility, that GOD would forgive his
sins of omission, and his failings in his duty. Those that upon all other
accounts loved and admired him, lamented this defect in him; which was the only
alloy that seemed left, and without which he would have been held, perhaps, in
more veneration than was fitting. His physician, DR. Boorius, who was a
Dutchman, said truly of him, " If our Primate of Armagh were as exact a
disciplinarian, as he is eminent in searching antiquity, defending the truth,
and preaching the Gospel, he might without doubt deserve to be made the chief
churchman of CHRISTendom." Yet though ARCHBISHOP USHER did not much himself, he
had a singular esteem for that vigor of mind, which our Bishop expressed in the
re-forming of these matters. And now I come to the next instance of his pastoral
care, which made more noise, and met with more opposition, than any of the
former.-He found that his Court, which sat in his name, was an entire abuse. It
was managed by a Chancellor, who had bought his place from his predecessor, and
so he thought he had a right to all the profits that he could raise out of it;
and the whole business of the Court seemed to be nothing but extortion and
oppression. For it is an old observation, that men who buy justice will also
sell it. Bribes went about almost bare-faced; and the exchange they made of
penance for money was the worst sort of simony, being in effect the very same
abuse that gave the world such a scandal when it was so indecently practiced in
the Church of Rome, and opened the way to the Reformation: for the selling of
indulgences is really but a commutation of penance. He found the officers of the
Court made it their business to draw people into trouble by vexatious suits, and
to hold them so long in it, that for three-pence-worth of the tithe of turf;
they would be put to five pounds' charge. And the most solemn and sacred of all
the Church-censures, excommunication, was performed in so base a manner, that
all regard to it, as it was a spiritual censure, was lost; and the effects it
had in law made it be cried out against, as a most intolerable piece of tyranny.
And of all this the good Primate was so sensible, that he gives this sad account
of the venality of all sacred things, in a letter to the ARCHBISHOP of
CANTERBURY: "As for the general state of things here, they are so desperate,
that I am afraid to write any thing thereof. Some of the adverse part have asked
me the question, where I have heard or read before, that religion and men's
souls should be set to sale, after this manner Unto whom I could reply nothing,
but that I had read in MANTUAN, that there was another place in the world where
admit est venale, Deusque:-' Both heaven and Go]) himself are set to sale.'" But
our Bishop thought it not enough to lament this; he resolved to do what in him
lay to correct these abuses, and to go and sit and judge in his own Courts
himself. He carried a competent number of his Clergy with him, who sat about
him, and there he heard causes, and by their advice he gave. sentence. By this
means so many causes were dismissed; and such a change was wrought in the whole
proceedings of the Court, that, instead of being any more a grievance to the
country, none were now grieved by it but the Chancellor, and the other officers
of the Court, who saw that their trade was sunk, and their profits were falling,
and were already displeased with the Bishop, for writing the titles to benefices
himself, and taking that part of their gain out of their hands: Therefore the
Lay-Chancellor brought a suit against the Bishop into Chancery, for invading his
office. The matter was now a common cause; the other Bishops were glad at this
step our Bishop had made, encouraged him to go on resolutely in it, and assured
him they would stand by him and they confessed they were but Half-Bishops, till
they could recover their authority out of the hands of their Chancellors. But,
on the. other hand, all the Chancellors and Registers of Ireland combined
together, who saw this struck at those places which they had bought. The Bishop
desired that he might be suffered to plead his own cause himself; but that was
denied him. But he drew the argument that his Counsel made for him; for it
being: the first suit that ever was of that sort, he was more capable of
composing his defense than his Counsel could be. He went upon these
grounds:-That one of the most essential parts of a Bishop's duty was to govern
his flock, and to inflict spiritual censures on obstinate offenders; that a
Bishop could no more delegate this power to a lay-man, than he could delegate a
power to baptize or ordain, since excommunication, and other censures, were a
sus-pension of the rights of baptism and orders, and therefore the judging of
these things could only belong to him that had the power to give them; and that
the delegating of that power was a thing null of itself.` He showed, that
feeding the flock was inseparable from a Bishop; and that no delegation he could
make, could take that power from himself, since all the effect it could have
was, to make another his deputy in his absence. Next, he showed how it had been
ever looked on as a necessary part of the Bishop's duty, to examine and censure
the scandals of his Clergy and Laity, in ancient and modern times: that the
Roman Emperors had by many laws supported the credit and authority of these
Courts; that since the practices of the Court of Rome had brought in such a
variety of rules, for covering the corruptions which they intended to sup-port,
that which is in itself a plain and simple thing was made very intricate; so
that the canon-law was become a great study, and, upon this account, Bishops had
taken Civilians and Canonists to be their assistants in those Courts; but that
this could be for no other end, but only to inform them in points of law, or to
hear and prepare matters for them: for the giving sentence, as it is done in the
Bishop's name, so it is really his office; and is that for which he is
accountable both to GOD and man. And since the law made those to be the Bishops'
Courts, and since the King had by patent confirmed that authority, which was
lodged in him by his office, of governing those Courts, he thought all
delegations, that were exclusive of the Bishop, ought to be declared void. The
Reader will perhaps judge better of the force of this argument than the LORD
CHANCELLOR of Ireland, BOLTON, did, who confirmed the Chancellor's right, and
gave him a hundred pounds as costs of the Bishop. But when the Bishop asked him,
how he came to make so unjust a decree, he answered, that all his father had
left him was a Register's place; so he thought he was bound to support those
Courts, which he saw would be ruined, if the way he took had not been checked.
As this was a leading case, great pains were taken to possess the Primate
against the Bishop; but his letters will best discover the grounds on which he
went, and that noble temper of mind that supported him in so great an
under-taking. The one is long, but I will not shorten it. RIGHT REVEREND FATHER,
My honorable good LORD, I have received your Grace's letters concerning MR.
CooKE, and I do acknowledge all that your Grace writes to be true, concerning
his sufficiency and experience to the execution of the ecclesiastical
jurisdiction: neither did I forbear to do him right, in giving him that
testimony, when before the Chapter I did declare and show, the nullity of his
patent. I have heard of my LORD's attempt; and I do believe, that if this patent
had due form, I could not overthrow it, how unequal soever it be. But failing in
the essential parts, besides sundry other defects, I do not think any reasonable
creature can adjudge it to be good. I shall more at large certify your Grace of
the whole matter, and the reasons of my Counsel herein. I shall desire herein to
be tried by your Grace's own judgment, and not by your Chancellor's; or, as I
think in such a case I ought to be, by the Synod of the Province. I have
resolved to see the end of this matter; and do desire your Grace's favor herein
no farther than the equity of the cause, and the good, as far as I can judge, of
our Church, in a high degree, require. So, with my humble service to your Grace,
and respectful commendations to MRS. USHER, I rest, " Your Grace's in all duty,
" WILL. KILMORE." " MOST REVEI;END FATHER, " My honorable good LORD, " Since it
pleased GOD to call me to this place in this church, what my intentions have
been to the discharge of my duty, he best knows. But I have met with many
impediments and discouragements; and chiefly from those of mine own profession
in religion. Concerning MR. HOILE, I acquainted your Grace. SIR EDWARD BAGSIIAW,
SIR FRANCIS HAMILTON, MR. WILLIAM FLEMMING, and divers more, have been, and yet
are, pulling from the rights of my church. But all these have been light in
respect of the dealing of some others, professing me kindness, by whom I have
been blazed as a Papist, an Equivocator, a niggardly Housekeeper, an Usurer. And
to make up all,. it has been reported that I compared your Grace's preaching to
one MR. WRISKINS's, MR. CREIGHTON'S, and MR. BAXTER'S, and preferred them; and
that you found yourself deceived in me. These things have been reported at
Dublin; and some of the best affected of mine own diocese were induced hereby to
bewail with tears the misery of the church. Some of the Clergy also, it was
said, were looking about how they might remove them-selves out of this country.
" Omitting all the rest, I cannot but touch upon the last;-preferring others to
your Grace's preaching. Thus it was. MR. DUNSTERVILLE acquainted me with his
purpose to preach out of Proverbs 20:6,' But a faithful man who can find.' From
which he said, the doctrine he meant to raise was this, That faith is a rare
gift of GOD. I told him, I thought he mistook the meaning of the text, and
wished him to choose longer texts, and not bring his discourses to a word or two
of Scripture; but rather to declare those of the HOLY GHOST. He said your Grace
did so sometimes. I answered, there might be just cause; but I thought you did
not ordinarily. As for those men, MR. WHISKIN's, and the rest, I never heard any
of them preach to this day. Peradventure, their manner is to take longer texts;
whereupon the comparison is made up, as if I preferred them before you. I know
your Grace will not think me such a fool (if I had no fear of Got'), as to
prefer, before your excellent gifts, men that I never heard. But look, as the
French proverb is,' He that is disposed to kill his dog, tells men he is mad.'
And whom men have once wronged, unless the grace of GOD be the more, they ever
hate. Concerning the wrongs which these people have offered me, I shall take
another time to inform your Grace. Where they say, your Grace does find yourself
deceived in me, I think it may be the truest word they said yet. For indeed I do
think both you and many more are deceived in me; accounting me to have some
honesty, discretion, and grace, more than you will by proof find. But if, as it
seems to me, that form has this meaning, that they pre-tend to have undeceived
you, I hope they are deceived; yea, I hope they shall be deceived, if by such
courses as these they think to unsettle me, and the Devil himself also, if he
thinks to dismay me.' I will go on in the strength of the LORD GOD, and
remember. his righteousness, even his alone,' as by my LORD of Canterbury, when
I first carne over, I was exhorted, and have obtained help of GOD to do to this
day. " But' had I not work enough before, but I must bring MR. COOKE upon my top
How much better to study to be quiet, and to do mine own business, as at the
first I came with a resolution to do.' But I could not be quiet, nor without
pity hear the complaints of those that resorted to me, some of them mine own
neighbors and tenants, called into the Court, commonly by information of
apparitors, holden there without just cause, and not dismissed without excessive
fees. Lastly, one MR. MAYOT, a Minister of the diocese of Ardagh, made a
complaint to me, that he was excommunicated- by MR. COOKE, notwithstanding the
correction of Ministers was excepted out of his patent. Whereupon I desired to
see the patent, and to have a copy of it, that I might know how to govern
myself. He said, MR. ASKS, being then from home, should bring it to me at his
return. Himself went to Dublin to the term. At the first view, I saw it was a
formless chaos of authority, conferred upon him against all reason and equity. I
had, not long after, occasion to call the Chapter together at the time of
ordination. I showed the original, being brought forth by MR. AWE, and desired
to know if that were the Chapter-seal, and these their hands: they acknowledged
their hands and seal, and said they were less careful in passing it, because
they accounted that it did rather concern my predecessor than them. I showed its
false Latin, nonsense, injustice, prejudice to them, contrariety to itself, and
to the King's grant to me. I showed that there were, in one period, above five
hundred words; and, which passed the rest, hanging in the air without any
principal verb. I desired them to consider if the seal hanging to it were the
Bishop's seal; they acknowledged that it was not: therefore, with protestation
that I meant no way to call in question the sufficiency of MR. COOKE, or his
former acts, I did judge the patent to be. void, and so declared it; inhibiting
MR. COOKE to do any thing by virtue thereof, and them to assist him therein.
This is the true history of this business, howsoever Mn,. COOKE may disguise it.
I suspended not him absent, and indictd causal; it was his commission, which was
present, that I viewed, and which, with the Chapter, I censured; which if he can
make good, he shall have leave, and time, and place enough. " And now to relate
to your Grace my purpose herein. My LORD, I account, that to any work, to remove
impediments is a great part of the performance. And amongst all the impediments
to the work of GOD amongst us, there is not any one greater than the abuse of
ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This is not only the opinion of the most Godly,
judicious, and learned men that I have known, but the cause of it is plain. The
people pierce not into the inward and true reason of things; they are sensible
in the purse: and that religion that makes men to be despisers of the world, and
so far from encroaching upon others in matter of base gain, as rather to part
with their own, they magnify. This bred the admiration of the primitive
Christians. Contrary causes must needs produce contrary effects. Where-fore, let
us preach never so painfully and piously,-I say more, let us live never so
blamelessly ourselves,-so long as the officers in our Courts prey upon them,
they esteem us no better than publicans and worldlings; and so much the more
deservedly, because we are called spiritual men, and call ourselves reformed
Christians. And if the honest and best of our own Protestants be thus
scandalized, what may we think of Papists; such as are all, in a manner, that we
live among The time was, when I hoped the Church of Ireland was free from this
abuse, at least more free than her sister of England. But I find I am deceived;
whether it be that distance of place, and being further out of the reach of the
sceptre of justice, breeds more boldness to offend, or necessarily brings more
delay of redress. I have been wont also, in Ireland, to except one Court.; but
trust me, my LORD, I have heard it said,' My LORD Primate is a good man; but his
Court is as corrupt as others.' Some say worse; (which, I confess to your Grace,
did not a little terrify me from visiting till I might see how to do it with
fruit;) viz. that of your late visitation they see no profit, but the taking of
money. " But to come to MR. Coon: of all that have exercised jurisdiction in
this land these late years, he is most cried out upon; although he came off with
credit when he was questioned, and justified himself by the table of fees, as by
a leaden rule any stone may be approved as well as hewed. By what little I met
with since I carne hither, 1 am induced to believe that it was not for lack of
matter, but that there was some other cause of his escaping in that trial. By
this table, he has taken in my predecessor's time, and seeks to take in mine,
fees for exhibits at visitations, for unions, sequestrations, relaxations,
certificates, licenses, permutations of penance, and sentences (as our Court
calls them) interlocutory in causes of correction. Such fees I cannot in my,
conscience think to be just. And yet he does it in my name, and tells me I
cannot call him into question for it. Alas, my LORD, if this be the condition of
a Bishop, that he standeth for a cipher, and only to uphold the wrongs of other
men, what do I in this place Am I not bound by my profession, made to GOD in
your presence, to be gentle and merciful for CHRIST'S sake to poor and needy
people, and such as be destitute of help Can I be excused another day with this,
that thus it was ere I came to this place' Or, since I am persuaded Mr. Cooen's
patent is unjust and void, am I not bound to make it so; and to regulate, if I
may, this matter of fees, and the rest of the disorders of the jurisdiction
which his Majesty has entrusted me withal Your Grace says, ' Truly it is a
difficult thing, if not impossible, to over-throw a patent so confirmed;' and I
know in deliberations it is one of the most important considerations, what we
may hope to effect. But how Son_1:1-17 : tell till I have tried. To be
discouraged ere I begin, is it not to consult with flesh and blood Verily I
think so; and therefore must put it to the trial, and leave the success to GOD.
If I obtain the cause, the profit will be to this poor nation. If not, I shall
show my consent to those my reverend Brethren that have endeavored to redress
this enormity before me; and I shall have the testimony of mine own conscience,
that I have sought to discharge my duty to God and his people. Yea, which is the
main, the work of my ministry and service to this nation shall receive
furtherance howsoever, rather than any hinderance thereby. And if by the
continuance of such oppressions any thing fall out other-wise than well, I shall
have acquitted myself towards his Majesty, and those that have engaged
themselves for me. At least I shall have the better reason and juster cause to
resign to his Majesty the jurisdiction, which I am not permitted to manage. And
here I beseech your Grace, to consider seriously whether it were not happy for
us to be rid of this charge, which, not being proper to our calling, is not
possible to be executed without such deputies as subject us to the ill conceit
of their unjust or indiscreet carriage Or, if it shall he thought fit to carry
this load still, whether we ought not to procure some way to be discharged of
the envy of it, and redress the abuse, with the greatest strictness we can
devise For my part, I cannot bethink me of any course fitter for the present,
than to keep the Courts myself, and set some good order in them. And to this
purpose I have been at Cavan, Belturbet, Granard, and Longford, and do intend to
go to the rest; leaving with some of the Minis-try there a few rules, touching
those things that are to be redressed, that if my health do not permit me to be
always present, they may know how to proceed in my absence. Yea, and if MR.
COOKE were the justest Chancellor in this kingdom, I would think it fit for me,
as things now stand, to sit in these Courts; and the rather since I cannot be
heard in the pulpits to preach, as I may in them. I have showed your Mace my
intentions in this matter. Now I should require your direction in many things,
if I were present with you. But, for the present, it may please you to
understand, that at Granard one MR. NUGENT, a nephew as I take it to my LORD of
WESTMEATH, delivered his letter to MR. ASKE, which he delivered me in open
court, requiring that his tenants might not be troubled for CHRISTenings,
marriages, or funerals, so they pay the Minister his due. This referred to a
letter of my LORD Chancellor's, to the like purpose, which yet was not delivered
till the Court was risen. I answered generally, that none of my LORD's tenants
or others should be wronged. But then I would be strict in requiring them to
bring their children to be baptized, and their marriages likewise to be
solemnized with us; since they acknowledged these to be lawful and true, so that
it was but wilfulness if any forbore. Here I desire your Grace to direct me. For
to give way that they should not be so much as called in question, seems to
further the schism they labor to make. To lay any pecuniary mulct upon them, as
the value of a license for marriage, and three-pence or four-pence for a
CHRISTening, I know not by what law it can be done. To excommunicate them for
not appearing or obeying, they being already none of our body, and a multitude,
it is to no profit, nay, rather makes the case worse. And now ceasing to be
troublesome, I commend your Grace to the protection of our merciful Father: Your
Grace's in all duty, "Feb. 15, 1629." The other Bishops did not stand by our
Bishop in this matter; but were content to let him fall under censure, without
interposing in it. Even the Primate told him, that the tide was so high that he
could assist him no more; for he stood by him longer than others of the order
had done. But the Bishop was not disheartened by this. And as he thanked him for
assisting him so long, so he said he was resolved, by the help of Go), to try if
he could stand by himself. He went home, and resolved to go on into his Courts
as he had begun, notwithstanding this censure. For he thought he was doing that
which was incumbent on him; and he had a spirit so made, that he resolved to
suffer martyrdom, rather than fail in any thing that lay on his con-science. But
his Chancellor was either advised by those that governed the state, to give him
no disturbance in that matter; or was overcome by the authority he saw in him,
that inspired all people with reverence for him: for, as he never called for the
costs of one hundred pounds, so he never disturbed him any more, but named a
Surrogate, to whom he gave order to be in all things observant of the Bishop,
and obedient to him. So it seems, that though it was thought fit to keep up the
authority of the Lay-Chancellors over Ireland, and not to suffer this Bishop's
practice to pass into a precedent; yet order was given under-hand to let him go
on as he had begun. And his Chancellor had so great a value for him, that, many
years after this, he said, he thought there was not such a man on the face of
the earth as BISHOP BEDELL was; that he was too hard for all the Civilians in
Ireland; and that if he had not been borne down by mere force, he would have
overthrown the Consistorial Courts, and had recovered the episcopal jurisdictipn
out of the Chancellor's hands. But now that he went on undisturbed in his
episcopal Court, he made use of it as became him, and not as an engine to raise
his power and dominion; but considering that all church-power was for
edification, and not for destruction, he both dispensed justice equally and
speedily, and cut off many fees and much expense; and also, when scandalous
persons were brought before him to be censured, he considered that
church-censures ought not to be like the acts of tyrants, who punish out of
revenge, but like the discipline of parents, who correct in order to the
amendment of their children: so he studied chiefly to beget in all offenders a
true sense of their sins. Many of the Irish Priests were brought often into his
courts for their lewdness; and upon that he took occasion, with great mildness,
and without scoffing or insultings, to make them sensible of the tyrannical
imposition of their church, in denying their Priests leave to marry, which
occasioned so much impurity among them; and this caused a good effect on some.
This leads me to another part of his character,-the care he took of the natives.
He observed with much regret, that the English had all along neglected the
Irish, as a nation not only conquered, but undisciplineable; and that the Clergy
had scarcely considered them as a part of their charge, but had left them wholly
in the hands of their own Priests, without taking any other care of them, but
making them pay their tithes. And indeed, their Priests were a strange sort of
people, that knew generally nothing but the reading of their offices, which were
not so much as understood by many of them; so that the state both of the Clergy
and laity was such,. that it could not but raise great compassion in a man that
had so tender a sense of the value of those souls which CHRIST had purchased
with his blood. He therefore resolved to set about that apostolical work of
converting the natives with the zeal and care that. so great an undertaking
required. He knew that the gaining of some of the more knowing, of their Priests
was likely to be the quickest way; for by their means he hoped to spread the
knowledge of the reformed religion among the natives, or rather that of the
Christian religion, to speak more strictly. For they had no sort of notion of
Christianity; but only knew that they were to depend upon their priests, and
were to confess such of their actions, as they call sins, to them, and were to
pay them tithes. The Bishop prevailed on several priests to change; and he was
so well satisfied with the truth of their conversion, that he provided for some
of them ecclesiastical benefices. This was thought a strange thing; and was
censured by many, as contrary to the interest of the English nation. For it was
believed that all, those Irish converts were still Papists at the heart, and
might be so much the more dangerous, by that disguise which they had put on. But
he, on the other hand, considered. chiefly the duty of a Christian Bishop. He
also thought that the true interest of England was to gain the Irish to the
knowledge of religion, and to bring them by the means of that, which only turns
the heart, to love the English nation: and so he judged that the wisdom of that
course was apparent, as well as the piety of it; since such as changed their
religion would become thereby so odious to their own Clergy, that this would
provoke them to further degrees of zeal in gaining others to come over after
them. And he took great care to work, in those whom he trusted with the care of
souls, a full conviction of the truth of religion, and a deep sense of the
importance of it. And in this he was so happy, that of all the converts that he
had raised to benefices, there was but one that fell back, when the rebellion
broke out: and he not only apostatized, but both plundered and killed the
English, among the first. But no wonder if one murderer was among our Bishop's
converts, since there was a traitor among the twelve that followed our SAVIOR.
There was a convent of Friars very near him, on whom he bestowed much pains,
with very good success. That he might furnish his converts with the means of
instructing others, he made a short catechism, to be printed in one sheet, being
English on the one page, and Irish on the other; which contained the elements
and most necessary things of the Christian religion, together with some forms of
prayer, and some of the most instructive passages of Scripture. This he sent
about all over his diocese; and it was received with great joy, by many of the
Irish, who seemed to be hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and
received this beginning of knowledge so well, that it gave a good encouragement,
to hope well upon further endeavors.


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  CHAPTER 2: VOL 16 - THE LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL PART II
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The Life Of Bishop Bedell Part II The Bishop did also set himself to learn the
Irish tongue; and though it was too late for a man of his years to learn to
speak it, yet he came to understand it to such a degree, as to compose a
complete grammar of it, (which was the first that ever was made, as I have been
told,) and to be a critic in it. He also had the Common Prayer read in Irish
every Sunday in his Cathedral, for the benefit of, the converts he had made, and
was always present at it himself; and he engaged half his Clergy to set up
schools in their parishes; for there were so very few bred to read or write,
that this obstructed the conversion of the nation very much. The New Testament
and the Book of Common Prayer were already put in the Irish tongue; but he
resolved to have the whole Bible, the Old Testament as well as the New, put also
into the hands of the Irish; and therefore he labored much to find out one that
understood the language so well that he might be employed in so sacred a work.
And, by the advice of the Primate, and several other eminent persons, he pitched
upon one KING, who had been converted many years before, and was believed to be
the most elegant writer of the Irish tongue then alive, both for prose and
poetry. He was then about seventy; but, notwithstanding his age, the Bishop
thought him not only capable of this employment, but qualified for a higher
character; therefore he put him in Orders, and gave him a benefice in his
diocese, and set him to work, in translating the Bible; which he was to do from
the English translation, since there were none of the nation to be found that
knew any thing of the Originals. The Bishop set himself so much to the revising
of this work, that always after dinner or supper he read over a chapter; and as
he compared the Irish translation with the English, so he compared the English
with the Hebrew and the Seventy Interpreters; and he corrected the Irish where
he found the English translators had failed.’ He thought the use of the
Scriptures was the only way to let the knowledge of religion in among the Irish,
as it had first let the reformation into the other parts of Europe. And he used
to tell a passage of a sermon that he heard FULGENT10 preach at Venice. It was
on these words of CHRIST, " Have ye not read "—and so he took occasion to tell
the auditory, that if CHRIST were now to ask this question, "Have ye not read
"—all the answer they could make to it was, " No, for they were not suffered to
do it." This was not unlike what the same person delivered in another sermon,
when preaching upon PILATE'S question, " What is Truth " He told them, that at
last, after many searches, he had found it out, and held out a New Testament,
and said, " there it was in his hand;" but then he put it into his pocket, and
said coldly, " But the book is prohibited." The Bishop had observed, that, in
the primitive times, as soon as nations, how barbarous soever they were, began
to receive the Christian religion, they had the Scriptures translated into their
vulgar tongues, and that all people were exhorted to study them;, therefore he
not only undertook and began this work, but followed it with so much industry,
that in a very few years he finished the translation, and resolved to set about
the printing of it. And as he had been at the great trouble of examining the
translation, so he resolved to run the venture of the impression, and took that
expense upon himself. It is scarcely to be imagined what could have obstructed
so great and so good a work. The Priests of the Church of Rome had reason to
oppose the printing of a book, that has been always so fatal to thetas; but it.
was a deep fetch to possess Reformed Divines with a jealousy of this work. Yet
that was done, but by a very well disguised method; for it was said that the
translator was a weak and contemptible man, and that it would expose such a
work, as this was, to the scorn of the nation, when it was known who was the
Author of it: and this was infused into the EARL of STRAFFORD, and into the
ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY. And a bold young man, one BAILY, pretended a lapse of
the benefice that the Bishop had given to the translator, and so obtained a
broad seal for it, though it. was in the Bishop's gift. The Bishop was much
touched with this, and cited BAILY to appear before him. He had given him a
Vicarage, and had taken an oath of him never to hold another; so he objected to
him both his violent intrusion into another man's right, and his perjury. BAILY,
to cover himself from the last, procured a dispensation from the Prerogative
Court, notwithstanding his oath, to hold more benefices. The Bishop looked on
this as one of the worst and most scandalous parts of Popery, to. dissolve the
most sacred of all bonds, and it grieved his soul to see so vile a thing acted
in the name of ARCHBISHOP USHER, though it was done by his Surrogates; so that,
without any regard to this, he served his obstinate clerk with several canonical
admonitions; but finding him still hardened in his wickedness, he deprived him
of the benefice he had given him, and also excommunicated him, and gave orders
that the sentence should be published through the whole deanery. Upon this,
BAILY appealed to the Prerogative Court; and the Bishop was cited to answer for
what he had done. He went, and appeared before them; but declined their
authority, and would not answer to them. He thought it below the dignity of a
Bishop to give an account of a spiritual censure, that he had inflicted on one
of his Clergy, before two laymen that pretended to be the Primate's Surrogates;
and he put his declinator in twentyfour articles, all written with his own hand.
He excepted to the incompetency of the Court, both because the Primate was not
there in person, and because they who sat there had given clear evidences of
their partiality, which he had offered to prove to the Primate himself. He said
the appeal from his sentence lay only to the Provincial Synod, or to the
Archbishop's Consistory; and since the ground of BAILY's appeal was the
dispensation that they had given him from his oath, they could not be the
competent judges of that, for they were parties: and the appeal from abusive
faculties lay only to a Court of Delegates, by the express words of the law: and
by many indications it appeared, that they had prejudged the matter in BAILY'S
favor, and had expressed great resentment against the Bishop; and
notwithstanding the dignity of his office, they had made him wait among the
crowd, an hour and a half, and had given directions in the management of the
cause as parties against him: they had also manifestly abused their power in
granting dispensations contrary to the laws of GOD; and now they presumed to
interpose in the just and legal jurisdiction that a Bishop exercised over his
Clergy, both by the laws of GOD and the King's authority. Upon these grounds, he
excepted to their authority. He was served with several citations to answer, and
appeared upon every one of them; but notwithstanding the highest contempts which
they put upon him, he showed no passion, but kept his ground still. In
conclusion, he was declared Contumax, and the perjured intruder was absolved
from the sentence, and confirmed in the possession of his ill acquired benefice.
It may easily be imagined, how much these proceedings were censured by all fair
and equitable men; the constancy, the firmness, and the courage, which the
Bishop expressed, being as much commended, as the injustice and violence of his
enemies were condemned. The strangest part of this transaction was that which
the Primate acted; who, though he loved the Bishop beyond all the rest of the
order, and valued him highly for the zealous discharge of his office, which
distinguished him so much from others, yet could not be prevailed on io
interpose in this matter, nor to stop the unjust prosecution under which this
good man had fallen for so good a work. Indeed, it went farther; for upon the
endeavors which he used to convert the Irish, and after he had refused to answer
in the Archbishop's Court, it appears that he was in some measure alienated from
him, which drew from the Bishop the following answer to a letter that he had
from him. " MOST REVEREND FATHER, " My honorable good LORD, The superscription
of your Grace's letter was most welcome unto me, as bringing under your own hand
the best evidence of the recovery of your health, for which I did and do give
hearty thanks unto GOD. For the contents of them, as your Grace conceived, they
were not so pleasant. But the words of a friend are faithful, says the wise man;
yet they are no less painful than any other. Unkindness cuts nearer to the heart
than malice can do. Concerning your Grace's said letters, I have been at some
debate with myself, whether I should answer them with DAVID'S demand,’ What have
I not done' or, as the wrongs of parents, with patience and silence. But MR.
DEAN telling me, that This day he is going towards you, I will speak once, come
of it what will.You write, that the course I took with’the Papists was generally
cried out against; neither do you remember in all your life, that any thing was
done here by any of us, at which the professors of the Gospel did take more
offence, or by which the adversaries were more confirmed in their superstitions
and idolatry i wherein you could wish that I had advised with my brethren before
I would adventure to pull down that which they have been so long in building.
Again, what I did, you know, was done out of a good intention; but you was
assured that my project would be so quickly refuted with the present success and
event, that there would be no need my friends should advise me from building
such castles in the air. My LORD, all this is a riddle to me. What course I have
taken with the Papists; what I have done at which your Professors of the Gospel
did take such offence, or the adversaries were so confirmed; what it is that I
have adventured to do; or what piece so long in building, I have pulled down;
what those projects were, and those castles in the air so quickly refuted with
present success;—as the LORD knows, I know not. For truly, since I came to this
place, I have not changed one jot of my purpose, or practice, or course with the
Papists, from that which I held in England, or in TrinityCollege, or found (I
thank Go)) any ill success, but the slanders only of some persons discontented
against me for other occasions; against which I cannot hope to justify myself,
if your Grace will give ear to private informations. But let me know, I will not
say, my accuser, (let him continue masked till GOD, discover him,) but my
transgression, and have place of defense; and if my adversary writes a book
against me, I will hope to bear it on my shoulder, and bind it to me as a crown.
" For my recusation of your Court, I see it has stirred not only laughter, but
some coals too. Your Chancellor desires me to acquit him to you, that he is none
of those officers I meant; I do it very willingly; for I neither meant him nor
any man else. But though it concerned your Grace to know what I credibly heard
to be spoken concerning your Court, yet I did not think it was fit to take away
the jurisdiction from Chancellors, and put it into the Bishops' hands alone: nor
did I imagine you would account that a wrong from me, which, out of my duty to
Go]) and you, I thought was not to be concealed from you. Some other passages
there be in your Grace's letters, which I but I will lay my hand upon my mouth,
and craving the blessing of your prayers, ever remain, " Your Grace's poor
brother, and humble servant, "WILL. KILMORE." The malice of MR. KING'S enemies
was not satiated with the spoiling him of his benefice. For often it falls out,
that those who have done acts of high injustice, seek some excuse for what they
have done, by new injuries, and a vexatious prosecution of the injured person;
designing by the noise which such repeated accusations may raise, to possess the
world with an opinion of his guilt; which much clamor thus often produces, and
to crush the person so entirely, that he may never again be in a capacity' to
recover himself, and to obtain his right. But I will give the reader a clearer
view of this invidious affair from a letter which the Bishop wrote concerning it
to the EARL of STRAFORD. " RIGHT HONORABLE, MY GOOD LORD, " That which I have
sometimes done willingly, I do now necessarily, to make my address to your Honor
by writing. My unfitness for conversation heretofore has pleaded for me, and now
your Lordship's infirmity allows, and, in a sort enforces it. The occasion is,
not my love of contention, but Golfs honor and yours. I have lately received
letters from my Lo RD of CANTERBURY; whereby I perceive his Grace has been
informed that MR. KING, whom I employed to translate the Bible into Irish, is a
man so ignorant, that the translation cannot be worthy of public use, and,
besides, so obnoxious, that the church can receive no credit from any thing that
is his. And his Grace adds, that he is so well acquainted with your Lordship's
disposition, that he assures himself you would not have given away his living,
had you not seen just cause for it. I account myself bound to satisfy his Grace
herein, and desire, if I may be so happy, to do it by satisfying you. I
subscribe to his Grace's persuasion, that if your Lordship had not conceived MR.
KING to be such as he writes, you would not have given away his living. But, my
LORD, the greatest, wisest, and justest men, do, and must, take many things upon
the information of others who themselves are men, and may sometimes out of
weakness, or some other cause, be deceived. I beseech your Lordship to take
information, not by them which never saw till yesterday, but by the ancient,
either churchmen or statesmen of this kingdom, (in whose eyes he has lived these
many years,) as are the LORD PRIMATE, the BISHOP Of MEATH, the LORD DILLON, SIR
JAMES WANE, and the like. I doubt not but your Lordship shall understand that
there is no such danger that the translation should be unworthy, because he did
it; being a man of that known sufficiency for the Irish especially, either in
prose or verse, as few are his matches in the kingdom. And not to argue by
conjecture, let the work itself speak, yea, let it be examined rigoroso examine:
If then it be found approveable, let it not suffer disgrace from the small boast
of the workman, but let him rather be absolved for the sufficiency of the work.
Touching his being obnoxious, it is true that there is a scandalous information
put in against him in the HighCommissionCourt, by his despoiler MR. BAILY, and
by an excommunicate despoiler, as myself, before the execution of any sentence,
declared him in the Court to be. And MR. KING being cited to answer, and not
appearing, (as by law he was not bound,) was taken pro confesso, deprived of his
ministry and living, fined one hundred pounds, and decreed to be imprisoned. His
adversary, MR. BAILY, before he was sentenced, purchased a new dispensation to
hold his benefice, and was the very next day after, both presented in the King's
title, (although the benefice be of my collation,) and instituted by my LORD
Primate's Vicar: shortly after, he was inducted by an Archdeacon of another
diocese; and a few days after, he brought down an Attachment, and delivered MR.
KING to the Pursuivant: he was haled by the head and feet to horseback, and
brought to Dublin; where he has been kept under arrest these four or five
months, and has not been suffered to purge his supposed. contempt, by oath, and
witnesses, that by reason of his sickness he was hindered, whereby he was
brought to death'sdoor, and could not appear, and that by the cunning of his
adversary, he was circumvented, entreating that he might be restored to liberty.
But it has not availed him. My Reverend Colleagues of the HighCommission do some
of them pity his case; others say the sentence passed cannot be reversed, lest
the credit of the Court be attacked. They bid him simply submit himself; and
acknowledge his sentence just. Whereas the Bishops of Rome themselves, after
most formal proceedings, do grant restitution in integrum, and acknowledge, that
Sententia Romance Sedis potest in melius commutari. My LORD, if I understand
what is right divine or human, these be wrongs upon wrongs; which if they
reached only to MR. KING'S person, were of less consideration; but when, through
his side, that great work, the translation of GOD's book, so necessary for both
his Majesty's kingdoms, is mortally wounded, pardon me, I beseech your Lordship,
if I be sensible of it. I omit to consider, what feast our adversaries make of
our rewarding him thus for that service; or what this example will avail to the
alluring of others to conformity. What should your Lordship have gained, if he
had died (as it was almost a miracle he did not) under arrest, and had been at
once deprived of living, liberty, and life GOD has reprieved him, and given your
Lordship means, upon right information, to remedy with one word all
inconveniences. For conclusion, good my LORD, give me leave a little to apply
the parable of NATHAN to KING DAVID, to this purpose: If the wayfaring man that
is come to us (for such he is, having never yet been settled in one place) have
so short a stomach that he must be provided for with pluralities, since there
are herds and flocks plenty, suffer him not, I beseech you, under colour of the
King's name, to take the ewe of a poor man, to satisfy his ravenous appetite. So
I beseech the heavenly Physician to give your Lordship health of soul and body.
I rest, " My LORD, " Your Lordship's most humble servant in CHRIST JESUS, " Dec.
1, 163S. " WILL. KILMORE." By these practices was the printing of the Bible in
Irish stopped at that time; but if the rebellion had not pre vented our Bishop,
he was resolved to have it done in his own house, and at his own charge.
Preparatory to that, he caused some of CHRYSOSTOM'S Homilies, together with some
of LEO's, to be translated both into English and Irish, and reprinting his
catechism, he added these to it in both languages: which were very well
received, even by the priests and friars themselves. He lived not to finish this
great design; yet, notwithstanding the rebellion and confusion that followed in
Ireland, the manuscript of the translation of the Bible escaped the storm; and,
falling into good hands, was afterwards printed, chiefly by the zeal, and at the
charge, of that noble Christian philosopher, MR. BOYLE. But to go on with the
concerns of our Bishop, as he had great zeal fqr the purity of the Christian
Religion, in opposition to the corruptions of the Church of Rome; so he was very
moderate in all other matters, that were. not of such importance. He was a great
supporter of MR. DRunY's design of reconciling the Lutherans and the Calvinists;
and as he directed him by many learned and prudent letters, so he allowed him
twenty pounds a year, towards discharging the expense of that negotiation. And
it appeared, by his managing a business that fell out in Ireland, that if all
that were concerned in that matter had been blessed with such an understanding,
and such a temper, as he had, there had been no reason to have despaired of it.
There came a company of Lutherans to Dublin, who were afraid of joining in
communion with the Church of Ireland; and when they were cited to answer for it
to the Archbishop's Consistory, they desired that some time might be granted
them for consulting their Divines in Germany: and at last letters were brought
from thence concerning their exceptions to communion with that church; because
the presence of CHRIST in the Sacrament was not explained in such a manner as
agreed with their doctrine. The ARCHBISHOP of DUBLIN sent these to our Bishop,
that he might answer them; upon which he wrote so learned and full an answer to
all their objections, that when this was seen by the German Divines, it gave
them such entire satisfaction, that they advised their countrymen to join in
communion with the church. His moderation in this concern was a thing of no
danger to him, but he gave proofs of it upon more tender occasions. The troubles
that broke out in Scotland, upon the account of the Book of Common Prayer, are
so well known, that I need not enlarge upon them. When the Bishop heard of these
things, he said that which NAZIAN ZEN said at, Constantinople, when the stir was
raised in the second General Council upon his account, " If this great tempest
is risen for our sakes, take us up, and cast us into the sea, that so there may
be a calm." And if all others had governed their dioceses as he did his, one may
adventure to affirm, after DR. BERNARD, " That Episcopacy might have been kept
still upon its wheels." Some of those that were driven out of Scotland, came
over to Ireland: among these there was one CORBET, that came to Dublin, who,
being a man of quick parts, wrote a very smart book, showing the parallel
between the Jesuits and the Scotch Covenanters. The spirit that was in this
book, and the sharpness of the style, procured the author such favor, that a
considerable living falling in the Bt snot. of KILLALA'S gift, he was
recommended to it, and so he went to that Bishop, but was ill received by him.
The Bishop had a great affection to his country, for he was a Scotchman born;
and though he condemned the courses they had taken, yet he did not love to see
them exposed in a strange nation, and did not like the man that had done it. The
Bishop expressed an inclination to lessen the faults of the Scots, and, to
aggravate some provocations that had been given them.' CORBET came up full of
wrath, and brought with him many informations against the Bishop, which at any
other time would not have been much considered; but then, it being thought
necessary to make examples of all that seemed favorable to the Covenanters, it
was resolved to turn him out of his bishopric, and to give it to MAXWELL, who
had been BISHOP of Ross in Scotland, and was indeed a man of eminent parts, but
by his towardness had been the unhappy instrument of that which brought on all
the disorders in Scotland. A Pursuivant was sent to bring up the BISHOP of KILL
ALA, and he was accused before the High Commission Court; and every man being
ready to push a man down that is falling under disgrace, many designed to merit
by aggravating his faults. But when it came to our Bishop's turn to give his
sentence in the Court, he, who was afraid of nothing but sinning against GOD,
did not hesitate to venture against the stream. He first read over all that was
objected to the Bishop at the bar: then the fetched his argument from the
qualifications of a Bishop set down by ST. PAUL, in his Epistles to TIMOTHY and
TIT WS; and added, that he found nothing in those articles contrary to those
qualifications, nothing that touched either his life or doctrine. He fortified
this, by showing in what manner they proceeded against Bishops, both in the
Greek and Latin churches; and so concluded in the Bishop's favor. This put many
out of countenance, who had considered nothing in his sentence but the
consequences that were drawn from the Bishop's expressions, from which they
gathered the ill disposition of his mind; so that they had gone high in their
censures, without examining the canons of the Church in such cases. But though
those that gave their votes after our Bishop, were more moderate than those that
had gone before him; yet the current ran so strong that none durst plainly
acquit him, as our Bishop had done. So he was deprived, fined, and imprisoned,
and his bishopric was given to MAXWELL, who did not long enjoy it for he was
stripped naked, wounded, and left among the dead, by the Irish; but was
preserved by the EARL of THOMOND, who passing that way, took care of him, by
which means he got to Dublin: and then his talent of preaching, that had been
too long neglected by him, was better employed; so that he preached very often,
to the edification of his hearers, who were then in so great a consternation,
that they needed all the comfort that he could minister to them. He went to the
King to Oxford; but was so much affected with some ill news which he heard
concerning some misfortune in the King's affairs in England, that he was, some
hours after, found dead in his study. The old degraded Bishop ADAIR was quickly
restored to another bishopric, which came to be vacant upon a dismal account,
which I would gladly pass over, if I could; but the thing is too well known. One
ATHERTON, Bishop of Waterford, came to be accused and convicted of a crime’ not
to benamed,which GOD punished with fire from heaven; and suffered publicly for
it. He expressed so great a repentance, that DR. BERNARD, who preached his
funeralsermon, and had waited on him in his imprisonment, had a very charitable
opinion of the state in which he died. Upon this, ADAIR'S case was so
represented to the King, that he was provided with that bishopric. From which it
may appear, that he was not censured so much for any guilt, as to strike a
terror into all that might express the least kindness to the Scots Covenanters.
But our Bishop thought the degrading of a Bishop was too sacred a thing to be
done merely upon politic considerations. BISHOP BEDELL conformed exactly to the
forms and rules of the Church. He went constantly to Common Prayer in his
Cathedral, and often read it himself, and assisted in it always with great
reverence and affection. He took care to have the public service performed
strictly according to the Rubric. He preached constantly twice a Sunday in his
Cathedral on the Epistles and Gospels for the day, and catechised always in the
afternoon before sermon; and he preached always twice a year before the Judges,
when they made the Circuit. His voice was low; but as his matter was excellent,
so there was a gravity in his looks and behavior that struck his auditors. When
he came within the church, it appeared, in the composedness of his behavior,
that he observed the rule given by the Preacher, of " keeping his feet when he
went into the house of God;" but he was not to be wrought on by the greatness of
any man, or by the authority of any person's example, to go out of his own way;
though he could not but know that such things were then much observed, and
measures were taken of men by these little distinctions, in which it was thought
that the zeal of conformity discovered itself. He preached very often in his
episcopal habit, but not always, and used it seldom in the afternoon; nor did he
love the pomp of a choir, or instrumental music, which he thought filled the ear
with too much pleasure, and carried away the mind from the serious attention to
the matter, which is indeed the singing with grace in the heart, and the inward
melody with which Go]) is chiefly pleased. He never used the Common Prayer in
his family; for he thought it was intended to be the solemn worship of
Christians in their public assemblies, and that it was not so proper for private
families. So far I have prosecuted the relation of his most exemplary discharge
of his episcopal function, reserving what is more personal and particular to the
end, where I shall give his character. I now come to the conclusion of his life,
which was suitable to all that had gone before. But here I must open one of the
bloodiest scenes that the sun ever shone upon, and represent a nation all
covered with blood, that was in full peace, under no fears or apprehensions,
enjoying great plenty, under no oppression in civil matters, nor persecution
upon the account of religion: for the Bishops and Priests of the Roman Communion
enjoyed not only an impunity, but were almost as public in the use of their
religion, as others were in that which was established by law; so that they
wanted nothing but empire, and a power to destroy all that differed from them.
And yet, on a sudden, this happy land was turned to a field of blood. Their
Bishops resolved in one particular to fulfil the obligation of the oath they
took at their consecration, that of persecuting all heretics to the utmost of
their power; and their Priests, who were bred up in Spain, had brought over from
thence the true spirit of their religion, which is ever breathing cruelty,
together with a tincture of the Spanish temper, that had appeared in the
conquest of the West Indies, and so they thought that a massacre was the surest
way to work; and intended, that the natives of Ireland should vie with the
Spaniards for what they had done in America. The conjuncture seemed favorable;
for the whole isle of Britain was so embroiled, that they reckoned they should
be able to master Ireland, before any forces could be sent over to check the
progress of their butchery. The EARL of STRAFFORD had left Ireland some
considerable time before this. The Parliament of England was rising very high
against the King; and though the King was then gone to Scotland, it was rather
for a present quieting of things, than that he gained them to his service. So
they laid hold of this conjuncture, to infuse it into the people, that this was
a proper time for them to recover their ancient liberty, shake off the English
yoke, and possess themselves of those estates that had belonged to their
ancestors. And to such as had some duty to the King it was given out, that what
they were about was warranted by his authority. A seal was cut from another
charter, and put to a forged commission, giving warrant to what they were going
about. And because the King was then in Scotland, they made use of a Scots seal.
They also pretended, that the Parliaments of both kingdoms being in rebellion
against the King, the English of Ireland would be generally in the interest of
the English Parliament; so that it was said, they could not serve the King
better than by making themselves masters in Ireland, and then declaring for the
King against his other rebellious subjects. These things took universally with
the whole nation.; and the conspiracy was cemented by many oaths and sacraments;
and in conclusion all things were found to be so ripe, that the day was
appointed in which they should every where break out; and the Castle of Dublin
being then a great magazine, it was resolved that they should seize on it, which
would have furnished them with arms and ammunition, and have put the metropolis,
and probably the whole island, into their hands. But, though this was so well
laid, that the execution could not have missed, in all human appearance; and
though it was kept so secret, that there was not the least suspicion of any
design on foot, till the night before; yet then one that was among the chief of
the managers of it, out of kindness to an Irishman, who was become a Protestant,
communicated the project to him the other went and discovered it to the LORD’s
Justices; and by this means not only the Castle of Dublin was preserved, but in
effect Ireland was saved; for in Dublin there was both a shelter for such as
were stripped and turned out of all they had, and a place of rendezvous, where
they that escaped, before the storm had reached them, met to consult about their
preservation. But though Dublin was thus secured, the rest of the English and
Scots in Ireland fell into the hands of those merciless men, who reckoned it no
small mercy, when they stripped people naked, and let them go with their lives,
But the vast numbers that were butchered by them, which one of their own
writers, in a discourse which he printed some years after, in order to animate
them to go on, boasts to have exceeded two hundred thousand, and the barbarous
cruelties which they used in murdering them, are things of so dreadful a nature,
that I cannot go on with so dismal a narrative, but must leave it to the
historians. I shall say no more of it than what concerns our Bishop. It may be
easily imagined how much he was struck with that fearful storm, which was
breaking on every hand of him, though it did not yet break in upon himself.
There seemed to be a secret guard about his house: for though there was nothing
but fire, blood, and desolation round about him, yet the Irish were so
restrained, as by some hidden. power, that they did him no harm for many weeks.
His house was in no condition to make any resistance; so that it was not any
apprehension of the opposition that might be made to them, which bound them up.
Great numbers of his neighbors had also fled to him for shelter: he received all
that came, and shared every thing he had with them, so that all things were
common among them; and now that they had nothing to expect from men, he invited
them all to turn with him to God, and to prepare for that death which they had
reason to look for every day; so that they spent their time in prayer and
fasting, which last was now likely to be imposed on them by necessity. The
rebels expressed their esteem for him in such a man• ner, that'he had reason to
ascribe it wholly to that overruling Power, which stills the raging of the seas,
and the tumult of the people: they seemed to be overcome with his exemplary
conversation among them, and with the tenderness and charity which he had upon
all occasions expressed for them; and they often said, he should be the last
Englishman that should be put out of Ireland. He was the only Englishman in the
whole county of Cavan that was suffered to live in his own house without
disturbance: not only his house, and all the outbuildings, but the church and
the churchyard, were full of people; and many, that a few days before lived in
great ease and plenty, were now glad of a heap of straw or hay to he upon, and
of some boiled wheat to support nature; and were every day expecting when those
swords, that had, according to the prophetic phrase, " drunk up so much blood,"
should likewise be satisfied with theirs. They did now eat the bread of sorrow,
and mingled their cups with their tears. The Bishop continued to encourage them
to trust in GOD, and in order to that, he preached to them, the first Loxn's day
after this terrible calamity had brought them about him, on the third Psalm,
which was penned by David when there was a general insurrection of the people
against him under his unnatural son ABSALOM; and he applied it all to their
condition. He had a doleful assembly before him, an auditory all in tears. It
requires a soul of an equal elevation to his, to imagine how he raised up their
spirits, when he spoke on these words, " But You, O LORD, art a shield for me,
my glory, and the lifter up of my head I laid me down and slept: I awaked, for
the Lon]) sustained me: I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people,
that have set themselves against me, round about; " —and on the conclusion of
the Psalm," Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people."
The next Lord's day, hearing of the scoffings, as well as the cruelty of the
Irish, he preached on these words in MICAH, " Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a
light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned
against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring
me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Then she that is
mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is
the LORD thy Go')" By these means, and through the blessing of GOD upon them,
they encouraged themselves in GOD, and were prepared for the worst that their
enemies could do to them. The Irish themselves were at a stand. The miscarriage
of the design on Dublin Castle was a sad disappointment they had no fleet, nor
foreign support; and though there were some good officers among them, yet they
found the soldiers to be as cowardly, as the English inhabitants felt them to be
cruel. Those of the county of Cavan seemed to see their error; so they came to
the Bishop, as the fittest man to interpose for them: he was willing to oblige
those on the one hand, at whose mercy he was, and on the other hand to bring
them to such a submission, as might at least procure some breathing time to the
poor English, and to those few houses that stood out, but were falling within
doors under an enemy that was more irresistible than the Irish; for they were
much straitened, their provisionsfailing them. The petition, which they signed
and sent up to the LORD’s Justices and Council, was too well penned to come from
those that set their hands to it. It was drawn by the Bishop, who put their
matter in his own words; therefore I shall insert it here, though it gives the
best colours to their rebellion of any of all their papers that I ever saw. " To
the Right Honorable the LORD’s Justices and Council. " The humble Remonstrance
of the Gentry and Common, ally of the county of Cavan, of their Grievances
common with other parts of this Kingdom of Ireland. " Whereas we, his Majesty's
loyal subjects of his Highness's Kingdom of Ireland, have of long time groaned
under many grievous pressures, occasioned by the rigorous government of such
placed over us, as respected more the advancement of their own private fortunes
than the honor of his Majesty, or the welfare of us his subjects, whereof we in
humble manner declared ourselves to his Highness by our agents sent from the
Parliament, the. representative body of this kingdom; notwithstanding which, we
find ourselves of late threatened with far greater and more grievous vexations,
either with captivity of our consciences, losing our lawful liberties, or utter
expulsion from our native seats, without any just ground given on our parts, to
alter his Majesty's goodness so long continued to us; of all which we find great
cause of fear, in the proceeding of our neighbor nations, and do see it already
attempted upon by certain petitioners for the like course to be taken in this
kingdom: For the preventing therefore of such evils growing upon us in this
kingdom, we have, for the preservation of his Majesty's honor, and our own
liberties, thought fit to take into our hands, for his Highness's use and
service, such forts, and other places of strength, as coming into the possession
of others, might prove disadvantageous, and tend to the utter undoing the
kingdom. And we do hereby declare, that herein we harbor not the least thought
of disloyalty towards his Majesty, or purpose any hurt to any of his Highness's
subjects in their possessions, goods, or liberty: only we desire that your
Lordships will be pleased to make remonstrance to his Majesty, for us, of all
our grievances and just fears, that they May be removed, and such a course
settled by the advice of the Parliament of Ireland, whereby the liberty of our
consciences may be secured unto us, and we eased of our burdens in civil
government. As for the mischiefs and inconveniences that have already happened
through the disorder of the common sort of people, against the English
inhabitants, or any other; we, with the Noblemen and Gentlemen, and such others
of the several counties of this kingdom, are most willing and ready to use our
and their best endeavors in causing restitution and satisfaction to be made, as
in part we have already done. " An answer hereunto is most humbly desired, with
such present expedition as may by your Lordships be thought most convenient for
avoiding the inconvenience of the barbarousness and uncivility of the
commonalty, who have committed many outrages without any order, consenting, or
privity of ours. All which we leave to your Lordships' most grave wisdom. " And
we shall humbly pray, &c." But this came to nothing. While these things were in
agitation, the titular Bisxop of KILmoRE came to Cavan; he had a brother, whom
the Bishop had converted, and had entertained in his house, till he found out a
way of subsistence for him, He pretended that he came only to protect the
Bishop; so he desired to be admitted to lodge in his house, and assured him that
he would preserve him. But the Bishop, hearing of this, wrote the following
letter in Latin to him; of which I shall give a translation in English.
"REVEREND BROTHER, " I am sensible of your civility in offering to protect me by
your presence in the midst of this tumult; and upon the like occasion I would
not be wanting to do the like charitable office to you: but there are many
things that hinder me from making use of the favor you now offer me. My house is
small, and there is a great number of miserable people of all ranks, ages, and
of both sexes, who have fled hither as to a sanctuary; besides that some of them
are sick, among whom my own son is one. But that which is beyond the rest is the
difference of our way of worship; I do not say of our religion, for I have ever
thought, and have published in my writings, that we have one common Christian
Religion. Under our present miseries, we comfort ourselves with the reading of
the Holy Scriptures, with daily prayers, which we offer up to GOD in our vulgar
tongue, and with the singing of Psalms; and since we find so little truth among
men, we rely on the truth of GOD, and on his assistance. These things would
offend your company, if not yourself; nor could others be hindered, who would
pretend that they came to see you, if you were among us; and under that colour
those murderers would break in upon us, who, after they have robbed us, would,
in conclusion, think they did GOD good service by our slaughter. For my own
part, I am resolved to trust to the divine protection. To a Christian, and a
Bishop, who is now almost seventy, no death for the cause of CHRIST can be
bitter: on the contrary, nothing is more desirable. And though I ask nothing for
myself alone, yet if you will require the people, under an Anathema, not to do
any other acts of violence to those whom they have so oft beaten, spoiled, and
stripped, it will be both acceptable to GOD, honorable to yourself, and happy to
the people, if they obey you: but if not, consider that GOD will remember all
that is now done: To whom, Reverend Brother, I do heartily commend you. " Yours
in CHRIST, "WILL. KILMORE." Endorsed thus, " To my Reverend and Loving Brother,
D. Sw I N EY." This letter was the last which he ever wrote, and was indeed a
conclusion becoming such a pen. It had at that time some effect; for the Bishop
gave him no disturbance till about live weeks after this; so that from the 23d
of October, which was the dismal day in which the rebellion broke out, till the
18th of December following, he, together with all that were within his walls,
enjoyed such quiet, that if it was not in all points a miracle, it was not far
from one; and it seemed to be an accomplishment of those words, " A thousand
shall fall on thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not,
come nigh thee: there shall no evil befall thee; for he shall give his angels
charge over thee." But to this letter I shall add the last paper of spiritual
advice which the Bishop ever wrote. This he did at the request of one Mils.
DILLON, who was a zealous and devout Protestant, but had been fatally deluded in
her widowhood by MR. DILLON, son to the EARL of Roscommon, whom, supposing him
to be a Protestant, she had married, but enjoyed herself very little after that;
for though he used no violence to her, or to her children by her former husband,
in the point of religion, yet he bred up the children which he had by her in his
own superstition, and he was now engaged in the rebellion: So that she had at
this time a vast addition to her former sorrows upon her; and therefore desired
that the Bishop, whose neighbor and constant hearer she had been, would send her
such instructions in this sad calamity, as might both direct and support her.
Upon this, he wrote the following paper. " You desire, as I am informed, (dear
sister in CHRIST JESUS,) that I would send you some short memorial, to put you
in mind how to conduct yourself in this sorrowful time. I will do it willingly;
the more, because, with one and the same labor, I shall both satisfy you, and
recall my own thoughts also to the like performance of my own duty. Bethinking
myself how I might best accomplish it, there came to my mind that short rule
which the Apostle mentions in his Epistle to Thus, and whereof you have been a
diligent hearer in the school of grace, where he reduceth the whole practice of
Christianity unto three heads, of living soberly, justly, and Godly: this last
directing our carriage towards Gen, the middlemost towards our neighbor, and the
foremost towards ourselves. Now since this is a direction for our whole life, it
seems to me that we have no more to do at any time, but to con this lesson more
perfectly, with some particular application of such parts of it, as are most
suitable to the present occasions. And as to sobriety, first, (under which the
virtues of humility, modesty, and contentedness, are contained,) since this is a
time, wherein, as the Prophet says,’ The LORD of Hosts calls to weeping and
mourning, and pulling off the hair, and girding with sackcloth,' you shall, by
my advice, conform yourself to those, that by the hand of Go]) suffer such
things. Let your apparel and dress be mournful, as I doubt not but your mind is;
your diet sparing and coarse, rather than full and liberal; frame yourself to
the indifferency, whereof the Apostle speaketh,’ In whatsoever state you shall
be, therewith to be content; to be full, and to be hungry; and to abound and to
want.' Remember now that which is the lot of others; you know not how soon it
may be your own. Learnt to despise, and defy, the vain and falsely called wealth
of this world, whereof you now see we have so casual and uncertain a
possession.—This for sobriety, the first part of the lesson pertaining to
yourself. " Now for justice, which respects others, (and containeth the virtues
of honor to superiors, discreet and equal government of inferiors, peaceableness
to all, meekness, mercy, just dealing in matters of getting and spending,
gratitude, liberality, just speech and desires,) GOD’s judgments being in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world should learn righteousness, as the Prophet
speaketh: call to mind, therefore, if in any of these you have failed, and turn
your feet to GOD’s testimonies. Certainly these times are such, wherein you may
be afflicted, and say with the Psalmist,’ Horror has taken hold of me, and
rivers of tears run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy laws.' Rebelling
against superiors; misleading, not only by example, but by compulsion,
inferiors; laying their hands on them that were at peace with them; unjustly
spoiling, and unthankfully requiting, those that had showed them' kindness; no
faith nor truth in their promises; judge, by the way, of the school that
teacheth CHRIST thus: are these his doings As for those that suffer, I shall not
need to stir you up to mercy and compassion. That which is done in this kind is
done to CHRIST himself, and shall be put upon account in your reckoning, and
rewarded at his glorious appearance. " The last and principal part of our lesson
remains, which teacheth us how to behave ourselves Godly, or religiously. To
this belong, first, the duties of GOD’s inward worship, as fear, love, and faith
in GOD; then outward, as invocation, the holy use of his word and sacraments,
his name and sabbaths. The Apostle makes it the whole end and work for which we
were set in this world, to seek the LORD; yet in public affliction, we are
specially invited thereto, as it is written of JEHOSHAPHAT, when a great
multitude came to invade him, that’ he set his face to seek the LORD,' and
called the people to a solemn fast. So the Church professeth in the Prophet
ISAIAH,’ In the way of thy judgments, LORD, we have waited for thee; the desire
of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I
desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee
early.' In this public calamity therefore it is our duty to turn to him that
smiteth us, and to humble ourselves under his mighty hand; —to conceive a
reverent and religious fear towards him, who only, by turning away his
countenance, can thus trouble us; contrary to the fear of man, who can do no
more but kill the body;—to renew our love to our heavenly FATHER, who now
offereth himself to us, as to children;—to give a proof of. that love which we
bear to our SAVIOR, by keeping his sayings, and by hating, in comparison of him,
and competition with him, father, mother, children, goods, and life itself;
(which is the condition and proof of his disciples;)—and above all to revive and
to reinforce our faith and affiance, which are now brought to the trial of the
fiery furnace, and of the lions' den. O that they might be found to our honor,
praise, and glory, at the appearing of JESUS CHRIST. In the mean space, even
now, let us be partakers of CHRIST'S sufferings, and hear him from heaven
encouraging us,’ Be you faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
life.' " Touching prayer, we have this gracious invitation,’ Call upon me in the
day of trouble, and I will hear thee;' as well as the example of all GOD’s
saints, and of our SAVIOR in his agony. To this belong the humble confession of
our sins, with earnest request of pardon; and the complaint of our misery and
danger, with request of succor and protection. We have, besides the intercession
of our Advocate with the FATHER, the cry of the innocent blood that has been
cruelly shed, and the LORD'S own interesting himself in the cause, so that we
may say with the Psalmist,’Arise, O GOD, plead ethine own cause; remember how
the foolish man (of sin) reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine
enemies; the tumult of those that rise against thee increasing continually.'
"The stories of DAVID'S flight before ABSALOM, of JEHOSHAPHAT's behavior when
the enemies came against him, of HEZEKIAH'S conduct, in SENNACHERIB'S invasion,
(Isaiah 37:1-38 :) and the whole Book of ESTHER, are fit scriptures now to be
read, that througlh the patience and comfort of them we might have hope. " Now
because we know not how soon we may be called to sanctify GOD’s name, by making
profession thereof; you may perhaps desire to know what to say in that day. You
may openly profess your not doubting of any article of the catholic faith,
shortly laid down in the Creed, or more largely laid down in the Holy
Scriptures, but that you consent not to certain opinions, which are no points of
faith, which have been brought into common belief without warrant of Scripture,
or pure antiquity; as namely:—` That it is necessary to salvation to be under
the Pope; That the Scriptures ought not to be read by the common people; That
the doctrine of Holy Scripture is not, sufficient to salvation; That the service
of GOD ought to be in.a language not understood by the people; That the
Communion should not be administered to them in both kinds; That the bread in
the LORD's Supper is transubstantiated into his body; That he is there
sacrificed for the quick and dead; That there is any purgatory besides CHRIST'S
blood; That our good works can merit heaven; That the saints hear our prayers,
and know our hearts; That images are to be worshipped; That the Pope is
infallible, and can command Angels; That we ought to pray to the dead.' “In all
these, notwithstanding, you may profess your teachableness, if by sound reasons,
out of Gores word, you shall be convinced of the truth of them: and because we
know not how far it will please GOD to call us to make resistance against sin,
whether unto blood itself, or not, it. shall be wisdom for us to prepare
ourselves for the last care of a Godly life, which is to die Godly. This the
Apostle PAUL calls sleeping in JESUS,' implying thereby our faith in him, our
being found in his work, and our committing our souls into his hands with peace.
Such a sweet and heavenly sleep was that of ST. STEPHEN, whose last words for
himself were, LORD JESUS, receive my spirit,' and for his tormentors, LORD, lay
not this sin to their charge;' wherewith I will end this writing, and wish to
end my life, when the will of GOD shall be, to whose gracious protection, dear
sister, I do heartily commit you. Nov. 23, 1641." These advices show what temper
that holy Man displayed in this his extremity. They had a very good effect on
the lady; for as, by reading them over very often, she got to be able to say
them all without book, so she did' that which was much more, she lodged them in
her heart, as well as in her memory.—While this good man was now every day
waiting for his crown, the rebels sent to him, desiring him to dismiss the
company that was about him; but he refused to obey their cruel order, and
resolved to live and die with them; and would much more willingly have offered
himself to have died for them, than have accepted of any favor for himself, from
which they would be shut out. And when they sent him word, that though they
loved and honored him beyond all the English that ever came into Ireland,
because he had never done wrong to any, but good to many, yet they had received
orders from the Council of State at Kilkenny, who had assumed the government of
the rebels, that if he would not put away the people who had gathered about him,
they should take him from them; he said no more, but in, the words of DAVID and
ST. PAUL, " Here I am; the LORD do unto me as seems good to him; the will of the
LORD be done." So, on the 18th of December, they came and seized on him, and on
all that belonged to him, and carried him and his two sons, and MR. CLOGY, as
prisoners to the Castle of Lochwater, the only place of strength in the whole
country. It was a little tower in the midst of a lake, about a musketshot from
any shore: and though there had been a little island about it anciently, yet the
water had so gained on it, that there was not a foot of ground above water, but
only the tower itself. They suffered the prisoners to carry nothing with them;
for the titular Bishop took possession of all that belonged to the Bishop, and
said mass the next LORD'S day in the church. They set the Bishop on horseback,
and made the other prisoners go on foot by him: and thus he was lodged in this
Castle, which was a most miserable dwelling. The Castle had been in the hands of
one MR. CULLUM, who, as he had the keeping of the fort trusted to him, had also
a good allowance for a magazine to be laid up in it, for the defense of the
country; but he had not a pound of powder, nor one fixed musket in it; and he
fell under the just punishment of the neglect of his trust, for he was taken the
first day of the rebellion, and was himself made a prisoner here, All but the
Bishop were at first put into irons; for the Irish, who were perpetually
intoxicated, were afraid lest they should seize both on them and on the Castle.
Yet it pleased GOD so far to abate their fury, that they took off their irons,
and gave them no disturbance in the worship of GOD, which was now all the
comfort that was left them. The house was extremely open to the weather, and
ruinous: and as the place was bare and exposed, so that winter was very severe;
which was a great addition to the misery of those whom the rebels had stripped
naked, leaving to many not so much as a garment to cover their nakedness. But it
pleased Con to bring another prisoner to the same dungeon, who was of great use
to them, one RICHARD CASTLEDINE, who came over a poor carpenter to Ireland, with
nothing but his tools on his back, and was first employed by one Sin RICHARD
WALDRON in the carpentry work of a castle, which he was building in the parish
of Cavan: but SIR RICHARD wasting his estate before he had finished his house,
and afterwards leaving Ireland, GOD had so blessed the industry of this
CASTLEDINE, during thirty years' labor, that he bought this estate, and having
only two daughters, he married one of' them, out of gratitude, to SIR RICHARn's
youngest son, to whom he intended to have given the estate that was his
father's. He was a man of great virtue, and abounded in good works, as well as
in exemplary piety: he was so good a husband, that the Irish believed he was
very rich; so they preserved him, hoping to draw a great deal of money from him.
He, being brought to this miserable prison, got some tools and old boards, and
fitted them up as well as was possible, to keep out the weather. The keepers of
the prison brought their prisoners abundance of provision, but left them to
dress it for themselves; which they that knew little what belonged to cookery
were glad to do, in such a manner as might preserve their lives, and were all of
them much supported in their spirits. They did not suffer as evil doers, and
they were not ashamed of the cross Of CHRIST, but rejoiced in GOD in the midst
of their afflictions; and the old Bishop took joyfully the spoiling of his
goods, and the restraint of his person, comforting himself in this, that these
light afflictions would quickly work for him a more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. The day after his imprisonment, being the LORD's day, he preached to
his little flock on the Epistle for the day, which set before them the pattern
of the humility and suffering of CHRIST; and on CHRISTmasday he preached on
Galatians 4:4-5, and administered the sacrament to the small congregation about
him; their keepers having been so charitable as to furnish them with bread and
wine. On the 26th of December Ma. WILLIAM BEDELL, the Bishop's eldest son,
preached on ST. STEPHEN'S lastwords, which afforded proper matter for the
meditation of persons, who were every day in expectation when they should be put
to give such a testimony of their faith, as that first martyr had done: and on
the 2d of January, which was the last Sunday of their imprisonment, MR. CLOGY
preached on Luke 2:32; Luke 2:34. During all their religious exercises, their
keepers never gave them any disturbance; and indeed they behaved so gently
toward them, and their natures seemed to be so much changed, that it looked like
a second stopping of the mouths of lions. They often told the Bishop, that they
had no personal quarrel with him, and no other reason for being so severe to
him, but because he was an Englishman. But while he was in this dismal prison,
some of the Scots of that county, who had retired to two houses which were
strong enough to resist any thing but cannon, and were commanded by SIR JAMES
CRAIG, SIR FRANCIS HAMILTON, and SIR ARTHUR FORBES, now LORD GRENARD, finding
themselves like to suffer more by hunger, than by the siege that was laid to
them, made so resolute a sally upon the Irish, that they killed several, took
some prisoners, and dispersed the rest, so that many months passed before they
offered to besiege them any more. Among their prisoners, four were men of'
considerable interest; so they negotiated an exchange of them for the Bishop,
with his two sons, and Ma.CLOGY, which was concluded;, and the prisoners were
delivered on both sides on the 7th of January. But though the Irish promised to
suffer the Bishop, with the other three, to go safe to Dublin, yet they would
not let them go out of the country, but intended to make further advantage by
having them still among them; and so they were suffered to go to the house of an
Irish Minister, DENNIS O' SHERIDAN, to whom some respect was showed by reason of
his extraction, though he had forsaken their religion, and had married an
English woman. He continued firm in his religion, and relieved many in their
extremity. Here the Bishop spent the few remaining days of his pilgrimage,
having his latter end so full in view, that he seemed dead to the world, and
every thing in it, and to be hasting unto the coming of the day of GOD. During
the last Sabbaths of his life, though there were three Ministers present, he
read all the prayers and lessons himself, and likewise preached on all those
days. On the 9th of January, he preached on the whole 44th Psalm, being the
first of the psalms appointed for that day, and very suitable to the miseries in
which the English then were, who were killed all the day long, as sheep
appointed for meat. Next Sabbath, which was the 16th, he preached on the 79th
Psalm, the first psalm for the day, which runs much on the like argument, when
the temple was defiled, and Jerusalem was laid on heaps, and the dead bodies of
GOD's servants were given to be meat to the fowls of heaven, and their flesh to
the beasts of the earth, and their blood was shed like water, and there was none
to bury them. Their condition being so like one another, it was very proper to
put up that prayer, " O remember not against us former iniquities; let thy
tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low; "—together with
the other, " Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the
greatness of thy power, preserve you those that are appointed to die." On the
23d, he preached on the last ten verses of the 71st Psalm, remarking on their
great fitness to express his present condition, especially in these words, "O
God, you have taught me from my youth; and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous
works: now also when I am old, and greyheaded, forsake me not." And on the 30th,
which was the last LORD's day in which he had strength enough to preach, he
discoursed on the 144th Psalm, the first appointed for that day; and tvhen he
came to the words in the seventh verse, which are also repeated in the
eleventh,—" Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great
waters, from the hand of strange children; whose mouth speaketh vanity, and
their right hand is a right hand of falsehood;he repeated them again and again,
with so much zeal and affection, that it appeared how much he was hasting to the
day of GOD, and that his heart was crying out, " Come, LORD JESUS, come quickly;
how long " And he dwelt so long upon them, with so many sighs, that all the
little assembly about him melted into tears, and looked on this as a presage of
his approaching dissolution. And it proved too true; for on the following day he
sickened; his disease, on the second day after, appeared to be an ague; and on
the fourth day, apprehending his speedy change, he called for his sons, and his
sons' wives, and spoke to them at several times, as nearly in these words, as
their memories could serve them to write them down soon after. " I am going the
way of all flesh; I am now ready to be offered up, and the time of my departure
is at hand: knowing therefore that shortly I must put off this tabernacle, even
as our LORD JESUS CHRIST has showed me, I know also that if this my earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, an house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens, a fair mansion in the New Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven’ from my GOD. Therefore to me to live is CHRIST,
and to die is gain which increases my desire, even' now to depart, and to be
with CHRIST, which is far better than to continue here in all the transitory,
vain, and false pleasures of this world, of which I have seen an end. " Hearken
therefore unto the last words of your dying father: I am no more in this world,
but ye are in the world; I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my GOD and
your GOD, through the all sufficient merits of JESUS CHRIST My REDEEMER; whoever
lives to make intercession for me, who is a propitiation., for all my sins, and
has washed me from them all in his own blood; who is worthy to receive glory,
and honor, and power; who has created all things, and for whose pleasure they
are and were created. "My witness is in heaven, and my record on high, that I
have endeavored to glorify GOD on earth. And in the ministry of the Gospel of
his dear Son, which was committed to my trust, I have finished the work which he
gave me to do, as a faithful ambassador of CHRIST, and steward of the mysteries
of God. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not
refrained my lips, O. LORD, you knows. I have not hid thy righteousness within
my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness, and thy salvation; I have not
concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation of
mankind. ’He is near that justifieth me, that I have not concealed the words of
the Holy One; but the words that he gave to me, I have given to you, and ye have
received them. " I had a desire and resolution to walk before GOD, in every
station of my pilgrimage, from my youth up to this day, in truth, and with an
upright heart, and to do that which was upright in his eyes, to the utmost of my
power; and what things were gain to me formerly, these things I now count loss
for CHRIST; yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST My LORD, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things; and I count them but dung, that I may win CHRIST, and be found in
Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of CHRIST, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I
may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his. death. I press therefore towards
the mark, for the prize of the high calling of GOD in JESUS CHRIST. " Let
nothing separate you from the love of CHRIST, neither tribulation, nor distress,
nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor, peril, nor sword; though, ai we
hear and see, for his sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as
sheep for the slaughter: yet in all these things we are more than conquerors,
through Him that loved us: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate me from the
love of GOD in CHRIST JESUS my LORD. Therefore, love not the world, nor the
things of the world but prepare daily and hourly for death, which now besieges
us on every side; and be faithful unto death, that we may meet together joyfully
on the right hand of CHRIST at the last day, and follow the Lamb wheresoever he
go, with all those that are clothed with white robes, in sign of innocency, and
palms in their hands in sign of victory; which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They
shall hunger no more,' nor thirst; neither shall the sun light on them, or any
heat; for the Lamb, that is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and
shall. lead them unto living fountains of waters, and shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. " Choose rather with Moses to suffer affliction with the people
of Goes, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; which will be
bitterness in the latter end. Look therefore for sufferings, and to be daily
made partakers of the sufferings of CHRIST, to fill up that which is behind of
the affliction of CHRIST in your flesh, for his body's sake; which. is the
church. ’What can you look for, but one woe after another, while the man of sin
is thus, suffered to rage, and to make havoc of GOD’s people at his pleasure;
while men are divided about trifles, who ought to have been more vigilant over
us, and careful of those, whose blood is precious in God’s sight, though now
shed every where like water. If ye suffer for righteousness, happy are ye; be
not afraid of their terror, neither be ye troubled; and be in nothing terrified
by your adversaries; which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you
of salvation, and that of GOD. For to you is given, in the behalf of CHRIST, not
only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Rejoice therefore in as
much as ye are partakers of CHRIST'S sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. And if ye be reproached for
the name of CHRIST, happy are ye; the SPIRIT of glory and of CHRIST resteth on
you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. " GOD
will surely visit you in due time, and turn your captivity as the rivers of the
south, and bring you back again into your possession in this land. Though now
for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; yet
ye shall reap in joy, though now ye sow in tears. All our losses shall be
recompensed with abundant advantages; for my God will supply all your need,
according to his riches in glory by JESUS CHRIST, who is able to do exceeding
abundantly for us, above all that we are able to ask or think." After that he
blessed his children, and those that stood about him, in an audible voice, in
these words: " Gan of his infinite mercy bless you all, and present you holy and
unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight, that we may meet together at the
right hand of our blessed SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, with joy unspeakable, and full of
glory, Amen." To which he added these words, " I have fought a good fight; I
have finished the course of my ministry and life together. Though grievous
wolves have entered in among us, not sparing the flock, yet I trust the great
Shepherd of his flock will save and deliver them out of all places where they
have been scattered in this cloudy and dark day; and they shall be no more a
prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them; but they
shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. O Loin), I have waited fox
thy salvation." And after a little interval he said, " I have kept the faith
once given to the saints; for the which cause I have also suffered these things:
but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." After
this time he spoke little; for as his sickness increased, his speech failed, and
he slumbered out most of the time; only at intervals, it appeared that he was
cheerfully waiting for his change; till about midnight, on the 7th of February,
he fell asleep in the LORD, and obtained his crown, which in some soft was a
crown of martyrdom; for no doubt the weight of sorrow which lay upon his mind,
and his ill usage in his imprisonment, had much hastened his death: and he
suffered more in his mind by what he had lived to hear and see during the last
fifteen weeks of his life, than he could have done, if he had fallen by the
sword, among the first of those that felt the rage of the Irish. On the 9th of
February, he was buried according to the direction himself had given, next to
his wife's coffin. The Irish did him unusual honors at his burial; for the chief
of the rebels gathered their forces together, and with them accompanied his body
from MR. SHERIDAN'S house to the churchyard of Kilmore, in great solemnity; and
they desired MR. CLOGY to bury him according to the office prescribed by the
Church; but though the Gentlemen were so civil as to offer, it, yet it was not
thought adviseable to provoke the rabble so much, as perhaps that might have
done; so it was passed over. But the Irish discharged a volley of shot at his
interment, and cried out in Latin, Requiescat in pace ultimus Anglorum, " May
the last of the English rest in peace." For they had often said, that as they
esteemed him the best of the English Bishops, so he should be the last that
should be left among them. Thus lived and died this excellent Bishop; in whom so
many of the greatest characters of a primitive and apostolical Bishop did show
themselves so eminently, that it seemed fit that he should still speak to the
world, though dead, both for convincing the unjust enemies of that venerable
Order, and for the instruction of those that succeed him in it. It is to be
hoped that the solemn, though silent language of so bright an example will have
the desired effect in both ways. I shall add a little of his character. He was a
tall and graceful person; there was something in his looks and carriage that
discovered what was within, and created a veneration for him. He had an
unaffected gravity in his deportment, and a decent simplicity in his dress and
apparel. He had a long and broad beard; for none ever saw a razor pass upon his
face. His grey hairs were a crown to him, both for beauty and honor. His
strength continued firm to the last; so that the week before his last sickness,
he walked about as vigorously and nimbly as any of the company, and leaped over
a broad ditch; so that his sons were amazed at it, and could scarcely follow
him. His eyes continued so good that he never used spectacles, nor did he suffer
any decay in any of his natural powers;' only by a fall in his childhood he had
contracted a deafness in his left ear. He had great strength and health of body,
except that, a few years before his death, he had some severe fits of the stone,
which his sedentary course of life seemed to have brought on him, and which he
bore with wonderful patience. The best remedy that he found for it was to dig in
his garden till he had very much heated himself, by which he obtained a
mitigation of his pain. He took much pleasure in a garden; and having brought
over some curious instruments out of Italy, for racemation, engrafting, and
inoculating, he was a great master in the use of them. His judgment and memory,
as they were very extraordinary, so they remained with him to the last. He
always preached without notes, but often wrote down his meditations, after he
had preached them. He did not affect to show any other learning in his sermons,
but what was proper for opening his text, and clearing the difficulties in it;
which he did by comparing the originals with the most ancient versions. His
style was clear and full, but plain and simple; for he abhorred all affectation
of pompous rhetoric in sermons, as contrary to the simplicity of CHRIST. His
sermons did all aim at the great design of infusing into the hearts of his
hearers right apprehensions and warm thoughts of the great things of the
Christian religion; which he did with so much the more authority, because it
appeared that he was much moved himself with those things which he delivered to
others. He was always at work in his study, when the affairs of his function did
not lead him out of it; in which his chief employment was the study of the text
of the Scripture. He read the Hebrew and Septuagint so much, that they were as
familiar to him as the English translation. He read every morning the Psalms
appointed by the Common Prayer for the day in Hebrew; or if his son, or any
other that was skilled in the Hebrew, was present, he read one verse put of the
Hebrew, turning it into Latin, and the other read the next, and so by turns,
till they went through them. He had gathered a vast heap of critical expositions
of Scripture. All this, with his other manuscripts, of which there was a great
trunk full, fell into the hands of the Irish. He had written very learned
paraphrases and sermons on all those parts of Scripture that were prescribed to
be read in the second service, but all these were lost. His great Hebrew
manuscript was happily rescued out of the hands of those devourers of all sacred
things, and is to this day preserved in the library of Emmanuel College; for an
Irishman, whom he had converted, went among his countrymen, and brought out
that, and a few other books to him. Every day after dinner and supper, a chapter
of the Bible was read at his table, whosoever were present, Protestants or
Papists; when Bibles were laid down before every one of the company, and before
himself, either the Hebrew or Greek, and in his last years the Irish
translation, was laid; and he usually explained the difficulties that occurred.
He wrote many books of controversy; which was chiefly occasioned by the late
engagements that lay on him, to labor much in the conversion of persons of the
Roman Communion: and the knowledge which he had of that church, and their way of
worship, by what he had seen and observed while he was at Venice, raised in him
a great zeal against their corruptions. He kept a great correspondence, not only
with the divines of England, but with many others over Europe; for he wrote both
Latin and Italian very elegantly. He was very free in his conversation, but
talked seldom of indifferent matters; he expressed a great modesty of spirit,
and a moderation of temper in every thing he spoke, and his discourse still
turned to something which made his company useful and instructive. He spoke his
own thoughts very plainly; and as he bore well the freedom of others, so he took
all the discreet liberty that became a man of his age and station, and did not
hesitate to tell even the learned and worthy Primate USHER such things as he
thought were blameworthy in him: and with the same sincerity he showed him some
critical mistakes which he met with in some of his works. They were very few,
and not of any great importance; but they did not agree with the Primate's
exactness in other things, and so he laid them before him; which the other
received from him with that kindness and humility that were natural to him. His
habit was decent and grave; he wore no silk, but plain stuffs the furniture of
his house was not pompous nor superfluous, but necessary for common use, and
proper. His table was well covered, according to the plenty that was in the
country, but there was no luxury in it. Great resort was made to him, and he
observed a true hospitality in housekeeping. Many poor Irish families about him
were maintained out of his kitchen: and in the Christmas' time he had the poor
always eating with him at his own table; and he brought himself to endure both
the sight of their rags, and their rudeness. He was not forward to speak, and he
expressed himself in very few words in public companies. At public tables he
usually sat silent. Upon a certain occasion at the EARL of STRAFFORD'S table,
some one observed, that while they were all talking, he said nothing: so the
Primate answered, " Broach him, and you will find good liquor in him." Upon
which that person proposed a question in divinity to him, and in answering it,
the Bishop showed both his own sufficiency so well, and puzzled the other so
much, that all at table, except the Bishop himself, fell a laughing at the
other. The greatness of his mind, and the undauntedness of his spirit on all
occasions, have appeared very evidently in many of the passages of his life; but
though that height of mind is often accompanied with a great mixture of pride,
nothing of that appeared in the Bishop. He carried himself towards all people
with such a gaining humility, that he got into their hearts. He lived with his
clergy as if they had been his brethren. When he kept his visitations, he would
not accept of the invitations that were made him by the great men of the
country, but would needs eat with his brethren in such poor inns, and of such
coarse fare, as the places afforded. A person of quality, who had prepared an
entertainment for him during his visitation, took his refusing it so ill, that
whereas the Bishop promised to come and see him after dinner, as soon as he came
near his gate, which was standing open, it was presently shut, on design to
affront him, and he was kept half an hour knocking at it: the affront was
visible, and when some would have had him go away, he would not do it, but said,
" They will hear ere long." At last the master of the house came out, and
received him with many shows of civility; but he made a very short visit, and
though the rudeness he met with prevailed not on him, either to resent it, or to
go away upon it, yet it appeared that he understood it well enough. He avoided
all affectation of state or greatness in his carriage: he went about always on
foot, when he, was at Dublin, one servant only attending him, except on public
occasions, that obliged him to ride in procession among his brethren. He never
kept a coach, for his strength continued so entire that he was always able to
ride on horseback. He avoided the affectation of humility as well as of pride;
the former flowing often from, greater pride: and amidst all those extraordinary
talents, with which GOD had blessed him, it never appeared that he overvalued
himself; or despised others; that he assumed to himself a dictatorship, or was
impatient of contradiction. He took an ingenious device to put him in mind of
his obligations both to purity and humility: it was a flaming crucible, with
this motto in Hebrew, " Take from me all my tin." The word in Hebrew that
signifies tin was Bedil. This imported that he thought that every thing in
himself was but. base alloy, and therefore he prayed that GOD would cleanse him
from it. His great humility made the secret parts of his goodness, as to his
private walking with GOD, less known, except as they appeared in that best and
surest indication of it, which his life and conversation gave yet if the rebels
had not destroyed all his papers, there would have been found among them great
discoveries of this; for he kept a daily journal for many years; but of what
sort it was, how full, and how particular, is only known to GOD; since no man
ever saw it, unless some of the rebels found it: though it is not probable that
they would take the pains to examine his papers, it being more likely that they
destroyed them all in a heap. He never thought of changing his see, or of rising
to a more advantageous bishopric, but considered himself as under a tie to his
see, that could not be easily dissolved: so that when the translating him to a
bishopric in England was proposed to him, he refused it, and said he should be
as troublesome a Bishop in England, as he had been in Ireland. It appeared that
he had a true and generous notion of religion, and that he did not look upon it
so much as a system of opinions, or a set of forms, as a divine discipline that
reforms the heart and life; and therefore when some men were valued upon their
zeal for some lesser matters, he had these words of ST. AUGUSTINE often in his
mouth, " It is not leaves but fruit that I seek." This was the true principle of
his great zeal against Popery: It was not the peevishness of a party, the
sourness of a speculative man, nor the concern of an interested person, which
wrought on him: but he considered the corruptions of that church as an effectual
course for enervating the true design of Christianity; and this he not only
gathered from speculation, but from what he saw and knew differing his long
abode in Italy. His devotion in his closet was only known to Him, who commanded
him to pray in secret. In his family, he prayed always thrice a day; in the
morning, and before dinner, and after supper: and he never turned over this
duty, or the short devotions before and after meat, to his chaplain, but was
always his own chaplain. He looked upon the obligation of observing the sabbath,
as moral and perpetual, and considered it as so great an engine for carrying on
the true ends of religion, that as he would never go into the liberties that
many practiced on that day, so he was exemplary in his own exact observation of
it; preaching always twice, and catechizing once; and besides that, he used to
go over the sermons again in his family, and sing psalms, and concluded all with
prayer. As for his domestic concerns, he married one of the family of the
L'ESTRANGES, who had been before married to the Recorder of St. Edmond'sbury.
She proved to be in all respects a very fit wife for him; she was exemplary for
her life, humble and modest in her habit and behavior, and was singular in many
excellent qualities, particularly in a very extraordinary reverence that she
payed him. She bore him four children, three sons and a daughter; but one of the
sons and the daughter died young, so none survived but WILLIAM and AMBROSE. The
just reputation which his wife had for her piety and virtue, made him choose for
the text of her funeral sermon, " A good name is better than ointment." She died
of a lethargy three years before the rebellion broke out; and he preached her
funeralsermon, with such a mixture both of tenderness and moderation, as touched
the whole congregation so much, that there were very few dry eyes in the church
all the while. He did not like burying in the church; for, as he observed, there
was much both of superstition and pride in it, so he believed it was a great
annoyance to the living, when there was so much of the steam of dead bodies
rising about them. He was likewise much offended at the rudeness which the
crowding of dead bodies in a small parcel of ground occasioned; for the bodies
already laid there, and not yet quite rotten, were often raised and mangled; so
that he made a canon in his Synod against burying in churches: and as he often
wished that burying places were removed out of all towns, so he did choose the
most remote and least frequented place of the churchyard of Kilmore for his
wife, and by his Will he ordered that he should be laid next her with this bare
inscription, Depositum GULIELMI quondam Episcopi KILMORENSIS. Depositum cannot
bear an English translation, it signifying somewhat given to another in trust;
so he considered his burial as a trust left in the earth till the time that it
shall be called upon to give up its dead. As for his two sons, he was satisfied
to provide for them in so modest a way, as showed that he neither aspired to
high things on their behalf; nor did he consider the revenue of the church as a
property of his own, out of which he might raise a great estate for them. He
provided his eldest son with a benefice of eighty pounds a year, in which he
labored with that fidelity which became the son of such a father: his second
son, not being a man of letters, had a little estate of sixty pounds a year
given him by the Bishop; which was the only purchase that he is said to have
made: and we are informed, that he gave nothing to his eldest son but that
benefice, which he so well deserved. So little advantage did he give to the
enemies of the Church, either to those of the Church of Rome, against the
marriage of the Clergy, or to the dividers among ourselves, against the revenues
of the Church: the one sort objecting that a married state made the Clergy
covetous, in order to the raising of their families; and the others pretending
that the revenues of the church being converted by Clergymen into temporal
estates for their children, it was no sacrilege to invade that which was
generally no less abused by churchmen, than it could be by laymen. May the great
Shepherd and Bishop of souls so inspire all that are the overseers of that
flock, which he purchased with his own blood, that in imitation of all those
glorious patterns that are in church history, and of this in the last age, which
is inferior to very few that any former age produced, they may watch over the
flock of CHRIST, and so feed and govern them, that the mouths of all adversaries
may be stopped, and that all differences about lesser matters being laid down,
peace and truth may again flourish, and the true ends of religion and. Church
government may be advanced; and that instead of biting, devouring, and consuming
one another, as we do, we may all, build up one another in our most holy faith.


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  CHAPTER 3: VOL 16 - THE LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USHER
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THE LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USHER Published in a Sermon at his Funeral at
Westminster-Abbey, April 16, 1656, by DR. BERNARD. JAMES USHER was born in
Dublin, in the parish of St. Nicholas, in the year 1580: His father, Mr. ARLAND
USHER, was brought up in the study of the law, a person of excellent parts and
endowments. His mother, MRS. MARGARET STANIHURST, was seduced to the Romish
Religion while he was in England, whom they had in some vows so en-gaged, that
when he came back she could not be reclaimed, to his no small grief. His
grandfather by his mother's side was JAMES STANIHURST, three times Speaker of
the House of Commons in Ireland: he made the first motion for the founding of a
College and University in Dublin; he was Recorder of that city, one of the
Masters of the Chancery, and a man of great wisdom and integrity. His uncle by
his father's side was HENRY USHER, Archbishop of Armagh, a wise and learned man,
who was sent over to petition QUEEN ELIZABETH for the founding of a college and
university in Dublin, which he obtained; so that the college (of which this
person was the sacred first-fruits) had its being by his grandfather's motion,
and his uncle's effecting. He had a brother, AMBROSE USHER, who died young; a
man of great abilities also, who excelled in the knowledge of the Oriental
languages.—Two of his aunts, who by reason of their blindness never saw letters,
taught him first to read. Their readiness in the Scripture was marvelous, being
able readily to repeat any part of the Bible. At eight years old he was sent to
the grammar-school; SIR JAMES FILLERTON (who was afterwards ambassador in France
and died in a great office at Court) was his schoolmaster. He, with SIR JAMES
HAMILTON, (after-wards LORD VISCOUNT CLANDEBOISE,) who was usher of the school,
were sent then out of Scotland by KING JAMES upon another design, only disguised
in that employment: they came very opportunely for his founding in learning; in
which he often acknowledged the providence of God. At ten years old he found in
him the true sense of religion, by a sermon which he heard preached upon Romans
12:1. His reading then of some notes, taken in writing from MR. PERKINS,
concerning the sanctifying of the LORD's day, took so with shim, that he was
ever after careful to keep it. He then read in Latin ST. AUGUSTINE'S
Meditations, which so moved him, that he wept often in the reading of them. Upon
the accustoming himself thus to good duties in his tender years, the Devil
endeavored to nip him in the bud, by divers sorts of terrors and affrightments,
sleeping and waking, tending to the discouraging of him in the way of GODliness.
But he constantly applied himself to prayer, and at length was heard in that he
feared, by some unusual way of support and comfort; which made such impression
on him, that it was fresh in his memory in his elder years. When he could not be
frighted out of that course, the Devil laid a bait of pleasure to withdraw him
from it, by some of his friends teaching him to play at cards, with which he
found himself so delighted, that it not only took place of the love of his book,
but began to be a rival with that spiritual part in him; upon the apprehension
of which, he gave it over, and never played after. At twelve years old he was so
affected with chronology and antiquity, that reading SLEIDAN on the Four
Empires, and other authors, he drew out an exact series of times when each
eminent person lived. In the space of five years he was perfectly instructed in
grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. He excelled in poetry, with which he found
himself so delighted, that he took himself from it, lest it should have taken
him off from more serious studies. At thirteen he was admitted into the College
of Dublin, being the first scholar that was entered into it. And now SIR JAMES
HAMILTON, hitherto usher of the school, was chosen Fellow of the College, and so
became his tutor; whom I have often heard admiring his quickness and
proficiency. At fourteen years old he was called to receive the LORD's Supper.
The afternoon before, his usual custom was to sequester himself, and spend it in
strict examination, and penitential humiliation of himself for his sins, which
was so operative, that streams of tears ran from him; on which, as an exemplary
provocation and censure of him-self; he often reflected, when he became more
advanced in years. I have often heard him speak of a certain place by a
water-side, whither he frequently resorted, sorrowfully to recount his sins, and
with floods of tears to pour them out in the confession of them; the fruit of
which he found to be so sweet to his soul, that he thirsted for all occasions of
such a sequestration, and so usually on Saturdays in the afternoon it was his
custom. One sin he lamented was, his too great love of human learning, that he
should be as glad of Monday to go to that, as of the LORD's day for his service;
it cost him many a tear, that he could not be more heavenly-minded at that age.
At fifteen he had made such a proficiency in chronology, that in Latin he drew
up an exact chronicle of the Bible, as far as the Book of Kings. About that time
he had a strong temptation, that GOD did not love him, because he had no outward
afflictions, or troubles of conscience, occasioned by some inconsiderate
expressions. which he read in some writers. Before he was Bachelor of Arts, he
had read STAPLE-TO N'S " Fortress of the Faith; " and finding his confidence in
asserting antiquity for the tenets of Popery, he was put to a plunge within
himself: this he took for a truth, that the most ancient church must be the
best. His suspicion was, that STAPLETON might misquote the Fathers, or wrest
them to his own sense: hence he took up a. resolution, that if GOD gave him life
and health, he would read the Fathers all over; and so he began that work at
twenty years of age, and finished it at thirty-eight, strictly observing his
proportion each day, whatever occasions diverted him. But now his Father's
intention to send him over hither to the Inns of Court, for the study of the
Common Law, much disturbed him; yet, in obedience to his Father, he assented,
and resolved on it. But, not long after, his Father died, and being then at
liberty to make choice of his studies, he devoted himself to Divinity, and was
chosen Fellow of the College; before which he was incapable of taking the oath
then given at the admission of them, viz. " That the present intent of their
studies should be for the profession of Divinity, unless Go]) should afterwards
other-wise dispose their minds." Here was given another occasion of disturbance,
His Father left him a very good estate in land: but finding that he must have
involved himself in many suits in law before it could have been settled, to the
withdrawing him from his studies, he gave it up to his brother and sisters, and
suffered his Uncle to take letters of administration for that end; being in
those years resolved to cast himself upon the Providence of GOD, to whose
service in the ministry he had devoted himself, and not doubting but He would
provide for him. When he was nineteen years old, he disputed with HENRY
FITZ-SYMONDS, the Jesuit, in the Castle of Dublin. He offered to dispute with
him through the controversies of BELLARMINE. The first subject was De
Anti-CHRISTO: twice or thrice they had solemn disputations. He was ready to have
proceeded; but the Jesuit was weary of it, yet gives him a tolerable
commendation, and much admires his forwardness at such young years. Some of his
words are, " There came once to me a youth of about eighteen years of age, one
of a too soon ripe wit, scarcely, as you would think, gone through his course of
philosophy, or got out of his childhood, yet ready' to dispute of the most
abstruse points in Divinity." And after-wards the same Jesuit, living to
understand more of him, said he was Aeatholicorum doctissinus,—as an unusual, so
a tender expression. He was does to call him a heretic, but terms him " of such
as are not Catholics, the most learned." About twenty years of age he commenced
Master of Arts, and was chosen Catechist of the College, where he went through a
great part of the body of Divinity in the chapel. And now by reason of the
scarcity of Preachers, (it being there then as in SAMUEL'S time, " The word of
Go]) was precious,") three young men of the College were appointed to preach in
CHRIST-Church before the State. One of them was this most learned Primate; and
his part was to handle the controversies for the satisfaction of the Papists, on
the LORD'S day in the afternoon; which he did so perspicuously, ever concluding
with matter of exhortation, that it was much for the confirmation and
edification of the Protestants. But after a little space, he refused to continue
it, because he had not yet received ordination; and that he also made a scruple
of taking yet, on account of his defect of years, the constitutions of England
requiring twenty-four, and he not yet being twenty-one; but by some of the most
grave and learned men, he was told the LORD had need of him. Upon their urging
him, and his age being dispensed with, he was ordained by his Uncle HENRY USHER,
then Archbishop of Armagh. The first text on which he preached publicly, after
his ordination, was Revelation 3:1, " You have a name that you live, and art
dead." It fell out to be the same day with the battle of Kinsale, the Friday
before Christmas-day, 1601; and it being a day specially set apart for prayer
for a good success upon that engagement, and being his first-fruits in that
office, might possibly be the more efficacious. He began that Epistle to the
Church of Sardis then, and finished it afterwards. The design was then known,
that if the Spaniards had got the better, most of the Protestants would have
been slain by the Irish Papists, both in Dublin and elsewhere, but especially
the Ministers, without any distinction: hence arose a temptation in him to have
deferred ordination till the even of that battle were known, whereby he should
not have been in such imminent danger; but he repelled that motion, and resolved
the rather upon it, conceiving that he should, in that office of the ministry,
and for that cause, die the next door to martyrdom. After the overthrow of the
Spaniards at Kinsale, the hopes of the Irish being lost, they began to subject
them-selves to the statute now put in execution, in coming to church; and for
their further information in point of religion, the LORD-Lieutenant and Council
desired the Ministers so to divide themselves, that in each church, on the
LORD'S day in the afternoon, in imitation of what he had already begun at
CHRIST-Church, there might be a sermon for that end. A convenient church (St.
Catherine's) was assigned for this reverend person, who removed accordingly, and
duly observed it. His custom was to draw up the sum of what he had delivered
into questions and answers; and, on the following Sunday, persons of good esteem
voluntarily offered themselves to repeat the answers before the whole
congregation, which occasioned them to be the more taken notice of by the
Papists. By this his labor, and that of others of his brethren, not only in
Dublin, but in other parts of the kingdom, the Papists came to church so
diligently, that if they had occasion to absent themselves, they would send
their excuse to the Churchwardens. But notwithstanding these good beginnings,
suddenly the statute was again suspended, and the power of the High-Commission
was withdrawn; at which the Papists presently withdrew themselves again, and
Popery from that time returned to a higher tide than before, and overflowed its
former banks in a general deluge over the whole nation. Upon this, the spirit of
this holy and eminent person, like ST. PAUL'S at Athens, was stirred within him;
and preaching before the State at CHRIST-Church, Dublin, upon a special
solemnity, he did, with as much prudence and fortitude as might become those
younger years, give them his sense of that their toleration of idolatry; and
made full and bold application of that passage in the Vision of EZEKIEL, (chap.
4:6,) where the Prophet, by lying on his side, was to bear the iniquity of Judah
forty days: " I have appointed thee a day for a year, even a day for a year," as
the old translation of that Bible which he then used, reads it. This, by consent
of interpreters, signifies the time of forty years to the destruction of
Jerusalem, and of that nation, for their idolatry. He made then his direct
application. in relation to that connivance of Popery, viz. " From this year
will I reckon the sin of Ireland, that those whom you now embrace shall be your
ruin, and you shall bear this iniquity." Having since had occasion further to
consider it, we found that there were, from the year 1601, forty years to the
late rebellion and destruction of Ireland, in the year 1641, done by those
Papists, and Popish Priests, who were connived at. He had reserved the notes of
that sermon, with the dates of the year and day on which he preached it; and it
is the more observable, for it was one of the last which he wrote throughout
word for word; afterwards, without writing any thing but the heads, he put his
meditations wholly upon the strength of his memory, and GOD’s assistance. This
is a very observable passage; and if it may be conceived to be a prophetic
impulse in those years, he was the more like to SAMUEL, who in his youth was
sent with a similar message to ELI, relating the ruin of his native country, "
That the LORD would do such a thing in Israel, that whosoever heard it, both his
ears should tingle." And what a continued expectation he had of a judgment upon
his native country, I can witness from the year 1624, when I had the happiness
first to be known to him; and the nearer the time every year, the more confident
he was, to my admiration, there being nothing visibly tending to the fear of it.
After this, he constantly came over to England once in three years, and thus he
spent the summer:—one month at Oxford; another at Cambridge; (searching the
books, but especially the manuscripts, of each University;) the third month at
London, attending chiefly Sin Thomas COT-TON'S library, and conversing with
learned men, with whom in those younger years he was in great esteem. And in
after years, there was scarcely a choice book in any eminent person's library,
in France, Italy, Germany, or Rome, but he had his way to have it, or what he
desired transcribed: and he was better unacquainted with the Pope's Vatican,
than some who were its daily visitors. The first church-preferment he had, was
the Chancellor-ship of St. Patrick's, Dublin, unto which he took no other
benefice. In this dignity the law might have excused him from preaching,
excepting only sometimes, in his course, be-fore the State; yet he would not
omit it to the place from whence he received the profits, but went thither in
person, viz. to Finglas, a mile from Dublin, and preached there every Lord's
day, unless upon extraordinary occasions he were detained; and in having been a
constant Preacher, he took in his elder years more comfort than in all his other
labors and writings. His experiences in prayer were many, and very observable in
the return of his desires in kind, and that immediately, when he had been in
some distresses; and the Providence of GOD in taking care of him in his younger
years, as he did often recount, confirmed his dependence upon him in these his
elder. When he was twenty-seven years old, in the year 1607, he commenced
Bachelor of Divinity, and immediately after was chosen Professor of Divinity in
the University of Dublin. In the year 1612, he proceeded Doctor of Divinity: one
of his lectures, pro grade, was on the Seventy Weeks to the slaying of the
MESSIAH; (Daniel 9:24;) the other (Revelation 20:4) concerning the sense of" The
saints reigning with Cnnisr a thousand years." In the year 1613, he published
that book " De Ecclesiarum Christianarunz Successione et State," magnified by
CASAUBON and SCULTETUS, in their Greek and Latin verses before it. It was
solemnly presented by ARCHBISHOP ABBOT tO KING JAMES, as the eminent
first-fruits of the College of Dublin. In the year 1615, there was a Parliament
in Dublin, and a Convocation of the Clergy, when those learned Articles of
Ireland were composed and published, which he, being a member of the Synod, was
appointed to draw up, They were highly approved by the most orthodox Divines. I
know no cause of some men's speaking against them, unless for that they
determine, according to ST. AUGUSTINE'S Doctrine against the Pelagians, " the
man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 :) to be the Bishop of Rome, and the
Morality of the Sabbath; of both which, this most learned Primate was very
confident, and wished that some learned men of late had spared their pens to the
contrary. And now he wanted not enemies in scandalizing him to KING JAMES, under
the title of a Puritan, to prevent any further promotion of him. But it so fell
out, that this was the occasion of his advancement; for KING JAMES, being in
some fear of him upon that score by the eminency of his learning, fell into some
full discourse with him, and received such abundant satisfaction of the
soundness of his judgment and piety, that, notwithstanding the opposition of
great ones, without his seeking, he made him Bishop of Meath in Ireland, and, as
I have heard, did often boast, that " he was a Bishop of his own making." But
the misinterpretations which some of his enemies had raised and spread of him
moved him voluntarily to declare his judgment, as to the doctrine and discipline
of the Church of England, which was to the satisfaction of all good men. He did
not now slacken in his constancy of preaching, but bound himself the rather to
it, by the motto of his episcopal seal, Yoe nzihi si non evangelizazero; which
he continued in the seal of his primacy also. While he was in England, PRIMATE
HAMPTON dying, he was made, in the year 1624, Primate of Ireland, the hundredth
Bishop of that see, from the first, supposed to be PATRICIUS, who lived in ST.
AUGUSTINE'S time, four hundred years after CHRIST, of whom we read much in
divers ancient writers. And this reverend Primate, in his. book called " The
Religion of the Ancient Irish," has made it appear very probable, that the
doctrine which ST. PATRICK planted, and preached among them at first, was the
same now professed by us. When he was thus promoted to the highest rank which
his profession allowed, in his native country, he was the more humble and
laborious in preaching. And it so fell out, that, for some weeks together,
preaching beyond his, strength, to the over-much wasting of his spirits, at the
request of some Ministers in Essex that he would preach upon the week-days, he
fell into a quartan ague, which held him three quarters of a year. After his
recovery, the LOAD MORDATJNT, afterwards EARL of PETERBOROUGH, being a Papist,
and desirous to draw his Lady to the same religion, was willing that there
should be a meeting of two prime men of each party, to dispute what might be in
controversy between them. The Lady made choice of the LORD Primate, and
prevailed with him, though newly recovered, and scarcely able to take that
journey. The Jesuit chosen by the Earl, went under the name of BEAUMOND, but his
real name was RooxwooD; and he was the brother of AMBROSE ROOKWOOD, one of the
conspirators of the Gunpowder-Treason, who was executed. The place of meeting
was at Drayton, in Northamptonshire, where there was a great library, so that no
books of the ancient Fathers were wanting for their view. The points proposed
were concerning Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, Images, and the
Visibility of the Church. Three days were spent in disputations, but the
conclusion was this: after the third day, the LORD Primate hitherto having been
opponent, and now the Jesuit taking that part upon him, and my LORD that of
respondent, that morning about the time he was expected, he excused his coming
to the Earl, saying, " That all the arguments he had framed in his own head, and
which, he thought, he had as perfect as his Pater-noster, he had forgotten, and
could not recover them again; that he believed it was the just judgment of Go])
upon him, thus to desert him in the de-fence of his cause, for undertaking of
himself to dispute with a man of that eminency and learning, without the license
of his Superior." Whereupon the Earl, upon some further discourse with this LORD
Primate, was converted, and became a Protestant, and so continued to the last.
Upon this, the COUNTESS of PETERBOROUGH owed him a great. respect; and upon his
losses in Ireland, and other distresses here, she took him to her own house. He.
lived, with her about nine or ten years, and died there. In the year 1616, in
August, he returned into Ireland, where he was received with all the expressions
of joy that could be given. The discourses which daily fell from him at his
table, on the clearing of difficulties in the Scripture, and other subjects,
were of great advantage to those who were capable of understanding them. They
put me often in mind of that speech of the Queen of Sheba to SOLOMON, " Happy
are these thy servants that continually stand about thee, and hear thy wisdom."
The order observed in his family, as to prayer, was four times a day; in the
morning at six, in the evening at eight, and before dinner and supper in the
chapel; at all of which he was always present. On Friday, in the afternoon, an
hour was constantly spent in the chapel in going through the principles of
religion, for the instruction of the family. And every Sunday evening, we had a
repetition of his sermon. In Michaelmas Term, in the year 1626, propositions
were made by the Papists for a more full toleration of their religion, viz. the
maintenance of five hundred horse, and five thousand foot, wherein the
Protestants must have borne some share also; for the consideration of which a
great assembly of the whole nation, Papists and Protestants, was called in the
LORD-Deputy FALKLAND'S time. The Bishops, by the LORD Primate's invitation, met
at his house; and he and they unanimously subscribed a Protestation against the
toleration of Popery, which is as followeth: " The religion of the Papists is
superstitious and idolatrous; their faith and doctrine erroneous and heretical;
their church, in respect of both, apostatical. To give them therefore a
toleration, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion, and
profess their faith and doctrine, is a grievous sin, and that in two respects: "
For, 1. It is to make ourselves accessary not only to their superstitions,
idolatries, heresies, and, in a word, to all the abominations of Popery; but
also (which is a consequent of the former) to the perdition of the seduced
people, which perish in the deluge of the Catholic Apostasy. " 2. To grant them
toleration, in respect of any money, or contribution to be made by them, Is to
set religion to sale, and with it the souls of the people whom CHRIST our SAVIOR
has redeemed with his most -precious blood. And as it is a great sin, so also a
matter of dangerous con-sequence; the consideration whereof we commend to the
wise and judicious: beseeching the jealous GOD of truth to make them who are in
authority zealous of GOD's glory, and of the advancement of true religion;
zealous, resolute, and courageous against all superstition and idolatry. Amen."
JAMES, Armachanus. ANDREW, Alachadens. MAL. Caschellen. THOMAs,
TiilmoreBrArdagh. ANTH. Medensis. THEOPHILUS, Dromore. THO. Hernes. Sr Laughlin.
MICHAEL, Waterford and Ro. Dunensis, GEORGE, Derens. FRANCIS, Limerick. RICHARD,
Cork, Cloyne, Ross. And here let me give you some of his exemplary injunctions.
Every LORD's day he preached in the forenoon, in which he spent himself much.
In, the afternoon, this was his order to me, that, besides the catechising of
the youth before public prayers, I should, after the first and second lesson,
spend about half an hour in a brief and plain exposition of the principles of
religion in the public Catechism; and after that I was to preach. First, he
directed me to go through the Creed at once, giving but the sum of each article;
the next time at thrice; and afterwards, each time an article, as they might be
more able to bear it; and so proportionably the Ten Commandments, the LORD'S
Prayer, and the doctrine of the Sacraments. The good fruit of this was apparent
in the common people, upon their approach to the Communion, when, as by the then
order, the names of the receivers were to be given in, so some account was.
constantly taken of their fitness for it. His order throughout his diocese to
the Ministers was, to go through the Body of Divinity once a year. When a public
fast was enjoined, he kept it very strictly, and preached always first himself,
at least continuing two hours, and more than ordinarily extending himself in
prayer. His expenses were much in books: he first procured the Samaritan Bible,
which is only the Pentateuch, to the view of these Western parts. It would seem
incredible if I were to relate how, many years ago, he did confidently foretell
the changes that have come to pass in these dominions, and the poverty he
expected himself, as he said often, in the midst of his plenty. Some have much
observed that text which he took at St. Mary's in Cambridge, in the year 1625,
on the late King's day, and the first annual solemnity of it; (1 Samuel 12:25;)
" But if ye still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king."
Others have remarked the last text he preached on at Court immediately before
his return into Ire-land; (1 Corinthians 14:33;) " GOD is not the author of
con-fusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints:" His application
to the confusions and divisions, which he was confident were at the doors, was
then observed. He has often acknowledged, that sometimes that which he has
resolved in his sermon not to utter, was like JEREMIAH's fire shut up in his
bones, so that he could not forbear reproving the greatest: even before kings he
was not ashamed. And his preaching was with authority; he " withstood to the
face " any toleration of Popery and superstition, by whomsoever attempted. At
hearing him I have thought of that speech in the Psalms, " The zeal of thy house
has eaten me up." I remember a speech of his, in the year 1624, which he has
often confirmed: "That he was persuaded the greatest stroke to the Reformed
Church was to come yet; and that the time of the utter ruin of the See of Rome
should be, when she thought herself most secure; according to that boast of
Babylon at her destruction, (Revelation 18:7,) which he thought to be meant of
the same, " She shall say, I sit as a Queen, and shall see no more sorrow." His
farewell sermon, in or very near the place where he had lived and preached in
England, was much observed; the text of which was, (James 1:15,) " Sin, when it
is finished, brings forth death." His strong application of it to the fullness
of the sins of this nation, which certainly would bring forth destruction,
(which subject he further illustrated by the " Angel putting in his sickle; "
when the " harvest was ripe,"-by the "ephah " filled with wickedness, in the
vision recorded in Zechariah 5:1-11 :,—and by the case of the Amorites,
destroyed when their iniquities were full,) much affected the auditory. The last
time he was in London, he did much lament the deadly hatred kindling in the
hearts of men one against another, by the several opinions in matters of
religion; some of them in opposition to a Ministry, and contemning the
Sacraments; others spreading damnable doctrines, heresies, and blasphemies. He
was confident, that the enemy which had sown those divisions up and down the
nation, were Priests, Friars, and Jesuits, sent out of their seminaries from
beyond seas, in other disguises; who, by their numbers multiplying in London and
elsewhere, expected a great harvest; and who, he was persuaded, if not timely
weeded out, would either lead to Popery, or massacres, or both. He added, how
willing he was, if GOD so pleased, to be taken away before that evil to come.
Now, it is not improbable that so great a prophet, so sanctified from his youth,
so knowing and eminent, might have, at some special times, more than ordinary
impulses, in doing the watchman's part by giving warning of judgments
approaching. In the year 1640, he came out of Ireland hither, being invited by
some eminent persons, upon occasion of the difference between the King and
Parliament; and of this I take notice, as GOD's special providence for his
preservation, it being the year before the rebellion of Ireland. At taking leave
of him, I cannot forget the serious preparative he gave me against the heavy
sorrows and miseries I should see before I saw him again, and with so much
confidence, as if it had been within view: it put me in mind of that declaration
in Amos 3:7, " Surely the LORD will do nothing, but he will reveal it to his
servants the Prophets." In the first year of the rebellion of Ireland, 1641, his
library was with us at Drogheda, when we were besieged four months by the Irish
rebels, and when they made no question of devouring us. The Priests and Friars
without, talked much of the prize they should have in it; but the barbarous
multitude spoke of burning it, and me by the flame of the books, instead of
faggots: it pleased GOD, however, in answer of our prayers and fasting,
wonderfully to deliver us and it out of their hands; and so the whole, with all
his manuscripts, were sent to him that summer at Chester. The sufferings which
he now endured were many. All his personal estate, and whatever else belonged to
his primacy in Ireland, were destroyed; only at present he was preacher at
Covent-Garden church. Upon his losses in Ireland, and straits here, two offers
were made him from foreign nations: one was from CARDINAL RICHLIEU, only in
relation to his eminent learning, pro-posing to him a large maintenance, and
liberty to live where he pleased in France with the Protestants; the other from
the Hollanders, offering him the place of Professor at Ley-den, which had an
ample stipend; but he refused both. And now, by the disturbances of the times,
he was perpetually removing, having, with ST. PAUL, "no certain dwelling-place."
The saying of DAVID was often in his thoughts, " You tellest my wanderings; put
you my tears into thy bottle." Some of those evidences which ST. PAUL produceth
to approve himself to be the Minister of CHRIST, (2 Corinthians 6:1-18 :) were
applicable to him; of which he was often put in mind by learned men of other
churches. In 1642, he obtained leave of both Houses of Parliament to go to
Oxford for his study. In the year 1644, the King coming thither, he preached
before him, November 5. The text was Nehem. 4:11: "And our adversaries said,
They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among then, and slay
them, and cause the works to cease." It was a most apt text for the day; but one
passage in his sermon, against the Papists, advising not to repose any trust in
them, because upon the first opportunity they would serve us here as they did
the poor Protestants in Ireland, offended some persons there attending. In March
following, he went from thence into Wales, to Cardiff in Glamorganshire, and
abode with his daughter. In 16.15, on Sept. 16, he removed thence to St.
Donnet's, (the LADY STRADLING'S,) when by the way he was barbarously used by
some soldiers; who pulled him off his horse, broke open two of his trunks full
of books, and took all away; amongst which he lost two Manuscripts of the
History of the Waldenses, which he never got again: most of the other books were
restored, by the Preachers exhorting all ranks, in their sermons, to that end.
Not long afterwards, he fell into a painful sickness, and bled four days
together, so that all hope of life was gone: but he recovered, and in 1646 he
came to London. After some time he was chosen Preacher to the Honor-able Society
of Lincoln's-Inn, where he continued divers years with great honor and respect,
till, having lost his sight and strength, he was advised to forbear, and reserve
the remainder of his spirits, like PAUL the aged, to the writing of his books,
yet expected. No spectacles could help him only when the sun shined, he could
see at a window, which he hourly followed from room to room; in winter, the
window was often open for him to write at. The next winter he intended to have
an amanuensis; but Go]) was pleased to prevent it, by taking him to the sight of
himself. After he left Lincoln's-Inn, he was prevailed with to preach in several
places;—at Gray's-Inn on Nov. 5, 1654; at the Temple, on occasion of MR.
SELDEN'S funeral; and at two other places in the City, both which latter sermons
were very effectual in the conversion of divers persons that came unto him: and
indeed, seldom did that sword, drawn by him, return empty. The last sermon which
he preached was at Hammersmith, about the Michaelmas preceding his death. He
told me how much he was troubled, that he found himself unable to continue
preaching: his dreams were on it; and though he had been about fifty-five years
a Preacher, and so, like the Levites, might well be excused from the service of
the sanctuary, only employing himself in directing others, yet he had resolved
to have returned to it again, in the following summer. He never sought great
things for himself. In his pecuniary distresses, occasioned by his losses in
Ireland, the Parliament for some years had been bountiful to him in an annual
stipend; but this was suspended during the last two years of their sitting.
After the dissolution of the Parliament, the care of him was renewed by the
LORD-Protector; by whose order a competent allowance was given him. All who knew
him found him very communicative, not only of his studies, but of what he had
out of his stipend, to persons in want. He was not wanting, with ST. PAUL, to
magnify his office, which may be seen and read of all men; but he did it without
partiality. He was not so severe as to disown the ministry of other Reformed
Churches; but declared, that he did love and honor them as true members of the
Church Universal, and was ready, both for the Ministers of Holland and France,
to testify his communion with them. He was a man of most exemplary moderation,
meekness, humility, and ingenuity. In the year 1641, he drew up an expedient, by
way of accommodation in some ecclesiastical affairs, which some moderate persons
of each party were ready to subscribe. In matters of doctrine, for substantials,
it was often his charge not to preach any thing as pleasing men, but GOD, who
has put us in trust: that in so seeking to please men, we should not be the
servants of CHRIST. In the defense of which truths of doctrine, no man was more
resolute and constant, not giving place by way of subjection, no, not for an
hour. But he thought the case was altered in circumstantials; and that it was
our duty, with ST. PAUL, a to please all men, and not ourselves, in all such
things," to edification and concord. In a word, he was without " wavering,"
always one and the same, " holding fast the form of sound words," and walking in
the " old paths and good way; " and " there is none that has drunk the old wine,
that straightway desires new; for he says, The old is better." The night before
he left London, he uttered, with tears, many humble expressions of his own
unworthiness, and demeaned himself as if he had been the least of saints: it
wrought much upon us, who found ourselves so far beneath him. He did then, as he
had often before, wish us to prepare for afflictions and trials, which he was
persuaded were not far from us. And the next morning, being Feb. 13th, 1655, I
took my last leave of him; and he returned to Ryegate to the COUNTESS of
PETERBOROUGH'S. The day on which he first sickened, March 20th, he had spent
mostly at his study: he went from thence to visit a gentlewoman sick in the
house, and gave her most holy advices for three quarters of an hour, in such a
heavenly manner, as if, like Moses upon Mount Nebo, his eyes had been then
strengthened to the sight of that celestial Canaan; or as if, with ST. PAUL in
his rapture, he had been within the gate of heaven, to which he was now nearer
than he was aware. That night, about eight o'clock, he first complained of his
hip, judging it to be a touch of the sciatica, which, about thirty-five years
before, he had brought on by sitting up late in the College-library of Dublin.
He was relieved from this by the use of medicine, and took some rest that night.
In the morning he complained of a great pain in his side. A physician was sent
for; but the pain continuing, and his spirits decaying, he applied himself to
prayer, and, upon the abatement of the torture, employed himself in advising
those about him to provide in their health for death, that then they might have
nothing else to do but to die, the approach of which event to himself he
received with great content. In prayer he had the assistance of a Minister, but
after-wards desired to be left to himself. The last words he was heard to utter,
in praying` for forgiveness of sins, were these, " But, Lo an, in special,
forgive my sins of omission." In general, he had his wish, which I have often
heard him make, that he might die like MR. PERKINS, crying for mercy and
forgiveness. With this humble expression expired this holy man of GOD, this
DANIEL, greatly beloved;—a speech which may be a lesson to us all, and give us,
to our last, matter of solemn meditation and imitation.


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  CHAPTER 4: VOL 16 - LETTERS OF MR. SAMUEL RUTHERFOORD, PART I
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EXTRACTS THE LETTERS OF MR. SAMUEL RUTHERFOORD.


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  CHAPTER 5: VOL 16 - TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
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CHRISTIAN READER, LITTLE need have MR. RUTHERFOORD'S Letters of any man's
Epistle-Commendatory; his great Master, whom he served with his spirit in the
Gospel of his Son, having given them one, written by his own hand on the heart
of every one who is become his epistle, and savours the things of GOD, and has
experienced those rare, those most refreshing, yea and, beyond all expression,
ravishing emanations of the love of GOD upon the soul, which produce the
emanations of its love back again upon Him, who shed abroad his love in the
heart; a thing as much and manifestly exemplified in these epistles, as in any
piece which the world has yet seen, or this day can show. For, in each of these,
you may perceive how the writer's heart is inflamed with a holy fire, and how
his soul ascends, as if snatched up to heaven, and caught up above all that is
below GOD. O how much is what drops from his pen above the ordinary attainments
even of such as seem to have out-run others! So that in respect of us, this
Angel of the Church speaks as one standing already in the choir of Angels, or as
an Angel come down from heaven among men, to give us some account of what they
are doing above! Thus leaving thee to peruse what is made public for thy
edification, and wishing thee an experimental know-ledge of that surpassing and
inconceivable sweetness, which is in the fruition of GOD, and in a fellowship
with the FATHER and with his SON JESUS CHRIST; (without which, while he speaks
as coming forth out of the King's banqueting-house, to persuade thee to go in
thither and feast, he will be to thee a Barbarian;) I shall only wish and beg,
that you wouldest seriously seek of GOD the same thing for him, who seeks this
for thee, and who has his design in the pains taken in publishing these Letters,
if you be thereby provoked to seek till you find. This is that adequate
recompense which he seeks, earnestly en-treats, and expects, who is Thy soul's
well-wisher, And servant in CHRIST JESUS.


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  CHAPTER 6: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
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MR. RUTHERFOORD'S LETTERS. TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE MADAM, I HAVE heard of
your Ladyship's sickness, with grief; yet I trust ye have learned to say, " It
is the LORD, let him do what seems good in his eyes.", It is now many years
since the apostate Angels made a question, whether their will or the will of
their Creator should be done; and, since that time, froward mankind has always
in that suit compeered to plead with them against GOD, in re-pining against his
will. But the LORD, being both party and judge, has obtained a decree, and says,
(Isaiah 46:10,) " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." It is
then best for us, in the obedience of faith, and in a holy submission, to give
that to GOD,’which the law of his almighty and just power will have of us.
Therefore, Madam, your Lord, willeth you, in all states of life, to say, " Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." And herein shall ye have comfort,
that He, who seeth perfectly through all your evils, and knows the frame and
constitution of your nature, and what is most healthful for your soul, holdeth
every cup of affliction to your head with his own gracious hand. Never believe
that your tender-hearted SAVIOR will mix that cup with one dram of poison, Drink
then with the patience of the saints; and the patience of GOD bless your physic!
I hive! e d your Ladyship complain of deadness, and want of the power of the
life of GOD; but courage! He who walked in the garden, and made a noise that
made ADAM hear his voice, will also at some times walk in your soul, and make
you hear a more sweet word. Yet ye will not always hear the noise of his feet
when he walks: Ye are at such a time like JACOB mourning at the supposed death
of JOSEPH, when JOSEPH was living. The image of the Second ADAM is living in
you; and yet ye are mourning at the supposed death of the life of CHRIST in you.
En It Al H is bemoaning and mourning, (Jeremiah 20:1-18 :xi.) when he thinketh
GOD is far off; and heareth not; and yet GOD is like the Bridegroom, (Son_2:1-17
:) standing only behind a thin wall, and laying to his ear; for he says himself,
(ver. 18,) " I have surely heard EPHRAIM bemoaning himself." I have good
confidence, Madam, that CHRIST JESUS, whom your soul through forests and
mountains is seeking, is within you: and yet I speak not this to lay a pillow
under your head, or to dissuade you from a holy fear of the loss of CHRIST, or
of provoking and stirring up the Beloved, before he please, by sin. I know, in
spiritual confidence, the Devil will come in, as in all other good works, and so
endeavor to bring you under a fearful sleep, till He whom your soul loves be
departed from the door, and have left off knocking; and therefore, here the
SPIRIT of GOD must hold your soul's feet in the golden mid-line between
confident resting in the arms of CHRIST, and drowsy sleeping in the bed of
fleshly security. There-fore, so count little of yourself; that ye count not
also little of GOD in the course of his mercy. For there be many Christians,
like young sailors, who think the shore and the whole land does move, when the
ship and they themselves are moved: just so, not a few imagine that Goes moveth,
and faileth, and changed: places, because their giddy souls are under sail, and
subject to alteration; but " the foundation of the LORD abideth sure." God knows
that ye are his own: wrestle, fight, go forward, watch, fear, believe, pray; and
then ye have the infallible symptoms of one of the elect of CHRIST within you.
Ye have now sickness before you; and after that, death; gather then food for the
journey. GOD give you eyes to see through sickness and death, and to see
something beyond death! I doubt not but if hell were between you and CHRIST, as
a river which ye must cross before ye could come at him, but ye would willingly
put in your foot, and make through to be at him, upon hope that he would come in
himself; in the deepest of the river, and lend you his hand. Now I believe your
hell is dried up, and ye have only these two shallow brooks, sickness and death,
to pass through; and ye have also a promise that CHRIST shall do more than meet
you, even that he shall come him-self and go with you foot for foot, yea, and
bear you in his arms. O then! for the joy that is set before you, for the love
of the Man (who is also a GOD over all, blessed for ever ") that is standing
upon the shore to welcome you, run your race with patience. The Lon]) go with.
you! Your LORD will not have you, nor any of his servants, to exchange for the
worse. Death in itself includeth both the death of the soul, and the death of
the body; but to GOD's children the bounds of death are abridged, and drawn into
a more narrow compass: so that, when ye die, a piece of death shall only seize
upon you, and that is the dissolution of the/body; for in CHRIST ye are
delivered from the second death; and therefore, that serpent, sin, shall but eat
your earthly part. As for your soul, it is above the law of death. Not willing
to weary your Lady-ship further, I commend you, now and always, to the grace and
mercy of that GOD, who is able to keep you, that ye fall not. The LORD JESUS be
with your spirit! Your Ladyship's servant Anwoth, At all dutiful obedience in
CHRIST, July 27, 1628. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 7: VOL 16 - TO THE PARISHIONERS OF KILMACOLME.
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TO THE PARISHIONERS OF KILMACOLME Worthy and well-beloved in CHRIST JESUS our
LORD, GR ACE, mercy, and peace be to you! Your letters could not come to my hand
in a greater throng of business than I am now pressed with; yet I cannot but
answer both. 1. I would not have you fix upon me, as the man able by letters to
answer' doubts of this kind, while there are, in your bounds, men of such great
parts, most able for this work. I know the best are unable; yet it pleases the
SPIRIT of JESUS to blow his sweet wind through a dry stick. that the empty reed
may keep no glory to itself. 2. Know that the wind of this SPIRIT, has a time
when it bloweth sharp, and presseth so strongly, that it would blow through an
iron door: and this is commonly rather under suffering for CHRIST, than at any
other time. Sick children get CHRIST'S pleasant things; because JESUS is most
tender of the sufferer, for he was a sufferer himself. O, if I had but the
leavings of a sufferer's table!—But I leave this to answer yours. First, Ye
write, that Go n's vows are lying on you, and security stealing on you who are
weak.—I answer, 1. Nature is a sluggard, and loves not the labor of religion;
therefore rest should not be taken, till we know the disease to be over: and the
calms of faith, of victory over corruption, should be entertained in the place
of security; so that, if I sleep, I would desire to sleep faith's sleep, in
CHRIST'S bosom. 2. Know also, none that sleep sound can seriously complain of
sleepiness. Sorrow for a slumbering soul is a token of some watchfulness of
spirit. But this is soon turned into wantonness; therefore our waking must be
watched over, else sleep will even grow, out of watching; and there is as much
need to watch over grace, as to watch over sin. Full men will soon sleep, and
sooner than hungry men. 3. For your weakness to keep off the security which
stealeth upon you, I would say two things:-(l.) To want complaints of weakness,
is for Heaven, and Angels that never sinned; not for Christians in CHRIST'S camp
on earth. No man should rejoice at weakness and diseases; but I think we may
have a sort of gladness at boils and sores, because, without them, CHRIST's
fingers, as a slain LORD, should never have touched our skin. I dare not thank
myself, but I dare thank GOD’s depths of wise providence, that I have an errand
in me for CHRIST to come and visit me, and bring with him his bain. O how sweet
is it for a sinner to put his weakness in CHRIST'S strengthening hand; and to
father a sick soul upon such a Physician; and to lay weakness before him, to
weep upon him, and to plead and pray! Weakness can speak and cry when we have
not a tongue; (Ezekiel 16:6;) " And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted
in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when you wast in thy blood, Live." The
Church could not speak one word to CHRIST then;-but blood and guiltiness spoke,
and drew out of CHRIST pity, and a word of life and love.(2.) For weakness, we
have it, - that we may employ CHRIST's strength because of our weakness.
Weakness is to make us the strongest things; that is, when having no strength of
our own, we are carried upon CHRIST'S shoulders. If our weakness swell up to the
clouds, CHRIST'S strength will swell up to the sun, and above the heaven of
heavens. Secondly, Ye tell me, that there is need of counsel for strengthening
new beginners. I can say little to that, who am not well begun myself; but I
know, honest beginnings are nourished by Him, who never yet put out a poor man's
dim candle, wrestling between light and darkness. I am sure, if new beginners
would urge themselves upon CHRIST, and press their souls upon him, they could
not come wrong to CHRIST. Thirdly, Whereas ye complain of a dead ministry,
re-member that the Bible among you is the contract of marriage; and the manner
of CHRIST's conveying his love to your heart is not so absolutely dependent
upon. even lively preaching, as that there is no conversion at all, no life of
GOD, but that which is tied to a man's lips. Make CHRIST your Minister. He can
woo a soul at a dike-side in the field. He needeth not us, although the flock be
obliged to seek him in the shepherds' tents. Hunger of CHRIST'S making may
thrive, even under stewards who mind not the feeding of the flock. O blessed
soul, that can leap over man, and look above a pulpit to CHRIST, who can preach
home, to the heart, although we were all dead and rotten. Fourthly, So to
complain of yourself, as to justify GOD, is right; providing ye justify his
SPIRIT in yourself: but I advise you to speak good of CHRIST for his beauty and
sweetness, and speak good of him for his grace to yourselves. Fifthly, Light
remaineth, ye say, but ye cannot attain to painfulness. While we are here, light
is in the most part broader and longer than obedience. But if there be sorrow
for coming short of performance, our honest sorrow and sincere aims, together
with CHRIST'S intercession, pleading that Go]) would welcome that which we have,
and forgive that which we have not, will not be in vain. Sixthly, In CHRIST'S
absence, there is (as ye write) a willingness to use means, but heaviness after
the use of " them, because of the formal and slight performance. In CHRIST'S
absence, I confess, the work lieth behind; but if ye mean absence of [abounding]
comfort, I think that absence is CHRIST'S trying us, not simply our sin against
him: But if ye mean, by absence of CHRIST, the with-drawing of his working
grace, I see not how willingness to use means can be at all under such an
absence. There-fore, be humbled for heaviness in that obedience, and thankful
for willingness. I also recommend to you heaviness for formality, and for
deadness in obedience: Be cast down, as much as ye will or can, for deadness;
and challenge that slow and dull carcass of sin, that will neither lead nor
drive in your spiritual obedience. Seventhly, Ye hold, that CHRIST must either
have hearty service, or no service at all. If ye mean, he will not halve a
heart, or have feigned service, I grant you that. CHRIST must have honesty or
nothing: But if ye mean that he will have no service at all, where the heart
draweth back in any measure; I would not that were true, for my part of heaven,
and all that I am worth in the world. If ye mind to walk to heaven without a
cramp or a crook, I fear ye must go alone. He knows our dross and defects; and
JESUS pitieth us, when weakness and deadness are our cross, and not our darling.
Yet I judge it not unlawful, to seek renewed consolations: Provided, 1. That the
heart be submissive, and content to leave the measure and timing of them to
him:2: That they be sought to excite us to praise, and strengthen our assurance,
and sharpen our desires after himself:3. That they be sought, not for our humors
or the swelling of nature, but as an -earnest of heaven. And, I think, many
attain to greater consolations after mortifications, than ever they had
formerly. But I know our LORD walks here still by a sovereign latitude, and
keepeth not the same way towards all his children. The rich grace of our LORD
JESUS CHRIST be with you all. Yours in his sweet LORD JESUS, S. R.


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  CHAPTER 8: VOL 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
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TO MY LADY KENMURE MADAM, SALUTING your Ladyship with grace and mercy from GOD
OUR FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS CHRIST; —I was sorry at my departure,
leaving your Ladyship in grief; and would still be grieved at it, if I were not
assured that ye have one. with you in the furnace, whose visage is like unto the
Son of God. I am glad that you have been acquainted from your youth with the
wrestlings, of GOD, and that ye are cast from furnace to furnace; knowing that,
if ye were not dear to GOD, he would not spend so much physic upon you. All the
brethren and sisters of CHRIST must be conformed to his image in suffering'; and
some do more closely resemble the copy than others. Think, Madam, that it is a
part of your glory to be enrolled among those, whom one of the elders
(Revelation 7:14) pointed out to Joan, " These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of
the lamb." Behold your Fore-runner going out of the world, all in a lake of
blood; and it is not ill to do as he did. Fulfil with joy in your body the
remnant of the afflictions of CHRIST. Ye have lost a child: nay, she is not lost
to you, who is found to CHRIST she is not sent away, but only sent before,—like
a star, which, going out of our sight, does not die and vanish,, but shineth in
another hemisphere: ye see her not, yet she does shine in another country. If
her glass was but a short hour, what she wants of Time, that she has gotten of
Eternity.-Build your nest upon no tree here.: for ye see GOD has sold the forest
to death; and every tree, whereupon we would rest, is ready to be cut down, to
the end that we may flee and mount up, and build upon the rock, and dwell in the
holes of the rock. What ye love besides JESUS, your husband, is an adulterous
lover. Now it is GOD’s special blessing to JUDAH, that he will not let her find
her paths in following her strange lovers; (Hosea 2:6-7;) " Therefore, behold, I
will hedge up her way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her
paths." And " She shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake
them." O thrice happy JUDAH, when GOD buildeth a stone wall between her and the
fire of hell! The world and the things of the world, are the lover ye naturally
affect, beside your own husband, CHRIST. The hedge of thorns, and the wall which
GOD buildeth in your way, to hinder you from this lover, are the thorny edge of
daily grief, loss of children, weakness of body, iniquity of the times,
uncertainty of estate, lack of worldly comfort, and fear of GOD’s anger for old
unrepented sins. What lose ye, if GOD twist the hedge daily thicker GOD, be
blessed, the LORD will not let you find your paths. Return to your first
husband. Do not weary, neither think that death walks towards you with a slow
pace; ye must be riper before ye be shaken. Your days are no longer than Jon's,,
that were " swifter than a post, and passed away as the ships of desire, and as
the eagle that hasteth for the prey." (Job 9:25-26.) There is less sand in your
glass now than there was yesternight; this span-length of ever-posting time will
soon be ended. But the greater is the mercy of GOD, the more years ye get to
advise upon what terms ye cast your soul into the huge gulf of never-ending
eternity. The LORD has told you what ye should be doing till he come: " Wait and
hasten (says ST. PETER) for the coming of our LORD." All is night that is here,
in respect of ignorance and daily ensuing troubles, one always making way to
another, as the ninth wave of the sea to the tenth; therefore sigh "and long for
the dawning of that morning, and the breaking of that day of the coming of the
SON OF MAN, when the shadows shall flee away. Persuade yourself that the King is
coming. Read his letter sent before him, (Revelation 3:11,) " Behold, I come
quickly.", Wait with the. wearied night-watch for the breaking of the eastern
sky, and think that ye have not a morrow; as the wise father said, who, being
invited against to-morrow to, dine with his friends, answered, " Those many
days, I had no morrow at all." I am does to weary you: show yourself a
Christian, by suffering without murmuring, for which sin fourteen thousand seven
hundred were slain. (Nunn. 16:49.) In patience possess your soul. They lose
nothing, who gain CHRIST. I commend you to the mercy and grace of our LORD
JESUS, assuring you that your day is coming, and that GOD's mercy is abiding
you. The Logs JESUS be with your Spirit. Anwoth, Yours in the LORD JESUS, Jan.
15, 1629. At all dutiful obedience, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 9: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACKNAUGHT. WELL-BELOVED AND DEAR SISTER, I UNDERSTAND you are still
under the LORD'S visitation, with your enemies; which is Gem's dealing. Till He
take his children out of the furnace, who alone knows how long they should be
tried, there is no deliverance; but after the sea of trouble is gone over the
souls of his children, then comes the gracious ebbing, and drying up of the
waters. Dear Sister, do not faint; the wicked may hold the bitter cup to your
head, but GOD, mixeth it, and there is no poison in it: they strike, but GOD
moves the rod: SHIMEI curseth, but it is because the LORD bids him. I tell you,
and I have it from Him before whom I stand, there is a decree given out, in the
great court of heaven, that your present troubles shall be dispersed as the
morning-cloud, and GOD shall bring forth your righteousness as the light at noon
of day. Let me entreat you, in CHRIST'S name, to keep a good conscience in your
proceedings in that matter, and beware of yourself; yourself is a more dangerous
enemy than I, or any without you. Innocence, and an upright cause, are a good
advocate before GOD, and shall plead for you, and win your cause. Count much of
your Master's approbation. He is now as the King that is gone to a far country.
GOD seems to be from home; (if I may say so;) yet he sees the ill servants, who
say, " Our Master deferreth his coming." Patience, my be-loved, CHRIST the King
is coming home; the evening is at hand; and he will ask an account of his
servants. Make a fair and clear account to him. So carry yourself, as that at
night you may say, " Master, I have wronged none; behold, you have your own with
advantage." Your soul then will esteem much the testimony of a good conscience.
O thrice happy shall your soul be then, when Go') finds you covered with nothing
but the white robe of the saints' innocence, and the righteousness of JESUS
CHRIST. Put on love, and brotherly-kindness, and long-suffering; and wait as
long upon you as enemies, as CHRIST waited upon you,—as JESUS stood at your
soul's door, with dewy and rainy locks, during the long cold night. I persuade
myself, that holy unction, which teacheth you all things, is also saying, "
Overcome evil with good." It is my prayer for you, that your carriage may grace
and adorn the Gospel of that LORD who has graced you. I hear your husband was
also sick but I beseech you, in the bowels of JESUS, welcome every rod of GOD.;
for I find not, in the whole book of GOD, a greater note of the child of GOD,
than to fall down and kiss the feet of an angry Got', and when he seems to put
you away from him, to look up in faith, and say, " I shall not, I will not be
put away from thee; LORD, give me leave to hold and cleave unto thyself."
Anwoth, Your brother in CHRIST, July 21, 1630. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACKNAUGHT WELL-BELOVED SISTER, I HAVE been thinking, since my
departure from you, of the pride and malice of your adversaries; and ye may not
(since ye have heard the book of the Psalms so often) take it hardly. I beseech
you, in the bowels of CHRIST, set before your eyes the patience of your
Fore-runner JESUS, who, " when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he
suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to Him who judges
righteously." (1 Peter 2:23.) And since our LORD and REDEEMER with patience
received many a black stroke on his glorious body, and many a buffet of the
unbelieving world, and says of himself, (Isaiah 1:1-31.'6,) " I gave my back to
the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face
from shame and spitting;" follow him, and think it not hard that you receive a
blow with your LORD; take part with JESUS of his sufferings, and glory in the
marks of CHRIST. If this storm were over, you must prepare yourself for a new
wound; for, five thousand years ago, our LORD pro-claimed deadly war between'
the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent; and marvel not that one town
cannot keep the children of GOD and the children of the Devil; be you upon
CHRIST'S side, and care not what flesh can do; hold yourself fast by your
SAVIOR, howsoever you be buffeted, and by those that follow Him. Yet a little
while, and the wicked shall not be. See 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 : " We are troubled
on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." If you can possess
your soul in patience, their day is coming. Worthy and dear Sister, know how to
carry yourself in trouble; and when you are hated and reproached, the LORD shows
it to you: (Psal. 44: 1'i: and 119: 92:) " All this is come upon us, yet we have
not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant." " Unless thy
law had been my delight, I had perished in mine afflictions." Keep Gov's
covenant in your trials; hold you by his blessed word, and sin not; flee anger,
wrath, grudging, envying, fretting and forgive a hundred pence to your
fellow-servant, because the Lotto has forgiven you ten thousand talents. For I
assure you by the LORD, your adversaries shall get no advantage against you,
except you sin, and offend your LORD in your sufferings; but the way to
over-come is by patience, forgiving, and praying for your enemies; in doing
whereof you heap coals upon their heads, and your LORD shall open a door to you
in your trouble. Wait upon him, as the night-watch waiteth for the morning; he
will not tarry: gp up to your watch-tower, and come not down, but by prayer, and
faith, and hope, wait on. When the sea is full, it will ebb again; and so soon
as the wicked are come to the top, and are waxed high and mighty, then is their
change approaching. They that believe make not haste. I trust in our LORD, you
shall by faith sustain yourself; and comfort yourself in your LORD, and be
strong in his power; for you are in the beaten and common way to heaven, when
you are under Our LORD'S crosses. You have reason to rejoice, more than in a
crown of gold, to bear the reproach of CHRIST. I rest, recommending you and
yours, for ever, to the grace and mercy of GOD. Antwoth, Yours in CHRIST, Feb.
11, 1631. S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: VOL 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY.
========================================================================

TO JOHN KENNEDY My loving and most affectionate Brother in CHRIST, I SALUTE YOU
with grace, mercy, and peace, from GOD OUT FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS
CHRIST. I heard with grief of your great danger of perishing by the sea, but of
your merciful deliverance with joy. Sure I am, Brother, SATAN will leave no
stone unrolled, to roll you off your rock, or, at least, to unsettle you: for at
the same time, the mouths of wicked men were open against you by land, and the
Prince of the power of the air was angry with you by sea. See then how much you
are obliged to that murderer, who would beat you with two rods at one time; but,
blessed be Go), his arm is short; if the sea and winds would have obeyed him,
you had never come to land. Thank your GOD, who says, (Revelation 1:18;
Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6.) " I have the keys of hell and of death:" " I
kill and make alive:" " The LORD bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up."
If SATAN were gaoler, and had the keys of death and of the grave, they would be
stored with more prisoners. You were knocking at these black gates, and you
found the doors shut; and we do all welcome you back again. I trust you know it
is not for nothing that you are sent to us again: the LORD knew that you had
forgotten something which was necessary for your journey; that your armour was
not yet thick enough against the stroke of death. Now, in the strength of JESUS,
despatch your business; that debt is not forgiven, but delayed; death has not
bidden you farewell, bnt has only left you for a short season. End your journey
before the night come upon you; have all in readiness against the time when you
must sail through that black and impetuous Jordan; and may JESUS, who knows both
these depths, and the rock, and all the coasts, be your pilot! The last tide
will not wait for you one moment: if you have forgotten any thing when your sea
is full, and your foot in that ship, there is no returning again to fetch it.
What you do amiss in your life to-day, you may amend to-morrow. For as many suns
as Go]) maketh to arise upon you, you have as many new lives: but you can die
but once; and, if you mar that business, you cannot come back to mend that piece
of work again. No man sinneth twice in dying ill; as we die but once, so we die
ill or well but once. You see how the number of your months is written in GOD’s
book; and, as one of the LORD's hirelings, you must work till the evening come
upon you, and you run out your glass even to the last sand. Fulfil your course
with joy; for we take nothing to the grave with us, but a good or evil
conscience. And although the sky clear after this storm, yet clouds will
engender another. You contracted with CHRIST, I hope, when you first began to
follow him, that you would bear his cross; fulfill your part of the contract
with patience. Be honest, Brother, in bargaining with him; for who knows how to
bring up children better than our Gon For, to lay aside his knowledge, which
there is no searching out, he has been practiced in bringing up his heirs these
five thousand years; and many of them are now at home in their own house, in
their father's inheritance.. Now, the form of his bringing up was by
chastisements, scourging, and correcting;—his eldest son and his heir, JESUS, is
not excepted. Suffer we must: before. we were born, GOD decreed it; and it is
easier to complain of his decree, than to change it. Tribulation and temptations
will almost loose us at the root; and yet without tribulations and temptations
we can no more grow, than herbs or corn without rain. Forward then, dear
Brother; hold fast the truth; for the. world, sell not one dram of GOD’s truth,
especially now when most men measure truth by time, like young seamen setting
their compass by a cloud. The GOD of truth establish us; for, alas! now there
are none to comfort the prisoners of hope, and the mourners in Zion. We can do
little, except pray and mourn for JOSEPH. And let their tongue cleave to the
roof of their mouth, who forget Jerusalem now in her day. MARION MACNAUGHT Both
remember most heartily her love to you. Blessed be the LORD, that I found in
this country such a woman, to whom JESUS is dearer than her own heart. Good
Brother, call to mind the memory of your worthy father, now asleep in CHRIST;
and, as his custom was, pray continually, and wrestle for the life of a dying
church. Now I commend you, your whole soul, and body, and spirit, to JESUS
CHRIST and his keeping; hoping that you will die and live, stand and fall, with
the cause of our Master, JESUS. The, LORD JESUS himself be with your spirit!
Your loving Brother, Anwoth, In our LORD JESUS, Feb. 2, 1632.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 12: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACNAUGHT Well-beloved and dear Sister in CHRIST, I COULD not get an
answer written to your letter till now, in respect of my wife's disease; and she
is yet mightily pained;—I hope all shall end in GOD’s mercy. I know that an
afflicted life looks very like the way that leads to the kingdom; for the
Apostle (Acts 14:22) has drawn the King's mark et-way " through much tribulation
" to " the Kingdom." The Lon]) grant us the whole armor of God! If the work be
of GOD, he can make a stepping-stone. of the Devil himself, for setting forward
the work. For yourself; I would advise you to ask of GOD a submissive heart.
Your reward shall be with the LORD. although the people be not gathered, as the
Prophet speaks, and suppose the word do not prosper, GOD shall account you a
repairer of the breaches; hold your gripe fast. If you knew the mind of the
glorified in heaven, they think heaven comes to their hand at an easy market,
when they have got it for threescore or fourscore years' wrestling with GOD.
When you are come thither, you shall think, " All I did, in respect of my rich
reward enjoyed of free grace, was too little." Now then, for the love of the
Prince of your salvation, who is standing at the end of your way, holding in his
hand the prize and garland to the race-runners, forward, forward; faint not!
Take as many to heaven with you as you are able to draw; the more you draw with
you, the more welcome you shall be yourself. Be no niggard of the grace of GOD;
and employ all your endeavors for establishing an honest ministry in your town,
now when you have so few to speak a good word for you. I have many a grieved
heart daily in my calling. I should be undone, if I had not access to the King's
chamber of presence, to show him all the business. The Devil rages and is mad,
to see the water drawn from his own mill; but would to GOD that we could be the
LORD's instruments, to build the Son of GOD's house. Pray for me. If the LORD
furnish not new timber from Lebanon, to build the house, the work will cease. I
look to him, who has begun well with me; I have it in his hand-writing that he
will not change. The LORD establish you in peace! The LORD be with your spirit!
Anwoth, 1633. Yours in CHRIST, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 13: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACNAUGHT. WELL-BELOVED SISTER, MY old and dearest love in CHRIST
remembered:—Our LORD knows best what is good for an old Kirk, that is fallen
from her first love, and has forgotten her husband, days without number. There
is a dry wind coming, but neither to fan nor to purge. Happy are they who are
not blown away with the chaff; for we shall but suffer temptation for ten days.
But those who are " faithful to death shall receive the crown of life." I hear
daily what has been spoken of myself, most unjustly and falsely; and no marvel;
the Dragon with the swing of his tail has made the " third part of the stars to
fall from heaven," and the fallen would have many to fall with them. If ever
SATAN was busy, now, when he knows his time is short, he is busy: " Yet a little
while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." I know, before it
be long the LORD shall come, and rid all pleas between us and his enemies. Now
welcome LORD JESUS, go fast! You remember what I said to you concerning your
love to me and my brother begun in CHRIST; you know, " we are here but
strangers," and you have not yet found us a dry well, as others have been. Be
not overcome of any suspicion. I trust in GOD that the LORD, who knit us
together, shall keep us together. It is time now, that the lambs of JESUS should
all run together, when the wolf is barking at them; yet I know that, before
GOD's children want a cross, their love amongst themselves shall be a cross; but
our LORD giveth love for another end. I know you will with love cover
infirmities; and our Loa') give you wisdom in all things! I think love has broad
shoulders, and will bear many things, and yet neither faint, nor sweat, nor fall
under the burden. Grace, mercy, and peace, be with you! Anwoth, Yours in his
LORD JESUS, April 25, 1634. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 14: VOL 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO MY LADY KENMURE MADAM, THE cause of my not writing to your Ladyship is not my
forgetfulness of you, but the want of a convenient bearer. I bless our LORD
through CHRIST, who has brought you home again to your country, from that place
where you have seen with your eyes that which our LORD taught you before, to
wit, that worldly glory is nothing but a vapor, a shadow, the form of the water,
or some-thing less and lighter, even nothing; and that our Lon]) has not without
cause said in his word, (1 Corinthians 7:31,) " The countenance," or " fashion,
of this world passes away." In that place, our LORD compareth it to an image in
a looking-glass, for it is the looking-glass of ADAM'S sons: some come to the
glass, and see in it the picture of honor, and but a picture indeed; for true
honor is to be great in the sight of GOD. And others see in it the shadow of
riches, and but a shadow indeed; for durable riches stand as one of the maids of
wisdom upon her left-hand. (Pron. 3:16.) And a third sort see in it the face of
painted pleasures, and the beholders will not believe but that the image they
see in this glass is a living man, till the LORD come and break the glass in
pieces, and remove the face; and then, like PHARAOH awakened, they say, "
Behold, it was a dream." I know your, Ladyship thinketh yourself little, for the
favorable aspect of any of these three painted faces; and blessed be our Lotto
that it is so; the better for you: Madam, they are. not worthy to be wooers to
your soul, which looks to a higher match than painted clay. Know therefore, that
the place whither our LORD JESUS cometh to woo a bride, it is even in the
furnace: for if you be one of ZioN's daughters, the LORD who has his fire in
Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem, (Isaiah 31:9,) is purifying you in the
furnace. I believe you esteem yourself to be of those whom Go]) has tried these
many years, and refined as silver. But, Madam, I will show your Ladyship a
privilege that others want, and you have in this case. Such as are in
prosperity, and increased with children and friends, may indeed justly consider
that the word of GOD is written to them for their instruction; yet to you who
are in trouble, from whom the LORD has taken I any children, and whom he has
exercised otherwise, there are some particular promises in the word of GOD, made
in a most special manner, which would never have been yours, so. as they now
are, if you had your portion in this life, as others: and therefore all the
comforts, promises, and mercies, which GOD offereth to the afflicted, are so
many kind letters written to you; take them to you, Madam, and claim your right,
and be not robbed. It is no small comfort, that GOD has written some Scriptures
to you, which he has not written to others. You seem rather in this to be envied
than pitied; and you are indeed in this like people of another world, and those
that are above the ordinary rank of mankind, whom our KING and LORD, in his
letter to his well-beloved spouse, has named above all the rest, and to whom he
has written comforts, and his hearty commendations, in the 56th of Isaiah, per.
4, 5,. and in Psalms 147:2-3. Read these and the like; and think that your Go n
is like a friend who sends a letter to a whole house and family, but speaketh in
his letter by name, to some that are dearest to him in the house. Ye are, then,
of the dearest friends of the Bridegroom; if it were lawful, I would envy you,
that Got* has honored you so above many of his children. Therefore, your part
is, in this case, (seeing Go n taketh nothing from you, but that which he is to
supply with his own presence,) to desire your LORD to know his own room, and to
come in, in the room of dead children. " JEHOVAH, know thy own place, and take
it to thee," is all you have to say. I persuade myself, that this world is to
you an uncouth inn; and that you are like a traveler, who has his staff in his
hand, and his feet upon the door-threshold. Go forward, in the strength of your
LORD, with your face towards him, who longeth more for a sight of you, than you
can do for him. The hand of the Loin be with you in your journey. What have you
to do here This is not your mountain of rest; arise then, and set your foot up
the mountain; go up out of the wilderness, leaning upon your Beloved. If you
knew the welcome that abideth you when you come home, you would hasten your
pace; for you shall see your LORD put up his own hand, and wipe all tears from
your eyes. I leave your Ladyship, praying more earnestly for grace and mercy to
be multiplied upon you, here and hereafter, than my pen can express. The Lon])
JESUS be with your spirit! Your Ladyship's at all obedience, in the LORD,
Kirkcudbright.


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  CHAPTER 15: VOL 16 - TO MY LADY KENMURE.
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TO MY LADY KENMURE MADAM, ALL dutiful obedience to ourLORDJESUS remembered:—I
trust I need not much entreat your Ladyship to look to him who has stricken you.
Faith will teach you to kiss a striking Lon"), and so acknowledge the
sovereignty of GOD (in the death of a child) to be above the power of mortal
men, who may pluck up a flower in the bud, and not be blamed for it: and if our
dear Lon]) pluck up one of his roses, who can challenge him He sends us to his
world, as men to a market; wherein some stay many hours, and eat and drink, and
buy and sell, and pass through the fair, till they be weary; and such are those
who live long: and others come slipping into the morning-market, and neither sit
nor stand, but look about them a little, and pass presently home again; and
these are infants, who end their short market in the morning. Our LORD, who has
numbered man's months, and set him bounds that he cannot pass, (Job 14:5,) has
written the length of our market; and it is easier to complain of the decree,
than to change it. I verily believe, when I write this, your LORD has taught
your Ladyship to lay your hand on your mouth: But I shall be far from desiring
your Lady-ship, or any others, to cast up a cross, like an old useless bill,
that is only for the fire; but rather would wish that each cross were looked in
the face seven times, and were read over and over again. It is the messenger of
the LORD, and speaks something; and the man of understanding will hear the rod,
and him that appointed it. Try what is the taste of the LORD's cup, and drink
with God’s blessing, that you may grow thereby. I trust in GOD, whatever speech
it utter to your soul, this is one word in it, (Job 5:17,) "Blessed is the man
whom GOD correcteth;" and that it says to you, a You are from home while here;
you are not of this world, as CHRIST was not of this world." There is something
keeping for you, which is worth the having. All that is here is condemned to
die, to pass away like a snow-ball before a summer's sun; and, since death took
first possession of something of yours, it has been, and daily is, creeping
nearer and nearer to yourself, although with no noise of feet. Your husbandman
and LORD has lopped off some branches already; the tree itself is to be
transplanted to the high garden; in a good time be it, and our LORD ripen your
Ladyship! All these crosses (and indeed, when I remember them, they are heavy
and many: peace, peace be the end of them!) are to make you white, and ripe for
the LORD's harvest. I have seen the LORD weaning you from the breasts of this
world. It was never his mind that it should be your patrimony, and GOD be
thanked for that; you look the liker one of the heirs. Let the moveables go, why
not They are not yours: fasten upon the heritage; and our LORD JESUS make the
charter sure, and give your Ladyship to grow as a palm-tree on GOD’s Mount Zion.
This is all I can do, to recommend your case to your LORD, who have you written
upon the palms of his hands. Now may he who has called you confirm and establish
your heart in grace, unto the day of the liberty of the sons of GOD. Ardwell,
Your Ladyship's, at all submissive obedience, April 29,1634. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 16: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACKNAUGHT MY dearest love in CHRIST remembered:--I entreat you,
charge your soul to return to rest, •and to glorify your dearest LoiD in
believing; and know that, for the good will of him that dwells in the bush, the
burning Kirk shall not be consumed to ashes; but (Dent. 33: 16) " Blessing shall
come on the head of JOSEPH, and upon the top of the head of him that was
separated from his brethren." And are not the saints separated from their
brethren, and sold, and hated For (Genesis 49:23-24,) " the archers have sorely
grieved JOSEPH, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength,
and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty GOD of
JACOB: from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of ISRAEL."—The stone of ISRAEL
shall not be broken in pieces. Though it is hammered upon by the children of
this world, we shall live and not die. Our Lord has done all this, to see if we
will believe, and not give over; and I am persuaded, that you will stick by your
work. The eye of CHRIST has been upon all this business; and he taketh good heed
too, who is for him, and who is against him. Let us do our part, as we would be
approved of CHRIST. The Son of GOD is near to his enemies; if they were not
deaf, they might hear the noise of his feet: and he will come with a start upon
his weeping children, and take them on his knee, and lay their head in his
bosom, and dry their watery eyes. And this day is fast coming; " Yet a little
time, and the vision will speak, it will not tarry." These questions between us
and our adversaries will all be decided in yonder day, when the Son of GOD shall
come, and rid all pleas; and it will be seen whether we or they have been for
CHRIST, and who have been pleading for BAAL. It is not known what we are now;
but when our life shall appear in glory, then we shall see who laughs fastest in
that day. Therefore we must " possess our souls in patience," and " go into our
chamber," and rest " until the indignation be past." We shall not weep long,
when our LORD shall take us up in the day that he gathereth his jewels. My dear
friend, lay down your head upon CHRIST'S breast. Weep not; the Lion of the tribe
of Judah will arise. " The sun is gone down upon the Prophets, and our gold is
become dim; and the LORD feedeth his people with waters of gall and wormwood:"
yet CHRIST standeth. but behind the wall; his bowels are moved for Scotland; he
waiteth (as ISAIAH says) " that he may show mercy." If we would go home, and
take our brethren with us, " weeping with our faces towards Zion, asking the way
thitherward," he would bring back our captivity. We may not think that GOD has
no care of his own honor, while men tread it under their feet; he will " clothe
himself with vengeance as with a cloak," and appear against our enemies for our
deliverance. Ye were never yet beguiled, and GOD will not begin with you.
Wrestle still with the Angel of the Covenant, and you shall get the blessing:
Fight; he delighteth to be overcome by wrestling. Grace, grace, and mercy, be
with you! YOURS in CHRIST, Anwoth, S. R. Sept. 25, 1634.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 17: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, THAT honor which I have prayed for these
sixteen years, with submission to my LORD's will, my LORD has now bestowed upon
me; even to suffer for my King JESUS, and for his kingly crown, and for the
freedom of his kingdom, which his Father has given him. The LORDs have sentenced
me to deprivation, and confinement within the town of Aberdeen. I am charged, in
the King's name, to enter against the 20th day of August next, and there to,
remain during the King's pleasure. although CHRIST's green cross, newly laid
upon me, be somewhat heavy, while 1: call to mind many fair days, sweet and
comfortable to my soul, and to the souls of many others, and how young ones in
CHRIST are plucked from the breast,. and the inheritance of GOD laid waste; yet
that perfumed cross of CHRIST is accompanied with sweet refreshments, with the
favors of a King, with the joy of the HOLY GHOST, with faith that the LORD hears
the sighing of a prisoner, and with undoubted hope (as sure as my LORD liveth)
after this night to see day-light, and that CHRIST's sky will clear up again
upon me and his poor Kirk, and that in a strange land, amongst strange faces, he
will give favor in the eyes of men to his poor oppressed servant, who dares not
but love that lovely one, that princely one, JESUS, the comforter of his soul.
All would be well, if I were free of old challenges for neglect in my calling,
and for speaking too little for my Well-beloved's crown, honor, and kingdom. O
for a day in the assembly of the saints, to be an advocate for King JESUS! If my
Lon]) go on now to quarrels also, I die, I cannot endure it: but I look for
peace from him; because he knows that I dare bear men's feud, but dare not bear
his feud. This is my only exercise, that I fear I have done little good in my
ministry; but I dare not but say, I loved the children of the wedding-chamber,
and prayed for, and desired the thriving of the marriage, and coming of his
kingdom. I apprehend no less than a judgment upon Galloway; and the LORD shall
visit this whole nation. But what can be laid upon me, or any the like of me, is
too light for CHRIST: CHRIST would bear death and burning alive, in his weak
servants, for his honor-able cause for which I now suffer. Yet, notwithstanding
all my complaints, (and he knows that I dare not now dissemble,) he was never
sweeter and kinder than he is now; one token of his love now is sweeter than ten
long since: sweet, sweet is his cross; light, light and easy is his yoke. O what
a sweet step were it up to my Father's house, through ten deaths, for the truth
and cause of that unknown Plant of Renown, the man called the BRAXEN, the chief
among ten thousand, the fairest among the sons of men. O what unseen joys, how
many hidden ardors of love, are in the remnants of the sufferings of CHRIST! My
dear and worthy Lady, I give it to your Ladyship under my hand, (my heart
writing as well as my hand,) Welcome, welcome, sweet and glorious cross of
CHRIST; welcome, JESUS with thy light cross; you have now gained and gotten all
my love from me; keep what you have gotten. Only, woe is for my bereft flock,
for the lambs of JESUS, who, I fear, will be fed with dry breasts; but I spare
now. Madam, I dare not promise to see your Lady-ship, because of the little time
I have allotted me, and I purpose to obey the King, who has power of my body;
and rebellion to Kings is unbeseeming CHRIST'S Ministers. Pray write thanks to
your brother, my LORD of Lorne, for what he has done for me, a poor unknown
stranger to his Lordship. I shall pray for him and his house while I live; it is
his honor to open his mouth in the streets for his wronged and oppressed master,
CHRIST JESUS. Now, Madam, commending your Ladyship, and the sweet child, to the
tender mercies of mine own Lour) JESUS, and to the good will of him who dwelt in
the bush, I rest Yours in JESUS, Edinburgh, July 28, 1636.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 18: VOL 16 - TO MR. ROBERT CUNINGHAME,
========================================================================

TO MR. ROBERT CUNINGHAME, Minister of the Gospel. Well-beloved and Reverend
Brother, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I thought good to take the
opportunity of writing to you; seeing it has seemed good to the LORD of the
Harvest to lay upon us a more honorable service, _ even to suffer for his name.
I have had a desire to see you in the face; yet now, being the prisoner of
CHRIST, it is taken away. I am greatly comforted to hear of your soldier's
stately spirit for your princely and royal Captain, JESUS, our LORD, and of the
grace of GOD in the rest of our dear brethren with you. You have heard of my
trouble, I suppose. It has pleased our LORD JESUS to let loose these LORDs in
his house, to deprive me of my ministry at Anwoth, and to confine me eight-score
miles from thence to Aberdeen; and also (which was not done to any before) to
inhibit me to speak at all in JESUS's name within this kingdom, under the pain
of rebellion. But let our crowned King in Zion reign; by his grace the loss is
theirs, the advantage is CIIR.IST's and truth's. although this honest cross
gained some ground on me by my heaviness, and inward challenges of con-science
for a time were sharp; yet now, for the encouragement of you all, I dare say it,
" Welcome, welcome, sweet cross of CHRIST." I verily think that the chains of my
LORD JESUS are all overlaid with pure gold, and that his cross is perfumed, and
that it smelleth of CHRIST; that the victory shall be by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of his truth; and that CHRIST, though now lying on his back, in
his weak servants, and oppressed truth, shall yet ride over his enemies, and
shall strike through Kings in the day of his wrath. Blessed are they who are
content to take strokes with a weeping CHRIST. Faith will trust, the LORD, and
is not hasty nor headstrong; neither is faith so timorous, as to flatter a
temptation, or to bribe the cross. My heart is woe indeed for my Mother-Church,
that has played the harlot with many lovers; for her husband has a mind to sell
her for horrible transgressions, and heavy will the hand of the LORD be upon
this backsliding nation. Yet I trust that Scotland's skies shall clear again;
that CHRIST shall build again the old waste places of JACOB; that our dead and
dry bones shall become an army of living men; and that our Well-beloved may feed
among the lilies, until the day break, and the shadows flee away. Only let us be
faithful to him, to him that can ride through hell and death, and his horse
never stumble; and let him make of me a bridge over a water, so that his high
and holy name may be glorified in me. Strokes from the Mediator's hand are very
sweet; he has always been dear to my soul; but since I suffered for him, he has
been more precious to me than before. O that every hair of my head, and every
member and every bone in my body, were a man to witness a faire confession for
him! I would think all too little for him. Oft borne down, and hungry in waiting
for the marriage-supper of the Lamb.; nevertheless I think it the LORD's wise
love that feeds us with hunger, and makes its fat with such wants and
desertions. I know not, my dear brother, if our worthy brethren be gone to sea
or not; if they be yet with you, acquaint them with my troubles, and entreat
them to pray for the poor afflicted prisoner of CHRIST: they are dear to my
soul; I seek your prayers and theirs for my flock; their remembrance breaks my
heart. I desire to love that people, and others my dear acquaintance in CHRIST,
with love in GOD, and as GOD loves them. I know that he who sent me to the West
and South, sends me also to the North: I will charge my soul to believe and to
wait for him, and will follow his providence, and not go before it, nor stay
behind it. Now, my dear brother, taking farewell, I commend you all to the word
of his grace, and to the work of his SPIRIT,—to him who holdeth the seven stars
in his right hand,—that you may be kept spotless till the day of JESUS our LORD.
Your Brother in affliction, in our LORD JESUS. August 4, 1636.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 19: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE My very honorable and dear Lady, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be to you! O how sweet are sufferings for CHRIST! GOD forgive them that
raise an ill report upon the cross of CHRIST; it is our weak and dim eyes which
look but at the one side of it, that make us mistake. Those who can take that
crabbed tree handsomely upon their back, shall find it such a burden as wings
unto a bird, or sails to a ship. It were a sweet and honorable death to die for
JESUS! This love is a mystery to the world. I would not have believed that there
was so much in CHRIST as there is. " Come and see," maketh CHRIST to be known in
his excellency and glory. I wish all this nation knew how sweet his presence is.
It is little to see CHRIST in a book, as men do the world in a card: they talk
of CHRIST by the book and the tongue, and no more; but to come near to CHRIST,
and embrace him, is another thing. I write to your honor, for your encouragement
in that honorable profession with which CHRIST has honored you. This world can
take nothing from you that is truly yours, and death can do you no wrong. When
your Head shall appear, your Bridegroom and LORD, your day shall then dawn, and
it shall never have an after-noon, nor an evening shadow. Let your child be
CHRIST'S; let him stay beside you, as the LORD'S pledge, that you shall
willingly render again, if GOD will. My silence on the Lotto's day keeps me from
being exalted above measure, and from startling in the ardors of my LORD's love.
I have wrestled long with this sad silence, and my soul has been pleading with
CHRIST; but I will yield to him. I am a fool, and he is GOD: I will hold my
peace hereafter. Let me hear from your Ladyship, and your dear child; and pray
for a prisoner of CHRIST, who is mindful of your Ladyship. Grace, grace be with
you! I write and pray blessings to your sweet child. Yours in all dutiful
obedience, in his only LORD JESUS, Aberdeen, Nov. 22,


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 20: VOL 16 - TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX.
========================================================================

TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX. My DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be
multiplied upon you. O what owe I to the file, to the hammer, to the furnace of
my Lotto JESUS; who has now let me see how good the wheat of CHRIST is, that go
through his mill and his oven, to be made bread for his own table. Grace tried
is better than grace, and it is more than grace; it is glory in its infancy. I
now see, that Godliness is more than outside. Who knows the truth of grace
without a trial O how little getteth CHRIST of us, but that which he winneth
with much toil and pain; and how soon would faith freeze without a cross! How
many dumb crosses have been laid upon my back, that had never a tongue to speak
the sweetness of CHRIST, as this has I When CHRIST blesses his own crosses with
a tongue, they breathe out CHRIST'S love, wisdom, kindness, and care of us. Why
should I start at the plough of my Low', that maketh deep furrows on my soul I
know he is no idle husband-man; he purposed a crop. O that this white, withered,
ley-ground were made fertile to bear a crop for him by whom it is painfully
dressed; and that this fallow-ground was broken up! Why was I grieved, that he
put his gar-land upon my head, the glory and honor of his faithful witnesses
Verily, he has not put me to a loss by what I suffer; he oweth me nothing; for,
in my bonds, how sweet and comfortable have the thoughts of him been to me,
wherein I find a sufficient recompense of reward! How blind are my adversaries,
who sent me to a banqueting-house, and not to a prison or place of exile! Why
should I smother my husband's honesty, or be a niggard in giving out to others
what I get for nothing! Brother, eat with me, and give thanks: I charge you
before GOD, that ye speak to others, and invite them to help me to praise. O my
debt of praise, how weighty it is, and how far runup! O that others would lend
me to pay, and teach me to praise! LORD JESUS, take my thoughts for payment! Yet
I am with the tear in my eye; for, by reason of my silence, sorrow has filled
me. My harp is hanged upon the willow-trees, because I am in a strange land. I
am still kept in exercise with envious brethren: my mother has borne me a man of
contention. Grace, grace, be with you: and GOD, who heareth prayer, visit you;
and let it be unto you according to the prayers of Your own brother, and
CHRIST's prisoner, Aberdeen, S. R. Jan. 1, 1637,


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 21: VOL 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR.
========================================================================

TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR. Worthy and clear Brother, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be to you! I am every way in good case, both in soul and body;--all honor
and glory be to my LORD! I want nothing but a further revelation of the beauty
of the unknown Son of GOD. Either I know not what Christianity is, or we have
stinted a measure of holiness; and there we are at a stay, drawing our breath
all our life. A moderation in Go D's way, now, is much in request. I profess, I
have never taken pains to find out him whom my soul loves; there is a gate yet
of finding out CHRIST, that I have never lighted upon. O that I could find it
out! Alas, how soon are we pleased with our own shadow in a glass! It were good
to begin in sad earnest to find out GOD, and to seek the right tread of CHRIST.
Time, custom, a good opinion of ourselves, our good meaning, our lazy desires,
our fair shows, and the world's glistering lustres, are that wherewith most
satisfy themselves: but a bed watered with tears, a throat dry with praying,
eyes as a fountain of tears for the sins of the land, are rarely to be found
among us. O that we could know the power of GODliness! This is one part of my
case; and another is, that I, like a fool, once summoned CHRIST for unkindness,
and complained of his fickleness and unconstancy, because he would have no more
of my service nor preaching, and had cast me out of the inheritance of the
LORD:, and I confess now I was a fool; yet he has borne with me. I gave him a
fair advantage against me, but love and mercy would not let him take it; and the
truth is, now he has chided himself friends with me, and has taken away the
mask, and hash renewed his wonted favor in such a manner, that he has paid me my
" hundred fold in this life." I write this to you, that I may entreat, nay,
adjure and charge you, by the love of your Well-beloved, to help me to praise,
and to tell all your Christian acquaintance to help me, for I am deeply drowned
in his debt: and yet I have something to keep me from being exalted above
measure; his word is a fire shut up in my bowels, and I am weary with
forbearing. Grace be with you! Pray for the prisoner. Aberdeen, Yours in his
only LORD JESUS, Jan. 1, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 22: VOL 16 - TO MR. ROBERT BLAIR.
========================================================================

TO MR. ROBERT BLAIR. Reverend and dearly beloved Brother, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, from GOD our FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS CHRIST, be to you! It is no
great wonder, my dear Brother, that -ye be in heaviness for a season, and that
GOD's will, in crossing your design and desires to dwell amongst a people whose
Gott is the LORD, should move you. I deny not but ye have cause to inquire, what
his Providence speaketh in this to you; but GOD's directing and commanding will
can by no good logic be concluded from events of Providence. The LORD sent PAUL
on many errands, for the spreading of his Gospel, where he found lions in his
way. A promise was made to his people of the Holy Land and yet many nations in
the way fought against them who had the promise, to keep them from possessing
that good land which the LORD their GOD had given them. I persuade myself ye
have learned, in every condition, wherein ye are, therein to be content, and to
say, " Good is the will of the LORD; let it be done." The LORD purposeth to
bring mercy out of your sufferings and silence, which as I know by experience,
are grievous to you. Seeing he knows our willing mind to serve him, our wages
are running on with our GOD; even as some sick soldiers get their pay, when they
are bed-fast, and not able to go to the field with others. And when they have
swallowed us up, they shall be sick, and vomit us out living men again: the
Devil's stomach cannot digest the Church of GOD. Suffering is one half of our
ministry, although the hardest: for we would be content if our King JESUS would
make an open proclamation, and cry down crosses, and cry up joy, gladness, ease,
honor, and peace; but it must not be so: " Through much tribulation, we must
enter into the kingdom of Gott; " not only by it, but through it must we go. It
is folly to think to steal to heaven with a whole skin. My dear Brother, help me
to show the LORD'S people with you, what he has done to my soul, that they may
pray and praise. I charge you, in the name of CH R.I sT, not to omit it; for,
for this cause I write to you, that my sufferings may glorify my King, and edify
his church in Ireland. I hope the LORD will move your heart to proclaim, in my
behalf, the excellency and glory of my King. It is but our soft flesh that has
raised a slander on the cross of CHRIST; I see now the white side of it; my
LORD'S chains are all over gilded. O that Scotland and Ireland had part of my
feast! And yet I get not my meat but with many strokes. There are none here to
whom I can speak; I dwell in Kedar's tents. Refresh me with a letter from you.
Courage, courage, joy, joy for evermore! O joy. unspeakable and glorious! O for
help to set my crowned King on high! O for love to Him, who is altogether.
lovely! That love which many waters cannot quench, neither can the floods drown!
I remember you, and bear your name on my breast to CHRIST,: I beseech you,
forget not his prisoner. Grace, mercy, and peace, be with you!. Your brother and
fellow-prisoner, Aberdeen, Feb. 7, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 23: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENAIURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENAIURE MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
received your Ladyship's letter; it refreshed me in my heaviness: the blessing
and prayers of a prisoner of CHRIST come upon you! Since my coming hither,
GALLOWAY sent me not a line: but I want not kindness of one, who has the gate of
it;—CHRIST (if he had never done more for me since I was born) hash engaged my
heart, and gained my blessing,, in this house of my pilgrimage. It pleases my
Well-beloved to dine with a poor prisoner, and the King's spikenard casteth a
fragrant smell. Nothing. grieveth me, but that I eat my feasts alone, and that I
cannot edify his saints. My silence eats me up; but he has told me, that he
thanked' me no less than if I were preaching daily. He sees how gladly I would
be at it; and therefore my wages are going on in heaven, as if I were still
preaching CHRIST. Captains pay daily bed-fast soldiers, although they do not
march, nor carry armor. " Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious
in the eyes of my LORD, and my LORD shall be my strength." (Ira. 49: 5.) My
garland, The banished Minister," (the term for me at Aberdeen,) shamed' me not.
I have seen the white side of CHRIST'S cross. How lovely has he been to his
oppressed servant! The LORD executeth judgment for the oppressed, he giveth food
to the hungry: the LORD looseth the prisoner; the LORD raiseth them that are
bowed down: the LORD preserveth the stranger." (Psalms 146:7-9.) If it were come
to exchanging of crosses, I would not exchange my cross with any. I am well
pleased with CHRIST, and he with me. It is true, for all this, I get my meat
with many strokes, and am cast down for the case of my distressed brother; yet I
hope the LORD will be surety for his servant. But now, upon some weak
experience, I am come to love a rumbling and raging Devil best; seeing we must
have a Devil to hold the saints waking, I wish a cumbersome Devil, rather than a
secure and sleeping one. At my first coming hither, I said he had cast me over
the wall of the vineyard, like a dry tree; but it was his mercy, I see, that the
fire did not burn the dry tree. And now, as if my LORD JESUS had done that
fault, and not I, (who belied my LORD,) he has made amends, and he spoke not one
word against me; but he has come again, and quickened my soul with his presence.
Nay, now I think the cross of CHRIST JESUS My LORD, and these comforts that
accompany it, better than the world's rent. Your Ladyship wrote to me, that you
are yet an ill scholar. Madam, ye must go in at heaven's gates with your book in
your hand, still learning. You have had your own large share of troubles, and a
double portion; but it says that your Father counted' you not a bastard. I long
to bear of the child. I write the blessings of CHRIST'S prisoner and the mercies
of Go]) to him: let him be CHRIST'S and yours between you; but let CHRIST be the
lender, and ye the borrower, not an owner. Madam, it is not long since I did
write to your Ladyship, that CHRIST is keeping mercy for you; and I still abide
by it. Love him dearly there is in him that which you never saw; he is ever
nigh; he is a tree of life, green and blossoming, both summer and winter. I
invite you anew to come to him. " Come and see," will speak better things of
him, than I can do: " Come nearer," will say much. Goff never thought this world
a portion worthy of you; he will not give you ESAU's portion, but reserves the
inheritance of JACOB for you. Are ye not well married now Have you not a good
husband now My heart cannot express what sad nights I have for " the
Virgin-Daughter of my people." Woe is me! for our time is coming. Now the
blessing of our dearest LORD JESUS, and the blessing of him that is separate
from his brethren, come upon you! Yours, at Aberdeen, the prisoner of CHRIST,
Aberdeen. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 24: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE,
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE, MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to your
Ladyship! I would not omit to write a line by this Christian bearer, one in your
Ladyship's own case, driven near to CHRIST in and by her affliction. I wish that
my friends in Galloway forget me not; but however it be, CHRIST 1S so good, that
I will have no other tutor, suppose I could have ten thousand beside. I now
think five hundred heavy hearts for him too little. I wish that CHRIST, now
weeping, suffering, and contemned of men, were more dear and desirable to many
souls, than he is. I am sure, if the saints wanted CHRIST'S cross, so profitable
and so sweet, they might, for the gain and glory of it, wish it were lawful
either to buy or borrow his cross: but it is a mercy that the saints have it for
nothing; for I know no sweeter way to heaven, than through free grace and hard
trials together; and one of these cannot well want the other. O that time would
post faster, and hasten our long looked-for communion with the fairest among the
sons of men! O that the day would favor us, and come, and put CHRIST and us in
each other's arms! I am sure a few years will do our turn, and the soldier's
hour-glass will soon run out. Madam, look to your lamp, and look to your LORD'S
coming, and let your heart dwell aloof from that sweet child. CHRIST'S jealousy
will not admit two equal loves in your Ladyship's. heart. He must have • one,
and that the greatest; a little one to a creature may, and must, suffice a soul
married to him: " Your Maker is your husband." (Isaiah 54:1-17 :) I would. wish
you well, and my, obligations these many years speak no less to me; but more I
neither wish, nor pray, nor desire for your Lady-ship, than CHRIST singled out
from all created good things; or CHRIST, although wet in his own blood, and
wearing a crown of thorns. I am sure, the saints, at their best, are but
strangers to the incomparable sweetness of CHRIST. He is so new, so fresh in
excellency, every day, to those that search more and more in him, as if heaven
could furnish us as many new CHRISTS (if I may speak so) as there are days
between him and us; and yet he is one and the same. O, we love an unknown lover,
when we love CHRIST. Grace for evermore, even while glory perfects it, be with
your Ladyship! Yours in JESUS, S.R


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 25: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY CARDONNESS.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY CARDONNESS. My dearly beloved and longed-for in the LORD, GRACE,
mercy, and. peace, be to you! I long to hear how your soul prospereth, and how
the’ kingdom of CHRIST thriveth in you. I exhort you and beseech you, in the
bowels of CHRIST, faint not, weary not. There is a great necessity of heaven; ye
must needs have it: all other things, as houses, lands, children, husband,
friends, country, credit, health, wealth, honor, may be wanted; but heaven is
your " one thing necessary, that good part which shall not be taken from you."
See that ye buy the field where the pearl is; sell all, and make a purchase of
salvation., Think it not easy, for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory; many
are’ lying dead in the way, that are slain with security. O what I want! I want
so many things, that I am almost asking if I have any thing at all. Every man
thinketh he is rich enough in grace, till he finds his pack poor and light in
the day of a heavy trial. I found that I had not enough to bear my expenses, and
should have fainted, if want had not chased me to the store-house of all. I
beseech you, make conscience of your ways; deal kindly with your tenants: to
fill a breach, make not a greater breach in the conscience. I wish plenty of
love to your soul. Let the world be the portion of bastards; make it not yours;
after the last trumpet is blown, the world and all its glory will be like an old
house that is burned to ashes, and like an old fallen castle without a roof.
Fie, fie upon us, fools, who think ourselves debtors to the world! My LORD has
brought me to this, that I would not give a drink of cold water for this world's
kindness. I wonder that men long after,’ or care for, these feathers: to give
out conscience, and to get in clay again, is a strange bargain. I have written
my mind at length to your husband; I cannot forget him in my prayers; my counsel
is, that ye bear with him, when passion overtaketh him: " A soft answer putteth
away wrath." When CHRIST hideth himself, wait on, and importune him till he
return; it is not time then to be carelessly patient: I love to be grieved when
he hideth his smiles. I counsel you to study sanctification, and to be dead to
this world. Counsel your husband to fulfill my joy, and to seek the LORD's face:
show him from me, that my joy and desire is to hear that he is in the LORD. GOD
casteth him often in my mind; I cannot forget him: I hope, CHRIST and he have
some-thing to do together. Bless JOHN from me; I write blessings to him, and to
your husband, and the rest of your children. Your lawful and loving Pastor In
his only LORD JESUS, S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 26: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY CARDONNESS THE ELDER.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY CARDONNESS THE ELDER. Worthy and well-beloved in the LORD, GRACE,
mercy, and peace, be to you! I long to hear from you, that I may know how your
soul prospereth. My desire and longing is, to hear that ye walk in the truth,
and that ye are content to follow the despised, but lovely, Son of GOD. I cannot
but recommend him unto you as your husband, your well-beloved, your portion,
your comfort, and your joy. He has watered with his sweet comforts an oppressed
prisoner. He was always kind to my soul, but never so kind as now, in my
greatest extremities. I dine and sup with CHRIST: he visiteth my soul with the
visitation of his love in the night-watches. I exhort you, in the name of
CHRIST, to continue in the truth, which I delivered to you. Make CHRIST sure to
your soul; for your day draweth nigh to an end. Many slide back now, who seemed
to be CHRIST'S friends but " be ye faithful to the death, and ye shall have the
crown of life." This span-length of your days, whereof the SPIRIT of GOD
speaketh, will within a short time come to nothing. O how comfortable shall the
feast of a good conscience be, when your eye-strings shall break, your face wax
pale, and the breath turn cold, and your poor soul come sighing to the windows
of the house of clay, and long to be out, and to have the gaoler to open the
door, that the prisoner may be set at liberty! Ye draw nigh the water-side; look
to your accounts; ask for your guide to take you to the other side. Let not the
world be your portion; what have ye to do with dead clay Ye are not a bastard,
but a lawfully-begotten child; therefore set your heart on the inheritance. Go
up before-hand and see your lodging; look through all your Father's rooms in
heaven, for in your Father's house are many dwelling-places. " Set your heart on
things that are above, where CHRIST is at the right-hand of GOD." Stir up your
husband to mind his own country; and counsel him to deal mercifully with the
poor people of GOD under him: they are CHRIST'S, and not his; there-fore desire
him to show them kindness, and to be good to their souls. It may be, that my
parish forget me; but my witness is in heaven, I do not forget them; they are my
sighs in the night, and my tears ill the day. I think myself like a husband
plucked from the wife of his youth, O LORD, be my judge, what joy it would be to
my soul, to hear that my ministry has left the Son of GOD among them! Remember
my love to your son and daughter; desire them from me to seek the LORD in their
youth, and to give him the morning of their days. Acquaint them with the word of
GOD and prayer. Grace be with you! Pray for the prisoner of CHRIST: In my heart
I forget you not. Your lawful and loving Pastor, S. R


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 27: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, to you. I love
careful, and withal doing complaints of want of practice; because I observe
many, who think it holiness enough to complain, and set themselves to
nothing,—as if to say " I am sick," would cure them; they think complaints a
good charm for guiltiness. I hope ye are wrestling and struggling on, in this
dead age, wherein folks have lost tongue, and legs, and arms, for CHRIST. I urge
upon you, Madam, a nearer communion with CHRIST, and a growing communion. There
are curtains to be drawn aside, in CHRIST, that we never saw, and new foldings
of love in him. Therefore, dig deep, and sweat, and labor, and take pains for
him; and set by as much time in the day for him as you can; he will be won with
labor. I know not what to do with CHRIST; his love surroundeth and surchargeth
me; I am burdened with it; but O how sweet and lovely is that burden! I cannot
keep it within me. I am so in love with his love, that, if his love were not in
heaven, I would be unwilling to go there. I wonder what he meaneth, to put such
a slave at his own elbow. But I dare' not refuse to be loved; the cause is not
in me why he has looked upon Inc, and loved me; for it cost me nothing; it is
good, cheap. love. The greatest part but play with Christianity; they put it by
easily. I thought it had been an easy thing to be a Christian, and that to seek
GOD had been at the next door; but O the windings, the turnings, the ups and the
downs,. through which he has led me; and I see yet much way to the ford! He
speaketh with my reins in the night-season; and in the morning, when I awake, I
find his love in my heart. Who will help me to praise Who will come to lift with
me, and set on high his great love As for friends, I shall not think the world
to be the world, if that well go not dry. I trust in GOD, to use the world as a
cunning master does a knavish servant; he giveth him no handling or credit, only
he intrusteth him with common errands, wherein he cannot play the knave. I pray
GOD I may not give this world credit of my joys, and comforts, and confidence;
that were to put CHitIST out of his office. Nay, I counsel you, Madam, let.
CHRIST keep the great seal; and intrust him so, as to hang your vessels, great
and small, upon the nail fastened in DAVID'S house. Now the presence of the
great Angel of the Covenant be with you, and that sweet child! Aberdeen, March
7, 1637.


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  CHAPTER 28: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, UPON the offered opportunity of this
worthy bearer, I could not omit to answer the heads of your letter.—I. I think
not much to set down in paper some good things of CHRIST, and to feed my soul
with wishes to be one with CHRIST; for a wish is but a broken and half love; but
verily to "come and see" is a harder matter: but, oh, I have rather smoke than
fire: I have little or nothing to say, but that I am one who has found favor in
his eyes.--2. You write that 1: am filled with knowledge, and stand not in need
of these warnings: but. certainly my light is dim; and how many have full
coffers, and yet empty bellies! Light, and the saving use of light, arc far
different. O what need have I to have the ashes blown away. from my dying fire!
I may be a book-man, and yet be an idiot and a stark fool in CHRIST's way.
Therefore as night-watchers hold one another waking, by speaking to one another,
so have we need to hold one another on. foot: sleep stealeth away the light of
watching, even the light that reproves sleeping. I doubt not but more would
reach heaven, if they believed not heaven to be at the next door. The world's
negative holiness, " no adulterer, no murderer, no thief," maketh men believe
they are already saints.—$. I find you complaining of yourself, and it becometh
a sinner so to do. I would love my pain and soreness with my wounds, although
these should bereave me of my night's sleep, better than my wounds without
pain.--4. Be not afraid for little grace. Our split works, losses, deadness,
coldness, wretchedness, are the ground on which the good husbandman
labouteth.—5. You write that his comppssions fail not, notwithstanding that your
service to CHRIST miscarrieth. To that I answer, Gott forbid that there were
buying and selling between CHRIST and us; for then free grace might go to play.
But all the vessels, great and small, that we have, are fastened upon the sure
nail. (Isaiah 22:24.) The only danger. is, that we give grace more to do, than
GOD giveth it, that is, by turning his grace into wantonness. Grace be with you!
Aberdeen, Yours in his LORD JESUS, March 14, 1637


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 29: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY HALHILL.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY HALHILL. DEAR AND CHRISTIAN LADY, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to
you! I cannot but ac-quaint your Ladyship with the kind dealing of CHRIST to my
soul in this house of my pilgrimage; that your Lady-ship may know that CHRIST is
as good as he is called. For, at my first entry into this trial, (being troubled
with jealousies of his love, whose name and testimony I now bear in my bonds,) I
feared nothing more, than that I was cast over the dike of the vineyard, as a
dry tree; but blessed be his great name, the dry tree was in the fire, and was
not burned; his dew came down and quickened the root of a withered plant; and
now he is come again with joy, and has been pleased to feast his afflicted
prisoner with the joys of his consolations. Now I weep, but am not sad: I am
chastened, but I die not: I have loss, but I want nothing: this water cannot
drown me, this fire cannot burn me, because of " the good-will of Him that dwelt
in the bush." The worst things of CHRIST, his reproaches, or his cross, are
better than Egypt's treasures. He has opened his door, and taken into his "
banqueting house " a poor sinner, and has left me so a sick of love for my LORD
JESUS, that if heaven were at my disposal, I would give it for CHRIST, and would
not be content to go to heaven, except I were persuaded CHRIST were there. I
would not give nor exchange my sighs for all the world's laughter. This
clay-idol, the world, has no great court in my soul: CHRIST has come, and
carried away with him to heaven my heart and my love, so that neither heart nor
love is mine; I pray GOD, that CHRIST may keep both without reversion. If my
part of this world's clay were sold, I would think it dear at the price of a
drink of water. I see CHRIST'S love is so kingly, that it must have a throne all
alone in the soul. I see apples beguile children, although they be worm-eaten;
and so the moth-eaten pleasures of this present world make children believe that
ten is a hundred: and yet all that are here are but shadows; if they would draw
aside the curtain that hangs between them and CHRIST, they would think
themselves fools, who have so long mistaken the * SON of GOD. I seek no more,
next to heaven, but that he may be glorified in a prisoner of CHRIST; and that
in my behalf many would praise his high and glorious name, who heareth the
sighing of' the prisoner. CHRIST be with you! Aberdeen, March 14, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 30: VOL 16 - TO MR. THOMAS GARVEN.
========================================================================

TO MR. THOMAS GARVEN. REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER, I BLESS you for your letter; it
was as a shower to the new-mown grass. The LORD has given you the tongue of the
learned; be fruitful and humble. It is possible that you may come to my case;
but the water is neither so deep, nor the stream so strong, as it is called. I
think my fire is not hot; my water is dry land; my loss rich loss. My poor stock
is grown, since I came to Aberdeen. And if any had known the wrong I did, in
being jealous of such a lover as CHRIST, who withheld not his love from me, they
would think the more of it; but, I see, he must be above me in mercy: I will
never strive with him; to think to recompense him is folly. If I had as many
tongues to praise him as there have fallen drops of rain since the creation, or
as there are leaves of trees in all the forests of the earth, or stars in the
heaven; yet my LORD JESUS would ever be in advance with me: we shall never get
our accounts fitted; a pardon must close the reckoning. For his comforts to me,
in this honorable cause, have almost put me beyond the bounds of modesty;
howbeit I will not let every one know what is betwixt us. Love (I mean CHRIST'S
love) is the hottest coal that ever I felt: cast all the salt sea on it, it will
flame: hell cannot quench it: many, many waters will not quench love. I wonder
that he should waste so much love upon such a waster as I am; but he is abundant
in mercy; he has no niggard's alms, when he is pleased to give. O that I could
invite all the nations to love him! Free grace is an unknown thing! This world
has heard but a bare name of CHRIST. I would that CHRISTT got more of his own
due than he doth. Brother, ye have chosen the good part, who have taken part
with CHRIST: you will see him win the field, and you shall get part of the
spoil, when he divideth it. They are but fools who, laugh at us, for they see
but the back part of the moon; yet our moon-light is better than their
twelve-hours' sun: we have gotten the new heavens, and as a pledge of that, the
Bridegroom's love-ring. The children of the wedding-chamber have cause to skip
and leap for joy; for the marriage-supper is drawing. nigh. O time, be not slow!
O sun, move speedily, and hasten our banquet! O Bridegroom,. be " like a roe, or
a young hart upon the mountains! O Well-beloved, run fast, that we may once
meet! - Brother, I restrain myself, for want of time. Pray for me: I hope to
remember you. The good-will of Him who dwelt in the bush, the tender mercies of
GOD in CHRIST, enrich you: grace be with you! Yours in his LORD JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 31: VOL 16 - TO THE LAIRD OF CARLETOUN.
========================================================================

TO THE LAIRD OF CARLETOUN. MUCH-HONORED SIR, I WILL not impute your not writing
to me, to forgetfulness. However, I have one above who forgetteth me not; nay,
he groweth in his kindness. It has pleased his holy MAJESTY to take me from the
pulpit, and teach me many things in my exile, that were mysteries to me
before:-1. I see his bottomless and boundless love, and my jealousies and
ravings, which, at my first entry into this furnace, were so foolish and bold,
as' to say to CHRIST, who is truth itself, in his face, " You liest! " I had
well nigh lost my hold: I wondered if it was CHRIST or not; for the mist and
smoke of my heart made me mistake my master JESUS. My faith was dim, and my hope
frozen and cold; and my love, which caused jealousies, had some heat and smoke,
but no flame at all. T thought I had forfeited all my rights; but the Tempter
was too much upon my counsels. Alas! I knew not how good skill my intercessor
and advocate, CHRIST, has in pleading for me, and pardoning me such follies. Now
he is returned to my soul " with healing under his wings; and I am nothing
behind with CHRIST now, for he has overpaid me, by his presence, the pain I was
put to by waiting. And now, what want I on earth, that CHRIST can give to a poor
prisoner O how sweet and lovely is he now! Alas that I can get none to help me
to lift up my LORD JESUS upon his throne above all the earth!-2. I am now
brought to' some measure of submission, and I resolve to wait till I see what my
Lon") will do with me. I dare not now speak. one word against the all-seeing and
aver-watching Providence of my LORD. I see that Providence runneth not on•
broken wheels; but I, like a fool, carved a providence for mine own ease, to die
in my nest, and to sleep still, till my grey hairs, and to he on the sunny side
of the mountain in my ministry at Anwoth. But now I have nothing to say against
Kedar's tents, where I live; far from my acquaintance, my lovers, and my
friends. I see that GOD has the world on his wheels, and casteth it as a potter
does a vessel on the wheel. I dare not say that there is any inordinate or
irregular motion in Providence; the LORD has done it: I will not go to law with
CHRIST, for I should gain no-thing by that. 3. I have learned some greater
mortification, and not to mourn after, or seek, the world's dry breasts. Nay, my
LORD has filled me with such dainties) that I am like a full banqueter, who is
not for common cheer. What have I to do, to fall down and worship man-kind's
great idol, the world I have a better GOD than any clay-GOD; nay, at present, I
cave not if I give this world a discharge for bread and water. I know, it is not
my home, nor my Father's house; it is but his footstool let bastods take it.—4.
I find it most true, that the greatest temptation out of hell is, to live
without temptations. If my waters should stand, they would rot: faith is the
better for the five air, and the sharp winter storms, in its face; grace
withereth without adversity: the Devil is but GOD'S master-fencer, to teach us
to handle our weapons.—5. never knew how weak I was, till now, when he hideth
himself, and when I have him to seek seven times a day. I am a dry and withered
branch, and a piece of a dead carcass, dry bones, and not able to step over a
straw: so feeble is my soul, that I think it is like a tender man's skin, that
may touch nothing: you see how short I should shoot of the prize, if his grace
were not sufficient for me. The prisoner's blessing be upon you! Aberdeen, Yours
in his LORD JESUS, March 14, 1637. S.R


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 32: VOL 16 - TO JOHN BELL, THE ELDER.
========================================================================

TO JOHN BELL, THE ELDER. MY VERY LOVING FRIEND, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to
you. I beseech you in the Lone. JESUS, to mind your country above; and now, when
old age, the twilight going before the darkness of the grave, and the falling
low of your sun before your night,—is come upon you, advise with CHRIST, ere you
put your foot in the ship, and turn your back on this life. Many are beguiled
with this, that they are free from. scandalous abominations: but the tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit, is for the fire; the man that is not born again,
cannot enter into the kingdom of GOD; common honesty will not take men to
heaven. Alas that men should think they ever met with CHRIST, who had never a
sick night, -through the terrors of GOD, in their soul, or a sore heart for sin!
I know, the LORD has given you light, and the knowledge of his will; but that is
not all, neither will that do. I wish you an awakened soul, and that you may not
beguile yourself in the matter of your salvation. My dear brother, search
yourself with the candle of GOD; and try if the life of GOD and CHRIST be in
you. Salvation is not cast to every man's door. Many are carried over sea and
land, to a far country, in a ship, while they sleep much of the way; but men are
not landed at heaven sleeping. The righteous are " scarcely saved; " and many
run as fast as either you or I, who miss the prize and the crown. GOD send me
salvation, and save me from a disappointment! Men think it but a stride or step
over to heaven; but when so few are saved, even of a number like the sand of the
sea,-but a handful and a remnant, as God's word says,—what cause have we to
shake ourselves, and to ask our poor soul, " Whither goest thou Where shall you
lodge at night Where are thy charters of thy heavenly inheritance " O see, see
that you give not your salvation a wrong cast, and think all is well, and leave
your soul loose" and uncertain. Look to your building, and to your ground-stone,
and what signs of CHRIST are in you, and set this world behind your back. It is
time, now in the evening, to cease from your ordinary work, and high time to
know of your lodging at night. It is your salvation that is in dependence; and
that' is a great and weighty business, though many make light of the matter. -.
Now the LORD enable you by his grace to work it out! Your lawful and loving
Pastor, Aberdeen, 1637. S.R


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  CHAPTER 33: VOL 16 - TO WILLIAM GORDON, OF ROBERTOUN
========================================================================

TO WILLIAM GORDON, OF ROBERTOUN DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to
you! So often as I think of our fighting life, in the field, while we are here,
I am forced to say, that prisoners in a dungeon, condemned to want the light of
the sun and candle till their dying day, are not so much to be pitied as we are.
For they, weary of their life, hate their prison; but we in our prison drink
ourselves drunk with the night-pleasures of our weak dreams, and we long for no
better life than this. But at the blast of the last trumpet, and the shout of
the Arch-' angel, when GOD. shall take down the shepherd's tent of this fading
world, we shall not have so much as a drink of water of all the dreams that we
now build on. Alas! that the sharp and bitter blasts which meet us in this life,
have not made us dead to this world! We buy our own sorrow, and we pay dear for
it, when we spend our love, our joy, our desires, our confidence, upon a handful
of snow and ice, which time will melt away; and go thirsty out of the drunken
inns, when all is done. Alas! that we inquire not for the clear fountain; but
are so foolish, as to drink foul, muddy waters, even till our bed-time; and
then, in the resurrection, when we shall be awakened, sick, sick shall many a
soul be! I know no wholesome fountain but one; I know not a thing worth the
buying but heaven. And my mind is, if comparison were made between CHRIST and
heaven, I would sell heaven and buy CHRIST. O that I could cry up CHRIST in
men's estimation, ten thousand talents more than men think of him! But they are
crying him down, or else exchanging CHRIST with the miserable old fallen house.
of this vain world; or they lend hint out upon interest, and play the usurers
with CHRIST: because they profess him, and give out before men that CHRIST is
their treasure and stock, and, in the mean time, praise of men, and a name, and
ease, are the usury they would be at; so when the trial cometh, they quit the
stock for the interest, and lose all. Happy are they, who can keep CHRIST alone,
and keep him clean and whole, till GOD come and count with them. I know, in your
heavy trials long since, you thought highly of CHRIST; but truly no cross should
be -old to us: we should not forget them, because years are come between us and
them, and cast them by, as we do old clothes; we' may make a cross, which is old
in time, new in use, and as fruitful as in the beginning of it. GOD is what he
was seven years ago, whatever change be in as: I speak not this as if I thought
you had forgotten what GOD did to have your love long since; but that you may
awake yourself in this sleepy age, and remember CHRIST'S first wooing your love,
and try if he got his answer, or if ye be yet to give him it. For I find in
myself, that water runneth not faster through a sieve, than our warnings slip
from us.. I bless his great name, who is no niggard in holding crosses upon me,
that he may save me from this perishing world. How plentiful GOD is in means of
this kind, is esteemed by many one of Go D's unkind mercies; but CHRIST'S cross
is neither a cruel nor unkind mercy, but the love-token of a father. I am sure,
a lover, chasing us in order to have our love, should not be fled from. GOD,
send me no worse mercy than the sanctified cross of CHRIST, and I am sure I
should be happy. Pray for me, that I may find house-room in the LORD's house, to
speak in his name. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 34: VOL 16 - TO CARDONESS, ELDER.
========================================================================

TO CARDONESS, ELDER. MUCH HONORED SIR,. GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
have longed to hear from you, and to know the state of your soul, and the state
of that people with you. I beseech you, Sir, by the mercies of GOD, make sure
work of your salvation. If ye be upon sinking sand, a storm of death will loose
CHRIST and you, and wash you off the rock: O, for the LORD's sake, look narrowly
to the work. Read over your life, with the light of God; for salvation is not
cast down at every man's door. It is good to look to your compass, and all ye
have need of, before ye take shipping; for no wind can blow you back again.
Remember, when the race is ended, and the play either won or lost, and ye are in
the utmost circle and border of time, and small put your foot within eternity,
and all your good things of this short night-dream shall seem to you like the
ashes of a blaze of thorns; then shall your soul be more glad at one of your
LORD'S smiles, than if ye had the charters of three worlds for all eternity. Now
when old age, like death's long shadow, is casting a covering upon your days, it
is no time to court this vain life; seek rest for your soul in GOD through
CHRIST. Believe me, I find it hard wrestling, to keep good quarters with him,
and to keep a constant course of sound and solid daily communion with CHRIST:
temptations are daily breaking the thread of that course, and it is not easy to
cast a knot again. O how fair have many ships been playing before the wind,
that, in an hour's space, have been lying in the sea-bottom! How many professors
cast a lustre, as if they were pure gold, and yet are but base and reprobate
metal! And how many keep breath in their race many miles, and yet come short of
the prize. Dear Sir, my soul would mourn in secret for you, if I knew your case
with GOD to be but false work. Those who had never sick nights nor days for sin,
have but such a peace with -GOD as will end in a sad war. I always saw nature
lofty, heady, and strong in you; and it was more for you to be dead to the world
than a common man: ye will take a deep cut, and a long lance, to go to the
bottom of your wounds, in saving humiliation. Be humbled, walk softly; down,
down, for Got's sake, with your top-sail; stoop, stoop; it is a low entry to go
in at heaven's gates. There is infinite justice in the party ye have to do with:
it is his nature not to acquit the guilty: the law of GOD will not want one
farthing of the sinner: GOD. forgetteth not both the surety and the sinner; and
every man must pay, either in his own person, (O LORD, save you from that
payment) or in his surety, CHRIST. Come in, come in to CHRIST, and see what you
want, and find it in him. I dare say, angels' pens, angels' tongues, nay, as
many worlds of angels as there are drops of water in all the seas, and
fountains, and rivers of the earth, cannot paint him out to you. I think, his
sweetness, since I was a prisoner, has swelled upon me to the greatness of two
heavens. O for a soul as wide as the utmost circle of the highest heaven, that
containeth all, to contain his love and even then I could hold little of it. O
what a sight to be up in heaven, in that fair orchard of the new paradise; and
to see, and smell, and taste, and touch that Tree of Life! Woe, woe is me, that
sin has made so many madmen, seeking the fools' paradise, some good and
desirable thing, without and apart from CHRIST. CHRIST, CHRIST, nothing but
CHRIST, can cool our love's burning languor. O thirsty love! wilt you set Cult's
t, the well of life, to thy head, and drink thy fill' Pray for me, his prisoner
of hope. I pray for you without ceasing. I write my blessing, my earnest
prayers, the love of GOD, and the sweet presence of CHRIST, to you and yours.
Grace, grace be with you! Your lawful and loving Pastor, Aberdeen, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 35: VOL 16 - TO CARDONESS, YOUNGER.
========================================================================

TO CARDONESS, YOUNGER. MUCH HONORED SIR, I LONG to hear whether or not your soul
be engaged with CHRIST. Lose time no longer; flee the follies of youth; gird up
the loins of your mind; and make you ready for meeting the LORD. I have often
summoned you, and now I summon you again, to compear before your Judge, to make
a reckoning of your life; while ye have time, look upon your papers, and
consider your ways. O that there were such a heart in you, as to think what an
ill con-science will be to you when ye are upon the border of eternity, and your
one foot out of time! O then, ten thousand floods of tears cannot extinguish
these flames, or purchase to you one hour's release from that pain! O how sweet
a day have ye had! But this is a fair-day that runneth fast away; see how ye
have spent it, and consider the necessity of salvation, and tell me (in the fear
of GOD) if ye have made it sure.’ I am persuaded, ye have a con-science that
will be speaking somewhat to you: why will ye die and destroy yourself I charge
you, in CHRIST'S name, to rouse up your conscience, and begin to contract with
CHRIST in time, while salvation is in your offer " This is the accepted time,
this is the day of salvation." Play the merchant, for ye cannot expect another
market-day when this is done; therefore let me again beseech you to consider, "
in this your day, the things that belong to your peace." Fulfill my joy, and
begin to seek the LORD while he may be found: forsake the follies of deceiving
youth; and lay hold upon eternal life. Whoring, drinking, mispending the
Sabbath, neglecting of prayer in your house and refusing an offered salvation,
will burn up your soul with the terrors of the ALMIGHTY, when your awakened
conscience shall flee in your face. Sir, I have not a tongue to express the
glory that is laid up for you in your Father's house, if ye frame your heart to
return to the LORD. Ye know, this world is but a shadow, a short-living
creature, under the law of time; within less than fifty years, when ye look back
to it, ye shall laugh at the vanishing vanities thereof, as feathers flying in
the air, and as the houses of sand within the sea-mark, which the children of
men are building. Give up courting this vain world: seek not the bastard's
moveables, but the son's heritage in heaven. Take trial of CHRIST, look unto
him, and his love shall so change you, that ye shall never choose to go from
him. I have experience of his sweetness in this house of my pilgrimage here my
witness, who is above, knows that I would not exchange my sighs and tears with
the laughter of the fourteen Prelates. There is nothing which will make you a
Christian indeed, but a taste of the sweetness of CHRIST; —" Come and see," will
speak best to your soul. I would fain hope good of you. Be not discouraged at
broken resolutions; but to it, and to it again: woo CHRIST, till ye get your
soul espoused as a chaste virgin to him; use the means of profiting, pray in
your family, and read the word remember how our LORD's day was spent when 1: was
among you. It will be a great challenge to you before GOD, if you forget the
good that was done within the walls of your house on the LORD's day, and if you
turn aside after the fashions of this world, and if you go not to the public
worship of GOD. Give Con some of your time, both in the morning, evening, and
afternoon; and in so doing, rejoice the heart of a poor prisoner. Now He that
brought again from the dead the Shepherd of his sheep, by the blood of the
eternal covenant, establish your heart with his grace, and present you before
his presence with joy. Your affectionate and loving Pastor, Aberdeen, 1637. S.
R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 36: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY BUSBIE.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY BUSBIE. I KNOW, ye are thinking sometimes what CHRIST is doing in
Zion. O that this nation would be awakened, to cry mightily unto Go D for the
setting up of a new tabernacle tO'CHR1ST! O that this kingdom knew how worthy
CHRIST is of his room! His worth was ever above man's estimation of him. And,
for myself, I am pained at the heart,' that I cannot find myself disposed to
leave myself, and go wholly in to CHRIST. Alas that there should be one bit of
me out of him, and that we leave too much liberty and latitude for ourselves,
and our own ease, and credit, and pleasures, and so little room for CHRIST! O
what. pains and charges it costs CHRIST before he gets us! And, when all is
done, we are not worth the having: it is a wonder that he should seek th e like
of us; but love overlooketh blackness; for, if it had not been so, CHRIST would
never have made so fair and blessed a bargain with us as the covenant of grace
is. Our LORD intends, in all our, sufferings, to bring grace into request
amongst us. I should come short of heaven, if I had no more but my own strength
to support me; and if CHRIST should say to me, " Either do or die," it were easy
to determine what should become of me: The choice is very easy, for I behooved
to die, if CHRIST should pass by with straitened bowels; and who then would take
us up in our straits I know CHRIST is kindest in his love when we are at our
weakest, else " the waters had gone over our soul." His mercy has a set period
and appointed place, how far, and no farther, the sea of affliction shall flow,
and where the waves thereof shall be stayed: He prescribeth how much pain and
sorrow, both for weight and measure, we must have. Ye have then good cause to
recall your love from all lovers, and give it to CHRIST: He who is afflicted in
all your afflictions, looketh not on you, in your sad hours, with an insensible
heart or dry eyes. All the LORD's children may see, that it is lost love which
is bestowed upon this perishing world: Death and judgment will make men lament
that ever their miscarrying hearts carried them to lavish their love upon false
appearances. Alas that CHRIST should fare the worse, because of his own goodness
in making peace and the Gospel ride together; and that we have never yet weighed
the worth of CHRIST and his ordinances; and that we are like to be deprived of
the well, before we have tasted the sweetness of the water! It may be that with
watery eyes, and a wet face, and wearied feet, we may seek CHRIST, and shall not
find him. O that this land were humbled in time; and, by prayers, cries, and
humiliation, would bring CHRIST in at the church-door again, now when his back
is turned towards us, and he is gone to the threshold, and his one foot (as it
were) is out of the door! I am sure his departure is our deserving, we have
bought it with our iniquities; for, alas! professors are made all of shows and
fashions, and are not at pains to recover themselves again. Every one contenteth
himself with a stinted measure of Godliness, as if that were. enough to bring
them to heaven. We forget, that as our gifts and light grow, so GOD’s gain and
the interest of his talents should grow also; and that we cannot pay GOD with
the old use, which we gave him seven years ago; for this were to mock the LORD.
O what difficulty is there in our Christian journey, and how often come we short
of many thousand things that are CHRIST'S due! I remember you unto the LORD, as
I am able: I entreat you, think upon me his prisoner, and pray, that the Lon])
would be pleased to give me room to speak to his people in his name. Grace,
grace be with you! Aberdeen, 1636. Yours in his LORD and Master, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 37: VOL 16 - LETTERS OF MR. SAMUEL RUTHERFOORD, PART II
========================================================================

Letters Of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, Part II


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 38: VOL 16 - TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX.
========================================================================

TO ROBERT GORDON, OF KNOCKBREX DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you!
I received your letter from Edinburgh. I would not wish to see another heaven,
until I get mine own heaven; but a new moon like the light of the sun, and a new
sun like the light of seven days, shining upon my poor self, and the Church of
Jews and Gentiles, and upon my withered and sunburnt mother the Church of
Scotland, and upon her sister churches England and Ireland; and to have this
done, to the exaltation of our great King: It matters not, although 1: were
separate from CHRIST, and had a sense of ten thousand years' pain in hell, if
this were. Dear brother, I am for the present in no small battle between felt
guiltiness, and pining longings for my Wellbeloved. Alas! I think CHRIST'S love
playeth the niggard to me; and I know it is not a scarcity of love, there is
enough in him: but my hunger prophesieth sparingness in CHRIST; for I have but
little of him, and little of his sweetness; yet there is such joy in hunger for
CHRIST, that if I had no other heaven but a continual thirst for CHRIST, this
were still a heaven to me. I am sure CHRIST'S love cannot be cruel; it must be a
pitiful, a melting hearted love: but suspension of that love, I think, is half a
hell, and the want of it is a whole hell. When I look to my guiltiness, I see my
salvation one of my Savior's greatest miracles either in heaven or earth; I am
sure, I may defy any man to show me a greater wonder: but seeing I have no hire,
no money for CHRIST, he must either take me with want, misery, and corruption,
or want me. I have now made a new question, whether CHRIST be more to be loved
for giving sanctification, or for free justification And I hold he is more to be
loved for sanctification. It is in some respect greater love in him to sanctify
than to justify; for he maketh us most like himself, in his own essential
portraiture and image, in sanctifying us: justification does but make us happy,
which is to be like the angels only. Neither is it such a misery, to he a
condemned man, as to serve sin, and work the works of the Devil; and therefore,
I think, sanctification cannot be bought, it is above price. GOD be thanked for
ever, that CHRIST was a price for sanctification. Let a sinner (if it were
possible) he in hell for ever if he make him truly holy, and let him he there
burning in love to GOD, rejoicing in the HOLY GHOST, and hanging upon CHRIST by
faith and hope, that is heaven in the heart and bottom of hell. Grace, grace be
with you! Yours in his lovely and longedfor LORD JESUS, Aberdeen, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 39: VOL 16 - TO CARLETOUN.
========================================================================

TO CARLETOUN. Worthy and much honored, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
received your letter from my brother, to which I now answer particularly. I
confess two things of myself:—1. Woe, woe is me, that men should think there is
any thing in me: He is my witness, before whom I am as crystal, that the secret
house devils, that bear me too often company, and that this sink of corruption
which I find within, make me go with low sails; and, if others saw what I see,
they would look by me, but not to me.—2. I know that this shower of his free
grace behooved to be on me, otherwise I would have withered. I know also, that I
have need of a buffeting Tempter, that grace may be put to exercise, and I kept
low. Worthy and dear brother in our LORD JESUS, I write that from my heart which
ye now read.1. I vouch, that CHRIST. And sweating and sighing under his cross,
are sweeter to me by far, than all the kingdoms of the world.—2. If you and my
dearest acquaintance in CHRIST reap any fruit by my suffering, let me be weighed
in GOD's even balance, if my joy be not fulfilled: What am I, to carry the marks
of such a great King But although I am a sinful mass, my LORD JESUS can hew
heaven out of worse timber than I am, if worse can be.—5. I now rejoice with joy
unspeakable and glorious, that I have desired to have and keep CHRIST all alone,
and that he should never rub clothes with the harlot of Rome. I am now fully
paid; so that nothing aileth me for the present, but anxious desires for a real
possession of my Well beloved. I have gotten the choicest of CHRIST'S
crosses,—to bear witness to the truth; and herein find I liberty, joy, life,
comfort, love, faith, submission, patience, and resolution to take delight in
waiting: and withal, in my race, he has come near to me, and let me see the
crown. What then want I but real enjoyment, which is reserved to my country Let
no man think that he shall lose at CHRIST'S hands in suffering for him.—4. As to
these present trials, they are most dangerous. For people shall be stolen off
their feet with plausible pretences of indifferency; but it is the power of the
great Antichrist working in this land. Woe, woe, woe be to apostate Scotland;
there is wrath, and a cup of the red wine of the wrath of GOD almighty in the
LORD's hand, that they shall drink, and fall, and not rise again. The star,
called " Wormwood and Gall," is fallen into the fountains and rivers, and has
made them bitter. The sword of the LORD is furbished against the idol shepherds
of the land; all hearts shall be faint, and all knees shall tremble. An end is
coming; the leopard and the lion shall watch over our cities; houses great and
fair shall be desolate, without an inhabitant.—5. I am assaulted by the learned
and pregnant wits of this kingdom; but, all honor be to my LORD, truth but
laughs at disputers of this world; GOD's wisdom confoundeth them; and CHRIST
triumpheth in his own strong truth, that speaketh for itself.6. Let my
conceptions of CHRIST'S love go to the grave with me, and to hell with me, I may
not, I dare not quit them. I hope to keep CHRIST'S pawn: if he never come to
loose it, let him see to his own promise. I know that presumption, although it
be made of stoutness, will not thus be wilful in heavy trials. Now, my dearest
in CHRIST, the great Messenger of the Covenant, the only wise and all sufficient
JEHOVAH, establish you to the end! I hear the LORD has been at your house, and
has called home your wife to her rest. I know, Sir, ye see the LORD loosing the
pins of your tabernacle, and wooing your love from this overgilded world, and
calling upon you to be making yourself ready to go to your Father's country. Ye
know, to " send the Comforter" was a King's word when he ascended on high: ye
have claim to, and interest in, that promise. All love, all mercy, all grace and
peace, all multiplied saving consolations, all joy and faith in CHRIST, all
stability and confirming strength of grace, and the goodwill of Him that dwelt
in the bush, be with you! Your unworthy brother in the LORD JESUS, Aberdeen, S.
R. June 15, 1639.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 40: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT.
========================================================================

TO MARION MACKNAUGHT. Worthy and dearest in the LORD, I EVER loved (since I knew
you) that little vineyard of the LORD's planting in Galloway; but now much more,
since I have heard that He, who " has his fire in Zion, and his furnace in
Jerusalem," has been pleased to set up a furnace amongst you, with the first in
this kingdom. This fire shall be quenched, so soon as CHRIST has brought you
pure through the fire. Therefore, my dearly beloved in the LORD, fear not.
Charge an unbelieving heart, under the pain of treason against our great and
royal King JESUS, to dependence by faith on our LORD. Get you into your
chambers, and shut the doors about you; in, in with speed to your strong hold,
ye prisoners of hope; ye doves, flee in to CHRIST'S; windows, till the
indignation be over, and the storm be past. Glorify the LORD in your sufferings,
and take his banner of love and spread over you. Others will follow you, if they
see you strong in the LORD; their courage shall take life from your Christian
carriage. Look up and see who is coming; lift up your head; he is coming to
save, " in garments dyed in blood, and traveling in the greatness of his
strength." I laugh, I smile, I leap for joy, to see CHRIST coming to save you so
quickly. O what wide steps CHRIST taketh! Three or four hills are but a step to
him; " he skippeth over the mountains." CHRIST has set a battle between his poor
weak saints and his enemies. He says to the enemies, Take you a sword of steel,
law, authority, parliaments, and kings upon your side; that is your armour. And
he says to his. saints, I give you a sword in your hand, and that is suffering,
receiving of strokes, spoiling of your goods; and with your sword ye shall get
and gain the victory. Ye are CHRIST'S members, and he is drawing his members
through the thorny hedge up to heaven after him. I am careless, and stand not
much on this, although loins, back, shoulders, and head, split in pieces, in
stepping up to my Father's house. 1 know that my LORD can make long, and broad,
and high, and deep glory to his name, out of this poor body; for CHRIST looketh
not what stuff he maketh glory out of. My dearly beloved, ye have often
refreshed me, but that is put up in my Master's accounts; ye have him debtor for
me. But if ye will do any thing for me (as I know ye will) now in my extremity,
tell all my dear friends, that a prisoner is fettered and chained in CHRIST's
love; (LORD, never loose the fetters;) and ye and they together, take my
heartiest commendations to my LORD JESUS, and thank him for a poor friend. I
desire your husband to read this letter; I send him a prisoner's blessing. I
will be obliged to him, if he will be willing to suffer for my dear Master;
suffering is the professor's golden garment; there shall be no losses on
CHRIST'S side of it. Grace be with you; a prisoner's blessing be with you I
write it, and abide by it, GOD shall be glorious in MARION MACKNAUGHT, when this
stormy blast shall be over. O woman, beloved of GOD, believe, rejoice, be strong
in the LORD; grace is thy portion! Aberdeen, Yours in his LORD JESUS, June 15,
1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 41: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY CULROSS,
========================================================================

TO THE LADY CULROSS, MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I am the first
in the kingdom put to utter silence. I cannot preach my LORD's righteousness in
the great congregation. I am, notwithstanding, the less solicitous how it go, if
there be not wrath in my cup. But I rest on this, that in my fever my Physician
is at my bedside, and that he sympathizeth with me when I sigh. Another man's
bed and fireside, and other losses, have no room in my sorrow: a greater heat,
to eat out a less fire, is a good remedy for some burning. I believe, when
CHRIST draweth blood, he has skill to cut the right vein; and that he has taken
the whole ordering and disposing of my sufferings. Let Him tutor me, and tutor
my crosses, as he thinketh good: there is no danger nor hazard in following such
a guide, although he should lead me through hell, if I could put faith foremost,
believing to see the salvation of GOD. I know, CHRIST is not obliged to let me
see both the sides of my cross, or to turn it over and over, that I may see all:
my faith is richer to live upon credit, CHRIST'S borrowed money, than to have
much in my hand. Let me be a sinner, and worse than the chief of sinners, yea, a
guilty Devil; yet I am sure my Well beloved is GOD: and when I say, " CHRIST is
GOD," and " My CHRIST is Golly" I have said all things; I can say no more. I
would I could build as much upon this, " My CHRIST is GOD," as it would bear. I
might lay all the world upon it. But my wounds are sorest, and pain me most,
when I sin against his love and his mercy: and if he would set me and my
conscience together, and let us settle it between us, my spitting upon the fair
face of CHRIST'S love and mercies, by my jealousies, unbelief, and doubting,
would be enough to sink me. O LORD, I stand dumb before thee for this; I still
misbelieve, though I have seen that my LORD has made my cross as it were all
crystal, so that I can see through it CHRIST and heaven, and that on has honored
a lump of sinful flesh and blood, to be CHRIST's honorable LORD prisoner. I
ought to esteem the walls of a filthy dungeon most beautiful, for my LORD JESUS;
and yet I am not so shut up, but that the sun shineth upon my prison, and the
fair wide heaven is the covering of it. But my LORD has done more; for he makes
me find, that he will be a prisoner with me: he lieth down, and riseth up with
me; when I sigh, he sigheth; when I weep, he suffereth with me. And I confess
here is the blessed issue of my’suffering already begun, in that my heart io
filled with hunger and desire to have him glorified in my sufferings. I have no
more free goods in the world for CHRIST, save that: it is both the whole
heritage I have, and all my moveables, besides; " LORD, give the thirsty man to
drink." I would not have CIRIST's love entering in me, but I would enter into
it, and be swallowed up of it. Blessed be my rich LORD JESUS, who sends not away
beggars from his house! He filleth the vessel of such as will come and seek: we
might beg ourselves rich, (if we were wise,) if we could but hold out withered
hands to CHRIST, and learn to seek, ask, and knock. Madam, let me have your
prayers, as ye have the prayers and blessing of him that is separated from his
brethren. Grace, grace be with you! Your own in his LORD JESUS, S. R. Aberdeen,
Jane 15, 1631.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 42: VOL 16 - TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, ELDER.
========================================================================

TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, ELDER. Much honored and dearest in the LORD,
GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! My soul longed', exceedingly to hear how
matters go between you and CHRIST; and whether or not there be any work of
CHRIST in that parish, that will abide the trial of fire and water. Let me be
weighed of my LORD in a just balance, if your souls he not weighty upon me. You
go to bed and you rise with me; thoughts of your soul depart not from me in my
sleep; ye have a great part of my tears, sighs, and prayers. O that I could buy
your soul's salvation with any suffering whatsoever, and that ye and I might
meet with joy before our Judge! O may my Lon') forbid that I should have any
thing against you in that day! O that He who quickeneth the dead would give life
to my sowing among you! What joy, on this side of death, would comfort me more,
than that the souls of that poor people were in safety Sure I am, that once I
discovered my lovely LORD JESUS to you all: woe shall be your part for evermore,
if the Gospel be not the savor of life unto life to you. Believe me, I find
heaven a city hard to be won. " The righteous scarcely are saved." O what
violence of thronging will heaven take! Alas, I see many deceiving themselves;
for we will all profess to go to heaven. Now, every foul dog, with his foul
feet, will in to the new and clean Jerusalem. All say they have faith; and the
greatest part in the world know not, and will not consider, that a slip in the
matter of their salvation, is the most pitiful slip that can be, and that no
loss is comparable to this loss. Ye will not believe how quickly the Judge will'
come. And for yourself, I know that death is waiting, and hovering, and
lingering at GOD’s command, that ye may be prepared. Then ye had need to stir
your time; a wrong step in going out of life is like the sin against the HOLY
GHOST, and can never be forgiven, because ye cannot come back again, through the
last water, to mourn for it. Lose not the last play, whatever ye do; for, in
that play with death, your precious soul is the prize: for the Loiad's sake lose
not such a treasure. Ye know, out of love to your soul, and out of desire to
make an honest account for you, I testified my disliking of your ways very
often, both in private and public. I am not now a witness of your doings, but
your Judge is always your witness. I beseech you by the mercies of GOD, by the
salvation of your soul, by your comforts when your eye strings shall break, and
the face wax pale; and the soul tremble to be out of the lodging of clay, and by
your appearance before your awful Judge, after the sight of this letter take a
new course; and now, in the end of your day, make sure of heaven. Examine
yourself, if ye be in good earnest in CHRIST. Many think they believe, but never
trembler the devils. are further on than these. Make sure to yourself that ye
are above ordinary professors; the sixth part of your spanlength of days is
scarcely before you: haste, haste; for the tide will not abide. I never knew so
well what sin was; as since I came to, Aberdeen, although I was preaching of it
to you. To feel the smoke of hell's fire in the throat for half an hour, to
stand beside a river of fire ands brimstone broader than the earth, and to'
think of being. bound hand and foot, and cast into the midst of it quick, and
then to have God locking the prison door, never to be' opened for all eternity O
how will it shake a conscience' that has any life in it! I find that the fruits
of my pains, to have CHRIST and that people united, now meet my soul in my sad
hours; and I rejoice that T gave fair warning of all the corruptions now
entering into CHRIST'S house. I profess to you, I have no’ rest, I have no ease,
until I" be over head and ears in love's ocean. If CHRIST'S love (that fountain
of delight) were laid as open to me as I could wish, O' how would I drink, and a
drink abundantly!" I half call his absence cruel, and the veil on CtintsT's face
a cruel covering, that hideth such a fain face from a sick soul. I dare not
challenge himself; but his absence is a mountain of iron upon my heavy heart, O
when shall we meet O how long is it to the dawning of the marriageday O LORD
JESUS, take wide steps; O My LORD, come over mountains at one stride! " O my
beloved, flee like a roe, or young hart upon the mountains." Since he looked
upon me, my heart is not mine own: he has gone away to heaven with it. I know it
was not for nothing, that I spoke so much good of CHRIST to you in public. O
that the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, were paper, and the sea ink, and the
multitude of mountains pens of brass, and I were able to write that paper,
within and without, full of the praises of my Well beloved! Woe is me, I cannot
worthily set him out to men and angels. O, there are few tongues to sing his
incomparable excellency! What can I, a poor prisoner, do to exalt him Or what
course can I take to extol my Lout) JESUS I am put to my wits' end, how to get
his name made great. Blessed be they who would help me in this! Those that see
his face, how can they get their eyes plucked from him again Look up to him, and
love him O love and live! It were life to me, if ye would read this letter to
that people, and if they did profit by it. O that I could cause them to die of
love for JESUS! I charge them, by the salvation of their souls, to cleave
toCHRIST, and follow him, as I taught them. Part by no means with CHRIST; hold
fast what ye have received. Keep the truth once delivered: if ye or that people
quit it an hair, ye break your conscience in twain; and who then can mend it,
and cast a knot on it My dearest in the LORD, stand fast in CHRIST; keep the
faith; contend for CHRIST; wrestle for him; and take men's feuds for GOD's
favor;—there is no comparison between these. O that my LORD would fulfill my
joy, and keep the young bride to CHRIST that is at Anwoth! And as to those,
whoever they be, that have returned to the old vomit since my departure, I bind
upon their back, in my Master's name and authority, the long lasting, weighty
vengeance and curse of GOD: in my Lo R u's name, I give them a doom of black,
unmixed, pure wrath, which my Master shall ratify and make good, when we stand
together before him, except they repent, and turn to the LORD. And I write to
thee, poor mourning and brokenhearted believer, be who you wilt, of the free
salvation CHRIST'S sweet balm for thy wounds, O: poor humble believer; CHRIST'S
blood of atonement for thy guilty soul; CHRIST'S heaven for thy poor soul,
though once banished out of Paradise: And my Master shall make good my word
before long. O that people were wise! O that people would never rest until they
find him! O how shall my soul mourn in secret, if my nine years' pained head,
and sore breast, and pained back, and grieved heart, and private and public
prayers to GOD, shall all be for nothing among that people! Did my LORD JESUS
send me but to summon you before your Judge, and to leave your summons at your
houses O my GOD, forbid! Often did I tell you of a fan of GOD's word to come
among you, for the contempt of it. I told you often of wrath, wrath from the
LORD, to come upon Scotland'; it is quickly coming. Now, my dear people, my joy
and my crown in the LORD, " let Him be your fear;" seek the LORD and his face,
and save your souls. Doves, flee to CHRIST'S windows! Pray for me, and praise
for me. The blessing of my GOD, and the prayers and blessing of a poor prisoner,
be upon you! Aberdeen, Your lawful and loving Pastor, June 16, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 43: VOL 16 - TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIESH,
========================================================================

TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIESH, Minister of the Gospel. Reverend and dear Brother,
GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I am well; my Lord JESUS is kinder to me
than ever he was; it pleases him to dine and sup with his afflicted prisoner; a
King feasteth me, and his spikenard casteth a sweet smell. Put CHRIST'S love to
the trial, and then it will appear love indeed: we employ not his love, and
therefore we know it not. I count more of the sufferings of my LORD, than of
this world's gilded glory. I find it a sweet and rich thing to exchange my
sorrows with CHRIST'S joys, my afflictions for that sweet peace which I have
with himself. Brother, this is his own truth for which I now suffer. He has
sealed my sufferings with his own comforts, and I know he will not put his seal
upon blank paper; his seals are not dumb, nor delusive, to.confirm imaginations
and lies. Go on, my dear Brother, in the strength of the Lows, not fearing man
that is a worm, or the son of man that will die. Providence has a thousand keys,
to open a thousand different doors, for the deliverance of his own, when it is
even come to.a " Conclamatuna est." Let us be faithful, and care for our own
part, which is to do and suffer for him; and lay CHRIST's part on himself, and
leave it. there. Duties are ours, events are the Lord's. When our faith go to
meddle with events, and to hold a Court (if I may so speak) upon GOD's
Providence, and beginneth to say, "now wilt you do this and that "-we lose
ground. We have nothing to do there; it is our part to let the Almighty exercise
his own office, and steer his own helm; there is nothing left for us, but to see
how we may be approved of him, and how we may roll the weight of our weak souls
(in well doing) upon him, who is GOD OMNIPOTENT: And when what we thus essay.
miscarrieth, it shall neither. be our sin nor cross. Brother, remember the
LORD'S word to PETER, "SIMON, loves you me Feed my sheep:" No greater testimony
of our love to CHRIST can be, than to feed painfully and faithfully his lambs.
Grace be with you! Aberdeen. Your brother in bonds, S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 44: VOL 16 - TO EARLESTOUN, YOUNGER.
========================================================================

TO EARLESTOUN, YOUNGER. Much honored and well beloved in the LORD, GRACE, mercy,
and peace, be to you! There is not such a glassy, icy, and slippery piece of
way, between you and heaven, as youth. I have experience to say with me here,
and seal what I assert; the old ashes of the sins of my youth are now fire of
sorrow to me. I have seen the Devil, as it were, dead and buried, and yet rise
again, and be a worse devil than ever he was. Therefore, my Brother, beware of a
green young devil, that has never been buried: the devil in his youth is much to
be feared. Better yoke with an old grey haired, withered, dry devil: for in
youth he finds thy sticks, and dry coals, and a hot hearthstone; and how soon
can he with his flint cast fire, and with his bellows blow it up, and fire the
house Sanctified thoughts, thoughts made conscience of, and kept in awe, are
green fuel that burn not, and are a water for SATAN'S coal. Yet, I must tell
you, that all the saints, now triumphant in heaven, are nothing but a company of
redeemed sinners. But their redemption is not only past the seals, but
completed; and yours is on the wheels, and in doing. Let your bleeding soul, and
your sores, be put into the hands of CHRIST: let young and strong corruptions,
and his free grace, be yoked together; and let CHRIST and your sins deal it
between them. I would be does to remove your fears, and your sense of deadness;
(I wish it were more;) there are some wounds of such a nature, that their
bleeding should not be soon stopped. Ye must take a house beside the Physician;
it shall be a miracle, if you be the first sick man he puts away uncured. , nay,
CHRIST IS honest and free with sinners; (John 6:37;) " And him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out." Take ye that; it cannot be presumption to take
that as your own, when ye find your wounds. Presumption is ever whole at the
heart, and groaneth only for the sake of fashion.; faith has sense of sickness.
CHRIST is as full a feast as ye can have. His mercy sends always a letter of
defiance to all your sins, if there were ten thousand more of them. I grant you,
it is a hard matter for a poor hungry man to find CHRIST, when the key of his
banqueting house is sought, and cannot be had: but hunger must break through
iron locks. I bemoan them not, who can cry out for a SAVIOR: ye must let him
hear it (to say so) upon both sides of his head, when he hideth himself; it is
not time then, to be careless and patient. CHRIST is rare, indeed, and delicate
to a sinner; he is a miracle, to a seeking and weeping sinner; but yet such a
miracle as will be seen by them who will " come and see." The seeker and sigher
is at last a singer and enjoyer; nay, I have seen a dumb man get an alms from
CHRIST. It bodeth the approach of GOD’s mercy, when we complain heartily for
sin. Let wrestling be continued with CHRIST, till he say, " How is it that I
cannot be quit of your cries " And then hope for CHRIST'S blessing his blessing
is better than ten other blessings. Think not shame because of' your guiltiness.
Necessity must not blush to beg: it standeth you hard to want CHRIST; and that
which idle waiting cannot do, crying and knocking will do. Now, for myself;
alas, I am not the man I go for in this nation: men have not just weights to
weigh me in. O, I am a silly body, and overgrown with weeds! Corruption is too
Tank in me. O that I were answerable to this holy cause, and to that honorable
Prince's love, for whom I now suffer! If CHRIST would refer the matter to me,
(in his presence I speak it) I might think it shame to vote my awn salvation. I
think, CHRIST might say, " Thinkest you not shame to claim heaven, who dost so
little for it" I am very often so, that I know not whether I sink or swim in the
water; I find myself a bag of light froth; I could bear no weight. if my LORD
did not cast in borrowed weight, even CHRIST'S righteousness, to weigh for me.
The stock I have is not mine own; I am but the merchant that trafficks with
other people's goods. If my creditor, CHRIST, would take from me what he hath
lent, I could not long keep the causeway; but CHRIST has made it mine and his. I
complain, that when CHRIST cometh, he cometh always to fetch fire; he is ever in
haste, he may not tarry: but I think it my happiness to love the love of CHRIST;
and, when he go away, the memory of his sweet presence is like a feast in a dear
summer. O that I could write a book of his praises! O fairest among the sons of
men, why stayest you so long away O heavens, move fast! O time, run, run, and
hasten the marriage day! For love is tormented with delays. O Angels, O
Seraphim, who stand. before him, O blessed Spirits who now see his face, set him
on high; for when ye have worn your harps with his praises, all is too little,
and is nothing, to cast the smell of the praise of that fair flower, that
fragrant rose of Sharon, through many worlds! Grace be with you! Aberdeen, Yours
in JESUS, June 16, 1637•


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  CHAPTER 45: VOL 16 - TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF KNOCKGRAY.
========================================================================

TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF KNOCKGRAY. Dearest and truly honored Brother, GRACE,
mercy, and, peace, be to you! I have seen no. letter front. you since I came to
Aberdeen; 1 will not interpret it to be forgetfulness. 1: am here in a, fair
prison; CHRIST is my sweet and honorable fellow prisoner, and I his sad and.
joyful LORD prisoner, if 1: may speak so. I think this cross becometh me well,
and is suitable to me, in respect of my duty. to suffer for CHRIST, although not
in regard of my deserving to be thus honored. However. it be, I see CHRIST is
strong, even lying in the dust, in prison, and in banishment. Losses and
disgraces are the wheels of his triumphing chariot. In the sufferings of his
saints, as he intends their good, so he intends his own glory; and CHRIST
shooteth not at random, he hitteth what he purposeth to hit: therefore he does
make his own weak nothings, who are the contempt of men, " a new sharp threshing
instrument, having teeth, to thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and to
make the hills as chaff, and to fan them! " (Isa. )li. 15, 16.) What harder
stuff, or harder grain for threshing out, than high and rocky mountains But the
saints are GOD’s threshing instruments to beat them all into chaff. Let fools
laugh the fools' laughter, and SCORN CHRIST, and bid the weeping captives in
Babylon " sing one of the songs of Zion; " no created powers in hell, or out of
hell, can mar our LORD JESUS's music, nor spoil our song of joy. Let us then be
glad and rejoice in the salvation of our LORD; for faith had never yet cause to
have wet cheeks, or to droop and die. What can ail faith, seeing CHRIST
suffereth himself (with reverence to Him be it spoken) to be commanded by it,
and CHRIST commandeth all things Faith may dance, because CHRIST sings; and we
may come in the choir, and lift our hoarse and rough voices, and sing, and shout
for joy with our LORD JESUS. If God were dead, (if I may speak so, with
reverence of Him who liveth for ever and ever,) and CHRIST buried, and laid
among the worms, we might have cause to look like dead folks. But, " the LORD
liveth, and blessed be the rock of our salvation." (Psal. 18:46.) None have
right to joy but we; for joy is sown for us, and an ill summer or harvest will
not spoil the crop. I cannot but speak what I have felt; my LORD JESUS has
broken a box of spikenard upon the head of his poor prisoner, and it is a pain
to smother CHRIST'S love; it will be out, whether we will or not. If we did but
speak according to the matter, a cross for CHRIST should have another name; yea,
a cross, especially when he cometh with his arms full of joys, is the happiest
hard tree that ever was laid upon my weak shoulder. CHRIST and his cross
together are sweet company, and a blessed couple. My prison is my palace; my
sorrow is pregnant with joy; my losses are rich losses; my pain is easy pain; my
heavy days are holy and happy days. I may tell a new tale of CHRIST to my
friends. O that I could make a song of him, and could commend CHRIST, and tune
his praises aright! Is it not great art in my LORD, that he can bring forth such
fair apples out of this crabbed tree of the cross Grace be with you! Aberdeen,
June 16, 1637. Yours in his LORD JESUS, S.R.


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  CHAPTER 46: VOL 16 - TO ELIZABETH KENNEDY.
========================================================================

TO ELIZABETH KENNEDY. GRACE, mercy, and peace, be unto you!. I have long had a
purpose of writing to you. I heartily desire that ye would mind your country;
for all come not home at night, who suppose they have set their face heavenward.
It is a woeful thing, to die and miss of heaven! I persuade myself; that
thousands shall be deceived and ashamed of their hope; because they cast their
anchor in the sinking sands, Till now, I knew not the pain, labor, or difficulty
that. there is to win home; nor did I understand so well, before this, " The
righteous"' shall " scarcely be saved." Oh how many a poor• professor's candle
is blown out, and never lighted again! I see that to be ranked amongst the
children of GOD, and to have a name among men, is now thought good enough to
carry professors to, heaven: but certainly, a name is but a name, and will never
abide the blast of GOD’s storm. I counsel you, not to give your soul or CHRIST
rest, nor your eyes sleep, till ye have gotten something, that will abide the
fire, and stand out the storm. I am sure, that even if my one foot were in
heaven, and he should then say, " Fend thyself, I will. hold thee no longer, 'I
should go no further,' but presently fall down in as many pieces of dead nature.
They are happy for evermore, who are swallowed up in the love of CHRIST, and
know no sickness but that of desire after CHRIST. We run our souls out of
breath, and tire them, in coursing and gallopping after our own dreams, to get
some created good thing on this side of death. We would fain stay, and spin out
a heaven to ourselves, on this side of the water; but sorrow, want, changes,
crosses, and sin, are both woof and warp in. that ill spun web. O how sweet and
dear are those thoughts, that are still upon " the things which are above! And
how happy are they, who are longing to have time's thread cut, and can cry to
CHRIST, "LORD JESUS, come over, come and fetch the dried passenger! " I wish our
thoughts were more frequently than they are upon our country. Heaven casteth a
sweet odor afar off, to those that have spiritual senses! GOD has made many fair
flowers; but the fairest of them all is heaven; and the flower of all flowers is
CHRIST. O why do we not flee up to that lovely one Alas! that there is such
scarcity of love, and lovers of CHRIST, among us all! Fie, fie, upon us, who
love fair things, as fair gold, fair houses, fair lands, fair pleasures, fair
honors, and fair persons; and do not pine and melt away with love to CHRIST. O,
would to GOD that I had more love for his sake! O for as much love as would he
between me and heaven! O for as much love as would go round about the earth, and
over the heaven, yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand worlds, that I
might fix it all upon CHRIST! But, alas! I have nothing for Him; yet he has much
for me: it is no gain to CHRIST, that he getteth my little spanlength and
handbreadth of love. If men would have something to do with their hearts and
their thoughts, which are always rolling up and down after sinful vanities, they
may find great and sweet employment for their thoughts in CHRIST. If these
frothy. and restless hearts of ours would come all about CHRIST, and look into
his love, his bottomless love, into the depth of his mercy, into the
unsearchable riches of his grace, so as to search into the beauty of GOD in
CHRIST; they would be swallowed up in the depth and height, the length and
breadth, of his goodness. O if. men would draw the curtains, and look into the
inner side of the ark, and behold how the "fullness of the Godhead dwells in him
bodily," who would not say, " Let me die, let me die ten times, to get a sight
of him!" Ten thousand deaths were no great price to give for him. I am sure that
ardent love would heighten the market, and raise the price to the double for
him. But, alas, if men and angels were sold at the dearest, they would not all
buy a. sight of CHRIST. O how happy are they, who get CHRIST for nothing! GOD
send me no more for my part of paradise, but CHRIST; and surely I were rich
enough, and as well heavened as the best of them, if CHRIST were my heaven. I
can write no better thing to you, than to desire you to weigh him again and
again; and, after this, have no other to gain your love, but CHRIST: he will be
found worthy of all your love; although it should swell from the earth to the
uppermost circle of the heaven of heavens. To our LORD JESUS and his love I
commend you. Aberdeen, 1637. Yours in Jesus, S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 47: VOL 16 - TO JONET KENNEDY.
========================================================================

TO JONET KENNEDY. Loving and dear Sister, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be unto you!.
I received your letter. Keep your taste, your love, and your hope in heaven; it
is not good that your love and your LORD should be in two sundry countries. Up,
up after Him; that ye and he may be together. A King from heaven has sent for
you; by faith he showed you the New Jerusalem, and taketh you along in the
SIIRIT, through all the dwelling houses in heaven, and says, " All these are
thine: this palace is for thee and CHRIST." If ye only had been the chosen of
GOD, CHRIST would have built that house for you and himself: now, it is for you
and many others also. Take with you in your journey, what ye may carry with you,
your conscience, faith, hope, patience, meekness, goodness, brotherly kindness
for such wares as these are of great price in the country whither ye go. As for
other things, the world's vanity and trash, since they are but the house
sweepings, ye shall do best not to carry them with you; ye found them
here,—leave them here, and let them keep the house. Your sun is low; be nigh
your lodging against night. We go, one by one, out of this great market, till
the town be empty, and the two lodgings, heaven and hell, be filled. Antichrist
and' his master are busy to replenish hell, and to seduce many: and stars, great
churchlights, are falling from heaven; and many are misled and seduced, and sell
their birthright, by hunting for I know not what. Fasten upon CHRIST. Though. my
cross were as heavy as ten mountains, when he putteth his shoulder under me and
it, it is but a feather. I please myself in the choice of CHRIST; I rejoice that
he is in heaven before me; GOD send a joyful meeting, and in the mean time the
traveler's charges for the way, I mean a burden of CHRIST'S love, to sweeten the
journey, and to encourage a breathless runner; for when I lose breath in
climbing up the mountain, he maketh new breath. Now, the very GOD of peace
establish you to the day of his appearance! Aberdeen, Yours in his only LORD
JESUS, Sept. 9, 1637. S.R.


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  CHAPTER 48: VOL 16 - TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIES.
========================================================================

TO MR. WILLIAM DALGLIES. Reverend and well beloved Brother, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be unto you! I have heard somewhat of your trials in Galloway. Let me
entreat you to be steadfast to CHRIST. My witness is above, that you have added
much joy to me in my bonds, when I hear that you grow in the grace of GOD, and
zeal' for your Master. Our ministry, whether by preaching or suffering, will
cast an odor through the world both of heaven and hell. (2 Cron 2:15, 16.) There
is nothing out of heaven, next to CHRIST, dearer to me than my ministry; and the
worth of it, iri my estimation, is swelled, and paineth me exceedingly: yet I am
content, for the honor of my LORD, to surrender it back again to the LORD of the
vineyard; let him do, both with me and it, what he thinketh good. I think myself
too little for him. And let me speak to you, how kind a fellow prisoner is
CHRIST to me! Believe me, this kind of cross, (which would not go by my door,
but would needs visit me,) the longer it lasts is still the more welcome to me.
It is true, my silent sabbaths have been and are still glassy ice, whereon my
faith can scarcely hold its feet, and I am often blown if my feet with a storm
of doubting; yet truly my bonds all this time emit a mighty fragrance of high
and deep love in CHRIST. I cannot indeed see through my cross to the far end;
yet I am praising the LAMB, in sorrow, deprivation, losses, want of friends, and
death. Let us be glad that we have blood, losses, and wounds, to show to our
Master and Captain at his appearance. Woe is me, my dear brother, that I say
often, u I am but dry bones, which my LORD veil. not bring out of the grave
again; and that my faithless. fears say, C O I am a dry tree, that can bear no
fruit;, I am a useless body, who can beget no children to the LORD in his
house." Yet I often get the advantage of the hill above my temptations; and then
I despise temptations, and even hell itself, and am proud of my honorable
Master; I resolve, whether contrary winds will or not, to fetch CHRIST'S harbor;
and I think a resolute and earnest contention with my LORD JESUS for his love
very lawful. Since my entry hither, many a time has my fair sun shone without a
cloud: hot and burning has CHRIST'S love been to me; I have no vent for the
expression of it. Except CHRIST would seize upon myself, and make the readiest
payment that can be of my heart and love to himself, I have no other thing to
give him. If my sufferings could do beholders good, and proclaim the
incomparable worth of CHRIST'S love to the world, then would my soul be
overjoyed, and my sad heart cheered and calmed! Dear brother, I cannot tell what
is become of my labors among that people. If all that my LORD built by me be
cast down, and none stand by CHRIST, whose love I once preached as clearly and
plainly as I could to that people; (though far below its worth and excellency;)
if so, how can I bear it And if another make a foul harvest, where I have made a
painful and honest sowing, it will not soon digest with me; but I know his ways
are past finding out. Yet my witness both within me and above me knows, and my
pained breast upon the LORD's day at night, that my desire to have made CII KIST
awful, and amiable, and sweet to that people, is now my joy; and it was my
desire and aim to make CHRIST and them one. O my GOD., seek not an account of
the violence done to me by my brethren, whose salvation I love and desire! I
pray, that they and I be not heard as contrary parties, in the day of our
compearance before our Judge. O how silly an advantage is my deprivation to men,
seeing that my LORD JESUS has many ways, to recover his own losses, so that his
lily may grow among thorns, and his little kingdom exalt itself, even under the
sword and spears of contrary powers! My dear brother, go on in the strength of
his rich grace: stand fast for CHRIST; deliver the Gospel with a clean and
undefiled conscience. Nothing, nothing (I say, nothing) but sound sanctification
can abide the LORD's fan. I recommend you, and GOD’s people committed by CHRIST
to your trust, to the rich grace of our all sufficient LORD. Remember my bonds:
praise my LORD, who beareth me up in my sufferings. As you find occasion
(according to the wisdom given you) show our acquaintance what the LORD has done
to my soul. This I seek not, verily, to hunt my own praise, but that my Master
may be magnified in my sufferings. Aberdeen, Your Brother in JESUS, June 17,
1637. S.R.


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  CHAPTER 49: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY LARGIRIE.
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TO THE LADY LARGIRIE. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I exhort you in
the LORD, to go on in your journey to heaven, and to be content with such fare
by the way as CtIRIST and his followers have had before you: for they had always
the wind on their faces; and our LORD has not changed the way to us for our
ease, but will have us follow our guide. Alas, how does sin clog us in our
journey! What fools.are we, to have any other love beside CHRIST It were best
for us to seek our own home, and to sell our hopes of this little idol of the
earth, where we are neither well summered nor well wintered. O that our souls
would think of it, as a traveler does of a drink of water, which is not any part
of his treasure, but go away with the using; for ten miles' journey maketh that
drink to him as nothing! O that we had as soon done with this world, and could
as quickly despatch the love of it! But as a child cannot hold two apples in his
little hand, but the one puttetil the other out of its room; so neither can we
be masters of two loves. Blessed were we, if we could make ourselves masters of
that invaluable treasure, the love of Caaisr; or rather suffer, ourselves to be
mastered to CHRIST'S love, so that CHRIST were our all things, and all other
things our nothings. O let us be ready for shipping, against the time when our
LORD'S wind and tide call for us! Death is the last thief that shall come
without din or noise of feet, and take our souls away, and we shall take our
leave of time, and face eternity: and our LORD) shall lay together the two sides
of this earthly tabernacle, and fold us, and lay us by, as a man layeth by
clothes at,night; and put the one half of us in a house of clay, the dark grave,
and the other half of us in heaven or hell. Seek to be found of your LORD in
peace, and put your soul in order; for CHRIST will not give a nailbreadth of
time to our little sandglass. Pray for Zion; and for me his prisoner, that he
would he pleased to bring me amongst you again, full of CHRIST, loaden with the
blessing of his gospel. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in his only LORD and
Master, S. R.


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  CHAPTER 50: VOL 16 - TO EARLSTOUN, YOUNGER.
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TO EARLSTOUN, YOUNGER. Worthy and dearly beloved in the LORD, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be to you!' I long to hear from you: I remain still a prisoner of hope,
and think it service to the LORD, to wait on still with submission, till the
LORD's morning sky break, and his summer day dawn. GOD sent us down to this
earth, among devils and men, the firebrands of the Devil, and temptations, that
we might suffer for a time; otherwise he might have made heaven wait on us at
our coming out of the womb, and have carried us home to our country, without
letting us set down our feet in this thorny life. But seeing that a piece of
suffering is carved for every one of us, less or more, as infinite wisdom has
thought good, our part is to harden and habituate our soft and thin skinned
nature to endure fire and water, devils, lions, men, losses, and sad hearts,
like persons whose behavior is inspected by GOD, angels, men, and devils. O what
folly is it, to sit down and weep upon. a decree of GOD, that is as unmoveable
as GOD who made it! For who can come behind our LORD, to alter or better what he
has decreed and done It were better to make windows in our prison, and to look
out to GOD, and to our country heaven, and to cry, like fettered men who long
for the King's free air, "LORD, let thy kingdom come! O let the Bridegroom come!
O fair day, O everlasting summer day, dawn and shine out, break out from under
the black sky I" If every day a little stone in the prison walls were broken,
and thereby assurance given to the chained prisoner, lying, under twenty stone
of irons upon arms and legs, that at length his chain should wear into two
pieces, and a hole should be made, so wide that he might come safely out to his
longdesired liberty; he would in patience wait on. The LORD's prisoners are in
that case: years and months will take out now one little stone, then another, of
this house of clay, and at length time shall win out the breadth of a fair door,
and send out the imprisoned soul to the free air in heaven. O that we could
breathe out new hope, and new submission, every day! For certainly a weight of
glory (yea, a far more exceeding and eternal weight) shall recompense, both in
weight and length, our light and shortdated crosses. Our waters are but ebb, and
come neither to our chin, nor to the stopping of our breath. I may see (if I
would borrow eyes from CHRIST) dry land, and that near: why then should we not
laugh at adversity I rejoice in the hope of that glory to be revealed, fgr it is
no uncertain glory we look for: our hope is not hung upon an untwisted thread;
but our anchor of salvation is fastened with GOD's own hand, and with CHRIST'S
own strength. O that our faith could ride it out against the high and proud
winds and waves, when our sea seems all to be on fire! O how oft do I let my
grasp go! I am put to swimming and halfsinking. I find the Devil has the
advantage of the ground in our corrupt nature: alas! that is a friend near of
kin to himself, and will not fail to fall foul upon us. But the less of our
weight is upon our feeble legs, and the more on CHRIST the strong rock, the
better for us. It is our heaven to lay many weights and burdens upon CHRIST, and
to make him the root and top, the beginning and ending, of our salvation: LORD,
hold us here! Now to this Tutor, and rich LORD, I recommend you: hold fast till
he come. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in his and your Lo RD JESUS, Aberdeen,
1637. Aberdeen, 1637. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 51: VOL 16 - TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, YOUNGER.
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TO JOHN GORDON, OF CARDONESS, YOUNGER. Dearly beloved in our Lord, GRACE, mercy,
and peace, be to you! I long exceedingly to hear the case of your soul, which
has a large share both of my prayers and careful thoughts. Remember that a
precious treasure and prize depends upon this short play that ye are now upon;
eternity standeth upon the little point of your well or ill employed, short, and
swiftposting sandglass. Seek the LORD while he may be found; the LORD) waiteth
upon you. Your soul is of no little price; gold or silver, of as much bounds as
would cover the highest heavens round about, cannot buy it. To live as others
do, and to be free from open sins, will not bring you to heaven: as much
civility and discretion as would he between you and heaven will not lead you one
inch above nature; and therefore take pains for salvation, and give your will,
wit, humor, desires, and pleasures to CHRIST. It is not possible for you to
know, till experience teach you, how dangerous a time youth is: it is like green
and wet timber; when CHRIST casteth fire upon it, it taketh not fire. There is
need here of more than ordinary pains; for corrupt nature has a good friend in
youth. Sinning against light will put out your candle, and stupify your
conscience; and, when that is done, the Devil is like a mad horse, that has
broken the bridle, and runneth away with his rider whither he listeth. Learn to
know that which the Apostle knew,—the deceitfulness of sin. Strive to make
prayer, and reading, and holy company, and holy conference, your delight: when
delight cometh in, ye shall smell the sweetness of CHRIST, till at length your
soul be swallowed up in CHRIST'S sweetness: then shall ye be taken up to the top
of the mountain with the LORD, to know the ravishments of spiritual love, and
the glory and excellency of a seen, revealed, felt, and embraced CHRIST; and
then ye need never to loose yourself from CHRIST, and bind your soul to old
lovers: then, and never till then, are all the paces, motions, and wheels of
your soul in a right tune. But if this world, and the lusts thereof, be your
delight, ye cannot be a vessel of glory. As the LORD liveth, thousands,
thousands are beguiled with security, because GOD, and wrath, and judgment, are
not terrible to them. Stand in awe of GOD, and of the warnings of conscience.
Make others to see CHRIST in you, moving, doing, speaking, and thinking; your
actions will smell of him, if he be in you. There is an instinct in the newborn
babes of CHRIST, like the instinct of nature that leads birds to build their
nests, and bring up their young, and love such and such places, as woods,
forests, and wildernesses, better than other places. The instinct of nature
maketh a man love his mother country above. all countries: the instinct of
renewed nature will lead you to such and such works, as to love your country
above, and. sigh to be clothed with your house not made with hands. Sleep' hot
soundly, till you find yourself in that case, that ye dare look death in the
face, and hazard your soul upon eternity. I am sure, many ells of the short
thread of your life are by hand, since I saw you; and that thread has an end,
and ye have no hands to add one day, or a fingerbreadth, to the end of it. When
hearing, and seeing, and the outward walls of the clayhouse, shall fall down,
and life shall surrender the besieged castle of clay to death and judgment, and
ye find your time run out, what thoughts will ye then have of idol pleasures
What would ye then give for the LORD's favor And what a price would ye then give
for his pardon O dear Sir, for the LORD'S sake, awake to live righteously, and
love your poor soul, and, after ye have seen this my letter, say with yourself,
a The LORD will seek an account of this warning' I have received." Lodge CHRIST
in your family. I bless your children. Grace be with you! Your lawful and loving
Pastor, S. R. Aberdeen, 1637.


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  CHAPTER 52: VOL 16 - TO MY LORD BOYD.
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TO MY LORD BOYD. My very honorable and good LORD; GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to
your Lordship! Join, join (as ye do) with CHRIST; he is worth more to you and
your posterity, than this world's Mayflowers, its withering riches and honor,
that shall go away as smoke, and shall in one half hour, after the blast of the
Archangel's trumpet, he in white ashes. Let me beseech your Lordship to draw
aside the lap of time's curtain, and look in through that window to great and
endless eternity, and consider, if a worldly price (supposing that this little
round clay globe, the dying idol of the fools of this world, were all your own)
can be given, for one smile of CHRIST'S countenance, in that day, when so many
joints and knees of thousand thousands shall stand before CHRIST, trembling, and
making their prayers to hills and mountains to " fall upon them, and hide them
from the face of the LAMB." O how many would sell Lordships and kingdoms on that
day, to buy CHRIST! But, oh! the market shall, be closed and ended ere then.
Your Lordship has now a blessed venture of winning " the Prince of the Kings of
the earth." Fear not worms of clay, the moth shall eat them as a garment; let
the LORD be your fear; he is with you, and shall fight for you. Thus shall ye
cause " the blessing of those who are ready to perish to come upon you." The
LAMB and his armies are with you, and the kingdoms of the earth are the LORD's.
I am persuaded, there is not another Gospel than that which ye now contend for.
I dare hazard my heaven and salvation upon it, that this is the only saving way
to glory. Grace, grace be with your Lordship! Your Lordship's, at all obedience
in CHRIST, Aberdeen, 1637. S. R. TO.ROBERT GORDON, BAILLIE OF AIR. WORTHY SIR,
'GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I long to hear from you. I know that
submissive waiting for the LORD shall at length ripen the joy and deliverance of
his own. What is the dry and miscarrying hope of all them who are not in CHRIST,
but confusion and wind O how miserably are the children of this world beguiled,
whose wine cometh home to them water, and their gold brass! And what wonder is
it, that hopes built upon sand should fall It were good for us all to abandon
the forlorn and blasted hope which we have had in the creature; and let us
henceforth come and " drink water out of our own well," even " the fountain of
living waters," and build ourselves and our hope upon/ CHRIST our Rock. Alas,
that natural love to this borrowed home, in which we were born, should have the
largest share of our heart! Our poor, lean, and empty dreams of confidence in
something besides GOD, travel no further than up and down the creatures.; Go])
may say of us, (Amos 6:13,) " Ye rejoice in a thing of nought." Surely we spin
our spider's web with pain; and build our rotten tottering house upon a lie; and
falsehood, and vanity. O when shall. we learn to have thoughts higher than the
sun and moon; and teach our joy, hope, confidence, and our soul's desires, to
look up to our best country, and to look down on the clay tents, set up for a
night's lodging or two in this uncouth land, and laugh at our childish
conceptions and imaginations, that would suck joy out of creatures! It were our
happiness for evermore, if GOD would cast a pest, a leprosy, upon our part of
this fair world, so that clay might no longer deceive us! O that GOD, may burn
and blast our hope here, rather than our hope should live to burn us! Alas, the
wrong side of Christ, his suffering side, his wounds, his wants, his wrongs, the
oppressions of men done to him, are turned towards men's eyes; and they see not
the best and fairest side of CHRIST, his amiable face and his beauty, which men
and angels wonder at. Sir, lend your thoughts to these things, and learn to
contemn this world. See him who is invisible; draw aside the curtain; and look
in to a kingdom " undefiled, that fades not away, reserved for you in heaven:"
this is worthy of your pains, and worthy of your soul's sweating, and laboring,
and seeking after, by night and by day. Fire will fly over the earth, and all
that is in it, even destruction from the ALMIGHTY. Fie, fie upon that hope, that
shall be dried up by the root! Fie upon the drunken nightbargains, and the
drunken and mad covenants, that sinners make with death and hell! When men's
souls are mad and drunken with the love of this life, they think to make a nest
for their hopes, and take quarters of hell and death, that they shall have ease,
long life, and peace; and in the morning, when the last trumpet shall awake
them, then they rue the day. It is time, high time for you, to think upon death
and your accounts, and to remember where ye’ will be before the year of our
LORD) 170O. I hope ye are thinking upon this. Pull at your soul, and draw it
aside from the company that it is with, and whisper into it news of eternity,
death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in his LORD
JESUS, S.R.


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  CHAPTER 53: VOL 16 - TO CARDONESS, ELDER.
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TO CARDONESS, ELDER. MUCH HONORED SIR, I LONG to hear how your soul prospereth.
I wonder that ye write not to me; for the HOLY GHOST beareth me witness, that I
cannot, I dare not forget you, nor the souls of those with you, who are redeemed
by the blood of the great Shepherd. Ye are in my heart in the nightwatches; ye
are my joy and crown in the day of CHRIST. O LORD, bear witness, if my soul
thirsteth for any thing out of heaven, more than your salvation: let Go]) lay me
in an even balance, and try me in this. Love heaven; let your heart be on it.
Up, up, and visit the new land, and view the fair city, and the white throne,
and the LAMB sitting on it. It were time that your soul should cast itself and
your burdens upon CHRIST. I beseech you, by the wounds of your REDEEMER, and by
your compearance before him, and by the salvation of your soul, lose no more
time; run fast, for it is late. God has sworn by himself, who made the world and
time, "that time shall be no more." (Revelation 10:1-11 :) Ye are now upon the
very border of the other life. Your LORD cannot be blamed for not giving you
warning: I have taught the truth of CHRIST to you, and delivered unto you the
whole counsel of Go]); and I have stood before the LORD for you, and I shall yet
still stand. Awake, awake to do righteously. Think not to be eased of the debts
that are on your house, /by oppressing any, or being rigorous to those that are
under you remember how I endeavored to walk before you in this matter, as an
example. " Behold here am I, witness against me, before the LORD and his
Anointed, whose ox or whose ass have I taken Whom have I defrauded Whom have I
oppressed" Who knows how my soul feedeth upon a good conscience, when I remember
how I spent this body in feeding the lambs of CHRIST! At my first entry hither,
I took it ill of my LORD, because he had cast me over the dike of the vineyard
as a dry tree, and would have no. more of my service; my dumb Sabbaths broke my
heart, and I would not be comforted: but now " he whom my soul loves" is come
again, and it pleases him to feast me with his love; a King dineth with me, "
and his spikenard casteth a sweet smell." The Lon") above is my witness, that I
write my heart to you; I never knew, by my nine years' preaching, so much of
CHRIST'S love, as he has taught me in Aberdeen, by six months' imprisonment. I
charge you, in CHRIST'S name, help me to praise, and show that people the loving
kindness of the LORD to my soul; that so my sufferings may in some way preach to
them, when I am silent. He has made me know now, better than before, what it is
to be crucified to the world: I would not now give a drink of cold water for all
the world's kindness; I owe no service to it. I would not exchange my sighs with
the laughing of adversaries. The LORD Math given you much, and therefore he will
require much of you again. Number your talents, and see what ye have to render
back; ye cannot be enough persuaded of the shortness of your time. I charge you
to write to me, and in the fear of GOD be plain with me, whether or not ye have
made your salvation sure: I am confident, and hope the best; but I know, your
reckonings with your Judge are many and deep. Sir, be not beguiled, neglect not
your " one thing," your " one necessary thing," " the good part that shall not
be taken from you." Look beyond time; things here are but moonshine; they have
but children's wit, who are delighted with shadows, and deluded with feathers
flying in the air. Desire your children, in the morning of their life, to begin
and seek the LORD; to "remember their Creator in the days of their youth;"
(Ecclesiastes 12:1;) and to "cleanse their way, by taking heed thereto according
to Gem's word." (Psalms 119:9.) Youth is a glassy age; SATAN finds a swept
chamber (for the most part) in youth, and a garnished lodging for himself and
his train. Let the LORD have the flower of their age; the best sacrifice is due
to him. Instruct them in this, that they have a soul, and that this life is
nothing in comparison of eternity: they will have much need of GOD's conduct in
this world, to guide them amongst those rocks upon which most men split; but far
more need, when it cometh to the hour of death, and their compearance before
CHRIST. O that there were such a heart in them, to fear the name of the great
and dreadful GOD, who has laid up great things for those that love and fear him!
I pray that GOD may be their portion. Show others of my parishioners, that I
wrote to them my best wishes, and the blessings of their lawful Pastor; say to
them from me, that I beseech them, by the bowels of CHRIST, to keep in mind the
doctrine of OUR LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, which I taught them that so they
may lay hold on eternal life, striving together for the faith of the Gospel, and
making sure salvation to themselves. Walk in love, and do righteousness; seek
peace, love one another, and wait for the coming of our Master and Judge.
Receive no doctrine contrary to that which I delivered to you; if ye fall away,
and forget it, and so forsake your own mercy, the LORD be judge between you and
me. I take heaven and earth to witness, that such shall eternally perish; but,
if they serve the LORD, great will be their reward when they and I stand before
our Judge. Set forward up the mountain, to meet with Go]) climb up, for your
Savior calls on you. It may be, that GOD will call you to your rest when I am
far from you; but ye have my love, and the desires of my heart' for your soul's
welfare. He that is holy, keep you from falling, and establish. you till his own
glorious appearance! Your affectionate and lawful Pastor, S. R. Aberdeen, 1637.
ROBERT STEWART. MY VERY DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! Ye are
heartily welcome to my Master's house; GOD give you much joy of your new Master.
If I have been in the house before you, I were not faithful to give the house an
ill name, or to speak evil of the Lord of the family. I rather wish GOD’s HOLY
SPIRIT (O LORD, breathe upon me with that SPIRIT!) to tell you the fashions of
the house. One thing I can say, by waiting ye will grow a great man with the
Lord of the house. Hang on, till ye get some good from CHRIST; lay all your
loads by faith upon CHRIST; ease yourself, and let him bear all: He can, he will
bear you, although hell were upon your back. I rejoice that he is come, and has
chosen you in the furnace. Ye have gotten a great advantage in the way to
heaven, that ye have started in the morning: like a fool as I was, I suffered my
sun to be high in the heaven, before ever I took the way. I pray ye now, keep
the advantage ye have. Be not lazy; and be careful to take heed to your feet, in
that slippery and dangerous way of youth. The Devil and temptations now have the
advantage of you; dry timber will soon take lire. Be covetous and greedy of the.
grace of GOD, and beware that it be not that kind of holiness that cometh only
from the cross; for too many are disposed like those described in Psalms 78:34;
Psalms 78:36, " When he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned and
inquired early after GOD. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth,
and they lied unto him with their tongues." It is hypocrisy, to give God fair
words, when he has us in his gripe, (if I may so speak,) and to flatter him till
we win the fair fields again. Try well green Godliness, and examine what it is
ye love in CHRIST. If ye love but CHRIST'S sunshine, and would have only summer
weather to heaven, your profession will play you a slip, and the winterwell will
grow dry again in summer. Make no sport of CHRIST; but labor for a sound and
lively sight of sin, that ye may judge yourself an undone man, a damned slave of
hell and sin, one dying in your blood, except CHRIST come and take you up: and
therefore make sure and fast work of conversion; cast the earth deep; down, down
with the old. work, the building of confusion, that was there before; and let
CHRIST lay new work, and make a new creation within you. Look if CHRIST'S rain
go down to the root of your withered plants; and if his love wound your heart,
while it bleeds with sorrow for sin; and if it can pant, and be like to die, for
that lovely one, JESUS. I know, CHRIST will not be hid where he is; grace will
ever speak for itself, and be fruitful in welldoing. The sanctified cross is a
fruitful tree, it bringeth forth many apples. If I should tell you, by some weak
experience, what I have found in CHRIST, ye or others could hardly believe me. I
thought not the hundredth part of CHRIST long since, that I do now; though,
alas! my thoughts are still infinitely below his worth. I would refuse no
conditions, not hell excepted, (reserving always GOD’s hatred,) to buy
possession of JESUS: but, alas! I am not a merchant, who have any money to give
for him; I must either come to a cheap market, where wares are had for nothing,
or else I go borne empty. But I have cast this work upon CHRIST, to get me
himself; I have his faith, and truth, and promise, (as a pawn' of his,) all
engaged that I shall obtain that which my hungry desires would be at; and I
esteem that the choice of my happiness. And as for CHRIST'S cross, especially
the flower of all crosses, " to suffer for his name," I esteem it more than I
can speak; and I write it under mine own hand to you,—it is one of the steps of
the ladder up to our country, and CHRIST is still at the heavy end of this black
tree, and so/it is but as a feather to inc. I need not run at leisure, because
of the burden on my back; my back never bare the like of it: the more heavily
crossed for CHRIST the soul is, it is still the lighter for the journey. Now,’
would to GOD. that all cold blooded, fainthearted soldiers of CHRIST would look
again to JESUS, and to his love; and when they look, I would have them to look
again and again, and fill themselves with beholding CHRIST'S beauty; and I dare
say then, that CHRIST would come into great request with many; they would take
hold of him, and not let him go. But, when I have spoken of him till my head
ached, I have. said just nothing; and I may begin again. A GODhead, a GODhead is
a world's wonder! Set ten thousand newmade worlds of angels and men, and double
them in number’ten thousand thousand thousand times; let their hearts and
tongues be ten thousand thousand times more agile and large than the heart and
tongues of the Seraphim, that stand with six wings before him; (Isaiah
6:2;)—when they have said all they can for the glorifying and praising of the
LORD JESUS, they have but spoken little or nothing: his love will surpass the
praise of all possible creatures. O that I could wear this tongue to the stump,
in extolling his highness! But it is my sorrow, that I am confounded with his
incomparable love; he does so great things for my soul, and he got never yet any
thing of me worth the speaking of. It is a shame to speak of what he has done
for me, and what I do to him again. To Him and his rich grace I recommend you!
Pray_ for me, and forget not to praise. Yours in his LORD JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 54: VOL 16 - TO THE LAIRD OF CALLY.
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TO THE LAIRD OF CALLY. WORTHY SIR, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! My suit
to you is, that ye would lay the foundation sure in your youth. When ye begin to
seek CHRIST, try, I pray you, upon what terms ye covenant to follow him, and lay
your accounts what it may cost you; that neither summer nor winter may cause you
to change your Master. Keep fair to him; and be honest and faithful, that he
find not a breach in you. Surely, ye are now in the throng of temptation! When
youth is come to its fairest bloom, then the Devil, and the lusts of a deceiving
world, and sin, are upon horseback, and follow with upsails. If this were not,
PAUL needed not to. have written to a holy youth, TIMOTHY, (a faithful Preacher
of the Gospel,) " Flee youthful lusts." Give CHRIST your virginlove; you cannot
put your love and heart in a better hand. O if ye knew him, and saw his beauty,
your love, your heart, your desires, would close with him, and cleave to him. I
would seek nothing more to make me happy for evermore, than a clear sight of the
beauty of JESUS My LORD: let my eyes enjoy his fairness, and look him for ever
in the face, and I have all that can be wished. Get CHRIST rather than gold or
silver; seek CHRIST, although. ye should lose all things for him. GOD send me a
full view of his beauty, if it be possible that my view of it can be full here:
but much enjoyment of the love of CHRIST, in this world, needeth not to abate
the desire of the soul to see him in the other world, where he is seen as he is.
I am glad, with all my heart, that ye have given your morning age to this LORD:
hold on, and weary not; faint not; resolve upon suffering for CHRIST; fear not
ten days' tribulation, for CHRIST'S cross is sweetened with comforts, and has a
taste of CHRIST himself. I esteem it my glory, my joy, and my crown; and I bless
him for this honor, to be yoked with CHRIST, and married in suffering with him,
who therefore was born, and therefore came into. the world, that he might hear
witness to the truth. Take pains, above all things, for salvation; for, without
running, fighting, sweating, wrestling, heaven is not taken. O happy soul, that
crosseth nature, and delighteth to gain that crown of glory! The very hope of
heaven is like wind and sails to the soul, and like wings, when the feet come
out of the snare. O! for what stay we here Up, up, after our LORD JESUS! This is
not our rest what have we to do in this prison, except only to take meat and
houseroom in it for a time Grace, Grace be with you! Your soul's well wisher,
and CHRIST'S prisoner, Aberdeen, 1637. S. It.


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  CHAPTER 55: VOL 16 - TO WILLIAM GORDON, AT KENMURE.
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TO WILLIAM GORDON, AT KENMURE. DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you!
It is my hearty desire, that my furnace, which is of the LORD'S kindling, may
sparkle fire upon standers by, to the warming of their hearts with GOD'S love.
The very dust that falleth from CHRIST's feet, and black cross, is sweeter to me
than Kings' crowns. I should be a false witness, if I should not give my LORD
JESUS a fair testimonial with my whole soul. My word, I know, will not heighten
him; he needeth not such props under his feet, to raise his glory high: but O
that I could raise him to the height of heaven, and the breadth and length of
ten heavens, in the estimation of all his younger lovers! For we have all shaper
CHRIST as too narrow and too short; and formed conceptions of his love, very
unworthy of it. O that men were taken with his beauty and fairness! They would
then give over playing with idols, in which there is not halfroom for one soul
to expatiate; and man's love is but made hungry in gnawing bare bones, and
sucking at dry breasts. They will not come to him, who has a world of love and
goodness and bounty for all. We seek to thaw our frozen hearts at the cold smoke
of the shorttimed creature, and our souls gather neither heat, nor life, nor
light; for these cannot give to us what they have not in themselves. O that we
could burst through this throng of false lovers, and fix our love on CHRIST! We
should find some footing, and sweet ease for our tottering souls, in our LORD. I
wish it were in my power, to cry down all love but the love of CHRIST, all GODs
but CHRIST, all saviors but CHRIST. As for your complaint of deadness and
doubtings, CHRIST, I hope, will take your deadness and you together. They are
bodies full of boils, and broken bones that need mending, which CHRIST the
Physician taketh up: whole vessels are not for CHRIST'S art: publicans, sinners,
harlots, are ready objects of CHRIST'S mercy. The only thing that will bring
sinners within a cast of CHRIST'S drawing arm, is that which ye write of, some
feeling of death and sin; the more pain, and the more nightwatching, and the
more fever, the better; a soul bleeding to death, till CHRIST were cried for in
all haste, to come to stem the blood, and close up the wound, with his own hand,
were a very good disease, when many are dying of a whole heart. We have all too
little of hellpain, and terrors in that way: nay, GOD send me such a hell, as
CHRIST has promised to make a heaven ent of! The thing that we mistake is the
want of victory; we hold that to be the mark of one that has no grace nay, I
say, the want of fighting were a mark of no grace; but I shall not say, the want
of [full and complete] victory is such a mark. If my fire and the Devil's water
make crackling like thunder in the air, I am less afraid; for, where there is
fire, it is CHRIST'S part to keep in the coal, and to pray the Father that my
faith fail not, if I in the mean time be wrestling, and doing, and fighting, and
mourning. And ye do well, not to doubt if the ground stone be sure, but try if
it be so; for there is a great difference between doubting that we have grace,
and trying if we have grace: the former may be sin, but the latter is good. Holy
fear is a searching in the camp, that there be no enemy within our bosom to
betray us, and a seeing that all be fast and sure: for I see many leaking
vessels fair before the wind, and professors who take their conversion upoxi
trust, and they go on securely, and see not the underwater, till a storm sink
them. Each man had need, twice a day, and oftener, to be searched with candles.
Pray for me, that the LORD would give me houseroom again, to hold a candle to
this dark world. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in his Lord and Master, S. R.


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  CHAPTER 56: VOL 16 - TO ROBERT LENOX, OF DISDOVE.
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TO ROBERT LENOX, OF DISDOVE. DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
beseech you in the LORD JESUS, make sure work of life eternal. Sow not rotten
seed; every man's work will speak for itself, what his seed has been. O how many
see I, who sow to the flesh! Alas, what a crop will that be, when the LORD shall
put in his hook to reap this world, which is ripe and white for judgment! I
recommend to you sanctification, and that you keep yourself clean from this
present evil world. We delight to tell our own dreams, and to flatter our flesh
with the hope we have. It were wisdom for us to be free, plain, honest, and
sharp with our own souls; and to charge them to brew better, that they may drink
well, and fare well, when time is melted away like snow in summer. O how hard a
thing is it, to get the soul to give up all things on this side death and
doomsday! We say, we are going from this world, but our heart stirreth not a
foot, off its seat. Alas! I see few heavenly minded souls, that have nothing
upon the earth but their body of clay going up and down, because their soul and
the powers of it are up in heaven, and there their hearts live, desire, enjoy,
rejoice. Oh! men's souls have no wings; and therefore night and day they keep
their nest, and are not acquainted with CHRIST. Sir, take you to your one thing,
to CHRIST, that you may be acquainted with his sweetness and excellency; and
charge your love not to dote upon this world, for it will not do your business
in that day, when nothing will come in but GOD’s favor. Build upon CHRIST, for
when your soul for many years has wandered through the creatures, ye will come
home again with the wind. They are not good,—at least not the soul's good: it is
the infinite Godhead that must allay the sharpness of your hunger after
happiness; otherwise there shall still be a want of satisfaction to your
desires. And, if he would cast in ten worlds, all shall fall through, and your
soul shall still cry hunger, black hunger: but, I am sure, there is sufficient
for you in CHRIST. O that I could make my Lord JESUS lovely, desirable, and fair
to all the world! O let my part of heaven go for it, so he would take my tongue
to be his instrument, to set out CHRIST in his whole love, grace, sweetness, and
glory, to the eyes and hearts of Jews and Gentiles! But " who is sufficient for
these things " O for the help of Angels' tongues, to make CHRIST amiable to many
thousands! O how little does this. world see of him, and how far are they from
the love of him, seeing there is so much loveliness, beauty, and sweetness in
CHRIST, which no created eye did ever yet see! I would that all men knew his
glory, and that I could introduce many to his presence, to see his beauty, and
to be partakers of his high, deep, and broad, and boundless love. O let all the
world come near, and see CHRIST; and they shall then see more than I can say of
him! O that I had a pledge to lay down for a seafull of his love; and that I
could obtain so much of CHRIST, as would satisfy my longing for him, or rather
increase it, till it were in full possession! I know we shall meet; and therein
I rejoice. Sir, stand fast in the truth of CHRIST, which ye have received. Yield
not to winds, but ride out; and let CHRIST be your anchor. Pray for me his
prisoner, and that the LORD would send me among you to feed his people. Grace,
grace be with you! Yours in his LORD JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 57: VOL 16 - TO JOHN GORDON.
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TO JOHN GORDON. WORTHY AND DEAR BROTHER, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
have been too long in writing to you; but multitude of letters taketh much time
from me. I bless his great name, whom I serve with my spirit, if it came to
voting amongst angels and men, how excellent and sweet CHRIST is, even in his
reproaches and in his "cross, I cannot but vote, that all that is in him, both
cross and crown, enjoyments and glooms, smiles and frowns, are sweet and
glorious. GOD send me no more happiness in’heaven, or out of heaven, but CHRIST!
For I find this world, when I have looked upon it on both sides, within and
without, and when I have seen even the laughing side of it, to be but a fool's
idol, a clay prison. LORD, let it not be the nest that my hope buildeth in! I
have now cause to judge my part of this earth not worth a blast of smoke, or a
mouthful of brown bread. I wish my hope may take a running leap, and skip over
time's pleasures, and this vain earth, and rest upon my LORD. O how great is our
night darkness in this wilderness! To have any conceit at all of this world, is
as if a man should enclose his handful of water, and, holding his hand in the
river, say that all the water of the flood was his; as if it were indeed all
within the compass of his hand. Who would not laugh at the thoughts of such an
idiot Verily they have but a handful of water, and are but like a child clasping
his two hands about a shadow, who idolize any created hope. I now put the price
of a dream, or fable, upon all things, but Got', and that desirable one, my Lord
JESUS. Let all the world be nothing, (for nothing was their seed and mother,)
and let Gan be all things.—My very dear Brother, know that ye are as near
heaven, as ye are fur from yourself, and far from the love of a bewitching
world: for this world, in its gain and glory, is but the great and notable
common harlot, with whom all the sons of men have been enamored for these five
thousand years. The children they have begotten are but vanity, dreams,
imaginations, and night thoughts: for there is no good ground here, under the
covering of heaven, for the poor wearied souls of men to set down their' foot
upon. 9h! He who is called Got', that One whom they term JESUS CHRIST, is indeed
worth the having; even if I had given away all without my eyeholes, my soul, and
myself, for JESUS my LORD! O let the claim be cancelled, that the creatures have
to me! O that he would claim poor me,—my silly, light, and worthless soul! O
that he would pursue his claim to the utmost, and not be without me; for it is
my pain to be without him! I see nothing in this life, but mires, and dreams,
and beguiling ditches, and ill ground for us to build upon. I am fully persuaded
of CHRIST'S victory in Scotland; but I fear lest this land be not ripe and white
for mercy. O that we could be awakened to prayers and humiliation! Then should
the sun shine like seven suns in the heaven; then should the temple of CHRIST be
built upon the mountaintops; and, the land from coast to coast should be filled
with the glory of the LORD. Brother, your hourglass will quickly pass; and
therefore take order with matters between you and CHRIST, before it come to open
pleading: there are no quarters to be had of CHRIST, in open judgment. I know,
ye see your. thread wearing short; and therefore lose not time. Remember me, his
prisoner, that it would please the LORD to bring me again amongst you with
abundance of the Gospel. Grace, grace be with you! Yours in JESUS, S. R.


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  CHAPTER 58: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
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TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to your
Ladyship! I long to hear from you, and that dear' child; and, for that cause I
trouble you with letters. I think the sparrows and the swallows, that build
their nests in Anwoth, blessed birds. The LORD has made all my congregation
desolate. Alas, I am oft at this, u Show me wherefore you contendest with me." O
earth, earth, cover not the violence done to me! I know it is my faithless
jealousy, in this' my dark night, to take a friend for a foe. I chide with him,
but he giveth me fair words. Seeing that my sins, and especially the sins of my
youth, deserved strokes, how I am obliged to my Lord, who/ amongst many crosses,
has given me a chosen cross; to suffer for the name of my Lou]) JESUS! Since I
must have chains, he would put golden chains on me, watered with many
consolations. My crosses come, through the fingers of mercy and love, from the
kind heart of a brother, CHRIST My LORD; and therefore they must be sweet. O
what am I, such a lump, such a rotten mass of sin, to be counted worthy to be
stricken with the best and most honorable rod in my Father's house,—the golden
rod, wherewith my eldest Brother, the LORD, heir of the inheritance, and his
faithful witnesses, were stricken! I should be thankful and rejoice; but my
beholders and lovers, in CHRIST have eyes of flesh, and have made my one to be
ten; and I am, somebody in their books: there are armies of thoughts within me,
saying the contrary, and laughing at their wide mistake. If my inner side were
seen, I should lose and forfeit love and respect; and pity would come in the
place of these. O that they would yet set me lower, and my Well beloved, CHRIST,
higher! I would have had grace to be glad and cheerful, that GOD's glory might
ride and openly triumph, before the view of men, angels, devils, earth, heaven,
hell, sun, moon, and all Gob's creatures, upon my pain and sufferings; providing
always I felt not the LORD's displeasure. But I fear lest his fair glory should
be soiled in coming through such a foul creature as I am., If I could be the
sinless matter of glorifying CHRIST, although to my loss, pain, sufferings, and
extremity of wretchedness, how would my soul rejoice! But I am far, far from
this. He knows, his love has made me a prisoner, and bound me hand and foot; but
it is my pain that I cannot get loose hands, and a loosed heart, to do service
to my LORD) JESUS, and to speak his love. I confess, I have neither tongue nor
pen to do it. CHRIST'S love is more than my praises, and above the thoughts of
the angel GABRIEL, and all the mighty hosts that stand before the throne of Got.
I think shame, that my foul tongue, and polluted heart, should come in to help
others to sing the praises of CHRIST: all I now do, is to wish the choir to
become crowded, and to grow in the extolling of CHRIST. Woe, woe is me, for my
guiltiness, seen to few; my hidden wounds, still bleeding within me, are before
the eyes of no man; but if my LORD JESUS were not still hasing, washing,
balming, healing, and binding them up, they would break out to my shame. I know
not what will be the end of my suffering; I have but seen the one side of my
cross; what will be the other side, He knows, who has his fire in Zion. Let Him
lead me, if it were through hell. I thank my Lon)), my waiting to see what more
CHRIST will do to me, is my joy. O that my ease, joy, and pleasure for evermore,
were laid in pledge to buy praises to CHRIST! But I am far from this. It is easy
for a poor soul, in the deep debt of CHRIST'S love, to feed upon broad wishes
that CHRIST may be honored; but in performance I am stark nought. I have
nothing, nothing, to give to CHRIST, but poverty. I would be glad to hear that
CHRIST'S claim to you were still the more, and that you were still going
forward, and that you were nearer to Him. I do not honor CHRIST myself, but I
wish all others did. I am somewhat encouraged that your Ladyship is not dry and
cold to CHRIST'S prisoner, as some are: I hope it is put up in my Master's
accountbook. I am not much grieved, that my jealous husband should break in
pieces my idols, so that either they dare not, or will not, do for me. My Master
needeth not their help, but they need to help him. Thus, recommending you to
God's dearest mercy, I rest, Aberdeen, Your own, in JESUS, at all obedience,
July 17, 1637. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 59: VOL 16 - TO HIS PARISHIONERS.
========================================================================

TO HIS PARISHIONERS. DEARLY beloved, and longedfor in the LORD, my crown and my
joy in the day of CHRIST: grace be to you, and. peace, from God our Father, and
our LoRn JESUS CHRIST! I long exceedingly to know, if you follow on to know the
LORD. My day thoughts and my night thoughts are of you; while ye sleep, I am
afraid of your souls, lest they be off the rock. Next to my LORD JESUS, and this
fallen Kirk, ye have the greatest share of my sorrow, and also of my' joy; ye
are the matter of the tears, care, fears, and daily prayers, of an oppressed
prisoner of CHRIST. As I am in bonds. for my high and lofty One, my royal and
princely Master, so I am in bonds for you for I should have slept in my warm
nest, and kept the fat world in my arms, and the cords of my tabernacle would
have been fastened more strongly, if I had been drawn on to cause you to eat
pastures trodden on with men's feet, and to drink foul and muddy waters. But
truly the Almighty was a terror to me, and his fear made me afraid. O my LORD,
judge if my ministry be not dear to me, but not so dear by many degrees as
CHRIST JESUS, My LORD! GOD knows the heavy and sad sabbaths I have had. Since I
laid down at my Master's feet my two shepherd's staves, I have often been
saying, as it is written, (Lamentations 3:52-53,) " My enemies chased me sore
like a bird without cause; they have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a
stone upon me:" for, next to CHRIST, I had but one joy, the apple of the eye of
my delights, to preach CHRIST My LORD; and they have violently plucked that away
from me. It was to me like the poor man's one eye, and they have put out that
eye, and quenched my light in the inheritance of the LORD; but my eye is towards
the LORD. I know I shall see the salvation of Go)), and that my hope shall not
always be forgotten. And my sorrow shall want nothing to complete it, and to
make me say,’ What availeth it me to live'if ye follow the voice of a stranger,
of one that cometh into the sheepfold, not by CHRIST the door, but climbeth up
another way. If the man build his hay and stubble upon the golden foundation,
CHRIST JESUS, already laid among you, and ye follow him, I assure you that the
man's work shall burn, and ye and he both shall be in danger of everlasting
burning. O that any pain, any sorrow, any loss, which I can suffer for CHRIST,
and for you, were laid in pledge to buy CHRIST'S love to you, and that I could
lay my dearest joys, next to CHRIST My LORD, in the gap between you and eternal
destruction! O that I had paper as broad as heaven and earth, and ink as the
sea, and all the rivers and fountains of the earth, and were able to write the
love, the worth, the excellency, the sweetness, and the due praises of our
dearest and fairest Wellbeloved; and then that ye could read and understand it!
What could I want, if my. ministry among you should make a marriage between the
Bride, in those bounds, and the heavenly Bridegroom O how rich a prisoner were
II if I could obtain of my LORD (before whom I stand for you) the salvation of
you all! O what a prey had I gotten, to have you caught in CHRIST'S net! My
witness is above, your heaven would be two heavens to me; and the salvation of
you all, as two salvations to me! I would subscribe a suspension of my heaven,
for many hundred years, (according to GOD's good pleasure,) if ye were sure in
the upper lodging, in our Father's house, before me. I counsel you, beware of
the new and strange heaven of men's salvations, beside and against the word of
Goo; ye see whither they lead you. Continue still in the doctrine which ye have
received. Ye heard of me the whole counsel of GOD; take CHRIST in his rags and
losses, and as persecuted by men; and be content to sigh, and pant up the
mountain, with CH’Ws cross on your back; —let me be reputed a false prophet, if
your LoRD JESUS shall not stand by you, and maintain you, and maintain your
cause against your enemies. I have heard, (and my soul is grieved for it,) that,
since my departure from you, many among you are turned back, from the good old
way, to the dog's vomit again. Let me speak to. these men. It was not without
GOD’s special direction, that the’first sentence that ever my mouth uttered to
you, was that recorded by JOHN; (chap. 9:39;) " And JESUS said, For judgment
came I into the world, that they which see not might see, and they which see
might be made blind." It is possible that my first meeting and yours may be,
when we shall both stand before the dreadful Judge of the world: and in the name
and authority of the SON of GOD, my great Wing and Master, I write, by these
presents, summons to these men; I arrest their souls and bodies to the day of
our appearance; their eternal damnation stands subscribed and sealed in heaven,
by the handwriting of the great Judge of quick and dead; and I am ready to stand
up, as a preaching witness against such to their face, in that day, and to say
Amen to their condemnation,—except they repent. The. vengeance of the Gospel Is
heavier than the vengeance of the Law; the Mediator's malediction and vengeance
are double vengeance; and that vengeance is the due portion of such men; and
there I leave them, as bound men, until they repent and amend. You were
witnesses, how the LORD's day was spent, while I was among you. O sacrilegious
robber of GOD's day, what wilt you answer the ALMIGHTY, when he seeketh so many
sabbaths back again from thee What will the curser, swearer, and blasphemer do,
when his tongue shall be roasted in that broad and burning lake of fire and
brimstone And what will the drunkard do, when tongue, lights, liver, bones, and
all, shall boil and fry in a torturing fire For he shall be far from his barrels
of strong drink then; and there is not a cold well of water for him in hell!
What shall be the case of the wretch, the covetous man, the oppressor, the
deceiver, the earthworm, who can never get his fill of clay, when, in the day of
CHRIST, gold and silver must he burned in ashes, and he must appear and answer
his Judge, and quit his clayey and naughty heaven Woe, woe for evermore, be to
the timeturning Atheist, that has one GOD and one religion for summer, and
another GOD and another religion for winter; who has a conscience for every fair
and market; and whose soul runneth upon those oiled wheels, time, custom, the
world, and the command of men. O that the careless and sleeping man, who lays
down his head upon time's bosom, and giveth his conscience to a deputy, and
sleepeth so, until the smoke of hellfire shall fly up in his throat, and cause
him to start out of his doleful bed;O that such a man would awake! Many woes are
for the overgilded and goldplastered hypocrite; a heavy doom is for the liar and
white tongued flatterer; and the flying hook of GOD's fearful vengeance, twenty
cubits long, and ten cubits broad, that go out from the face of Got., shall
enter into the house, and upon the soul, of him that stealeth, and sweareth
falsely by GOD's name. I denounce eternal burning, hotter than Sodom's flames,
upon the men that boil in the filthy lusts of fornication, adultery, incest, and
the like wickedness; there is no room, no, not a foot broad, for such vile dogs,
within the holy Jerusalem! Many of you put off all with this excuse, " GOD
forgive us; we know no better! " I renew my old answer, (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8
:) The Judge is coming " in flaming fire, with all his mighty angels, to render
vengeance to all those that know not GOD." I have often told you, security shall
slay you. All men say they have faith; all believe; every foul dog is clean
enough, and good enough, for the new Jerusalem above! Every man has conversion,
and the new birth; but they had never a sick night for sin; conversion came to
them in a nightdream. In a word, hell will be empty at the day of judgment, and
heaven full. Alas! it is neither easy, nor ordinary, to believe and to be saved.
Many must stand in the end at heaven's gates; whets they go to take out their
faith, they take out a fair nothing. O lamentable disappointment! I pray you,(I
charge you, in the name of CHRIST, make fast work of CHRIST and salvation. I
know there are some believers among you; and I write to you, O poor
brokenhearted believers: all the comforts of CHRIST in the New and Old Testament
are yours. O what a father and husband you have! O that I had pen and ink to
write of him! If heaven and earth were consolidated in massy and pure gold, it
would not weigh the thousandth part of CHRIST's love to a soul, even to me a
poor prisoner. O it is a massy and marvelous love! Men and angels, unite your
force and strength in one; yet shall ye not heave nor poise it off the ground.
Ten thousand thousand worlds, as many worlds as angels can number, and then as a
new world of angels can multiply, would not all be the balk of a balance, to
weigh CHRIST'S excellency, sweetness, and love. I wonder that men stay away from
CHRIST. I would esteem myself blessed, if I could gather all the world that are
living upon the earth, Jews and Gentiles, and all that shall be born to the
blowing of the last trumpet, to flock round about CHRIST, and to stand looking,
wondering, admiring, and adoring his beauty and sweetness; for his fire is
hotter than any other fire, his love is sweeter than common love, his beauty
surpasses all other beauty.’ O that ye would fall in love with him! How blessed
were I, how glad would my' soul be, to help you to love him! But, amongst us
all, we could not love him enough. He is the SON of the FATHER'S love; and GOD's
delight, the FATHER'S love, lieth all upon him! Invite him, and take him home to
your houses, in the exercise of prayer, morning and evening, as I often desired
you; especially now, let him not want lodging in your houses, nor he in the
fields, when he is shut out of pulpits. If ye will be content to take heaven by
violence, and to have the wind on your face for CnnlsT and his cross; I am here
one, who have some trial of CHRIST'S cross, and I can say, that CHRIST was ever
kind to me, but he overcometh himself (if I may speak so) in kindness, while I
suffer for him. I give you my word for it, CHRIST'S cross is not so evil as they
call it; it is sweet, light, and comfortable. I would not want the visitations
of love, and my LORD's delightsome smiles, under my sufferings for him, for a
mountain of fine gold, nor for all the honors, court, and grandeur of velvet
Kirkmen. CHRIST has the heart of my love; " I am my Beloved's, and my Well
beloved is mine." O that ye were all fast to CHRIST! O my dearly beloved in the
LORD, I would I could change my voice, and had a tongue tuned with the hand of
my LORD, and had the art of speaking of CHRIST, that I might paint out' unto you
the highness, and greatness, and excellency, of that heavenly Bridegroom! I
beseech you, by the mercies of the LORD, by the sighs, tears, and heartblood of
our Loin Jssus, and by the salvation of your poor and precious souls, set out up
the mountain, that ye and I may meet before the LAMB'S throne, amongst the
congregation of the firstborn. The LORD grant, that ye and I may put up our
hands together, to pluck and eat the apples of the tree of life; and may feast
together, and drink of that pure river of the water of life, that cometh out
from under the throne of GOD, and from the LAMB! O how little is your
handbreadth of days here! Your inch of time is less than when ye and I parted;
eternity, eternity is coming, posting on with wings; then shall every man's
blacks and whites be brought to light. O how low will your thoughts be of this
fairskinned, but heartrotten apple, the vain, vain world, when the worms shall
make their houses in your eyeholes, and shall eat off the flesh from the ball of
your cheeks, and shall make that body a number of dry bones! Think not that the
common gate of serving Got., " as neighbors and others do," will bring you to
heaven; few, few are saved! The Devil's court is thick; he has the greatest
number of mankind for his vassals. I know, this world is a great forest of
thorns in your way to heaven; but you must go through it. Acquaint yourselves
with the Lon)), hold fast CHRIST; hear his voice only; bless his name; sanctify
and keep his day; keep the new commandment, " Love one another;" let the HOLY
SPIRIT dwell in your bodies, and be pure and holy; love not the world; he not;
love and follow truth; learn to know God; keep in mind what I taught you, for
GOD will seek an account of it, when I am far from you; abstain from all evil,
and all/appearance of evil; follow good carefully, and seek peace and follow
after it; honor your King, and pray for him; and remember me' to GOD in your
prayers,—I do not forget you. I told you often, while I was with you, and now I
write it again, that heavy, sad, and sore is the stroke of the LORD'S wrath,
which is coming upon Scotland. Woe, woe, woe to this harlot land; for they shall
take the cup of GOD's wrath from his hand, and drink, and fall, and not rise
again. In, with speed, to your strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, and hide you
there, until the anger of the LORD pass. Follow not the pastors of this land,
for the sun is gone down upon them; as the LORD liveth, they lead you from
CHRIST, and from the good old way. Yet the LORD will keep the holy city, and
make this withered Kirk to bud again, like a rose, and a field blessed of the
Loin. The grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST be with you all! The prayers and
blessing of a prisoner of CHRIST, in bonds for him, and for you, be with you
all! Amen. Aberdeen, Your lawful and loving Pastor, July 14, 1637. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 60: VOL 16 - TO MR. JAMES FLEMING.
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TO MR. JAMES FLEMING. Reverend and well beloved in our LORD, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be to your I cannot but testify unto you, my dear brother, what sweetness
I find in our Master's cross; but, alas! what can I either do or suffer for him
If I had as many lives as there have been drops of rain since the creation, I
would think them too little for our Wellbeloved; but my sorrow is, that I find
not ways to set out the praises of his love to others. I am not able, by tongue,
pen, or sufferings, to provoke many to fall in love with him; but he knows, whom
I love to serve in the spirit, what I would do and suffer by his strength, if I
might so make my LORD JESUS lovely to many thousands in this land. I think it
amongst GOD’s wonders, that he will take any praise or glory from such a forlorn
sinner as I am. But when CHRIST worketh, he needeth not ask the question, by
whom he will be glorious. I know that,—since his glory at the beginning did
shine out of nothing, to set up such a fair house for men and angels, and so
many glorious creatures to proclaim his goodness, power, and wisdom, if I were
burned to ashes, out of the smoke of my dissolved body he could raise glory to
himself. His glory is his end; O that I could join with him, to make it my end!
I would think that fellowship with him sweet and glorious. But, alas, few know
the guiltiness that is on my part; it is a wonder that this good cause has not
been marred in my foul hands: but I rejoice in this, that my LORD JESUS has
found a ready occasion for the exercise of his free grace, and matchless mercy,
in my wants. My loathsome wretchedness and wants have alone qualified me for
CHRIST, and for the riches of his glorious grace. One thing I know, we shall not
all be able to come near his excellency with eye, heart, or tongue; for he is
above all created thoughts. " C All nations before him are as nothing, and less
than nothing; he sitteth in the circuit of heaven, and the inhabitants of the
earth are as grasshoppers before him." O that men would praise him! I never find
myself nearer CHRIST, than after, a great weight and sense of deadness, and
gracelessness: I think the sense of our wants, when withal we have a
restlessness, and a sort of spiritual impatience under them, is that which
maketh an open door to CHRIST; and when we think we are going backward, because
we feel deadness, we are going forward: for the more sense, the more life; and
no sense argueth no life. There is no sweeter fellowship with CHRIST, than to
bring our wounds and our sores to him. But for myself, I am ashamed of CHRIST'S
goodness since the time of my bonds; for he has been pleased to open new
treasures of grace, and to give visitations of love, and access to himself, in
this strange land. I would think a fullness of his love to be young and green
heaven; and when he is pleased to come, and the tide is in, and the sea full,
and the King and a poor prisoner together in the house of wine, the black tree
of the cross is not so heavy as a feather. I cannot but give CHRIST an honorable
testimony. I see the LORD can ride through his enemies' bands, and triumph in
the sufferings of his own. This blind world sees not that suffering is CHRIST'S
armor, wherein He is victorious: and they that contend with Zion, see not what
He is doing, when they are set to work, as under smiths and servants, to the
task of refining the saints, or that their. office in GOD’s house is to scour
and cleanse the vessels for the King's table. I marvel not to see them triumph,
and sit at ease in Zion; our Father must lay up his rods_ and keep them
carefully for his own use: our LORD cannot want fire in his house; his furnace
is in Zion, and his fire in Jerusalem; " but the adversaries little know the
counsels and the thoughts of the LORD. As to your complaints of your ministry, I
now think all I did too little. Plainness, freedom, watchfulness, and fidelity,
shall swell upon you, in exceeding large comforts, in your sufferings. The
feeding of CHRIST'S lambs in private visitations and catechizing, in painful
preaching, in fair honesty, and free warning of the flock, is a sufferer's
garland. O ten thousand times blessed are they, who are honored of CHRIST to be
faithful and painful in winning souls to CHRIST! My dear brother, I know that ye
think more on this than I can: and I rejoice that your purpose is, in the LORD'S
strength, to come out, and call yourself CHRIST'S man, when so many are denying
him, as fearing that CHRIST cannot do for himself and them. I am a lost man for
ever, or this is the way to salvation, even this way which they call heresy, and
which men now do mock and scoff at. I am confirmed now that CHRIST will accept
of his servants' sufferings as good service to him at the day of his appearance.
Our Master is not far off: O that we could wait on, and be faithful! The tender
favor and love of our Lord JESUS CHRIST be with you! Help me with your prayers;
and desire my other brethren to take courage for their Master. Aberdeen, Yours
in his LORD JESUS, Aug. 15, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 61: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
========================================================================

TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to your
Ladyship! GOD be thanked, ye are yet in possession of CHRIST, and that sweet
child. I pray GOD that the former may be a sure heritage, and the latter a Lord
for your comfort, while ye do good to his poor afflicted and withered Mount
Sion. And who knows but our LORD has comforts laid up in store for her and you
Long since, ye were half challenging death's cold kindness, in being so slow to
come and loose a tired prisoner: but ye stand in need of all the crosses,
losses, changes, and sad hearts, that befell you since that time. CHRIST knows
that the body of sin unsubdued will take them all, and more. We know that PAUL
had need of the Devil's service to buffet him; and far more we. But, my dear and
honorable Lady, spend your sandglass well. Your crosses willbut convoy you to
heaven's gates; in they cannot, go;' the gates shall be closed on them, when you
shall be admitted to the throne. Time standeth not still; eternity is hard at
our door. O what is laid up for you! Therefore harden your face against the
wind; and know that the Lour', your husband, is making ready for you. The
heavenly Bridegroom would fain have that day,—as gladly as you would wish to
have it; he swath not forgotten you. I have heard a rumour of the purpose to
banish me; but let it come, if GOD so will; the other: side of the sea is my
Father's ground, as well as this side. I shall remit it over to CHRIST, what I
shall do in this case. I know certainly that my LORD JESUS will not mar' nor
spill my sufferings he has use for them in his house. Owhat it worketh on me, to
remember that ar stranger shall. build hay and stubble upon the golden
foundation, which I laid amongst that people,at Anwoth! But' I know' that
Providence looketh straight out, and through. all men's darkness. O that I could
wait upon the Lord,! I’ had= but. otie eye, one joy, one delight. even, to
preach CHRIST t• and. ": my mother's sons were angry at me," and' have: put out
the poor man's one eye, and what have I behind am sure this sour world has lost
my heart deservedly; but O' that there were a daysman to lay hiss hand: upon us
both, and determine upon my part of it! Alas, that innocent and lovely truth
should, be sold! My tears' are little worth;. but yet for this thing I weep,
that my dear and lovely LORD JESUS should be unknown in his own. house! It
reckoneth little of five hundred the like of me.’ The prisoner's blessings, with
the goodwill and longlasting kindness and comforts of the very God of peace, be
on your Ladyship, and your sweet child! Grace, grace be with you. 'Aberdeen,
Your amour's, at all obedience in JESUS, Sept. 7,1637: S. R. VOL. 16: S. R.


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  CHAPTER 62: VOL 16 - TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD LINDSAY.
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TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD LINDSAY. Right honorable and my very good Lord,
GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to your Lordship! Pardon my boldness to express
myself to your Lordship, at this so needful a time. Blessed are they who will
come out, and help CHRIST against the mighty. The shields of the earth, and the
nobles, are debtors to CHRIST for their honor, and should bring their glory and
honor to the New Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:24.) Alas, that great men should be
so far from subjecting themselves to the sweet yoke of CHRIST, that they burst
his bonds asunder! I am sure, when you leave this perishing life, and depart
hence, and take shipping, and make over for eternity, which is the yonder side
of time, and look over your shoulder then to that which ye have done, spoken,
and suffered for CHRIST, your' accounts shall more sweetly smile upon you, than
if you had two worlds of gold to leave to your posterity. O my dear Lord,
consider that our Master, eternity, judgment, and the last reckoning, will be
upon us in' the twinkling of an eye. The blast of the last trumpet, now hard at
hand, will cry down all Acts of Parliament against CHRIST! There will be shortly
a proclamation by one standing in the clouds, " that time shall be! no more,"
and: that Kings of clay shall be no more," and that prisons, confinements,
forfeitures of nobles, or hazard of lands, houses, and name for CHRIST, shall be
no more! This world's span length of time is drawn now to less than half an
inch, and to the point of the evening of the day of this old and gray haired
world; and therefore be fixed and fast for CHRIST and his truth, for a time; and
fear not him, whose life go out at his nostrils, and who shall die as a man.
Losses for CHRIST are but our goods given out in bank, in CHRIST'S hand. Kings
are time's idols; but a sight of our invisible King shall decry and darken all
the glory of this world. At the day of CHRIST, truth shall be truth, and not
treason. Alas! it is pitiful, that silence, and to cast a covering over a good
profession, (as if it. blushed at light) are thought a sure way through this
life: but the safest way, I am persuaded, is to suffer with CHRIST, and to
hazard fairly for him for heaven is but a company of noble venturers for CHRIST.
CHRIST shall grow green, and blossom, as the Rose of Sharon, yet in Scotland;
although now his leaf seems to wither, and his root to dry up. Your noble
ancestors have been enrolled amongst the worthies of this nation, as the sure
friends of the Bridegroom, and valiant for CHRIST. I hope ye will follow on, to
come to the streets for the same Lord: it shall be your glory, and the sure
foundation of your house, (now when houses are tumbling down, and birds building
their nests, and thorns and briers growing up, where nobles did spread a table,)
if you engage your estate and nobility for this noble King JESUS. All the world
shall fall before Him; and as Got, liveth) every arm lifted up to take the crown
from his royal head, shall be broken from the shoulder blade. The eyes that
behold CItRIST weep` in sackcloth, and wallow in his blood, and will not help,
even these eyes shall rot away in their eyeholes. O that ye, and the nobles of
this land, saw the' beauty of • that world's wonder, JESUS our King! O what
would men count of clay estates, of time eaten life, or of motheaten worldly
glory, in comparison of that fairest of GOD’s creation, the SON of the FATHER'S
delights! I have but small experience of suffering for him; but let my Judge and
Witness in heaven lay my soul in the balance of justice, if I find not a young
heaven, and a little paradise of glorious comforts here beneath the moon, in
suffering for him in his truth. O it is my sorrow, my daily pain, that men will
not come and see. I should be ashamed to believe, that it should be possible for
any soul to think he could be a loser for CHRIST, suppose he should lend CHRIST
the Lordship of Lindsay; or some such great worldly estate. Therefore, my worthy
and dear Lord, set your face against the opposites of JESUS; let your soul take
courage to come under his banner, and to appear as a soldier for him; and the
prayers of the " Prisoners of Hope " shall be with you. To his saving grace I
recommend your Lordship wad your house; and am still CHRIST'S prisoner, and Your
Lordship's obliged servant, S. R.


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  CHAPTER 63: VOL 16 - TO THE LORD BOYD.
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TO THE LORD BOYD. My very honorable and very good Lord, GRACE, mercy, and peace,
be to you! I am glad to hear that you, in the morning of your short day, mind
CHRIST; and that you love the honor of his kingdom. I beseech your Lordship,
begin now to frame your love, and to cast it in no mould but one, that It may be
for CHRIST only; for when your love is now in the framing, it will take best
with CHRIST. If any other than JESUS get it when it is green and young, CHRIST
will be an uncouth and strange world to you. Promise the lodging of your soul
first to CHRIST, and stand by your first covenant. It is easy to master an
arrow, and to set it right, ere the string be drawn; but when once it is shot,
and the flight begun, then ye have no power at all to command it. It were a
blessed thing, if your love could now level at CHRIST, and his fair face were
the mark ye shot at; for, when your love is loosed, and in its motion to fetch
home an idol, ye shall not then have power to call home the arrow; and ye shall
hardly give CHRIST what ye scarcely have yourself. I speak not this, as if youth
itself could fetch heaven and CHRIST. Believe it, my LORD, it is hardly
credible, what a nest of dangerous temptations youth is; how inconsiderate,
foolish, proud, vain, heady, rash, profane, and careless of GOD, this piece of
your life is; so that the Devil finds in that age a garnished and swept house
for himself, and for seven devils worse than, himself. For then affections are
lofty and stirring; then the old man has much will and little wit; and hands,
feet, wanton eyes, and profane ears, as his servants, and as a King's officers
at command, come and go at his will. And therefore, O what a sweet couple are
youth and grace, CHRIST and a young man! This is a meeting not to be found in
every town. None, who have been at CHRIST, can bring back to your Lordship a
report answerable to his worth; for CHRIST cannot be commended according to his
worth. " Come and see," is the most faithful messenger to speak of him a little
persuasion would prevail where this was. It is impossible, in setting forth
CHRIST'S love, to pass over truth's line: the discourses of angels would for
ever be on the nether side of truth. The infiniteness, the boundlessness, of
that incomparable excellency that is in JESUS, is a great word. Go]) send me, if
it were but the relics and leavings of his matchless love; and, suppose I never
got another heaven, (providing this blessed fire were ever burning,) I could not
but be happy for ever. O what glory were it to lend your honor to CHRIST, and to
his Jerusalem! Ye are one of Zion's born sons; your parents would venture you
upon CHRIST's errands: therefore I beseech you by the mercies of GOD, by the
death and wounds of JESUS, by the hope of your glorious inheritance, and by the
comfort and hope of the joyful presence ye would have when ye are putting your
fool in the dark grave, take courage for CHRIST'S truth, and the honor of his
free kingdom. For, although ye be a young flower, and green before the sun, ye
know not how soon death will cause you to cast your bloom, and wither,—root, and
branch, and leaves: and therefore, write up what ye have to do for CHRIST, and
make a treasure of good works, and begin in time. It go now under the name of
wisdom, for men to cast their cloak over CHRIST, and their profession; as if
CHRIST were stolen goods, and durst not be avouched. But it is true honor and
glory, to be the fast friends of the SAVIOR; to own CHRIST'S bleeding head, and
his forsaken cause i and to contend legally, and in the wisdom of GOD, for our
LORD JESUS. To his rich grace and sweet presence, and the everlasting
consolation of the COMFORTER, I recommend your Lordship; and Aberdeen, Your
Lordship's, in his Lo RD JESUS, Sept. 7, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 64: VOL 16 - TO THE LAIRD GAITGIRTH.
========================================================================

TO THE LAIRD GAITGIRTH. MUCH HONORED SIR, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I
can do no more but thank you in paper, and remember you to Him whom I serve, for
your kindness and care of a prisoner. I bless the LORD, that the cause for which
I suffer, needeth not to blush before Kings. CHRIST's white, honest, and fair
truth needeth neither wax pale for fear, nor blush for shame. I bless the Lord,
who has given you the grace to own CHRIST now, when so many are afraid to
profess him. Alas! that so many in these days are carried with the times; as if
their conscience rolled upon oiled wheels, so do they go any way in which the
wind bloweth them. Sir, go on to own CHRIST, and his oppressed truth. The end of
sufferings for the Gospel is rest and gladness. Light and joy are sown for the
mourners in Zion; and the harvest (which is of GOD's making for time and manner)
is near. Crosses have right to CHRIST in his members, till the whole mystical
CHRIST be in heaven. There will be rain, and hail, and storm, in the saints'
clouds, till Go]) cleanse with fire the works of creation, and till he burn the
house of heaven and earth, which men's sin has subjected unto vanity. They are
blessed, who suffer and sin not; for suffering is the badge that CHRIST has put
upon his followers. Take what way we can to heaven, the way is hedged up with
crosses; there is no way but to break through them. Wit and wiles will not find
out a way about the cross of CHRIST; but we must go through. One. thing by
experience my LORD has taught me, that the waters between this and heaven may
all be ridden, if we be well horsed; I mean, if we be in CHRIST; and not one
shall drown by the way, but such as love their own destruction. O that we could
wait on for a time, and believe in the dark the salvation of God!’ At least we
are to believe good of CHRIST, till he give us the slip; (which is impossible;)
and to take his word for security, that he will fill up all the blanks in his
promises, and give what we want. But to the unbeliever CHRIST'S testament is
white, blank, unwritten paper. Worthy and dear Sir, set your face to heaven; and
receive the kingdom as a child: without this, he that knew the way said, there
is no entry into it. But CHRIST will be willing to lead a poor sinner. O what
love my poor soul has found in him, in the house of my pilgrimage! Suppose love
were lost in heaven and earth, I dare swear it may be found in CHRIST.' Now the
very God of peace establish you, till the day of the glorious appearance of
CHRIST! Aberdeen, Yours in JESUS Sept 7, 1637 S. R. Much honored and Christian
Lady! GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! I long to hear how it go with you and
your children. I exhort_ you, not to faint in your journey': the way is not so
long to your home, as it was; ye shall come ere long to be within your arm
length of the glorious crown. Your LORD JESUS did sweat and pant before he got
up that mount; he cried, a Father save me; " it was he who said, (Psal. 22:14,
15) " I am poured out like water: all my bones are. out of joint;" (CHRIST was
as if they had broken him upon the wheel;) a my heart is like wax, it is melted
in. the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd." I am sure,
ye love the way the better, because his holy feet trod it before you. I know ye
have sad hours, when the COMFORTER is hid under a veil, and when the seeker
misseth Him whom the soul loves: but even his unkindness is kind, his absence
lovely, till GOD send CHRIST himself. in his own sweet' presence. Make his
comforts your own, and be not strange and shamefaced with CHRIST. Free dealing
is best for him; it is his liking. When your winter storms are over, the summer
of your Lone shall come. Your sadness is pregnant with joy; he will do you good
in the latter end. Take no heavier lift of your children than your Lord
alloweth; give them room beside your heart, but not in the yolk of your heart,
where CHRIST should be;—for then they are your idols. If your LORD take any of
them home before the storm come on, take it well; the owner of the orchard may
take down two or three apples from his own tree before Midsummer; and it would
not be seemly that his servant should chide him for it. Let our LORD pluck his
own fruit at any season he pleases. They are not lost, where our LORD'S best
jewels lie. They are all free goods that are there; Death can have no law to
arrest any thing that is within the walls of the New Jerusalem. Now the great
Shepherd of the sheep, and the very GOD of peace, confirm and establish you to
the day of the appearance of CHRIST our LORD! Aberdeen, Yours in his LORD JESUS,
Sept. 7, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 65: VOL 16 - LETTERS OF MR. SAMUEL RUTHERFOORD, PART III
========================================================================

Letters Of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, Part III


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 66: VOL 16 - TO JOHN FLEMYIMING, BAILLIE OF LEITH.
========================================================================

TO JOHN FLEMYIMING, BAILLIE OF LEITH Much honored in the LORD, GRACE, mercy, and
peace, be to you! I am still on good terms with CHRIST. However my LORD's wind
blow, I have the advantage of a calm and sunny side of CHRIST. Devils, and hell,
and devils' servants, are all blown blind, in pursuing the LORD's chosen. " They
shall be as a nightdream, who fight against Mount Zion." Worthy: Sir, I hope ye
take to heart the worth of your calling. The port is open for us: as fast as
time weareth out, we flee away: eternity is at our elbow. O how blest are they,
who in time make CHRIST sure for themselves! Salvation is a great errand; I find
it hard to fetch heaven. O that we could take pains with our lamps, for the
Bridegroom's coming! The other side of this world will be turned up incontinent;
and up shall become down; and these that are weeping in sack does shall triumph
on white horses, with him whose name is " THE WORD OF GOD." These dying idols,
the fair creatures which we love better than our Creator, will pass away like
snowwater. The GODhead, the GODhead,a communion with God in CHRIST, —to be
halvers with CHRIST of. the purchased inheritance in heaven,—should be your,
scope and aim. For myself, when 1 lay my accounts, O what weighing is in CHRIST!
O love, surpassing love in JESUS! I have no fault to find with that love, but
that it seems to deal niggardly with me; I have little of it. O that I had
CHRIST'S hand, subscribed by himself, for my fill: of it! What garland have I,
or what crown, if I looked right on things, but a JESUS. O there is no roomin
us, on. this side of the water, for, that love! This narrow earth, and these
narrow souls, can hold little of it. Glory would enlarge us, that we might he
able to comprehend it, which yet is incomprehensible. Grace be with you!
Aberdeen, Yours in his LORD JESUS, Sept. 7, 1637. S. R. MADAM, I REJOICE in our
LORD JESUS on your behalf, that it hath pleased him to manifest the savor of his
love in CHRIST JESUS to your soul, in the revelation of his will. And mind to
you, now, when so many are shut up in unbelief. O the sweet change you have
made, in leaving the black kingdom of this world and sin, and coming over to our
SAVIOR'S new kingdom, so as to know, and to be captivated by, the love of the
SON of GOD. I beseech you, Madam, in the LORD, make now sure work; and see that
the old house based from the foundation, and that the new building of your soul
be of CHRIST'S own laying; for then wind and storm shall neither loose it, nor
shake it asunder. Many now take CHRIST by guess: be sure that it be he; and only
he, whom ye have met with. His lovely voice,’his fair countenance, his sweet
working in the soul, will not lie; they will soon tell if it be CHRIST indeed:
therefore be sure that ye take' CHRIST himself, and take him with his FATHER's
blessing. Your lines are well fallen; it could not have been better, nor so well
with you, if they had not fallen in these places; in heaven, or out of heaven,
there is nothing better, nothing so excellent as CHRIST. Much joy may ye have of
Him! But take his cross with himself cheerfully: CHRIST and his cross are not
separable in this life, although CHRIST and his cross part at heaven's door; for
there is no room for crosses in heaven. One tear, one sigh, one sad heart, one
fear, one loss, or thought of trouble, cannot find lodging there; they are but
the marks of our LORD JESUS down in this stormy country, and on, this side of
death. Sorrow and the saints are not married together; or, suppose it be so,
heaven shall make a divorce. I find that his sweet presence eats out the
bitterness of sorrow and suffering. I think it a sweet thing, that CHRIST says
of my cross, " Halfmine; " and that he divideth these sufferings with me, and
taketh the largest share to himself; nay, that I and my whole cross are wholly
CHRIST'S. O what a portion is CHRIST! O that the saints would dig deeper in the
treasures of his wisdom and excellency! Thus, recommending your Ladyship to the
goodwill and tender mercies of our LORD, I rest Aberdeen, Your Ladyship's, S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 67: VOL 16 - TO MARGARET BALLANTINE.
========================================================================

TO MARGARET BALLANTINE. GRACE, mercy, and peace, be unto you! It is more than
time that I should have written to you; but it is yet good time, if I could help
your soul to mend your pace, and to go more swiftly to your heavenly country.
For truly ye have need to make all haste, because the inch of your day that
remaineth will quickly slip away; for whether we sleep or wake, our glass
runneth; the tide waiteth for no man. Beware of a deception in the matter of
your salvation! Woe, woe, for evermore, to them that lose that prize! For what
is behind, when the soul is once lost, but that sinners warm, their clayhouses
at a fire of their own kindling, for a day or two, which does rather suffocate
with its smoke, than warm them, and at length'. he down in sorrow, and are
clothed with everlasting shame I would seek no further measure of faith, to
begin with, than to believe steadfastly the doctrine of GOD's justice, his all
devouring wrath and everlasting burning, where sinners are burned soul and body,
in, a lake of fire and brimstone, There they would wish no other goods, but the
thousandth part of a fountain to cool their tongue. They, would there buy death
by. enduring pain and torment for as many years as GOD hath, created drops of
rain since the creation: but there is no market" there for buying or selling
life or death. Alas, the greatest part of this world: run to the place of
torment rejoicing and dancing, eating,: drinking, and sleeping. My counsel to
you is, that ye start in time after CHRIST; for, if ye go quickly, CHRIST is not
far before you: ye shall overtake him. O LORD GOD, what is so needful as, this
Salvation,—Salvation Fie upon this foolish world, that would give so little for
Salvation! O if there were a free market of Salvation proclaimed in that day
when the trumpet of GOD shall awake the dead, how many buyers would there be
then! GOD send me no more happiness, but that Salvation which the blind world
(to their eternal woe) letteth slip through their fingers! GOD says to them,
(Isaiah 1:11,) " This shall ye have at my hand, ye shall he down in sorrow." And
truly this is as ill made a bed to he upon, as one could wish: for he cannot
sleep soundly, nor rest quietly, who has sorrow for his pillow. Rouse, rouse up
therefore your soul; and ask how CHRIST and your soul met together. I am sure
they never got CHRIST, who were not once sick at the heart for him. Too, too
many whole souls think they have met with CHRIST, who had never a wearied night
for the want of him. But, alas, what richer are men, because they dreamed the
last night that they had much gold, and, when they awoke in the morning, they
found it was but a dream What are all the sinners in the world, in that day when
heaven and earth shall go up in a flame of fire, but a number of beguiled
dreamers Every one shall say of his hunting and his conquest, a Behold, it was a
dream." Every man in that day will tell his dream. I beseech you in the LORD
JESUS, beware, beware of unsound work in the matter of your salvation: ye may
not, ye cannot, be safe without CHRIST. This day strike hands with CHRIST, that
there may be no happiness to you but CHRIST, no hunting for any thing but
CHRIST, no bed at night (when death cometh) but CHRIST. I know this much of
CHRIST, He is not ill to be found, nor lordly of his love. Woe had been my
portion for even more, if CHRIST had made a dainty of himself to me: but, GOD be
thanked, I gave nothing for CHRIST; and now, I protest before men and angels,
CHRIST cannot be exchanged, CHRIST cannot be sold, CHRIST cannot be weighed.
Where would angels, or all the world, find a balance to weigh him in All lovers,
blush when ye stand beside CHRIST! Woe upon all love, but the love of CHRIST;
shame, for evermore, be upon all other glory! I cry, Death upon all lives, but
the life of CHRIST! O what is it that holdeth us asunder! O that once we could
have a fair meeting! Thus, recommending CHRIST to you, and you to Him for
evermore, I rest. Grace be with you! Yours in JESUS, Aberdeen, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 68: VOL 16 - TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR.
========================================================================

TO JOHN KENNEDY, BAILLIE OF AYR. WORTHY SIR, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be unto
you! Your not writing to me cannot bind me up from remembering you, that at
least ye may be a witness, to behold in paper what is between CHRIST and me. I
was like a young orphan, cast out in the open fields; and either CHRIST behoved
to take me up, and bring me home to his house, or I had died in the fields. And
now I think the house mine own, and the Master of the house mine also. CHRIST
inquired not, when he began to love me, whether I was fair, or black, or
sunburnt Love taketh what it may have. He loved me before this time, I know: his
love is come to a fair bloom, like a young rose opened out of the green leaves,
and it casteth a strong and flagrant smell. I want nothing but ways of
expressing CHRIST's love: a full vessel would have a vent. O that I could cast
out coals, to make a fire in many breasts! Oh! it is, a pity that there were not
many imprisoned for, CHRIST, for no other purpose but to write songs of the love
of CHRIST. This love would keep all created tongues in exercise, and busy night
and day, to speak of it. Alas! I can speak nothing of it; but I wonder at three
things in his love.—First, Its freedom. O that lumps of sin should get such love
for nothing!—Secondly, The sweetness of his love. Those that feel it may bear
witness what it is: it is so sweet, that, next to CHRIST himself, nothing can
match it. A soul could live eternally blessed only on CHRIST'S love, and feed,
upon no other thing.—And, Thirdly, What power and strength are in his love! I am
persuaded it can climb a steep hill, with hell upon its, back; and swim;
through: water, and not drown; and sing in the fire, and feel no pain; and
triumph in losses, prisons, sorrows, exile, or disgrace, and lapel and rejoice
in death. O for a year's lease, of the sense of his love without a cloud! O for
the coming; of the, Bridegroom. When shall I see the Bride groom and the Bride
meet in the clouds! O when shall we get our hearts'fill of that love! O that it
were lawful to complain of the famine and want of that immediate vision of GOD!
O time, time, how dost you torment the souls of those that would be swallowed up
of CHRIST'S love, because you move so slowly! O that he would pity a poor
prisoner, and give me a taste, or draught, of that surpassing sweetness, (which
is glory begun,) to be a confirmation, that CHRIST and I shall enjoy each other
for ever! Come hither, O love of CHRIST, that I may once possess thee before I
die! What would I not give, to have time, which lieth between CHRIST and me,
taken out of the way, that we might once meet I cannot think but that, at the
first sight I shall see of that most lovely face, love shall come out of his
eyes, and fill me with astonishment. I would but desire to stand at the outer
side of the gates of the New Jerusalem, and look through a hole of the door, and
see CHRIST'S face. It is not for nothing that it is said, (Colossians 1:27,) "
CHRIST in you the hope of glory." CHRIST, possessed by faith here, is young
heaven, and glory in the bud. If I had that pledge, I would endure hell, rather
than give it again. Should not we, young children, long and look for the
expiring of our minority It were good to be daily begging the SAVIOR'S favors,
and, if we can do no more, seek crumbs of CHRIST'S love, to keep up our taste of
heaven, until suppertime. I know, it is far after noon, and nigh the marriage
supper of the LAMB; the table is covered, already. O Well beloved, run,’ run
fast! O fair day, when wilt you dawn! O shadows, flee away! It is a pain to
wait; but hope that maketh not ashamed swalloweth up that pain. It is not
unkindness that keepeth CHRIST and us so long asunder. What can I say to
CHRIST's love I think more than I can say. To consider, that when my LORD JESUS
might take the air (if I may so speak) and go abroad, yet he will keep the
prison with me! But, in all this sweet communion with him, what am I to be
thanked for Whether I will or not, he will be kind to me, as if he had defied my
guiltiness to make him unkind. Here I die with wondering, that justice hinders
not love; for there are none in hell, nor out of. hell, more unworthy of
CHRIST'S love. It would seem to become me rather to run away from his love, as
ashamed at my own unworthiness. Nay, I may think shame to:take heaven, who have
so highly provoked my LORD JESUS: but seeing CHRIST'S love will shame me, I am
content to be ashamed: My desire is, that my LORD would give me broader and
deeper thoughts, to feed myself with wondering at his love. I wish I could weigh
it, but I have no balance for it. When I have worn my tongue to the stump in
praising CHRIST, I have done nothing to him; I must let him alone, for my
withered arms will not go about his high, wide, long, and broad love. What
remaineth then, but that my debt to the love of CHRIST he unpaid to all eternity
O if this land and nation. would come and stand before his inconceivable and
glorious perfections, and look, and love, and wonder, and adore! Would to Go])
that I could bring in many lovers to. CHRIST'S house! But this nation has "
forcaken the fountain; of living waters." LORD, cast not water on Scotland's
coal! Woe, woe, will be to this. land, because of the day of the LORD's fierce
anger, that is so fast coming!’ Grace be with you! 'Your affectionate brother in
our LORD JESUS,


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 69: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY BOYD.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY BOYD. My very honorable and Christian Lady, GRACE, mercy, and peace,
be to you! I received your. letter,: and am well pleased that your thoughts: of
CHRIST stay with you, and that your purpose still is, by all means, to take the
kingdom of heaven by violence; and it is a degree of watchfulness, and
thankfulness: also, to observe sleepiness and unthankfulness. We have all good
cause to complain of false light, that, playeth the thief, and stealeth away the
lantern; when it cometh to constant walking with GOD, our journey is ten times
aday broken. CHRIST getteth only broken work of us; and, alas! too often against
the hair. I have been somewhat nearer the LORD; but when I draw nigh, and see my
vileness, for shame I would be out of his presence again; but yet desire of his
soul refreshing love putteth me under an arrest. O what am I, so slothful a
burden of sin, to stand beside such a holy LORD, such a high and lofty One, who
inhabiteth eternity! But, since it pleases CHRIST to condescend to such a one as
me, let shamefacedness be laid aside, and lose itself in his condescending love.
O that I were at yonder end of my weak designs! Then should I be where CHRIST My
LORD lives and reigns; there I should be everlastingly solaced with the sight of
his face, and satisfied with the surpassing sweetness of his love. But truly now
I stand in the nether side of my desires; and, with a drooping head, and panting
heart, I look up to JESUS, standing afar off from us, until corruption and death
shall scour and refine the body of clay. In the mean time, we are blessed in
sending word to the Beloved, that we love him; and till then there is joy in
seeking him, in lying about his house, looking in at the windows, and sending a
poor soul's groans and wishes through a hole of the door to JESUS, till GOD send
a glad meeting. And blessed be GOD, that after a low ebb, and so sad a word,
"LORD JESUS, it is long since I saw thee;" that, even then, our wings are
growing, and the absence of JESUS breedeth new desires and longings for him. I
know that no man has a velvet cross; but the cross is made of that which GOD
will have it. Let my LORD JESUS weave my spanlength of time with white and
black; and let the rose be neighbored with the thorn; yet hope, that maketh not
ashamed, has written a letter of hope to the mourners in Zion, that it shall not
be long so. When we are over the water, CHRIST shall cry down crosses, and up
heaven for evermore. In this hope, I sleep quietly in CHRIST'S bosom, till He
come, who is not slack;.; and would sleep so, were it not that the noise of the
Devil's and sin's feet, and the cries of an unbelieving heart, awaken me; but
for the present I have nothing whereof I can accuse CHRIST'S cross. O that I
could please myself in CHRIST only! If the fruit of your Ladyship's womb be
helpers of CHRIST, ye have good ground to rejoice in GOD. All your Ladyship can
expect for your goodwill to me and my brother, is the prayers of a prisoner. of
JESUS, to whom I recommend your Ladyship and children, and in whom I am,
Aberdeen, Madam, your Ladyship's in CHRIST, Sept. 8, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 70: VOL 16 - TO JONET KENNEDY.
========================================================================

TO JONET KENNEDY. GRACE, mercy, and peace, bye unto you! Ye are not a little
obliged, to the rich grace of Him, who has separated you for, himself, and for
the promised inheritance with the saints in light, from this condemned world.
Hold fast CHRIST, contend for him; it is not possible to keep CHRIST peaceably,
having once gotten him, except the Devil were dead. It must be your resolution,
to set your face against Satan's storms. Nature would have heaven come to us
sleeping. in our beds. We would all buy CHRIST, if we might make the price
ourselves; but CHRIST is worth more blood and lives than either you or I have to
give him. When we shall come home, when our heads shall find the weight of the
eternal crown of glory, and when we shall look back to pains and sufferings,
then we shall see life and sorrow to be less than one step from a prison to
glory, and that our little inch of suffering is not worthy of our first night's
welcome to heaven. O thrice blinded souls, whose hearts are charmed and
bewitched with the dreams and shadows of a miserable life of sin! Shame on us,
who sit still, fettered with the love of the Lord of a piece of dead clay! O
poor fools, who are beguiled with painted things, and this world's fair weather
and smooth promises! May not the Devil laugh, to see us give out our souls, and
get in but the corrupt and counterfeit pleasures of sin O for a sight of
eternity's glory, and a little taste of the LAMB'S marriage supper! A drop of
the wine of consolations, that is in our banqueting house, out of CHRIST'S own
hand, would make us loathe the sour drink of a miserable life. O how far are we
bereft of with to run, till our souls be out of breath, after a happiness of our
own making! O that we were out of ourselves, and dead to this world, and this
world dead and crucified to us! And when we should be out of love of any masked
lover whatsoever, then CHRIST would be our night song and our morningsong; then
the very noise of our Well beloved's feet when he cometh, and his first knock at
the door, would be as the news of two heavens to us. O that our eyes, and our
soul's smelling, should go after a blasted and sunburnt flower, even this
fairplastered, outside world; and have neither eye nor smell for the flower of
JESSE, for the choicest, the fairest, the sweetest rose that ever GOD planted! O
let some of us die to feel the fragrance of him; and let my part of this rotten
world be forfeited and sold for evermore, providing 1: may anchor my tottering
soul upon CHRIST! I know that it is sometimes at this, a LORD, what wilt you
have for CHRIST" But, O LORD, can CHRIST be sold Or, rather, May not a poor
prisoner have him for nothing If I can get no more, O let me he pained to all
eternity with longing for him! The joy of hungering for CHRIST should be my
heaven for evermore. Alas.! that I cannot draw souls and CHRIST together! But I
desire the coming of his kingdom, and that CHRIST would come upon withered
Scotland, as gain upon the new mown grass. O let the King come! Grace, grace be
with you! Yours in his worthy LORD JESUS, Aberdeen, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 71: VOL 16 - TO MARGARET REBID.
========================================================================

TO MARGARET REBID. My very dear and worthy Sister, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be
to you! Ye are truly blessed of the LORD, however a sour world gloom upon you,
if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from
the hope of the Gospel. It is good that there is a heaven, and that it is not a
night dream, or a fancy. It is a wonder that men deny not that there is a
heaven; as they deny that there is a way to it, but of men's making. You have
learned of CHRIST, that there is a heaven; contend for it, and contend for
CHRIST; bear well the hard cross of this stepmother world, that GOD, will not
have to be yours. I confess, it is hard, and. I would, I were able to ease /you
of your burden.; but, believe me, this world is but the, dress, the refuse, and
the sign of God's creation; a hard bone cast to the dogs, whereon they. rather
break their teeth, than satisfy their appetite: It is your Father's blessing,
and CHRIST'S birthright; in that; Our, LORD is, keeping for__ you; and your seed
also shall inherit the earth, (if that e good for them,) for that is: promised
to, them; and GOD's bond is as good, and better, than if men would give every
one of them a bond for thousands. Crosses in number, measure, and weight, have
been written for you; and your LORD will lead you. through them. Make CHRIST
sure, and the blessings of, the earth shall be at CHRIST'S back. I see ’many
professors, but they are professors of glass; a little knock of persecution
breaks them in pieces: therefore make. fast, work;' see that CHRIST lay the
groundstone of your profession; for wind and rain will not wash away his
building. His works stand for evermore. I should twenty times have perished in
my affliction, if I had not leaned my weak back, and laid my pressing burden,
upon the Foundationstone, the, Cornerstone laid in Zion; and I desire never to
rise from this stone. Now, the very GOD of peace confirm and establish you unto
the day of the blessed appearance of CHRIST JESUS. GOD be with you! Yours in his
LORD JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 72: VOL 16 - TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR, NOW IN IRELAND.
========================================================================

TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR, Now in Ireland. MUCH HONORED SIR, GRACE, mercy,
and peace, be unto you! I long to hear from you; being now removed from my
flock, and the prisoner of CHRIST at Aberdeen. I would not have you think it
strange, that your journey to New England has gotten such a dash. It indeed has
made my heart heavy; yet I know it is no dumb Providence, but a speaking one,
whereby our LORD speaketh his mind to you, though for the present ye do not well
understand what he says. However it be, He who sitteth upon the floods has shown
you his’ marvelous kindness in the great deeps. I know your loss is great, and
your hope is gone far against you; but I entreat you,’Sir, expound aright our
LORD's laying hindrances in the way. I persuade myself that your heart aimeth at
the footsteps of the flock, and to dwell beside him whom your soul loves; and
that it is your desire to remain in the wilderness, where the woman is kept from
the dragon. And this being your desire, remember that a poor prisoner of CHRIST
said, " That miscarried journey is pregnant with mercy and. consolation, and
shall bring " forth a fair birth." Wait on: "le that believeth. maketh not.
haste." (Isaiah 28:16.) I hope ye have been asking what the Lord meaneth, and
what further may be his will. My dear Brother, let GOD make of you what he.
will. He will end all with consolation, and shall make glory out of your
sufferings; and would you' wish better work This water was in your way to
heaven; ye behoved to cross it; and therefore embrace his wise and unerring
Providence. Let not the censures of men, who see but the outside of things, (and
scarcely that well,) abate your rejoicing in the LORD. although your faith sees
but the black side of Providence, yet it has a better side; and GOD shall let
you see it. If our Lon') ride upon a straw, his horse shall neither stumble nor
fall: " For we know that all things work together for good to them that love
GOD:" Therefore, shipwreck, losses, &c., work together for the good of them that
Jove GOD. Hence I infer, that losses, disappointments, ill tongues, and loss. of
friends, houses, or country, are, GOD’s workmen, still at work, to work out good
to you out of every thing that befalleth you. Let not the Loup's dealing seem
harsh, rough, or unfatherly, because it is unpleasant: When, the LORD’s blessed
will bloweth crow to your desires, it is best in humility to strike sail to him,
and to be' willing to be led in any way our LORD pleases. It is a point of
denial` of yourself, to be as if your had 'not a will, but: had sold it over to
him; and to makth use of, his, will far your own, is both true holiness, and:
your; ease and peace " Ye know not what the Lord is, working out of this; but ye
shall know it hereafter. Now, for myself, I was three days before the
HighCommission, and accused of. preaching treason against our Kings A Minister,
being witness, went well nigh to swear it And, they have(1.) deprived me of. my
ministry;(2.) silenced me, requiring that I exercise no part of the ministerial
'function within. this kingdom) under the pain of rebellion,;(3.) confined my'
person within, the town of Aberdeen,'where I find the Ministers working for: my
containment in Caithness or Orkney, far from them, because some people here
resort to me. My adversaries know not what a courtier I am now with my Royal
King. It is but our soft and lazy flesh that has raised an ill report/ of the
cross of CHRIST. Sweet is his yoke; CHRIST’s chains are of pure gold sufferings
for him ate perfumed: I would not give my weeping for the laughing of all the
fourteen Prelates; I would not exchange my sadness with the world's joy. Yours
in our Lord JESUS, Aberdeen, 1637. S. R


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 73: VOL 16 - TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR.
========================================================================

TO JOHN STEWART, PROVOST OF AYR. Much honored, and dearest in CHRIST; GRACE,
mercy, and peace, from GOD our FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS CHRIST, be upon
you! My closed mouth, my dumb sabbaths, and the memory of my communion with
CHRIST, in many fair, faire days in Anwoth, (whereas now my Master getteth no
service of my tongue,) have almost broken my faith in two halves; yet, in my
deepest apprehensions of his anger, I see through a cloud that I am wrong. The
LORD) is equal in all his ways; but my guiltiness often overmastereth my
believing. I have not been well known; for, except as to open outbreakings, I
want nothing of what JUDAS and CAIN had;—only He has been pleased to prevent me
in mercy, and to cast me into a fever of love for himself; and' besides he has
visited my soul, and watered it with his comforts. But yet I have not that real
and felt possession which I would have; I know CHRIST pitieth me in this. The
great men, my friends, are dried up, like winterbrooks of water: all say, " No
dealing for that man; his best way will be, to be gone out of the kingdom:" So I
see they tire of me. But, believe me, I am most gladly content that CHRIST
breaketh all my idols in pieces; it has put a new edge upon my blunted love to
CHRIST; I see he is jealous of my love, and will have all to himself. In a word,
the following things' are my burthen.—l. I am not in the vineyard as others are:
it may be, because CHRIST thinketh me a withered tree; but Got, forbid!— 2. Woe,
woe, woe is coming upon my harlot mother, this apostate Kirk. The time is
coming, when we shall wish for doves' wings, to any and hide us. Oh for the
desolation of this land! 3. I see my Master, CHRIST, going alone, as it were
mourning in sackcloth. His fainting friends fear that JESUS shall lose the field
but he must carry the day. 4. My guiltiness and the sins of my youth are come up
against me, and they would come in as deserving causes of GOD’s justice; but I
pray GOD, for CHRIST'S sake, that he will never give them that room. 5. Woe is
me, that I cannot get the glorious Prince of the Kings of the earth set on high!
Sir, ye may help me and pity me in this, and bow your knee, and bless his name,
and desire others to do it, that he has been pleased in my sufferings to make
atheists, papists, and enemies about me, say, GOD is with this prisoner." Let
hell, and the powers of hell, (I care not,) be let loose against me to do their
worst, so that CHRIST, and my FATHER and his FATHER, may be magnified in my
sufferings.—", write to. me; and commend me to your wife. Mercy be her portion!
Grace be with you! Yours in his LORD JESUS, S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 74: VOL 16 - TO THE LADY BUSBIE.
========================================================================

TO THE LADY BUSBIE. MADAM, GRACES mercy, and peace, be to you! I am glad to hear
that CHRIST and ye are one; and that ye have made him your one thing, where many
are painfully toiled in seeking many things, and their many things are nothing.
It is best that ye should set yourself apart, as a thing laid up for CHRIST
alone. He has been going about you these many years, by afflictions, to engage
you to himself; it were a pity and a loss to say him nay. Verily I could wish
that I could swim through hell, and all the ill weather in the world, with
CHRIST in my arms; but it is my evil and folly, that, except CHRIST come unsent
for, I dare not go to seek him. Think well of the visitations of your LORD: for
I find one thing, which I saw not well before, that when we are under trials,
little sins raise great cries in the conscience; whereas in prosperity,
conscience is a Pope, to give dispensations, and let out and in, and give
latitude and elbowroom to our heart. O how little care we for pardon at CHRIST'S
hand, when we make dispensations! And all is but children's play, till a cross
without beget a heavier cross within, and then we play no longer with our idols.
It is good still, to be severe against ourselves; for else we but transform
GOD's mercy into an idol, and an idol that has a dispensation to give for
turning the grace of GOD into wantonness. O CHRIST has a saving eye! Salvation
is in. his eyelids. When he first looked on me, I was saved; it cost him but a
look to make hell quit of me. O, free merits, and the precious blood of God!
What a safe and sure way is it, to come out of hell leaning on the SAVIOR! That
CHRIST and a sinner should be one, and have heaven between them, is the wonder
of salvation. What an excellent fragrance does CHRIST cast on his lower garden,
where there grow but wild flowers, if we speak by way of comparison! But there
is nothing but perfect gardenflowers in heaven. We are all obliged to love
heaven for CHRIST'S sake. He graced' heaven and all his Father's house with his
presence. He is the rose that beautifieth all the upper garden of GOD; a leaf of
that rose of GOD, for fragrance, is worth a world. O that he would blow his
fragrance upon a withered and dead soul! Let us then go on to meet him, and to
be filled with the sweetness of his love. Nothing will hold him from us; he has
decreed to put time, sin, hell, devils, men, and death out of the way, and to
rid the rough way between us and him, that we may enjoy one another. It is
wonderful, that he would have the company of sinners to delight himself with in
heaven. And now the supper is waiting for us. CHRIST the Bridegroom is waiting
with desire, till the Bride, the LAMB'S wife, be ready for the marriage. O
fools, what do we here And why sit we still Why sleep we in the prison Were it
not best to make us wings, to fly up to our blessed LORD, and our fellow friends
GOD give you to find mercy in that day of our LORD JESUS, to whose saving grace
I recommend you. Yours in our LORD JESUS, Aberdeen, 1639. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 75: VOL 16 - TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD.LOUDOUN.
========================================================================

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD.LOUDOUN. RIGHT HONORABLE GRACE, mercy, And peace "
be to your Lordship! I rejoice exceedingly, that I hear your Lordship has a good
mind to CHRIST, and his truth. My very dear Lord, go one in the strength of the
Lord, to carry your honor and worldly glory to the New Jerusalem. For this cause
your Lordship received these Of the LORD, and this is a sure way for the
establishment of your house, if ye be one of those who are' willing in your
place to build Zion's waste places. Yolk, Lordship wants `not Gob's aid man's'
law both but’ suppose the bastard laws of man were against you, it is an honest
error, if here ye slip against a point of standing', policy. O what a blessed
thing is it, to see nobility, learning, and sanctification, all conquer in one!'
For these ye owe yourself to CHRIST and his' kingdom. GOD has bewildered the wit
and the learning of the scribes and disputers, this time; they look asquint to
the Bibles this world blindfoldeth men's light, that they are afraid to see
straight before them. Your Lordship knows, that within a little while, policy
against truth will blush, and the works of men will burn. How had they forgotten
the LORD, that they dare go against even. that truth which once they preached
themselves, although their sermons now be as thin sown as strawberries in a wood
Certainly the safest course is, for the short time of this world, to stand for
JESUS. He has said it, and it is our part to believe it, that, ere it be long, "
time shall be no more," and " the heavens shall wax old as a garment." Do we not
see it already an old, threadbare garment Does not cripple and lame nature tell
us, that the Lord will fold up the old garment, and lay it aside; and that the
heavens shall be folded together as a scroll, and this pesthouse shall be burnt
with fire, and shall melt with fervent heat For, at the Lord's coming, he will
do with this earth, as men do with a leperhouse; he will burn the walls with
fire, and the furniture of the house also. (2 Peter 3:10; 2 Peter 3:12.) My very
dear Lord, how shall ye rejoice in that day, to have CHRIST, angels, heaven, and
your own conscience, smiling upon you I am persuaded that one sick night,
through the terrors of the Almighty, would make men (whose conscience has such a
wide throat) have other thoughts of CHRIST and his worship than those with which
now they please themselves. The scarcity of faith in the earth says that we are
hard upon the last nick of time: blessed are those who keep, their garments
clean against the Bridegroom's coming. There shall be spotted clothes, and many
defiled garments, at his last coming'; and therefore few found worthy to walk
with him in white. The weak and feeble, these that are as signs and wonders in
Israel, have chosen the best side. Verily, for myself, I am so well pleased with
CHRIST and his cross, that I should weep if it should come to bartering of
condition with those that are at ease in Zion. I hold still to my choice, and
bless myself in it. I see, and I believe, that there is salvation in this way
that is every where spoken against. I hope to face eternity, and to venture even
upon death, fully persuaded, that this only, even this, is the saving way for
racked consciences, and for weary and laden sinners, to find ease and peace for
evermore. Now the very GOD of peace establish your Lordship in CHRIST JESUS unto
the end! Aberdeen, Your Lordship's in JESUS, Sept. 10, 1637.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 76: VOL 16 - TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF EARLSTOUN.
========================================================================

TO ALEXANDER GORDON, OF EARLSTOUN. MUCH HONORED SIR, SEEING our LORD has been
pleased to break the snare of your adversaries, I heartily bless our LORD on
your behalf. Our crosses for CHRIST are not made of iron; they are of more
gentle metal. It is easy for God To make a fool of the Devil, the father of all
fools. I know your Lord has something to do with you, because SATAN and malice
have shot sore at you; but your bow abideth in its strength: let CHRIST have all
the glory. I see that CHRIST can borrow a cross for some hours, and set his
servants beside it, rather than under it, and make glory to himself, and shame
to his enemies, and comfort to his children, out of it: But whether CHRIST buy
or borrow crosses,: he is King of crosses, and King of devils,: and King over
hell, and King over malice. When he was in the grave, he came out, and brought
the keys with him. He is lordgaoler. Nay, what say I He is Captain of the
castle, and he has the keys of death and hell. And what are our troubles but
little deaths And He who commandeth the great castle, commandeth the little
also. 2. I see that a hardened face, and two skins upon our brows, against the
winterhail and stormy wind, are meetest for a poor traveler, in a winter journey
to heaven. O what art is it to learn to endure hardness, and to learn to go
barefooted, either through the Devil's fiery coals, or his frozen waters8. I am
persuaded, that, a seaventure with CHRIST maketh great riches. Is not our King
JESUS's ship coming home, and shall not we get part of the gold Alas, we fools
miscount our gain, when we seem, losers. " To you it is given to suffer." O what
fools are we, to undervalue his gifts! If we be faithful, our tackling shall not
loose, nor our mast break, nor our sails blow into the sea., The bastard
crosses, the baseborn crosses, of worldlings for evildoing, must be heavy and
grievous; but our afflictions are light.—4. I am happy that my salvation is
credited to CHRIST'S mediation. CHRIST oweth no faith to me; but O what faith
and credit I owe to him! Let my name fall, and let CHRIST's name stand in honor
with men and angels.—5. I wondered. once at Providence; and called white
Providence black and unjust, that I should be smothered in a `town where no soul
will. take CHRIST from my hand. But Providence has another lustre with God, than
with my bleared eyes. I proclaim myself a blind body, who know not black and
white in the uncouth course of GOD’s Providence. Suppose CHIRST would set hell
where heaven is, and Devils up in glory, beside the elect Angels, (which yet
cannot' be,) I would I had a heart to acquiesce in his way, without further
dispute. I see that infinite wisdom is the Mother of his judgments, and his ways
are past finding out.—6. I cannot learn, but I desire to learn, to bring my
thoughts, will, and desires, under CHRIST'S feet, that he may trample upon them,
but) alas! I am still upon CHRIST'S wrong side. Grace be with you S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 77: VOL 16 - TO MARION MACKNAUGHT
========================================================================

TO MARION MACKNAUGHT Dearest in LORD JESUS: Count it your honor, that CHRIST has
begun at you, to fine you first: " Fear not,' says the Amen, the true and
faithful Witness: As my Master liveth, continue in prayer and in watching, and
your "glorious deliverance is coining;' CHRIST is not far off. A straw for all
the bits of clay that are risen against us! "Ye shall thresh the Mountains, and
fat them like chaff"‘ (Isaiah 41:1-29 :) • If ye slack your hands at your
meetings, and, your watching to prayer, then it would seem our Rock hath sold
us; but be diligent, and be not discouraged. I charge you in CHRIST, rejoice,
give thanks, believe, be strong in the Lour, That burning bush in Galloway shall
not be burned to ashes; for the Lord is in the bush. Be not discouraged, that
banishment to be procured against me: the earth is, the Lord's; and I am filled
with his love, and running over. I rejoice to bear that ye are in your journey:
such news as I hear of all, your faith and, love, rejoices my sad heart. Pray
for me, for they seek my hurt; but I give myself to prayer. The blessing of my
LORD, and that of a Prisoner of CHRIST, be with you! O chosen and greatly
beloved woman, faint not: Fie, fie! if ye faint now, ye lose a, good cause.
Double your meetings: cease not for Zion's sake, hold not your peace, till he
make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Yours in CHRIST JESUS his LORD S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 78: VOL 16 - TO MR. GEORGE DUMBAR.
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TO MR. GEORGE DUMBAR. Reverend and dearly beloved in the Lord Grace, mercy, and
peace, be to you! Because your words We strengthened many, I was silent,
expecting Some lines from' you inn My bonds; and this IS the cause why I wrote
not to you but now I am forced to speak. I never, believed till now, that there
was so much to be found in CHRIST, on this side of death and of heaven. Q the
ravishments of heavenly joy, that may be had here, in the small gleanings and
comforts that fall from CHRIST! What fools are we, who know not, and consider
not the weight that is in the very earnest penny, and the first fruits of our
hoped for harvest! O what then must personal possession be! I see that my prison
has neither lock nor door; I am, free in my bonds; and my chains are made of
rotten straw;’ they shall' not abide one pull of faith. I, am suee; they in hell
would, exchange the torments with our crosses, suppose they should never be
delivered; and would give twenty thousand years’ torment to boot, to be in our
bonds for ever: And therefore we wrong CHRIST, who sigh, and fear, and doubt,
and despond in them. Our sufferings are washed in CHRIST'S blood, as well as our
souls; for CHRIST'S merits bought a blessing on the crosses of the sons of GOD.
Our troubles owe us a free passage through them: Devils and men, and crosses,
are our debtors; death and all storms are our debtors, to blow our poor tossed
bark over the water freight free, and to set the travelers in their own known
ground; and our sufferings are the ruin of the black kingdom. But withal, we
stand with the " hundred forty and four thousand," who are with the LAMB upon
the top of Mount Zion: Antichrist and his followers are down in the valley; we
have the advantage of the hill; our temptations are always beneath; our waters
are beneath our breath; " as dying, and behold we live." I bless the Lour., that
all our troubles come through CHRIST'S fingers, and that he casteth in some
ounce weights of heaven, and of the spirit of glory, (which resteth on suffering
believers) into our cup, in which there is no taste of hell. My dear Brother, ye
know all these better than I; I send water to the sea, to speak of these things
to you; but it easeth me to desire you to help me to pay tribute of praise to
JESUS. O what praises I owe him! I would I were in my free heritage, that I
might begin to pay my debts to JESUS. I entreat for your prayers and praises: I
forget not you. Your brother and fellow sufferer, in and for CHRIST, Aberdeen,
Sept. 17, 1637. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 79: VOL 16 - TO THE PROFESSORS OF CHRIST IN IRELAND.
========================================================================

TO THE PROFESSORS OF CHRIST IN IRELAND. DEARLY beloved in our LORD, and
partakers of the heavenly calling. Grace, mercy, and peace, be to you, from GOD
our FATHER, and from our LORD JESUS CHRIST! I always, but most of all now in my
bonds, (most sweet bonds for CHRIST my LORD) rejoice to hear of your faith and
love, and to hear that our King, our well beloved, our spiritual Bridegroom,
without tiring, stayeth still to woo you as his Bride; and that persecutions and
mockings of sinners have not chased away the wooer from the house. My salvation
on it, (if ten heavens, were mine,) if this way that I now suffer for, this way
that the world reproacheth, and no other way, be not the' King's gate to heaven;
and I shall never see GOD's face, if this be not the only saving way' to heaven.
O that you would take the word of a prisoner of CHRIST for it! Nay, I know you
have the greatest King's word for its that it shall not be your wisdom to seek
another CHRIST, Or another way of worshipping him, than is now savingly revealed
to you. Therefore, though I never saw your faces; let me be pardoned fey writing
to you, ye faithful pastors yet amongst the flocks, and ye sincere professors of
CHRIST'S truth, or any weak and tired strayers, who cast an eye after the
Savior, if possibly I may confirm and strengthen you in this good way, every
where spoken against.’ Man with greatest assurance (to the. honor of our LORD
let it be spoken) assert, though I be but a child in CHRIST, and the meanest,
and less than the least of saints, that we do not come nigh to the due love and
estimation of that fairest among the sons of men. He is all heaven, and more
than all heaven i and my testimony of him is, that ten lives of black sorrow,
ten deaths, ten hells of pain, ten furnaces of brimstone, were all too little
for CHRIST, if our sufferings could be a hire to buy him. Therefore faint not in
your sufferings and hazards for him. I proclaim and cry, Hell, sorrow, and shame
upon all lusts, upon all by lovers, that would take CHRIST'S room over his head,
in this little inch of love of these narrow souls of ours! O highest, O fairest,
O dearest LORD JESUS, take thine own from all rival lovers. O that we. could
sell. all our part of time's glory, and time's good things, for a lease of
CHRIST for all eternity! O how are we misled and polluted with the love of
things that are on this side of time, and on this side of death's water! Where
can we find a match to CHRIST, among created things I know that his sack does
and ashes are better than the fool's laughter, which is like the crackling of
thorns under a pot. But, alas! we do not harden our faces against the cold north
storms, which blow upon CHRIST's face; we love well summer religion, and to be
that which sin has made us, even as thin skinned as if we were made. of white
paper, and would fain be carried to heaven in a covered chariot, wishing from
our hearts that CHRIST would give us surety for nothing. but a fair summer,
until we be landed at heaven's gate. How many of us have been here deceived, and
fainted in the day of trial Amongst you there are some of this stamp. And now I
am persuaded, it will be asked of every one of us, on what terms we keep Cunrsv.
We found, CHRIST without a wet foot; and he, and his Gospel, came upon small
charges to our doors; but now we must wet our feet to seek him. O how rare a
thing is it to be loyal to CHRIST, when he has a controversy with the shields of
the earth! I wish all of you would consider, that this trial is from CHRIST; it
is come upon you unbought; (indeed, when we buy a temptation with our own,
money, no marvel if we be not easily free of it, and if GOD be not at our elbow
to take it off our hand;) this is CHRIST's ordinary housefare, of which he makes
use, in order to try all the vessels of his house withal; and CHRIST now is
about to bring his treasure out before sun and moon, and to tell his money, and
in the telling, to try what weight of gold, and what weight of copper, is in his
house. Do not now bow, or yield to your adversaries an hairbreadth: CHRIST and
his truth will not divide; and his truth hall Hot latitude, that ye may: take
some of, and leave, other some of it. Nay, the Gospel is like a small hair, that
has. no breadth, and will not delve in two. It is not possible to twist anti
compound a matter between CHRIST and Antichrist; and therefore you must, either
be for CHRIST, or ye must be against him. O that this. misled and blindfolded
world would see, that CHRIST does not rise and fall by men's apprehensions! What
is CHRIST the lighter, because men do with him, by open proclamation, as men do
with clipped and light money They are now crying down CHRIST; and they will have
him taken for a penny or a pound, for one or for a hundred, according as the
wind bloweth from the East or from the West. But the LORD has weighed him, and
balanced him already: " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye Him:" his worth and his weight are the same still. It is our part to cry, "
Up, up with CHRIST; and down, down with all created glory before him! " O that I
could heighten him, and heighten his name, and heighten his throne! I know that
death and hell, and the world and tortures, shall all cleave and split in twain,
and give us free passage to go through; and we shall bring all Gov's good metal
out of the furnace again, and leave! Behind us nothing but our dross and our
scum. We may, then, beforehand proclaim CHRIST to be victorious. He is crowned
King in Mount Zion;. GOD did. put the crown upon his head, (Psal. 2:) and who
dare take it off again Out of question; he has sore and grievous quarrels
against his church;' and therefore he is called, (Isa. ixxi. 9,) " He whose fire
is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem." But, when he has performed his
work on Mount Zion, all Zion's haters shall be as the hungry and thirsty man,
that' dreams he is eating and drinking, and behold, when he awaketh, he is
faint, and his soul empty. And this advantage we. have also, that he will not
bring before sun and moon all the infirmities of his church. Our kind Lord will
not come with chiding to the streets, to let all the world hear what is between•
him and us. Two special tf ings ye are to. mind:—l. Try and make sure your
profession, that ye carry not empty lamps. Alas, security, security, is the bane
and the wreck of the most part of the world! O how many professors go with a
golden. lustre before men, and yet are bastard and base metal! Consider how fair
before the wind some do ply, and yet in a. short time such are quickly broken'
upon the rocks, and never fetch the harbor, but are sanded in the bottom of
hell. O make your heaven sure, and try how ye come by conversion; that it be not
stolen goods, in a white well lustred profession; a white skin over old wounds.
A fault under water, not seen, is dangerous; and so is a leak in the bottom of
an enlightened conscience, often falling, and sinning against light. Woe, woe is
me, that the holy profession of CHRIST is made a stage garment by many, to bring
home a vain fame; and CHRIST is made to serve men's ends! This is, as it were,
to stop an oven with a King's robes.—Know, 2, Except men martyr and slay the
body of sin, in sanctified self denial, they shall never be CHRIST'S martyrs and
faithful witnesses. O if I could be master of that house idol, myself, my own,
mine,—my own will, wit, credit, and ease,—how blessed were I! We need to be
redeemed from ourselves, rather than from the Devil and the world! Learn to put
out yourselves, and to put in CHRIST for yourselves. I should make a sweet
bartering, if I could substitute CHRIST in. place of myself; so as to say, " Not
I, but CHRIST; not My' will but CHRIST'S; not my ease, not my credit, but
CHRIST, CHRIST:" O that CHRIST had the full place of myself; that all my aims,
purposes, thoughts, and desires, would land upon CHRIST, and not upon myself!
Let never dew he upon my branches, and let my poor flower wither at the root, so
that CHRIST were enthroned, and his glory advanced in all the world, and
especially in these three kingdoms. But I know he has no need of me; what can I
add to him But O that he would cause his high and pure glory to run through such
a foul channel as. I am! And although he has caused the blossom to fall off my
one poor joy, that was on this side of heaven, even my liberty to preach CHRIST
to his people; yet I am dead to that now, so that he would hew and carve glory,
glory for evermore, to my royal King, out of my sufferings. O that I had my fill
of his love! I entreat you earnestly for the aid of your prayers, for I forget
not you; and I salute with my soul the faithful Pastors, and honorable and
worthy professors, in that land. "Now the GOD of peace, that brought again our
Lord JESUS from the dead, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the
everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will;
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight!" Grace, grace be with
you! Aberdeen, Yours in JESUS, Feb. 4, 1638. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 80: VOL 16 - TO HIS REVEREND AND MUCHHONORED BROTHER,
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TO HIS REVEREND AND MUCHHONORED BROTHER, DR. ALEXANDER LIGHTON, Prisoner at
London. Reverend and muchhonored Prisoner of Hope, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be
to you! It was not my part, whom our LORD has enlarged, to forget You his
prisoner. When I consider how long your night has been, I think CHRIST has a
mind to put you in free grad's debt so much the deeper. But what if CHRIST
Intend for you no joy but public joy, with enlarged and triumphant Zion I think,
Sir, ye would love best to share and divide your song of joy with Zion, and to
have mystical. CHRIST in Britain copartner with your enlargement. Worthy Sir, I
hope I need not exhort you to go on, hoping for the salvation of GOD. There has
not been, so much taken from your time of ease, as eternity shall acid to your
heaven. Ye know, when one day in heaven shath paid, yea, and overpaid your
blood, bonds, sorrow, and sufferings, that it would trouble an angel's standing
to count that overplus of glory, which eternity can and will give you. Your
sandglass of sufferings and losses cometh to little, when compared with the
glory that waiteth for you, on the other side of the water! Ye have no leisure
to rejoice and sing here, while time go about you, and where your psalms must be
short; therefore ye will think eternity, and the long day of heaven, that shall
be measured with no other sun than the long life of the ANCIENT OF DAYS, little
enough for you. If your spanlength of time be cloudy, ye cannot but think that
your LORD can no more take' your blood and your bands without the income and
recompense of free grace, than he would take the sufferings of PAUL, and his
other dear servants, that were paid home beyond all counting. (Romans 8:18.) It
was the Potter's aim, that the clay should praise him; and I hope it satisfieth
you, that your clay is for his glory. O who can suffer enough for such a LORD
And who can lay out in bank enough of pain, shame, losses, or torture, to
receive in again the free interest of eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17.) O how
advantageous bargaining is it with such a rich LORD! If your hand and pen had
been at leisure to gain glory in paper, it had been but paper glory; but the
bearing of a public cross so long for JESUS, the Prince of the Kings of the
earth, is glory booked in heaven. Worthy and dear brother, if ye go to weigh
JESUS, his sweetness, excellency, glory, and beauty, and set against him your
ounces of suffering for him, ye shall be straitened in two ways.—l. It will be a
pain to make the comparison, the disproportion being by no understanding
imaginable. Nay, if angels were set to work, they should never number the
degrees of difference.—2. It should straiten you to find a scale for the
balance, to lay that high and lofty One, that Prince of excellency, into. If
your mind could fancy as many created heavens as time has had minutes, as trees
have had leaves, or as clouds have had drops, since the first stone of the
creation was laid, they should not make half a scale to bear and weigh boundless
excellency. And therefore the King, whose marks ye are bearing, and whose dying
ye carry about with you in your body, is, out of all consideration, beyond and
above all our thoughts. For myself, I am content to feed upon wondering
sometimes, on beholding but the skirts of his incomparable' glory; and I think,
ye could wish for more ears to give him than ye have, since ye hope these ears
ye now have given him shall be passages to take in the music of his glorious
voice. O! who can add to him who is all If he would create new heavens, a
thousand thousand degrees more perfect than these that now are; and would then
make a new creation, ten thousand you sand. degrees in perfection beyond that
new creation; and again, •would still, to eternity, multiply new heavens; they
should never be a perfect resemblance of that infinite excellency, order,
weight,% measure, beauty, and sweetness, that are in him. O how liftl, of him do
we see! O how shallow are our thoughts of him!, O that I had pain for him, and
shame and losses for him, and more clay and spirits for him; and that I could go
upon earth without love, desire, or hope, because Chi 1sT has taken away my
love, desire, and hope to heaven with him! I know, worthy Sir; your sufferings
for him are your glory; and therefore be not weary; his salvation is near at
hand, and shall not tarry. Pray for me: His grace be with, you! St, Andrews,
Yours in his LORD JESUS, Nov, 99, 1639.


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  CHAPTER 81: VOL 16 - TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN IRELAND.
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TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN IRELAND. Much honored, reverend, and dearly beloved
in our LORD; GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you all! I know there are many, in
this nation,’ more able than I, to speak to the sufferers for JESUS CHRIST, and
witnesses of him; yet pardon me if I speak a little to you, who are, called in
question for the Gospel, once committed to you. I hope ye are not' ignorant,
that as peace was left to you in CHRIST’s' testament, so the other half of the
testament was a legacy of CHRIST'S sufferings; (John 16:33;)' " These things
have I spoken, that in. me ye might have Peace. in' the world ye shall have
trouble." Because then ye are made heirs of CHRIST’s cross, think that fiery
trial no strange thing. For the Lord JESUS shall be no loser by purging the
dross and tin out of his church in Ireland; his winepress is but squeezing out
the dregs, the scum, the froth, and refuse of that church. I had once the proof
of the honest and honorable peace of that slandered thing, the cross of our
Lour. JESUS. But though these golden days, which I then had, be now in a great
part gone; yet I dare say, that the issue of your sufferings shall be the high
glory of the Prince of the Kings of the earth; and the changing of the brass of
the LORD's temple among you into gold, and of the iron into silver, and of the
wood into brass. " Your officers shall yet be peace, and your exactors
righteousness." (Isaiah 9:17.) Look over the water, and see who is on the dry
land waiting for your landing. Your deliverance is concluded, subscribed, and
sealed in heaven; your goods that are taken from you, for the sake of CHRIST and
his truth, are but laid in pawn, and not taken away. There is much laid up for
you in his storehouse, whose is the earth, and the fullness thereof. Your
garments are spun, and your flocks are feeding in the fields, your bread is laid
up for you, your gold and silver is at the bank, and the interest go on and
groweth. If two things were firmly believed, sufferings would have no weight. If
the fellowship of CHRIST'S sufferings were well known, who would not gladly take
part with JESUS For CHRIST and we are join towners of one and the same cross and
therefore he that knew well what sufferings were, as he "esteemed all things but
loss for CHRIST," and did " judge them but dung," so did he also thus judge of
them, " that he might know the fellowship of his sufferings." (Php_3:10.) `O how
sweet a sight is it, to see a cross between CHRIST and us; to hear our Redeemer
say, at every sigh, and every blow, and every loss of a believer, " Half mine!"
So they are called, " The sufferings of CHRIST," and " The reproach of CHRIST."
(Ca 1:24; Revelation 11:26.) As when two are partners and owners of' a ship, the
half of the gain, and half of the loss belongeth to each of the two so CHRIST in
our sufferings is half gainer and half loser with us, Yea, the heaviest. end of
the black tree of the cross lieth on your Lord; it. falleth first upon him, and
but reboundeth from him, upon. you. " The reproaches of them that reproached
thee are fallen upon me." (Pea. 69: 9.) Your sufferings are your treasure, and
are greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. (Hebrews 11:26.) And if your
cross come first through CHRIST'S fingers, ere it come to you, it receiveth a
lustre from him it getteth a relish of the King's spikenard, and of heaven's
perfume; and the half of the gain, when CHRIST's shipfull of gold cometh home,
shall be yours. It is an augmentation of your treasure to be rich in sufferings,
to be " in labors abundant, in stripes above measure." (2 Corinthians 11:23.)
And to have " the sufferings of CHRIST abounding in you," (2 Corinthians 1:5))
is a part of heaven's flock. Your goods tire not lost, which they have plucked
from you; for your Lord has them in keeping,: "fie Shall be fed with the
heritage of JACOB your Father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." (Isaiah
58:14.) Till I shall be on the half float of the highest palace, and get a
draught of glory out of CHRIST'S hand, above and beyond time and beyond death, I
shall never (it is likely) see father days, than `I saw under that blessed tree
of my LORD'S cross. O sweet for evermore, to see a rose from heaven growing, in
as ill ground as hell; and to see CHRIST's love, peace, faith, goodness,
longsuffering, and patience, growing, like the flowers of GOD’s garden, out of
such stony and cursed ground as the hatred of the Prelates, and Antichrist's
bloody hand and heart! Is not here heaven' indented in hell, (if I may say so,)
like a jewel set with skill in a ring, with the enamel of CHRIST's cross. And
who would not think him worthy of our sufferings for him What is burning alive,
what is drinking of our heart's blood, or what is a draught of melted lead, for
his glory,' less than a draught of cold water to a thirsty man, if theright
price and due value were. put on that worthy Prince, JESUS;O who can weigh him!
Ten thousand thousand heavens would not be one scale of the balance to lay him
in. O black angels, in comparison of him! O dim and dark sun, in regard of that
fair Sun of Righteousness! O worthless heaven of heavens, when they stand beside
my` worthy, and high, and excellent Well beloved! O weak and infirm Kings of
clay, O soft and feeble mountains of brass, and weak created strength, in regard
of our mighty and strong Lord of armies! O foolish wisdom of men and angels,
when it is laid in the balance beside that spotless and substantial WISDOM OF
THE FATHER! If heaven and earth,' and ten thousand heavens, even round about
these heavens that now are, were all in one garden of paradise, decked with all
the fairest roses, flowers, and trees, that can come forth from the art of the
ALMIGHTY; yet set but our one Flower, which groweth out of the root of JESSE,
beside that orchard of pleasure, —and one look of him, one view, one taste, one
odor of his GODhead, would infinitely exceed the fragrance, color, beauty, and
loveliness of that paradise. O for less of the creatures, and more of thee! O
open the passage of the well of love and glory on us, dry pits and withered
trees! O that jewel and flower of heaven! If our Beloved were not mistaken by
us, and unknown to us, he would have no scarcity of lovers. He would make heaven
and earth both see that they cannot quench his love; for his love is a sea. He,
He, Himself, is more excellent than heaven. For heaven, as it cometh into the
souls and spirits of the glorified, is but a creature; and He is more than a
creature. O what a life were it, to sit beside this well of love, and drink of
it, and praise, and praise and drink of it again; and then to have desires and
faculties extended out, as it were, many thousand fathoms in length and
breadth,’ to take in seas and rivers of love! I earnestly desire to recommend
this love to you; that this love may cause you to keep his commandments, to keep
clean hands, and make clean feet, that ye may walk as the redeemed of the LORD.
Woe, woe be to them that put on his name,’ and shame this love of Gun is r with
a loose and profane life their feet, tongue, and hands, and eyes, give a
shameless he to the holy Gospel which they profess. I beseech you in the Lord,
keep CHRIST,' and walk with him; let not his fairness be spotted by GODless
living. O who can find it in their hearts to sin against love,—and such a love,
as the glorified in heaven shall delight to live into, and drink of for ever;
for they are evermore drinking in love, and the cup is still at their head, and
yet without loathing; for they still drink of it, and still' desire to drink of
it, for ever and ever. Let not me, a stranger to' you, who never saw your face
in the flesh, be thought bold in writing to you; for the hope I have of a
glorious church in that land, and the love of CHRIST, constrain me. I know that
the worthy. servants of CHRIST, who once labored among you, cease’ not to write
to you also. Let me entreat you for your prayers for myself, the flock, and
Ministry, and on the subject of my fear of a transportation from this place of
the Lotto's vineyard. Now the very God of peace sanctify you, throughout! Grace
be with you all! Your Brother and Companion In the kingdom and patience of JESUS
CHRIST, Anwoth, 1639. S. R.


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  CHAPTER 82: VOL 16 - TO MR. HENRY STEWART, HIS WIFE, AND TWO DAUGHTERS
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TO MR. HENRY STEWART, HIS WIFE, AND TWO DAUGHTERS ALL Prisoners of CHRIST at
Dublin. Truly honored, and dearly beloved, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you
from God our FATHER, and our LORD JESUS CHRIST! Think it not strange, beloved
in. our LORD, JESUS, that SATAN can command keys of prisons, and bolts, and
chains; this is a piece of the Devil's princedom that he has over the world.
Understand our Lord well in this; be not jealous of his love, though he make
devils and men his under servants to scour the rust off your faith, and purge
you from your dross. And let me charge you, O prisoners of hope, to open your
window, and to look out by faith; behold heaven's post, that speedy and swift
salvation of GOD, that is coming to you. It is a broad river that faith will not
look over it is abroad sea, of which they of a lively hope cannot behold the
other shore. Look over the water; your anchor is fixed within the veil: the one
end of the cable is about the prisoner of CHRIST, and the other is "entered
within the veil, whither the Forerunner is entered for you." {Hebrews 6:19;
Hebrews 6:20.) It can go straight through the fire of the wrath of men, devils,
losses; tortures, death, without a thread of it being singed. Men and devils
have no teeth to bite it in two. Hold fast till He come. Your cross is of the
color of heaven and CHRIST; and that dye can abide the foul weather, and neither
be stained nor cast the color. When your lovely JESUS had no better than the
thief's doom, it is no wonder that your process should be lawless; for he was
taken, buffeted, whipped, and spit upon, before he was convicted of any fault. O
such a pair of sufferers as JESUS, and a piece of guilty clay, under one yoke! O
how lovely is the cross, with such a second! I believe that your prison is
enacted, in GOD’s court, not to keep you till your hope breathe out its last;
your cross is under law to restore you safe to your brethren and sisters in
CHRIST. Take heaven and CHRIST'S bond for a fair door out of your suffering. It
were good to be armed beforehand for death, or bodily tortures for CHRIST; and
think what a crown of honor it is, that GOD has given you pieces of living clay,
to be tortured witnesses for saving truth; and that ye are so happy, as to have
some blood to give out for that royal Lora', who has caused you to avouch
Himself before men. Do not wonder to see blinded men threaten you with death and
burial,’ and to raze, out truth's name but where will they snake a grave for the
Gospel and the Lord's church Earth and hell shall be but little bounds for their
burial in all the clay and rubbish of the whole earth above our LORD’s church,
yet' it will not cover her, nor hold her down; she shall live, and not die; she
shall behold the salvation of GOD. O what glory is it, to, suffer for the Lord's
glory! Tay, though his servants had a body to burn for ever for this Gospel, so
that the glory of JESUS did but rise out of these flames, and out of that
burning body, O what a sweet fire! What if the ashes of the burned body were
musicians to sing his praises, and the highness of that Prince of Ages! O what
love is it in him, that he will have such musicians as we are, to tune that
psalm of his everlasting praises heaven. O what shining and burning flames of
love are those, that lead Him to divide his share of life, of heaven, and glory,
with you! Apart of his throne, one draught of his wine, his wine of glory and
life, that comes from under the throne of God and the LAMB)) and one apple of
the Tree of Life, will more than make up all the` expenses of clay lent out for
heaven We have short, narrow and creeping thoughts of JESUS, and do but shape
CHRIST, in our conceptions, according to', some created portraiture! O Angels,
lend your help to make songs of him who is the fairest amongst thousand! O
heavens, O, heaven of heavens, ’O glorified tenants and triumphant householders
with the Lama, pit in new `psalms of the excellency of our Lord, and help us to
set him on high! `O indwellers, of earth and heaven, sea and. air, O all ye
created beings within the bosom of this great' world, come and help to set on
high the praises of our LORD!’O fairness of Creatures, blush before his
uncreated beauty! 'O Created, strength, be amazed before the strong LORD of
Hosts O created love, think shame of thyself before this unparalleled love of
heaven. O Angel of wisdom, hide thyself. before our Lord, ’whose’ understanding
passes finding out! O Sun, in thy shining beauty, put on a web of darkness, and
cover thyself before thy bright Master and Maker! O who can add glory, by doing
or suffering, to his Great Being! We can but bring our drop to this sea, and our
"candle, dim and dark as it is, to this clear Such of heaven and earth! We have
cause to drink ten deaths, or to swim through ten seas,:. in order to be at that
land of praises, where we shall see that wonder, and enjoy this jewel of
heaven's jewels! O death, do thy utmost against us! O torments, O malice of men
and devils, waste your strength. on the witnesses of our LORD'S testament! O
devils, bring all hell to help you, in tormenting the followers of the LAMB! We
will defy you to make us too soon happy, and to waft us too soon over the water,
to the land where the noble Plant, " the Plant of Renown," groweth. O cruel
time, that suspends those dearest enjoyments, in which we shall be hased, soul
and body, in the depths of this love! O time, run fast! O motions, mend your
pace! " O Wellbeloved, be like a young roe upon the mountains of separation!"
Hasten our desired meeting! Love is sick to hear tell of " tomorrow." And what
then can come wrong to you, O honorable witnesses of his. truth Men have no more
of you to work upon, but some few inches of sick clay: your spirits are above
their courts; your souls, your love to CHRIST, your faith, cannot be summoned,
nor sentenced, nor accused, nor condemned, by Pope, deputy, ruler, or tyrant;
your faith is a free lord, and cannot be a captive. All the malice of hell and
earth can but hurt the scabbard of a believer; and death, at the worst, can get
but a claypawn in keeping, till your Lord take the King's keys, and open your
graves. Therefore let a postway be laid between your prison and heaven, and go
up and visit your treasure. Enjoy your Beloved, and dwell upon his love, till
eternity come in time's room, and put you into possession of your eternal
happiness. Keep your love to CHRIST; lay up your faith in heaven's keeping; and
follow the Prince of martyrs, who witnessed a fair confession before PONTIUS
DILATE; your cause and his is all one. The opposers of his cause are like
drunken judges, who in their cups would make laws that the sun should not rise
and shine on the earth; and send their officers and pursuivants to charge the
sun, and moon to give no more light to the world; or who would enact in their
courtbooks, that the sea, after once ebbing, should never flow again: but would
not the sun, and moon, and sea, break those acts, and keep their Creator's
directions The Devil, the' great fool, and the father of these underfools, is
more malicious than wise, that sets the spirits on earth at work, to contend
with heaven's wisdom, and to give mandates and summons to our sun, our great
star of heaven, JESUS, not to shine, in the beauty of his Gospel, to the chosen
and bought ones. O you fair Sun of Righteousness, arise and shine in thy
strength, whether earth or hell will or not! O victorious Conqueror, ride
prosperously upon truth; stretch out thy sceptre as far as the sun shines, and
the moon waxed' and waneth! Put on thy glittering crown, O you Maker of Kings,
and make but one step of the whole earth, and travel in the greatness of thy
strength, (Isaiah 63:1,) and let thy apparel be red, and all dyed with the blood
of thy enemies! Thon art righteous heir to the kingdoms of the world.,Laugh ye
at the brainsick worms, that dare say in good earnest, " This man shall not
reign over us," as though they were casting the dice for CHRIST'S crown, which
of them should have it. I know that ye believe the coming of CHRIST'S kingdom:
believe under a cloud, and wait for him, when there is no moonlight nor
starlight. Let faith live and breathe, and lay hold on the sure salvation of
GOD, when clouds and darkness are about you. Take heed of unbelieving hearts,
which can father lies upon CHRIST: beware, of,—" Does his promise fail for
evermore". (Psalms 77:8,)for it was a man (and not Gone) that said it, who
dreamed that a promise of GOD could fail. O sweet word of faith, (Job 13:15,) "
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him!" Faith's eyes can see through a
gloom of GOD, and under it read God's thoughts of love and peace. Hold fast
CHRIST in the dark; surely ye shall see the salvation of Go). I profess, it
should beseem men of great parts, rather than me, to write to you; but I love
your cause, and must entreat the help of your prayers, in this my weighty charge
here, for the University and pulpit, and that ye would entreat your acquaintance
also to help _ me. Grace be with you all! Amen. Your Brother and Companion In
the patience and kingdom of JESUS CHRIST, St. Andrew's, 1640. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 83: VOL 16 - TO JOHN FENNICK.
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TO JOHN FENNICK. Much honored and dear Friend, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to
you! The necessary impediments of my calling have hitherto kept me from making a
return to your letter, the heads whereof I shall now briefly answer.—I approve
of your going to the fountain, when your own cistern is dry. Ye commend his free
love; and it is well done; O that I could help you, and that I could gather an
earthfull and an heavenfull of tongues, to raise a song of praises to him,
between the east and west, and the furthest points of the broad heaven! Come,
come, dear friend, and be pained, that the King's free love and his banqueting
house should be so abundant, so overflowing, and your shallow vessel so little
to take in some part of that love. But since it cannot come into you, for want
of room, enter yourself into this sea of love, and breathe under these waters,
and live as one swallowed up of this love. Your troubles are many and great, yet
not an ounce weight beyond the measure of infinite wisdom, nor beyond the
measure of grace that he is ready to bestow; for, our LORD never yet brake the
back of his child, O what bonds has our chirurgeon of broken spirits, to bind up
all his lame and bruised ones with! Cast your disjointed spirit into his lap,
and lay your burden upon one who is so willing to take your cares and your fears
from you, and to exchange your crosses, and to give you new for old, and gold
for iron, even to give you garments of praise for the spirit of' heaviness. Wait
on) till he return with salvation, and cause you to rejoice in the latter end.
It is not much to complain; but rather believe, than complain, and sit in the
dust, and close your mouth, till he make your light to grow again. For your
afflictions are not eternal; time will end them;. and so shall ye at, length see
the Lord's salvation. His love sleepeth not, but is still working for you; his
salvation shall not tarry nor linger; and suffering for him, is. the noblest
cross that is out of heaven. Your Lord has the choice of ten' thousand other
crosses to exercise you with; but his wisdom and his love chose out this for
you, in preference to them all: take it as a choice one, and make use of it, so
as to look to this world as your stepmother in your borrowed prison; for it is a
longing look to heaven, and to the other side of the water, that GOD seeketh:
and this is the fruit, the flower, and the bloom, growing out of your cress,
that ye be a dead man to time, to clay, to gold, to country, to friends, to
wife, to children, and all pieces, of created nothings; for in them there is not
a seat nor a bottom for our love. O what room there is for your love (if it were
as broad as the sea) in: heaven and in GOD! And what would not CHRIST give for
your love GOD gave so much for your soul; and blessed are ye if ye have a love
for him, and. can call in your soul's love from all idols, and can make a GOD of
Go), a GOD of CHRIST, and draw a line between your heart and him. If your
deliverance come not, CHRIST'S love must stand as surety: for your deliverance,
till your Lord send it in his blessed time;, for CHRIST has many salvation, if
we could see them. And I would think it better born comfort and joy that cometh
from the faith of deliverance, and, the faith of his love, than that which
cometh from deliverance itself. It is not much matter, if ye find ease to your
afflicted soul, what be the means, either of your own wishing, or of GOD's
choosing; the latter I am sure is best, and the comfort strongest and sweetest.
Let the LORD absolutely have the ordering of your troubles; and put them off
yourselves, by recommending your furnace to him, who has skill to melt his own
metal, and knows well what to do with his furnace. Let your heart be willing
that GOD’s fire have your tin, and brass, and dross. Now take CHRIST in with you
under your yoke, and " let patience have her perfect work." The LORD is rising
up to do you good in the latter end: see him posting and hasting towards you!
Help me with your prayers for this people, this College, and my own poor soul.
Grace be with you! St. Andrew's, Yours in CHRIST JESUS, February 13, 1640. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 84: VOL 16 - TO LADY BOYD
========================================================================

TO LADY BOYD MADAM, Grace, mercy, and peace, be to you! I wish I could speak or
write what might do good to your Ladyship; especially now, when ye cannot but
have deep thoughts of the ways of the LORD, in taking away, with a sudden and
wonderful stroke, your brethren and friends. It is true, your brethren saw not
many summers; but adore the sovereignty of the great Potter, who maketh and
marreth his clay vessels when and how it pleases him. The under garden is
absolutely his own, and all that groweth in it: the flowers are his own: if some
be but summer apples, he may pluck them down before others. O what wisdom is it
to believe, and not to dispute; to subject the thoughts to his court, and not to
repine at any act of his justice! He has done it; all flesh be e silent! It is
impossible to be submissive and religiously patient, if ye stay your thoughts
among the confused rollings of second causes; as, " O the place! O the time! O,
if that had been, this had not followed! O the linking of that accident with
this time and place! " Look up to the mastermotion, and the first wheel; see and
read the decree of heaven and of the Creator of men, who breweth death to his
children, and the manner of it. They who have eyes to see through one side of a
mountain to the other, who can take up his ways, see "how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out! "His Providence halteth not, but go
even; `yet they were not the greatest sinners, upon whom the tower of Siloa:n
fell. Was not time's lease expired, and the sand of heaven's sandglass, set by
our LORD, run out Is hot he an unjust debtor, who payeth due debt with chiding
Yet; Madam, live upon faith in the love of Him, whose arrows are pointed with
love to his own, and who knows how to take you and yours out of the roll and
book of the dead. Read and spell aright all the words and syllables in the
visitation, and miscall neither letter nor syllable in it. What is wrath to
others, is mercy to you, and your house. It is faith's work to challenge
lovingkindness out of all the roughest strokes of GOD. Do that for the LORD,
which ye will do for time: time will calm your heart at that which God has done;
and let our LORD have it now. ’What love ye did bear to friends now dead, seeing
they stand now in no need of it, let it fall as a just legacy to CHRIST. O how
sweet, to put out' many strange" lover's, and to put in CHRIST! It is much for
our halfslain affections to part with that to which we believe we have a right:
but a servant's will should be our will; and he is the best servant, who
retaineth least of his own will, and most of his master's. Strokes upon his
secret ones come from the soft and lieavenly1ha.nd of the MEDIATOR, and his rods
are steeped to that; river of love which cometh from the GodMAN'S heart of our’
Redeemer, JESUS. Time's thread is short; ye' are upon the entry of heaven's
harvest; and CHRIST, the field of heaven's glory, is white and ripelike. The
losses that I write of to your Ladyship are but summershowers, that will only
wet your garments for an hour or two; and the sun of the New Jerusalem shall
quickly dry the "vet coat;' especially seeing that rains or afflictions cannot
stain the image of God. Daylight is near, when such t a morning darkness is upon
you; and this trial of your Christian mind towards Him, whom ye dare not leave,
although he should slay you, shall close with a doubled mercy. It is time for
faith to hold fast as much of CHRIST as ever ye had, and to cleave closer to
him; seeing that CHRIST loves to be believed in, and trusted to. The glory of
laying strength upon one that is mighty to save, it more than we can think. That
piece of service, believing in a smiting REDEEMER, is a precious part of
obedience. O what glory to him, to lay the burden of our heaven upon him, that
purchased for us an eternal kingdom! Madam, Your Ladyship's in CHRIST, 1640. S.
R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 85: VOL 16 - TO MRS. HUME.
========================================================================

TO MRS. HUME. LOVING SISTER, Grace, mercy, and peace, be to you! If ye have any
thing better than the husband of your youth, ye are JESUS CHRIST'S debtor for
it; pay not then your debts with grudging. Sorrow may diminish the sweet fruit
of righteousness; but quietness, silence, submission, and faith, put a crown
upon your sad losses. Ye know whose voice the voice of a crying rod is. (Micah
6:9.) The name and majesty of the LORD are written on the rod; read and be
instructed. Let CHRIST have the room of the husband. Re has now no need of you,
or of your love; for he enjoyeth as much of the love of CHRIST as his heart can
be capable of. I confess, it is a dearbought experience, to teach you to
undervalue the creature; yet it is not too dear, if CHRIST think it so. I know
that your thoughts against his going thither, the way and manner of his death,
the instruments, the place, and, the time, will not ease your. spirits, except
ye rise higher •than second causes, and be silent because the LORD has done it.
If we measure the goings of the ALMIGHTY, and his ways, the bottom whereof we
see not, we quite mistake GOD. O how little a portion of GOD see we! He is far
above our narrow thoughts. He ruled the world in wisdom, before we, creatures of
yesterday, were born; and shall rule it, when we, shall be lodging beside the
worms and corruption. Only learn heavenly wisdom, selfdenial, and mortification
by this sad loss. I know that it is not for nothing, (except ye deny, GOD to be
wise in all he doth,) that ye have lost one on earth. There has been, too little
of your heart in heaven, and therefore the jealousy of CHRIST has done this: it
is a mercy that he contends with you and all your lovers. I should desire no
greater favor for myself, than that CHRIST took such bonds: upon himself as
these, " Such an one I have; and such a soul I cannot litre in heaven without."
(See John 10:16.) And believe it, it is in incomprehensible love that CHRIST
says, "Though I enjoy the glory of my FATHER, and the crown of heaven, far above
men and angels, I must use all means, though ever so violent, to have the
company of such an one for ever." If with the eyes of wisdom, as a child of
wisdom, ye justify your mother, the wisdom of GOD, (whose child ye are) ye shall
embrace this loss, and see much of CHRIST in it. Believe and submit; and refer
the event of. the trial to your heavenly FATHER, who numbereth all your hairs.
And put CHRIST in his own room in your love;it may be that he has either been
out of his own place, or in a place of love inferior to his worth. Make
reparation' to CHRIST for all his wrongs done to him, and love him for a
husband; and he, who is, a husband to the widow, shall be that to you which he
has taken from you. Grace. be with you! London, Your sympathizing Brother, Oct.
15, 1645. S.R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 86: VOL 16 - TO BARBARA HAMILTON
========================================================================

TO BARBARA HAMILTON LOVING SISTER, Grace, mercy, and peace, be to you! have
heard with, grief, that, Newcastle has, taken one more in a bloody account, even
your soninlaw, and my friend; but I hope ye have learned so much of CHRIST, as
not to look to wheels rolled round about on earth. Earthen vessels are not to
dispute with their Former; pieces of sinning day may, by reasoning and
contending with the Potter, mark the work of Him who has his fire in Zion, and
his furnace in Jerusalem; as bullocks, wrestling in the furrow, make their yoke
more heavy. In quietness and rest ye shall be saved. If men do any thing, we may
ask both who did it, and what is done, and why. When GOD has done any thing, we
are to inquire who has done it, and to know that this cometh from the LORD, who
is wonderful in counsel; but we axe not to ask what or why. If it be from the
LORD, as certainly there is no evil in the city without him, (Amos 3:6,) it is
enough. The fairest face of his spotless way is but coming; and ye are to
believe his works as well as his word. Violent death is a sharer with CHRIST in
his death, which was violent; It mattereth not much by what way we go to.
heaven'; the "happy home is all, where the roughness of the way shall be
forgotten. He is gone home to a friend's house, and made welcome. The race is
ended; time is recompensed with eternity. GOD’s order is in wisdom; the husband
goes home before the wife. The throng of the market shall be over, before it be'
long, and another' generation where we now are; and, at length, an empty house,
and not one of mankind shall be upon the earth: within the’sixth part of an hour
after, the earth, and the works that are therein, will be burnt up with fire.
’We cannot teach the ALMIGHTY knowledge. When he was directing the bullet
against his servant, to fetch out the soul, no wise man could cry to GOD, "
Wrong, wrong, LORD; for he is thine own!" There is no mist over his eyes, who is
wonderful in counsel. If Zion be built with your soninlaw's blood, the LORD
(deep in counsel) can glew together the stones of Zion with blood, and with that
blood which is precious in his eyes. CHRIST has fewer laborers in his vineyard
than he had; but some more witnesses for his. cause. ’What' is CHRIST's gain, is
not, your loss; let not that, which is his holy and wise will, be your
unbelieving sorrow. Though I really judge that I had interest in his dead
servant, yet because he now liveth to CHRIST, I quit the hopes I had of his
successful laboring in the ministry; I know that be now praiseth' the: grace
which he was to preach. Give glory therefore to CHRIST, as he now Both, and say,
"Thy will be done." The grace and consolation of CHRIST be with, you! London
Nov. 15, 1643. Yours in his LORD JESUS, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 87: VOL 16 - TO A CHRISTIAN GENTLEWOMAN.
========================================================================

TO A CHRISTIAN GENTLEWOMAN. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be to you! If death,
which is before you and us all, were any other thing but a, friendly
dissolution, it would seem a hard voyage, to go through `such a: dark trance; so
thorny a valley; as is the wages of sin: but I am confident, that the way ye
know, though your foot never trod in that black shadow; and the loss of life tis
gain to you. If CHRISTJESUS be the lodging, at the end of your journey, there is
no fear, and ye go to a friend; and since ye have had communion with him in
this; life and he hath a pledge of yours, even the largest share of your heart,
ye may look death in the face with joy. If the heart be in heaven, the remnant
of you cannot be kept the prisoner of the Second Death. But though he be the
same CHRIST in the other life, as ye found him to be here, yet he is so' far, in
his excellency, beauty, sweetness, and beams of majesty, above what he appeared
here, when he is seen. as he is, that he shall appear a new CHRIST; and the
ointment of his name, poured out on you,’ shall appear to have more of GOD, and
a stronger fragrance of heaven, of eternity, of GODhead, of majesty and glory,
there than here,; as water at the fountain, or apples. in the orchard, and
beside the tree, have more of their native sweetness, taste, and beauty, than
when transported to us some hundred miles. I mean not that CHRIST can lose any
of his sweetness in the carrying; or that he in his GODhead can be changed for
the worse, between the little spot of the earth ye are in, and the right hand of
the FATHER, far above all heavens: but the change will be in you, when ye shall
have new senses; when the soul shall be a more deep and more capacious vessel,
to take in more of CHRIST; and when means, the chariot, the Gospel, in which he
is now carried, and ordinances which convey him, shall be removed. Surely ye
cannot now be said to see him face to face, or to drink of the wine of the
highest fountain, or to take in seas of fresh love immediately without vessels,
or messengers, at the fountain itself, as ye shall do a few days hence, when ye
shall be so near as to be with CHRIST. Ye would (no doubt) bestow a day's
journey, yea, many days' journey on earth, to go up to heaven, and fetch down
anything of CHRIST; how much more may ye be willing to make a journey to go in
person to heaven, (it is no lost time, but a gained eternity) to enjoy the full
GODhead He is not there, as he is here with us, in a drop of grace and
sweetness; but in his marriage robe of glory, richer, more costly, more
precious, than a million of worlds. O the well is deep! Ye shall then think,
that preachers on earth did but mar his praises, when they spoke of him. Alas!
we but make CHRIST black, and less lovely, in making such dry, and cold, and low
expressions of his transcendent super excellency. Go and see; and we desire to
go with you. If, in that last journey, ye tread on a serpent in the way, and
thereby wound your heel, as JESUS CHRIST did before you, the print of the wound
shall not be known at the resurrection of, the just. Death is but a step over
time and sin to CHRIST, who knew and felt the worst of death; for death's teeth
hurt him. We know that death has no teeth now, no jaws, for they are broken. It
is a free prison;. citizens pay nothing for the grave; the gaoler, who had the
power of death, is destroyed: praise and glory be to the Firstbegotten of the
dead! The worst that may be, is, that you leave behind you Children, husband,
and the church of GOD in miseries; but ye cannot get them to heaven with you for
the present; ye shall not miss them; and CHRIST cannot miscount one of the
poorest of his lambs. Ye shall see them again in the day when the SON shall
render up the kingdom to his FATHER. The evening of every poor hireling is
coming; and the church of CHRIST'S sun in this life is declining low: not a soul
of the militant company will be here within a few generations; our LORD will
send for them all. It is a, rich mercy that we are not married to time longer
than till the course be finished. Ye may rejoice, that ye got not to heaven till
ye knew that JESUS is there before you so that when ye come thither, at your
first entry, ye may find the smell of his myrrh, aloes, and cassia. And this
first, salutation of his will make you find that it is no uncomfortable thing to
die. Go and enjoy your gain; live on CHRIST'S love while ye are here, and all
the way. As for the church ye leave behind you, the government is upon CHRIST'S
shoulders, and he will plead for the blood of his saints. The bush has been
burning above a thousand years, and we never yet saw the ashes of this fire. Yet
a little while, and the vision shall not tarry; it shall speak, and not lie. I
am more afraid of my duty, than of the head of CHRIST'S government. He cannot
fail to bring judgment to victory. O that we could wait for our hidden life! O
that CHRIST would remove the covering, draw, aside the curtain of time, and rend
the heavens and come down! O that the night were gone, that the day would break,
and that he would cry to his heavenly trumpeters, "Make ready; let us go down
and fold together the four corners of the world!" His grace be with you! Now, if
I have found favor with you, and if ye judge me faithful, my last suit to you
is, that ye would leave me a legacy, and that is, that my name may be at the
very last in your prayers; as I desire also that it may be in the prayers of
those of your Christian acquaintance with whom ye have been intimate. London,
Your Brother in his own LORD JESUS, 1646. S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 88: VOL 16 - TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE.
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TO THE VISCOUNTESS OF KENMURE. MADAM, GRACE, mercy, and peace, be unto you! I
know that ye are near many comforters, and that THE promised COMFORTER is near
also; yet, because I found your Ladyship comfortable to myself in my sad days,
it is my part (although I can do little, Got, knows,) to speak to you in your
wildernessIot. I know, dear and noble lady, that this loss of your dear child
came upon you one part after another; ye were looking for it; and now the
ALMIGHTY has brought on you that which ye feared; your LORD gave you lawful
warning: and I hope that, for his sake; who brewed this cup in heaven, ye will
gladly drink it, and salute and welcome the cross. I am sure, it is not your
LORD'S mind to feed you with judgment and wormwood. I know that your cup is
sweetened `with’ mercy; and that'the withering of the bloom, the flower of
worldly joys, is for no other end but to buy out the' reversion of your heart
and love. Madam, subscribe to the ALMIGITY'S will put your hand to the pen;’ and
let the cross of your Lord JESUS have your submissive and resolute Amen.' If ye
ask and try whose this cross is, I dare say, it his not all your own; the best
half of it is CHRIST'S. `’ (isa.`1xiii.9.) "'In all their afflictions he was
afflicted." CHRIST bore the first stroke of this cross; and it rebounded from
Him upon you. And I believe, for my part, that he intends to distil heaven out
of this loss, and all others of the like kind; for wisdom devised it, and love
laid it on,’ and CHRIST owneth it as his own, and putteth your shoulder only
beneath a piece of it. Take it with joy as no bastard cross, but as a visitation
of Go), wellborn; spend the rest of your appointed; time, till your, change
come, in the work of believing and let faith, that never yet made a he to you,
speak for. God's, part, of it: he will not, he does not make you " a sea or a
whale, that he keepeth you in ward." ( Job 7:12.) It may, be ye think that, not
many of the children, of GOD are in, such a hard case as yourself; but what
would ye think, of " some,: who would exchange afflictions, and give you to the
boot, But I know, yours must be your own alone, and CHRIST's together, I confess
it seemed strange to me, that your LORD should have done that, which seems, to
destroy all your worldly comforts: but we see not the ground of the ALMIGHTY'S
Sovereignty. He goes by on our righthand, and on our lefthand, and we see him
not. We see but pieces of the broken links of the chain of his Providence; and
he coggeth the wheels of his own Providence, that we see not. O let the Former
work his own clay in what frame he pleases! Shall any teach the ALMIGHTY "
knowledge' If he pursue dry stubble, who dare say, " What dost thou", Do not
wonder to see the Judge of the world weave, in one web, your mercies, and the
judgments of the house of Kenmure: He can make one web of contraries. But my
weak advice is that you, dear and worthy Lady, should see how far mortification
goes on, and what scum the Lord’s fire casteth out of you. I know, ye, see your
knottiness, since our Lord heweth and planeth you; and the glancing; of the
furnace is to let you see what, froth is in nature, that must he boiled out, and
taken off in the fir of your trials; I do not say, that heavier afflictions
prophesy hearer guiltiness;—A, Gross is often but a false prophet in this kind.
But I am sure that our Lord would have the tin and the bastardmetal in you
removed; lest the lord say, " The bellows are burned, the lead is, consumed in
the fire, the founder melteth in vain”; (Jeremiah 6:29.), And I (shall hope,
that grief will not, so far smother your light, as, to make; you omit to
practice the necessary; duty pf concurring with, him in this blessed, design. It
is, a, Christian art, to comfort yourself in the Lo u n; to say, " I was obliged
to render back this thild to the' Giver; and if I have had four years' Lord of
him, and CHRIST eternity's possession of him, the Lord has kept condition with
me." Madam, I would I could divide sorrow with you, for your ease; but I am but
a beholder: It is easy to me to speak: the GOD of Comfort speak to you, and
allure you with his love! My removal from my flock is so heavy to me, that it
maketh my life a burden to me; I had never such a longing for death the LORD
help and hold up sad clay! Your Ladyship’s at all obedience in Chain, S. R.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 89: VOL 16 - TO MRS. CRAIG, UPON THE DEATH OF HER SON, WHO WAS DROWNED IN A RIVER.
========================================================================

TO MRS. CRAIG, Upon the Death of her Son, who was drowned in a river. MADAM You
have so learned CHRIST, that now in the furnace, what is dross, and what shining
faith, must come forth. I heard of the removal of your son. Since it is
according to the spotless and holy will of the Lord, where, and before what
witnesses, and hi what manner, whether by a fever, the mother being at the
bedside, or by some other way in a far country, your safest plan will be, to be
silent, and cbhimand the heart to utter no repining or fretting thoughts of the
holy dispensation of Gob. Consider,— 1. The man is’ beyond the hazard of
dispute; the precious youth is perfected and glorified.2. Had the youth lain
pained beside a witnessing another, it had been pain and grief lengthened out to
you in many portions, and every parcel would have been a little death: now his
holy Majesty hath, in one lump, brought: to your ears the news, and has not
divided the grief into many.–'3.’It' was hot yesterday's thought, or the tither
year's Statute; but' a counsel of the Lord of old; and, Who can teach the
ALMIGHTY knowledge "–4. There is no way of quieting the mind, and of silencing
the heart of a mother, but Godly submission. The readiest way for peace and
consolation to clay vessels, is, that it is a stroke of the Potter, and the
Former of all things. I know your light; and I hope your heart also will yields
It is not Safe to be at pulling and drawing with the omnipotent Lord let the
pull go with him, for he is strong; and say, " Thy will be done on earth, as it
is in heaven,"5. His holy Method and order are to be adored: Sometimes the
husband is taken before the wife, and sometimes the son before the other; so'
path the dilly wise Go D ordered: and since he is only sent before; and not
lost, " in all things. give thanks."~6.' Meditate not too much on the
circumstances. The Mother was net witness to the last sight, and cannot get
leave to wind the son, nor to weep over his grave; and he was in a strange land.
There is a like nearness to heaved Out of all the countries of the earth.•7. It
is art, and the skill of faith, to read what the Lord writes upon. the cross;
often we miscall words and sentences of the cross, and either put nonsense on
his rods, or burden his Majesty with slanders and mistakes; when he designs for
us" thoughts of peace and love, even to do us gold hi the latter end:8. There is
a bad way of sullenly swallowing’ a trial, without digesting it; Or of laying it
out of memory, without any victoriousness of faith. The LORI', who forbids
fainting tinder chastisement, forbids also our despising it: But it is easier to
counsel’ than to suffer. The only wise’ Loin furnish patience! Grace be with
you! St. Andrew's Yours in the Lord, May 4, 1660. Grace be with you! Oct.1,
1649.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 90: VOL 16 - TO MR. JAMES GUTHRIE,
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TO MR. JAMES GUTHRIE, Minister of the Gospel at Stirling. WE are very often,
comforted: with the word' of Promise; though' we stumble not a little at the
work of holy Providence, when we see some earthly men flourishing as a green
herb, and the people of GOD counted as sheep for the slaughter, and killed all
the: day long., And yet, both the word of Promise, and the works of Providence,
are from Him, whose ways are equal, holy, and spotless, As for me, when I think
of God’s dispensations, he might justly have brought, to the marketcross, and to
the light, my secret abominations, which would have been no small reproach to
the. holy name of CHRIST; but in: mercy he has covered. These and carved out
more honorable, causes of suffering, of. which we Axe unworthy. And. now, dear
Brother, much depends upon. the manner of suffering, especially, that his
precious truths be owned with all heavenly boldness, and a reason of our hope
given in meekness and, fear, and the, royal, crown of our, LORD JESUS CHRIST,
the Prince of the Kings of the earth, avouched.,; There; are yet a few., names
in the land, that have not defiled, their. garments; and a holy, seed, one whom
the LORD will have mercy, like the four or five olive,branches upon the top of
the shaken, olivetree, and whose ye. shall. lie, toward the; Lord their, Maker.
Think it not strange, whatsoever men devise; against you. Whether it be
exile,—the earth is the LORD'S; or perpetual imprisonment,—the LORD is your
light and, liberty;, or a violent and public death,the Kingdom of heaven
consists in a fair company of glorified martyrs and witnesses, of whom JESUS
CHRIST is the chief witness, who for that cause was born, and came into the
world. Happy are ye, if you give testimony to the world of your preferring JESUS
CHRIST to all powers; and the LORD will make the innocency of his despised
witnesses in this land to shine to after generations, and will take the manchild
up to GOD and to his throne, and prepare a hidden place in the wilderness for
the mother, and cause the earth to help the woman. Be not terrified; fret not:
forgive your enemies: bless and cursenot; for though both you and I should be
silent, heavy are the judgment and indignation from the LORD, which await the
unfaithful watchmen of the Church of Scotland. The souls under the altar are
crying for justice, and there is an answer returned already: the LORD's
salvation will not tarry. Cast the burden of wife and children on the LORD
CHRIST. He cares for you and them: your blood is precious in his sight. The
everlasting consolations of the LORD bear you up, and give you hope: for your
salvation (if not your deliverance) is concluded. Your own Brother, S. R. St.
Andrew's, Feb. 15, 1661.


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  CHAPTER 91: VOL 16 - THE WORKS OF ANTHONY HORNECK, EXERCISE I-VI
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EXTRACTS FROM THE WORKS OF DR. HORNECK: Exercise I-VI CONTAINING I. EXTRACTS
FROM THE HAPPY ASCETIC, OR BEST EXERCISE. II. A LETTER CONCERNING THE LIVES OF
THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS. THE HAPPY ASCETIC; OR, THE BEST EXERCISE: TOGETHER
WITH PRAYERS SUITABLE TO.EACH EXERCISE: BY ANTHONY HORNECK, D. D.


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  CHAPTER 92: VOL 16 - 1TI_4:7. EXERCISE THYSELF UNTO GODLINESS.
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1 Timothy 4:7. Exercise thyself unto Godliness. THIS chapter is partly
prophetical, partly doctrinal; —partly foretelling what would come to pass in
the last days; partly intimating what work a man, who looks for another life,
has. to do, while he sojourns on this side of heaven. In the prophetic part, ST.
PAUL acquaints TIMOTHY with the strange degeneracy and corruption of religion,
which would ensue in afterages;—how men, under a show of strictness, would
prohibit what GOD had, like an indulgent Father, permitted to his creatures;
under pretence of doing more than GOD has commanded, would set up the kingdom of
the Devil; and, by crying out against eating flesh, and marriage, would discover
to the world, that they are more in love with their idle fancies and inventions,
than with the will of GOD, blessed for evermore. Whoever they be at whom he
aims, they are not men that, by way of mortification, and with a pious intent to
subdue their lusts, voluntarily abstain from either; for such spiritual
exercises many good men, and excellent servants of GOD, did always use. That
DANIEL and his companions,—ST.MATTHEW, and ST.JAMES, abstained altogether from
fish and flesh, and all things that had life, is asserted by JOSEPHUS, CLEMENS
ALEXANDRINUS, and ST. AUSTIN; and ecclesiastical history speaks of ALCIBIADES,
OLYMPIAS, and divers others, who lived altogether upon herbs and fruits of the
earth. Some did this, because they thought it more wholesome; and others,
because they looked upon it as a means to promote seriousness and heavenly
mindedness; which makes ST. CHRYSOSTOM commend those that could do so. But these
Christians, who were thus temperate, neither condemned those that eat flesh, nor
prescribed these rules as necessary to others; much less had they any abhorrency
from flesh, or from marriage, as things unlawful. Those whom the Apostle
reproves here, were men who both commanded such abstinence, and declared that
eating flesh, and marrying, were sinful, and proceeded from the Devil. In the
doctrinal part, which begins at the sixth verse, he considers TIMOTHY as a
Christian and a Bishop, and accordingly prescribes to him rules to be observed
by him in that double capacity. The Church in those days was already infested by
ravenous wolves, men whom the Devil sent into the world to appose the design of
Christianity, and to keep deluded mortals in sin and error. These false
prophets, taught by a more cunning master, invented various ways to undermine
the new proselytes of Christianity. Sometimes they boasted of their learning and
wisdom, and sought to render the wisdom of the Cross contemptible. Sometimes
they made the world believe, that they knew great mysteries, of which the true
Apostles were ignorant; and, particularly, the disciples of SIMON MAGUS would
tell strange stories of the cause of good and evil, of the battle of angels, and
of the creation of the world, which the Apostle (ver. 7) calls " profane and old
wives' fables; " and therefore he does charge TIMOTHY to despise them, and to
mind nobler things, such as tended to the advancement of God's glory, the
Church's good, and his own joy in the day of our Loin JESUS, whereof spiritual
Exercises, in the ways of Godliness, are chief: " Therefore," says he, L`
exercise thyself rather unto Godliness." Before I enter upon any particulars of
this exercise, 1 must endeavor to convince my Reader, that this exhortation
concerns all Christians, and not Ministers only. True, it is addressed to
TIMOTHY, a `Clergyman,but not. as a. Bishop, but as a Christian; and the Apostle
charges this duty upon him, not because he was an Evangelist, but because he had
embraced the Christian faith, and had been baptized in the name of the LORD)
JESUS. This is evident from hence, because what is here spoken to TIMOTHY, is,
in other places of Scripture, enjoined on Christians in general. See Php_4:8; 2
Peter 1:5, S; 2 Peter 3:11; Colds. 3:1215, &c. Ephesians 6:14; Ephesians 6:18,
&c. and it would be as good a plea, that contentedness, striving against sin,
loving Go n, reading the Holy Scriptures, meekness, patience, and a lively hope,
are not virtues belonging to laymen, because they are recommended to TIMOTHY in
these two Epistles, as to fancy that this text imports no universal obligation.
O Sirs, consider, whether these excuses will be accepted in the last day! If
holiness be a Minister's duty only, what makes you repent on your deathbeds,
that you have not minded it more What makes you send for us to clothe you with
the garments of righteousness, when your souls are going to another world What
made the Apostles write so many Epistles to their hearers And what made them
fill their Epistles with so many pathetical exhortations Nay, what do you come
to church for Is it only to hear us talk Is it only to divert yourselves' Is it
only to pass away the time Is it not to learn your work Is it not to know the
task which Got. requires at yor hands Is it not to be acquainted with the will
of God, that you may do it And if so, you bear witness against yourselves; you
condemn yourselves; you acknowledge that this Exercise is your duty as much as
ours. There is never a sinner of you all, that shall dare to plead, in the great
day, that ye were not persons concerned in this work, or that it was beyond your
sphere. GOD will bear witness, and the Angels will bear witness, and the
Ministers of the Gospel will bear witness, and your own conscience will bear
witness, nay, the Devils themselves will bear witness, that you were told,
assured, and convinced, that it was to you that the message of grace and pardon
was sent, as well as to us, and that you lay under the same obligation to
holiness that we do. Who of you desires not to be saved has any of you a mind to
be damned Dares any of you refuse the everlasting mercy of Gov Do not you all
declare, that you would fain inherit the kingdom which fades not away, But show
us one Scripture, one place in the Bible, one tittle in the word of GOD, that
favors your plea, or allows you a different way to eternal happiness, than is
appointed to the Preachers of the Gospel. And if GOD be resolved that all who
enter into his joy shall improve their talents, and walk in the same way, all
these pretences must vanish into smoke, and can be nothing else but snares of
the Devil, to catch your souls, and to deprive them of that blessing which would
make them equal to Angels, and, what is more, partakers of the divine nature. So
then, what the Apostle says here to TIMOTHY, he says unto all, " Exercise
thyself unto Godliness." And I must entreat you to look upon this exhortation,
as spoken to every one of you in particular; and to reflect on the importance of
it, with as much seriousness as if ST. PAUL did at this time, from the mansions
of glory, by a new commission from almighty GOD, call every one by your names, "
You THOMAS, JOHN, DANIEL, PETER, ANNE, ELIZABETH, MARY, Exercise thyself unto
Godliness." Fancy that you see the glorious Apostle standing in the clouds of
heaven, and bespeaking you from the mouth of Him, who is resolved that not every
one who says to him, LORD, LORD, but those who do his will, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Fancy you hear him cry in your ears, " O mortal men, whom GOD
so loved, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end that all that believe
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life;—whom the SON of GOD is
willing to deliver from sin and slavery, and the bondage of the Devil;—for whom
he suffered agonies, wounds, torments, shame, reproaches, and an ignominious
death, to purchase endless glory for you;—every wound of JESUS calls for this
Exercise; every tear he shed is to melt you into a holy willingness to it; his
love challenges it; the pains he took for you require it; you cannot own him for
your Redeemer without it; he cannot save you from your sins without it; if his
love be not worth this Exercise, it is worth nothing. O deluded sinners, will
you slight this mercy Will you trample on the blood of CHRIST, undervalue his
agonies, or fancy that they deserve no such Exercise O let not this love be your
ruin,; let not this mercy be your damnation; let not this condescension be a
witness against you! You know not what you refuse, when you refuse this
Exercise. As. you love yourselves; as you tender your eternal welfare; as you
would not be counted haters of GOD, despisers of his love, and apostates from
all. sense of gratitude; as you look for favor in the last day;, as you, hope to
see the face of GOD in glory; as you desire to find mercy of the LAMB, that
takes away the sins of the world;—by all that is holy and serious, by the tears
of GOD'S Ministers, and, what is dearer to you, your own interest; and by all
the promises and threatenings of the Gospel; I entreat you, Exercise yourselves
unto Godliness." Could you but look` into heaven, and behold the vast armies of
blessed souls in the celestial choir, there you would find none but such as did
formerly, when on earth, apply themselves to this spiritual Exercise. That is
the place of recompense he that was a stranger to these Exercises on earth can
expect no reward in those regions.' There Godliness appears in its beauty and
glory:—as you expect the white robe, the royal garb, which the saints of that
place do wear; as you hope for ABRAHAM'S bosom, where now the once Godly LAZARUS
lies; O delay not, neglect not, to " exercise yourselves unto Godliness:" and
what these Exercises are, is the next thing I am to treat of.


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  CHAPTER 93: VOL 16 - THE DAILYAND CONSTANT EXERCISES OF GODLINESS ARE THESE:
========================================================================

THE DAILYAND CONSTANT EXERCISES OF GODLINESS ARE THESE


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 94: VOL 16 - THE FIRST EXERCISE.
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THE FIRST EXERCISE. Pray always. THIS Exercise is enjoined by Him, who "came to
call sinners to repentance." See Luke 18:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians
6:18. By praying always, I mean, that we should bring ourselves to that habit of
praying, to that disposition and temper, which shall put_ us upon praying
wherever we are,' whatever company we are in, and whatever we are doing, though
not with our lips, yet in our lives and understandings. This is an Exercise of
so much consequence, that this praying frame is one of the chief pillars and
supporters of a Christian life. To this purpose ST. EPHREM gives this excellent
rule, " Whether you work, or are going to he down; whether you stand still, or
are on a journey; whether you eat, or drink; whether you are going to sleep, or
are waking; take heed that you do not forget to pray: whether you are at church,
or at home, or in the field; whether you are at a feast, or otherwise engaged;
still pray, and converse with GOD." These are the prayers which TERTULLIAN calls
" prayers without a retinue of words; "fiery desires of the heart, and wishes of
importunate supplication, which are shot up to heaven, wound a great way off,
fly with great swiftness, keep the enemy from coming too near, and sometimes at
one stroke enervate his temptations, when he approaches;—for seeing the presence
of GOD in these ejaculations, he is struck with horror, and departs. And this
rule I earnestly entreat you to think of, and put in practice. Before any honest
attempt, or enterprise, say in thy mind,—" LORD, establish you the work of our
hands upon us; or if it may not tend to thy glory, let it not succeed according
to my desires." If thy design be honest and lawful, why should you be does to
recommend thy endeavors to the conduct of Providence Try it, and you wilt find
what comfort it will yield in the end. When you hearest the clock, strike, let
thy mind immediately mount up to heaven, and say,—" LORD, so teach us to number
our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." When you art dressing
thyself,—" Clothe my soul with salvation; and deck me with white raiment, that
the shame of my nakedness may not appear." When washing, thy hands and face,—"
Cleanse my soul by the blood of JESUS, and purify my heart from all iniquity."
When walking,—" O LORD, cause me to walk in the way of thy testimonies; and let
me not wander from thy commandments." When in company,—" O when will that joyful
day come, in which my soul shall be gathered to the innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to the spirits of just men made perfect!" When writing,—" LORD,
put thy laws in. my heart, and write them upon my mind." When reading," O make,
me to understand the way of thy precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous
works." When rising,—" O let me awake unto righteousness, and arise from the
dead, that CHRIST may give me light." When lying, down,—" O cause me to he down
in the green pastures of thy mercy; and lead me beside the still waters of thy
comforts." When kindling a fire,—" O shed abroad thy love in my heart; and raise
such flames within, as may burn up all my dross." When lighting a candle,—" O
give me the spirit of wisdom and understanding; and enlighten mine eyes, that I
may see what is the hope of my calling:" When eating or drinking,—" O let it be
my meat and drink to do thy will; feed me with the bread which came down from
heaven; and give me to drink of that water, whereof whoever drinks, shall never
thirst again." When riding out,—" O you that ridest upon the wings of the wind,
show thyself; conquer my corruptions; and trample all my sins under thy feet."
When taking the air,—" Come, HOLY SPIRIT, blow upon my garden, that the spices
may flow out; make my mind calm, serene, and quiet; breathe upon me, and revive
me with the light of thy countenance." When visiting a sick neighbor,—" O do you
make all his bed in his sickness; give me grace to speak a word in season to
him; and cause all thy goodness to pass before him." When beholding trees, and
plants, and flowers,—" LORD, how wonderful are all thy works! in wisdom Nast you
made them all; the earth is full of thy riches. O make me as a tree planted by
the rivers of water, which may bring forth its fruit in due season." When going
to speak to a great man,—" Overawe me with thy presence, LORD; that I may not
comply with any evil, but may fear thee more than men." When going by water,—" O
satisfy my soul with the fatness of thy house; and make me to drink of the river
of thy pleasures." When buying or selling,—" LORD, enable me to keep a
conscience void of offence towards GOD and towards man." When standing in thy
shop,—" How amiable are thy tabernacles, LORD of Hosts! O let me ever love the
habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwells." When hearing
thy neighbor curse or swear,—" O LORD, lay not this sin to his charge: Father,
forgive him, for he knows not what he doth." When hearing any good of thy friend
or acquaintance," O let him grow in grace, and go on from virtue to virtue; and
make him fruitful in every good word and work." When seeing any one that is
blind, or lame, or dumbs-" O LORD, make these distressed creatures amends for
these defects; make the eye of their faith quicker, their inward man stronger,
and their hope more lively; and visit them more powerfully with thy salvation."
When looking upon a dunghill,-" O make me to know myself, and discover to me my
false, deceitful heart, and the odiousness and loathfulness of my sins, that I
may hate them with a perfect hatred." When beholding the sun,—" O you Sun of
Righteousness, rise upon me with healing under thy wings, and warm my soul with
thy radiant beams, that I may love thee better than father and mother, better
than all that is dear to me here below." When looking upon a house,—" O my GOD,
make me to be in love with that city which has foundations, whose builder and
maker is GOD. O when shall this earthly house of my tabernacle be dissolved, and
I received into that building of GOD, the house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens." When seeing other men laugh at any sin,—" LORD, let rivers of
tears run down my eyes, because men keep not thy law; O give me such tenderness
of heart, that I may be concerned at other men's sins, as well as mine own."
When beholding any children,—" O Lon D, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
do you prepare praises unto thyself; let these children grow up as the lilies,
and spread their branches as the cedars of Lebanon." When going to visit a
friend,—" LORD, make him thy friend; and that he may be so, encourage and assist
him to do/whatsoever you corirmandest him." When reproved,—" LORD, let this
reproof be as an excellent oil to me give me grace to take it in good part; let
my soul thrive by it; let it heal my wounds; and make me thankful for this
opportunity." When receiving any injury, or ill language,—" O JESUS, give me
grace to follow thy example, and to tread in thy steps; who, being reviled,
didst not revile again, and when you was threatened, sufferedst it, committing
thyself to him that judges righteously." When seeing it snow,—" Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." When
seeing it rain,—" O visit me with the former and latter rain of thy favor; and
make my heart rich with thy showers, that I may bring forth the fruits of the
SPIRIT." When despised for righteousness' sake,—" O let inc esteem the reproach
of CHRIST greater riches than all the treasures of the world." When it
thundereth,—" O Lo RD, the power of thy thunder who can understand! Let the
world take notice of the voice of GOD, and the inhabitants of the earth learn
righteousness." Sirs, if ever you would learn to converse with GOD, or to have
your conversation in heaven; if ever you would get a foretaste of the joys to
come; if ever you would make religion your business; if ever you would conquer
the lusts of the flesh; if ever you would extinguish vain and evil thoughts; if
ever you would arrive at a sound mind, and that inward and spiritual worship of
GOD, without which CHRIST says none can please him; if ever you would learn to
conquer temptations; if ever you would have your souls become strong and
vigorous in the ways of GOD;—this is the way, even this " Praying without
ceasing." This is the best antidote against sin, the best medicine to cure all
spiritual diseases: and it does not hinder you in the works of your calling, but
rather furthers and sanctifies them. THE PRAYER. O GOD, gracious and merciful,
who givest power to the weak, and strength to the feeble; who knows the
backwardness of my heart, and the unwillingness of my soul to engage in
spiritual duties; who understand all my wants, and art acquainted with all my
weaknesses; behold how does my soul is to have her conversation in heaven, and
what excuses my flesh makes to hinder my mind from frequent addresses to thy
mercyseat. I entreat thee to apply thy healing hand to my sickly soul, and to
fill it with spiritual desires. O give me a praying spirit, and let my soul
follow hard after thee! Teach me to make a spiritual use of every thing, and
instruct me to see the Creator in the creature. LORD, free my spirit from the
bondage of the flesh, that it may mount up cheerfully to thy throne. Direct my
mind to look up in all my actions; and let me take notice of the operations of
thy hand in all occurrences. Let thy good SPIRIT help my infirmities, and, when
I know not what to say, suggest unto me how to fill my mouth with arguments.
Acquaint me with the art of extracting good out of every thing. O that I had
that spiritual temper, which might incline me to think of GOD, whenever I behold
the works of Creation and Providence. O let no company be so pleasing to me as
thine! Make me to embrace all opportunities of reflecting on thy perfections and
excellencies. You have both commanded and promised spiritual wisdom: O bestow
upon me that excellent gift, that I may know how to glorify thee in this world,
and attain at last that glory which you have promised to them that overcome, and
continue faithful unto death, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.


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  CHAPTER 95: VOL 16 - THE SECOND EXERCISE.
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THE SECOND EXERCISE. Every Morning, when we hive paid our homage to GOD, by
Prayer and Thanksgiving let us solemnly resolve to tie ourselves to certain
rules of living that day. THIS Exercise is recommended to us in Psalms 17:3-4;
Psalms 76:11; Psalms 57:7-8; Psalms 119:101; Psalms 119:106. To this purpose,
PLINY says of the Christians in TRAJAN'S time, that they used to bind themselves
by an oath in the morning, before they went to their business, not to sin, not
to cheat, not to lie, not to steal, not to keep any thing unjustly from their
neighbors. And this Exercise was observed, many hundred years before that time,
by DAVID. See Psal. 5:3; which our translation renders, a In the morning will I
direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up: " but the import of the original
is thus: " In the morning I do order, or dispose myself to thee, or towards
thee,’ as a man from a high tower watches and observes the motion of the enemy."
Our translation reaches DAVID'S sense well enough; but it does not so fully
express it as it might have done. He had, in the foregoing words, spoken of his
prayer in the morning; and behold what he presently subjoins to that duty: "
When I have done this, I then resolve how to order my conversation that day, and
how I may please GOD; and consider how I may best watch against those
corruptions which do most easily beset me." The truth is, that men who run
abroad abruptly, without any previous consideration of what they mean to do for
their souls that day, must needs continue strangers to that spiritual life to
which our profession obliges us; for this makes them rush into sin, as the horse
rushes into the battle, having no bridle to restrain, no curb to keep them in
order, no solemn resolutions upon their souls, to check and govern them.
Therefore, before I venture upon any worldly business, let me solemnly resolve,
in the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD, " This day I seriously intend thus and thus to
behave myself, by the assistance of ALMIGHTY GOD. I resolve, if a neighbor
should be very angry or insolent with me, to answer him with meekness and
gentleness. If I meet with success in my business, as soon as I come home, I
will enter into my chamber, and praise the great Giver of every good thing. If I
am tempted to go into company, and have reason to suspect that they will draw me
into sin, I will refuse to go, though they revile and abuse me never so much; or
if I go into any company, I will speak but little, or endeavor to divert any
vain discourse to better subjects. If my servants, or my children, do things
indecent or unlawful, I will reprove them with tenderness and compassion. If I
am asked a question, which I know not how to answer readily, without telling a
lie, I am resolved either to be silent, or to take time to consider of an
answer, that I may not be surprised into an untruth." If I resolve thus, before
I set about any of my secular affairs, I set up a kind of Remembrance Office in
my soul; and constitute a monitor in my conscience, that will put me in mind of
my obligations, and pull me back, when my appetite would push me on to sin.
Where people venture out, without putting on this armor of GOD, this shield of
faith, and this breastplate of righteousness; no wonder if they expose
themselves to the fiery darts of the Devil, and to the insolence of that roaring
lion, who walks about seeking whom he may devour. Such souls he open to his
incursions; and, having no hedge to fence them, " the boar out of the wood does
waste them, and the wild beast of the field devours them." (Psal. 80: 1a.) Such
resolutions in the morning are a wall about the soul; and the Devil cannot
easily climb it. Such resolutions show, that we do not take up religion out of
custom, but upon serious deliberation, and persuasion that it is the one thing
needful; a temper, without which God rejects our service, hides his face from
our customary devotions, and gives them no other welcome but this, " Who has
required this at your hands " Sirs, you purpose in a morning to despatch such
and such of your worldly affairs that day, why should you not purpose to do
something for GOD, or for your souls, every day How come your spiritual concerns
to deserve so little care Why must ye be slovenly and careless in this
particular Is not your soul more than your trade, and your eternal welfare more
than a livelihood "on earth Why, of all things, must your souls and your GOD be
neglected LAB AN was more concerned for his GOD than for his sheep and oxen
shall an idolater mind his idol more, than you the great GOD of heaven and earth
You complain that you cannot conquer your corruptions: How should you conquer
when you do not strive How should you strive, if you enter into no holy
purposes, to arm yourselves against the sins of the day Are corruptions blown
away with a breath; or lusts, that are deeply rooted, expelled with sighs and
wishes Did you ever know cedars fall with the touch of a hand Or did ever
children with a switch strike a sturdy oak out of its place Will your sins leave
you when you do not think of them Do you think that the Devil values your souls
as little as yourselves Or do you fancy that " the strong man " will leave his
habitation, except you come against him with swords and axes " Can you draw
Leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which you lettest down Can you
put a hook into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn Wilt you play
with him as with a bird Or wilt you bind him for thy maidens " With what face
can you confess your sins at night, when your consciences tell you, that you did
nothing to prevent them; that you left yourselves naked, and exposed to the
assault of temptations, and would take no measures to preserve you from the
infection What do you confess your sins for, but to be better And if to be
better, how is it possible you should be so, unless you guard your souls, by
such holy purposes, the next day Do you make no more than a formality of it Do
you think that GOD will be put off with shadows, and the ALMIGHTY imposed upon
with counterfeit devotion Have you lived so long under the Gospel, and learned
CHRIST no better Have you conversed with Ministers so long, and are you no
better scholars The Devil himself cannot but smile, to see how ridiculously you
go to work; to see you content yourselves with the bare confession, and take no
care to tear the pernicious weeds from your hearts. If therefore you would not
make a jest of religion; if you would not turn your duties into ridicule; for
GOD’s sake enter into protestations against your sins every morning, lest you
increase your guilt, and add sin unto sin. THE PRAYER. O YOU who dwellest in the
heavens, and yet humblest thyself to behold the ways of the children of men:—you
have been graciously pleased to reveal thy will to me, and given me rules to
walk by; rules, which if a man follow, he shall live for ever. How sweet are thy
testimonies! They enlighten the eyes, and give understanding to the simple. How
glorious is that soul in thy sight, which makes thy will a lantern to her feet,
and a light unto her paths! LORD, in these pleasant paths I desire to walk;
there is nothing like them. They end in peace. I read of those who have found it
so. Thy SPIRIT inflamed their souls. They ventured their lives to attain unto
it. O the serenity, O the calmness of mind, O the inward joy, which they found
while walking in the paths of righteousness!’Why should not I taste of this Tree
of Life, and live, as well as they! This, O LORD, I often think of, and see
great loveliness in it: But my will is weak, my resolution faint: when I
resolve, I meet with waves and billows, that overpower those resolutions. O You
whose power is infinite, open thy storehouse, and furnish me` with weapons to
defend myself against all assaults from the world and/ the Devil! O strengthen
these feeble knees: hold up these weary hands! I desire to follow thee; let thy
SPIRIT lift me up, and cause me to run. Touch my will with thy sceptre, that it
may bow to thy commands. Manifest thy power in my weakness; give me courage to
purpose, and to fulfill my' purposes. When my will would start back like a
broken bow, come in with thy salvation. Endue me with power from on high.
Through thee I shall do valiantly; through thee I shall be able to overcome all
difficulties. O leave not my soul in misery! Send from above and take me; draw
me out of many waters; send out thine arrows, and scatter my vain imaginations.
With thee I will run through a troop; by my GOD will I leap over a wall. Quicken
me, O Lord, for thy name's sake; and for thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul
out of trouble. Teach me to do thy will, for you art my Gan. Thy SPIRIT is good;
lead me into the land of uprightness, for thy mercy's sake, and for CHRIST'S
sake. Amen.


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  CHAPTER 96: VOL 16 - THE THIRD EXERCISE.
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THE THIRD EXERCISE. Every Day spend half an hour, or some such time, in thinking
of some good thing. THIS Exercise is insisted on in this chapter, (1 Timothy
4:15) and in Psal. 1:2, and Php_4:8. I mention half an hour, because it is not
easily to be conceived, how any meditation can be effectual, or do good to the
soul, if men do not think it worth bestowing so much time at least upon it. And
there is such great variety of spiritual objects, that every day we may fix upon
a theme; and, with the day, change the subject of our, contemplation. On SUNDAY,
we may let our hearts dwell on the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven, and the glory
of the world to come:Who they are, that.shall. enjoy it, and on what terms that
crown may be obtained: The transcendency of that felicity, above all that the
world can call rich, and beautiful, and glorious: How pleasant that life will
be, free from hunger and thirst, and cold and nakedness; from all possibility of
sin, and danger from death, and sorrow, and sadness; from anxiety, corruption,
and perturbation; from changes, and sickness, and weakness, and infirmities;
from fear, and storms, and tempests; from the assaults of the world, the flesh,
and the Devil: How full of love and delight it will be: how sweetly the weary
soul will rest in the bosom of everlasting mercy: How glorious a sight the New
Jerusalem, will. be How reviving a spectacle, to behold the guard royal of
angels, shining in robes of light; the noble army of,martyrs;the goodly
fellowship of patriarchs, and prophets; and what is more, CHRIST, as man,
glorified with his Father's glory, shining like the sun in his meridian lustre,
and saying to his triumphant church, " Behold, you art fair, my love; you have
ravished my heart! Who is' she that looks forth as the morning, fair as the
moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners Thy lips, O my
spouse, drop as the honeycomb;. honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the
smell of thy tongue is like the smell of Lebanon." As meditation and prayer are
never so useful, as when they shine in conjunction; so this, as well as the
following meditations, being seconded with holy aspirations, will have more
effect upon the soul. Of these aspirations I shall give some patterns. I. " O
GOD! you most sweet, you most lovely object! How little do those glorified
saints, who enjoy thee in the other world, regard our little pleasures and,
satisfactions here! O that my soul were with those spirits of men made perfect!
I see nothing in this valley of tears worth desiring. The beatitude to cpme is
that which I long for. What are the glories of this world, to that glory which
ere long s h a l l be revealed in us!, The magnificence of triumphs, the pomp'
of princes, the curiosity of palaces, the beauty of the sun, the brightness of
the moon, the glittering of the stars, the variety of flowers, the fragrancy of
herbs,—what are all these to the joys at thy right hand! One day in thy courts
is sweeter than a thousand here. There I shall behold the perfection of thy
essence, the infinity of thy nature, the immensity of thy grandeur, the eternity
of thy duration, the greatness of thy majesty, the stability of thy throne, the
vast extent of thy wisdom, the abyss of thy judgments, the sweets of thy bounty,
the tenderness of thy mercy, the severity of thy justice, the latitude of thy
power, the charms of thy beauty, and the lustre of thy glory! O what a ravishing
sight will this be! And shall I be afraid of encountering those enemies, that
would keep me from seeing these wonderful objects These enemies are already
conquered. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has already weakened their strength,
which makes my victory more easy; therefore I will not despair. O You, who have
promised that when the poor and needy want water, you the GOD of Israel wilt
hear them; hear me from thy holy heaven, and encourage my soul to force her way
through all difficulties. Give me lively apprehensions of that state. For want
of those lively apprehensions, I work not, I move not, I press not forward, I
act not like a person that is in good earnest; my endeavors are dull, and my
attempts feeble. O write that bliss upon my mind, and engrave it on my soul; let
the beams of it warm my spirit, so that no labor for heaven may seem hard, no
commandment grievous, no exercise troublesome, no industry tedious, no pains too
great, no journey too long; that I may not murmur, that I may not complain of
difficulties, that I may not be weary, that I may not faint in my mind. It is
not only a glorious garment, not only a magnificent house, not only a stately
palace, that is promised me; but glory itself. What if I must curb my passions,
and break through my sinful inclinations What if I must withdraw mine affections
from the creature, and mortify my body What if I must submit my will to thy
will, and pardon the greatest injuries What if I must give law to my tongue,
prescribe limits to my thoughts, and put a restraint upon my foolish desires Is
not the promised recompence encouragement enough O my GOD! You art my shield and
exceeding great reward; and shall I be afraid to see thee Shall I tremble at the
work you settest me Will not thy wages be infinitely beyond my labor How short
will be my task, and how long my rest! How few will be the days I am to work in,
and bow. durable my repose! O shine powerfully upon my soul, that I may be
insatiable in my desires, and long to see thee, who art light itself, and in thy
light may see light, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen." II. O most. happy,
most blessed, and most glorious GOD! How can I reflect on the Rest of this day,
without summoning my thoughts to survey the nobler Rest, whereof this present is
but an, emblem! I have gone this day with the multitude to the house of GOD; but
what, is this to the company I shall ere long meet in heaven, if I imitate them
here Happy society! where is no chaff among the corn, no tares among the wheat,
no thistles among the roses! Where all are children of "Gon, all are kings, all
are saints, all are full of grace and glory, all are wise, all courteous, all
affable, all adorned with celestial qualities! If I take such pleasure in the
conversation of a wise man here, what delight shall I take in the company of the
holiest souls, that want nothing, but abound in knowledge, in wisdom, and in
sanctity! How do I admire men of great abilities here! In what admiration then
will my soul be, when it shall converse with persons decked with the light of
GOD’s glory; who know all things without reading, understand the greatest
mysteries without studying, and comprehend the abstrusest things without labor
whose memory never decays, who know without error, apprehend without doubting,
understand with assurance, and perceive with the greatest evidence; who can
resolve all difficulties, answer all questions, and think and, speak nothing but
truth; whose minds know no darkness, whose understandings are free from clouds,
and whose knowledge is eternal! How can they but know the deep things of Goss,
when Goss is the glass in which they behold all mysteries! O my Gott, make me in
love with that place, where I shall love thee perfectly, where I shall be
eternally united to thee, where I cannot but love thee, cannot but embrace thee,
and cannot but be ravished with thee for ever! If they who, running in a race,
strive for the mastery, are temperate in all things, shall not I be so If they
mortify themselves to gain a corruptible crown, shall not I do so to gain an
incorruptible one What pains do ungodly sinners take to get to hell, and shall
not I be at some to get to heaven O LoRD, let it never be said of me, that I
valued thy heaven less than other men do the Devil's kingdom! You offerest me
the honor of reigning with thee for ever; and, in order thereunto, requirest
nothing of me, but to reign over myself on this side of heaven! You biddest me
rule my lusts, and shall I indulge them You biddest me curb my vain desires, and
shall I cherish them in my bosom You biddest me triumph over my flesh, and shall
I set it on the throne You biddest me subdue my worldly inclinations, and shall
I give them entertainment How great are the glories you intendest me! And shall
I deprive myself of them, out of love to slavery and bondage O give me courage
to command myself! My Lout), teach me so to rule my outward and inward man, that
I may reign at last with thee for ever, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen." On
MONDAY, we may reflect on the Last Judgment How the LORD JESUS, notwithstanding
the seeming delay, shall be ere long revealed from heaven, with his mighty
angels, in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not GOD, and obey
not the Gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST! IIow the King of heaven will then sit
upon the throne of his glory, and before him will be gathered all nations, and
how he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from
the goats; how he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the
left; and say to them on his right hand, " Come ye blessed Of my Father, inherit
the Kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world; " but to them on
the left, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
Devil and his Angels:" How different men's apprehensions of GOD’s mercy and
justice will be then, from what they are now: What amazement the careless world
will be in then; how those men that spend their days in jollity, and brutish
pleasures now, will then be forced into despair, and be ready to tear
themselves, and call to rocks and mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the LAMB: How all
things then will look with another face: How the humble and self denying
Christian, that is now the off scouring of the world, will then be exalted above
all heavens, and seated on the same throne with the SON OF GOD; and how all
those mighty nothings, that laugh now at the religious soul, will tremble in
that day, like an aspenleaf; and wish that they had considered the things which
belonged to their everlasting peace. And this meditation may be watered with
such aspirations as follow. I. " Almighty Judge of the world, before whom all
mankind must ere long appear; righteous art you in all thy ways, and holy in all
thy works. If the righteous shall scarcely be saved, whereshall I, a poor
sinner, appear I who have so long and so frequently neglected my duty, delayed
my repentance, undervalued thy mercies, despised thy patience, and abused the
riches of thy grace! O Lord! how watchful should I be over myself, if the
terrors of the great day of account appeared to me in lively characters! O
dreadful day, when I, a poor wretch, must stand before thy tribunal, and see
myself surrounded with legions of Angels, all /expecting to hear what my
sentence will be! This day I have frequently in my mouth; but O that my soul
were more solemnly affected with the consideration of it! I should not then lead
so easy and so soft a life; I should then spend more time in weeping and
praying; I should then be afraid of defiling my soul with the least spot of sin.
LORD JESUS! look upon me, and let me feel thy power in my soul. Come, LORD)!
represent that day to my mind in all its terrors and circumstances, that I may
make haste to enter into thy rest. The Judge is at the door; let me bring
presents to Him that ought to be feared; and since no gift is so pleasing to
thee, as a heart entirely devoted to thy service, O persuade me, O assist me, to
mind the one thing necessary, and to choose the better part, which may never be
taken away from me, for thy name's sake, for thy mercy's sake, and for thy
merit's sake. Amen." II. " O You omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent Being,
who have appointed a day wherein you wilt judge the secrets of men's hearts, and
all their words, and actions, and desires, by thy Gospel: I believe that this
day will come,—a day when pure hearts will be esteemed more than eloquent
speeches, and a good conscience will go farther than purses of gold. You, LORD,
givest me frequent warnings of the approaches of this day. My conscience puts me
in mind of it. The sicknesses and calamities, which you sendest upon me, tell me
of it. O my Go), who art not tired with the prayers of thy servants, nor
displeased with the importunities of thy children; it is the desire of my soul
to be enlivened and awakened into such a sense of this approaching day, that
today, while I hear thy voice, I may not harden my heart. I have delayed my
serious care of happiness too long! O that mine eyes were fountains of tears, to
weep for this neglect! I am sensible I must not trifle any longer. I must not
defer a concern of such importance to another day. O my Gott, let me admire thy
patience, that I have lived unto this hour; and accept of my sacrifice of the
remainder of my days, which I humbly consecrate to thee, with faith and love in
CiInisT JESUS. O let this future judgment overawe my careless soul, when I
speak, when I think, when I follow my lawful calling, when I am in company, when
I am alone, when I walk, when I sit, when I stand; and let me ever fear that
Judge who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell, so that both my soul
and body may be preserved from damnation, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen."
On TUESDAY, we may take GOD's various Mercies and Providences into serious
consideration:—What preservations, what deliverances, we have met with, what
care GOD has taken of us from time to time: How he has been with us, when we
have gone through the water, and when we have passed through the fire, and has
commanded the flames not to kindle upon us: How ready he has been to assist us
in the fiery furnace: How miraculously he has appeared in our rescue: When the
figtree has not blossomed, when there has been no fruit in the vine, when the
"labor of the olive has ailed, and when all creaturecomforts have ceased, how
often he has been our strength, our portion, our refuge, and our hidingplace:
How beneficial such a. providence has been to us; what good we have got by such
an, affliction; how excellent the designs of GOD are in the troubles he sends
upon us; how much safer an afflicted condition is, than a prosperous one: How
kind he has been, in causing us to be born in a Christian country, and educated
in a religion free from gross errors: what a mercy his word, his Gospel, and all
his laws and revelations are: What assistances, what comforts, what checks of
conscience, what motions of GOD’s SPIRIT we have found; and how GOD has done
more for us than we have been able to think, or to express. Even this
speculation will turn to excellent nourishment, if joined with such ejaculations
as these. I. "O LORD! how wonderful are all thy works; in wisdom have you made
them/all; the earth is full of thy riches! What a monument am I of thy mercy!
How kind have you been to this miserable creature! How am I bound to magnify thy
goodness! How: excellent, how vasty how diffusive is it! It is not confined to a
day, nor restrained to a: place, nor limited. to an hour! From my cradle unto
this moment I have been preserved by Thee; and:tasted how gracious you art.’ •
You have carried. me on thy wings, as the eagle does her young. Through the
various stages of my life, what miracles of Providence have mine eyes beheld!
How has thy Providence been at work for me, while I have been asleep, while I
have been thinking, and contriving something’ else,—even how to derogate from
thy glory! Truly, LORD! thy mercy and patience ought to be my song in the house
of my pilgrimage! This I have reason to boast of, to speak of, to meditate of,
day and night; by that I subsist, by that I am supported, fed, maintained, and
preserved from the hands of the Devil. O let thy mercy melt my heart! O let
mercy prevail with me to give up myself to thee! Let mercy and goodness
constrain me to love thee! Give me that generous temper, that noble spirit, that
thy goodness may do more with me than threatenings, and hell, and everlasting
torments. Let thy love oblige me to run in the way of thy commandments. Let
these be greater motives with me to do thy will, than all the terrors of the
burning lake. O let thy love be of such force in my soul, that I may not be able
to resist its motions, but, by the strength of it, may hope, believe, endure,
deny myself, and love and obey thee, to the end of my days, through JESUS CHRIST
our LORD. Amen.'. II. " Great Governor and Disposer of the world, you have
promised, to them that love thee, so to order all things, that they shall all
conspire to the good which you lust intended, and dost intend for me, by the
various dispensations which mine eyes have seen. The various spiritual and
temporal blessings that have been conferred upon me, what have they been, but
motives to be enamoured with the Best of Beings. You knows, that if I depart
from thee, or love any thing better than thee, I run away from mine own
happiness; and therefore so many tokens and expressions of thy love are sent to
me, to unite my heart to thee, to preserve me in thy fear, and to uphold my
goings in thy paths. O wise, O gracious, O bountiful Master, kinder to me than I
am to myself, let me find the good you designest for me in thy numberless
blessings; let my heart grow stronger under thy favors, warmer in thy sunshine,
and more fervent under these beams. The very afflictions you sendest me are
intended for my good. I have found it, I have seen it, I have known it by
experience. I have learned by afflictions that repentance, humility, submission,
and fear of sinning, which I should never have learned by prosperity. When I
have thought that great wrong was done me by the contempt, reproach, and
trouble, which others have thrown upon me, you have let me see, that this was to
make me reflect on the affronts and indignities which I have put upon thee, my
best friend. O let me never mistrust thy Providence. Whatever befalls me, let me
believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living, and
let me not be disappointed of my hope, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen." On
WEDNESDAY we may take a view of our Death, and the hour of our departure out of
this world:—How certain death is; how frail our lives; how soon this frame may
be dissolved; how easy a, thing dispatches us: How the approaches of death have
made the stoutest sinner tremble; how dreadful it will be to those, who have set
their hearts upon the riches and pleasures of this world; and how wise a thing
it is to prepare for it, before the evil days come: How joyful it will be, if it
find us prepared for the stroke, and fitted for that life, into which we must
enter when we quit this: How welcome death is to a holy soul; and how cheerfully
a pious man can say; "LORD, now, lettest you thy servant depart in peace:" How
upon our death there depends eternity: How foolish it is to slight grace and
mercy, till death forces us to wish for them: How death will mar our beauty,
deface our glory, and lay all our grandeur in the dust: How death is the
birthday of a sincere believer, brings him into a new world, a world of joys,
and endless satisfactions,—and is to, him an entrance into Paradise, and a door
into the garden of Eden, where no good shall be absent, and no evil present. And
even these thoughts will be more effectual, if the pious desires, which follow,
be added. I. " O You, in whose hand is the power of life and death, who art
immortal, invisible, and blessed for evermore I Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, you art God: from
everlasting to everlasting you art HE. I am a frail, dying creature; and though
I carry an immortal soul about me, yet the vessel, in which that glorious guest.
abides, will soon decay, and turn to dust; and how soon, I know not. I admire
thy wisdom in concealing the day and hour of my death from me; I am sensible
that it is done to hasten my repentance, to keep me from adding sin to sin, to
restrain me from the vanities of this world, to make me think of a better, and
to secure that happy life which shall be after death! And O that. my death might
be ever before me! How great are the things that depend upon it!—two great
eternities, whereof one of them will certainly fall to my share! O let my death
be my daily meditation; that I may prevent my everlasting death! What a
miserable creature should I be, if my soul should leave this body, to go into a
more dismal prison, from whence there is no returning! O make me wise; O let me
understand what preparation is necessary for that hour; teach me to undervalue
the world, and to mind the things which are above, that when I come to die, I
may die with joy, and cheerfully resign my soul into the hands of my Creator.
Let lust, and pride, and anger, die in me, before I die; that they may not
endanger my soul after death. Let me converse with death more; that I may die to
sin more, and live more to Him that died for me. Let the thoughts of death
mortify in me whatever is offensive to thy holiness. In all my actions, let me
remember my latter end; that my death may be my gain, and my departure out of
this world an entrance into a better, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen." II.
" O GOD, to whom belong the issues of life and death! Naked came I from my
mother's womb, naked shall I return thither. What is my life but a vapour, which
appears for a while, and then vanishes away! What should make me enamored with
this life At the best, it is a warfare; within are tumults, without are
fightings. I am in a continual state of war here with temptations to
covetousness, passion, pride, ambition, or carnal lusts; with allurements of the
world; or with suggestions of the Devil: when one sin is beaten away, another
rises; the discontents and vexations, the troubles and the disappointments,
which I meet with, are innumerable. And can I delight to dwell in such a valley
of tears, surrounded with so many snares, encompassed with so many dangers
Should not this make me desirous to be gone O my GOD, make me willing to leave
this world! Take away from me the fear of death. Why should I fear, when my
great. Master has overcome this King of Terrors I will follow my REDEEMER; I
will conform to his example I will tread in his steps; this is my resolution,
this the firm purpose of my soul! And why should I doubt of his assisting me!
Why should not I be confident, that my death will be a passage from mortality to
immortality, from corruption to incorruption, from trouble and misery to rest
and tranquility Death is the way to the kingdom of heaven. I cannot inherit it,
except I die. Do I long for that kingdom, and shall I be afraid of the way that
leads to it I must die. O Jas us! let me die contentedly. Let death be my
choice. Let me embrace it in preference to this miserable life, that after death
I may live with thee for ever. Amen." On FRIDAY, we may cast our eyes upon the
Passion and Death of CHRIST:—How he was mocked, derided, crowned with thorns,
and crucified, to purchase an eternal redemption for us: What a wonderful love
it was to suffer all this for enemies, that they might be reconciled to. Go]):
What a dreadful spectacle it was, to see infinite, majesty humbled, infinite
beauty defaced, infinite happiness, tormented, and eternity dying, and dropping
into the grave: What patience, what meekness, what submission, what gentleness
he expressed under all those injuries, in’ order to show us an example, and to
oblige us to follow his steps! How heavy the burden of our sins was, that could
make the SON OF GOD cry out, " My GOD, My GOD, why host you forsaken me:" What a
mighty motive his love is, to love him fervently; and how inexcusable that man
makes himself, who believes this love, and yet will not be persuaded by it to
obey and conform to CHRIST’s will: How mysterious this love is, that the sinner
should. transgress, and the righteous be punished for him; that the innocent
should suffer for the guilty, the judge for the malefactor, the master for the
servant, GOD for man: What ingratitude it must be, to trample on the blood of
CHRIST, or put hint to open shame again, or to make light of salvation, when GOD
has purchased it at so dear a rate: How by his death we live, by his stripes we
are healed, by his wounds we are cured, by his reproaches we are advanced to
glory, and by his being made a curse for us, we escape the curse of the Law How
we have all the reason in the world to count all things dross and dung in
comparison of Him; to delight in him, to love him, to prefer him before the
world, and to follow the LAMB, whithersoever he goes. Who can reflect on all
this, and not think himself obliged to address the Son OF GOD in such pious
thoughts as these. I. " Great SAVIOR of the world, who wast wounded for my
transgressions, and bruised for my sins! You art that immaculate LAMB, who for
sinners, enemies, and condemned creatures, gayest thy back to the smiter, and
sufferedst thyself to be beaten, crowned with thorns, mocked, derided, and
inhumanly abused;—a love fitter to be admired in silence, than praised with
imperfect expressions! How freely didst you part with thy blood, to save my
life, and to procure my safety! Never was blood spilt upon such an account or if
there were, never was such precious blood spilt as thine was, blood which drives
away Devils, invites Angels, cleanses souls, purifies the tabernacle, washes the
whole world, and opens the gate of heaven! Who can be so irreligious as not to
be pricked at the heart with the thoughts of thy passion Who can be so arrogant,
or proud, as not to be humbled with the sight O let thy cross have such an
effect upon me, that I may crucify my flesh with all its lusts and passions! Let
thy love to thine enemies prevail with me to do good to them that hate me. Let
thy patience under reproaches oblige me to be silent under calumnies. Let thy
love to my soul wound my heart, that I may long for thee, breathe after thee, as
my greatest comfort, think of nothing so much as of thee, value nothing so much
as thee, and delight in nothing so much as in thee; for you have done for me
beyond expectation, beyond imagination, more than father and mother ever did,
more than my dearest friends ever did, more than mortal man can do. O chain my
heart to thine, and let nothing separate me from thy love; but be you mine, and
let me be thine, and dwell with thee for ever. Amen." II. " O JESUS! who have
led captivity captive, spoiled principalities and powers, made a show of them
openly, and triumphed over them; how powerful; was thy death, how victorious thy
cross, how potent were thy agonies, how effectual thy sufferings! Thy cross is
my conquest. At that Devils tremble; and they who are not afraid of splendid
palaces, are afraid of the tree on which thy sacred body was stretched out. How
shall sin reign any longer in my body, after such compassion Shall not I blush,
after such mercy, to offend that friend who died for me Shall I reward evil for
good, or dare to act against thee any more, who host conquered my greatest
enemies for me They would have swallowed me up quick; but you tamest to my
rescue, and wouldest not let me perish by their fury. I can plead no more that
sin, the Devils or the world, are not conquerable, for thou. halt made them so.
They have lost their power, and a poor, Christian can make even Devils flee
away. O let the world be for ever crucified to me, and me unto the world. Let me
not be afraid of affliction, when my Lord and Master has endured so much for me.
I hope to share in the glories of thy crown; O let me not be ashamed to bear thy
cross. O' blessed JESUS who art a guide: to the blind, a way to the erring soul,
a staff to the lame, a comforter to the poor, a harbor to the tossed with
tempests, a counsellor to the perplexed, wisdom to the foolish, the glory of
Martyrs, the joy of Angels, the foundation of the Church, the physician of the
sick, meat to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked;—be you
all this to me; let thy cross supply all my wants, and in. this. let me glory
and rejoice day and night; that being crucified with thee here, I may be
glorified with thee hereafter. Amen." Such Exercises as these keep the soul
awake; and thus roused, it cannot be surprised into a lethargy. The foolish
virgins (Matthew 25:1-46 :) neglected these meditations, and that made them
slumber and sleep. Such daily meditations keep the soul in readiness to obey her
great Master's call, in case he should summon her to judgment. They feed and
strengthen her, as much as meat and drink do the body. Christians, is your
Reason a Talent, or not If it be not, then it is no gift of GOD; if no gift of
GOD, why do you thank him, why do you praise him for it If it be, why should not
you give GOD his own again with usury If it be a talent, must not you give an
account of it in the last day Are you capable of thinking of such things as
these; and will not your LORD ask you, whether you have made that use of your
reason which he intended it for Shall you give an account of your riches, and
honor, and time, and opportunities, and liberty, and give no account of your
reason Will it serve your turn, do you. think, to say, that you have employed it
about the world Is the world a fit object to engross so noble a faculty Shall
the meanest thing, which is no more than dross and dung in the sight of GOD,
employ that power which is capable of fixing upon the noblest Being Would you
have the ALMIGHTY SO unwise, or weak, or improvident, as not to demand of you an
account of his goods,—what you have done with them, whether you have traded with
them, and whether you have been active in your Master's business' Your reason
was given you to trade with for heaven; it was given you to help you to steer
your vessel steadily through the boisterous sea of the; world; and will you
make, no other use of it, but to think how your lusts may be gratified, how your
carnal ease may be advanced, and how you may live in mirth and jollity You
complain of ignorance. How should you increase in knowledge, if you will not
meditate How should your understanding be enlightened, if you will not make use
of this candle' How can you but sit in darkness, if you refuse this torch of
heaven By this GOD would teach you, by this the would instruct you, by this he
would communicate himself to you; but if you will not, whose fault is it Whom
can you blame How inexcusable do you make yourselves This would drive away the
mists and clouds, that dwell upon your reason: but if you love darkness better
than light, no marvel if your deeds be evil. It is with your souls in this case,
as it is with your bodies, shut your eyes, and you cannot see; so here, keep out
such meditations as these, and you will not perceive the things of GOD. Never
complain of want of fervency for the future, while you are does to let in such
meditations into your minds. Fervency does not come from nothing; it must have
some root, some foundation, some’ fuel, some action to give it life and being:
and meditation is this root, and this foundation: This is it that must warm you:
this is it that must fill your souls with hallowed flames. Keep out this, and
you keep out the sun; shut the window against these beams, and you will freeze,
and shake with cold. This must make the ways' of GOD easy to you: this must make
them pleasant, sweet, and amiable: this gives them charms; or rather discovers
them to you: this strews the way with pearls, which make the soul enamored with
it; and thus it flies to heaven. THE PRAYER. O You, whose wisdom cannot by
searching be found out, who have made me a rational creature, and given me power
to think of all thy wondrous works: what excellent objects dost you set before
me, objects to delight and edify my soul! O that my ways were directed to keep
thy statutes! O that my soul might ever dwell beside those still waters! O teach
me the art of meditation. Give me a large and apprehensive mind. Awaken my
slumbering soul. Encourage it to fix upon adequate objects. My soul is a spirit:
O let it delight in things agreeable to its nature. Since my mind must be busy
about something, let it be employed in things that make for its everlasting
peace. O how fickle are my thoughts, and how inconstant my contemplations! How
soon, and how easily, is my mind drawn away from spiritual things! To thee I
flee; O hide me, save me! ’Let my treasure be in heaven, that my heart may be
there also. O spiritualize my affections, that they may delight to be where you
art. Let spiritual objects become amiable and charming in my eyes. Did I love
them, I should think of ahem: were they dear and precious to me, how could I
forbear contemplating them O let their beauty appear to me! Take away the veil
from my face, which hinders me from seeing Him that is altogether lovely.
Incline mine heart to thy testimonies. Anoint mine eyes with eye salve, that I
may see greater loveliness in things that are not seen, than in those which are
seen: My understanding is dark, O. enlighten it. Clarify it with thy beams. Let
me hate vain thoughts; but thy law let me love.’ O let me not grudge the time
that I spend in meditation. Assure me, that this is balsam to my soul, and that
by these means the lines will fall to me in pleasant places, and I shall have a
goodly heritage. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting; O give me
understanding, and I shall live. There is beauty, there is satisfaction, there
is life, in spiritual objects. O let' me find them sweeter than honey unto my
taste. Discover those riches to me; that I may look upon them, and despise the
treasures of Egypt. These are deceitful things these allure indeed, but afford
no lasting comfort. O give me a sight of that wealth; which is not liable to
corruption: I' shall find. it in the mysteries of the Gospel. Thou hast said, "
The pure in heart shall see GOD." O purify my "soul from fleshly lusts which war
against it, that I may see and discern what you have laid up for them that fear
thee "and, seeing it, may long after an eternal fruition of the light of thy
countenance, through JESUS CHRIST our Loin. Amen.


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  CHAPTER 97: VOL 16 - THE FOURTH EXERCISE.
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THE FOURTH EXERCISE. Every day study Humility. THIS is an Exercise peremptorily
commanded in Matt. xsiii.3, 4; Luke 14:7-8 James 4:6. " Learn of me," says the
Son or GOD, " for I am meek, and lowly in heart. (Matthew 11:29.) Learn of me!
What Not to raise the dead, not to cleanse the lepers, not to cast out Devils,
not to give sight to the blind, not to make the deaf tohear, not to walk on the
water;. no, but learn of me humility:; in this exercise yourselves daily. 4.nd
indeed greater humility has no man shown; for being "in the form of God, and
thinking it no robbery to be equal with God he humbled himself, and took upon
him the form of a servant And became obedient to the death of the cross." He is
a truly` humble man, that does despise himself, and is contented to be' counted
vile and wretched; that refers all the honor, done to himself, unto Gob, and
rejoices in being despised, and despises praise and glory; that compares his
sins with the good works of others, and upon that account looks upon himself as
the chief of sinners; that affects no, applause in what he does for GOD or his
neighbor; that is contented his infirmities should be known bears injuries
patiently, is glad of mean employment to show his love to GOD, does not care for
being known, looks upon himself as nothing, is circumspect mid" modest,’
delights not in superfluous talk, nor in laughter, fixes his eyes on the ground
with the Publican, is ashamed to lift them up to heaven, smites upon his breast,
and cries, from a mighty sense of his own vileness', u LORD, be merciful to me a
sinner; " that mistrusts himself, sets no high value on what he doth, contemns
the pomp and grandeur of the world, admires nothing but Go n, and is wellpleased
with being made as the filth of the world, and as the off scouring of all
things; that does think himself unworthy of the least crumb he eats, and of the
least drop of drink he drinks; and, though the circumstances he is under, and
the place, office, calling, and condition he is in, bid him use discretion, in
showing and expressing his humility, yet, in his mind, throws himself at the
feet, not only of equals and superiors, but of infeliars too, and could be
contented to wash the feet of the meanest servant of his Louis; that can hear a
friendly check with meekness, can ask forgiveness, in case he does unawares
offend, before others, and is contented men should misconstrue his innocent
words, actions, gestures;. and behavior, so that GOD does but know the pious and
holy designs he has in them; that is contented, that those whom he loves, and in
whom he trusted, and who have been kind to him, should forsake him, abandon him,
and. persecute him, and can bear with the ingratitude of men, to whom he has
done many good turns, and can find more satisfaction in the light of God's
countenance, than other men do in the favors and presents of the greatest
monarchs; that can be content to see his neighbor honored, and himself slighted;
that submits to the will of GOD in all things, and " both hopes and quietly
waits for the salvation of the LORD." And this is that humility which the Gospel
presses, and whereof the Captain of our Salvation has given us so illustrious an
example. This is that virtue which CASSIAN justly calls the cornerstone of all
virtues, the foundation of religion, the ladder to intimate converses with the
ALMIGHTY, and. a. gift beyond that of miracles; and this is that employment,
which justly deserves our care, labor, and exercise. When AUSTIN, the Monk, had
summoned the British Bishops and Clergy to conform to the Church of Rome, and to
yield obedience and submission to that See, the Britons consulted with a
certain. holy man, to know whether he thought. it expedient for them to submit
to AUSTIN or not. The good old man told them, that if they found him to be a man
of God, and a true follower of JESUS, they should not di spute. their
submission; and the only way to know that, he said, was, to see and take notice
whether he were a meek and humble man: if he were, it was a certain sign that he
bore the yoke of Cnn1ST; but. if. stout and proud, whatever his pretences might
be, he could not be of God. And accordingly when they found that the insolent
Monk carried it with a high hand, and scarcely vouchsafed to salute them, they
rejected his proud dictates, though it was with the loss of their lives. We See
how valleys are laden with fruit. and corn, and enamelled, with. flowers, while
the higher mountains remain barren and unfruitful. O, Christians, did you but
know what treasures he hid in this Exercise, you would be so far from counting
it troublesome, that you; would be ambitious of. it. In this Exercise consisteth
the mystery of religion: the richest influences of heaven come down upon the
soul, that looks upon herself as nothing. To her the ALMIGHTY reveals himself;
and here he is ready to build tabernacles; the sweetest communications of grace
are vouchsafed to him that is acquainted with this lowliness; into such' a heart
the joys of the HOLY GHOST flow with a tip ring tide; if a man would understand
the secrets of the Louis, this is the school where he may learn them;, and if he
become a great proficient here, he may promise himself a more than ordinary
intercourse between GOD and his soul I conclude this Exercise with a passage out
of a, learned Jew: a The advantages of humility," says he, " consist in, six
particulars; three whereof respect this present, and three the next life. 1st.
It makes a man content in all conditions.' When any person is proud and
arrogant, the whole world is not able to satisfy his lofty thoughts; much less
that which GOD has appointed for his portion: but he that is humble lives
contented, and is satisfied with what Providence has allotted him. 2dly. The
humble man bears adversity patiently; whereas the proud man's fear is great, and
his patience inconsiderable, when troubles • come upon him. idly. The humble man
is grateful and acceptable to men, and men love and esteem him."—And to this
purpose I must tell you a story of a King, who being asked how he came to be so
great, answered, " That he never saw any man whom he did not esteem wiser than
himself; and those that he looked upon to be wiser than himself, them he ever
thought to fear GOD more than himself: and if he met with any that was
manifestly more foolish than himself; the presently reflected, that this man
would have a less account to give unto GOD in the last day than himself: if he
met with any that were older than himself, he thought that their merits must
needs be greater than his own; and if those he met with were younger than
himself, he considered that their sins must needs be fewer than his own: if he
met with any of his equals, their heart, thought he, in all likelihood, is
better than mine; if they were richer than himself, he considered that they did
more good in the world than himself; if poorer, that then. by reason of their
poverty, they must needs have more humble and contrite hearts, and therefore be
better than himself."—4thly. The humble man arrives at true and solid wisdom
before other men, not only because he is desirous to learn, and loves to sit at
the feet of his teachers, but GOD also helps him to attain unto more than
ordinary wisdom; whereas the proud' and haughty, being does to learn that which
crosses, flesh and blood, remain ignorant of the most solid Wis_5:1-23 thly. The
humble man runs more cheerfully in the ways of GOD’s testimonies; boggles at
nothing that GOD commands; and expresses alacrity and readiness at the voice of
the greatest and weightiest, as well as at the least and easiest precepts.
6thly. The humble man's devotion is the only acceptable devotion to GOD; his
sins are pardoned, and his iniquities. are forgiven: " For a humble and a
contrite heart, GOD, you wilt not despise." THE PRAYER. O YOU Lofty and Holy
One, who inhabitest eternity, and dwellest in the high and holy place,_ and with
him also that is of an humble spirit! Whither shall I go, but to thee, who host
the words of eternal life! How shall I get this humble spirit but by thy power
and influence!. Ah! how proud is niy heart! How does am I to submit to thy will!
How does to think ill of myself! How does to bear injuries! How does to converse
with thy poor members! How does to be sensible of my errors! How does to
acknowledge a fault! And yet, all this while, I believe that you beholdest the
proud afar off, and that nothing is more abominable inithy sight! How apt am I
to admire myself! How apt to harbor high conceits of my endowments! How’ apt to
hunt' after the praise of men! And what is all this but wind What is it but
smoke, and air, and vanity How suddenly do these things grow, and how suddenly
do they die again! How sensual, how’ carnal, must that soul be, that minds such
things! How void, of a sense of greater beauties! How little affected, how
little touched with the honor that comes from God! How weak in grace is he who
has not learned yet to leap, over such straws. This is. my case, O Lord'; Ii am
that weak, that empty soul, and yet unwilling to confess that I am' proud, and
vain, and lifted up! pity me, O my GOD; make me sensible how far I am from the
kingdom of GOD, till humility brings me nearer. Crash whatever proud thoughts
and desires you spiest' in me. O put me in mind of my duty, whenever any vain
thoughts. rise in my soul. Pull down in me all imaginations that exalt
themselves against CHRIST JESUS. O let not'my: hetirt be haughty, nor mine eyes
lofty; neither let me exercise myself in things too high for me. Give me a sight
of my own vileness. Let me not be cheated with false colours. Let thy greatness
overawe my soul. Let the example of my Savior work upon me. How shall I be his
disciple, and think of myself above what I ought to think Let Goan arise, and
let all my vain conceits of mine own worth be scattered. What am I but a handful
of dust What am I but a beggar, and thy pensioner, who live upon thy charity O
let these thoughts subdue my soul. Make me as ambitious of an humble spirit, and
lowly mind, as others are of the greatness and admiration of the world. O let a
deep sense of my guilt humble me; then shall I, with the penitent prodigal, be
welcome in my FATHER'S house, and my soul shall live, through JESUS CHRIST our
LORD. Amen.


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  CHAPTER 98: VOL 16 - THE FIFTH EXERCISE.
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THE FIFTH EXERCISE. Every day let us bridle our tongues; and set a watch before
the doors of our lips,' and take care that our speech be always with grace,
seasoned with salt, that we may know how to answer every man. THIS Exercise is
enjoined in Colossians 4:6'; Ephesians 4:25; Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:3-4;
and Matthew 12:34; Matthew 12:36. It was a good observation of one, who traveled
with some men that talked loosely and inconsiderately, and whom' ST. ANTILONY
the hermit took for excellent company;," Yes i they are good men; but the house
they live in wants a door with a lock and key; for whoever pleases may go in,
and take away what they possess." His meaning was, that they took no care of
their words; that the door of their lips was always open; and that they talked
anything that came into their minds. "The tongue," says ST. JAMES," is a little
member, but contains a world of iniquity." (James 3:1; James 3:6.) So that the
greatness of the danger enforces the necessity of this Exercise. This Exercise,
consists partly in watching. against the sins; to. which; the _ tongue is
subject;, partly in using the tongue for such discourses as: are most proper for
a follower of, JESUS. The sins of the tongue are without number, yet the most
remarkable are these following, 1. Blasphemy. 2. Murmuring. 3. Defending our
sins. 4. Perjury. 5. Lying. 6. Detraction. 7. Accusing others falsely. 8.
Miich.speaking.9 Idle words.' 10. Profane jesting, or, abusing Scripture. 11.
Indiscreet. expressions 12. Railing., 13. Quarrelling. 14 Laughing at, and
deriding,: those that are serious. 15. Evil counsel. 16. Sowing of discord
among: neighbors.’ 17. Cursing, and customary. swearing. 18. Flattery. 19.
Doubler tongued dealings. 20. False reports. 21. Boasting, and speaking in one's
own praise. 22. Revelation of a secret. In vain, doth he pretend to exercise
himself unto Godliness, who watches not against these sins or, who, seeing,
himself in, danger of running into them, steps not back and climbs up with his
thoughts to heaven, as he that sees a wild beast coming towards him, climbs up
into a tree to secure himself. There is hardly any precept; either more spoken
of, or recommended more, either by the HOLY GHOST in Scripture, or by holy,
wise; and sober men, than this watching over our tongues; for indeed, “By thy
words you shall be justified] and by thy words thou; shall be condemned. Before
the power of Godliness was turned into a form, the Christians studied this point
with such care: and assiduity, and became such proficients in it that men might
converse with, them; and keep their company a. week together, and no hear one
idle word drop from, them, but what was to the use of, edifying,: and
ministered: grace; unto the. hearers. And tilt men cone to believe that their
tongues are. not their own, but GOD's, who made them, and designed them for the
noblest uses, and must, therefore be employed as he shall think, fit `to:
direct, they are yet far from the kingdom of GOD, and aliens from' the
commonwealth of saints, who are to be heirs of salvation. He knows not what self
denial means, that doth not, deny himself in speaking things which the HOLY
GHOST hash forbid;. and he that cannot speak, but he must offend in. one or
other of the aforementioned particulars,' had better hold his tongue. It was
therefore excellent advice which ST. AMBROSE gave to his people: "Let us learn.
to hold our tongues, that we maybe able to speak;: why should you run thyself
into danger of condemnation, when by silence you may be infinitely safer I have
seen thousands run into sin by speaking; but few by holding their peace: most
men love to talk, because they know not how to be quiet. He is the wisest man
that knows when to speak, and when to be silent; if of every idle word men shall
give an account in the day of judgment, how much more of filthy communications
Watch over thy inward man; tie up thy speech, and cut off its luxuriant
branches; let it not play the wanton, lest it drag thee into sin; restrain it,
and keep it within its banks; bind up thy senses, and let them not be loose or
gadding; make a door to thy lips, shut it when there is occasion, and open it
when there is necessity. Bring thy tongue under the yoke, and let it be subject
to thy reason. Keep the bridle in thine own hands; and weigh thy words in a
balance, that thy sense may he ponderous, thy speech solid, and thy words move
within their bounds." But watching against the sins of the tongue is but one
half of this Exercise; speaking of GOD and spiritual things is another, as we
may see in God, an Exercise commanded already in the days of Moses, (Deuteronomy
6:57) and duly observed by men who took sate of their salvation, long before the
Gospel was proclaimed in the world. This makes the Prophet take notice of such:
" Then they who feared the LORD spoke often one to another, and the LORD
hearkened and heard it, and a Book of Remembrance was written before him’ for
them that feared the Lows, and thought upon his name. And they shall be mine,
says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will, spare
them, as a man spareth his own son that, serveth him:' (Malachi 3:16-17.) 'There
is, hardly any Man, that makes a show of religion, or frequents the public
ordinances' of Go n, but will grant that the concerns of GOD, and of our, souls,
infinitely exceed all earthly objects in worth and dignity;: but then, not to
speak of them is an omission which contradicts, that belief, and makes that
faith all shadow, and imaginary. How can we want matter of discourse, when we
hear so many sermons, when we have liberty, to' peruse the Holy Scriptures, and
read such variety of good books which are so many comments upon the Bible' There
is not a precept in the Gospel, that is` given to regulate our thoughts; or
words, or actions, or passions, nor a command left us by our Master, but is a
fit subject for such conferences. Our experience will administer, matter in
these cases; what experience, we have had, of GOD’s goodness; what; experience
of the fullness of such a promise; what experience in' prayer'; what
experience'; in mortification; what. we have felt in such a duty; whit, effect
out earnest, striving; and wrestling with the Almighty has had what, influence
such a fast, or abstinence; hath had upon us; what content we have found under
such self denials what assistances of, God's Sprit we have found in one,
fighting against temptations; what comfort such afflictions what hath kept us
from sinking. how GOD has supported rt do such a calamity, and, has, been our
refuge and a present help in the time of trouble, when the earth has bin moved,
and when the • hills have been ready to be cast into the midst of theses, Have
we not defects and infirmities enough to discourse of Do we find no impediments,
that hinder us in our course to heaven Do not we fall short of that Christian
Perfection, which the Holy Ghost urges And is not our zeal for God’s glory very
inconsiderable Are we not very apt to be backward to the weightier matters of
the law Do not we embrace excuses suggested by the Devil, whereby we leave the
most excellent duties undone Do not we find imperfections and infirmities in our
holy performances Do we find no coldness, no deadness, no indisposedness in
GOD's service If we do, how can we want matter of discourse How many good
thoughts come into our minds, when we wake first' in the morning, when we he
down at night, when we are walking, when we are sitting down, when we are thrown
into ill company, when we meet with good society, when we meet with singular
Providences and deliverances, when we receive, unexpected blessings from Heaven,
or when men do us an injury What edifying expressions and discourses may we
build upon these thoughts and contemplations, when we visit one another How many
excellent examples of holy men and women may we fix upon in our discourses Can
there be more edifying discourse, than to relate and represent to one another
the holy actions of saints,’ either departed, or yet living; how humble ST. PAUL
was, how courageous ST. PETER, how fervent DAVID, how meek' MOSES, how patient
Job One scorned to be called the son of PHARAOH'S daughter, and fixed his eyes
upon the great recompence of: reward;’ another took pleasure in being reviled;
another thanked GOD in the midst of torments; another prayed for those that
stoned him; another chose poverty and contempt, and the loss of: all things,
that he might win CHRIST: These things are excellent matter of holy discourse;
and such as, in all probability, ST. JAMES did aim and point at; (James 5:10;) "
Take, my brethren, the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the LORD, for an
example of suffering affliction, and. of patience." And if this will not do,
there are so many motives, and encouraging arguments to goodness, which both we
and others do make use of, that we may as soon want light at noon, as matter of
pious and religious conference, when we converse with our fellow Christians.
What moves us to be meek What prevails with us’ to be patient What makes us
contented in all conditions What composes our spirits in fiery trials’ What puts
us upon self denial What incentives to the love of GOD we make choice of How
came we by a: serious frame of spirit How came’ we to conquer such a lust What
did we do to vanquish such a corruption How did we compass that facility and
willingness to conform to GOD, which seem to be in us How came CH R I sT's yoke
to be easy to us, and his burthen light. How came we to be rid of such a' sin
How came we to extricate ourselves from such snares and deceits of the Devil The
various ways. and. methods, whereby we do arrive to such perfections as these,
are se, many doors. of utterance,: and will serve to make us open our mouths
boldly and he that does so, doth, without all controversy, " exercise himself
unto Godliness." And to, illustrate this Exercise by some examples, it will not
be impertinent to set down here. the discourse of the Hermits in PASCHASIUS,
who, meeting once a week, gave one another an account of their spiritual
progress, and growth in grace. One of their Conferences was this. The First
said: Every day I watch against evil thoughts, and lusts, as I do against
serpents and scorpions; and as soon as I find them rising in my heart, I ask
them, how they dare be so bold as to profane temple of the HOLY GHOST The Second
said, I look upon myself every day as a stranger and pilgrim, that must suffer
many inconveniences, troubles, and injuries, till I come to my journey's end;
and I ever look upon the' morrow, as the day wherein I shall be delivered from
the burden of the flesh, and from all possibility of sinning, and so bear up,
under all the crosses that befall me. The Third said: Every day, very early in
the morning, I get up, and go to my Go), and throwing myself down upon' my face,
adore him, and intercede with him for the whole world;. and this done, I go and
deny my body that ease and satisfaction which flesh and blood crave, on purpose
to crucify the world to myself, and myself unto the world. The Fourth said:
Every day I take a turn. upon the Mount of Olives. and there behold my dear
Redeemer bleeding, and reflect on his passion, and on the agonies be endured for
my sin, till the spectacle melts me into tears, and forces me into strong
resolutions to imitate Him whom my,soul does love: The Fifth said: Every day,
with the eyes of my understanding, I behold the Angels of GOD (as JACOB once did
in a dream) ascending and descending, for the salvation of men's souls; and this
love, and care, and tenderness, so work upon me, that I both wish that all
mankind may be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, and give more
diligence to make my calling and election sure. The Sixth said: Every Day I make
it my business to meditate on the saying of CHRIST, " Come to me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you: take my yoke upon you;" and I
fancy I hear this voice behind me, "O Christians, if you mean to be my brethren,
suffer with me, that ye may reign with me; die with me, that ye may live with
me; conquer with me, that ye may sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne." The Seventh said: Every day I sit
in council with three grave Senators, Faith, Hope, and Charity; and the effect
of this consultation is, that my faith becomes more firm, my hope more lively,
my charity more fervent; and I dare not willingly offend any man, but think
myself obliged to suffer long, and to be kind, not, to behave myself unseemly,
not to seek my own, not to be provoked, and to think no evil. The Eighth said
Every day I do expect the Devil, and look for his assaults and stratagems; and
when I perceive him coming, I run to, GOD, and hide myself under the shadow of
his wings, and beg that his fiery darts may not hurt me. The Ninth said: Every
day with my thoughts I ascend into heaven, and there listen to the hallelujahs
and harmonious voices of the blessed Angels, and refresh my mind, and all that
is within me, with those melodious songs; and when I do so I die to the world,
trample upon all sublunary objects, and despise those things which sensual men
admire, as dirt and dung, The Tenth said: Every day I do set GOD before me, and
look upon him as present, and standing on my right hand; and 1: strive to have
this thought continually in mind; whence it comes to pass, that I speak and do
nothing, but with great consideration and deliberation. The Eleventh said: Every
day I call the graces and gifts of God's SPIRIT about me; and when I am going
out, I cry, " When are you all Come about me, my faithful servants; ", and these
are the retinue I go attended with; in this state and pomp I set forth; with
this guard about me I walk, and no Devil can approach to hurt me. And now,
Brethren, if there be any consolation, in CHRIST, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the SPIRIT, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy; and let
not this’ Exercise seem grievous to you. Plead not that it is out of fashion; if
it be so, do you make it modish. You know who it is that beseeches you, by the
mercies of GOD, not to conform yourselves to the world. If it be out of fashion
to be saved, will you therefore resolve to be damned Bear up against the
stream,;. be not ashamed of CHRIST, and of his Gospel. You dare not plead this
excuse in the last day; why should you allege it now Here is no rhetoric
required, no eloquence, no florid learning. O that you were but, more, sensible.
of your spiritual wants! O that your hearts were but more inflamed with the love
of God! O that you did but observe GOD'S dealings with your souls more, and
would take more notice of GOD’s Providences, and the operations of his hands!
You would not then want language to express yourselves to your children,
servants, friends, neighbors, and acquaintance; but the sense within would force
you to say with DAVID, " Come, and I will tell you what the Lord has done for my
soul." (Psal. 66: 1G.) Do not think heaven so cheap a thing as your careless
neighbors do; either CHRIST and heaven, and our future glory, are worth talking
of; or nothing can be worth it. Dare to prefer heaven before the world; and in
your words, as well as actions, manifest the sincerity of your resolution. You’
cannot pretend impossibility; you have a tong re, you have reason, you hear the
Ministers of the Gospel, you see GOD’s Providences, you know heaven and hell are
before you, you read many excellent lessons; what should hinder you from
speaking of these weighty things You will rest the sweeter at night, when you
have been talking of good things in the daytime: your repose will be more
satisfactory, when you have exercised your tongues in matters of this nature.
When you talk of such heavenly and spiritual things, you are not exposed to so
many temptations, as otherwise you are, when in company with others you may sin
in talking of your neighbors; you may sin in speaking of the actions of Kings
and Princes; you may sin in telling things and passages for true, which have no
other foundation but an uncertain report; you may sin in foolish jesting; but in
discoursing of heavenly things you are safe, you are in GOD’s way, Go)) walks
with you. You shun the occasions of evil, and you prepare yourselves to quench
the fiery darts of the Devil. Hereby you may do good to others, comfort your
neighbors, and support your fellow Christians; and in such conferences a word
may drop from you, which may keep those with whom you discourse from despair,
and be an encouragement to them as long as they live. It was bravely done of
that young man under DECIUS's persecution, who, being by force tied upon a
downbed, in a room made for pride and luxury, and solicited to uncleanness by a
harlot, sent to him by the’ Governor on purpose to provoke him to sin, bit his
tongue to pieces, that' the smart and pain might drown all sense of
voluptuousness, and so spit in the harlot's face. But here we require no such
severity; but all that is expected from, you in this Exercise, is to keep your
tongues from evil, and your lips from speaking guile; to speak of the glorious
honor of GOD’s majesty, and of his wondrous works; to utter abundantly the
memory of his great goodness, and to declare his righteousness. The very Heathen
have seen the necessity of this Exercise; therefore they shall be your Judges in
the last day: And I know not how to express their sense of this duty better,
than by setting down the words of the sober EPICTETHS: " Prescribe thyself a
rule," says he, " which you may observe, when you art either by thyself, or in
company with others: Either be silent, or let the things you speakest of be
necessary and profitable. When you speakest, talk not of light and trivial
things, as wrestling, or horses, or fencers, or swords, or meat, or drink,
neither spend thy time in praising or dispraising men; but let thy discourse be
of something noble, decent, grave, and serious: But if this cannot be, hold thy
peace." But examples of men of our own religion may be more prevailing. Thus did
the primitive saints; and when they visited one another, their care was to put
one another in mind of the words and actions of their Great Redeemer, what he
did, and what he promised, and what he suffered; how kind he was to this blind
man, how favorable to that leper, how loving to the lame, how gracious to his
enemies, how free and communicative to his friends; what pity he expressed to
sinful men, how meek he was before his accusers, how patient before his
tormentors; how he ran to kiss the penitent, how he wept over the obstinate
Jews, and how he longed for men's salvation. These were their discourses, and
they would hardly give themselves liberty to talk of their worldly affairs,
except necessity forced them; for they believed that, by their charter, they
were to have their conversation in heaven; and this they thought imported
talking much of their heavenly country, and of the joys of that kingdom. It was
the custom of some heathen priests of old, in the service of their GODs, to wash
or dip their tongues in honey;—an excellent emblem to teach us, how our tongues
must be purified, and sanctified, and seasoned with that word, which is sweeter
than the honeycomb. (Psal. 19: 10.) And indeed then our words are sweet, and
there is milk and honey under our tongues, when we exhort and admonish one
another daily, taking heed lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
THE PRAYER. GOD, by whom I am fearfully and wonderfully made; who have beset me
behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me; such knowledge is too wonderful
for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it! How have I abused that tongue which
you have given me to show forth thy praise! How long have I employed it about
things which do not profit! O teach me to blush! O let me see how I have
perverted thy gifts, and misimproved my talents! O let me value thy mercies
better; and give me thy grace to remember that I am not mine own. Assure me that
I am bought with a price, to show forth the glory of Him that died for me. And
can I show forth thy glory, if my tongue be not cautious of offending thee Can
it look like glorifying thee, if that member, which of all the organs of this
mortal frame is most fitted for thy glory, fails in its duty The quickness and
readiness which you have planted in it were intended to trumpet forth thy
glorious attributes. O my Gon! I will not hide thy righteousness within my
heart, I will declare thy faithfulness, and thy salvation. I will not conceal
thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation Let me speak of
thee with reverence and Godly fear. Give me discretion to know how, and when,
and what to speak. LORD, give me motives and arguments to speak as I ought to
do. Let my speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that I may know how
to answer every man. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the
hearers. Set a watch, O Lo RD, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips.
Let me delight to speak of thee, and make me afraid of every idle word. Lo an,
rule my tongue, and let it be wholly dedicated to thy service. In all my
speeches and answers, let me study veracity, sobriety, and modesty. Open you my
lips, O LORD, and let my tongue be filled with thy praise all the day long, and
in the night season let me not be silent. Fill me with a profound sense of the
great day of account, when my words will be examined as well as my actions.
Season, my tongue with conscientiousness, and let me not be rash with my lips.
Let my heart smite me, when I am going to speak things which are not after thy
law. Let thy statutes be my songs in the house of my pilgrimage, and let the law
of thy mouth be better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Amen.


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